Iridescent: Chapter Twenty-Five

Iridescent

Chapter Twenty-Five

~Winds of Change~

After the Fall

Chaud woke up when the bus lurched to one side suddenly. The sand storm started a few days ago and had continued since, delaying the caravan’s journey. The winds had subsided substantially the last twenty four hours. There was the occasional strong gust that rattled the vehicle but overall the wind was starting to die down. The bus lurched again. Chaud sighed. There was no way he was getting any more rest.

He stood up and looked out of the window. The visibility was much better than the day before. There was a possibility that they would set out today to the Great Oasis. Fang said they needed more supplies and needed to make a pit stop. Chaud thought it was fine. Their location was near there anyway. Chaud looked out the window and thought to himself.

“What on earth could you be thinking, Chaud?” Puppetmaster asked. His eyes looked with interest at the teen.

Chaud looked over his shoulder, “Nothing.”

“Nothing usually means something,” Puppetmaster smiled.

Chaud decided to throw him a bone, “I just had a dream, that’s all.”

Puppetmaster looked interested, “What kind of dream?”

Chaud shrugged, “Something about a mission. Can’t remember details.”

“You miss the way things were, don’t you,” Puppetmaster said, “Perhaps you miss someone in particular?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Chaud said.

Puppetmaster waved a hand, letting the matter pass. The radio in the front of the bus crackled to life. Tempi jerked awake at the noise. She muttered something under her breath before answering it.

“What?” she said, obviously in a bad mood.

“We’re heading out,” Fang said on the others end.

Tempi looked outside, “Now?”

“We need supplies and we need them now,” Fang stated before cutting the line.

Tempi sighed and started the bus. The vehicle rumbled to life. A few slumbering bodies stirred slightly before descending back into sleep. Puppetmaster looked toward the head of the bus.

“It looks like we’re back on the road,” Puppetmaster said.

“Finally,” Chaud looked down at his sister.

Amber had wakened by the bus starting and looked up at her brother. She smiled at him and rubbed her eyes.

“Are we there yet?” Amber asked.

Chaud shook his head and smiled, “Not yet. We’re just getting out again.”

“Oh,” Amber yawned, “okay. Wake me up when we’re there.” She curled up by her brother’s leg and fell asleep in only a few moments.

Chaud looked at her. It was nice to see her so at peace. The past few weeks had been especially hard on them both but especially on Amber. She had to deal with things that Chaud hadn’t wanted her to deal with. In all honestly, she had grown up in the time she and Chaud had been together. Chaud sighed. Taking care of little kids was harder than he thought.

The trip droned on. Eventually Naru woke up. It was amusing to see his hair completely disheveled. Hina made fun of his appearance and said that she didn’t need to take as long as her brother getting ready in the morning. Chaud kept a diplomatic view, not taking one side or the other. Vicky simply watched their antics beside Puppetmaster who found in interesting to see the partial team interact.

Kumo and Chou sat near the front of the bus by their team leader. Chaud glanced at them occasionally. It seemed that Naru, Hina, Kumo, and Chou had come to some mutual understanding. They didn’t talk to each other as much since they were rescued. Now that they were back with they were back with their own teams there wasn’t much of a reason to interact. But Chaud sensed that there would be always be a certain connection between the four of them.

The children started to wake up and make noise. Many of them walked toward Puppetmaster to see what toys he could make them. The parents fed the youngest children food with the supply in the bus. The last to get any food was the older agents. The wind died down throughout the day. Soon the sand cleared up and the sky could be seen. The children in the bus were allowed to open the windows finally.

As the sun started to set, their destination was in sight. They drove toward the Great Oasis for supplies. The caravan curved toward the cluster of oases, resorts and hotels.

Fang veered toward one of the buildings. Shadow leaned against Fang with his feet propped out the window. Fang gave him frequent annoyed glances. Shadow, however didn’t pay him much mind. He even teased Shadow occasionally. Shadow looked our through the dashboard as the windshield wipers smeared sand left and right. He saw something that interested him. Shadow sat up, bringing his feet back into the jeep and pointed.

“Well, what so you think about that?” Shadow smiled, “Looks like someone beat us here.”

