"Just call us if you need anything, alright?"
"Of course, see you guys Monday!"
Those were his final words to them that Friday evening, before the young man tucked his phone away into the pocket adorning the front of his red shirt. He started rolling himself towards the front doors of the resort. His chair having no trouble crossing the final threshold leading into the massive building, he was greeted with catchy lobby music and beautiful evening lights.
"Whoa..." The words escaping his lips as he took in the sites, "Oh, I should check in... I wonder if Eric is here yet."
Unsuspecting, he seemed a simple sixteen year old boy on summer break. Dressed in his favorite red T-Shirt, the decal of a well known movie kaiju on the front, he wore loose fitting sweatpants down below. Pale skin, brown black hair and a pair of glasses to top of the look. Though most eyes were drawn to the wheelchair the boy was bound to as he went, he hardly noticed.
"I'd like to check in." He said politely while looking up at the attendant, "Under the name Mercer."
The young woman briefly flicked through her computer screens before nodding, "Yep we've got you with a room for two on the first floor, is someone going to be joining you?"
"So Eric hasn't arrived yet," He surmised easily enough, "Yeah he's probably running a little late, but he'll know its under my name."
"Of course, here is your room key would you like any assistance getting settled in?"
But he waved her off, "I'll be alright, thank you!" Rolling his way past the desk, deeper into the building and towards the hall his room would be down. Pulling out his phone once more as he went, ringing up his friend. "Hey! Eric, I just checked in, figured you'd be here by now though."
"Yeah, sorry I guess the message didn't go through, with all those weird power surges recently..." His tone was already apologetic, "I can't make it, I know we were planning this all summer but they really need my help at the shop with how busy we've been getting."
Thomas' heart sank a bit hearing that, but knew it couldn't be helped. "Hey man its no big deal, family comes first, I'll just enjoy the prepaid room all to myself this weekend!" A smug grin coloring his features.
"Hah! Yeah don't remind me, I'll be working on rusty cars while you're relaxing at the spa."
"Well good luck, see you when I get back."
"Not if I see you first!"
Thomas was smiling as he hung up the phone, but he hadn't been paying much attention. Rolling around the corner as a row of trashcans were being pushed, they slammed into his side knocking the chair over and causing him to tumble out along with his bag. The teen wincing in pain as he struggled to push himself up, eyes darting to the cart as a shadow loomed over.
"Who the hell left a cart in the middle of-" The words his assailant hitching as he realized what had happened. "Oh shit, sorry about that!" Quickly he was by Thomas' side, helping to pull him up. He was a young man, maybe a few years older than Thomas himself, with short cut hair so blonde it was almost white. He was wearing a maintenance uniform by the looks of it with a tag on the chest that read 'Cody'. He was also frantically trying to recover the crippled boy he'd toppled. "Totally my fault, I wasn't paying attention and was going way too fast, you okay?" He could tell the young man was very concerned with getting in trouble.
But Mercer slapped his hands onto his knees, "I don't think so," Looking up at him with a deadpan expression, "I can't feel my legs!"
"You can't feel-" To say the joke didn't land was an understatement, the worker slapping his brow and shaking his head. "Dude that is so messed up," Sighing heavily, "Well, so long as your good." He seemed to lose all interest in his victim, continuing to push the cart of trash bins along.
Thomas chuckled lightly as he went about his work, "Hey I gotta have a sense of humor when fate does you dirty like this." More to himself than the other guy, before shrugging and continuing on his way. He made his way into his purchased room, closing and locking the door behind him before tossing his bag on the bed. Reaching in and sliding out his laptop.
A sly grin crossing his lips as he reached the local network centers firewall just a moment later.
"Alright... Let's see what kinda trouble we can get into tonight."
Thomas Mercer was his name, and he enjoyed putting his impressive technical and hacking skills to the test at any opportunity.
. . .
While Thomas went about his mischievous activities, his recent encounter was busy finishing up a shift. The young man he'd encountered in the hall, pushing those bins into one of the back rooms to be given replacement bags and redistributed throughout this wing of the resort. Not his job, that was for the morning crew. So once it was all said and done, he punched out and made his way out one of the back exits.
