A/N: WHOO! GRACEPUNK! And you finally get to meet the female 'punks! So... enjoy. Sorry if nothing terribly interesting happens this chapter...
Gracepunk
By the time Andrew and Ben reached the watchtower, the sun had already started to set, turning the sky fiery orange. The watchtower itself had once been a bell tower, but the bell was long gone, and hand-made rails had been added to the open sides, along with a large brass telescope and several workbenches.
Ben walked over to the edge, absently running his hand along the length of the smooth telescope as he went. When he reached the rail, he stopped and, turning, gestured for Andrew to come to the rail.
Andrew made his way over next to Ben and looked around. They were surrounded by nothing but trees on all sides. However, Andrew could see large man-made structures in the far distance, partly obscured by the evening haze coupled with the glare of the setting sun.
"See that?" asked Ben, pointing out ahead and to the left a bit. The area he was pointing to was covered in trees, but beyond that, Andrew could see that the trees ended and the landscape turned to what looked like a flat plane with small but jagged mountains littering the terrain.
"What is it?" asked Andrew.
"That's the Dead City," said Ben. "Or... that's what we call it now. That was the first place that got attacked."
"Who attacked it?" asked Andrew.
Ben pointed out and to the right. "They did," he said, gesturing to the silhouette of what looked to be a large city with several looming skyscrapers. "We call that the Sister City, because it was just like ours, but it's full of Ungraced people. Most of the evil Ungraced people have left, though. They followed the war to where ever it is now."
Andrew nodded a bit and looked around. He looked back towards the Dead City, and that was when he noticed something. "What's that?" he asked, pointing towards the barely visible silhouette that looked to be on the opposite edge of the Dead City.
A look of fear crossed Ben's face. "T-that's the Gracebeast's lair..." he said. "We call it the Factory." He then stepped away from the edge, swung the telescope around, and focused it on the Factory. "Take a look," he said, stepping back and gesturing for Andrew to look.
Andrew stepped up and looked through the telescope. He could see that the Factory had three tall towers, and there seemed to be parts of the building that were actually moving. It was the same with the ground around the Factory. There were strange mechanical moving objects that he couldn't quite make out, but he did see various vehicles and people moving around near the base of the Factory.
"Why do you call it the Factory?" asked Andrew, stepping away from the telescope.
Ben bit his lip. "Well... they... experiment on people in there," he said quietly. "And they build and clone mindless drones. I've seen them myself! And they can also brainwash people."
"Seriously?" exclaimed Andrew. "If they can brainwash people then why haven't they... y'know... taken over the world yet...?"
Ben shrugged. "I guess it only works on people with certain Graces. I don't know."
Andrew nodded and glanced back out at the forest. When he did, however, something caught his eye. "What's that?" he asked, pointing to what looked like the roof to a small building, just barely poking through the tree cover a few miles away.
Ben squinted a bit, but when he saw what Andrew was looking at, his eye widened in realization. "That's the Library," he said. "The twins found it a couple months ago."
Andrew raised an eyebrow. "Twins?"
Ben's face went blank. "Oh yeah, you haven't met them yet... C'mon, I'll introduce you."
"Uh, okay..." said Andrew, shrugging and following Ben down the stairs.
After a minute, Ben suddenly spoke up. "Have you had your appendix removed already?"
"Do you always start conversations like this?"
Ben rolled his eye. "I'm asking because we're nowhere near a hospital, and it's better to just take it out now so that you don't have to worry about getting appendicitis later when it's less convenient."
"When is appendicitis ever convenient?"
Ben shrugged.
"Well, yeah, I had mine taken out last year," lied Andrew. He hadn't had his appendix taken out yet, but he wasn't about to let Ben operate on him. He had only just met him after all.
"Good," said Ben, nodding. "I just asked because I was thinking about when I had to remove an appendix last week... Yeah, it was messy..."
"Okay... my turn to ask a question," said Andrew. "Do you have ADD?"
Before Ben could answer, they reached the throne room. Christopher was sprawled on his throne, fast asleep. There were several empty whiskey bottles scattered around the floor next to his throne.
Ben quickly signaled for Andrew to be silent, and then they slowly walked into the room. Ben quietly walked across the room towards another staircase right next to the dark room that the creepy humming had come from earlier. As they passed the room, Andrew glanced inside. What he saw made him stop.
