Darren ran their fingers through their hair and then down their face. Wiping their eyes out slowly they looked at the thieves around them and smiled. “Thanks. I didn’t expect to be out for so long. Like wise I didn’t think that I’d get found out.”
Shade smirked. “Didn’t cover your tracks that well huh?”
“You could say that.”
“What information do you have for us?”
“Right to the point Phase.”
“Not that I don’t care about your well being, I’m glad you’re awake. But I doubt they just stumbled onto you for no reason Darren.”
“He’s right Shade. I have to come clean on a few things.” Darren let out a deep sigh. “My names Darren. You know that, but about three years ago I was Bishop. A Bishop with the Royals.”
They felt around the silence in the room and took another breath. ”I was a Bishop for years, working on security. If there was information the King needed then I got it. No questions asked. It paid well and I liked the challenge. Sadly on one project I got a little too involved with it. I was researching everyone’s favorite drug when I found out about a group of lab experiments. Against my better judgment I pursued it.
“The more I read the better it got. The tests put on them. The skills they learned and absorbed. The things they could do. There was so much information. And then I found out they were going to be slated for cancellation. They didn’t get the results they wanted so the test was going to be redone.
“That would have been such a waste of talent and ability. So I made a move. I found an experiment in the lab that was promising. I was going to help them escape and watch where they landed. If we crossed paths again we’d work something out. The King didn’t like that and the plan fell through. Hard. I think he tried to have me killed that day. I was already pushing the envelope and I finally broke the camel’s back as the saying goes.
“I managed to get away with my life. I had contacts and money. I changed who I was, fell off the radar and became what I am now. The go to hacker and information guy of the underworld. Fast forward to now. I thought I was in the clear but now I’m pretty sure they knew about me but they were leaving me be. But I finally pissed them off that they sent a Knight to take me out once and for all.”
The silence in the room stretched out for a long time. But Yumi broke it in the way that only she could. “What the fuck?”
“You used to be a Royal.”
“You were a Bishop?”
“You helped us escape?”
Darren held up their hands. “Yes, to all but the last one.”
“What do you mean?” Feint asked and Darren shrugged.
“You guys escaping wasn’t a part of my plan. The one I helped hasn’t contacted me since the escape. And even then, he didn’t escape proper until after I was already ghost. After I heard about what happened I knew what to dig for and found Phase.”
Phase shook his head. “Then what do you mean? Who did you help escape?”
“Don’t know them proper. I was hoping one of you guys might know.”
They each shook their head. “The fact that we even found each other during that mess is a miracle. We weren’t exactly allowed to speak to one another usually.” Feint said.
“If you used to be a Royal then you know who that guy who attacked you was right?” Yumi asked folding her arms.
“Yeah. His name is Ramon. Kinda laid back guy but not stupid.” They shrugged. “What makes him a Knight is his Enhance power. He can charge his body with electricity as well as somewhat control the wind. He’s basically a human storm.”
“A human storm.” Feint repeated and shook her head. “That’s. Insane. More than insane. I didn’t think Enhance could do that. This opens up so many possibilities. I need to research this.” Feint walked off and went to her chair, grabbing her computer.
“Hey Yu can I talk to you for a second?”
“What is it Shadeow?”
“Just come with me for a second.”
As they walked away it left Phase and Darren together.
“What else can you tell us about them?”
“Remember those files I asked you to get a few months back?”
“The one with the bad info and got us almost caught?”
“Yeah that one.”
“What about it?”
“Well we didn’t fail entirely. I was able to get a few files. Well more than a few. They were heavily encrypted and decrypting them is probably what tipped them off to my exact location. I thought I was covering my tracks and there’s gotta be someone talented on their team because there’s no way I-”
“The point Darren. Get to it.”
They smiled. “From what little I saw of them, before the attack, the Royals and that lab are directly connected. And by this, I mean the King might know more about you guys and Enhance. Hell maybe even the guy I got into contact with.”
Phase frowned for a moment and then nodded. “Do you have the files? Maybe Feint can look at it and you two can figure something out.”
“Not here. I’m going to need to get it from my old apartment.”
“There any chance it’s still there?”
“I hid it. So if we move fast maybe.”
“Then let’s get it as soon as possible.”
“Agreed.”
