Iridescent: Chapter Twenty-Nine

Iridescent

Chapter Twenty-Nine

~Match~

After the Fall

Dante kicked open the door of the overturned truck that he had been driving before Shuppet had knocked it over. He crawled out and looked around. Everything seemed to be going according to plan. Dante looked into the truck and helped Ai crawl out.

“You okay. Princess?” Dante asked with a slight smile.

Ai looked as serious as ever, “I’m fine. Let’s go.”

“Right,” Dante nodded, “You get inside. I’ll cover you.”

Ai ran off to the resort building. Hiding behind anything she could to avoid being seen. Dante watched her for a little bit before looking for his own target.  Ren stood in the center of the chaos, a small grin on his face. He watched with interest at the goings on.

“Now I thought you were dead,” Jekyll said behind Ren.

Ren turned and smiled, “Depends on your version of reality.”

Jekyll tugged on his hat and closed his eyes, “I don’t have time for mind games.”

With a simple flick of his wrist, Jekyll drew three surgical knives from his sleeve and threw them at the boy. Ren vanished, as he wasn’t ever really there and multiplied himself several times in a ring around the doctor in a suit. The ring of Rens’ all drew their scimitars and charged at the doctor. A clear shot rang out causing one of the visions to disappear. Jekyll easily took care of the rest. He opened his eyes and looked over at Fang and sighed.

“I was doing fine you know,” Jekyll stated.

Fang looked at him, “I know.”

Ren appeared suddenly. Fang acted quickly and grabbed him by the wrist. He twisted the boy around and placed the gun to Ren’s head.

“I just needed to get to him before you killed him or something,” Fang muttered.

Jekyll crossed his arms, “I don’t kill kids. I probably would have maimed him close to death but I wouldn’t have killed him.”

“Right,” Fang looked down at Ren who struggled against his captor, “Now talk. What are you up to? You know the girl isn’t here, right?”

Ren turned his head and smiled, “I’m not answering. You’ll have to catch the real me first.” He vanished out of Fang’s grasp.

Fang looked to Jekyll, “Find him, don’t kill him.”

Jekyll tipped his hat in acknowledgement. He turned to more Rens’ running around causing trouble. With a sigh, he got to work. Fang grabbed a handheld two-way radio on his belt.

“Crow,” Fang said.

“What?” Crow sounded annoyed as usual.

“Where is Amber?” he waited for a reply but before he could get one there was a commotion that drew his attention.

Dante finally found who he was looking for. He ran forward through the crowd and the chaos. He ran passed Zara as she got to her feet after being blown by an explosion. She turned as Dante passed wondering what the hunter was up to. Fang only vaguely heard the response on the radio.

Ren appeared suddenly beside Chaud, catching the boy off guard. Chaud’s hand crackled with electricity and he tried striking Ren. The evasive boy simply smiled and vanished on impact only to appear again moments later. Chaud was too distracted to notice that Dante was running straight for him. Zara felt her entire body go numb, watching her teammate get attacked and unable to do anything quick enough.

She opened her mouth and shouted at the top of her lungs, “Look out!”

Chaud turned in time to see Dante running for him but he was too late to do anything about it. He couldn’t move fast enough. Dante struck him in the stomach. As Chaud doubled over, Dante grabbed his neck and pushed Chaud back into one of the windows of the resort. Dante threw him through the window before jumping in after him.

Before Chaud could get up, Dante grabbed him by his shirt and threw him into a table and again into a wall. Dante grabbed his sword and pressed the point against Chaud’s neck.

Chaud laughed uneasily as he tried to steer away from the sharp point. His nose was bleeding and there was a gash on his cheek. He backed up closer to the wall as he tried to recover from his blurry vision.

“Look,” Chaud started to say, “I understand you’re upset—”

“Shut up!” Dante shouted, “You could talk the ears off a stone statue! I don’t want to hear a dang thing that comes out of your mouth! Say another word and I’ll slit your throat! Go on, give me a reason!”

“I’ll give you fifteen reasons not to!” Zara entered the room, gun raised. “I swear I’ll empty this gun on you if you so much as sneeze,” she muttered.

