- 9 -
Route x ABBA
[Willowasher Villa, present time]
The doctor spun around the large tent, his labcoat ghosting shadows across the ground. Around and around he went dancing for his spectators who sat with their arms folded behind them in front of him. He only paused his dance when he reached a particular spectator who sat at the very back of the tent; this spectator's eyes were glaring and disapproving.
"Oh my, Beverly!" the doctor cooed. "Don't give me that look — it's quite hurtful! It makes it all the more hurtful since I admire you, y'know?"
The addressed adolescent turned his wrists in their strange-looking bronze cuffs with a wince and did not speak a word.
"That beautiful thing around your wrists right there," Okarin explained as he threw an arm over the adolescent's shoulder with a grin, "is a new prototype of ours. It neutralizes seventy-five percent of the mana in a mana-user's bloodstream; for an Enchanter like you, that basically depletes your entire supply!"
B, the silent adolescent, simply narrowed his eyes.
"Still not much of a talker, huh?" Okarin sighed. He straightened himself then and placed his hands on his hips. "You're quite a sneaky one, you are, B. It's always the quiet ones after all." He shrugged to himself, and glanced backwards at the dark adolescent: "Six months ago you tricked me, you did!"
B smirked ever so slightly at this, but kept a cool gaze.
"To think that if you hadn't acted on the trickery or that act of rebelliousness today," Okarin continued with a shake of his head, "that you could be an Empire-Mana-Employee and be working at some Enchanted Bank right at this moment; you were —- and still are — talented. The Empire could have really used you!"
Okarin let out a yelp suddenly and yanked his foot away from where it had been stomped on by B's large leather shoe. B fixed a firm stare at the doctor and shook his head: he would have never agreed to work for the Empire. Beside him, several of the other bound and gagged mana-users snickered.
"I don't see why you're so adamant about your hatred for our home country." Okarin frowned, shaking his foot with a grimace. "To your kind this place might seem like hell, but to others it's considered a home… I guess that ideology doesn't really matter to you anymore, since your going to be shipped off to where the other 'dangerous' mana-users like you," he gestured to the others, "and the like reside."
The flap-door leading to the tent was lifted open and a woman wearing a gray uniform entered the area. The woman glanced around the room, before she finally found her target: Doctor Okarin.
"Doctor, the cart is ready."
[The Red Light District, random street corner - present time]
She peered around the side of the building and immediately retreated when she saw shadowy figures pass across the asphalt road.
"So now we got a couple of creeps chasin' us." Anne Marie muttered under her breath, pressing her back further against the wall. "This is just plain beautiful!"
Leshawna, who was standing right beside her, grunted at this as she tried to quiet her panting breath: "It could be worse."
Anne Marie glared at her when she said this, which in turn earned herself a glare as well.
"Look, Miss Priss," Leshawna said thickly, "I'm just tryin' to be positive is all, especially with that big hair of yours bringing down a gloomy atmosphere!"
"What did you just say?! Your just jealous!"
"Just because you're jealous of Leshawna, Anne Marie," Dawn spoke suddenly, tilting her head ever so slightly, "doesn't mean that you always have to pick a fight with Leshawna; that goes the same for you, Leshawna. You two actually have a lot in common."
"What?" Anne Marie and Leshawna gapped in unison.
"Y'tellin me that y'think I'm jealous of jelly-butt ova' here?" Anne Marie hissed, jabbing a finger pointedly in Leshawna's direction.
"Don't you even compare me to this spoiled brat!" Leshawna shouted not at Dawn but at Anne Marie. "Maybe instead of wasting your money on hairspray and fake-ass spray tans, you should actually spend it on something useful: a full body makeover!"
"That is it!" Anne Marie screeched; she turned fully on Leshawna and shoved her against the wall. "I'm sick and tired of you and your southern gang brats of callin' us rich spoiled brats!"
"Well," Leshawna growled, shoving her back and pushing her full force across the alleyway, "maybe what we're saying is true! Did you ever think of that, Clownfish?!"
"We've worked hard to get where we're at, 'scuse me!" Anne Marie shot back bitingly. "Afta' the massacre nine years ago, my family lost everything and my dad just packed up his bags and left! I had t'work off his debts when I was just a toddla'! My gang and I deserve t'be here as much as you guys do!"
Leshawna paused, slightly taken aback at the newly given information, before her face hardened and she said: "That still isn't an excuse for what you've been doing to us these past three years."
