Part Two- Welcome to Your New Home
The scent of rain… It lingered in the air. There was a loud sound, like a massive amount of water hitting the ground.
"Sorry guys. Weak stomach y'know?" said Kane, wiping his mouth.
"At least you took care of it. So where are we?" said Rayzer.
It was a cloudy evening in the middle of the alley. Surrounded by two big brick walls, this didn't seem like the place that Kane had in mind.
"By the looks of it, we're in New York," said Umi.
"How did we end up in New- freaking- York?!" shouted Rayzer.
"Musta been the Shadow. Thought it woulda transported us to somewhere a bit more… Medieval," said Kane.
"Well if we're in New York then I guess we should go and call our folks. They have got to worried about us," said Umi.
The three followed the alley way to an open street. They didn't get a chance to look down it, as a feminine figure on a Ducati 998R. The racing bike had a web pattern across it and a red hourglass on the gas tank. The female kicked the stand out and walked toward Umi, Rayzer, and Kane in a leisurely sway. One could see her leather jacket, bright orange, shirt with red lettering, black low rider jeans, the edges of a thong poking out on her hips, and a large square of medical gauze on her left hip. The only visible part of her skin was her midriff, which had an oddly dusky tone to it. She took off her helmet and the trio got a good look at her face. The same dusky skin, pointed ears, shoulder length yellow hair with white roots poking out, and red eyes.
"Back off Drow! You're not gettin' your grubby hands on any of my friends!" shouted Kane, revealing his deformed arm.
"Whoa, hold on there new guy!" replied the girl. "I have no idea where you're from, but you seem to be a bit disoriented. Now put the arm away and let's talk like civilized beings."
Kane slipped his arm back into the cloak and stepped aside.
"So you three just got here right? You all reek of Shadow," she said holding her nose.
"Umm yeah. About that, who are you and what the hell is going on here?" said Umi in the most polite way possible.
"Me? Name's Maddie Webber. You guys must've gotten caught in some Shadow and ended up here. Almost every thing it comes in contact with does."
"Look Drow girl, Just because you seem nice doesn't mean you really are. I want information. And I want it now," said Kane.
"Look Cloaky, you had better back off, or you might end up with some serious lead in your chest cavity," replied Maddie.
"It looks like these two are going to be the best of friends," said Umi to Rayzer.
"Yeah. Let's break them up before one of them kills the other," said Rayzer.
"So Maddie, is there any way for us to get back to where we came from?" said Umi.
"No idea. I don't know a thing about Shadow except for that it stinks and it brings people to this world." said Maddie, shrugging her shoulders.
"You two can go with the Drow if ya want. I'm goin' ta find someone a bit more reliable, like an Aasimar." said Kane as he made his way out of the alley and into the crowd.
"What the hell is wrong with that kid?" said Maddie.
"We don't really know ourselves. He calls the both of us out of the blue one day and then we're here," said Rayzer.
"I say he's anti-social, that's what. Do you think that you two could wait here while I try and find him? Cloaky probably needs to come with you guys back to my mom's house."
"Yeah, we're fine right here."
Maddie got back to her bike and sped off in search of Kane. After five minutes she found him walking on the sidewalk, with a large bubble of personal space around him. Others seemed to avoid him like the plague.
"Hey Cloaky, you need to come with me! Your friends are waiting for you!" Maddie shouted through her helmet.
Kane's hood turned to face her and he continued on his way. Maddie dismounted her bike and followed him on the sidewalk.
"The farther away you go, the more likely it is that your friends are going to get hurt," said Maddie.
"They're competent. They don't need me. I've done enough to them already."
"Bit selfish aren't you?"
"I see it as independence. Your entire race is selfish, cruel, and evil."
"So you place the anger and frustration of your guilt onto others, eh?"
"Quit talkin' ta me Drow."
"Not until you go back to your friends."
The was a quick flutter of the cloak, Kane had his arm at Maddie's throat and she had the long barrel of an AMT Longside Hardballer .45 aimed at his.
"Mine's bigger," Maddie whispered in his ear.
"I don't care. I kill evil creatures like you everyday for breakfast."
They slipped their respective weapons back and Kane followed at a short distance behind he and her bike.
"You know Cloaky, we could ride my bike back to the alley," said Maddie.
"I prefer ta walk," said Kane.
"Fine then."
Fifteen minutes of tense silence later the two of them were back at the alley way where they had left Umi and Rayzer. They were still there, only with some uninvited guests. Several large people had them backed into the corner and were intimidating them. Maddie kicked her bike into action and scattered the assailants. They were large and hairy, with tiny dog like blue noses and triangular floppy ears on the sides of their heads. In other words, Bugbears.
They looked at Maddie with a rage. Wouldn't you if some one nearly ran you over in a bike? They started to gather around her when one eyes went glossy. There was a sick sound, like some one pulling knives out of a side of beef. He fell over and there was Kane, his warped arm covered in the Bugbear's blood. Maddie had the time to pull out her Hardballer and capped another one in the head. The other Bugbears ran off while Kane looked at the other two on the ground.
