AN: An update that was already explained in 'Five Nights at Freddy's - Security Breach, Shades Up' to those waiting for future updates. I'll be going on vacation, so I have no idea if I'll be able to update my current stories until around the start of 2023. I'll still be working, but my access to here may be limited. For those wondering if this is gonna drag on in this pattern of all talk, I have a feeling that I might be getting somewhere into the more action and mystery parts.
We've finally reached above 1,000 views! Thank you to those who have been following and reading this story so far. Hope you enjoy today's chapter!
Chapter 9
Night time already fallen and Obsidian and Topaz are sound asleep. While everybody would be resting during this time, some would stay up at night. Some would be working hard for their final assignments or work pile for their jobs. Some would be up all night trying to win in video games. Some just stay up for longer for the thrill of it.
For Stone's case, it is an unusual one.
He wiped his brow as he observed what he has been working on for long. The hacking process took really long since whatever is at the Mystic Jungle lair is already wiped clean, but by some miracle, he managed to find something that is left right there. They should have notified Towers, but by the time they found the missing information, they already deemed the place to be redundant.
That only left him and another agent who secretly managed to gather the data needed. So far, it doesn't seem to be too relevant or deadly.
At least not for long.
Deciding to relax a little, he sat back on a table, checking over his tablet. The files are already engraved into his devices. His ground. He isn't sure what would happen if he would share them since that can mean that he might be allowed to use the newly received data. Looking up at the door, he expected someone to come in to see what he was studying.
Fortunately, nobody barged in on him. Of course, nobody would. They are all sound asleep while he played around in his soundproof secret lab in the basement. That can mean he can breathe easily. This can also allow him to focus on his main projects without worry.
Stone looked back at his tablet, amazed by what Eggman had done over the past few months between the Jackal Squad's deaths and his disappearance. Some might laugh Eggman off as just a joke, it was already becoming annoying for G.U.N, but they know that he isn't an idiot. He is and will be a problem for all of them.
That's something Stone finds interesting; no matter how many times Eggman might lose, his complex inventions and plans got him to survive for another day.
Another opportunity to either do better in the future or continue to rise his empire to the top.
His time with the Mean Machine wasn't great. The kills he was involved with weren't that good or sorted out real justice. For the way it was delivered he thought. At least one of his former teammates' deaths was the most satisfying he ever saw. Stone smiled as he remembered the time watching him melting to the ground and screaming his name. They never found out who did it and Stone was sure that nobody would.
Does he miss being a criminal? Sometimes. Stone knows that G.U.N had the best intentions, but there are times he misses the good old days. The best ones where he felt really unstoppable. There is no such thing as eternal glory, but he knows that it is a feeling that is out there in the universe.
Sometimes, he wondered how he could have control of the world without seemingly backstabbing the people who now raise him.
He wanted to live back on the metaphor that those who aren't as smart as him or Eggman go down beneath the dirt. Literally.
Stone glanced at the beaker next to him. The brown liquid of Chili Caffeine. Been stored there for a long time and only Topaz got to see it for the first time. He had collected different kinds of chemical prototypes to ensure that the coffee would work properly. It had taken a few grueling months to get it right, but he believed that the liquid here might come around soon.
Hot to the human body but burning hot to any other materials.
And he isn't exactly aiming for the liquid to burn the skin or flesh quickly if it is splashed on them.
So far, it was strong enough to distinguish any other kind of materials, but he has to find some way that the liquid could be contained. Only the glass of his beakers worked, but it was easily breakable.
The danger of filling this liquid into a weapon might melt it in the process. He had to switch between different chemicals to needing magical rocks to make it right. A silly project for using a drink out of all things, but he wondered if the use of caffeine would make people overthink more when they consume the liquid.
The real reason for making the acidic drink wasn't to just make people collapse in one sip. But it was to try if they would remember what they really did in their final moments. Letting them panic more so that they wouldn't try to die an honorable death. Letting them hurt more on the inside.
That is when the real satisfaction comes in when dealing with those who were against him yet hard to break down.
Placing down his tablet, he decided to test the liquid one more time. It should have rested long enough after he threw a few dashes of minerals into it. There was an artificial, inactive body hanging up on display for him to test on. He poured the liquid right down the body's mouth, watching as the brown liquid poured right through the stomach and into the intestines.
To his delight, it was already making the body melt. It no longer looked like it was made from human flesh and more like a mush of clay clumped together to form a grey puddle. The body temperature was rising and the electrical signals of the brain were on fire. Higher than the normal organism's response to dying.
It reminded him of his former teammate's death.
Stone walked back to his tablet, reading the last few bits of the file he hacked. A grin crossed his face when he saw that there was something he could use. It would be the perfect opportunity to use his new liquid as a weapon. All he needed to do was to find the location the file mentioned.