Dante looked over at Zara for a moment. He looked back at Chaud, “Who is that? Your girlfriend?”

“What?” Zara asked.

Chaud groaned, “Why does everyone think that she is my girlfriend?”

Dante shrugged, “Just asking, jeez.”

“Well, she’s not,” Chaud said.

“You want her to be?” Dante shook his head.

“I…” for the first time, Chaud was speechless.

Dante smiled, “Well, wont this be interesting.” He shot out his hand throwing a fire ball at Zara.

Zara was blown back because of the impact. With Dante’s attention on Zara, Chaud pushed away the sword. The tip only lightly scratched his neck. He shot up in an attempt to hit Dante but Dante’s reaction was faster. Dante took a step to one side. As Chaud lost balance, Dante struck the back of Chaud’s neck. Chaud fell forward but lunged to one side just before Dante’s sword fell on him. The sword struck the ground and Chaud got to his feet.

A gunshot cut through the air silencing the fighting. Dante looked up to see if the girl had gotten back on her feet. He was slightly surprised to see a man with a gun instead. The girl had indeed stood up but stood off to one side, her gun raised as well.

“And who the hell might you be?” Dante asked the new comer.

“Where is Amber?” Fang asked.

Vicky placed the box upstairs on a table with a collection of some of their supplies. The table was long, like the typical conference tables. She felt the building shake and heard the windows quiver. The fighting had already started and she was on her way to join the battle. She picked up the keys to the conference room and headed out. A water bottle on the table toppled over. Vicky turned back and looked closely.

“Kew?” the little creature on her shoulder looked up with interest.

She pulled one of her axes from her belt and went to take a closer look. Normally she would pass up the fact to a shake in the building. However, she was already suspicious with the missing Blue Gold vial. She walked around the table quietly.

“Ha!” Vicky exclaimed when she viewed the other side of the table.

She heard something and looked under the table. Her query had crawled underneath the table and Vicky had only managed to get a glimpse of where they were as they ran off. Vicky looked up again just in time to see someone’s hand on the sill of the door as they ran away.

“Wait!” Vicky called as she ran after the runaway.

She ran down the hallway. Being a little taller and having longer legs, she quickly caught up with the little runaway. She grabbed the runaway’s arms. The runaway struggled against her grip but Vicky held on firmly.

“Amber!? What are you doing here!?” Vicky exclaimed.

Amber looked up to at her as she tried to twist out of Vicky’s grasp, “Let go!”

“What is she doing here?” a voice stated factually, “She snuck off the bus after her and her brother disagreed. Apparently she was able to sneak out of the back of the bus and sneak in without being spotted by the others. I can only assume that she snuck around until now, wanting to help or something useless like that. She can barely take care of herself.”

Amber stopped moving suddenly and tried to locate the voice. Vicky turned and looked down the hallway. Kew growled at the newcomer.

“Who are you?” Vicky asked.

Ai ignored her and looked at Amber, “What do you say, Amber? Do you want to play a game? Why don’t you just give up? I’m only going to win again.”

“No!” Amber shouted.

Ai raised one of her guns at Vicky, “Don’t be a nuisance.”

She fired the gun and Vicky pushed Amber away and ducked. The bullet struck a window. Vicky injected herself. She pulled wind in from the outside and pulled it in and sent it toward Ai. Ai formed a force field around her and protected herself. While Ai was busy, Vicky grabbed Amber’s hand and ran.

“Who is that!?” Vicky asked as they ran down another hallway.

“An ex-friend,” Amber answered.

“Ex?”

“She tried to kill me.”

Vicky nodded, “Yeah, ‘ex’ is a good way to put it after that.”

They ducked down another hall just as bullets sailed down the hallway and struck the corner as they ran. Vicky pushed Amber into a doorway. She turned and ran back down the previous hall. Kew leaped off of Vicky’s shoulder and started charging at the aggressor.

He ran in an unexpected pattern. Ai tried shooting at him but the path he was running was unpredictable. Kew leaped up and bit Ai on the hand. While she was distracted, Vicky pulled out her shuriken and spun it in her hand. She held it out in front of her, creating a tunnel of wind headed towards Ai. The girl was knocked to the ground. She flung her hand out, tossing Kew into the wall. Ai created a force field around herself. She grabbed her gun and shot at Vicky.