Fang had already noticed.

Zara walked out onto a large balcony outside. The sandstorm had subsided and she was out and about to stretch her legs. She propped a sniper on her shoulders and walked around on the balcony. Zara looked out at the desert and stopped. She saw a trail of dust rising in the distance. The caravan approached, Zara called to Deontay.

“Hey!” she called.

“Mmn,” Deontay looked up from what he was doing.

Miwa walked outside. He jumped up on the ledge beside Zara and looked over to see. His tail wagged with excitement.

“We have visitors,” Zara said.

Deontay raised an eyebrow, “Really? Are they coming this way?”

“Yeah,” Zara walked back inside, “I’ll go check things out.”

“I’ll join you,” Deontay followed her, “Keep an eye on things Miwa!”

Miwa turned his head, “Yeah, yeah, I got it.”

Together Deontay and Zara walked out to the front of the resort. The caravan pulled up as Zara walked out into the sun light. The jeep pulled up first. Fang stepped out and looked at her.

“We’ll you seem to be doing well for yourself,” Fang stated.

Zara shrugged, “It’s alright I guess. What are you doing here?”

Fang motioned to the caravan, “We need supplies. That and we’re getting off the Island.”

“The world is small,” Zara pointed to Deontay, “We’re doing the same thing.”

“You have anything we could use?” Fang asked.

Zara motioned inside, “Got a few things. Help yourself.”

“You’re just going to give them to us?” Shadow asked as he walked around the car.

“No,” Zara said, “I just haven’t thought of what I want yet.”

Shadow smiled, “Oh.”

“Zara?”

Zara looked around Fang and saw a school bus. Vicky ran off the bus and ran toward her. Hina walked after her beside her brother. Vicky threw her arms around Zara in a friendly hug. She then ran over to Deontay and gave him a Vicky-sized bear hug. Deontay hugged her back and spun her once in the air.

“Kew!” Kew kewed at Deontay.

Deontay put Vicky down, “Now who is that?”

Kew sat on Vicky’s shoulder. His fur stood up on end making him look bigger than he was. Deontay reached over and petted Kew. At first Kew growled at the stranger but after a while his growling stopped and he even purred a little.

Hina slapped Zara on the back, “Where have you been!? We’ve been looking everywhere for you two!”

“You haven’t been looking at all,” Naru said to his sister.

“I have too!” Hina countered.

Naru looked at Zara, “She wasn’t.”

Chaud walked out of the bus wondering what all the fuss was about. He saw Zara standing there talking with the others. Amber stood by his side. She looked to Zara then back up to her brother. Amber rolled her eyes and sighed. She grabbed ahold of her brother’s hand and pulled him toward Zara.

“Amber wait—!” Chaud struggled.

“Come on! I want to join the others!” she said, “Aren’t you going to introduce me?”

When they were close enough, Amber ran behind her brother and pushed him forward. Chaud bumped into Zara. Zara stepped backward. She pushed Chaud away from her.

“Watch where you’re going!” Zara snapped at him.

Chaud smiled, “Sorry, about that.”

Zara looked Chaud over, “You know, I didn’t miss you as much as I’d thought.”

Chaud sighed, “Thanks. I’m glad you feel that way.”

Zara shrugged, “What? I actually enjoyed the peace and quiet that your absence brings.”

“I love you too, Zara,” Chaud caught himself, “As a friend, of course.”

“Right,” Zara walked off, ignoring Chaud the rest of the time.

The Turn: Chapter Twenty-Five

The Turn

Chapter Twenty-Five

~Call the Wolves~

Two Years before The Turn

Zara jerked awake. Lazily she looked around the subway. Across from her, Hina lay asleep on her brother’s shoulder. Naru was the most aware and awake of the rest of them. Deontay sat a little ways away. His head tilted forward in slumber. Vicky stood holding on to one of the overhead bars. She had an inner strength that had yet to come out.

“Good morning,” Chaud sounded as chipper as ever.

Zara glared at him. He sat just to her left. Even after all the traveling they had just gone through, he was still in a very good mood. They were all about at the end of their ropes. After touching down in the middle of the desert, they promptly stole a van and drove toward their last location: California. Now they were on their last leg where they needed to get to a safe house.