Every inch of the wall was covered in drawings. There were so many that most of the drawings had started overlapping each other. The ink that they had been drawn with stained the floor, and there were several large piles of empty ink bottles.
The drawings themselves were just as strange. Almost all of the depicted a strange circular object with strange symbols. But the symbols looked strangely familiar...
Before Andrew could think about it any further, Ben grabbed his arm and pulled him up the stairs.
"What was that?" asked Andrew as they ran up the stairs.
Ben glanced back at Ben, looking slightly nervous. "Uh... I'll tell you later..." he said.
Suddenly, just as they reached the landing of the next floor, there was a loud SLAM!
"Shit..." muttered Ben. He looked around frantically for a hiding spot, but before he could find one, Josh stumbled through one of the doors and onto the landing, drunk. He was holding a machete loosely in one hand.
Andrew and Ben cautiously backed up against the wall. Andrew clenched his right fist and lit a small fireball, which he kept concealed in his palm. If Josh attacked them, then he might be able to fend him off, but it would be difficult with just one functioning arm.
Suddenly, Josh's glare snapped towards them. He angrily slurred out something unintelligible, wildly gesturing with his machete.
"Josh, just calm down," gulped Ben.
This seemed to infuriate the giant. He yelled something at them and then drew his arm back to throw the machete.
WHAM!
Someone came out of nowhere and tackled Josh, knocking him to the ground and making him drop his machete. Whoever it was wrestled Josh onto his stomach and pinned his arm behind his back, pressing his face into the ground until he stopped squirming.
Now that they had stopped moving, Andrew could see that whoever attacked Josh was wearing a white hockey helmet with a tinted visor. They were also wearing a torn up white jacket; the back of the jacket had been particularly torn up so badly that Andrew could barely see the number 7 printed on the back.
The person in the white jacket bent down and said something inaudible to Josh, then pointed off towards one of the closed doors down the hallway. Josh nodded, and the person got off of his back. Josh staggered to his feet, picked up his machete, and slunk off into the room he had been directed to.
The person wearing white slowly stood up and faced them. Andrew could see that they were holding a broken hockey stick with a large blade tied on the end, creating a makeshift spear. Slowly, the person lifted the hockey helmet...
Underneath the helmet was a girl, a bit older than Andrew. She was smiling at them, her light blue and silver eyes showing no hostility. She had pale skin, and, once she removed her helmet, he could see that she had long black hair that had been pulled back in a ponytail.
Andrew saw Ben relax, and he too relaxed, extinguishing the fireball in his hand.
"Where have you been?!" exclaimed Ben, stepping forward and hugging the girl.
"I was only gone for a week," scoffed the girl, shrugging. Then she turned to Andrew. "Well where have you been hiding?"
Andrew blushed and suddenly lost his ability to speak. Ben saw him blushing and covered for him.
"This is Andrew," he said. "We found him wandering around in the Dead City, so we kept him."
The girl laughed, and then she stepped forward and shook Andrew's hand, which had been hanging limp by his side.
"Nice to meet ya, Andrew," she said. "My name's Jen. It's short for Jennifer, but if you call me that, I'll punch you in the face." Her smile didn't falter as she said this.
Andrew swallowed the lump in his throat. "N-n-nice to meet you too..." he stammered, saying the only thing he could think of.
Jen laughed. "I like this one," she said to Ben, who was standing to the side trying to smother his laughter.
Jen turned back to Andrew. "So where were you guys heading?" she asked.
"Well uh... Ben said he was gonna introduce me to some twins..." said Andrew awkwardly.
"Really?" asked Jen, glancing over at Ben, who had managed to stop his laughter but still had a goofy smile on his face. "I'll come too if you guys don't mind. I haven't seen the twins in a while."
Ben nodded. "Sounds good, if that's okay with you, Andrew," he said.
Andrew blushed again. "Y-yeah, I d-d-don't mind..." he stammered before thinking to himself: Damn, I really need to remember how to talk to girls...
"Awesome!" exclaimed Jen, setting her hockey helmet down. "Then we better go before Josh smokes some more Magnet and decides to set the building on fire."
"Right!" exclaimed Ben. "Onwards!" He then marched off towards another set of stairs with Andrew close behind him, his face still red.
