AN: Stayed up too late at night polishing this chapter and it's becoming unhealthy. Enjoy this chapter while I question my lifestyle and cry in my bed, lmao. :3
Also, special thanks to Tashasaurous for reviewing so far! And thanks to In Good Defense for addressing a (now-'mysteriously' deleted) controversial review that happened last week; I agree with you, mate, so I don't need to say much. For now, I'm not gonna be pointing fingers at anyone for now; I'm 'repressing' for the better good (or a literal nightmare to others) to come.
Chapter 14
It only took a couple of seconds until the lights turned back on.
Mitchell was already on alert, in a pose as if getting ready to run. I couldn't blame him since it happened out of nowhere. Caitlyn was frozen, randomly holding onto the lock of one of the nearby lockers. For me, I dug my hand into my jacket to search for my taser. But when the lights returned, I realized that it was missing.
Again.
I blinked when my ruby suddenly sparked. Like water just splashed on the wires of a machine. Slowly looking down and opening my collar a little, I noticed that its color wasn't as vibrant as usual. That was when I noticed a couple of new rings around my wrists.
Right over my Inhibitor Rings was a new pair of rings around my wrists. This time, it had a bulky and metallic look in a dull grey color.
Caitlyn shouted, pointing at someone trying to sneak away. This one wasn't an ordinary student of the school. He slowly turned around with a sheepish grin. It was a tall lavender walrus with a stocky build, a round gut, blue eyes and two noticeably large and vertical tusks coming from his mouth. He was wearing white gloves, a reddish-purple robe, a red fez with a symbol on it and light brown boots.
Oh, in one hand, he had my taser weapon. In the other hand, one of the crates that were supposed to be donated to this school.
With a Goofy-esque yelp, he sprinted off into the hallway.
"HEY!" I shouted. "Give those back!"
That only encouraged this new Lighting Bolt Club member to keep running. And fast!
I growled, hanging my head. Knowing that this guy already stole something, I ran after him while Caitlyn and Mitchell watched on, flabbergasted.
For a large guy with a beer belly and a crate above his head, that walrus could run that quickly! I was only able to pick up speed, but I wasn't able to get close enough to him. Fortunately, the hallways the walrus took were empty, so I didn't need to worry about bumping into any passing students or objects.
Sort of.
The same skateboard kid came rolling in again and crashed into the walrus. The walrus ended up switching places with him, now riding on the skateboard. He laughed in glee, pushing one foot on the floor to pick up speed.
And the skateboard cracked in two.
The walrus groaned, hopping off the remains of the skateboard. But thanks to this, he was too far ahead of me. I tried thinking of a way to catch up to him faster. That was when I noticed an empty trolley cart resting nearby. I let out a happy bark as I hopped on top off it and pushed my foot on the floor to push it.
"You're going down, fiend!" I declared.
I ran into another problem. It turned out that the empty trolley cart was more ineffective than the skateboard. It barely picked up speed. I slowly looked down. My tail pushed against the floor. The wheels felt really thick and stiff, refusing to go faster.
I growled and hopped off, choosing to go back to running by feet.
Skidding around the corner, I caught him about to burst right through the front entrance. The doors were still closed, but only a matter of time before he could bust them open. I tried to look around for how I could stop that thief.
From what I could see, there was a banner hanging over the door's frame. It looked like it could come off easily judging by that loose nail on the side. And that banner didn't even appear to be made from paper-like material. There was even a nearby ruler, apparently dropped by a student.
Eventually, a force of habit came back to me.
I grabbed the ruler and chucked it forward. My aim was excellent as the ruler hit the loose nail. This was enough to make it drop and allow the banner to drop on one side. To prove my point that it didn't look like it was made from paper, it fell quickly as if it was a restaurant sign.
The walrus didn't notice the banner in the way, but to my surprise, he wasn't concentrating on going through the door.
He was concentrated on going through the WALL.
I nearly halt when I saw him smashing through the wall right next to the front entrance. He must have super strength as he was able to break through it without a fuss, leaving behind a hole in the same shape of his body. Apparently, he must have also planned to do that as he spun around and threw something at me.
I could reassure you all that this wasn't my first time getting hit by a sharp, large piece of debris.
THWACK!
My eyes widened upon realizing that it didn't hit me in the face. My ruby must have sensed the situation and tried to rescue me from another headache by making me float. However, it didn't predict that the debris piece would hit me right in the groin.
And then, the pain came in.
Sore pain.
Poking pain.
The pain of feeling your flesh getting crushed.
It felt like thousands of rocks and needles poked into my…
I let out a high-pitched squeak that was similar to the sound a non-anthropomorphic jackal would make. Collapsing on the floor with the debris pieces shattering in front of me, I curled up in a ball as I wrapped my hands around my stomach in excruciating pain. Since when did getting hit in that area become the most painful thing ever?!
I should know stabbings worse than this!
The agent I paired up with before came to me. They looked like they just ran out of breath.
"Where is he?!" they said, picking me up. "What happened?"
"I didn't know that he wouldn't use the door!" I said. "He just ran right through the wall and-"
Once again, the walrus was faster than I thought. We were presented with the scene of the walrus driving away in the G.U.N truck. I found myself running on my own and kicking the door open. Miserably hoping that I could catch up to the runaway truck in time.
"YOU!" I screamed. "STOP! STOP RIGHT THERE!"
