A/N: Here's the first chapter! :D
Thank you to WinterFairy7337 & Anne for taking time out of their busy schedules to beta.
I do not own Austin & Ally.
"You're taking forever, Trish!"
The dark-haired Latina scowled at her partner. "Don't rush me. Perfection takes time," she said as she swiped a light layer of translucent shimmering powder across an eyelid.
The blond huffed and slouched back into the couch, wrinkling his suit in the process. "We're just going to work. What's the point of dressing up? Besides, you're already pretty enough."
"Aww, that's so sweet, Austin. But it ain't making me go any faster. I want to make a good impression!"
Austin laughed at his partner's silliness before sighing.
"What's wrong?" Trish asked as she fixed her hair.
"Do you know anything about this alternate universe thing that we are assigned to? It just all seems so weird. I mean, can you imagine a colourless world where blood red is actually documented as blood black?" Austin had taken a brief look at the files given to them by their director and he was sceptical about this strange phenomenon. Apparently this small hidden city had been strangely unrecorded on any known map and the recent breach by a little girl and her older brother had caused quite a ruckus when the city was revealed to the rest of the world.
"Not really, but it seems that they have existed for as long as we have; they apparently have the same exact history as us except they have been under the impression that everything outside their city was just as entirely colourless as they are. For example, their small LGBT community uses seven shades of grey instead of rainbow colours. I'm actually quite excited! Aren't you glad we were chosen to helm this project?"
Austin returned a smirk. "I suppose it's rather exciting to be taking the lead on the world's biggest news right now. Our colourless counterparts are probably just as excited as we are."
'I was so wrong,' thought Austin, when he and Trish came face to face with their colourless counterparts at the border of the city of Inritus. (Oddly enough, the city's name was the Latin term for "void".) Suffice to say, their counterparts would appear to be the opposite of excited. Solemn, he would say.
"Agents Moon and De la Rosa?" the female of the two spoke up. She had pretty looking eyes and seemingly flawless skin but Austin couldn't be sure since she was...well, colourless.
"Call us Austin and Trish," he replied with a smile, which was not returned.
"If you say so. You may call us Agents Wade and Dawson," the male of the two replied. He was slightly taller than Austin.
"Er, okay. Well, at least you guys aren't panicking like when your first agents found out about colours!" Austin said, putting on a cheery tone. His quip met with stony silence.
"Well, Agents, shall we begin the tour then?" Trish broke the awkward tension as she and Austin stepped over the border and entered the colourless world.
They felt as if there was a heavy blanket of melancholy pressed onto them, almost like a settling fog, as they walked around the city. Everyone stared at them with a mixture of neutrality, seriousness and curiosity. Most carried frowns on their faces, most likely displaying disapproval, Austin reckoned. Thank goodness the both of them were wearing their black pant suits although Austin's tuft of golden hair was still striking nonetheless. And Trish's shimmering eye shadows, though nude, made her stand out like a peacock.
"How interesting."
Austin looked down to see two little boys staring up at him with stony, wide eyes.
"S'up kids?" Austin winked at them. The two had no reaction. 'Awkward and a little creepy...they almost seem right out of a horror movie,' thought the blonde agent.
"Can we touch?" One of the boys piped up softly.
"Sure," Austin smiled and they seemed slightly surprised at his smile. He bent down and the two gingerly ran their fingers through his hair.
"It feels the same, just...very bright," observed the other boy seriously.
"Shall we move on?" Austin turned to see Agent Dawson waiting for him.
"Just cross the freaking line, Freckles," said Trish crossly.
Agent Wade frowned at Trish, unsure if he was more offended by the nickname or her tone of voice.
Agents Wade and Dawson were both hesitating at the line, not wanting to step into the strange, bright world. After all, it was their turn to take a walk in that outside world.
"It'll be alright," Austin grinned at Agent Dawson and she strangely felt at ease at the sight. She tentatively took a step across...Nothing happened. Trish rolled her eyes.
Both she and Agent Wade then crossed over together, seeing that nothing would happen. The lifting of the melancholic effects on them escaped the duo's notice.
Pretty much the same thing happened to the two from Inritus as it did Austin and Trish. Everyone spared them a glance for being completely black and white although it was less odd here considering that they had something called "goth" here, according to a little girl anyway.
"We have goth, too," Agent Wade had replied to the girl.
"Yeah, but red blood and silver piercings are more dramatic."
"I'm not sure if you're still referring to the Goth culture, but I assure you that black blood and piercings are equally, if not more, scary looking," added Agent Dawson.
The girl gave it a thought, as did Agents Austin and Trish. Huh, that actually made sense.
"Well, I hope you guys had fun," smiled Trish. "Nothing, huh?" She added a beat later when they had no response.