Perhaps what was there might be able to hold the Chilli Caffeine and fire it without burning in the process? If not, he could adjust the weapon for safety measures. This would be a foolproof plan to burn down his enemies.
Oh, he sure hoped that Eggman would see how he could be on the same level as he is.
He jumped upwards when he heard a bell ringing. Wait, no, that was his clock. It was already midnight. The time when he was supposed to sleep. While he often managed to get to work in the morning on all weekdays, he was slightly sleep-deprived. He sometimes felt a little fatigued, especially when breakfast coffee wore off.
He doesn't want to care about staying up too late, but he needs rest. Stone felt a bit ashamed that he wasn't getting enough sleep properly.
He reminded himself that he still got a lot of time in the world to prepare the Chilli Caffeine. That was enough for him to place down his tablet.
Taking the beaker containing the Chilli Caffeine sample, he preserved it inside a special machine that would change the temperature to ensure that it didn't go rotten. It was still a mess due to notes and oily fingerprints, but he can tidy it up later on. And he already has spare artificial bodies to torture the next day.
Despite the feeling of Topaz asleep in bed, Stone slipped on a normal mask of sanity. Hopefully so that when he crawled out from his secret lab, nobody would question him. Just to reassure others that he isn't gonna do anything bad to them.
And he knew that Topaz wouldn't be happy about him using the Chilli Caffeine again.
He has big plans on whom to use it on.
"So let me get this straight," said Towers. "From what we heard about the Lightning Bolt Club, they managed to set up a REAL criminal ring in the States and traveled from city to city to pick them up?"
It was already in the early morning and Rouge managed to report back to the Commander about her findings. From observing other robberies and word on the streets, Rouge managed to notice what the Lightning Bolt Club was doing lately. She was right that they are growing better everyday due to their traveling.
On the right of Rouge's face chat was a web page Towers pulled up. It was a news article explaining a robbery that occurred at a machine factory. The workers weren't hurt, but they were found tied up to the ceiling and the walls with crude drawings on their faces. The place was already a mess due to the robbers tossing things everywhere. While what they stole might not be that big, they did manage to steal something essential to the factory's production.
The bat herself was resting in a hotel. Towers suggested something more low-profile, but Rouge gave an excuse that they couldn't hide in an office since that might be too obvious and shady. She even wanted to have Shadow 'relax' for a little. But if anything, she didn't look relaxed judging by her annoyed look and the coffee cup in hand.
"It's probably them picking up two-bit crooks," deadpanned Rouge. "They continued to be annoyances while leaving the main members to do the dirty work. Seems like they are picking anyone who can be their meat shield."
Towers sighed. "I'm not sure about that. If what you reported to me was actually true, then it seems like they might have hired more professional criminals. The founding members wouldn't have been able to enact heists like these."
"You think so? They might not be that charming."
"I would agree with you right there," said Towers. "BUT if these crimes are linked to them, then that means they are getting stronger every day. Stealing from museums, banks and factories. Stealing from banks can be a major risk factor since they might use the money to buy illegal weapons. Or using machinery to build something."
"How can you tell by that?" wondered Rouge.
"One of the members is Dave," reminded Towers. "Or as he is called 'the Intern'. It turns out that he is a knack for mechanics. Once, he managed to build a deep-fryer robot to improve the ratings of a fast-food restaurant. That improved business until he chose to rip the cord."
"Don't you think that he hasn't been building ever since joining the Lightning Bolt Club?"
"That I cannot confirm, but it may be possible since that club wants to become real villains. They would want to take a lot of things seriously."
"Anyway, we found out that the Lightning Bolt Club might be heading to Central City," explained Rouge. "Apparently, one of them is dumb enough to mention that they'll be taking a trip there for 'holiday'."
Towers thought about it. "They're somehow really slippery. Looks like we have to keep a check on when they enter. But it might be a lie, so keep investigating the last few cities they visited. They must have left something behind."
"Got it then," said Rouge. "There's already a squadron investigating what might be a hiding spot the club took before. Hopefully, there's something there. Though, there's something I have to say. The Lightning Bolt Club in the past would have been easy to find. But now…they're so good at hiding. How come?"
Towers shrugged. "Don't know. They made too many mistakes by telling off others where they are or what they have been up to. But it seems that…they have straightened themselves up to be serious. And with that, it would be harder to stop them."
Rouge nodded. "Not gonna lie, I'm impressed and I wouldn't be mad at them."
KABOOM!
The bat flinched when she felt an explosion going off on her side. The hotel slightly trembled, but not enough to bring it down to the earth. She looked around, trying to find the source of the explosion. And cue in the screaming and crying from outside.
"What was that?" said Towers, his eyes widening.
The door slammed open on Rouge's side. Shadow just arrived back. Despite his stoic look, he too was caught off-guard by the loud explosion.
