Author's Note: I own nothing.
5 The Bigger Picture
Jay's tracking spell led them to what looked to be an abandoned mine. Or at least it was supposed to be abandoned. There was actually a lot of activity happening here. Two guards stood at the elevator. Kevin frowned.
"How are we supposed to get down there without being seen?" He whispered. Cooper shrugged.
"I've been working on a cloaking device but I haven't got it up and running yet." The blonde said pulling a small device out of his pocket. Jay rolled her eyes and muttered something. It was a language no one here recognized but watching what happened as she chanted had all of their eyes widening. It was as if shadows were spilling from her mouth and swallowing her whole. In moments she had vanished into the dark. The boys glanced at each other, none of them knew exactly what had happened or what to do now until both of the guards in front of the elevator dropped like rocks. They skidded down the ridge as a figure reappeared from the shadows. Jay looked no worse for the wear, but shadows still chased her breath and words as she spoke.
"You guys really aren't very good at this are you? How long have you been back in the hero game?" She directed her question at Kevin but it was Cooper who answered checking his phone.
"Three hours?" His statement sounded so much like a question that Jen rolled her eyes as Glen stepped up to one of the guards who were not as he'd hoped unconscious.
"You didn't have to kill them!" Glen hissed at his cousin who shrugged reaching down and peeling off the face of the other guard.
"They aren't human, chill boy scout." The mask came off of the same kind of alien that had been at the weapons deal. Cooper peeled of the other guards mask. They stepped aboard the elevator and Cooper hit the switch causing the elevator to descend into the mine shaft. Even Cooper swore under his breath at what was waiting for them. A large ship had been buried here and there were aliens everywhere. They ducked low and crept off the elevator as soon as it was low enough for them to hop off. They ducked behind a few crates.
"What do we do now?" Cooper asked glancing over the crate at the aliens. They hadn't been noticed yet. Glen turned to Jay.
"Can you do that shadow thing with all of us?"
"Hell no for so many reasons we do not have time to go over them all. Look, it's a complicated ritual that I don't want a garden witch anywhere near." The tone of Jay's voice told Glen that there was more to the reason and he wasn't sure that the shadows still issuing from Jay's mouth were contagious. Kevin frowned then glanced at Cooper.
"You still have that mask you peeled off the guy upstairs?" Cooper nodded pulling the mask out of the pocket of his hoodie. Kevin took it, glancing up at Jay. "You know how to program these?" He asked and Jay nodded.
"ID masks are pretty simple yeah, what do you want it to look like?"
"One of the aliens, these guys. Any chance you know what they're called?" Jay shook her head typing into the interior of the mask.
"Nah, they don't talk much, even to each other. What about the rest of us? We only have two masks." Glen answered that question pulling a hovering crate out of the tunnel they were near. The three of them climbed in and Kevin placed the mask on his face, his appearance shifting into one of the aliens. He tossed a tarp over the others and guided the cart into the ship. He kept his mouth shut and they slipped into the ship completely unnoticed.
He pulled them off to the side and once they were alone pulled the tarp off the others.
"Ok what now?" He asked as they pulled themselves out of the crate and he pulled off the mask. Jay stared at them.
"Jesus, you people didn't even have a plan! How the hell did you ever beat me?" Jay wondered aloud and shook her head rubbing her arms. It was freezing in the ship and all of their breaths were visible now though Jay's remained black like the shadows. Kevin did notice that they were more grey now than the deep obscuring black they had been outside. He wondered if it was because of the bright lights in the ship. He almost jumped when Jay snapped her fingers under his nose. "Now is not the time to zone Levin. What species is your father? Is he human?" Kevin shook his head.
"No he's an Osmosian. Why?"
"Because I need to know what I'm looking for." This time as her eyes flooded deep pink she didn't bother to reach out to show Glen what she was doing. It only took a few seconds for her to come back to herself. She shook her head. "He's not here Levin. He was, or another Osmosian was, maybe a week ago but he's not here now. Let's get out of here." Kevin shook his head.
"No. We finish the job. We need to find the weapons room and destroy the guns so they can't sell them." Cooper stepped up to a console set into the hall.
"Keep watch for a minute, I'll see if I can't find them." Cooper's eyes glowed blue and he placed his hands on the console. With his directions they made it to the weapons room. Jay slapped a hand to the wall, energy flowed from her fingers shattering the guns. Unfortunately for them it was louder than she'd thought it would be.
"We need to get out of here before they get their troops moving." Kevin pointed out. Cooper glanced over Kevin's shoulder.
"Too late." They all whirled at Cooper's words and spotted what he meant as a large group of aliens flooded into the room.