The train finally stopped and the six weary travelers got off the train. They walked to the surface. Zara shifted the weight of her back on her shoulders before walking on. They continued down the streets until they reached a secluded alley. Deontay lifted a manhole and the rest of them crawled in.

“Oh, yuck,” Hina muttered as she covered her nose.

Naru turned on a flashlight.

“Come on,” Zara sighed, “the sooner we get to where we’re going the sooner we can all sleep.”

Quickly they walked through the sewers until they reached a dead end. A small electrical box sat to one side. Naru opened it revealing a complex security system. He pulled a few wires and typed a little on the key pad. Suddenly the wall pushed back and slid open.

As they walked in, it was immediately noticeable that the air quality was much better. There was a hum as equipment in the room started to activate. A low blue glow signaled things were turning on. The metal grated floor under their feet rattled as they walked.

“Alright, we have a week at most, more likely less, to get the information we need. Chaud, Hina, and Deontay get to sleep first. Vicky will help me get the system up while Naru hooks up his laptop,” Zara instructed.

Groggily, Hina and Deontay walked off. Chaud stood there with his hands in his back pockets.

“You know,” he started to say; “You look pretty tired yourself.”

“Yeah, so,” Zara turned and walked over to one of the computers.

“Well, you should get some rest,” Chaud shrugged.

“I will,” Zara looked up at him, “later.”

“Fine!” Chaud walked away, “Just thought you might want some rest. I was just giving you a chance.”

“Just go!” Zara shook her head. She turned to look at Naru, he looked to be self-reliant. Vicky stood awkwardly waiting for instruction, “You can start over there. Let’s see if we could get some of these computers online. Getting connected to the Tower database won’t be easy without being noticed.”

“I could do it!” Chaud called.

Zara sighed, “Really?”

Chaud turned and walked back. He was typing away at his cell phone. “Shouldn’t take long,” he said when he was done.

Sure enough, more lights turned on and the large screen against the opposite wall turned on. All the computers turned on and the sliding wall closed in place. A small animated character jumped onto all the screens. It twirled and jumped. When it stopped it pulled a box out of its pocket and opened it. The screens all went black for a moment but slowly started to regain their image. A world map appeared on the large screen and different applications on the smaller ones.

“This is the Tower’s database?” Zara asked.

“No,” Chaud shook his head, “It IS the Tower. Well, at least we see what they see. And can use what they use. Miwa really outdid himself.” The latter he muttered to himself.

“Miwa?” Zara asked.

“A friend,” Chaud shrugged and started walking toward the sleeping quarters.

“You know, I was wondering why you were taking forever! I was talking to Bridget for like ten minutes!”

“I have no idea what you are talking about!” Chaud called over his shoulder.

“Chaud, I swear! Arg!” Zara turned her back on Chaud and walked to one of the computers. “Start looking for anything to do with the New Order!” she shouted at Vicky.

“Yes, ma’am,” Vicky darted to another computer and started typing feverishly.

IOIOIOIOI

“Really?” Sirius nodded as he listened to Bridget’s complaint the next day.

“Yeah!” Bridget crossed her arms, “I just thought you might want to know. She was in here wanting to get something from upstairs. I sent her on her way.”

Sirius thought a moment, “That doesn’t sound like her to forget something. Even if she did, it doesn’t sound like her at all to give up that easily.”

“That’s what happened,” Bridget shrugged.

“Thank you,” Sirius continued on his way up to his office.

Kaiba and Kiri were already there. He greeted the both of them a good morning. He sat in his desk and took a quick glance at the piles of paper work on his desk. He took a sip of his coffee. His eyes narrowed in thought. It wasn’t like Zara at all. She would have barged up the stairs with Bridget clinging to her legs. Sirius took out his cell phone. There was a messaged that he received from his son the day before saying something about him staying at a friend’s house. He called Chaud. The call went directly to voicemail that wasn’t set up yet. He then called Deontay’s apartment number. No luck there either. Sirius pressed a button on his desk phone.

“Do you need something?” Kaiba sighed.

“You don’t happen to know where your brother is, do you?” Sirius asked.

