-130-
There was a quiet hum in the air as two cloaked figures knelt down on one knee, bowing their heads low before a man whose body and face were completely obscured by dark shadows.
"Ah! Lord Cyan and Grand Commander Argus," said a raspy voice with delight, "Welcome back my friends. I take it you were each quite successful on your exploits?"
"Indeed we were," replied Cyan with a nod of is head.
"Nothing to report but good news, sire," said Argus respectfully. The shadowed man laughed in a pleasant, yet equally unnerving manner as he took a few steps out of the shadows, with only his shiny black shoes coming into view.
"Who wishes to inform me of their success, first?" asked the hidden man, his face impossible to see in the shadows.
"Grand Commander," said Cyan, glancing over his right shoulder, "You may start with your report."
"Thank you, Lord Cyan," said Argus as he looked up at his great leader, "My reconnaissance team was successful in finding an adequate location for our next planned facility in Alakaz."
"Good, good," said the man, an unseen grin spreading over his face, "That location will give us an excellent position to launch scouting missions into the Gardev Mountains."
"If you don't mind me interrupting, my lord," said Argus, "My team also made an astounding discovery."
"I do enjoy surprises," laughed the hidden figure, "So, what did my new Grand Commander find underneath Alakaz?"
"We found the ruins of a gigantic city over 200 feet underneath the lowest levels of the city," reported the Grand Commander happily, "Our experts can't find anything about this underground city in any of the records we currently posses. What's even better is that hundreds of small artifacts of unknown origin were unearthed. We had practically every expert in the field of archeology look over some of the artifacts and none of them could give us any answers. From what my team and I can gather, we have unearthed the remains of an undiscovered civilization."
"Marvelous!" said the man with delighted laughter, "I take it that no one besides our operatives and those few archeologists you spoke to know of this find?"
"I am afraid not, sire," said Argus with fear, "It is my displeasure to report that most of the civilized world is now aware of the underground city and what was unearthed down there. The good news is that the artifacts are still in our care."
"And the bad news?" asked the shadowed figure.
"The artifacts will have to remain in a number of museums in Alakaz for the time being," replied Argus, "Scientists from all over the world want to study them. I already have plans in place to stage a massive theft of all the objects. With the museums and their staff under our control, doing such an operation will be very easy as well as convincing to the general public."
"Have you interacted with anyone yourself?" asked the hidden man with slight anger in his voice.
"No, my liege," answered Argus politely and calmly, "Only my front men have any dealings with the outside world at this time. The planned 'Robberies' are staged two weeks from now. Everything is in place and ready. No one will ever know that we're the ones behind the excavation and the pseudo-theft of the artifacts from the museums."
"But what of the proposed underground base?" demanded the shadowed figure, "It may very well have been a stroke of bad luck to find that civilization! We'll never be able to build our facility under Alakaz now, not with loads of diggers and scientists who will descend on the city to explore, drill and dig to prospect for more ruins!"
"Sire," said Argus, hoping to reassure his leader, "Our experts analyzed a few of the artifacts: there is a strange power about them that we don't yet understand. Not to mention a language that none of us can read." The shadowed figure paced back and forth for several minutes while Cyan and Argus remained silent.
"What do you make of this, my lord?" asked Cyan.
"I don't know what to think, to be completely honest, Lord Cyan," said the intrigued Team Shadow leader, "Still, there is a chance that whatever lay in those underground ruins may prove useful to my bigger plans. We may not be able to set up a facility in Alakaz now, but what was discovered there may prove to be more useful than we can possibly imagine."
"I'm sorry if I have failed you, master," said the Grand Commander as he bowed his head low with shame.