Vicky closed her eyes expecting the worst. The bullet struck a force a few feet in front of her and smashed into pieces. When nothing happened, Vicky opened her eyes again. She looked from Ai to Amber. Amber’s eyes were different colors. Amber had seen Ai use her power enough to duplicate it. Vicky looked at the half empty vial in one of her hands.

The shield dropped and Vicky whistled for Kew to follow. She grabbed Amber and started running. Vicky led them down another hallway and stopped suddenly. It was a dead end except for a single room. They didn’t have enough time to look for another place so Vicky ran to the door, opened it, and let Amber in. She closed the door behind them.

Ai made it to the hallway and saw the door. She shot at the lock and the door slid open. Ai walked into a large dimly lit room. It looked like cubicle office room for the employees of the resort. There were many inlets and hiding places including many places to get jumped.

Ai made her way slowly down one row of cubicles. She would clear each cubicle before continuing on to the next. It was slow work but it was the only way she knew that she could progress safely. Besides, she would snuff them out soon anyways. When that would happen, she would kill the older girl if necessary and take Amber to the meeting place.

Something scurried on the floor just in front of her. Ai shot at it but it was already gone by that time. She stopped and steadied her breathing.

“Come on, Amber,” Ai said, “I’m tired of this game.”

Some on ran across from one cubicle to another. Ai turned and shot at the figure. She missed. Ai looked around carefully.

“We both know you can’t throw those darts,” Ai said, “Your aim is horrible.”

Amber appeared at the end of the isle, “We’ll see!”

Ai turned and raised her gun at Amber. Amber threw one of her darts and it struck Ai in the leg. She pushed the gun away from her and backhanded Ai in the face.

“That was for nearly killing me!” Amber yelled.

Ai reached of her other gun. Amber stepped on her hand and elbowed her in the jaw.

“For nearly killing my brother!” Amber shouted.

Ai pushed Amber to one side. She got to her feet and punched her in the face. She pivoted around Amber and kicked her in the back. Amber stumbled forward and turned quickly. Ai ran at Amber. Amber took a step back in her stance and retracted her fist. One of her eyes turned gold in color.

“And this—” she screamed, “Is for every other reason I can’t think of!”

Ai could stop in time. Amber punched her in the face. And electric surge jumped from Amber to Ai throwing her back. She crashed through a few cubicles. Before she could get up Vicky pinned her to the ground by holding one of her hands against her back.

The door barged open and Amber jumped. Fang came in followed by Zara and a very worried looking Chaud. When his eyes fell on his sister, he walked directly towards her.

“I’m sorry,” Amber started, “I just—”

Chaud scooped her up in to his arms, “We can talk about it later.”

She wrapped her arms around her brother. With the adrenalin starting to wear off she started crying into his shoulder. Chaud held her, not wanting to let her go. Fang looked over at Vicky with the captured Ai and shook his head.

“I’m getting too old for this,” Fang muttered to himself.

“Yeah,” Zara overheard, “At this rate you won’t have any black hair left. You should retire.”

Fang glared at her, “What did you say?”

Zara looked at him, “Just saying we young’uns have everything sorted out. You can have fun at bingo night now, that’s all I’m saying.”

Zara walked towards Vicky to help her with Ai. Fang felt the overwhelming urge to shoot her in the back.

“Kids these days really have no respect,” Fang muttered.

The Turn: Chapter Twenty-Nine

The Turn

Chapter Twenty-Nine

~Rev Your Engines~

Two Years Before The Turn

Chaud walked into the hideout. Zara looked at him and put her hands on her hips with a look of disappointment on her face.

“Where have you been?” she asked.

“We need to get going,” Chaud said without answering her question.

Zara turned as Chaud walked passed her, “What do you mean? We’re just getting everything set up.”

“I mean we need to go now,” Chaud stated, “If we don’t they will catch us before we get down the block.”

Zara stood still a moment, “Did you blow our cover? Chaud, seriously! We don’t have anything prepped! We barely even know where we would be going!”

“I’ve narrowed it down to this area,” Naru stated as he circled an area on a map.

