AN:
RCurrent: You've said that eight times now, haha. It'll probably be some time until they're in the story full-fledged.
Guest N.O.1: Thanks for the in-depth review! I'm so glad you're enjoying it. I'm also working on a Character Sheets chapter that I'll leave somewhere soon.
Splashyatom431: Thanks, man! It means a lot! I'm happy you've found and are enjoying this story, and I hope I can continue to let you stay.
Three mysterious figures surrounded a large table. The council of The Other was currently in another meeting.
"There is another," one spoke in his old raspy voice under his dark hood, which concealed his features. He was the shortest of the three.
"Another?" a slightly taller person asked in a young voice.
The last one, towering over the other two, crossed his arms.
"Another power which threatens us," he continued. "Located in this region here." He pointed to a spot on the table that served as the world map. "They are together. I fear the possibility of them becoming acquainted."
"If they do, do we stand a chance against them?" the largest one asked with a deep tone.
"Obviously, as we are now, we stand no chance. But even if the King and The Other regain their powers, I am uncertain."
"What can we do?" the young one asked.
The old one hummed to himself in thought and scratched his chin. "While we wait for the King's slumber to pass we are weak. We cannot take them head on, that will be our own downfall."
"Perhaps we don't need to be the ones to take them on," a new voice said.
The three turned to the voice. It was sickening and unhinged, oozing with trickery.
His steps echoed throughout the room as he walked down from upstairs.
"Chancellor." The old one dipped his head in respect.
Like the other three, the Chancellor wore a dark hood that covered his face. With his hands interlocked and with a nasty smile, he spoke as he descended toward them.
"I have already found a way to deal with those two pests. Yes, my motion is coming along just nicely."
"Do tell us," the young voice requested.
"It has been in the makings for some time now. By invading them from the inside there will be no chance for any rebellion. Against our weakened state, those two threats would definitely be a problem for us. But against the entire world, they wouldn't have any hope."
The titan of a man spoke. His deep voice boomed throughout the room. "If I may, we already have some of our people hidden in their society. Is that what you're speaking of?"
The Chancellor scoffed with a frown. "Those fools can do what they please."
"Care to explain your plan then?"
The Chancellor's frown turned into a nasty smirk. He chortled. "Very well…"
The room felt darker with this man's presence.
"For the king."
Humming happily, Ray scoured through his bedroom's cupboards for something to wear.
At the door, he heard some knocking.
"Ray," the boy heard from behind the door, "Do you plan on leaving?"
It was those doctors, Ray thought. What did they want? He was all better now.
"Of course!" Ray shouted with a smile as he put on a tight, long-sleeved purple shirt that stopped at his wrists. "I feel better than ever! So now it's time to go see Dr. Atlas and Shade!"
"Maybe you should wait," a different voice said. "You've only just gotten better."
"No way!" The reply came back instantly. "I've been waiting for so long!" he whined, fitting himself into black pants and purple sneakers.
"Atlas would want you to wait for him!" the first voice said.
After finishing changing, he looked in the mirror, where he liked his look. He also noticed his hair was a brighter and more vibrant shade of purple, looking alive.
The young boy felt very comfortable in these clothes. He walked over to his bedroom door and opened it, looking up at two scientists.
One of them nervously spoke, clasping his hands together. "Please, Ray. Stay put until Mr. Atlas returns."
Ray only smiled. He didn't have to listen to them anymore since he was better now. "Excuse me!"
The workers in the middle of Atlas's building quietly worked as on any typical day. Answering customers on calls, helping with tech issues, and the regular.
Suddenly, they all felt a massive shockwave from above, and panic ensued for a few seconds.
"What was that?" Was the question most asked.
A couple of guards ran to where they heard a loud bang. Turning the corner, they saw two scientists lying down against a broken wall as if they were slammed against it. Behind them, a gust of wind blew in through a hole in the wall leading outside into the city sky.
"Hey!" The guards ran up to the scientists to check on them. "Are you alright?" one of them asked, kneeling beside them.
The other guard inspected the large hole at the side of the building. Holding onto the wall so the wind wouldn't push him, he looked down from the ninety-fifth floor. Looking all the way down to the city ground made him feel queasy.
"Ray's heading to Atlas and Shade…" one of the scientists croaked out weakly. "We must contact him immediately."