"On the contrary!" said the man triumphantly as he stepped out of the shadows and walked towards his faithful, groveling officer, "Anything of immense power is always a great help to us. I wouldn't get my hopes up, but we may very well be able to use whatever arcane power resides in those artifacts. Believe me, we are going to need all the help we can get if we ever want to be able to stand up to the Guardians of Gardev and win." Lord Cyan and Grand Commander Argus looked up at their leader out of curiosity as none of them had ever seen his face before. The two cloaked figures gasped, absolutely astonished at what they saw. Their leader was a 6-foot tall man in his mid 80s. He had short, silvery hair and was wearing a dark blue, pinstripe suit with a pair of black dress shoes to complete his classy outfit.
"I know who you are!" said Cyan with amazement, "Why, you're Gregory Allens: a senator of the Gardev Region!"
"You are correct, my friend," said Gregory with a sinister smile on his face. There was an eerie, faint red glow to his eyes.
"Then that means…" said Argus with shock.
"Indeed," interrupted Gregory, "I'm the highest-ranking senator in the Gardev Region, not to mention the leader of our organization, Team Shadow. For decades I've worked hard to manipulate the laws of the land while maintaining a very lucrative electronics company, Allens Corp."
"Does anyone else know who you are, my liege?" asked Cyan.
"No," said Gregory as he stepped back into the shadows, "And no one else may know until the proper time. I trust you both with this secret. If you tell another soul about my identity, I will have no choice but to exterminate the perpetrator."
"Your word is law, your highness!" said Cyan and Argus as they bowed down before their leader.
"Very good," said Gregory, clapping his hands together once, the sound echoing in the large, dimly-lit room, "Believe me, the only ones who have ever seen my power have only known about it for mere minutes before their demise." Cyan and Argus said nothing as Gregory sat down in his throne, completely unseen and covered by shadows.
"So we'll have to find another location for our Gardev facility;" said Gregory, "So be it. We have all the time in the world before we set our plans in motion. Grand Commander Argus, you have done well… very well indeed. You handled the discovery of those ruins and artifacts with great excellence."
"Thank you sir!" said Argus with pride.
"Lord Cyan," said Gregory with glee, "Time and again you have proven your skills and undying loyalty to me. Argus was indeed a perfect choice for Grand Commander."
"I am honored to serve you, sire," said Cyan with utmost respect as he again bowed towards his leader.
"Well done, Grand Commander," said Gregory again as he turned his gaze upon Cyan, "So, Lord Cyan… what do you have to report?"
"I have splendid news as well, my liege," said Cyan as he stood up straight, "Our scientists and engineers have put the finishing touches in the Golden Room, sire. We can begin 'Augmenting' our troops and officers at your command."
"Ah! That is wonderful news as well!" said Gregory with joy.
"There is only one problem…" said Cyan hesitantly as he took a deep breath, "My liege, it is with great grief and regret that I say this, but you are too old and weak to ever venture there… our researches are completely convinced that anyone as advanced in years as you are would not survive."
"I was prepared for that," said Gregory, "I already know that I will not live to see my plans come to fruition. That will be a job for my great-great grandson when he comes of age."
"Very good then, sir," said Cyan with relief.
"It pains me to know that you will not be there with us to celebrate your victory, sire," said Argus with a heavy sigh.
"Oh, in a way, I'll always be with you," said Gregory with an evil smile on his face as the almost unnoticeable red light from his eyes shone faintly through the darkness, "Always…"
-131-
The roar of motorcycles shattered the tranquil silence of the forest as six colorful bikers went flying down a dirt road. The Hexagon Brothers were enjoying the fast ride through the dense, northern forests of the Gardev Mountain Range on the flying motorcycles. They flew the S-12s low to the ground, trying not to draw much attention to themselves as they followed the pothole-infested dirt road through the woods. They sported motorcycle helmets with mirrored visors, fancy suits, and flight gauntlets: all of which were the favorite color of each brother. In addition to all this, they wore a scarf of their favorite color around their necks and a black leather jacket over their suit coats. A small radio and headset, hidden underneath their helmets, allowed them to speak with one another.