"Okay, fine!" Anne Marie shouted. "I apologize, okay?! I just hated how you and your guys seemed to live your lives like everything was all fine and swell!"
"Girl, our lives are anything but fine and swell." Leshawna frowned, her hard look becoming soft. "We just don't let it get us down… I guess our group has been a bit harsh on you guys too… I'm sorry for that."
"Well, I accept your apology — not sure what the guys back home'll think of it though."
"I accept yours too."
"See," Dawn pipped, having watched the entire ordeal from the sidelines, "you two have so much in common like familial issues and whatnot that it's only natural for you two get along."
"Honey," Leshawna frowned disapprovingly down at her, "it's not right of you to go poking around in our heads like that."
"Why not?" Dawn frowned back at her, an unusually confused expression plastered over her face. Leshawna and Anne Marie peered at her, they themselves shocked at the fact of the girl's pure confusion. They exchanged glances.
"Because—-
"Hey!" came an unknown voice. "I think I hear them over there!"
"I suggest we split up." Dawn whispered quietly. "It'll be harder for them to capture us that way."
Before Leshawna and Anne Marie could input their own opinions on the idea, Dawn sprinted off in the direction opposite from where the voices had come from.
"Does that girl have twinkle toes or what?" Anne Marie blanched with an incomprehensible shake of her head, placing a hand on her hip. She turned towards an alleyway that opened up to the left and headed towards it with a shrug, before she was abruptly stopped by Leshawna's hand around her wrist. "What d'ya want?" she shot back.
"There's no way these guys'll stop chasing us." Leshawna said slowly, jerking her thumb backwards with a shake of her head; the voices drew even nearer. "We need to handle this problem ourselves."
"And how do you suggest we do that?" Anne Marie frowned, her voice becoming panicked as the sound of footsteps echoed just around the corner.
"Bring as many of your guys as you can," Leshawna ordered, releasing her grip on the other adolescent, "and bring them to Mekaku Corner."
"What? Why?" Anne Marie frowned. "That place is practically abandoned!"
"I know! That's the point!"
"And how do I know that you won't just abandon us there and have those cultist freaks take us out?" Anne Marie pressed on, eyes narrowing.
"You just have to trust me!"
With that, the two parted ways.
[Capital City, Military District, just outside of Principle Tower - thirty minutes earlier]
"Climb through the vents?" Heather screeched. "Are you kidding me?"
There the group of six huddled right behind the black-bricking of Principle Tower, staring with mixed expressions at the silver protruding vent before them.
The night sky was pitch black with no stars in sight. A chilly wind blew from the north which was blocked from the six by the structure of the tower. The tower's being was illuminated by the dimly-glowing floating lights that drifted throughout the area. The lights seemed to buzz loudly in the deafening silence of the District like a swarm of flying insects.
"I agree with Heather." Courtney said firmly beside her. "Crawling through that thing is totally unsanitary!"
"It isn't that bad." Lindsay laughed with a kind roll of the eyes.
"And how would you know?" Courtney questioned, eyes narrowed in suspicion.
"Well," Lindsay began to explain, "Heather had me snea—
She was silenced by both Heather and Tyler with an elbow to the stomach from the first and a silencing and cupping hand over the mouth from the latter.
"—-mmff!"
"Well, forget this!" Courtney pronounced snidely, folding her arms and turning her head. "I'm going home!"
"Courtney!" called Brick, who was working on unscrewing the nails that kept the metal covering of the vent in place, in protest.
"Same here." Heather nodded, lifting her head up high. "There's no way that I'm going in that cramped space with you losers! Come on Lindsay; we're leaving!"
"But, Heather...!" pouted Lindsay.
"Lindsay." Heather repeated thickly.
"You should go with her." Tyler said from beside the blonde, placing a hand on her shoulder and brushing a strand of golden hair out of her face. "Leave the sneaking to us experienced soldiers!"
Lindsay looked at Tyler's kind expression with uncertainty, before her gaze shifted to Heather's disapproving expression. She fiddled with her hands nervously.
"Come on, Lindsay!" Courtney said with a comforting smile, coming up beside her. "If we follow these guys with their stupid plan, we might get in trouble! You don't want that, do you?"
"I don't want to get in trouble, but…"
"Come on, then!" Courtney grinned, leading her over to where Heather was standing impatiently.