Lincoln, Mikey, and Shade arrived at the base of Evan Medy's building. Outside, it was dark, with only the street lights on. Not even the sign of the building was lit. Inside through the windows, save for a few odd rooms here and there, every room was dark. It was quiet too. Only the city's winds and a paper tumbling across the street were heard. They couldn't even hear The Nightshow happening from where they stood.
Pulling up her map, Shade spoke, "We can enter the building from behind. There's a door that leads to the basement with no security. It's our best shot."
"Sounds good," Lincoln said. "Let's go."
Heading to the back, they came across a ramp that went down for the trucks that would deliver here. Down the ramp was a large docking area with a garage and a regular door beside it. Currently, there were no trucks or people in sight.
The door only had a simple knob lock, which Shade picked quickly. Walking inside, the room they entered was large and tall, with forklifts, other drivable machines, and several sealed boxes lying around and on large shelves. Lincoln could only guess these new shipments still needed to be opened.
There were multiple ways out of this little area, but the map showed that the only way upstairs was through one exit at the end of the room.
They hurried over there, trying to silence their steps as much as possible, and found an open way large enough for a car. It was easy, thanks to the stealth gear having silent shoes. But once they went through there, they discovered an odd-looking object.
There was a large screen on the wall, with another screen on the ground right in front of it. Both screens were turned off and pitch black. Below the screen mounted on the wall was a large set of metal double doors, which seemed sealed tight with no visible lock or knob.
"This wasn't in the blue prints," Shade said, rechecking her map.
"What is it?" Mikey asked, staring at the screens.
"I have no idea." Shade looked up from her smart band. "We didn't make this so it's not one of mine."
"Is there another way in?" Lincoln asked.
"I can check," Shade said, "but it should be fine. Whatever this is, it's turned off."
However, as soon as she took a single step forward, the screens turned on, making her step back in shock.
"PERSON DETECTED," a robotic female voice spoke out suddenly, "UNLOCK SEQUENCE STARTED."
"Okay," Shade nervously chuckled. "Let's find another way in."
Lincoln looked at the two screens. The top one showed a blank person figure in a standing position, with a white bar underneath. On the sizeable bottom screen, there was a set of glowing footprints. Noting what the machine said, the gears in his brain started turning.
"Wait!" he shouted, "I think I know what's going on."
He walked up to the footprints on the floor panel and stepped on them. Behind him, Shade and Mikey watched him closely, the former worried that he might blow their cover.
"READY? START!"
Just like Lincoln theorized, music began to play, only some drums. As the music rang in their ears, the figure on the top screen started to dance, and after a few moments, Lincoln followed the positions of the figure. As he did so, the white bar at the bottom slowly started to fill in green from the left.
"Of course!" Shade widened her eyes and gasped. "This is Evan we're talking about."
And then, they heard Evan Medy sing.
"Put your flags up in the sky!"
Shade nearly had a heart attack, thinking they were caught, but quickly realized Evan was a part of the song playing on the speakers.
"And then wave 'em side to side!"
Lincoln smiled as he heard the Big Boss. The man had a fantastic singing voice. It differed from his regular speaking tone, which was flamboyant with pride sprinkled in. However, his singing voice sounded welcoming, energetic, and determined.
Lincoln focused hard and danced to the music, following the figure on the top screen. Shade and Mikey said nothing as they watched. The white-haired boy looked to be an expert, not fumbling once since the song began.
As the beats came down, Lincoln pulled off every move from above with ease, all with a big grin on his features. A side-step here, a slide there, shaking his arms and bobbing his legs.
Soon, the song started to pick up, getting faster every second. The drums were being bonged with purpose, the strings were being strung swiftly, and whoever was playing that saxophone had a mission to be the best.
The song slowed down just then, and the machine spoke again. The bar at the bottom was paused, filled with green a third of the way.
"UNLOCK SEQUENCE: PAUSED. SECOND PARTY REQUIRED."
On the top screen, a second figure appeared. Looking down, Lincoln saw a second pair of glowing footprints and had a good idea of what they needed to do.
Looking over to Mikey with a wide grin, he said with a wave of his hand, "Mikey! Come join me!"
Mikey looked at Shade, who only shrugged back. Sighing, he walked over beside Lincoln, to his right, and stood on the footprints.
"SECOND PARTY DETECTED. READY? START!"
"A dual authorization lock." Shade nodded her head. "Impressive."
The drums slowly picked back up, and Evan Medy sang one last line before saying something which caught Lincoln and Shade's attention.
"Luna! Darling!"
Immediately, a girl began singing as the song was at its peak speed.
