July 17th, 2030
"It surely is funny, wouldn't you say?" A parked van stood idly by on the other end of the street. Across from the van, a gathered mob had formed to protest the treatment of the rising phenos at a detention facility, where the rumors were already circulating the media. Said rumors were that Congress and its borther-and-sister powers wanted to pull them off the street due to scattered public concerns over the controversial superpower commuhity, an entirely new thing added to the changing world.
Phenos, either potentially dangerous people or victims from the real selfless monsters in human disguises. Vial's involvement was out, and James Shepherd went into hiding, the obvious move that painted him guilty and responsible for the crimes against the experimented people. The public was divided, pointing fingers at not only either the phenos or the conspirators behind it, but the government that had let it happen under their noses. Everyone, and none of the phenos, they believed, was just as equally responsible. And maybe the world would have truly sympathized with them, if not for the spoonful of paranoid fear that came to them; these phenos had some sort of freakish ability, and if any single one willed it, they could very well initiate the chaos that some were fearing in secrecy.
The Superbeast of Dadetown was the first symbol of rebellion. Luna Loud herself had not known by, but she was used as propaganda that served the anti-pheno group. Footage of her releasing the phenos, and the aftermath of the dead; that was the sort of power each of them had, there was no avoiding or looking past it. A few more break-outs happened in between then and now, and naturally, Vial ended up being shut down, with the help of a secret party that the intelligent players were suspecting that some outside party was behind it. No pheno attackers, or any good Samaritan Vial employees, but someone, or some persons who had known what those eggheads were up to.
Either way, the pheno revolution had already started slowly and below the radar. For the majority of the people in the parked white van, the phenos were the next danger of America. Now, for one thing, none of the phenos were up to fishy shit around, no crimes had been committed by them for intent. All the while, numerous precincts and legal offices around the nation never stopped receiving calls of angry family members requesting for help and aid in combating the monstrosity of a science division. And that was where Darcy Holmandollar came in play.
"You think this is funny?" Darcy was the minority against the notion of painting the phenos a menace to society, but here, she had no choice. The blackmail card was used against her by the head of the first anti-pheno group that came to be, which had her play a slave to a whole bunch of ignorant, stubborn individuals with the same ideas. Neither of them stood by to watch their very way of life change due to a freakshow's gifts. It had to be done, it had to remain the way it's always been, no such chaos to rewrite the rules of the street. "You're talking about possible murder here."
"None of that is on our hands, you stupid fuck!" One of the antis bellowed to Darcy's face.
"Ease up there, Billy," the driver soothed. "She'll do what St. Claire wants, and St. Claire says now's the time to do your thing..."
Nathan Tyler Niles and his buddies Dick Sullivan and Billy Clarke were a trio of young men in their thirties, all coming from the elitist families. Nathan was the leader of this trio, being a stunning 5'9 with a skinny but muscly build. His facial MO was usually serious and nail-biting hard, but was one to have a raunchy sense of humor, and when it counted, some additional racism in several of the jokes. He, a platinum-blond, short-haired fellow with a heavy face, surely was a racist.
Dick Sullivan was a handsome devil, and if you had to compare him to anyone in real life, he was the fused hybrid of James Franco and Ryan Guzman with a preference for a clean, facial hair-free face. He was an idiot at most, and one with rich parents whom had bought his way to a high school diploma and college degree, a fortunate sap when it came to education, and a useless nobody for the rest of his life, apart from being a lapdog to Nathan.
Billy Clarke was something of a sadist. He had the right characteristics and traits to be successful, and none of that interested him. He was the tallest of the bunch, a scrawny, lanky shit with a taste for animal blood. Pets like cats and dogs? You'd bet he would slice up before the killing began, and it made him sick. The bastard managed to lie through his teeth during the mental evaluations he had in his lifetime, knowing full well what was truly right and wrong, and the law, as well as how little his moral compass was, would prove to be powerless to stop his vile ways. Soon, he'd be graduating to people if no one looked too closely at him.