Towers curled his lips. He was nearly tempted to tell the Ultimate Lifeform about Obsidian's service at G.U.N. While it was also not the time now, it might not be a clever idea to tell Shadow about this yet. He pushed that small thought down and took in the current situation.
"Agent Shadow," said Towers. "Anything you found out?"
"A bomb seemed to have been set off at the edge of town," said Shadow. "The squadron sent to investigate the Lightning Bolt Club was near there."
"What?!"
Shadow immediately bolted out of the hotel and Rouge followed, picking up her phone to let Towers see the results.
It didn't take long until the fast duo arrived at the scene of the explosion. There were several people surrounding it to check for any survivors while police cops tried to block them from entering. The two agents were allowed to go in. With the phone directed at the scene, Towers was surprised to see a now abandoned sign that looked like it came from a fast-food restaurant.
"So…this was one of their hide-outs?" asked Towers.
"Looks like this place is confirmed to be owned by the Lightning Bolt Club," said Shadow grimly. "They must have caused this to cover up their tracks."
And it was clear that they expected someone to come in since the G.U.N agents sent to investigate were all down. Towers could see Shadow trying to pull them out from the rubble from the arms and legs poking out. Some of the gaps revealed the unconscious guards trapped beneath. To Rouge's and Towers' horror, there was some…blood splattered on the floor with a burnt arm nearby.
And there was a strange gurgling as if someone were choking from water poured down their throat.
Most of the restaurant was nearly gone with the walls and ceilings being torn down. However, the reception table where they displayed the pre-cooked food was intact. So was the wall that separate the dining room from the kitchen. There was a TV screen attached to the wall. While it appeared to be fine, it was clear that the explosion did a hit on it due to its glitching.
A video was on, but it was unclear what it was about due to the screen malfunctioning. Towers narrowed his eyes as Rouge got close to the screen.
Randomly, she picked up a small rock and threw it at the screen.
Turned out, this was what caused the screen to function properly.
"Huh, that works," commented Rouge.
Appearing on screen what must be a video footage already prepared. The camera was focused on a tall and skinny nutria, sitting at a table with a couple of notes in front of him. He had light cyan fur with bangs mimicking a bowl cut, green eyes, black freckles on his cheeks and two overly large buck teeth with braces on them. From what they could see, he was wearing a purple robe with a long hood and a red fez emblazoned with the Lightning Bolt Club's symbol.
"Oh look," said Rouge nonchalantly. "It's that pathetic intern again."
"What is saying there?" asked Towers. "Is this some sort of message?"
It seemed to be one. The screen played the video and Dave began speaking.
"Greetings, people of…well, Earth for now," he said, a little awkwardly. "I'm Dave and I'm here to say that you must have done a good job with finding this place. I'm sure that you must have found out about our ultimate glory! Name disclosed for now, but if you want to join us, find the guys in purple robes with the lightning bolts on them."
"We already know your name," grumbled Towers.
"And we're a SOCIETY now. NOT a club."
The Commander nearly thought of leaning back if it wasn't for the fact that he was in another place where he could be harmed.
"You see…do I have to read this?" Dave glared down at his notes critically. He groaned, taking one in his hand. "OK, OK, let's get straight to this point. We're a bunch of well-educated folks trying to get through life itself. Though, you know the feeling that we should be able to do what we want for our 'free will', right?"
Rouge tried to chuckle, but it was clear that she was becoming uncomfortable about Dave's speech. The way he waved his hands around at the 'free will' part made Towers narrowed his eyes. As Rouge placed the phone down so that she could help Shadow with finding the survivors, directed at the screen, the video continued on.
"I found the society in order for us to be able to ascend to be like the greatest of all time!" said Dave. "And what do we get in our efforts? Being called harmless? It is no lie that we may be 'annoyances', but…as we developed as a club-SOCIETY! I mean, society…we found out that the people who join want to feel like something…and that cannot be possible unless this society is equal like every other society." He paused for a moment, glaring at his notes. "I'm starting to sound like Chameleon at this point."
The doors, or at least what was left of them, started twitching. It wouldn't be a problem since half of them were blown away and the walls crumbled down. However, it surprised Rouge that they were glitching at this point. I looked like they were trying close…
"But all of you should get that we just want to put good effort in what we do…like everyone else in the world. And you see, everyone else think that we don't take our jobs seriously, right?" Dave clenched his hand into a fist, pressing it against his table. "We've studied every gambit I can find out there, every invasion, every massacre! And with that knowledge, you don't think we didn't learn ANYTHING from them?!" In emphasis, he slammed the table. "Oh, we did try, but then dumb luck just threw us around and you pinned it all on us for not living up to the acts of others! And what do we get in return from all of you?!" Another slam to the table. "How come you all get to build off from your own career despite all these FAILURES you get into?!"