"Great, evidence," he said.
"Not really," said Maddie.
The Bugbears seemed to evaporate into a shadow-like smoke. Soon there was nothing left of them and the blood on Kane's had disappeared in a similar fashion.
"So the Shadow reclaims those it takes. Interestin'," said Kane.
"Yeah. So now that we're all together again, why don't we go back to my mom's house?" said Maddie.
Umi and Rayzer, still a bit dumbstruck, nodded in agreement.
They went out into the street and hailed a cab. Maddie Gave the driver directions to Terrace Plaza and told him that she wouldn't be far behind. There was a crack of thunder and it started to rain.
The taxi stopped at Terrace Plaza hotel and Maddie paid the driver. The others followed Maddie into the parking garage as she walked her bike inside. After much dawdling, they finally got into the elevator and took a ride to the eighteenth floor. Which happened to be the top and penthouse suite.
When the elevator stopped, Maddie pulled out a keycard and swiped it through the reader. The doors opened and there was the most angry looking Drow woman that the threesome has seen yet.
"Madeline Vérène Webber, where in ze world hav' you ben?" said the woman in a French accent.
"Uh hi Mamá. I found some displaced people," said Maddie, trying to change the subject.
Her mother gave her a look over with her serious and judging eyes.
"What iz this?" she said pointing at the gauze pad.
"We got into a bit of a fight with some Bugbears and I kinda got hurt," lied Maddie.
One deft movement of her mother's hand revealed that Maddie had gotten a black widow spider tattooed on her hip. Her mother's face went from angry, to pure hate. And she began shouting at her in French and Maddie responded the same. (Considering that my specialty lies in Spanish and English, and I have no idea what they would be saying, so if it appears in then its in French. Thank you.)
" You went against my specific orders that you weren't to get one of those awful tattoos Madeline. " said her mother.
" Mother, I'm a hundred and twenty, I should be able to do what I want by now. " argued Maddie.
" As long as you live with me, you are going to do what I say you stupid girl! "
Maddie's mother raised her hand high and the backside of it came right across Maddie's cheek.
Maddie's eyes started to fill up with angry tears as she ran of to her room. Ms. Webber turned to the other and put on a false smile.
"I apologize for my daughter's dizrezpectful behavior. Pleaz, come in." she said moving aside.
Umi and Rayzer had an angry look on their faces. Their friend had be treated horribly by her mother and they seem to have taken offense. Kane on the other hand, well there is no other hand. He had his face hidden in the hood of the cloak and he simply walked by Ms. Webber and went in the direction that Maddie went.
"My, my. Such a rude young man." she said. "Do you two want to come inzide or are you fine right zere?"
Begrudgingly, Umi and Rayzer walked inside and followed Ms. Webber into the parlor.
"Shouldn't we wait for Kane?" said Rayzer.
"You mean that rude boy? Very well. Wouldn't you like anyzing to drink?" replied Ms. Webber.
Meanwhile, Kane had found Maddie's room. He knocked on the door and heard angry sobs in French. Kane cleared his throat and replied, "It's… ahem, 'Cloaky'."
The door swung open and Maddie's hand grabbed Kane by the neck, and dragged him into the room.
Maddie's room was painted a toxic orange and off-white. Her furniture was stained maple and she had a black bedspread and a pile of stuffed animals in the corner. All Kane could see in Maddie's eyes were large tears. She wiped them away and looked at him.
"I though you didn't care about people like me?" she said.
"I honestly don't. What I care 'bout are the feelings that make us all human in a way. And your mother had no right to do what she did to you," said Kane.
"I know. She treats me like this everyday. Ever since she was captured by the Shadow, she has tried to keep the traditions from her old world alive. I don't really think there was a concept of motherly love there."
"Whatever world she came from had the typical traditions of the Drow. Males are the inferior ones, females rule, children there are abused, everyone grew up twisted and evil. You on the other hand, you seem different."
"I am. I have a heart. She ignored me. Always sent me away when I needed her most. I didn't have a father figure, so I basically grew up alone. It was just me and my stuffed animals."
"(Cough) s'okay people sometimes (Cough) need ta learn the difficult lessons the hard way, (Cough, cough)," hacked Kane.
"Are you alright?"
"Yeah, fine. Probably just gotta cold or somethin'. Nothin' to worry about."
"What's your story? You probably had some kind of reason to actually mutilate yourself so you could escape your reality."
"I have a bunch of little brothers and sister. Bein' the oldest, I was neglected in their favor. Parents never noticed me so I decided to actually see if I could break open the barrier on my reality."
"So I guess we're two of a kind?"
"Maybe. We might be together for quite a while."
"Why do you say that?"
"Cause once you cross the Shadow, there's no goin' back."
END- Part Two- Welcome To Your New Home.
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So Kane knows what happens when you cross the Shadow. And could he be developing some feelings for a certain Drow girl? And what's with his coughing? Is it really a cold? And are Umi and Rayzer about to be grilled in the worst way possible by Maddie's mom? Find out next chapter!