The walrus barely listened as he swerved the truck to his right. I knew that I promised September not to use my powers to carry heavy objects, but this one was an emergency. Besides, this G.U.N truck wouldn't have the same weight as a cargo truck. I lifted up my hand and it was surrounded by a green aura.
To my horror, the green aura trapping the truck flickered, barely functioning.
"W-What?" I said.
The glow around my hand disappeared. A couple of sparks burst from my open collar. The ruby was glitching, its light turning on and off.
"Erm…buddy?" I said, patting it. "Are you OK?"
But the ruby was far from communicating properly. Only a babble of gibberish entered my mind. It made me feel weird. It made me feel lightheaded.
Ironically, I felt a bit lighter than before.
By the time I realized that my ruby wasn't gonna work properly, the walrus had already disappeared around the corner. I ran close to the corner to look around, but he already got out too quickly. The casual traffic going on didn't help.
The G.U.N agent followed behind me, clutching their head. "He got the rest of the supplies! Those were for the school!"
I growled, kicking the dirt. "Oh c'mon! If I have a nickel for every time I lost my taser, I have two nickels. Which isn't a lot, but more than half."
The agent sighed, rubbing their face. "I'll…call the others. We're gonna need more to replace what was taken."
"Shouldn't we try chasing after him?" I asked.
"He's probably too far gone. But hopefully, he'll be arrested when I contact backup to help." They looked back at my new rings. "While I'm at it…we should be concerned about this."
Well, so much for a nice school trip day. Just when I was starting to get comfortable.
Willy Walrus grinned to himself. He loved the rush of a high-speeding truck! To get to go on the road, dodge cars and incoming traffic, being chased by police cars and G.U.N. agents. All without stopping and letting luck do the trick. He didn't know that he could drive that well. He just started driving his first vehicle five minutes ago!
On the other hand, he was less aware that his lack of experience caused much more destruction than he thought. Not that he was complaining. He relished getting to crash into many mailboxes, trees and electrical poles, cackling away when he heard the electrical poles crashing to the ground to block his pursuers' path.
If you ask him, he would say that this was all part of the plan.
And needless to say, he found himself chuckling when he raced through a busy traffic junction, causing several cars to spin out of control. Made worse when a few other cars tried driving in on the green light, unknowingly crashing into others right on time. Looking back at the mirror, Willy smirked to himself upon seeing the angered drivers arguing at each other, blocking the police from getting closer to him.
Alas, it nearly looked like the chase would have to end. It was a good thing that he knew where the Lightning Bolt Club-he shook his head, SOCIETY, was hiding at.
When there were no more police cars in his sight, he confirmed that it was safe to enter the area.
It was in a small suburban area. It would have been a bad idea to ride in a G.U.N truck through the neighborhood, but Willy could see that no one was outside to see this. Nor they had security cameras watching the road. He drove all the way until he found the local shops.
He pressed his earpiece. "Lighting Bolt Society. I'm finally home."
He was driving towards a Meh Burger restaurant. The road in front of it suddenly opened up to reveal an underground entrance. Willy steered the truck right through it and let the door close behind him.
The walrus smiled as he welcomed the mauve lights in the small tunnel. By the end of it, another door opened to let him in. This was the Lighting Bolt Society's secret base in Central City. They already made sure to build a couple of bases around America since they would need to keep moving. It was also to reach out to others who want to become glorious villains like them. They didn't have the budget to expand this room, but Willy smiled as he felt welcomed by his home.
The base room was the size of a gym building with the aesthetic of a wooden garage. Tape was glued to the floor around a certain area where vehicles were parked. There was a long table, already topped with delicious food as if you were entering a real school club. There were only a couple of doors, but there were two main doors; the left one led to where everyone would sleep at and the right one led to a secret experimenting room.
Thousands of animals walked around, sharing the same robe and fez. Some of them stood up for their size and personal clothing, but when you see the robe colors on them, you know that they are already a part of this society. And right below the large red lightning bolt sign on the wall was their newly elected leader, Dave the Intern, working at his personal desk.
Willy sighed as he hopped out of the truck. Coming to open the back of the truck, he felt a sense of guilt and worry when he saw the leftover crates he stole. These crates contained the technology needed for their weaponry. And of course, recreation for the members.
Was it wrong for him to steal from a school? Maybe. Willy looked back at Dave, seeing the bored leader tapping his pencil on a clipboard. Dave had been acting a bit strange lately, being more angry and aggressive when it came to their latest crimes. It had been fun, but it felt…a bit demanding to do this much.
Dave probably had a reason to steal from a school. It was just a harmless mission and to get the attention of Agent Obsidian for once! Willy smiled nervously. Dave wouldn't really mean that much harm to people. Besides, they were close friends for a while, so the walrus trusted him. They had a really good friendship when connecting as crooks.
Today's robbery was as worse as the time when they stole an ice cream truck that was just about to sell ice cream. A sweet treat! Willy smiled a little, praying that he was just paranoid.
"Hey there, mate!" said a familiar Weasel Bandit, coming behind him. "Mind if we can help?"
"Oh, hey there!" said Willy politely. "Make sure to take them to the weaponry room. Boss' orders."
"You got it!"
All three Weasel Bandits came in to take care of the cargo. Willy offered to help them, but they insisted on doing this themselves. The walrus decided to go along with it, but he took the time to help the trio take all the crates out of the truck first. As he was about to take out the last crate, another member of the society approached him.
"Good hunting, they would say," said a tree crawling to the walrus. "Surprisingly, you brought them back here more smoothly than the anarchy you evoked in the city."