“Not exactly pinpoint,” Deontay looked at the large circle, “Pity there aren’t gas stations in the sky.”

“Okay,” Zara gripped her head in concentration, “We’ll have to make due. Deontay, Vicky!”

“Got it!” Deontay ran toward Vicky and they both grabbed a bag and left the base.

“Let’s go!” Zara called.

Naru and Hina shut down the computers. Chaud grabbed two bags. Zara followed the twins out of the base carrying two bags herself. They reached the surface. Hina looked around for a vehicle. She found a jeep and hotwired it. Naru grabbed the bags that Zara was carrying and headed off to his sister. Chaud and Zara headed off to  a red convertible.

“Seriously?” Zara stated.

“What? If you’re going to ‘borrow’ a car it at least has to look good. And besides, I thought the point was to be fairly obvious,” Chaud pointed at the car, “This looks rather obvious.”

Zara rolled her eyes and threw the bags in the back seat, “This plan had better work.”

Chaud smiled, “It will.”

Zara got in the back seat while Chaud got the car started. She turned on her ear piece.

“Mike check,” she stated.

“Hear you loud and clear,” Deontay said.

“Hello,” Vicky’s voice was quieter.

“Sup,” came Hina’s response.

“What was the plan again?” Naru asked.

Chaud laughed, “This will be interesting.”

Zara was forced to smile, “Do we all know our part?”

Deontay yawned, “Yeah, yeah, you only drilled it into our heads.”

“Anything we should know about the enemy, Chaud?” Hina asked.

Chaud thought a moment as he drove, “They don’t hesitate to use their powers. That’s something to watch for. Oh, and their leader can see a little of the future.”

“That would have been nice to know earlier…” Naru sighed.

Hina groaned, “How do we go against someone like that?”

“My dad told me a little trick that might help,” Chaud said, “He said that if you don’t know what you are about to do beforehand sometimes it messes with a future readers power.”

“But we know what we are about to do,” Vicky sounded confused.

“Just don’t thing about it. Just act I guess I should say. Helped me out this afternoon,” Chaud shrugged.

Zara looked at him, “You are so lucky that you’re driving right now. I could punch you.”

“Lucky me…” Chaud murmured.

“Alright,” Zara looked at her watch, “Time.”

“0-1!” the others said in unison.

“Good,” Zara loaded a sub machine gun, “Keep the time. Let’s get this done.”

 

IOIOIOIOIOI

 

Shadow walked through a wall that he thought interesting. He smiled when he emerged on the other side. Fang was right again as usual. Apparently Chaud had been trying to keep his mind blank when he met Fang and that was giving Fang a hard time. But in a fraction of a second as Chaud flew off, Fang saw a glimpse of Chaud’s immediate future.

Curious, Shadow turned on the computers. He saw some mention of an island and something called the Metamor. With a smile he walked through another wall and appeared by Fang’s side.

Fang looked at him, “Well.”

“They were there,” Shadow reported, “but they aren’t now. Saw something about an island thought. Looked like they were following up on one of their missions and were trying to find out who ratted them out.”

“An island?” Fang asked.

“Huh,” Alister stood a ways away with his arms crossed, “In’t it kinda hard to get to an island wit’out travelin’ by air. I mean I know they ‘ave ferries an’ what not, but if this island was where the bad guys live I don’t think they ‘ave an afternoon ferry.”

“Alister,” Fang stated, “That night have been the smartest thing you’ve said all week.”

“Really?” Shadow looked skeptical, “That’s a cruel joke Fang, don’t get his hopes up like that.”

“I’m being serious,” Fang glared at him, “If you can’t get there by boat how are they getting there.”

“Air?” Shadow answered.

“And where can one find an air vehicle fairly easily without much planning?”

Alister answered, “The airport?”

Very good, Alister,” Fang nodded, “Shadow, you, Raven and Penelope go ahead and see if you can slow them down.

“Whatever you say,” Shadow went to go tell Raven and Penelope.

“Lumin,” Fang called over to the water wielder, “Would you go unlock that car over there?”

Lumin stood up and did as he was told with Arisa at his heels.

“We need to get them before they take to the air,” Fang said quietly.