The three didn't mind being here, subjecting themselves around the inferior, lower class scum like the crowd of protesters outside, but the show Darcy was set to put on made it all worth it. "Video camera ready to record?"
"All set for use," Dick confirmed, holding the portable hand-held camera, passing it to Nathan.
"Go on, Holmandollar," Nathan motioned, "get out there and break up the mob."
Oh how Darcy wanted to go on a rampage on them, and if she could, it would have happened already. The terrible reality for her was that Lacey St Claire, the holder of the blackmail card, had Darcy cornered and unable to make a move of her own, other than what St Claire wanted her to go. In existence was a special package that contained a letter and a few photographs that were of the disastrous type for Darcy. This package had a destination unless St Claire had it retrieved, and she'd only do that when Darcy had served the needs of the anti-pheno side of the nation. For one, Darcy was pro-pheno, having a desire to give support to them. It angered her to know that these people here classified them as the bad guys, a root of evil that needed its true colors out in the open.
As for Darcy's chaotic secret that was used against her, it was certainly one with grand consequences should it ever get out. Bet anyone within her circle of friends would like to know of it. What this secret entailed in nature was her involvement with the Freights many years ago. Darcy was one of its youngest members, no reason to look at her and figure out that she ran with that group at first glance, but she was one of them in the end.
Darcy Holmandollar, a nineteen-year-old girl with more to her than being a simple ex-Freight who had gone into hiding. She had broken into a Vial Corp facility four years ago, and with the help of another Freight, the one with the weird white hair. She could barely remember that night, but her partner had done most of the wetwork, letting the lead fly from his heavy-duty gun to the pistol-whipping guards. Darcy wasn't as much of a fighter the way he was, but the rising curiosity about the medical science's properties had given some of the a firm curiosity that sounded likely to check out. And before Chandler and his head Freights planned a raid on the first Vial Corp facility, you can be damn certain that Lincoln Loud had gone one step ahead.
And so it was that the two of them had the same pheno abilities to this day; Darcy was a pheno working against her own kind, to make them all look bad. And she truly hated how things were.
Darcy forced herself out through the back as Nathan pointed the camera out the window. The plan was to trim and have it send to the news outlets; what more could they say but agree phenos are the savages they needed to see? I'm sorry for what I'm about to do here...
Darcy made her eay over to the street where the protesters were out here, holding up picket signs, yelling out what their minds were fixated on saying, comments such as "Free the phenos!" and "They have rights, give them back!" No one looked her way, or let alone noticed the woman with the bob cut coming over. She went around them, making it look like she was leaving, disappearing from sight. She turned back and broke into a run.
And the scene that made this little act a golden one, reading production value across the film, was the moment where Darcy plowed through the crowd like a bull stampeding on a rampage. Nathan did his best not to laugh in enjoyment while Darcy willed what St Claire commanded. The protesters left standing had stopped to scatter in all directions, none of them helping out the fallen injured. Darcy went more ballistic with it, picking up a pair of the signs, using them to swing away at any of the poor pro-pheno protesters she could hit. "WE DON'T NEED YOUR PITY! WE WANT REVENGE FOR WHAT VIAL DID! FUCK VIAL AND FUCK YOU TOO!"
Act III: Further Into Darkness, Chapter IX: Rampage
She counted it. Twenty-seven of them, and if she could guess it, all heading to intensive care for broken bones, ribs, limbs- what have you? The guilt swelled up, and nothing about this had actually made it all worth keeping this devilish secret, but she had to. With a solemn, disgraced face, she had to keep going, to own up to her actions. Maybe someday down the line, she could have her revenge, but not now. Not in this dark lifetime.