There was a slight pause, “Which one?”

“Chaud,” Sirius responded.

“Wasn’t he at Deontay’s house?”

“He switched phones again,” he said as if it has some weight.

Kaiba sighed, “That’s never good. I’ll see if I can track him by his Agent tracking number.”

“Report what you find,” Sirius remembered something, “Call the others too would you?”

“Sure.”

Sirius waited; his elbows on the desk, hands folded anxiously under his chin. Chaud, he knew, had and uncanny ability to disappear. He also knew that his son had at least a dozen different cellphones and switched them around on a regular basis. If one was older than three months, he would toss it and by a new one keeping the memory chip. And then there was his ability to plan and execute. Honestly, Chaud was probably better at that than even Kaiba. It just seemed to come naturally for him.

His cell phone rang. The caller ID read Chaud but he didn’t recognize the number. He answered it.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Dad,” came his son’s voice, “You called?”

“Yes, I did,” Sirius sat back in his chair, “Just wondering where you are.”

“You know, around,” Chaud said in a dismissive manor.

“Around?”

“Yeah, just hanging around with some friends. We’re going for ice cream later. Got to go, okay, dad. We’ll see ya around, alright!” Chaud hung up.

Sirius put down his phone, “Around.”

It’s a hard thing to lie to family. They know you so well. They know that you look up or down when you’re lying or you do that weird thing with your nose. Or that you can’t stop fidgeting or you can’t look them in the eyes. In Chaud’s case, he used the word ‘around’ when he didn’t want to be found. It couldn’t be helped. It was his family tell. Sirius tried to call the number again.

“I’m sorry; this is not a valid number. Goodbye!”

Kaiba walked in, “Their Agent numbers aren’t in the system. It’s as if they were wiped from the system. And all their phone numbers aren’t valid anymore.”

Kiri walked in just then, “Kaiba had me check the security cameras. They were disabled yesterday and any existing footage was erased.”

Kaiba looked at his father’s blank expression, “You don’t look surprised.”

“He called,” Sirius stood up, “He’s says they’ll see us ‘around’.”

Kaiba rolled his eyes, “Great.”

Kiri looked around, confused, “What? What does that mean?”

Sirius smiled, “It means we won’t be seeing them for a while.

Kiri looked at Sirius, “You mean they left the Island?”

“Zara was never really the type to give up,” Sirius walked out of the office.

Kaiba followed him, “What are we going to do? We have agents on AWAL. We need to get them back but we don’t even have a place to start.”

Sirius entered the elevator, “We’ll get them back.”

“You’re fairly confident,” Kiri noted.

“More like terrified, really,” Sirius looked to Kaiba, “Your mother would have my head if she found out.” He sighed, “This will be an interesting conversation at dinner tonight.”

Kiri saluted, “Good luck, sir.”

“You did set up your will so I will inherit your seat right?” Kaiba’s expression was all serious.

“Thank you,” he said to Kiri. He turned to Kaiba, “Don’t get ahead of yourself.”

The elevator door closed.

IOIOIOIOI

There was a knock at the door. A dissatisfied groan was heard from the sleeping figure in bed. Gold eyes looked at a nearby clock. A sliver of light made its way through the drawn curtains.

“Go away,” the man growled.

“I would, but I can’t,” a figure walked into the room, “We have a visitor!”

Fang sat up in bed. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes. His hair was now mostly white than black. There were still a few black strands to be seen but not many. The night before had been a long one. Alister had though that it would be a brilliant idea to dabble in the arts and take on painting. All well and good but there was one thing Alister failed to mention: he was intending to ‘paint’ with a flamethrower. Thought it would be ironic or something stupid like that. Because of that, Fang had been up late that night.

He looked up at Shadow as he rummaged through his drawers, “Who’s here?”

“You’d never guess,” Shadow smiled.

Fang waited a moment for more information. There was none, “That’s why I’m asking. Who is visiting?”

Shadow tossed some clothed at Fang, “Here. You’ll just have to see when you get down there.”

“I swear, Shadow, tell me or I will strangle you! I do not have the patience today,” Fang stood up, his eyes narrowing on Shadow.