"I'll say this much:" said Resix, leading his five brothers through the woods, "If Mack had not let us borrow these hovercycles and showed us how to use them, I don't think we would ever be able to get to this… Alfred's estate."
"Not without a souped-up four by four, anyway!" laughed Blusix, following right behind Resix, "This road is in horrible condition! It was bad when we first got onto it after leaving the mountain highway and it has been bad for the last 40 miles!"
"You don't need to shout, brother," said Greesix calmly, "We can all hear you quite clearly. I agree: this road is the pits!"
"Good thing we're flying over it!" said Browsix with glee, "Otherwise, if we were using a wheeled vehicle, like a car or truck, we'd get bounced and thrown about like a tossed salad from all these bumps and potholes!"
"Now that I think about it, I wonder how Alfred gets supplies all the way out here," remarked a curious Yellosix, "I wouldn't want to drive down this miserable goat trail, even if you paid me a few thousand dollars!"
"Isn't Alfred supposed to be a rich man?" asked Purpsix.
"He is," said Resix as he flew around a curve in the road at top speed with his brother following close behind, "Although no one has mentioned how he got all his wealth. Still, with several million dollars, getting food and other things would be rather simple. I mean, with that kind of dough, you could hire a helicopter to bring in your groceries every week."
"I know I asked this question 20 miles ago, but…" said Yellosix sheepishly, "Are we there yet?"
"We shouldn't have to drive much further," said Resix, "Doesn't someone have the map?"
"Oops…" said Purpsix with nervous laughter over the radio.
"Oh, no…" said Greesix with a heavy sigh.
"Not again…" grumbled Blusix with despair.
"Okay… who was the nimrod that gave Purpsix the map?" thundered Resix with rage, "He loses everything!"
"You did, sir…" replied Purpsix weakly.
"And why didn't you stop me from giving you something so important?" asked Resix with hit anger.
"Because when I started to speak up, you ordered me not to talk back?" was Purpsix's fearful reply.
"Now, now, brothers!" interrupted Browsix, "Let's keep our cool and not get into another meaningless fight." There was silence over the airwaves.
"Very good," said Browsix as he pulled his Hovercycle up next to Purpsix's and gazed at his brother, "Tell me, Purpsix, when was the last time you saw the map?"
"About 30 miles ago…" said Purpsix, his head hung low with shame. Browsix nodded his head while he heard Resix growl angrily over the radio.
"And why didn't you tell anyone?" asked Browsix calmly, "We could have pulled over, stopped and recovered the map." Purpsix took a deep breath.
"Because a Spearow grabbed the map and then took off into the forest with it," was Purpsix's quiet answer.
"Now that I think about it…" said Resix, his anger slowly fading away, "If this is the only road we need to take all the way to the estate, how could we possibly get lost if this is really the only road that leads up here?" Again, no one spoke for awhile.
"I think you owe Purpsix an apology?" suggested Blusix.
"Yeah… I'm sorry about that, Purpsix… can you forgive me, dear brother?" asked Resix with remorse.
"Of course I forgive you!" laughed Purpsix, "Man! It's a good thing I didn't tell you about losing our only GPS unit!"
"SAY WHAT?" screamed Resix over the radio. His brothers nearly lost control of their hovercycles as the deafening yelling from their leader gave them all throbbing headaches in an instant. The other five brothers quickly regained control as silence again overtook the radios for several awkward moments.
"Let me guess…" said Resix quietly and with despair, "I told Purpsix to hold onto the GPS unit, didn't I?"
"Yes!" was an irritated Purpsix, Greesix, Blusix, Yellosix and Browsix's reply in unison. For the rest of the trip, the six bothers said not a word to each other. After another hour of flying, they finally came upon Alfred's manor, deep in the recesses of the sprawling mountain forest. The mansion looked a lot like Warren's back in Gardev, except the paint was peeling off the walls, the landscaping looked like it had not been done in decades and the window shutters were falling off of their hinges. Resix and his brothers brought their S-12 hovercycles to a gentle stop at the end of the driveway. They shut down the engines and while the hovercycles gently set down on the ground, an eerie silence overtook the forest clearing. The Hexagon Brothers quickly dismounted the S-12s and surveyed the scene about them. The front lawn had broken tennis rackets, bent golf clubs, flat soccer balls, unraveling baseballs and a myriad of other worn-out sports equipment strewn all about with pieces of almost any kind of garbage they could imagine.