Willy felt himself smirking at that comment. "Breaking and entering is my specialty after all. Well, but I'm not so good at exiting."
Hold on a second, it wasn't a tree. It was more of a tree disguise this person was wearing, but it had the look AND the height of a tree. The person wearing this genius disguise was a wolf with dark gray fur and light blue eyes. Only his face, his gloved hands and his green shoes poked out from the tree disguise.
"Chameleon!" said Willy, pulling the wolf close to him. "Good to see you again, champ!"
"The pleasure is mutual, Willy," said Chameleon in a poetic tone. "You large wood stump."
Willy chuckled, trying to playfully noogie him. However, he couldn't even rub his forehead due to the tree disguise. "Chameleon, are you sure that you can still wear this? Aren't you feeling hot and sticky in that costume?"
Chameleon sighed, obviously offended. "Wow. Do you think that I would wear a suit that is 'hot and sticky' for me? Just wow."
The wolf arrogantly decided to try to take the last crate out of the truck. Unfortunately, the problem came from trying to grab it due to unable to fit through. And that was the least of his problems. He bent down near the back of the truck and so did the tree.
WHUMP!
The G.U.N truck let out a loud siren, causing attention from passing members. The top roof of the truck already had a hole alongside new wrinkles.
"...you know that you have to take your disguise off before entering small spaces," muttered Willy.
"I see that now," deadpanned Chameleon, turning to face the walrus. "Anyway, do you have the weapon Agent Obsidian has?"
"I got it here; it's his personal favorite," explained Willy, taking out the taser weapon from his robe. "I made sure to slap the Blocker Rings over his wrist, so he won't be able to use the ruby for now."
The wolf hummed, taking the weapon to inspect it. "Hmm, this one more looks like a child's toy. I cannot believe that one of the greatest mercenaries has a toy for a weapon."
"I don't know, man," said Willy, rubbing his tusks. "It looks deadly."
"Looks can be deceiving, but they can be pathetic," said Chameleon, waving the taser weapon around. "This one looks like a knock-off of some NERF toy. It makes me wonder if the Jackal Squad actually visited the city once."
Recklessly, he pressed the button. The taser came to life and it zapped out green lightning bolts. Willy stepped back in awe, admiring the electricity sprouting out. It turned into concern when he noticed how dangerous close Chameleon was to it. It zapped right onto the wooden stump of his tree disguise…
…but strangely, nothing happened.
The wolf hummed, lowering the taser. "Huh. So it DOES do something…I barely feel anything. Huh! I thought I felt something."
And the leaves of his tree caught on fire.
"I'll be taking that just in case," said Willy. "Though, are you sure that getting Obsidian to come over is a good idea?"
"Don't tell me," said Chameleon with a smirk. "I'm just the talent scout."
"But you're the spy!" pointed out Willy, taking the taser weapon.
"We already have one who knows the intel collected at G.U.N HQ. If you want answers, ask Dave. After all, he's the one newly in charge of this growing empire."
Willy shrugged before deciding to make his way toward Dave. He looked behind to see Chameleon trying to help the Weasel Bandits carry the crates. Emphasis on 'trying' since he ended up tilting sideways the second he held one of the crates. Oh, and his leaves remained burning. Somebody should get out a fire extinguisher.
The walrus looked back at the taser weapon. So many questions he had. This was about Agent Obsidian. The Obsidian. The former member of the Jackal Squad, known to be ruthless and dreaded in the great desert. What exactly did they want from him?
Willy tapped on the desk, encouraging Dave to look up.
"May I help you?" asked the society leader, sounding mindless.
"This is what you need, right?" asked Willy, placing the taser weapon on the desk.
Dave gasped. "Is that Agent Obsidian's taser weapon?"
"Yep! Well, I even slapped those Blocker Rings on him as well! And I also…have those…boxes meant for charity you asked for."
"Excellent!" said Dave, grinning. "Now that we finally made things personal, all we have to do is wait. He'll come for sure."
Willy clicked his tongue. "Speaking of which, why…do we really need Obsidian again? I know that the Weasel Bandits are the ones who suggested it, but do we need him?"
"The jackal obviously came out alive from Eggman and he had a magical gem attached to him," said Dave matter-of-factly. "Him coming over to G.U.N meant that he might be covering his plans for more carnage. Now with his ruby's powers painfully limited, he's gonna make things personal. That's when you know he'll need us so that all of us can be successful in being villains."
"I don't know about this," said Willy, feeling uncomfortable. "I thought that we weren't going to take shortcuts. Everyone here is still learning. Meanwhile, this Obsidian guy might be a true psychopath for all we know!"
"I don't care about the quality of his blade. As long as it's sharp enough, then it wouldn't be hard to convince him. Besides, I'm creating something to ensure that he'll never leave."
Willy raised an eye. "OK, I believe you on that fact."
A clatter prompted him to twirl around. The Weasel Bandits were already trying to put notebooks back in the crate, looking like a couple of kids trying to put spilled cookies back in a jar. The sight of the notebooks suddenly made Willy uncomfortable.
The walrus was no stranger to mischief. He loved doing pranks and causing violence for the sake of it. He could go into a bank and steal the money from there. He could go steal an ice cream truck and have it to himself. However, despite the previous adrenaline memorable in his mind, something told him that this was too different from stealing from a school.
Stealing donated supplies for a school.
Thinking through it, it felt…more like taking something that should be more valuable to the kids.
Willy didn't know why he was thinking this way.