Darcy had remained quiet while Nathan called the methodically evil mastermind to let her know the status of their power move. She contemplated it for the ride back, feeling like a true piece of shit in the essence of pieces of shit. This wasn't how she expected to put her pheno powers to use, and she could barely compliment the fact that it hadn't worn off after those four years, not knowing how it worked.
"Yeah, she did it, we've got the goods, Lacey-" Dick had the phone held up to Nathan's ear as he drove to a drop. "Okay, yeah just meet us there in- Oh, you're already there? Alright, we're close by. See you then."
Dick pulled the phone away and hung it up, placing it on the cupholder.
Nathan shot his eyes onto the mirror, noticing Darcy being her broody self. "What's got you down, Holmandollar? You can't tell me you feel remorse for that?"
Dick and Billy gave her expressionless stares to which she didn't look back at.
"You held back, I saw you..." Nathan jerked his head. "A murder or two might have sold it to perfection, but you accomplished as you desired- It's a good compromise at most."
"Why are you part of this?" Darcy had the womanly gonads to get that. "What did we do to you three?"
"Oh, I'll tell you..." Nathan took off his right arm, raised his finger and circled it around. "Money, girl."
"I don't get it..." Darcy turned her head towards the front. "You guys aren't poor, so what gives?"
"Ah, you've misunderstood..." Nathan kept driving smoothly, and slowly to explain how he believed the world ran. "I don't mean the pay me and my boys will get, but when I say money, I mean the natural order of things. The way the rich and the powerful figures look at this, phenos have the potential to resort to crime, that's always inevitable in all groups of people, but the scary part here to fear would be these so-called phenos. They could quickly climb up the ladder of overthrown the moneymakers, the entrepenuers, the billionaires, everyone with a two-dollar name, you dig? They'll be the world runners because of a fucking needle having been poked into them, it's a completely unfair disadvantage that upsets the balance. No fucking way will a mutant with flying powers or something mean more than my family."
"How could they climb up as you say?"
"People with super abilities make for opportunity. They could do things easier that the average bank robber and criminal. And you know, they're all former people, too. And we're all basically the same. Think about it, any criminal phenos can so much as easily steal a truckload of gold if the right ones assembled to do it. There is that chance that their actions could cause an increase for whatever it is they'll steal in the market, and where there is a shortage of supply-"
"There is an increase in demand, therefore the cost-" Darcy caught on. "Cost is part of the chain reaction in the disruption of the economy."
"There it is..." Nathan tapped on his head. "Phenos will make things expensive when it already is. Lower class faggots could be homeless, we become the in-betweeners and the phenos will have their fucking thrones in the end. That is not what our ancestors worked for, the rich will be victorious against these thieves. It's all a domination over this, and they don't even know it. I don't care for them, they're all low-class scum."
Darcy's eyes lit up with fire. "Excuse me, but that includes me, Richie Rich. Don't ever look down upon us like trash! You may have all the money, but you're nothing beyond that fucking mansion you crawl out of."
Nathan went silent as his two buddies broke in sneering laughter. "Quite feisty of you, yet."
"Nosey bitch is who I answer to, not the likes of you," Darcy reminded them, laying the law down. "If I so inclined to beat your ugliness out of you, I just might."
The rest of the ride was a silent one, the young men having gotten too afraid to speak up against the ex-Freight with a perfect pheno ability. They came to their destination; a multi-level parking garage where an exchange was going down. The van drove inside, rolling up to the far end of the first level, coming across a black limousine taking up spaces in a row. Nathan stopped parallel to the limo, lowering the window.
The second he lifted and shook the video camera in view of the backseat of the limo, the chauffeur exited the limo and retrieved it, then spun around to open the backseat door. "Miss, the video camera." Tiny girly hands that could only belong to Lacey St Claire yanked at the camera, slamming the door shut. The driver looked back to Nathan. "Miss St Claire appreciates the completion of this small errand," he said with little emotion, opening his nice suit to roll out an envelope with the green goods.