"Are you guys sure this is the right place?" asked a bewildered Blusix, "Maybe we took a wrong turn? Yeah! We took a wrong turn on a road… a road with no… intersections… of any kind…""
"I can't imagine anyone who would both be rich and live in a dump like this!" said Purpsix with disgust.
"Well, now I can see why Alfred was asking his two brothers for help with his estate," said Yellosix with a nod as he kicked away a deflated football.
"This place is a nightmare!" remarked Browsix.
"I'm almost afraid to find out what the place looks like from the INSIDE!" said Greesix, shuddering uncontrollably.
"We certainly can't stand around all day long doing nothing," said Resix to his identical brothers, "May as well knock on the front door as see who answers."
"What if no one is home?" asked Purpsix as he and the rest of his siblings slowly made their way to the front door.
"Just keep your flight gauntlets, jackets and scarves on," said Resix, "Just in case we have to get out of here in a hurry." Yellosix took a deep breath.
"You think this place might be haunted?" asked a fearful Yellosix. His brother looked at him as if he was crazy.
"Why would Warren and John send us off to clean a haunted house?" demanded an irritated Resix.
"Maybe Warren and the rest of them think they can't trust us," suggested Yellosix with growing fear, "So they sent us here to get devoured by horrible monsters!"
"I guess Warren and John must go through a lot of butlers, then!" laughed Resix. Just as he and his brothers were halfway to the front door, the twin doors burst open, revealing a man who looked a lot like Warren and John, but he was bald. In one arm, the angered man was brandishing a shotgun while he waved around a golf club in the other.
"Who are you?" demanded the man with intense anger, "You losers here to rob me, eh? Well, I can assure the lot of you that you won't be leaving here alive unless you turn around and get your Technicolor butts off my property this instant!"
"Wait!" shouted Resix with shock as he and his siblings quickly held their hands up in the air, "We're the butlers that you asked Warren and John to send to you! You're Alfred, right?" In an instant, the man's angered expression turned to one of peace, gentleness and slight embarrassment.
"Oh?" said the man as he lowered his 12-guage and nine iron, "Warren sent you blokes all the way out here?"
"That's true!" said Resix fearfully, hoping to not agitate the old man any further, "We see that your place needs a lot of work indeed, so that's what we're here for!"
"You can stand at ease now," said the man as he dropped the rusted golf club and started to empty the shells from his shotgun onto the ground, "By the way, my name is Alfred: Alfred Allens to be precise."
"I'm Resix. Nice to meet you," said a relieved Resix as he pointed at each of his brothers and spoke their names, "This is Blusix, Greesix, Purpsix, Yellosix and Browsix."
"Strange names for a bunch of young men like yourselves," remarked a baffled Alfred, "And why don't you take off those helmets now so I can see your faces?"
"Um…" said Resix nervously, "We'd rather not." Alfred shrugged his shoulders as he tossed the empty gun over his back and through the open front doors of the dirty mansion.
"I can't really complain about one's quirks," laughed Alfred, "Why, just look at me! My brothers think I've gone completely bonkers! All I do now is practice all kinds of sports and I hope to one day participate in the Olympics!"
"Isn't that kind of hard to do on your own?" asked a perplexed Resix, his head cocked to the left, "Especially since you seem quite interested in… team sports?"
"Yeah… I have been noticing that problem for some time now," said Alfred as he scratched his chin with his left hand, "I hope to find a solution to that hurdle one of these days."
"This guy IS a loony!" whispered Purpsix to his brothers.