He leaned against the wall, pulling a small lighter and a single cigarette he'd been saving. Lighting the end of it up before taking a long drag, "Aaah..." Breathing out as he tried to ease his nerves, mind going back to that kid and the joke he'd made. "What a dumbass... Doesn't he realize there are people who-" He clenched his other hand a little too tightly, the cheap lighter between his fingers cracking and spilling its precious contents all over his fingers. "Ah dammit, not again."
"Suppose I can't ask you for a light then?" His head lifted at the sound of her rough voice, he met eyes with one of the female staff members. She was quite a bit older than him, likely in her forties but the young man wasn't stupid enough to ask for specifics. "Haven't you already been warned about that temper of yours?" She teased, pulling her own lighter to join him.
But he rolled his eyes, "Yeah yeah, I don't wanna hear it, today's been ass."
"Don won't give you that advance on your paycheck I take it?" She questioned, quirking an eyebrow.
"Yeah then he threatened to fire me for the bad job I do around here," He added with a shrug, "Said I wasn't worth what little they pay me."
The elder cook sighed shaking her head. "Don's an ass, been hell for your newbies since he took over from his dad, hopefully if you stick it out he'll come around and start treating you better."
But the young man scoffed, cigarette half finished between his lips. "Don't think that's gonna happen."
"Uh oh," She crossed her arms, "What did you do?"
Before replying, he took one final drag from his cigarette before tossing it into the nearby bin. "Told him today was my last day, then when he was out of his office I dumped a whole floors worth of trash bins in there." Before he pulled off his resort vest, tossing it in the trash as well. "See you around Jenny, take care of yourself." Before walking off into the night, a jobless teen once more.
"Yeah... You too kid."
His name was Cody Rhodes, a nineteen year old fresh on the run from his home.
Often considered a thug, a punk, often before anyone ever actually spoke to him.
He was jaded, and maybe a little abrasive.
And that was all anyone could see.
. . .
Meanwhile
A few blocks from the resort...
She was young, couldn't have been more than eighteen, her skin light brown and her hair mostly light brown with a purple streak dyed into the left side, bound back in a long ponytail. Walking along with her hands stuffed into the pockets of her black jacket. Her eyes more focused on the ground as she went, downcast as her heart swirled with ill emotions. She didn't know where she was going, or what she'd do when she got there, she just wanted to get away from them.
The noise, the yelling, the arguing, she didn't want to hear any of it. So when they started, she'd grab her things and go for a walk, regardless of the time of night. Anything to shut it all out.
"Hmm?" She stopped beneath a street lamp as her phone vibrated within her pocket. Pulling it out, her eyes narrowed as she saw his name on the screen. Sighing heavily, hoping this meant they were finished. "Hey dad." She said upon answering it, "I was just-"
"Why did I have to find out from your school that you almost failed your final exams?!" She pulled the phone from her ear, wincing at his shouting. "You get back here right now so we can have a talk about your summer plans!"
Plans? She didn't have any of those, "Right, sorry, on my way back..." No strength in her to do anything other than passively agree.
*click*
She stared at the device in her hand, wanting to throw it out into the street and forget all about it.
But she didn't have that kind of spark left in her.
Her name was Madison Morales, a girl from a broken home with no real future ahead of her.
Mediocre grades, both academically and athletically she was never more than average.
She was wholly unremarkable.
But she was a gentle soul.
. . .
An unfamiliar pair of eyes glanced over the downtrodden teen and her bench as he walked by. The boy barely even noticing he was staring at her as he passed. His thoughts preoccupied with his next session. He eyes sharp, focused and alert at all times, a byproduct of his training. The long duffle bag he carried rattling with equipment within.
He was Asian-American, with shoulder length black hair he kept tied back tightly to keep it from his eyes. He wore denim jeans and a plain white t-shirt up top. No point in bringing anything fancy to a tournament aside from his gear. But the brackets had come and gone, his trophy won and his sweat dried from his brow. The fit young man was on his way home to celebrate with his family.
But he was unfamiliar with this side of the city, and made a wrong turn without meaning to. Before it knew it, the young man had entered a rather dark alley.
Realizing his mistake, he turned to leave only to lock eyes with a hooded man standing in the entrance to the alley. He was just beyond the street lamps, keeping him hidden from the outside world but the teen could tell by his pale fingers gripping that knife, he was looking for trouble.