And by the third slam, his fist somehow managed to make cracks in the table. Towers watched with wide eyes, surprised to see how much this guy was holding deep within. Normally, he would write him off as a wannabe. But this time, it looked like there was something more to him, hidden underneath. That anger was nearly waiting to unleash from this kid.
"Perhaps this will be a reminder to everyone that we are straight-up horrible! None of you don't know what we will be doing or what we will be, but here, I'll show you that my society can be as evil as Eggman! You'll see!"
There was a loud click as the screen turned itself off, but nothing else happened. Towers looked around at what he could find on his computer, but nothing went off. Shadow and Rouge froze for a moment, but nothing came to them. They resumed back to their work of getting people out of the ruined restaurant alive.
Towers wondered if that video played when the investigating squad came into this abandoned hide-out. And if that video really served as a reminder that they won't be holding back, then that meant the Lightning Bolt Club (or 'society' as Dave put it) intended to trap them there with a bomb. Forcing them to watch this footage before the restaurant blew up.
The Commander thought that they might have it easy with finding this group of crooks, but now…it looks like they're getting serious for once.
It was nearly the same procedure when revisiting Doctor September for the experiments. All he needed was some more data on physical exercises and attacks. The use of the Phantom Ruby prototype wasn't much except for the noticeable enhancements of power whenever forming projectiles or using it for empowerment.
Initially, I thought if it might be due to the prototype being 'happy' with being given another chance to go wild without the Inhibitor Rings on. However, September noted that with each day, there was gonna be a difference based on energy, stamina and motivation. And since he did ask me how I was feeling, he came up with a few new theories that maybe after the first time, I started to feel more comfortable with coming to the same room and using the ruby.
The thought of that made me feel a little worried. As I was using my ruby more often than I wished, especially back at the restaurant last night, it would mean that its power might be slowly finding its way into knowing how to use my body for its own abilities. That got me scared. However, September noted that there were no signs or reports of it trying to manipulate me.
The experiment was a bit shorter than yesterday, but that might be due to adjusting to the tasks I was given for today as part of my community service. And it was clear that they already got a schedule for me to do. Most of the morning included patrolling around G.U.N HQ, and it turned out to not be so bad.
It was a little repetitive and boring, but I found it a bit more relaxing. Sure, I had some places I cannot explore, but at least I can just scout around the peaceful hallways. Before, I wasn't too fussy on whatever was lying around in a hallway. Due to feeling that it shouldn't be my concern back then when I was a mercenary. Now, I think I started to feel that there shouldn't be any nasties around. I don't want to let anyone get hurt here.
To my luck and relief, there didn't seem to be anyone attacking one another. Aside from random recklessness stunts (I felt inclined to nearly join a group doing somersaults) and people littering, there was no other danger. No backstabbing, no break-ins. It made me feel safer due to the order that seemed to go around in here.
The only thing I would have nearly called chaotic was when I was supposed to patrol the jail cell hallway. When entering it, I had no idea for what I was in store. I thought that I would be fine since I would know the kinds of people who eventually get locked up. I met crazy people before, especially from my former squad.
It didn't prepare me to show the containment that really took place.
Holy crap, it was like an actual zoo! Just when you enter right into the grey hallway with iron reinforced doors and questionable stains all over would make you not want to stay in there for long. I might have come across some cages, but having THIS line of many cages was terrifying. From one door to another, the only way I could know what was going on in those soundproof rooms was to peek through the eyehole of the door. The cellmates were what I expected. From criminals to thieves to even what appeared to be normal-looking people.
They were all kept in here probably due to the huge threat they did. I heard that the police would normally take care of regular crooks and street criminals.
To my surprise, the cellmates were far from peaceful. When looking inside, there seemed to be messes in each cell. Not only I could see the dirt and scratches on the walls, but the cellmates as well.
The first one I investigated caught me by surprise. It was someone screaming close to my face. Complete with red eyes, an unclean face and a look of desperation. They looked like they hadn't eaten in a couple of days or even seen the light of day.
It didn't make the next few cells better. While some of the other cellmates looked civil, they just glared at me. Their eyes were blank, devoid of any passion. It was as if they already lost any sense of hope of getting out. They also appeared jealous of me after taking a scan of my head. It seemed that some recognize me, judging by the subdued reactions.
If they saw a mercenary walking through, they would have been surprised.
The ones that made me feel awful were some of the prisoners that looked like they were…crying. They were trying to hide from being seen or curled up in the corner. To my horror, their clothes were even stained in red splatters, obviously from bloody fights or self-inflictions.
After seeing a couple of cells containing the more hopeless prisoners, I took a step back in horror.
It was shocking to see what happened to them. Unlike me, they weren't given a chance for redemption. They were either waiting to hear what their judgment will be or they would end up being in this cell as their last place. They didn't even look like they fit in Central City; appearing more unhinged, dirty or messy with a new attitude. It was as if they kept all the crazy ones here.
