The Elite: Prologue
Doyle Blackwell. A man who has been many things. Mercenary, Bounty Hunter, Adventurer for Higher. And currently, colder than the Himalayas.
The merc was hired to take a client up to a snowy peak, where they believe a temple resides. Doyle has been up here many times before, but he has never seen any temples up here.
They reach their destination. "See!" Doyle says as he turns to his client. A woman wearing a heavy purple coat with the hood hiding her face and a strange satchel over her shoulders. "There's nothing here. You want proof, Sweetheart? Over here? There's snow," he gestures to one side and then moves to the other. "and over here? Look, more snow." Doyle then starts walking past his client. "Now, let's get back down where there's someplace warm."
The woman paid no mind to the merc as she reaches into the satchel and pulls out a talisman. She starts speaking in an unknown language.
Doyle turns to see the amulet glowing. "This can't be good."
The air around the snow seemingly shifted and suddenly a temple appeared out of nowhere.
The woman rushes inside, and the Merc follows.
Doyle may not be as good as the rest of his family, but the Adventurer has been around the block enough times. The carvings appeared Sumerian, but something is off about them.
Of course, he was not examining his surrounding's for archaeological reasons. It was for…
Doyle notices the one little tile that the woman was about to step on. "Wait!" he shouts, but it was too late. The woman's boots stepped down and the tile sinks into the floor. Thinking fast, the Merc activates the thrusters on his pack and tackles the woman out of the way just as a pendulum swings from the wall. Unluckily, this is one of those traps that triggers a domino effect of traps. He manages to maneuver, poison darts, a collapsing pillar, and a pit of spikes. All that was missing is a stream of fire from the walls.
Oh, wait! There it is.
The said fire manages to hit his jet pack causing him to lose control.
The ceiling ahead of them was closing down in front of them. The two barely made it through.
They look back behind them just as the stone slab touches the floor with a heavy thud.
Doyle says, "Adventuring 101. When exploring an ancient temple, always keep an eye out for traps," he then turns to her and smirks. "So, do I get thank you kiss?" with that the woman shoves him away from her. "I'll settle for a raise," he shrugs as they get up.
Looking to the center of the room, there is a pedestal with a small statue of some sort of demon with a violet gem in the forehead.
The woman approaches the statue. "Finally!" she takes the statue off the pedestal and triggers another trap. The ceiling above her begins to collapse.
"Look out, Babe!" Doyle calls out as he readies his jet pack but is then suddenly blinded by a flash of purple light. He looks up to see his client raising her free hand up capturing the rubble in purple light. Her hood falls to reveal white hair with purple highlights and violet eyes.
The woman sneers at Doyle. "I'm not Babe or Sweetheart. The name's Charmcaster," she throws her arm towards the Merc and the rubble comes flying towards him.
Thinking fast, the Adventurer manages to jump and step over the large rubble. Then, he pulls out some concussion grenades. "I may not know exactly what's going on here, Charmcaster. But I know an evil artifact when I see one," and tosses them at her. However, Charmcaster catches them in a sphere and lets them detonate.
"You have no idea," the witch raises the idol. "Let's see how you handle a Shadow Demon," smoke emits from its gem. The smoke starts covering the ceiling and a vortex lowers from it.
Stepping from the vortex is an eight-foot humanoid beast with tusks, three red eyes, razor claws, and a spiked tail. It lets out a blood curdling roar as it charges the merc. Doyle preps to take this thing head on, only for this Shadow Demon to stop in its tracks. The Demon is seemingly running in place as the vortex pulls it back in. The Vortex vanishes and the smoke goes back into the idol.
Charmcaster nearly loses her footing as she clutches her chest. "I know it's not enough," she growls as she stands back up. "I'll just need to increase it," and in a flash of violet light, the sorceress vanishes.
Doyle now stands in the chamber alone. "Well," he sighs. "There goes this month's rent."
"Perhaps you should have asked to be paid upfront, Doyle Blackwell," comes a man's voice with a British accent.
Turning a round, the Merc sees a man in a white lab coat and a pair of goggles around his neck.
The Adventurer braces for combat. "And how do you know me, Mr…"
"I guess we haven't met yet," the man tells him. "Prof. Paradox at your service." Paradox holds out a brown paper bag with his metal hand. "Gumball?"
The Merc just stares at the weird man for a moment. "Look, Prof, I don't know you and I don't do candy," he walks past the British man. "Now I need to find away out of here and figure out what I screwed up with and how to fix it. Preferably before Doc finds out," Doyle rounds a corner, only to find Paradox standing in front of him.
"I know how," he tells him. "Where I can't promise that your brother-in-law won't find out. I can however assist in fixing it," Paradox pulls out a pocket watch. "But we'll need help from the Elite." And in a flash, they room is now empty.
End