“‘Specially since we ‘ave no idea where they’re goin’,” Alister sighed.

“You really are on a roll today, Alister,” Fang nodded.

“Fang,” Raven walked up to him, “We’re headed out.”

“Alright,” Fang looked at her, “We’ll catch up with you.”

Raven turned and ran in the direction of the airport. Penelope disappeared and appeared on a nearby roof. She disappeared again and appeared again further away.

Shadow walked to nearby wall. “I’m missing you already, Fang!”

Fang sighed and ignored him.

“Fang, Lumin got the door open!” Arisa called out as she waved out one of the windows. Lumin was trying to keep her quiet since what they were doing was illegal.

“Let’s get this over with so I can get paid,” Fang sighed.

Insanity Chapter Twenty-Nine

Insanity

Chapter Twenty-Nine

~The Windy City~

Day Twenty-Four

Fang stood on the roof of one of the tall building. He had to admit the view was breathtaking high above the Windy City (it was appropriate name because of the high winds above a certain point). With hair and cape blowing in the wind, Fang looked back at the others. They waited casually for their leader to tell them what to do.

The first phase of the plan was complete: steal a Shadowcraft and fly to Chicago. The second part: park it somewhere in the city, wasn’t so easy. Yes, it could turn invisible but it’s not like you could park in the middle of an intersection. A secluded field wound have been nice but there were none in the city. There was lots of water though. And after they parked the craft they would have to remember where they put it.

Imagine, a parking lot filled with invisible cars. You get out like “Yeah, I can so remember where I parked” and walk away. An hour later try to find your car again. If you think a trip to the supermarket is bad, just be thankful you can see your car.

The third part of the plan was to find the building, warehouse, house, apartment, condominium, and another structure of the one who hired Edonya to kidnap Arisa. Yeah, it sounded more rational in his head. Fang forgot how many buildings there were in Chicago. Then a thought came to him.

“We’ll wait here for night fall,” Fang said as he looked at the setting sun.

“Finally someone has a plan!” Alister complained, “We’ve been walkin ‘round all day!”

Fang looked at Alister, “I always have a plan. Some are just more developed than others.”

“Really? I bet even Blue could have figured out somethin’ faster than you did if ‘e tried! Heck even I could” Alister continued.

What!? Just so you know I’m higher up in the IQ ladder than you! You could figure out how to—

“Quiet Blue, I’m thinking,” Fang said.

Blue’s shoulders dropped and his eyes narrowed.

Really? I can’t get a word in? But he—

“In a moment, Blue,” Fang interrupted.

“What are you talkin’ ‘bout!? ‘E ain’t sayin’ anything?” Alister said.

Blue’s mouth opened in a silent sigh and he cough the urge to strangle Alister to death there and then.

“It okay, Blue,” Arisa patted his back, “We don’t need him. This way we can talk about him without him knowing it.”

Alister jumped up, “Wait one bloody second! You’re talking about me! What ‘ave you been sayin, eh?! Spill it afore I shoot enough holes in you to make Swiss cheese!”

Fang sighed, “Behave.”

“You ‘eard what they said! They’ve been talkn’ ‘bout me! Aren’t you goin to do anything!”

“Grow up, Alister,” Fang muttered.

Alister looked dumfounded.

So immature.

“I couldn’t have said it better,” Arisa mused.

“Said what?” Alister looked back at her.

“Nothing,” she shrugged, “Just something Blue said.”

“He didn’t say anything!?” Alister shouted.

Fang watched as the buildings turned on their lights in the darkening light. He made careful mental notes of the ones that had their lights on earlier in the afternoon. He watched and watched. Slowly he noticed one building with its light turned off even as the sun had set a while ago.

“There you are,” Fang muttered.

He walked to the edge of the building. The others noticed the movement and started collecting their things. Fang stepped off the edge and fell several feet. He landed on a horizontal flagpole that jetted out of the side of the building. Fang jumped, gripped onto the pole and landed on the sidewalk. He walked casually through the streets.

“Show off,” Shadow said as he walked out of the building wall.