Nathan found himself pleased to have done the possible to maintain his status as he was now. "Aww yeah-"
"Miss St Claire has also requested that Miss Holmandollar accompany her back to the family residence."
"Huh..." Nathan waved back at Billy, telling him it was fine to let Darcy go. "I guess the high and mighty princess isn't done with you after all."
"Just what I need," grumbled the pheno girl. She was reluctant to get out of the van to switch over to the limo, but nothing about her had any fight at the second. Complying, Darcy was escorted by the chauffeur into the limo, where she found her blackmailer sitting comfortably.
Lacey St Claire was the snob, fitting the stereotype for the common, rich daddy's girl, a spoiled brat with the free ride in life. She was dressed in all yellow, her favorite color. There was this nasty side to her sickening smile where she formed her lips to make them more of an "O" and it definitely weirded Darcy out. Her hazel eyes had met the camera with grand love for a few minutes, treasuring it with all her delight. Darcy sat across from her, back turned to the front. "Oh!" Lacey faced forward, setting the video camera on her lap. "For your sake, I surely hope the believability is realistically authentic."
"It better be." Darcy leaned back, resting up. The van drove past them, disappearing further into the parking garage.
"Oh, now that that's been taken care of..." Lacey formed her uneven, twisted smile, running her fingers down the top button of her yellow knitted sweater. She meant to arouse herself, and to place the slave Darcy in a sexual temptation. There was a gay gene in Lacey that got her playing with home team at times, and right now, alone with Darcy, she figured she could have the pheno perform for steamy sexual stuff, or the other way around. "You do as I say, and what I say goes..."
"Hmph..." Darcy mumbled. "I bet you're enjoying this."
"Well, it keeps me in place, and it will..." Lacey patted on the empty seat next to her. "Here, to me."
"What, why?" And for Darcy, it would be the first time putting herself to be abused in such a way that even she would be disgusted by Lacey's forced advances. "Whatever, surely you want to torture me with the footage."
And she was wrong; next thing Darcy knew, the blackmailer tugged her close enough that she practically set her lips all over the pheno's small neck, a one-sided physical engagement that drew out Darcy to discomforting levels unlike she had ever felt before. Whatever the bitch wanted, she had to endure through until it was over. Of course, it had only begun, and Darcy would soon find herself being stripped of half her clothes for the other's enjoyment and genuine pleasure. And while Lacey had a damn good time on Darcy's stunning body, the blackmailed girl could not even resist, or let alone drop a single tear.
Later
The limousine dropped her off on the note that her services would likely still be needed by the yellow princess, but Darcy hoped it was over, hoped that Lacey would pull back the package and terminate her as a servant.
Again, the stunt she pulled tonight had made her feel awful and unworthy to be blessed with the gifts, and there was no hypothetical thinking to be made; Darcy had paved the way to the favor of the anti-pheno voices without a doubt, and it wouldn't be long until it made the news, covered on television, radio and newspapers. All of which she'd try to avoid for a while.
She lived in a crappy apartment complex in the crappy part of town... Living, not what she could call it. Here, the rent was extremely cheap and affordable if you didn't mind the obvious cons of it. To list, there was the destruction of property spread around the old brick building. Graffiti and tagging, falling shingles and nasty odors were just the tip of the iceberg, conditions that rendered the place a horrid living location. It was all she and her small group of friends had in the meantime.
Darcy had to climb up the fire escape to get inside so much as to not wake the angry little landlord of the building. She made sure to be as quiet as she could be or bust. It was fortunate for her that their room lined up on the side of the fire escape, being the room on the third floor. Darcy found the window open for her, tiptoeing in. Her friends were asleep as she had hoped, seeing a bunch of them spread out.