Together, the three began to make their way towards the gates leading to the District. However, before they could take their third step, rough hands pulled them back by the scruff. These rough hands belonged to none other than Jo:
"And where do you think you're going?"
"Let go of me!" Courtney yelled, flailing wildly in the air.
"What do you think you're doing?!" Heather growled, kicking backwards in an attempt to lay one on the military woman.
"You're pulling my dress, Jo!" Lindsay complained, following a completely different note.
"I don't trust you guys enough to believe that you're not going to go run your mouths off about us." Jo said haughtily, eyebrows furrowed and mouth curled up into a smile.
"Hey!" came Tyler, bounding up to her with crossed arms. "Let them go!"
"Jo," Brick sighed, having finally managed to detach the vent's metal covering, "don't force them to go if they don't want to."
"Yeah!" Courtney grimaced, arms crossed; she threw a look at Brick with a slender eyebrow raised. "Why are you helping her sneak into the Council Room anyways? Weren't you talking about how it was against 'regulations' earlier?"
"Jo was… very convincing…"
"Yeah, whatever, loverboy," Heather rolled her eyes and jerked a thumb in Jo's direction, "just tell your woman to lay off of me!"
"She's not…"
Before Heather, Courtney, and Lindsay could protest any further, Jo — with all three of them still tight in her grasps — bounded over to the open vent and threw them in like they were nothing more than ragdolls.
"Why you….!"
"Start crawling or I'll kick you myself!" Jo ordered.
"I'll get you back for this, she-man!" Heather growled murderously under her breath, before she shoved Courtney (who had been shoved into the vent first) forward. "Move it!"
With that, one by one they filtered into the ventilation shaft, pushing, shoving, and complaining to each other their entire way towards their destination.
...
And now? In present time?
The six found themselves staring up at a woman with wild orange hair dressed in a black military-uniform in the Council Room. The dust and debris from the broken ventilation shaft above their heads rained down on their sweaty bodies like snow.
Courtney felt like she could just about cry.
"Brick, Jo!" the ginger-haired woman grinned maniacally, jumping down low to look at the two white-wearing adolescents at eye-level. "Fancy seeing you two here!" Her emerald gaze drifted to the others behind them, causing the said others to freeze up with fear. "Did you two bring a party up here just for me?!"
Courtney was both confused and terrified at the same time. Was this woman for real?
"W-We can explain, General!" Brick stuttered on the ground beside her, before coming to a stand and drawing his hand up into a salute. "W-We were just…"
"Eavesdropping?" the woman pressed, her smile growing into a frown. "You can be executed for such a thing, y'know? The chopping-block! Duhn-duhn-duhn."
"W-We weren't eavesdropping." Lindsay spoke up frantically, "We don't even have any eaves to drop, see!" She extended her hands outwards to show the General that she had nothing in her hands. Courtney nearly facepalmed at this.
Strangely, however, the General leaned forward and examined Lindsay's empty palm carefully, before she broke out into a smile that did not match her eyes:
"Oh my gosh; you're totally right!" the General spoke, clapping her hands together. "I can't believe that I thought you guys were eavesdropping!" She dropped her hands then, peering into all six of their shocked faces. "I would've actually cut your heads off right here and right now if you guys were carrying eaves!"
"...Is this a joke?" Heather murmured; she paused to shove Lindsay — who had fallen on top of her — off of her stomach.
"Is it funny?" the General pressed back, eyebrows raised in a quizzically honest manner.
"...No?"
"Then it isn't!" the woman pipped; her eyes narrowed then, and her lips curled back like the lips of an animal. "Now scaddaddle!"
The group of six did not move, all too shocked to even twitch a muscle.
"Now!" the General growled in a feral-like manner, pulling her arms up childishly as if they were claws. "RAWR!"
And with that, the six scrambled to a stand and darted out of the room. Down the stairs they went, screaming bloody murder until they reached the outside area of the Tower. Once there, they slowed themselves to a stop.
"I can't believe she let us go!"
"Yeah… She's just as crazy as she looks…"
"Hey," panted Brick suddenly, "where's Tyler?"
"Oh," Lindsay pipped beside him, brushing off several strands of hair that clung with sweat to her face, "he left right when we got here; he said that he had to make a call… or something…"
[The Red Light District, Mekaku Corner - present time]
Mekaku Corner was an open area of District built out of cobblestone and brick. It, unlike the rest of the city, had never been renovated and improved as the world had evolved.