Shadow didn’t feel threatened, “Tsk, tsk, are we impatient today. You should curb that attitude before to meet out guest.”

Fang stepped closer to Shadow. Seeing that Fang just might make good on his threat, Shadow made his way briskly to the door.

“Shall I tell out guest that you should be down in the dining room shortly?” Shadow said with a smile.

Fang got dressed and freshened up. He walked down the steps and entered the living room. Arisa, now a blossoming young lady, sat on the couch texting away on one of those gizmos. Naturally, Lumin, formally known as Blue, was sitting next to her reading a book.

“Good morning, Fang,” Lumin acknowledged without looking up from his book.

Arisa looked up from her text, “Hello!”

Fang nodded a greeting to both of them. He passed the large staircase as Penelope ran down the stairs. Inevitably, she tripped and broke her glasses all before she even changed out of her pajamas. Fang paused a moment, considering whether he should turn and help. He glanced over his shoulder.

“Ow,” she muttered.

Penelope pulled a spare from her pocket. She turned to see Fang and smiled sheepishly. Fang determined that she would be fine and carried on.

Alister walked out of the kitchen. His flaming red hair was a complete mess. He had an automatic weapon slung over his shoulder. Fang eyed him closely, wondering what he had done to the kitchen this time.

Raven sailed past both of them, a canvas in her arms as she headed out to the backyard. After Fang had forbidden Alister to even think about painting, Raven had taken up the notion. They had plenty of spare canvases now and Fang saw it as something to help her express herself.

Finally, Fang walked into the dining room. He paused only slightly when he saw who it was.

Sirius tuned at Fang’s entrance. He had been looking at a painting on the wall. Fang walked cautiously forward.

“Hello Fang,” Sirius greeted.

Fang said nothing.

“Well, I’m sure you want to get straight to the point,” Sirius said.

Fang looked around, “More or less.”

Sirius sighed, “I have some Agents I need you to find.”

Insanity Chapter Twenty-Five

Insanity

Chapter Twenty-Five

~Operation Fang – Part Three~

Day Twenty-One

He looked like he was in pretty bad shape. His left hand was across his stomach as if the fall was still causing him pain. The silver gun was to his side in his right hand. Thae looked at him.

“You aren’t in any condition to fight,” he said.

“It only takes one bullet to kill a man,” Fang answered.

The boat suddenly shifted to the right. Caught off balance, Fang fell. A tall pillar of water appeared at the side of the boat. Thae looked up at it. The top of the pillar opened as a little girl jumped out.

“Arisa!” Penelope shouted as she stood over Lire’s temporarily paralyzed body.

Arisa was wet but somehow managed to surround herself in fire. She plummeted toward the center of the ship. Quickly, Thae grabbed Edonya. The ship exploded into a ball of fire. There was a hole through the center of the ship. Shadow and Fang were blown back and Penelope fell overboard. Raven stared as she ran closer to the sinking ship.

The pillar of water changed and looked more like a large angry water snake. Fang looked up through the black smoke and flames. Then he quickly looked around for Shadow. He found him unconscious under a wooden beam.

“Shadow!” he heard himself yell, “Shadow!”

He was in the water, treading for his life. Fang looked at the large snake that towered over head. I opened its mouth and descended on the already damaged boat. Shadow finally appeared near the railing. He gripped his head in pain.

“Come on, Shadow!” Fang heard himself yell.

The snake descended and engulfed the boat. It blew up before sinking to the bottom of the ocean.

Fang shook his head clear. He looked to where Shadow was trapped again and ran to him.

“Shadow! Get up, Shadow!” he yelled as he pushed the beam off of him.

Shadow slowly opened his eyes, “What’s going on? Fang? Is that you?”

“You’re really out of it” Fang commented, he looked up, “We have to get out of here. Blue’s on a rampage.”

“Blue? Here?” Shadow gripped his head.

“You might have a concussion,” Fang draped one of Shadow’s arms around his shoulder.

He stood up and helped Shadow to get to the edge. As he was helping Shadow, the boat rocked suddenly separating the two. Fang stumbled forward and Shadow fell back. After regaining his senses Fang looked up. The snake looked ready to strike.