"You know, as much as I love to rain fire down on Central City and see everyone get into a fight, today's mission got me curious," he said earnestly. "Why do…we really need to steal those supplies the school would need?"
Dave's smile dropped. "What are you saying?"
"Look, I enjoy being in the Lightning Bolt Society and I'm still proud; that first meeting we had was the best day of my life since I get to make new friends. We have each other despite failing." Willy's dreamy smile nearly dropped when he addressed a more serious part. "So…what we're doing now is making me question. Why harass people severely and make it a real big deal for them to be mad at us?"
Dave narrowed his eyes, slowly not liking this. This went unnoticed by Willy in the illusion that his friend would listen.
"I mean, stealing money is fine, but stealing important valuables that others may need more than us…that feels like the bad kind of cheating and we could have stole from a shop than directly from schools. Because I get the feeling that we're acting more like…terrorists than crooks?" Willy chuckled sheepishly. "I shouldn't be saying this. It's cool how I just realized that!"
Dave sighed, crossing his arms. "Willy, I'm sorry that you feel this way. But…the world is already changing. And we all know that with the officials hunting us down from day one, we cannot stop from there. Even if they were annoyed with us in the first place. Just uncurl your mittens, Willy. This is what a true villain would do!"
"I know," said the walrus. "But…something tells me that we shouldn't be taking things from charity."
"Willy, listen," said Dave, suddenly sounding cold. "Haven't you already grown tired of everyone thinking of us as harmless? I tried as well treasuring our friends. But…if the outside world isn't gonna leave us alone, then we might as well do what's best for us; achieving our first dream together."
Willy chuckled softly. "Dave? You're in there? Let all your second thoughts out."
"No, no, I'm serious," said Dave. "What I'm saying is that we need to be great villains to rise like equals."
All hopes that Dave wasn't kidding faded as Willy's shoulder drooped. "What? Why would you…?"
"Look, I'm sick of everyone saying that I'm worthless," said Dave, scratching the table in suppressed anger. "I tried many times to think only about everyone here, but it's not helping. Nor were the many people here wanting to be villains as well. And I made an oath to make their dream come true because I know that I'm more than just some low-ranked critic!" He paused for a while, letting the walrus sink this information deep into his skin. "We are already doing a good job in being villains now; that is gonna be when we finally gain the respect we deserve. To have a normal life. Don't you want to cast away your bad luck for once?"
Willy was speechless. He didn't know what to say about this new side of his friend. Before, Dave only had minor episodes of being frustrated over their incompetence, but he was happy to be with the team. Even in their bad moments. The walrus felt betrayed saying his feelings in front of a guy who looked like a friend.
Willy didn't really care how people think of him, so did Dave really want to hurt them REALLY badly now?
He had no idea how he should respond back.
Dave huffed, shaking his head. "Look, as soon as we get Obsidian on our side, we're gonna have to put those old times behind. Nobody here wants to be and feel like a moron any longer. I'm sorry, Willy."
The walrus felt hurt, even though he didn't know why. He gave a half-baked excuse to go to the bathroom and Dave went back to tapping his pen on the clipboard.
Eventually, Willy was lost in the crowd of passing members of the Lightning Bolt Society. He looked back at the red neon logo for this organization. It was supposed to represent all of them. Now, he feared that it might turn into a symbol of fear to others.
This wasn't what he agreed on and he couldn't believe that he followed this whole time.
He felt like the odd one out for already accepting himself to be incompetent.
He glanced at the weaponry room, remembering that was where the crates were carried over to.
He looked over his shoulder, eyeing the green taser weapon left on Dave's desk.
Obsidian was going to come and their time might be up.
An idea bulb flashed over Willy's head. It might be risky, but maybe this way…it might bring him some closure and a fresh new start.
Without a second thought, the walrus turned around and marched to Dave's desk to collect the taser weapon.
The next day…
September seemed to be slowly losing his stoicness. When I came into his lab again for him to check on the ruby's current ratings, I swore I thought that he lost his cool. It was brief, but he kicked his own clipboard in frustration. Nevertheless, he remained at the best professional he could be and called in another team to check over my new rings.
I was told to remain calm as several technicians and scientists checked over my ruby and my rings. September advised me to rest on the bed he brought over to his lab. A few doctors tried doing reflexive tests and I tried not to react at all. It was just small harmless hammers and gentle pressure applied to my limbs, but I couldn't stop my tail from waving around.
I found myself growing worried as well. Not only that this Lightning Bolt Society member stole supplies meant for the school yesterday, but he also…somehow made my ruby weaker. Why did he decide to do that? But then, I remembered that the Weasel Bandits saw me using my power. That would mean they actively worked on something to gain an advantage.
…not gonna lie, I'm impressed by their thinking.
But still, it was a shock how the Lightning Bolt Society got away. Again!
Topaz and Stone arrived, the former looking distressed as she kept her phone.
"They strike again today!" she said, rubbing her fingers nervously. "We now have two missing G.U.N trucks!"
"What did they steal?" asked September, not looking up from his clipboard.
"This one was supposed to bring in weapons, but somebody attacked and tossed all agents out before they could see." Topaz started to walk around in circles. "This is bad. Really bad!"
"Hold on, we're still trying to figure out a way," reassured September.
"Then how can you explain if Obsidian is going to be OK if it's taking longer to figure out what they did to him?"
Stone hummed. "Can I send a bomb to the Lightning Bolt Society?"
Topaz was taken aback by this offer. "What?! No! We're NOT villains! We don't try to kill them. We just arrest them, get them to tell us everything they know and then we kill them."