After being given a few more glares from them, I felt scared of what could have happened to me if G.U.N wasn't merciful towards me or any of the other former Jackal Squad members who joined them. They could have locked us away for being 'selfish monsters' or for appearing too wild for this civilization. It made me wonder why they decided not to give me this fate.
Here I was, a jackal still not grasping properly the city's civilization. I couldn't really adapt to the loud noises of technology, I didn't really understand that much about treating non-anthropomorphic animals and I couldn't really comprehend people's views properly. I was just made an exception to the other 'psychos' in these jails. Would I really become one if I got thrown away like this? Would I be treated like an outcast in this world?
I immediately got out of the jail cell hallway, trying not to slam the door behind me. Leaning against it, I tried to recompose myself, placing a hand over my chest that was moving up and down from panting.
There was nobody able to break out, so why should I worry? I don't want to spend long there.
It felt like a reminder of what kind of criminal I was in the past.
Thankfully, my patrolling around the HQ was done and I was eventually given tasks for the afternoon. Apparently, I was supposed to help clean graffiti off buildings; I thought that those cool colorful paintings were purposefully made for art.
It was nice getting to be outside in the city. I wondered at first how chaotic it might be due to the vast number of people. However, it felt much bigger than the past towns and villages I went to. Despite how crowded it appeared, it felt like there was more to explore. Maybe it was due to the fact of what people were wearing; quite a huge wardrobe they got from the shops nearby.
There were a lot of noises, but it wasn't as bad as the arcade. I anticipated the cars and trucks coming by, but I wasn't fully prepared for the motorcycles speeding along. Compared to the first time when driving through the city, I was more prepared if there were any honking.
And it didn't distract me as I tried scratching off the last bits of paint on the wall.
"C'mon, dog," said an agent, huffing as she carried away a bucket of water. "That's already the last graffiti we need to deal with."
"I know," I said, my eyes fixated on the wall. "But it's not clean yet…"
We had a long red brick wall of graffiti to clean, taking an hour and a half to wipe the whole wall. The agent helping me out was also doing community service, but more as a volunteer. But she didn't seem to be so happy about it. Possibly due to how much time it took for me, but she reassured me that she didn't like the fact that it was almost hard to get the paint off.
I found myself getting in the zone of cleaning the graffiti off. At first, I felt like it would take forever. Eventually, I found myself trying to wipe every single piece of the paint on the wall. At some points, I went to scratching certain sticky paints with my claws, though that accidentally cleaned off the normal paint from beneath the graffiti. It came to my mission that this wall needed to be cleaned.
I guessed that all the tidiness in this city was slowly getting to me. In fact, I found it as the only thing I should be doing for the rest of the day. Even when my assistant called me over for a break, I refused to stop for a moment. I wanted to get the clean-up done since the graffiti on the wall shouldn't be there any longer.
Back in the present now, the agent shook her head in amusement. "It's just probably one single spot. You don't need to worry about it."
"Hey," I said. "Whose job is this? Whose responsibility is this?"
I turned back to the wall, ignoring the low sigh from the agent. This white spot on the red wall was hard to clean! I tried coming in closer, my nose touching the wall. That way, I might see closer to where my claw was at. Just one more scratch right there…
After a few tries, the white paint spot was gone.
"Yes!" I hissed. "Task completed!"
"When I said take this task seriously, I don't mean THAT seriously," said the agent.
"At least the wall is purely clean now! Now it can be as good as new!"
"Yeah, but we have to finish cleaning on the last wall," informed the agent.
"...oh, I kind of forgot about that. Where would it be again?"
Soon enough, we made our way to what she called a 'mall'. I never heard about them before or visited one, so all I saw was a large building that looked like a couple of warehouses mashed into one. To my surprise, the walls of the loading rooms for the shops inside were coated in so much graffiti. And it was HEAVILY coated in so many layers. Some of the colorful paint looked like they were freshly new!
"That looks like it is part of this 'local mall'," I said.
"No, it doesn't," said the agent matter-of-factly. "No shopper ever takes a look back here and admires it. There's probably more than that inside. And while I'm at it, at the front entrance."
"Hmm, say, are there any cleaners in this mall?"
"Yeah?"
"Then why are we cleaning this wall if there are cleaners?"
The agent rolled her eyes. "...you know what? You got a really good point. But nobody comes out here to clean things up."
Right on time when a mall janitor heard us, apparently bringing out his large bucket of water and a mop.
"Damn it!" he said, throwing his equipment down. "Why did they pay you over to do this instead of paying ME for this job?!"
With that, he turned around and sulked away, heading back inside.
The agent turned back to me, baffled. "MOST people don't come out here to clean things up. It's like not wanting to clean up your backyard or garden."