"Hey there kid," He kept his voice low but it was still deep and gravely. "I'm in a bit of a bind, got any cash on you?"
He shifted his stance ever so slowly, rolling his duffle bag of his shoulder. "No, but if you'd like to accompany me I could buy you a meal with my card." There was no sarcasm or deceit in his words, though the firm tone did not offer kindness either.
Earning a short laugh from the older man, "You're pretty funny kid, why don't you just leave your wallet and that bag on the ground and I'll let you walk, I'd hate to cut up your pretty face." Flashing that knife between his hands, he held it in a way that indicated he did indeed know how to use it.
"Not much value in the bag," He answered, slowly unzipping the bottom end just enough to slip a hand inside. "Just wood." Fingers wrapping around something within, a feeling he'd recognize after so many hours of practice. "Walk away, or accept my offer, I do not want to hurt you." His eyes darting the cracks in the alley pavement between them, measuring the distance between them.
"You smug little bastard," His patients had reached their limits, and he began to advance one step at a time. "Give me the fucking bag before I-"
The moment he crossed the line drawn in his mind, the young man moved. In one fluid motion, he stepped forward while drawing a long wooden shaft from his bag. One swing, he slapped the end of it against his assailant's wrist, making his yelp in pain like a dog while knocking the knife from his hand. Before the would-be criminal could recoil, his "victim" stepped into it, turning the wooden weapon around in his hand before slamming the bottom of its hilt into his gut to knock the wind out of this vagrant.
He crumpled to the ground, gasping for breath and coughing roughly as he held his wrist, "Wh-What the fuck is wrong with you!?" He demanded, eyes darting to his fallen knife before it was kicked away. "You carry around a wooden sword!? You walking stereotype!"
But the teen narrowed his eyes sharply at that before smacking him across the face with his wooden weapon making the thug fall back holding his face and writhing in pain. "It's a kendo stick, it'll just sting for awhile, maybe leave a welt, you'll be fine." He said simply, walking over and picking up the knife. "Clean yourself up and do better, you're above this."
Before he walked free from the alley, throwing his assailants knife in the nearest trash bin as he went.
His name was Kai Sarata, an eighteen year old boy of Japanese descent.
He was considered by any who knew him, as a prodigy.
Both Academically, and athletically, with a natural aptitude for the sport of traditional kendo dueling.
His future was laid out before him, and he marched endlessly upon a path others chose for him.
And he knew not any way to stray from such a path...
. . .
While others, people who were maybe considered normal if a little dysfunctional, went about their lives. A rather unique pair watched over the world from on high, a young woman with ebony skin staring out over the city through a pair of binoculars. Her curly silver hair rolled down her shoulders, over the sides of her hoodie. She had a trained, athletic build.
"I'm still not seeing anything," She said, pulling away the binoculars to reveal her golden irises. "But you're sure this is the right place?" Turning and looking up to meet eyes with her companion.
Sharp emerald eyes met her own, face guarded by both a golden half-mask that gave the visage of a hawk, and the red hood hanging over her head. While four golden wings were folded down behind her, otherwise she looked almost human aside from her strange outfit. The golden plate metal brazier over her chest, and the red and golden skirt hanging from her waist. On her hip was sheathed a long white steel blade, and in her hand was a scepter with an emerald embedded in the winged egg on its top.
"Indeed, the energy I sense is boiling beneath the surface." She replied with a nod, "There will be a breach event, maybe multiple... It may not be safe for you here, Sam."
"No going back now is there, Darcmon?" She scoffed, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. Focusing her senses, "No... You're right, I can feel... Something." Before a ping echoed from her pocket, she reached inside quickly and pulled out the white and gold digivice within. "Whoa the D-Tector just lit up! It's picking up one- no two! Wait, three? Four!?" She exclaimed, seeing the red dots appearing across the digital map on its small screen. "We've got four breaches! Get Ready Darcmon this could be bad!"
The angelic creature drew her blade, "I am always ready."
While one prepares for battle
The others have their attentions pulled by their phones, each one ringing to life unannounced.
Not a call, or a text message.
Just a single voice, muddled with static.
One by one they hear the question.
"Are you ready?"
In that moment, their lives would change forever.