“Come on, Shadow!” he called.

“You go ahead,” Shadow said, “I’ll be right behind you.”

At that moment, every instinct in his body told him to run but the vision he had just moments before stopped him. He ran back to Shadow.

Fang forced Shadow to hook at him, “I’m not leaving you behind!”

The snake opened its deadly mouth. Fang forced Shadow’s arm back over his shoulder. In a blink of an eye he was a wolf once again. The snake started its deadly decent. Fang ran for the edge, Shadow’s weight meant nothing. Just seconds before the impact Fang jumped through a hole in the railing, big enough for both of them and dove into the water. The explosion pushed them both further into depths of the ocean.

Fang and Shadow were separated through the thrashing of the waters. Repeatedly, Fang tried to swim to the surface but was pushed down by waves and debris. He felt his lungs about to burst and knew that he desperately needed oxygen. Finally he broke the surface and filled his lungs with dearly needed air.

After he waded water for a few minutes he looked for something to hold on to. He saw a piece of driftwood, a part of the ship, and held on. Fang suddenly felt tired. He told himself that he would only rest his eyes but ended up falling asleep there in the middle of the ocean.

***

Few Hours Later

“When you think he’ll get up Reighn?”

A bell rang.

“Soon? Really? Soon enough that he can pull himself on the raft?”

“Neope.”

A sigh, “Oh, well. You should get to work, Reighn.”

A bell rang.

“What do you mean I should do it? I’ve done plenty all ready.”

“Neope.”

“Oh, look! Thank goodness, he’s waking up!”

A bell rang.

“No, I’m not glad that I don’t have to pull him in. I’m glad that he’s alright.”

Fang slowly opened his eyes. He saw and a yellow blob in front of him. His eyes focus and he saw Undertaker sitting in it with Reighn on his shoulder. Undertaker smiled at him and offered a hand of assistance. Groggily, Fang gripped his hand and pulled himself into the yellow raft.

“This is random,” Fang said.

“Well, life is more interesting with random events. Better yet, planned random events,” Undertaker smiled, “Oh, look, there’s Penelope. My, my, she looks pissed.

Fang looked. Penelope was holding onto a flag pole that was attached to the ship. She indeed looked very angry.

“What in the world was she thinking!?” she complained as Fang helped her on board.

“Who?” Undertaker asked.

“Arisa! She almost killed me!” Penelope vented.

Undertaker handed her the ore that he had, “Why don’t you take your anger out on rowing, eh?”

She glared at him, “Is he trying to get out of rowing?” she asked Fang.

“Yeah,” he answered.

“No, no,” Undertaker smiled, “I only have your best interest in mind.”

Penelope rolled her eyes. She grabbed the ore and started rowing. Surprisingly, her focus on rowing calmed her to a point.

They rowed the raft over to Alister and Raven.

“This is weird,” Alister said as glanced at Undertaker, “you always around and we just don’t see you or…”

“Now I wouldn’t tell you, dear nephew, if I was following you or not,” Undertaker smiled.

“Where’d you get this?” Raven asked.

“It was buried deep in the shop. Actually, it was behind a few items. Reingh here just has good eyes,” Undertaker answered.

“Yeap,” Reighn nodded.

“What?” Penelope said, “Okay, there are some things I don’t know but I do know that there was no giant raft in you shop!”

“Well, of course there wasn’t a big yellow raft!” Undertaker laughed, “It was is a small brown box!”

Lastly, they came to Shadow. He seemed much better after some rest. Shadow and Alister helped row the boat back to shore. Once they were close to the Docks, they could see Arisa and Blue standing on the one of the docks.

Fang was the first back on shore. He walked over to Blue. Arisa ran to him and hugged him as he walked. Fang stopped and stood side by side with Blue.

“We’ll need to talk, Blue,” Fang said.

Fine.

He continued walking down the dock, “Come on, we’re going home!”

The others walked past Blue in silence, not even giving him a moment’s glance. Blue looked at Undertaker. The older man smiled his crazy smile.

“Come on, Blue! We haven’t got all day!” Fang shouted.

Slowly, Blue turned around and walked home, far behind the others.