Eric Langston, Terry Smythe, Nicholas Cromwell, and Victoria Thompson made up a snorefest of epic proportions, an opera all on its own. The only bedroom of the apartment belonged to each of them on a clock; it was in first-name alphabetical, from girls to guys. Tonight was for Darcy again, the first one of the ladies to receive alone time again, and with tonight's cursed agenda, she needed to be alone. Good, if she cried...-
She didn't wake them up, and her stomach rumbled with hunger. That would have to be held off until morning. She wandered through the sleeping beauties softly, aided by the carpet. That went almost too well, and would have stayed that way if not for Terry's leg being in the way, unseen below. "Shit!"
"Ow! D-Darcy?!" Terry Smythe was an average punk bitch, a girl no older than twenty, with a mohawk dyed bright purple. She had gone to sleep in her "thrashing threads" which meant the classic sixties greaser-esque attire and look. "What's with the late-night activity?"
Darcy pressed a finger to her own lips. "Shhh, please don't wake them up."
"Too late..." Nicholas, going by Nicky to the bunch, had feigned his snores and slumber state. "You were supposed to bring grub. Pizza boy handled it and got us some freebies..."
Darcy sniffed the air, detecting faint scents of pepperoni pizza. "Yeah, I know, I'm sorry."
"Sorry doesn't excuse you suddenly running off," Nicky chastised. "We'll humor you by letting you gave your turn in the bedroom, but I still want an excuse."
"No offense, Nicky, but you're not the boss here," Darcy struck down. "Don't you talk down to me as if you're some strict fatherly figure, so fuck you. Fuck all of you-"
It surely zipped up Nicky, the big brother of the group. For his height and size, he surely had the role to be father as well, and to add, he was the oldest of the clan. The blond boy was once a rich fellow, but his path in life was south with the drugs and nasty trouble with law. Here he was, cut out from mom, dad and millions. "D-Darcy, I'm not trying to father you, but- You know you have to be responsible."
And him being here as a poverty-stricken American did him all the good he sorely needed, despite the every-so-often withdrawal to fight.
Eric Langston was the youngest one there was. He was suave but lazy in terms of personality, and yet, he had a pizza job to date. How you'd recognize him was by his slicked-back hair of the platinum-blonde color, otherwise you'd never know it was him, even with a cap to cover part of it. "Don't shout at him, he's just-"
"I didn't ask your opinion, Eric," Darcy revved out. "I can't give you an excuse, but this wasn't on me! I just came across trouble, that's all... That's all it was..."
"What- What kind of trouble?" Terry forced herself up, touching Darcy with ease. "Hey, what happened?"
Darcy jerked Terry off. "Don't touch... I'm going to bed."
"Yes, please...!" Victoria gave them all the finger from the floor. "Shut the fuck up and sleep!"
"Damn it..." Terry retracted her hands off the angry pheno. "Darcy, what- What the hell did they do to you? Y-you call tell me at least..."
Darcy closed her eyes in pain.
"Can you?"
"Darce, deep breaths," Eric calmly breathed, sitting upright. "Talking helps."
"I did-" Darcy squeaked, feeling trapped by her recent activity and the secrets behind it. "I did something stupid t-tonight."
The three young adults gave each other serious looks of discernment, wondering what Darcy alluded to. "What?"
"Um-" Darcy averted her eyes, giving off a long, dreary sigh. She grabbed and pulled Terry to the bedroom. "Only you."
"Wow- Okay, okay!" Terry waved off the others. "I'll be right back."
Minutes Later
Victoria Thompson wanted the juicy details behind this little Darcy situation, craving for drama like a whore. Of the lot of them, she was the daddy's girl who had it only one way, and no other. She was cute, but she was a definite bitch with a stuck-up attitude and something of an ego, a real troublemaker who barely fit in with this crowd. "What do you think they're talking about?"
"Victoria, leave it alone," Nicky pushed. "It's personal business."
"We're all friends, I don't see why we're being left in the dark."