The Corner had a circular shape, old yet tall rickety buildings rising from all areas around except from the one entry way — the entry way that Anne Marie and practically the entire cult now found themselves running along.
The running group broke into the open area at a breakneck pace. The cult members then swarmed around Anne Marie like insects, forming a full circle around her. She looked at them all, eyes narrowed and glaring.
"Y'freaks betta' get away from me or else!"
A man, the leader of the cult, stepped forward from the crowd, a grin painting his face:
"There is no need for such harshness." the man spoke serenely. "You must be relaxed if you are to become a sacrifice for us."
"I ain't becoming no sacrifice!" Anne Marie spat back, slapping the man right across the face as he came closer to her.
"Well, that's unfortunate then." the man said thickly, rubbing his cheek. "I guess you're going to have to die then."
"No, I ain't!" Anne Marie shot back, raising a signaling hand up in the air.
The doors and windows of the buildings surrounding the Corner swung open and groups of well-dressed adolescents peered out from them, enchanted-weapons raised and ready in their hands.
"You poor children." the man sighed with a shake of his head, before he too rose his hand in the air. "You need to be taught a lesson." The many cult members around Anne Marie also drew out enchanted guns and blades and the like from their waists and pockets, aiming the weapons in all different directions. "We outnumber you by many; you might as well give up here and now."
"Damnit, Leshawna," Anne Marie muttered angrily under her breath, "I trusted you and look where it got me!"
"I think you've got that wrong, crazy guy!" came an echoey voice from entrance alleyway.
Suddenly, like a fast-moving wave, dozens upon dozens of baggy-clothes-wearing adolescents filtered around and fully surrounded the cult members; all of these adolescents had enchanted weapons in hand. It soon became apparent who outnumbered who.
"Did I really see," continued the voice as its owner pushed through the crowd of cultists and walked right over to Anne Marie's side, "you dumbasses mess with a soul-sister of mine?!"
"Y'came!" Anne Marie broke out into a grin, restraining herself from hugging Leshawna who stood before her.
"'Course I did, girl." Leshawna nodded like it was nothing.
"Enough of this!" the cultist leader shouted in rage as he shook his head. He turned to the now nervous-looking cult members around him and spread his arms out wide. "Worry not, my friends! Fate has simply given us more sacrifices of our choosing!" He turned around and faced the two leaders of the formery opposing gangs fully, saying, "Look here at these—
Leshawna and Anne Marie exchanged grinning glances, before they nodded at each other and punched the man squarely in the face simultaneously.
With that fire-starting action, a chaotic uproar of fighting broke out.
[The Red Light District, unknown alleyway - at the same time]
Dawn had never run so fast or hard in her life. Her lungs felt like they were about to burst, and her legs felt like they were ready to melt away beneath her. Despite this, she kept running, driven purely by the sound of footsteps from behind her.
"Stop right there!" came the voices of her pursuers.
Strangely enough, she complied with their orders and came to a stop, swiveling around to face them. Her face, from her pursuers point of view, seemed to glow with a faint white light in the darkness of the night. Because of her ethereal appearance, they came to a hesitant stop several feet away from her, their bodies tense and ready.
"You don't need to be a part of this perverse group to be happy!" Dawn said suddenly, eyes landing on her all seven of her pursuers sympathetically. "You can achieve that happiness yourself!"
The seven exchanged looks amongst themselves.
"Rory," Dawn addressed the one who stood on the farthest left, "you aren't a failure in the least bit! If you just try harder and stop taking enchanted drugs, you can achieve your dream of becoming an artist!"
"How…" the addressed man stuttered with a shake of his head.
"Wait!" shouted another, holding the others back. "She's probably a mana-user!" He spat the last words out with hate.
"Donavon," Dawn spoke next to the man who had labeled her with spite, "not all mana-users are as bad as you think they are; the one who killed your parents nine years ago was a child who was tortured by the very same cult that you're in right now!"
Donavon froze, eyes wide.
"Don't listen to her!" a female member of the group shouted. "She's obviously lying! All mana-users are damn liars!"
"Jona…" Dawn began again, looking the woman right in the eyes. "I'm sorry for what happened to you, but—!"
The girl was silenced as Donavon approached her and slapped her to the ground, eyes filled with raged.