"I don't usually clean up gardens," I muttered.
Just before we could even take another step forward, a white substance splattered onto my head. I froze, wiping a bit of it with my finger. It smells like…bird poop. Somehow, this smell is worse than from vultures' own waste when on the ground! I slowly looked up and I could hear the familiar sound of cooing.
The same pigeon flying in from above. It pooped a few more times, ruining the ground in front of me.
Something snapped inside and my primal instincts kicked in.
Without warning, I snatched my assistant's mop and threw it right at the pigeon. Despite having good aim, the pigeon just dodged it without effort. I could only watch as it flew downwards, away from us, while the mop crashed harmlessly on the ground. And the pigeon just flew right through the door where the janitor came from.
There was loud shouting, squawking and liquid spilling on the floor inside. Followed by a random water bottle being thrown out.
"That was my mop," said the agent next to me.
I giggled sheepishly. "Sorry. Force of habit."
Remembering the poop on my head, I decided to scoop some water from my bucket and poured it over my head. That flatten my mohawk, but hopefully it got rid of the poop. I tried grabbing parts of it out so that I didn't need to come home smelling like a toilet.
"I'm guessing that you don't get along with pigeons."
"I had an encounter with that pigeon before," I said. "It tried taking my bandanna. They're quite a handful, are they?"
She thought for a while. "Not all birds around here are bad. Aside from the bird people, these ones? They're sometimes nice."
"Nice? You call some of them 'nice' when they mindlessly try to steal it from you?"
"As long as you don't give them too much attention," pointed out the agent, picking up her bucket and going straight toward the wall. "A lot of people fed breadcrumbs at the park. You have no idea how many that won't peck on them."
That was something surprising. Normally, when in the desert, you wouldn't want to be around vultures. They could be hostile to you if you get too close unless you're a bird tamer. And they were the least likely you want to feed to; they would be coming back for more. However, the agent sounded confident about feeding birds. Maybe she had that experience in the past?
I decided not to think about it. I didn't even want to imagine what feeding non-anthropomorphic birds here would be like. Especially with that pesky pigeon around.
Ignoring the bird for a while, me and the other agent went to work on scrubbing the wall. The fresh coat of graffiti was easier to wash off than the old ones, but I found it a bit tougher than the last. Due to how many layers of graffiti covered each other, it was as if they just blended together to remain sticky on the wall. I nearly chose to scratch the whole way, but it would be unlikely given the only tools I was allowed to use.
It made me wonder if that was how it felt with needing to clean up the waste left behind by kids back in the desert. Despite this, I knew that I was gonna be back in the zone and wanted to get rid of all of this graffiti.
However, after a few minutes, my ear flicked upwards when I heard ruffling from the bushes. Looking behind my shoulder, I noticed something coming out from it, but all that was left were leaves floating in the air. Sounded like somebody jumped out of it mere seconds ago.
It was possibly just a squirrel, I thought. Rolling my eyes, I was about to continue cleaning the wall. Right until a single piece of a broken pipe fell into my bucket.
Giving in, I looked upwards. And I was given my answer to who was the person who jumped out of the bushes.
Or should I say, a group of people.
Right on top of the ceiling appeared to be three identical dark teal weasels, nearly wearing the same thing. All three were wearing black squad caps, black shirts, reddish-purple robes, white gloves with black bracelets underneath the cuffs and black boots. One thing that distinguished each of them was that they were wearing different bandannas covering their muzzles. One in red, one in yellow and one in blue.
In one of the weasels' hands was a grappling hook gun. The second was holding what looked like an ax.
I tried hearing what they were saying, but it was a bit hard to hear them from below. And it was already too late for me to react since they already started using the ax to break right through the ceiling. The second I took a few steps back to get a full view of them, they already disappeared into the ceiling.
"Um…ma'am?" I said nervously.
The agent groaned. "What?"
"We…got a problem. What appears to be three burglars…breaking in from above."
The agent's eyes widened. "Well, that's not good."
"Obviously," I said, dropping my mop.
Usually, it wouldn't have come to mind about stopping thieves. Unless it was competition for the Jackal Squad. However, being here, it made me a little sour that there were thieves making an attempt to rob this place. It made me think back to the jail cell hallway I went through before; I would have done the same with robbing a mall when not locked up, but it would be betraying what I needed to earn in this civilization in the first place.
The robbers didn't look too bad since they could fit in with the rest of the civilians. However, I had no idea what they were planning to do. And one of them brandishing an ax might be more than just breaking into the ceiling. That could be a recipe for a couple of tombstones.
Like a madman, I immediately bolted right to the available door I could find.
"Hey!" yelled the agent. "W-What are you doing?!"
"Somebody got to stop those thieves!" I exclaimed.
"Leave that to the guards. We haven't been given any orders to do so."
"I'm not taking chances! I know too many ways how they can chop a person's head off with an ax!"