"We're not..." Nicky turned on the lights, going into the kitchen for a quick snack. "They're talking it over, and I know Darcy can trust us, we've been on the same boat, it makes us blood siblings-"
"Ha!" Victoria was amused by his shtick. "You're still a snob, Cromwell. We're not that similar, it's the life that fucked us hard, I wish I wasn't here."
"We all wish that, Vicky," Nicky tapped, backed by Eric's nodding. "I don't like it either, and I know Eric here doesn't, but we're all we've got when the others turn us away."
"You are so dramatic, man." Victoria fell forward into the bedroom once Darcy and Terry let themselves out. "Oh- Agh, I lost my nail I chipped! Oooh, it fell around here-"
"Darcy has need of your attention, guys," Terry motioned. "This is serious and important."
Darcy headed over to the messy table, accompanied behind by the four others, all of them huddling around the table as she sat down. It was a cult of statues with eyes centered on her and only her, adding pressure to get her to talk. The echoes of her guilt personified whispered like demons hiding in the tranquility of the atmosphere, little trickster trolls cloaked in sheets of invisibility, calling at her, conjuring dark magic that disturbed and terrified her. No way could she know what their reactions would be. She was a pheno freak who acquired her powers through a different way, and for that to be explained, she'd lay her Freight past on the table, figuratively and literally. She didn't want to involve or endanger them if that was a possibility; bad enough that she spilled onto Terry so far.
"I used to run with the Freights..." She went dead quiet, looking down at the pizza box, listening closely at their reactions, never looking up once. "I was part of that-"
Nicky exhaled in disbelief, bsrely audible in range.
"-But I got out when they fell that day four years ago."
"You...?" Eric couldn't believe it. "B-but you-"
"That isn't the real me," Darcy continued. "Hell, I don't think it ever was. I can't tell you why I was there, part of them, but I managed to walk out, and no one knows. I mean, I assumed no one knew up until a few days ago."
"Days? What- What happened then?"
Darcy then had the urge to back pedal. "No- No, I can't- I shouldn't be talking-"
"Darce, no, you've come this far in trust, why stop now?" Terry pulled up a chair next to Darcy. "You can, you're gonna."
"There's more to it than that..." Darcy admitted. "Now, before today, before Vial did what the news say, I broke into one of those places and took a little something."
"V-Vial?"
"What, the corporation infamous for the kidnappings?"
"Took something? What did you take?"
"A power-up..." She broke a portion of the table with one fist, making the tenants inside squirm about in wide astonishment. "I am one of the first two phenos of the world, and as far as it goes, one who accepted it of her choice."
"Dude..." Nicky awed.
"Jesus!" Eric croaked out.
"So, you're being hit with the blackmail, right?" Nicky had gathered it by then, the pieces being too clear to not place together. "Someone knows you are a girl with a bad reputation and...-"
"I don't understand how, but I've seen what they've got on me, and tonight, I... I had to forcefully break up a protest."
"A protest...?"
Darcy nodded. "My blackmailer is an anti-pheno member who wants them gone as soon as possible. I danced to the song they wanted, and there's a video of it to prove that we really are as bad as they believe."
"Oh, shit..."
"P-please tell me you didn't hurt or kill anyone..." Eric prayed.
"I'm not some psycho, Eric. With that being said, I..." Her pause did nothing to get her off the hook. "I didn't go lightly with them. I wanted to, and it made me angry that I couldn't, s-so I used it against them-"
"You didn't do this..." Nicky shook his head in disbelief. "They made you-"
"And I still hate it!" Darcy expressed. "I can't do anything about it, and I have to make sure the evidence they've got on me never ends up out there! I just can't let it happen, and it scares me..."
"It's starting to scare us, too," Victoria dropped, nearly mockingly. "You might as well kill us if you're spilling the beans."
"Victoria-" Nicky warned.
"Don't Victoria me, you pretentious moneybag!" The wavy blonde-haired young woman dared point a finger at Darcy. "This girl's history is problematic! Hey, let me remind you that I've got dirt I don't want getting out, and the same can be said for you all, I'm sure! Staying with her is a liability, I vote we cast her out! Rations and sources will be less consumed, and also-"
"That's a no from me," Nicky decided.