"I won't have a fucking dirty mana-user tell me what's right or wrong!" the man hissed as he crouched down next to her.
"We can use her as a sacrificial god…" one of the seven suggested, eyes glinting with a hint of sadism.
"Perfect…" Donavon spat, lips curling upwards.
Suddenly, a flash of red flickered from the corner of the man's eyes, and he looked up to see a collection of people dressed in flowery robes standing at the very end of the alleyway. In front of these robed people stood a red figure.
Donavon, seeing the figure, tripped backwards over his own two feet and let out blood curdling scream. Jona ran to his side and hoisted him up with a concerned expression:
"Donavon, what is it?!"
"I-It's," the man stuttered with a shake of his head as he shakily pointed at the red figure who began to approach them, "the monster from that night!"
The seven cult members looked up as the red figure drew nearer; its movements were unstable, and it kept swaying from side to side like a drunkard. Such a thing shouldn't have stricken fear in the the seven adults, yet the crescent smile that graced the red figure's face caused them all to scramble backwards.
"G-GET AWAY!" Donavon shouted at the top of his lungs, tears pouring from his eyes.
The red figure continued its approach, passing right past Dawn and coming to a stop right in front of Donavon's shaking form. The figure came only up to Donavon's stomach in height, but the latter man let out a whimper nonetheless.
"G...Get away…."
The red thing stretched up its hand and placed it directly on the man's tear-streaked cheek, its grin growing wicked. The man then began to gag and foam at the mouth, as if being choked by an unknown force. His eyes rolled back into his head and he began to convulse in place.
"Stop it at once!" Dawn shouted in horror.
The red figure lowered its hand, leaving a wet and scarlet imprint on the man's cheek as the said man fell to the ground. The other six cultists bowed down low, scooped the man off of the ground, and ran out of the alleyway without even sparing a glance back.
Dawn was now alone with the red figure; the swaying robed group at the end of the alley served as a backdrop for their conversation:
"You're not a ghost at all, are you?" Dawn questioned lightly, approaching the figure with lowered eyes that showed no fear. "You're a remnant left behind by the 'original' you." She looked up, staring into the being's red eyes. "You're an illusion made up of purely mana; you're not real." She gestured to the robed people. "And those are your own illusions."
"Bingo!" the red figure grinned, speaking in a surprisingly childish voice. It clapped loudly, and with each clap, the robed people flickered in and out of existence until they dispersed completely.
It's red skin began to crack ever so slightly.
"Have you achieved the revenge that you were seeking yet?" Dawn drew slowly, airy eyes unusually sharp.
"Revenge?" the figure scoffed — its red body chipped even more with its jerky movements. "I wasn't doing this for revenge at all; I was doing it because it was fun!"
"Why would you do such a horrible thing just for fun?"
"Because," the figure answered — the red covering on its body continued to chip away, revealing a billowing white robe, "humans are so fun to watch when they squirm around in what they call 'life'."
"You're talking as if you're not human yourself." Dawn said pointedly, watching with interest as the red covering on the figure's face began to crack.
"Should I really be hearing that statement from you?" the figure questioned, eyes grinning up at her. "After all, I know exactly what you are; I've been watching carefully."
Dawn's eyes widened ever so slightly when the figure said this statement; her eyes widened further when the figure's red skin chipped away completely to reveal the face of a young boy no older than seven.
"You…!"'
"Me." the young boy agreed.
The boy's body then crumbled away in the sudden blowing wind like dust —- red dust.
[Sycamore Road, present time]
He watched with dull eyes as the long stretch of trees and bushes blurred together into an indistinguishably line of green from the corner of his eyes. Every now and then that green blurry line with jump along as the rickety cart he was riding in passed over a particular large rock. Although this happened only once in a while, the cart continuously vibrated from rolling over the smaller rocks beneath it. Because of this, a dusty storm of rock and sand was forming from behind the moving cart.
"This really sucks, ass…"
B turned his head away from the window of the vehicle to the person who sat across him.
The cart was built in such a way that the passengers could see all of the other passengers in the cart by simply turning their heads. A long line of chairs were built strategically along both walls of the vehicle, facing the other opposite wall. In front of these chairs was another line of chairs that were slightly shorter than the ones lining the wall. In front of those chairs was also another line of chairs that were even shorter than the ones behind it. That was how the pattern of chairs went from each side of the wall until they met at a strip of walkway at the center of the cart.