Not wanting to waste time, I kicked down the door, greeted by the janitor trying to recover from a pigeon attack. I didn't bother him, jumping over him as he stared at me in shock. I looked behind, wondering if my assistant would try to stop me.
However, there was only a loud groan from outside.
"You're just gonna get yourself into trouble anyway!" the agent yelled, fed-up.
It didn't come to me that I would eventually be in a difficult spot. I thought that it would be easy to catch up to the three weasels, but once I went through another door, I realized that I should have taken her word seriously.
The mall was somewhat similar to a large market. You got all the shops and stores with busy customers trying to get through the crowd. Families stick together, making sure that their children don't wander off. And some sellers walking around, trying to promote themselves. However, the differences were clear here.
Aside from music playing from each shop, it was actually less noisy than being outside. There wasn't that much of the shopping traffic. Possibly due to how calming this place appeared to be, evidenced with a few shoppers resting on nearby benches. I had to wonder how many stores they were able to fit in right here since this could open up the potential of three villages!
And of course, the products on sale looked quite different. There were clothing shops, but I noticed that they nearly looked the same with the same colors. To say the least, it made the desert village have more variety of clothes and disguises sold to mercenaries. However, the food shops and supermarkets had more variety due to the different cuisines and colors.
I shook my head, reminding myself that I had to find those three weasels. But the mall was gigantic that I don't know where to find it. A voice hissed in my head that they were just nearby. It felt like the ruby was…telling me this. I had the urge to unzip my jacket to let the ruby analyze the whole scene, but I pushed it down.
I didn't want to use it, but given that I might not have enough time to catch them, I reluctantly let it be my guide.
As I ran through the different levels, relying on my ruby to track the weasels' presence, I couldn't help but glance at the many colorful shops. Most of the clothing shops have similar looks aside from their branding. The ones with diverse fashion were the ones meant for kids due to the cutesy decorations used. However, as I passed by them, I noticed that the styles of the clothes were different from each other.
One shop included a line of leather jackets, made with different collar styles. A few shops sold sneakers that apparently had glitter or could glow in the dark. And I swore that one shop looked like it sold skinny panties for both men and women. There was even this one shop that appeared expensive…and it already had a line of people waiting outside!
It made me wonder if the three weasels would be likely to steal from these kinds of expensive shops.
Thinking about it, it made me think Ryder would be the one to go or steal from those shops. Knowing that he was the more stylish member of my squad, he would want us to have more style when it came to appearance and 'charm'. Tempest was a bit more tolerant than Zero about our presentation. It also made me smile since Ryder was quite a creative guy himself when it came to strategies.
If he was alive today, then he would be squealing in joy from dropping by here. He would want to sell his jacket for one of those leather jackets.
The ruby didn't seem to indicate where the three weasels were since I was just running around in circles. The signal was still strong, but not enough to tell me where they were hiding. Must be due to the Inhibitor Rings I was wearing, but it wouldn't be worth the risk to take them off. That would set G.U.N off.
To my dismay, the pigeon came back in. How come it stayed in here for THAT long with many people around?!
It landed on my head and immediately went to pecking on my bandanna.
"Hey! Ow! Ow!" I yelped, bouncing around. "Get off! Get off!"
The bird remained oblivious and continued trying to peel the bandanna off my head. Geez, how persistent was this bird? All in thinking that my bandanna was food to it?
Little did I know that I was stumbling backward in the path of shoppers stepping out of the way. I felt embarrassed for making a fool of myself like this all because of a pigeon. As I hopped around, I eventually bumped into one shopper and the pigeon flew off.
"Yeah!" I snarled. "Scram now, bird!"
"Ugh," grumbled the lady behind me. "How many times do I have to bump into you? Already three days…"
It was Molly. And she hadn't changed her outfit, still wearing her purple fedora and pink coat. Several of her bags were dropped out of her hands since I crashed into her. Oddly, the only bag that didn't fall down was one she carried using her tail. And she didn't look happy to see me again.
"Oh, I'm so sorry," I said sheepishly, picking one bag.
"I didn't ask for your help," said Molly, snatching it out from my hand. "Don't you have other things to worry about?"
I was about to explain, but I got distracted by the contents of her shopping bags. As she picked them up, I got a closer look at them. They were mostly clothes, but they didn't seem to be her type. And they were a smaller size than hers! Half of them were more of a strawberry pink color with exaggerations on the flower patterns.
For someone who wears serious attire, those don't look like the type of clothes she would even want to wear.
And upon seeing her expression after staring at her shopping bags, it was clear she didn't want to buy them.
"You curious little dog," said Molly, narrowing her eyes. "What's with it with you being interested in…everything?"
I cleared my throat. "I've never been in a shopping mall like this before, alright? And why with that much?"
Molly blushed. "It's just…essentials needed for my family."