Lincoln recognized this girl. It was impossible not to. Even after months of not hearing her voice, it felt like it was only yesterday since he last did.
"One night, watch the world unite.
Two sides, one fight, and a million eyes."
Luna Loud. He did not think he would ever call her by name again, even if it were only in his mind. Her singing was as wonderful as he remembered. It was her specialty, after all. He heard it so much it was practically ingrained into his eardrums, yet, he never got tired of it.
He failed a few moves on the screen, which drew a side glance from Mikey. Thinking about her as he danced made his mind spiral into other directions. He wanted to forget the bad times, so he kept his attention on the song and game.
Mikey was doing alright himself. After watching Lincoln during the first part, he understood the basics of the game. He had to admit he was intrigued more than he could admit.
Shade, on the other hand, was frozen in place. She recognized this voice and name, and her thoughts flashed back to a time before Atlas entered her life.
The times living in the dark corners of Fortune were not pleasant. Here, only one other person in her life meant the world to her. The homeless didn't take kindly to each other, let alone little kids who could offer them nothing.
On her tip-toes and deep in a dented trash can, Shade pushed garbage out of the way as she looked for anything useful. Near the bottom of the trash, she found a small battery that was most likely dead, but it was better than nothing. She searched the last bit of the trashcan before pulling herself out and leaving the area. She had already searched several other trash cans.
As she walked through the alleyways she's memorized by now, she came across a few more bins of garbage. Two were large, where a truck would lift them to empty, and three were smaller, where anyone strong enough could manually empty them.
It would be the same as any other day—jumping into the large bins like it was some ball pit and rummaging through the smaller ones like a toy chest.
She sighed. It was going to be a long day today.
Hours later, she left the dark corridors, hauling a plastic bag begging to stretch open with two hands between her legs. She carried the bags across some streets and into a different set of buildings far from where she found useful items.
Turning the corner in the middle of four tall run-down office buildings, she came across what she called home. There was a part of the building that stuck out for shelter. Hung beside it were a couple of different colored blankets with a few stitches, used as walls for privacy. A few flickering lights lit up the place as well, though not as much as to make them exposed to anyone passing by.
Slithering through the middle of the two blankets, she stepped inside her home.
Immediately coughing was heard. She placed her bag of goodies on the ground and went to a broken set of drawers in the corner. There, she grabbed a plastic bottle of water that was only filled to a third. She opened it and walked over to the bed of the place. The bed was a couple of rags stacked on top of one another, with one more rag as a blanket.
Laying down on the rags was a very malnourished young boy. He had on dirty clothes she scavenged from a bin a couple of weeks ago and didn't even own shoes or sandals like her. Still, better than nothing. His eyes looked tired, and his hair lacked any color it was supposed to have. He was currently in a coughing fit.
Bringing the water bottle to him, she said, "Here."
The boy looked at the beverage for a second and smiled. "Thanks," he croaked out weakly, taking the bottle and drinking.
Shade leaned down and kissed him on the forehead while he drank.
When he drank around half of the remaining liquid, he stopped and held the bottle to her, offering her some.
"It's fine, drink it, Ray," she said, pushing it back with a couple of fingers.
"No. Drink some too," Ray demanded.
She thanked him before she took the bottle and sipped some water in small samples, trying to savor it.
"Did you find anything today?" Ray asked.
"In fact, I did!" she said with a grin. "Just give me a moment."
She got up and went to the other side of their home, just a few steps away. Many broken electronics were in a cracked plastic bin, including phones, game systems, and other junk with wires sticking out. But what she sought was a broken red robot toy she found a while ago.
Taking it out of the bin, she went to the plastic bag she had brought in moments ago and got the battery she had found. The battery pack for the robot was already broken when she initially found it, but she knew a way around it.
Opening the back, she pulled out two exposed electrical wires. Checking to see if they were the ones she needed, she tied the cables to each end of the small battery.
She took a deep breath.
Making sure the battery was secure inside and shutting its back close, she flipped the switch for the robot.
The robot started to make robotic sounds through a cheap speaker from the inside. With a broad smile, Shade turned to Ray while holding the toy.
Ray stared at the working toy and put on a small, tired smile.
Then, the toy turned off.
Frowning, Shade tried her hardest to turn it back on, but to no avail. She tried rewiring, shaking, and smacking it, but none worked.
"It's fine, Shade," Ray said, turning his head back to the ceiling. "You got it to work."
Shade's throat started to feel like it was burning. She wanted to dash the toy away and out of her sight, but she didn't want to startle Ray, and she was too tired to do so.