"Totally not from me either," Terry voted.
"Nay!" Eric agreed. "She stays!"
"N-no, no!" Victoria had fight to give. "Darcy isn't the problem, I'd say it's what they have on her. If someone were to destroy it-"
"I can't, it's been sent off as insurance should I go after them, and I'm able to... But not without paying the price."
"Do you need to go away?"
"I'm certain I'll be found, I wish I had a way out..." Darcy accepted that she would become the tool against the phenos and their supporters. "Where would I run off to, and how long until they'd find me? It won't do me any good, that's resistance in their eyes, and-"
"They won't bother chasing you, but they'll just release whatever evidence there is."
"There goes what little life I have left..."
"Isn't there a damn thing any of us can do?!" Terry was all in to jump the train Darcy boarded. "We can try to find it, can't we?"
"And alert all who are involved? I've only been fucked around by one person so far, I know there are more but I don't know who they are..." She got angry again and vented on the table on a lighter force, surprising herself to recollect on it later. "I don't have the time..."
"Darce-"
"There isn't anything to do here, I'm damned to bend to their will, it's that simple. Hard for me, but simpler than the other harder thing..."
Nicky exhaled through his mouth, arranging himself to an empty seat. "This is you confessing, I understand. I can't judge-"
"Correction, we can't judge," Terry grinned at her clan. "We know the new Darcy today, we know she's pure and selfless. It's going to be okay, but I just wish that we could do something here."
"We're sorry this is happening to you," Nicky added, looking grimly at Victoria. "Right, everyone?"
"Of course!" Eric nodded.
"It's sickening," Terry thought.
"Yeah, okay," Victoria peeped out. "I guess I wouldn't like it either."
"Now, I just hope they don't make you something really messed up, and enough that you're being used to make propaganda for them. I don't want to be involved in all that."
"I still can't believe you're an actual... What, phenom? Pheno?" Eric wound up scratching his head. "You'd figure they'd be calling them mutants or inhumans, guess I'm used to reading too many comic books."
"Pheno for phenomenon, at least that's what I would safely guess," Terry pondered. "Pheno-men would be cheesy."
"That's cringe, yo."
"You nerds," Victoria teased. "World of nerds."
"I hate it, but I can at least maintain control on the body count, keeping it at zero if this keeps going," Darcy brightened, finding one good thing in all this. "At least there is that."
"Yeah, yeah, that's good."
"You're right, now... I am really pooped, guys..."
Darcy yawned. "I'll have to continue this in the morning, I'll be seeing you guys morning."
"Likewise."
"Fucking finally..." Victoria was the first to jump to bed, the latter three following her lead. Darcy went back to the master bedroom, shutting the door behind them. Terry had pursued her eyes to the girl until she was no longer in view, and a grin formed on her. If there wasn't hope yet, there would be down the line. They weren't the best of good seeds, but Darcy was a pure adult hit with bad luck, nothing a few prayers couldn't fix. Maybe that's what she, and everyone here needed. Prayers and hope to push past the dark embers of the past, all challenges to be overcome as one, and only if they stuck together as they were now. Only if they maintained their friendship. And tonight kept it on the same level, maybe even raising it.
And Terry was glad for them. Thankful for what she had now. Happy Thanksgiving from D to you.
July 19th, 2030 - The Day After The Leaks
Maybe it was the prayers, and that meant God existed. The prayers that worked, the ones Terry had sent out, answered by Him via the newspapers. Only, she didn't know the true significance of it, and neither did the others, but the newspaper was brought to Darcy's attention post haste. The headlines mentioned about a thought-dead Freight who had turned on his own group and desecrated the very name of the Freights. This person, this Lincoln Loud of white hair was running around, partaking in the crusade against the injustice of the powers behind Vial Corp.