B's seat in particular was fitted in the corner of the cart. It was close to the driver's compartment.
It was strange. Despite the fact that the cart was being powered by mana, there were still several uniformed officers pulling the vehicle along from outside.
"This really fucking sucks…" the person continued, voice choking.
B peered into the person's face, eyes softening as he saw that pools of salty tears were beginning to form in the person's eyes.
"Damn it…" the person whispered harshly, slamming his foot onto the ground. "God fucking dammit!"
"Hey, quiet up in there!" came the angry growl from the officer who was posted right at the back of the cart.
"I have kids y'know," the person continued in a gruff voice, "and my wife's family doesn't have a single mana-user in it… If I had just failed this damn test, my kids wouldn't have to go through this shitty test in their lifetime ever!"
B raised his cuffed hands and placed them lightly on the man's shoulder; the man just glared at him with a shaking head. The man's glare faded, however, as he fully registered B's face.
"Wait, you're that Enchanter, aren't you?" the man whispered hopefully, grasping at B's clothing. "The rumored one that can enchant an item in a blink of an eye?!"
B nodded slowly, though his expression was an uncertain one.
"You can get us out of here!"
This gained the attention of the fellow mana-users surrounding them and they peered at the adolescent with hopeful expressions. B's eyes lowered at this and he shook his head, showing them his cuffs.
"But… Can't you figure out how to break free of these things? You're a genius after all!"
B nodded but then tilted his head in the direction of the clock that was placed right on top of the door leading to the driver's compartment.
"Would it take too much time?"
B nodded once more.
"Well...shit…"
The cart suddenly came to an abrupt stop. All of the passengers looked up in surprise at this, scrambling to get a good look out of the window. B, who sat closest to the window, merely had to turn his head to see what exactly was going on outside. And the ongoings surprised him.
Right in front of the cart stood an adolescent with strangely magenta-colored hair and deeply tanned skin. She wore a shawl over her head, so it was somewhat difficult to see her facial features. B could tell, however, that she was extremely upset, seeing how she was gesturing towards a space on the ground like a mad woman.
"You killed him!" B heard her say — her voice was so loud that everyone within the cart could hear it. "You killed my Codykinz!"
Peering a little bit lower, B could see that the thing that the female was pointing wildly at was the body of a brown-haired boy.
"Oh man!" the man next to B whispered as he observed the entire scene. "Did they actually kill the guy?!"
The guard who had been stationed at the back of the cart exited the cart through the driver's compartment. The passengers were now alone.
B peered out of the window once more.
Eleven of the twenty officers now stood around the woman, rubbing the backs of their heads nervously and attempting to calm the woman down.
"I'm so sorry, ma'am." one of the officers spoke. "Are you sure he's dead? We have a medic with us that can check his condition!"
"No!" the woman shouted, falling to her knees and wrapping her arms protectively around the deceased boy's body. "No one is allowed to touch my Codykinz!"
"Ma'am—
The supposedly deceased boy shot up suddenly, eyes wide open, causing nearly all of the officers to scream bloody murder.
"He's still alive!" one of the officers exclaimed with relief. His relief was however cut short when the boy scrambled over to his feet and clung to them desperately.
"Please…!" the boy cried, grasping at the man's pants like a wild animal. "Get her away from me…! She's insane!"
The officers stood shocked, unsure of how to react to the sudden change of events.
"She kidnapped me!" the boy continued, tears trailing from his bright blue eyes. "She's nuts!"
The magenta-haired woman laughed suddenly and hysterically, before she swooped low to pick the boy off of his feet.
"No one deserves my Codykinz but me!" the woman shouted before she took off towards the woods and disappeared.
The officers stared at eachother for a moment, exchanging glances. A second later, nearly all of them — one remained behind — were bounding off into the woods themselves in search of the crazed-woman and kidnapped boy.
B exchanged a look with the man beside him. He then returned his attention to the ongoings outside.
The one officer who had remained behind was now pacing back and forth right along the greens of the forest. The officer had a bored look on his face and kept glancing at the cart longingly, like he wanted to hurry up and get a move on again. Something flashed in the shrubberies to the officer's right.