Leaving the toy on the ground, she went over to Ray and lay beside him. Closing her eyes, the last thing she felt before drifting off was his arm wrapping around her chest in a hug.
It was right there they heard it, a song playing out in the winds. A girl's voice was singing. It sounded beautiful and exciting.
Shade opened her eyes, wondering how much time had passed since she fell asleep and what that music was all about.
She got up and was about to see what it was, but the boy grabbed her wrist.
Looking over at him, she asked, "What is it, Ray?"
"Can I come? I wanna see…"
Putting on a small smile, Shade faced her back to him and dropped to her knees, saying, "Hop on."
It was her voice. She remembered that day all those months ago. With Ray on her back, she carried him to a little concert. A band was playing in front of a fountain in the middle of the streets.
That was when they first saw her, a young teenage girl who wore purple and sang passionately. Not only that, but she was playing her guitar like a professional, backed by the others playing their instruments. Even with their entire crew, she was the clear highlight among them.
"Look, Ray!" she said with a smile, "They're putting on a sho-"
Looking over at her surrogate brother, she went wide-eyed as she noticed his bright smile.
Oftentimes, Ray would smile whenever she would do something for him—feeding him food, finding a thrown-away toy that somewhat worked, or just even being by his side. But those smiles weren't genuine. Ray only smiled for Shade's sake, and she realized this long ago. It was an expression to ease her mind—his way of telling her, "it's okay."
But this smile was different. It wasn't one of those smiles Ray put on just to ease her, the ones that would haunt her in her thoughts every day. No, this was a genuine, happy smile of a child who was enjoying something in life.
The young Shade whimpered for a second, grabbing his attention.
His smile faded, and he asked, "Shade, why are you crying?"
"UNLOCK SEQUENCE: PAUSED. THIRD PARTY REQUIRED."
Shade's thoughts were interrupted when the music slowed, and a third figure appeared on the top screen.
Lincoln turned to her with a smile, "Looks like you're up, Shade."
Shade sighed, realizing she had no choice. Walking up and onto the screen, she stood to Lincoln's left.
"THIRD PARTY DETECTED. READY? START!"
The song continued, and the three of them danced to the beat.
It was thrilling. She had to admit timing her moves to the beat and figure above was fun. When it came to dancing, Shade didn't have a lot of experience, but with these two beside her, she didn't feel embarrassed or pressured for some reason. As the song went on, another girl began singing. If she had guessed, it would have been the other girl she saw that day with some teal in her hair.
The more the song played, Shade wanted to hit every move perfectly. She completely forgot why they were even doing this in the first place. Unbeknownst to her, a grin crept to her face as her body moved more flashy. She felt as if she had lost complete control of her body.
Lincoln took notice and smiled. Having remembered this pattern from a previous section of the song, he was confident enough to look away from the screen.
He watched as Shade was having fun. Until now, all of these missions they did together were all completely serious. He was glad she managed to find some enjoyment in it. In other news, Sam Sharp was another voice he recognized in the song, someone else he knew, though not on a personal level like Luna.
As the singer transitioned to Evan once again, Lincoln looked to Mikey. It was small but still there nonetheless, the two ends of his mouth sticking up to make a happy expression. The other boy was so focused he didn't notice Lincoln staring at him. His eyes were cast at the screen while he tried his best and succeeded in making the moves shown. He looked like he was enjoying this immensely, and Lincoln was delighted to see that.
The song was nearly completed, with all three dancers happily following the figures above. Overall, Mikey and Shade had some slip-ups as beginners, while Lincoln, who's been doing this for years, only failed a few parts when he first heard Luna, though the bar at the bottom still filled regardless. In the end, it was all over once the song concluded, and the three of them finished with one last extravagant pose, the bar at the bottom entirely green.
The figures at the top disappeared, and the screen beneath their feet turned green, a sign of success.
The large doors began to open, and Lincoln spoke up. "Come on, let's go before we have to do that again."
Sprinting through the doorway, Lincoln looked back, and sure enough, the door closed right after the last of them, Mikey, went through. They didn't know if it was automatic or timed, but it was good enough to play it safe.
"Alright," Shade began, straightening her stealth gear and hair to look professional. "Let's get back on track."
Following the map, they walked past some supply rooms, a janitor's closet, and a giant storage room.
Finally, through some double doors, they came across a giant dark room. It was filled with gambling machines and tables.
"The casino," Lincoln noted.