"I heard that!" laughed Alfred as he walked up to the six thoroughly confused sextuplets, "Yes! I probably am crazy and you six jokers must have drawn the short straw to end up all the way out here, am I right?" Resix and his brothers said nothing as they glanced nervously at each other.
"I knew it!" said Alfred, laughing up a storm as he turned around and motioned for the young men to follow him, "Now, how about you guys come in and have some lemonade and sandwiches? I have a mountain of problems that need solved!"
"If you don't mind me saying so," said Blusix as he and his siblings followed the unhinged millionaire into his mansion, "It looks like no one has worked on this house in ages."
"You're correct!" laughed Alfred, "For some reason, no contractors or vendors want to come up here at all. Maybe it's the long drive or that horrid road you have to navigate all the way up here to the middle of nowhere. You don't think I'm crazy enough to scare everyone away do you?"
"I hope not…" murmured Purpsix with a loud gulp.
"Good answer!" laughed Alfred, "I hope you guys are good plumbers, landscapers, electricians and whatnot! The wiring in the entire mansion may need replaced for all I know!"
"Why is there a golf kart in your closet?" asked Yellosix with utter astonishment. Again, Alfred laughed.
"Oh, that old thing?" chuckled Alfred, "I tried to drive it through that doorway five years ago and it got stuck there! I asked for the store I bought it from to send a technician out here to help, but they wouldn't believe that I drove it into my house and then got it jammed in a doorway! Sheesh! The nerve of some people! I paid good money for that piece of junk!"
"We'll certainly do our best to help," said Resix nervously.
"See that you do," said Alfred with a slightly unnerving smile on his face, "Otherwise, you'll have to face the consequences."
"Like what?" asked an uneasy Yellosix.
"You don't want to know!" cackled Alfred, "Then again, maybe you do! Let's just say it involves the basement bathroom. The toilet backed up a decade ago and no one would come out here to fix it! Every time I flush a toilet in here, all the gunk and stuff winds up in that one room. Now, surely YOU don't want to have to be the poor soul to sort that mess out, do you?" The Hexagon brothers said nothing, once again.
"Excellent! I like your style!" said Alfred with yet more laughter, "Talk is cheap and business is business! All you guys have to do is clean up my estate from the lawn to the attic and I'll shower you with money!"
"Better not be play money!" laughed Greesix.
"Rats! You saw right through my trick didn't you?" said Alfred with fear, turning around fast to face the six brothers. Yet again, Alfred broke out into fits of laughter.
"Of course I'm not going to pay you in play money!" said Alfred, laughing so hard his face was turning red, "I don't have a single copy of Monopoly in this house! You've got nothing to fear, my boys, but if you try anything funny, I'll have no choice but to make you face… the 'Bathroom'!"
"Where do we get started?" asked Blusix, hoping to change the subject of the conversation.
"Just look around! Use your eyes!" laughed Alfred once again, "It should be quite obvious what needs to be done!" With stains all over the floors, walls, carpet and ceiling, random rubbish everywhere, piles of dust on everything and cobwebs in every nook and cranny, the job at hand was both easy to spot and herculean in its monstrous scope.
"And don't worry about me! I'm quite harmless!" said Alfred with glee, "Well, at least that's what my last doctor said a few decades ago, although he did say something about taking it easy on the sugar and caffeine for awhile." For the rest of the day, the Hexagon Brothers said very little to each other as they began the massive cleanup. They certainly had their work cut out for them and they all knew that it would very well take weeks to get everything in order again. Alfred, on the other hand, despite the willingness and eagerness of his new servants, was still very suspicious of the Hexagon BrothersHexagon.
"I ask Warren and John to lend me some of their staff for a few weeks, and what do they send me…?" thought Alfred with dismay as he observed the colorful motorcycle gang, working hard and quickly to clean up his massive house, "…Hell's Butlers…"
-The End…-
-To Be Continued in Chapter #4- Twilight Below…-