The angle in which that 'something' flashed was an angle that prevented the officer from noticing that 'something' but allowed those who were at the window to identify what that 'something' was: a steel baseball bat. That baseball bat swung in a high arch suddenly, colliding with the back of the officer's head with a loud resounding crack. The officer's body collapsed onto the ground and was promptly dragged back into the bushes.
Shortly after, a bright green head appeared out of the bushes followed by a red one and then a turquoise one. Those three colors rose from bushes and approached the cart cautiously. The three colors belonged to three adolescents: one male and two females. The male carried a silver bat in hand — he had probably been the one who had knocked out the officer. The female with red hair carried, with an expression of uncertainty, a slew of cards in both of her hands. The other female was completely empty handed.
"What the hell are they doing…?" asked the man sitting beside B. B shrugged in turn, keeping his eyes glued to the events unfolding outside.
The unarmed woman had stopped in place suddenly and was now placing a hand on the dirty ground while extending the other towards the cart. At first, B thought that she was just as insane as the woman from earlier. All thoughts related to this changed, however, as he saw a green and glass-like substance spread from her fingertips and onto the ground. B stared at this sight in awe.
"Woah," the man beside B shouted, gesturing to something within the cart, "look; look at that!"
B tore his gaze away from the ongoings outside using pure willpower and followed the shouting man's fingertip to the back of the cart. The back of the cart was now covered with a substance similar to the substance that had sprung from the woman's fingertips outside. Realizing this, B swiveled his head and looked out the window again.
Much to his surprise, however, the woman was no longer with the two other adolescents, although the glass-like substance she had placed on the ground was still there.
"Hey," came an unfamiliar voice at the back of the cart. B turned his head just in time to see the turquoise-haired woman from outside emerge from the glass-like substance covering the wall, "I heard that you all called for a rescue party."
A collection of shouts and screams followed shortly, courtesy of the thoroughly shocked mana-users.
"Hey!" the woman whispered harshly. "I need you guys to be quiet!" Once the bound mana-users had silenced themselves, the woman began to speak again: "The name is Gwen and my friends and I are going to get you all out of here!"
The faces of all those within the cart lit up like fireworks. Some even began to cry tears of joy, muttering numerous 'thank you's under their breaths.
"But I'm going to need the help of everyone who is in here!"
The joyous expressions immediately fell.
"None of us can use any of our mana!" the man beside B protested loudly, raising his hands up to show Gwen his cuffs. "These things are preventing us from using it!"
"What?" Gwen questioned, voice growing sharp as her eyes widened. She reached for the person nearest to her and examined their cuffs. "The Empire has found out a way to limit a mana-user's powers…?" For a moment her expression had appeared hopeful, but the epxression disappeared as quickly as it had come.
"We can't help you without our powers!" the man continued. "And we don't know to get these things off!"
There was a pause of silence and of hopelessness, and for a moment it appeared as if the woman was about to turn tail and run. However, she did the exact opposite. She walked right up to the man who had spoken and stared at him in the eyes, saying in an irritated voice:
"Your powers don't determine who the frick you are. It doesn't matter whether or not you're a mana-user! Having frickin' magic doesn't determine whether or not you'll stand up for yourself! You determine that. It's frickin' logic!"
The man gaped, slightly taken aback.
Suddenly the door to the driver's compartment swung open and five officers appeared in the room, all wearing irritable expressions:
"What the hell is the damn ruckus—
And then the five saw Gwen; their irritable expressions turned surprised and then steely.
"Damnit!" Gwen shouted as she took a step back. She glanced back at the glass-covering on the wall, before she turned on her heels and ran.
All five officers lunged at her; one in particular fell to the ground and managed to grab at her ankles, causing her to trip and fall flat on her face. Together, the five pinned her to the ground, wearing victorious grins.
"Looks like we've got us an extra mana-user!" the man on top of her grinned as he slammed bronze-cuffs over her wrists. He lowered his head and whispered into her ear: "We found your friends loitering outside and nicked them too. One of them appears to be the famous rebel 'Delinquent' — more money for us!"
The already bound mana-users watched the entire struggle motionlessly from their seats. When Gwen met their eyes, they averted their gazes. They were too ashamed of their cowardly actions.
"You're all cowards!" Gwen shouted angrily at the top of her lungs. "All of you!"
[Capital City, Military District, Principle Tower, Reception Hall - an hour later]
Izzy hummed to herself as she skipped down the dimly lit hall. She couldn't help but grin as she recalled the surprised expressions the six adolescents had given her when she had decided to let them go.