"Upstairs," Shade said, "We need to hit the forty-seventh floor."
They trudged through the empty dark casino with slow steps, looking around for any guards lurking around. It was so quiet that they could only hear their footsteps and nothing else.
Suddenly, the lights came on blaring, and the three whipped their heads around in a bit of panic.
"Tsk tsk tsk," echoed around them. High heel footsteps were heard approaching from above.
On a watch-over balcony over the machines, a woman slowly came into view to them, arms crossed.
Lincoln recognized the dark-toned woman wearing blue eyeshadow from the other day. Instead of wearing her fancy purple crop top and shorts like the last time he saw her, she wore a professional-looking black suit dress with no decorative earrings.
"Melina," Lincoln identified, staring nervously at Evan's First Assistant.
"Here I am, like any other day watching over the casino to try and purge my boredom when I get notified of someone opening the docking lock. Oh wait, it's not any ordinary day, is it?" She narrowed her eyes down at the three. Lincoln looked sheepish, knowing her personally. Meanwhile, the other two looked ready to pounce on her at any moment. "With Atlas's First Assistant of all people," she continued in mock surprise. "During The Nightshow? What a plan this is."
"We can talk this out, Melina," Lincoln said.
Melina stared down at the white-haired boy. He did seem the most reasonable. Perhaps he was genuine. The other two, however…
"We don't have the time!" Shade yelled, pressing a button on her smart band. A grappling hook extended from her wrist, its claws retracting. "You two, take her down and meet me at the last checkpoint."
Suddenly, the three of them heard echoey and eerie laughter from behind.
Turning around, Lincoln and Mikey saw a jester puppet rise out from a shadow.
"What's that?" Mikey asked.
"The name's Jackal! What a surprise to see you here, Lincoln!"
"You know him?" Mikey asked, turning to the other boy.
"We met when I came here the last time," Lincoln replied.
Shade growled under her breath. "Stick to the plan!" she yelled, shooting her hook to a fence on another balcony.
Melina flicked a hand, and a standard playing card appeared between her fingers. She jumped up and threw the card toward the grappling hook's rope. The card was fast and looked like it could cut a boulder.
As Jackal descended into the shadows, Lincoln reacted quickly and jumped in front of the card, a Five of Clubs, to deflect it with his arm coated with energy.
Just then, the puppet came out of Lincoln's shadow holding one of his many knives, but before he did anything, Mikey knocked it out of his hand with his taser staff. The knife dropped to the floor a little ways from them, clicking against the floor.
Shade nodded towards the both of them and propelled herself using the grappling hook. Landing on the balcony, she ran deeper inside the building, the ones in the casino losing sight of her."
"Tch," Melina landed on the same level as them and scoffed. "Numbers advantage. Should have used a lower number…"
"We can still talk, Melina." Lincoln stood tall, staring at her.
"While one of you is walking around Evan's casino with no supervision? That seems smart."
She wasn't wrong, Lincoln thought. From her point of view, they were just simple invaders that were up to no good. She probably thought they came to steal money.
"We aren't trying to rob you," he tried to reason.
"Does it matter what you're trying to do?" she replied with a raised brow. "And after Evan took such a liking to you." She flicked her hand again, and another playing card appeared between her fingers, the side with the number hidden to Lincoln.
"I guess you're my playmate today!" Jackal said to Mikey, sinking into the shadows and appearing further away.
Jackal and Melina were on opposite ends of the casino, while Lincoln and Mikey were facing each of them back to back.
"I've heard about Jackal before." Shade said in their earpieces. "He's a Living Puppet who uses the shadows to traverse. Not much is known about him, so be careful. Melina is also pretty dangerous, do not underestimate her."
Lincoln and Mikey braced themselves.
Kenner was sitting at Tamesha's desk, leaning back on the office chair with his legs on the table and hands behind his head. His eyes were closed while "watching over" the lazy lady. Lincoln said she'd wake up after, what, ten hours? He could sneak in a quick nap.
Speaking of which, Tamesha was unconscious and peacefully lying on the floor. She was as still as Kenner, even if it was for a different reason.
Her hand twitched.
Suddenly, she groaned and rubbed the side of her neck. In a daze, Tamesha got up and looked around. She spotted Kenner, to which she just rolled her eyes. Choosing to berate him later, she walked out of her office and into the neighboring room, where she found a telephone and dialed a number.
After a few seconds of ringing, she spoke.
"It's Tamesha. We had an intruder."