Stone stared at her for a while. "You're going to say 'I'm kidding'."
"Exactly." Topaz sighed. "But seriously, the Lightning Bolt Society is becoming more cunning than before. Killing might make things worse."
Surprisingly, Molly popped around the corner. I thought that she would be on a mission or spending her time in a training room. The purple cat didn't seem to make a fuss with coming right in…until Stone saw her.
"Oh, hi there again!" he said merrily.
"Sure, sure," said Molly, seemingly back to her abrasive self. "Is Obsidian's ruby not out of control?"
"Thankfully not," said September. "But that's the best-case scenario now."
"What actually brings you here, Molly?" asked Stone. "Don't you have work to do?"
I slowly turned my head around, wanting to say hi to her. At the moment, one doctor was checking one of my ears, not wanting me to move around too much. I could only give a small smile in hopes of catching Molly's attention. It did…and she looked away a bit shyly. Her face turned slightly red, looking embarrassed.
"Erm…yeah, yeah," she said. "Just…wanting to see if…the Phantom Ruby prototype is well and all."
OK, this made me wonder if she actually was concerned about me and trying to hide it in front of others. I pouted a little and Molly rolled her eyes at the sight of this.
"Speaking of which," said Molly, trying to change the subject. "Is there anything useful from those new clunky rings Obsidian has?"
September sighed, looking at the notes taken from the other scientists in the room. "Not yet. I'm more concerned about its impact on him. Whatever these devices are, they went way past the Inhibitor Rings' safety modules. Even using and unlocking the rings wrapped around his ankles did nothing to restore his ruby's powers back to normal."
One doctor gave me the thumbs-up, signaling to me that I was free to sit up already.
"Is this…a good thing?" I asked.
"Unconfirmed," said September. "Your new rings are active, but we are unable to track the user who is controlling them. The Lightning Bolt Club must have done a good job making their own version of the Inhibitor Rings. However, we don't know what other features they applied to it."
"So this would mean with those on, the Phantom Ruby prototype is offline?" asked Topaz.
"From quick observations, it IS still active, but because it inhibits its power further, it's not working properly. Obsidian, can you feel and listen to anything from it? You're connected to it, so you should feel something."
I closed my eyes and tried to think…but all that came was a jumble of noises. You would expect it to be noisier and ear-shattering. That didn't come. I only heard what appeared to be a mixture of slurred coughing and circus music. Honestly, it made me wonder if this would be how the Phantom Ruby, as a person, would act when ill.
The opposite of its perfection and illusion-wrapping personality.
A literal, surreal circus.
"Sounds like one guy drank too many cups of beer," I grumbled.
My ears twitched when I felt a loud burp. And popping right from underneath and between my legs was a long holographic sword. It bumped September and yet the panther remained unfazed, his clipboard still in hand. Both Molly and Stone clenched their teeth, cringing, while Topaz laughed at the sight.
"What's so funny?" I growled, waving my arm to get rid of the holographic sword. "Isn't this a little nuts at the moment?"
"Sorry, it looks like the ruby is tripping right now," said Topaz.
I rolled my eyes. "Guess that the ruby is inactive for now and with whatever I was forced to wear now…"
Stone raised an eyebrow. "You're alright, Obsidian?"
I didn't notice how gradually agitated I was feeling. "Oh yeah! Just learned that a street-level criminal society is capable of outsmarting me by stealing my taser and getting away with stealing things that rightfully belonged to children who are not as unfortunate as they look! I'm just PEACHY!"
As I yelled that last word out, I slammed my fist into the bed frame from behind. What could have been thought to be a large crack turned into a harmless hit on the frame. September sighed, writing this down.
"Looks like even emotions might not be enough to overcome those new rings," he commented dryly.
"That much of a temper, jackal?" added Molly.
I was about to tell her off, but then, I realized how frustrated I was becoming. I huffed, trying to take a few deep breaths. It was probably one of the first few times I ever lost my temper aside from when I barked at Zero before leaving. Normally, I was good at keeping my anger down, but for some reason, I felt incredibly salty over yesterday.
Both Stone and Topaz glanced at each other with weirded-out looks.
"...does that mean I can send a bomb to the Lightning Bolt Society?" asked Stone.
"No, no, no," I said, waving my hand. "Sheesh, I'm not THAT vengeful."
"Would you change your mind if I lie and say that they have already killed like more than 10 people?"
Crickets rang in everyone's room.
"Yeah, no," I said, shaking my head. "Too far."
"Yeah, morality wouldn't call it a draw," said Molly.
"Don't follow along the words 'killing people isn't bad if they try to kill you back'."
September blinked. "But Stone, it's not a lie anymore, is it?"
Stone's shoulder sank. "Are you serious?!"
I sighed, hopping off the bed. "So I guess that I'm finally back to not using powers."
"Yeah, but don't stress over it," said September, lowering his clipboard. "It could have been worse. BUT if there are any side effects that might arrive from those metal rings, then I want you to report them to me IMMEDIATELY. For now, I'll let you go to do your tasks for today."
Nobody argued with that as we already left. Guess that this time, the metallic rings weren't that much of a problem except for the fact that I couldn't use my Phantom Ruby prototype powers until further notice. However, I still felt a little sour over this and…another thing that I couldn't get my head passed.
Stone and Topaz already went off on their separate paths to their own tasks. The former claimed to be doing a few more experiments in his shared lab while the latter went out to investigate a few more scenes associated with the Lightning Bolt Society. Which just left me and Molly walking through the hallways alone.