Fang found his way to the suspicious building. He found a perch a few buildings away and sure enough the suspect building was dark. Fang crouched and closed his eyes. He shushed Alister and focused his hearing into the building. Sure enough he heard commotion inside. It seemed they were working in the dark. And from what Fang could here, they knew that they were coming. Fang shrugged, they must have triggered some alarm somewhere. He stood up and turned around. His eyes fell on a camera that eyed them, the red light blinking. Fang brought out his gun and shot at the camera.

“That’s how they knew about us,” Fang said.

“Great,” Shadow said sarcastically.

“We lost the element of surprise,” Penelope sighed.

Alister looked ticked, “Well, what now genius? You got any ideas Blue?”

Actually—

“See, he doesn’t say anythin’,” Alister unknowingly interrupted.

“Well, since we did lose the element of surprise,” Fang said, “The only thing we can do now is to do what they expect us to do while we do something they don’t expect but what we really intended.”

“What?” Raved stared.

“Just trust me and it will work,” Fang said.

“I’m good with that,” Raven said, “Just tell me what to do and I’ll do it.”

            “Good,” Fang said, “That’s how I usually like it.”

***

Mystery Building

The phone rang in the familiar office. Thomas reached over to answer it.

“What is it?” he asked with annoyance, he paused, “What do you mean he’s here!? Yes, I want you to do something about it! Are you that dense!? Sent the teams out!”

He hung up. This wasn’t good. The phone rang again.

“What did I tell you?!”

“You didn’t tell me anything,” a voice said.

Thomas stopped. He forced himself to calm down.

“I’m sorry,” he said, “I thought you were someone else.”

“I could tell,” the voice said, “Is everything all right?”

Thomas paused for a moment to long, “No, no! One of the Others blasted a hole through the training simulator. As you can imagine, it’s one of the last things I need right now.”

“Yes,” the voice paused, “I’m sure.”

“If that’s all, I need to get back to—”

“You remember out contract don’t you?” the voice said.

Thomas swallowed, “Yes, of course I do.”

“I’m a man of my word, Thomas. Don’t fail me,” the voice said.

“I won’t,” Thomas answered.

“We’ll just have to see about that,” the phone hung up.

Thomas put the phone down, stood up and ran out of the office. He walked through the building and walked into a room filled with Others. They looked up from various activities like card games, pool, and the likes.

“Alright! Anyone who kills Fang and his team gets paid ten times what they are now! Now, go and get the job done!” Thomas commanded.

There were cheers as people ran out of the room to start the hunt. Edonya looked around the room. She saw Thae and tightened her fists. She didn’t care who got the raise but she was going to everything she could to stop Thae from getting. He thought she was annoying? Well, there was no need to disappoint. Zorah sat the look in her eyes from afar. She was older than Edonya and was a few years older than Thae. Zorah smiled. She was getting to old for this. She walked over to Edonya.

“Hey, I need ta talk to ya,” her arm was around Edonya’s shoulder as she turned her away from Thae, “You’re a nice girl ‘an all, you really think ya should be lettin’ go of a friendship?”

“Friendship?” Edonya looked up at her, “Me and Thae? We’re so not friends.”

“That frown ya got on don’t look to nice on you, ya know,” Zorah said.

“If he hated me so much than why did he stay? He could have gotten a different team!” Edonya said.

“Well, ‘e was ‘aving a bad day,” Zorah said, “I don’t think ‘e meant it. ‘Sides, you’re right. ‘E could have gotten another team, but ‘e didn’t. Heck, I’d go all the way an say ‘e likes you.”

Edonya looked over at Thae, “You think?”

“Now, I said ‘likes’ as in a little more than a friend but not a lover, mind you. But ‘e cares for your wellbeing.”

Edonya scowled, “I’ll only talk to him if he apologizes!”

“That might be a while,” Zorah sighed, “He’s type isn’t the type to do that type of thing. But one way or another, his type finds other ways to show they’re sorry.”

“I don’t buy it!” Edonya shook her head.

“Not askin’ ya to! C’mon! The others have a head start!” Zorah said as she started running for the door.

Edonya turned to look at Thae. Their eyes met for a moment before Edonya showed her disproval by sticking her nose in the air and then running after Zorah. Thae watched her run out the door. He was careful to hide it but his eyes looked kind of sad.