"Are clothes essential?" I asked. "I-I mean, OK, yes, they are. But here, wouldn't they already have enough?"
"They're visiting me and my Abuela soon." She paused, her face turning a dark shade of pink. "I…don't really remember when they're coming…but I prefer to do things in advance."
"Huh." I looked back at the shopping bags. "I'm guessing that your family relatives are more…brighter?"
Molly raised an eye. "It sounds like you're implying something."
"What? No! Totally nothing in relation to you!" In my mind, it was starting to become in relation to Molly compared to what the rest of her family might be like. "I just thought…they like to be more playful?"
The purple cat rolled her eyes. "OK. They can be a little quirky, but they're harmless. I don't think they're really happy about my job or the fact that I'm living alone. Most of the older relatives are school teachers."
"Teachers?" I said, a little surprised. "So…most of their kin are gonna be teachers?"
"Not me. I already passed the stage of learning. I should be more out there to produce something new instead of relearning and teaching the same things."
"I guess that makes sense." I chuckled a little, rolling my shoulders. "Like with trying to teach kids how to kill a snake, am I right?"
She only gave me a quizzical stare. "Anyway, what are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to do your tasks today?"
"Well, I was in the middle, but then, I found three burglars breaking in here."
Molly suddenly got interested, leaning in. "Burglars? Who are they?"
"Mmmm, they were teal weasels. All with matching outfits-"
"Oh. Ugh, THOSE idiots."
"Wait, you know them?"
"They're part of the Lightning Bolt Club," explained Molly. "The Weasel Bandits probably gonna get caught by the security guards any second now."
"Molly, listen, my prototype tracked them all the way here. And…I feel that they are around where we are now."
Molly didn't look too concerned. "Know what? I'm just…gonna chill for now."
"You're gonna sit back for this?!" I hissed in disbelief. "But it's our job to help people before they get hurt!"
"Hey, don't worry about the Weasel Bandits. Sure, their club might be rising in power, but they don't take things seriously. They're harmless. As much I wish I do, I should not need a reason to blow their brains out."
KABOOM!
Us two G.U.N agents stood in dumbfounded silence as some kind of bomb went off at a nearby shop. Looking over Molly's shoulder, something was smoking from a sushi restaurant. People were already running away, but the damage inside didn't look too bad due to most of the customers coming closer to the source of the explosion. And then, they quickly got out of the way when the three Weasel Bandits escaped.
With two riding a cart and one pushing it, all carrying rice cookers.
"You were saying?" I deadpanned.
Molly's expression didn't change, pulling out a black gun from her coat. "OK, now I'm in the mood to blow their brains out."
AN: I was scared at first if there might be a few boring parts between the Commander learning about an explosion set up by the Lightning Bolt Club and Obsidian arriving at a mall. I eventually made the move on writing more on the prison hallway, taking inspirations from 'Helluva Boss S2 E2', but hopefully I'll be able to address back to it since it had a huge impact on what Obsidian sees in this modern society.
The mistake that I made for a previous story 'Trolls - Voice of Revels' is that I didn't have a clear plan and there were too many ideas and character mashed together in one. With so much going on, I had no idea how to continue, hence leading to its indefinite hiatus. When it came to life-of-slice stories, I suck; I'm more a guy who have a clear plot like a movie. However, since there is clear plan of what will happen and the selected villains already decided, I feel more confident and motivated with writing this story.
At first, having the Lightning Bolt Club would be more of a joke and they would have been much different. OK, they are the 'Lightning Bolt Society' from Sonic Boom, so I'm fixing that mistake. BUT, I think I'll keep the 'club' part in as a joke at the start with their use of 'society' showing that they're gonna try be serious. And it's official in which I'm gonna have the members of the group from Sonic Boom included in this story! I cannot say for sure if they'll be faithful to the original, but I think it's gonna surprise you all of how I handled them. Hopefully so.
So far, we've seen Dave the Intern [managed to cause a freaking explosion to send a message to G.U.N (for no reason)] and the Weasel Bandits (stealing rice cookers...for some reason). Of course, they would do stuff like that since this IS the Lightning Bolt Society we're talking about; they're still incompetent...at times. Hope that leaves an impression here.
Also, Stone's little scene highlights more of his character and for what I have for him. Just because he is more heroic here doesn't mean he's a completely good guy. And he has something nobody knows yet. The whole scene is inspired by a scene from the new 'Murder Drones - Episode 2' that was released earlier. Make good guesses on what he'll do with his silly weapon (it's towards whoever is after his scene).
Thank you for reading this chapter! If you enjoy this story, be sure to follow or favorite this story, so you can get updates about this story. If there is any feedback or constructive criticism you want to share, let me know in your review. It would be nice to hear open thoughts so that I can know what to improve.
Until next time, keep on rocking!