"It was interesting to see so many...colours coming together. But it can get rather glaring and irritating on the eyes after some time," replied Agent Dawson.
"Well, I guess. But a colourful life gives you more unexpected surprises."
"I don't like surprises."
"You might be surprised," said Austin, adding a wink, which was ignored.
"Well, we'll see you guys tomorrow for some integration events for citizens who have signed up, yes?" Trish smiled.
"Yes, we'll see the both of you again tomorrow." Agent Wade nodded his head in farewell as he and Agent Dawson crossed back into their world, got into their grey car and drove off.
"Well. Tomorrow promises to be loads of fun," said Austin sardonically as Trish sighed.
"So, what kind of events have you planned for today?" Agent Dawson asked Trish.
"Dancing!" Agent Dawson's expression, if possible, got stonier at Austin's input.
"Ballroom dancing?" questioned Agent Wade.
"Uh, no. How's stuff like tangoing going to integrate the people together? Then again...I wouldn't mind having some flamenco fun with Agent Dawson here." Austin smirked flirtatiously at said girl who pointedly ignored him.
"What kind of dance will everyone be doing?" Agent Wade asked again.
"The chicken dance!" Austin grinned as Trish rolled her eyes. "For the record, Austin here planned this, not me."
"Hey! It was a team effort!"
"Not right now it isn't."
"The...chicken dance?" asked Agents Wade and Dawson in unison.
Austin pursed his lips together and twitched his nose in an attempt to hold in his laughter as he watched Agents Wade and Dawson, along with several dozens of colourless people attempt to do the chicken dance along with other, he called themselves the "normals".
"Don't even," sighed Agent Dawson as Austin stole another glance at her and snuffled a giggle as she monotonously followed the moves of the dance and shot him a tired look.
She scowled at him as he started mimicking her actions. He looked ridiculous. Did she look like this too? She felt something stirring in her that made her want to...what was that word...laugh? No, it couldn't possibly be...
"You're doing extraordinarily well," remarked Trish as Agent Wade flapped his arms and squatted in sync with the tune. Of course, he was doing all of this expressionlessly which made the whole thing more hilarious in Trish's eyes.
"Not sure if I should be thanking you or be mad at you." Agent Wade scowled.
Trish shrugged as a smirk appeared on her face. "You look cute doing it." She added a wink.
Agent Wade felt his cheeks heating up and was thankful that he wouldn't turn red like the 'Colours' which he calls them.
"This is revenge for the dancing, isn't it?" commented Austin as he stared at the table before them.
Agent Dawson raised a brow. "Why would you think that?" she asked honestly.
"Whatever it is, I'm not going to cut this...thing...up." Trish poked lightly at the mess of…uh, mess… with her scalpel.
"Dissections are greatly informative in the study of animals and also allows for sharing of information thus creating a topic of discussion for everyone to converse on," explained Agent Dawson. "I even prepared only roadkill animals for dissection so that no innocent creatures would be harmed for this event."
"Yes...that may be...but..." Austin trailed off as he glanced back down at the roadkill between him and Trish. The poor thing must have been mangled by a vehicle no less larger than a six-wheeler, judging by the state of it, and Austin pushed the thought out of his mind before he felt the urge to throw up.
"So you agree?"
"Um..."
"Well then, get on with it," said Agent Dawson as she walked off to instruct Agent Wade to sit down for he tended to be careless in offal removal.
Trish winced and shoved the entire 'plate' to Austin who grimaced at the sight.
"I'm about to chant a few praise be the lords for the dissections finally being over." Trish breathed a sigh of relief.
"It wasn't that bad," Agent Dawson pouted slightly.
Trish's only response was to stare at her for a moment before looking coolly in the direction of Austin who was still dry heaving into the bushes.
"Your chicken dance was weird too!" exclaimed Agent Dawson. "Sheesh, no one can appreciate genius when they encounter it."
"I think we can agree to disagree on our choice of events." Austin finally felt well enough to return without emptying his stomach's contents.
"Anyway, we have a long day ahead tomorrow. We're going to go into the world, of fashion," said Trish with a flourish of her arms.
"Why is it going to be a long day?" Agent Wade asked sceptically, a little worried about what the Colours had planned.
"Hmm? Oh, er..." Trish glanced quickly at the colourless agents' clothes. "I'm sure we'll have fun. Or at least, try to."
All four agents sighed at the same time.
- end -
A/N: I hope the humour doesn't seem too forced! Oh well. :D Next chapter promises to have more funny acts. Oh! And let me know if you have any queries about the background of Inritus! (:
Inritus is a city of void, where no one laughs, cries or get angry. They don't express emotions and comedies are 'banned' in their city. XD Don't ask why, they just are. They are also serious, proper, and somewhat rigid.