I only had half an hour until I attend to my patrolling task, but who knows what Molly is going to do? I decided to mindlessly follow her as she wandered around the HQ.
She turned to me, looking unamused. "Would you quit it? It's kind of creepy that you're following me like this."
"Sorry, sorry," I said, shaking my head. "I just…don't know what to do now. I mean, you're right that the Lightning Bolt Society is growing more dangerous. I didn't expect them to catch me off-guard…"
Molly's expression softened. "What happened back then wasn't your fault. You didn't expect it."
"Some would say that it would be the opposite for me."
"What else can you do about it? It's still a new world for you to explore and face it; there will be forces that will be unlike anything you've seen before. And I'm not talking about recreational facilities." She shifted her eyes to the ruby on my chest. "Also…I want to ask this; are you actually upset that you're unable to use your powers properly?"
I crossed my arms. "What? No, no. Why would you think of that? I-It's not like I want anything to do with it."
It felt like a harsh betrayal saying this with the ruby still connected to me. However, given its current state, I doubt that it would even remember what I said. On the other hand, Molly grew concerned about this, slowing down so that we could stop.
"OK…whatever you say," said Molly. "I thought that you were gonna say it since I'm the only one you ever told about these…'feelings'."
"And you?" I pointed out. "With your own complications? Your true reason to visit me? Wait…sorry, forget that last point. I was…"
Molly looked embarrassed. "No, hold on. I'll admit…I don't usually like saying a lot to other people. Strangely, you're also the one I'm comfortable with sounding so sugary. And I'm just surprised that you're acting in this way."
I stared at her for a while, noting that she was really worried about me. She noted how I was different today. I looked back down at my ruby. My malfunctioning ruby, thanks to a new pair of unidentified rings. It made me feel bad for trying to act again of not wanting to use it. Just when I was starting to get used to it…and knowing that it didn't mean harm to me.
It made me that my slight temper invalidated its guilt of hurting me yesterday.
"Sorry, I'm…not used to saying my 'support' for my Phantom Ruby prototype to other people," I muttered. "I haven't got there yet. It feels so…foreign without it 'on' for me."
Molly nodded. "That I'll let you decide on choosing. Maybe there will be a way to get those new rings off you. Seeing what you did so far, it's alright that you want to accept them, even if you want to vocalize it or not."
I nodded, dropping my arms to the sides. Maybe she was right. It was only quick, but I patted my ruby. It was going haywire, but I felt a need to comfort in its time of illness.
"Thinking about it…" I nearly stopped myself, feeling my cheeks heating up. "There's another main reason why I'm mad."
"Why's that?" asked Molly.
"I…lost my taser weapon to that thief."
The purple cat scoffed. "So part of your temper is that you lost your weapon? It can be replaced!"
"I…don't feel comfortable about that," I said sheepishly. "I mean, I had it for a long time and I love that weapon. The first one that I grew to be good at using. So when I have it in my pocket or hidden in my tail, I guess that I feel safer and in control of things? Or…something?"
Molly raised an eye, surprised by this explanation.
My eyes folded back in shame. "Did I…say too much?"
The purple cat sighed. "No, no. You've grown really attached to it that it's like your blankie?"
"...do you think that I should get another weapon?"
Molly was about to answer, but she suddenly clutched her stomach. There was a low grumble, prompting her to wince in restrained pain. Her eyes widened, her eyes glancing from a nearby all-gender bathroom and back at me. After a while, she suddenly pulled me inside the bathroom. Once inside, she slammed the door shut and began taking off her pink coat.
"What are you doing?" I asked.
"Stomach ache," said Molly, passing me her coat. "I knew that I should have checked the bread expiry date!"
"Wait, so why do you need me to-?"
"Just please take care of the clothes I shouldn't bring when in a toilet," said Molly, taking off her fedora. "But please keep this hat safe."
At first impression, I thought that she would reveal tiny cat ears. However, they were surprisingly the same average-size of the common animal ear shape. It made me wonder how she might have been able to wear her fedora if her ears were too tall to be kept underneath.
"Seriously," growled Molly, poking my chest. "If anything happens to my hat, then I'll kill you."
I grinned nervously. "S-Sure?"
"Just don't go anywhere. It should take a while."
Molly groaned, clutching her stomach as it growled intensely. She waddled off to one of the nearest toilet cubical. It didn't seem to matter which one she took since all of them were empty. But before she could enter, she slowly pulled out a small device and connected it to her phone. A large pair of headphones with custom cat ears on the band that would allow her to listen to…
"Why would you listen to music when you might drop your phone in the toilet?" I questioned.
"Whose number two time is this?" said Molly. "Whose private time is this?"
I shrugged as she hopped into her cubical. Guess that I might have to stand there until she gets out of there. Probably a few minutes after the time when I should start. Listening to music in this space might not be ideal since it would be more time-consuming. And a bit dumb considering that Molly could have got her devices dirty.
WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
An awful, screeching noise blasted right next to me. I slowly turned around to find another person playing a very small whistle. In front of my face. If anything, the noise just annoyed me.
It was the same walrus thief from yesterday.
"What was that?" I said flatly.
"...it's a dog whistle!" said the walrus.
"You know that I'm a different breed of canine, right?"
"Oh."
And out of nowhere, my head felt like it exploded and I was knocked out like a light.