Jen started to follow them, but then her heightened senses told her that someone was watching. She turned around and saw a small dark figure poking its head out of one of the other doors at the end of the hallway. She smiled and gave the figure a subtle wave, and then put one finger to her lips, the universal signal to stay quiet. The little figure returned the wave, nodded, and then disappeared into the shadows again. Still smiling, Jen turned and followed the boys up the stairs.
Andrew, Jen, and Ben entered a large room, the walls filled with rows of bookshelves. There were books scattered all over the floor, along with stray sheets of paper, half of them blank, the other half covered in messy inky scribbles. The room was dark, but cozy, and it looked as if it had been occupied only moments earlier.
Ben and Jen walked further into the room, but Andrew stayed near the door, cautious. Suddenly, a small head poked out from behind a large book case in the center of the room. Another identical head popped out from the other side. Both of them were holding slingshots. Then the two small figures slowly came around the corner, recognizing Ben and Jen. They put the slingshots away and ran up to them, and that was when Andrew got a good look at them.
They were the twins Ben had mentioned earlier. They were both wearing identical blue hoodies; the only difference was the number inked on to the front of the hoodie. One of the twins had a number 3 inked on, and the other had a number 4. The twin with the 3 was a bit taller than the other twin. Andrew could also see pale blonde hair peeking out from under the hoods.
Andrew gave a small laugh when the twins hugged Ben and Jen, but it was his laugh that alerted the twins to his presence. They looked over at him and instinctively hid behind Jen and Ben.
"It's okay," Ben told them. "He's friendly."
The twins glanced up at Ben and then back at Andrew. Their eyes were wide with curiosity, and they ran over to Andrew, circling him like curious puppies. Up close, Andrew could see that they both had blue eyes, but one eye was light blue and the other was dark blue. The twin with the 3 had a dark blue right eye and a light blue left eye, and the twin with the 4 had a dark blue left eye and a light blue right eye.
After a moment, the twins seemed to determine that Andrew wasn't a threat, and they both pulled their hoods back. That was when Andrew saw that they were girls, no older than thirteen. They both had their blonde hair pulled back in a messy ponytail.
"Uh... hi," stammered Andrew. The twins simply stared at him for a minute before going back to circling him and occasionally poking him in the side or back.
Across the room, Ben and Jen were trying to contain their laughter.
"I think they like you," Ben said after a minute.
Andrew laughed uncomfortably. "H-how can you tell?"
"Because if they didn't like you they would have shot you already," said Jen, laughing.
Andrew quickly looked back at the twins. They had taken his jacket off of his arm and were now examining it. Andrew noticed that the shoulder that had been burnt had been repaired and sewn up with red thread.
"Uh, what are your names?" Andrew asked the twins, noticing that they hadn't spoken yet.
The twins looked up to him, and they both made a strange hand gesture before going back to the jacket. It took Andrew a minute to realize that they had been speaking sign language.
"They're mute," said Jen. "Their names are Sam and Erika. Sam is the one with the 3 on her jacket, and Erika is the one with the 4."
"Sam and Erika?" confirmed Andrew. Jen nodded.
The twins snapped their heads up at the mention of their names. They then promptly tackled Andrew, running around him and poking him.
Across the room, Jen and Ben were trying to contain another fit of laughter at the look on Andrew's face as he got assaulted by the twins. However, after a moment, Jen's laughter died down.
"Ben?" she whispered, too quiet for Andrew or the twins to hear.
"Yeah?"
"He hasn't... y'know... met my brother yet, has he...?" she asked nervously.
Ben shook his head. "He's been hiding in the shadows all day. I think Andrew might have caught a glimpse of him, but I know he hasn't seen him yet."
Jen nodded, breathing a sigh of relief. "Good," she said, nervously wringing her hands together.
Ben sighed. "You know he's gonna find out some time," he said.
"I know..." said Jen, crossing her arms. "Just... not yet."
Before Ben could say anything, Andrew let out a sudden cry of pain. One of the twins had accidentally touched his injured shoulder, which was still in a sling. He jumped back and a small burst of fire shot out of his injured hand, disappearing after a second.
The twins jumped back, shocked by the fire. A moment later, they slowly came closer. Sam slowly reached forward and took Andrew's uninjured hand. She held it up and looked expectantly up at Andrew.