Darcy's friends were already putting the pieces slowly, she could tell from their faces. There was no need for her to confirm who the second pheno was, for she had answered it with a smile of pride and great confidence, which was also on her face due to her having a way out of this mess. While she was more of a puppy who was harmless save for times of crisis, she knew Lincoln as the big brother Rottweiler, ready to tear apart any and every flea that became a bothersome issue.
Somehow he had survived his initial attack against the Freights when it had been believed he perished, scary a fact in its own for Darcy. This was good, it meant that she had an exit, and immediately, she had to send out the emergency signal they've made with each other. And off she was, hurrying to mark the special occasion SOS for him to see.
July 20th, 2030
The sky never looked so reddish and golden as it did now. Darcy might have never noticed the sunset too much, and the same could be said for the daily sunrises. A new day was coming around the corner, a hopeful one at that, especially for good old Darcy Holmandollar. Not a soul stirred that wasn't her own right here, on the rooftop of the apartment building. She didn't know how long it would take for Lincoln to arrive, but she knew one thing-
"You called for me?"
She knew he would not let her down.
Lincoln stood behind her, Colt handgun drawn out at waist level, directed at her. "I wondered if you were alive, Darcy."
Darcy kept looking over the ledge, arms lain down on the concrte barrier. "I know what I'm going to see before I turn around."
He made it known he was armed, sliding the gun back. "Credit is due where it's due. What did you need for me to be summoned?"
"I've been stalked, Lincoln," Darcy informed. "They know I'm a pheno, they know I'm ex-Freight, they're blackmailing me to do their bidding, and it's not beneficial to the good folks and Vial's test subjects."
"That's interesting to hear, sounds like you've gotten yourself in a pickle."
"The last thing I want to do is get someone killed, but if I have to choose-" She didn't need to explain the complexity of it. She knew he knew very well about how these scenarios played out.
"You've done the right thing, coming to me with this..." Lincoln smirked with cruel satisfaction. "You've got names?"
Later
Lacey St Claire was most definitely a mansion bitch with more rooms than she knew what to do with. She turned all spares into bedrooms and slept around wherever she wanted. Tonight was one one the third floor, with a perfect landscape of the sight right outside her window. She went into her pajamas, totally telling the ghosts in the room that she was a child at heart, a dear fan of the warm, snuggling sensation in bed.
And underneath that queen-sized bed in her bedroom, a very special guest with a very special survival knife was out to play.
Elsewhere
Darcy didn't need to think about, but she knew very well what and how Lincoln utilized his skills. It wasn't anything revolving ponies and rainbows, that was for sure. She didn't know about his adventures she missed out on, but that wasn't of her concern. They were close on the platonic levels, trusting each other as the strangers they've been, a close relationship marked right before the true friendship level.
Darcy Holmandollar, the spared ex-Freight to be left alive off-grid forever. Lincoln himself had known the moral quality of her, the only real reason he didn't try to kill her back up top. She was thankful for that, understanding well how he worked, and she found herself thankful for where she was now. It was ironic at most, being saved by the man she had created, almost like the debt had gone being paid off. Whatever he did in the now, it didn't matter, and she had no questions to ask. Better if they never met again for everyone's sakes. Thankful for it. Thankful.
In any case, she would see herself to a better sleep. And things would realign to their proper position. And then, back to the calm emptiness she knew.
AN: Happy Thanksgiving from me to you.
Eric Langston owned by BurgerTac. It's just Langston, I just added the first name.
Terry owned by the sin kid board, is originally Tabbycoln, and it's copy-paste Tabby. Dull as shit.
Victoria Thompson owned by Rad/SadWriter/Faggot13, the guy behind some memorable Pastebin stories. Still want to take over "Lacy" to be honest.
Darcy's just like Lincoln physically, and the opposite in all other angles. It needed to be. More lore to her down there. Night.