Molly sighed in relief as she flushed the toilet. Once again, she didn't get herself messy and got away with listening to music while in the toilet. Guess that her father wasn't here to nag her for nearly dropping her phone in the toilet bowl when she was already hyper-aware. Though, she had to admit that she was listening to her music too loudly.
She wondered how Obsidian was doing.
Stepping out of the cubical, she noted that it was too quiet. She looked both left and right. Obsidian was nowhere to be seen. The purple cat looked around the area where the sinks were at.
The jackal was already gone.
To her surprise, the ventilation shaft from the ceiling was already opened with the lid left aside. On the floor were several scattered toilet rolls. It looked like somebody tried building a ladder with them to climb all the way to the ceiling shaft."
Molly was shocked.
"Huh…I'm not even mad, I'm impressed," she said.
And then, she remembered that Obsidian STILL had her fedora and coat. She patted her body to tell herself that she would be fine. But it was painfully clear that she didn't have them on…and she felt really uncomfortable without them.
She slowly took out a gun from her dress without dropping her frozen frown.
"I'm just gonna talk to him," she said to herself. "I'm just gonna talk to him."
When I woke up, I was starting to feel disoriented. Maybe it was due to the sudden headache I got or the bag over my head. That was completely see-through since light was flashing in my eyes. The bag was taken off, blinding me in the full light glaring at me. I tried moving around, but I was strapped to a chair. My wrists were tied tight enough against the chair's leg to ensure that I could escape.
I gasped when I saw how the room looked like. It was really hellish; I was sitting in the middle of a large Satanic ritual circle, complete with lit candles surrounding me. The cramped room had several bombs and guns attached to the walls in duct tape. A glaring light kept me from trying to see things further. Behind it was a dark figure covered in a coat with only the mouth part exposed.
What was this?!
One moment, I was waiting for Molly in the bathroom and now, I'm in some kind of ritual room?!
This made me wonder if I was gonna live or die.
"Agent Obsidian," growled the figure in a deep voice. "Your hand now lies in your fate. Surrender now or you'll die."
Lightning could be heard. My ears flicked and I realized that it came…from a computer at the side. Any fears I had suddenly disappeared. I looked back at the light and it flickered blue before changing to blood red. The figure let out a loud cackle as the artificial thunder continued to play in the background.
"Is that a film projector?" I asked.
"...no. It's…THE BALL OF DOOM! THE BALL OF DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!"
The artificial lightning struck again. The light coming from the film projector flickered in different colors while the figure laughed dramatically. It would have worked if it wasn't for the film projector switching through all the colors of a RAINBOW.
"I've seen cages more vicious than this," I deadpanned. "You're making this more look like an escape room wasting my time already."
All menace the figure tried using vanished. He immediately turned off the film projector and pulled his hood off. It was the walrus once again, looking disappointed.
"You?" I said, surprised.
"You…" he said lowly.
"You!" I snarled.
Right behind him was a large G.U.N crate. Its lid was opened to reveal several computers and notebooks. On top of that pile was my taser weapon.
"You~!" I said, smiling. "Now, be a good lamb and get me my taser weapon for me."
"Now hold on a minute," said the walrus. "Why should I give you that back?"
"Want to ask more stupid questions? Like if I should call G.U.N about where I am now!"
"Nuh-uh! You cannot!"
The walrus tossed his robe away, stepping forward for me to see what was really underneath. A vest completely caked with bombs, grenades, toasters, two knives strapped on the side and a bottle of…black poisonous liquid. This was the most extreme suicidal vest I ever saw and he already pulled out a small remote connected to it.
"The second you call them over here by any means or if they find us here, then I'm gonna self-destruct myself and this entire building!" he threatened. "Don't even think taking this vest off will save the two of us."
I narrowed my eyes. "You're kidding, aren't you?"
"I'm not kidding!" bluffed the walrus. "Why do you think I stole another G.U.N truck with weapons earlier today?"
"Your deflection in your voice, the twitching in your fingers and the fact that you're a coward thief with these toys show that you're even kidding yourself," I sassed. "We all know how this will work. If you don't want to end your life like this, then come down easily and me and G.U.N can help you."
The walrus was beginning to tremble. "I…I don't have anything else to live for. My friends are slowly becoming delusional and I already tried telling all of them…I don't even have family back home!" He let out a small sob, but he masked it with bitterness. "Oh, where else should I live?"
"…I'm not sure if you're being dramatic or lying."
This was actually scaring me out. I didn't know if this guy was overreacting or not. Whatever the case, it didn't save the fact that he would be more than willing to blow himself up. It was as if the Lightning Bolt Club was slowly becoming more violent. This was one big red flag for a criminal empire like theirs.
The walrus greeted his teeth. "How about this? I'm the one who controls the Blocker Rings. I have the key you need and you won't be able to get it easily. If I die right now, you won't be able to get the Blocker Rings off anytime soon. I'm the only one with the connected remote to unlock them."
This could be a dangerous gambit. He was the one who planted these 'Blocker Rings' on me to limit my power further. However, I doubted that he knew how to take them off. But he might be right. He was the closest thing I could get to putting away the Blocker Rings.
We had this silent stare-off for quite a while…until the walrus lifted the bomb remote upwards, closing his eyes.
"Wait!" I cried out loud. "OK, OK. So you ARE serious! Please don't kill yourself like that!"
"I have to make a point that I'm serious," said the walrus, pressing the safety trigger of his remote. "Otherwise, you would have ignored me."
"What do you really want?! You and your folks stole a lot. What do you possibly want from me now?"