That was when Erika moved forward, appearing more shy than her sister. She tentatively reached up and gently pressed a finger to Andrew's temple. A small female voice suddenly echoed in his mind.
Can you make the fire again?
Andrew staggered backwards a bit, shocked at the sudden voice. He looked up to Jen and Ben for clarification.
"Did she just ask you something?" asked Ben.
Andrew slowly nodded.
"That's their Grace," Jen explained. "Cognitive transfer. Or mind reading, if that's easier to understand. They can sense emotions, and they have photographic memories. Sam is a bit better at reading emotions, and Erika has a better memory. They can read each others minds."
"But what about that voice?" asked Andrew.
"Like I said, cognitive transfer," said Jen. "Erika is the only one who can do that. Don't know why."
Andrew slowly nodded. He then looked back at the twins. They were looking up at him eagerly. Smiling, Andrew held up his right hand and created a small fireball right above it. The eyes of everyone else in the room grew wider. Even Ben, who had seen Andrew make fire before, was still slightly surprised. And his inner pyro was flaring up at the sight of the fire.
After a minute, Andrew let the fire die out. The twins started clapping excitedly.
"Great, I'm surrounded by pyros..." Andrew muttered to himself.
"Well, I've never seen a Grace like that before," said Jen, crossing her arms, impressed. However, her eyes were slightly narrowed, as if she were starting to get suspicious about something...
Suddenly, Sam and Erika yawned, looking tired. They wandered off deeper into their maze of books, where Andrew assumed they had beds.
"I agree with them," said Jen, looking tired as she leaned against her spear.
Ben nodded, and so did Andrew. There weren't any windows nearby, but Andrew was sure that it was already dark.
"C'mon, Andrew," said Ben as he walked towards the door.
"Uh, okay..." said Andrew as he followed Ben out the door. "G'night, Jen," he said, waving at Jen as they left.
Jen nodded and watched the boys as they left. She turned to follow the twins to the room they all shared, but she stopped.
"I see you," she said to seemingly nobody.
Slowly, a small figure emerged from the shadows.
"How long have you been hiding watching?" she asked as the small figure slowly walked over to her. The small figure shrugged guiltily.
Jen smiled and hugged her brother. "Yeah, I missed you too..."
When Andrew and Ben stepped back out into the stairway, they noticed that the colored lights that illuminated the dark passages had come back on.
"Oh, I guess James fixed the generator," muttered Ben.
Andrew nodded absently. "So... where was Jen?" he asked. "You said she'd been gone for a week."
"Oh, yeah," said Ben, nodding. "She usually disappears for a couple days. I think she goes and kills drones. But she probably just wants to get away from Christopher, because she's the only one who really can."
This caught Andrew's attention. "What do you mean?" he asked.
"Christopher won't let us go outside without his permission," said Ben. "He says it's too dangerous out there. Jen is the only one who's really immune to his Grace, so she can do whatever she wants."
"Hold on a second," said Andrew, confused. "What do you mean she's immune to his Grace."
"Christopher has an influence Grace," he said. "That's why he was so shocked when you interrupted him earlier."
Andrew's eyes widened. "Oh... that makes sense..." he muttered.
Ben nodded. "Don't ask me why Jen's immune, because I have no idea. If she had some kind of mental Grace or something, it would make sense, but she doesn't. She has a fighting Grace."
Andrew nodded. "I kind of assumed that from the way she took Josh down..."
Ben nodded, and he stopped walking as they came up to a room at the end of the hallway they had been in earlier. Ben opened the door to reveal a darkened room three beds in it; one of them was a single bed and the other was a bunk bed. The room was too dark for Andrew to see the drawings hanging on the wall.
Ben gestured to the single bed. "There's yours," he said to Andrew. Without waiting for Andrew to respond, he climbed up into the top bunk and was asleep almost instantly.
Slowly, Andrew set his jacket and his shoulder bag on the floor next to his bed. He then laid down, careful not to open the wound on his shoulder again. He lay staring up at the ceiling for a minute before starting to feel tired. Only a minute later, he was asleep...
A/N: Yeah... nothing terribly interesting. Just a bit of background info and whatnot... and more characters and Graces. So... you've met all of the Gracepunks... except one... MUAHAHAHA! ;)
I'll try and update again soon!