"They're so hysterical!" Izzy said loudly to herself with a shake of her ginger head.
"General Burns?" came a tentative voice.
She turned and found herself staring at a man wearing a faded blue messenger's uniform. He met her eyes and rubbed his arms nervously. She approached him quickly, watching as his tentative expression became a fearful one.
"Who told you my name?!" Izzy shouted loudly, coming to a defensive stance. "It was the organization wasn't it?" She pointed to the sky then, causing the man's expression to turn confused. "But, hear me: you'll never catch me, haha!"
"Actually," the man coughed awkwardly, digging into a satchel that hung at his side and pulling out a manilla envelope, "I have a message from Mrs. Tade; she said that it was a sketch of 'the girl'." He extended his hand outward, envelop laying lightly on his palm.
"Oh! A present from Tade?" Izzy broke out into a grin, tearing the envelope away from the man's grasp. "Yay for me!" She reached for the edge of the envelope and tore it slightly, before she paused to give the waiting man a meaningful look with a raised chin: "Hem, hem?"
"Oh, of course!" The man said, flustered; he took a quick and awkward bow and scampered off towards the exit at the end of the hall.
When she saw that he was no longer in sight, she finally followed through with her tearing movements and ripped the envelope open. She frowned suddenly in thought, before she moved to tear the entire front side of the envelope off with a maddening grin. Tearing things apart was fun afterall!
The bits and pieces of the manilla covering fluttered to the ground, and the sketched image of the suspected girl was fully revealed to the ginger General.
Now, to any ordinary person, the sketched picture seemed to portray the image of an ordinary girl with sharp and petite features and an airy kind of look in her eyes. Izzy was no ordinary person, however. So she looked on at the image with widened eyes and a slightly gaping mouth:
"Dawn?"
A/N: Two chapters in two days?! It's a Christmas miracle! Huzzah! And we've reached our technical tenth chapter! So, what did you think of this chapter? The rebels are sure in quite the predicament, aren't they? The next chapter will conclude this story arc…! ;3
Sorry if certain plotlines are moving along slowly; all of the events in this current arc are supposed to occur at the same time, so… Bluh DX.
By the way: a personal opinion question: do you guys prefer longer arcs or shorter arcs?
Reader's Choice (2 Luck Rolls):
1. A number below leads to the two gangs winning the fight against the cultists; the other leads to them losing it:
A. One
B. Two
2. A certain number below leads to the rebels escaping their predicament with the help of the mana-users, while another one leads to them being captured completely:
A. One
B. Two
Review Responses -
phoenixdragon78: :3
SuperGirlInJeans: Aw, thanks! :D.. You didn't vote again D:..
JockShipper: Oh yes the would; they'd totally pwn ass xD… (I ship jock too; no shame!)
LuhM: Awesome; I'll sprinkle a lot of it in this story just for you! xD… Much intense indeed…
Starryoak: Sh—-How did you find that out?! Was it that obvious? XD And here I thought I was being all clever and mysterious. /emo-corner.
BettyCrocker540: Okay, thanks! ;3. Wow, you got all of the Council Members right on… ;o.—wait, are you a Hunger Games fan?
firepoisonsteel: Yup, they will — especially in a latter arc. All of the characters will actually ;o.
SandraStar66: Oh man, I didn't even notice the whole nine-Trent-cult thing! xD. That would've been a hilariously disturbing plot twist… Meh, oh well. /sighs. I wish I had a friend who was into TD; most of my friends don't even watch the show anymore Dx.
Guest: Many thanks!
MostAwesomeTDFan: Why, thank ya'! I actually enjoy writing the darker paths xD; so we're kind of the same in that area. Dawn has survived this chapter, so worry not my friend! Leshawna and Anne Marie aren't your favorites? xD If I may ask, which characters are your favorites? ;O. Sorry about the whole slow storyline thing. vv. The rebels will end up reaching the broker in the next arc though, so worry not! As for the whole Bridgette and Geoff thing, the two will end up meeting the rebels at one point. /nodnod. Those two robbers are actually my favorite POV to write in xD
Karts of Sugar Rush: Yeah, I feel you, man. v.v. Wait, what?! Burromuerto?! D: Damn, I guess I have to go back and change it. /tears of blood. Yup, the Pahkitew kids are going to be in this story most likely… They're probably going to show up much later though.