The walrus sighed with a sly smile. "Oh, Obsidian. I'm afraid that we got on the wrong foot. How about…we call in a mutual truce?"
I scoffed, rolling my eyes. He was just gonna manipulate me into something.
"So, I'm gonna untie you and then we can-"
"I already untied myself five minutes ago," I said, lifting up the now-loose rope in my hands.
The walrus gulped, even backing away when I stood up. Remembering that I barely knew the Lightning Bolt Society, I decided to try to be a bit gentler. I lifted my hands up, showing that I wasn't a threat. This was enough to convince the walrus to drop his guard.
"Great," grumbled the walrus. "I knew that I should have paid more attention to knotting classes! Anyway, I should introduce myself. I'm Willy Walrus, former member and now-traitor to the Lightning Bolt Society and…I need a favor."
I crossed my arms. "What is that?"
"I'm actually tired of being a member of the Lightning Bolt Society. I'm tired of being this kind of villain. Between the danger, the questionable tasks and the mentally…unstable boss?" He trailed off for a while, sounding uncomfortable. "Well, I need a career change. However, in order to do that, I need a whole lot of money to rebuild myself on my own."
"You're asking me to fund you?"
"No, no. I'm asking you to help me with a heist. A heist that'll ensure a 10 years lifetime of money to survive. To be honest, I don't think I'm good with getting away that easily now, so with you on my side, then we'll go out scout-free!" He took a step closer to me, grinning mischievously. "It'll be a win-win! If you help me, I'll unlock the Blocker Rings and give your stuff back."
He was addressing my weapon and the crate he stole from yesterday. However, my morals stood straight.
"You want ME to rob innocent people to pay for your debt?!" I hissed.
"Well, yeah," said Willy as if it was obvious. "You're seriously thinking this is a bad thing to do?"
"Can you believe it?"
Willy gasped at this comment before shaking his head. "Know what, I'm gonna think further about your time in this wasted city. My target is far from innocent."
He pulled out a phone to display an image. It was a human of Asian descent with brown eyes and dyed turquoise hair tied in a bun. He was wearing a formal outfit consisting of grey and black colors. In this picture, he was sitting on a couch in a…very interesting and sensual pose. Looking like a hot babe at the beach, resting on their stomachs and their legs kicking in the air.
My tail wagged again, but I grabbed it tightly.
"You see this man?" explained Willy. "This is Pilot Diamond. The manager of one of the highest museums in Central City. However, he only got there by conning and scamming people's artifacts to be flushed with cash. And all of that money allowed him to make his family's legacy more 'fascinating'. Tonight, he'll be putting up on display his family collections that have never been seen before. But the main attraction is this diamond."
He swiped his phone to reveal the next image. If I was back in the Jackal Squad, then THIS would be on my radar! It was a diamond, but there were sharp shards poking out from the bottom. It didn't look like the entire gem was made from hard and grainy stone! As pure as a real diamond while having a lavender glow.
"Whoa! That's…that's like one of the most precious gems I have ever seen!" I said.
Willy smirked. "I know. And it's not a fakey. That boy costs a LOT of money. My guess is that because it'll be revealed, security might not be strong until time passes by. This means this is our one chance to steal it."
I thought of pointing out that it would have been the other way around and that security over museum valuables would be lowered after some time. However, I was more focused on what was the wise thing to do. I thought that it might be for the best to call G.U.N over to stop this lunatic. Even I could stop him from going on with his plan.
But…he had that bomb vest. And he would kill himself if things didn't go his way. I could just rip it off him, but I remembered how fast and strong he was. I couldn't keep underestimating him for long. While some might say that it would be easier to let him die, it felt wrong with killing him. I was still angry at him, but that didn't mean I should kill him. That was where I draw the line at.
For a more personal reason, he was my only shot at getting rid of the Blocker Rings. I didn't know what else they might do, so unless I want to deal with the long-term effects, then I should take this offer to ensure that those rings wouldn't do anything else to me. But would that make me selfish? What would everyone think of me teaming up with this guy if he ended up conning me?
I had thoughts of running away, but he was making a fair deal. And he wouldn't be too cowardly to change it. This was gonna put me in way worse trouble, but…a little heist wouldn't hurt. As long as we got a plan, then…I would get a taste again of the good old days with my squad.
I still remained firm, wanting to make it clear to this jerk that I'm not to be toyed with. "Fine, I'll help you. But if I catch a whiff that you're up to something, I won't hesitate to make you the sixth victim on my murder list! You hear me?"
The walrus hesitated with a look of fear. However, that was washed away with arrogance as he shared a handshake with me.
"Crystal," he said with a smile.
AN: I probably have mentioned this before, but writing my own version of the Lightning Bolt Society leans towards risky things. There's this desire with looking through the complexity of the members while unsure if it would be the right thing to do. This includes Willy Walrus becoming the Token Good Teammate of the organization and Dave revealing to becoming more ruthless and angry. Let me know what you think of how I handled those characters.
The scene where Willy Walrus tries to intimidate Obsidian takes inspiration from the beginning part of the 2022 series Wednesday, Episode 3.
I feel like this new small arc of the story takes inspiration from the web animation series Sunset Paradise (specifically Episode 3 and 4). Especially with some of the words said. Interestingly, as we will have a heist, I may draw inspiration from The Bad Guys! Next chapter may surprise you of how the heist will go.
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 honest feedback or constructive criticism you want to share, let me know in your review. Any spam, flames or threats will be questioned and I'm not kidding.
Until next time, keep on rocking!