“First, I dig the nickname. Good effort. Second what did you want Shadeow?”
Rolling his eyes at the name he folded his arms. “Do you still have that Vanguard guy under your watch?”
“Who Reggie? Yeah. What about him?”
“I need you to contact him. My sister told me that there’s been guys trying to get Enhance circling around Detroit. I want to see if there’s any legs to that.”
“Think he might know something?”
“It’s worth a shot. If not I can go looking for some others. I haven’t exhausted all of my contacts in the Vanguard. But this guy is more reliable.”
“True. I’ll call him.”
Taking out her phone she scrolled through her contacts before stopping on, ‘that one guy’. Calling it she placed it against her ear and waited as it rang. It was a long while before finally someone picked up.
“H-hello?”
She smirked knowing that voice well, “Hey Reggie. Long time no see. Remember me?”
“Ah dammit. I was hopin you’d forgotten about me. Leave me alone!”
“Sorry can’t do that. I need information Reggie.”
“What makes you think I know anything?”
“Cause you’re a smart guy. And if you don’t give me information now, I come for a personal visit. And you really don’t want that.”
“What do you want?”
“Enhance and the Vanguard. You guys been trying to expand. And don’t lie to me.”
The tone made him take a sharp breath. “Shit. Yeah we been trying to strike out across the country. Get real expansion. It’s been slow going. We have to cause getting shit done here isn’t enough anymore. We thought it was by you fuckers. But you guys normally destroy our shit. This guy just keeps taking our Enhance and nothing else. Rook’s been getting pissed. Like what the fuck does he need with all that Enhance?”
“Good question. Thanks Reggie. Talk to you later.”
“Hey don’t give me that. Don’t call m-“
She hung up and turned to look at Shade. “So yeah they’re striking out. Mainly reason is someone is making business hard here beyond us. Looks like someone’s been hitting their dealers. Stealing all their Dick Squad RX. “
“The fuck? Why?”
“No idea,” she shrugged. “They don’t know either.”
“That would explain why Rook’s trying to expand.” Shaking his head he rubbed his head. “This can get ugly if it doesn’t die down.”
“So what, we figure out who’s been taking their shit and stop them?”
“Maybe not stop them but redirect where they’re going with this.”
“We’ll have to find them first. Should we start stalking dealers?”
“I know a few. We can make that work if you want?”
“Better than nothing.”
The pair of them returned to the group finally and Phase was already picking up his mask. “I’m going to Darren’s old place. They hid some data there that we can use.”
“Have fun with that. We need to go dealer hunting.” Yumi folded her arms.
“What?”
“We’ll explain it later.”
“Fine. Just be careful. We don’t need trouble with the gangs right now.”
“You mean more trouble?”
He rolled his eyes smirking, “Right.”
“You coming Feint?”
“You go. I’m still looking into things.”
“Suit yourself. I shouldn’t be gone that long. Plus I fed
Phase pulled on his mask as did Shade and Yumi. Walking out and onto the balcony they took off together down the side of the building. They stayed together during their run for the most part but had to split off. Phase went toward the city while Shade and Yumi were off toward a neighborhood.
Shade took the lead with Yumi close on his heels. “Mask, open up my dealer files. Pull up locations.”
The map appeared then minimized instantly to the upper corner of his right eye. Glancing at it for a moment he jumped to the next building and made a hard left. Hoping over the edge of a building he slid down to almost ground level. Landing lightly on the roof of a deli he scanned the streets for a moment.
He narrowed his eyes trying to zoom in with the mask, focusing on the various faces. Yumi landed behind him and crouched staring as well. “See anything?”
“No. That’s the worrying part. Mask, dial contacts under dealers.”
The first number was highlighted on his left eye. It ran for some time before ending. He repeated this process a few more times but got the exact same response. “Dammit. None of them are answering.”
Standing he ran his hand against the brick wall. “Mask, locate the number locations.” He watched as the map was scanned over a few times and it came back with nothing. “Their phones are gone. Probably tossed them when they heard about what happened with me. Which means we’re pretty close to square one.”
“Are all your contacts gone gone?”
“So far it looks like it. I can ask Feint or Darren to look at them when we’re back.”
A third voice entered the conversation. “What was that about Darren?”
“Wiz Kid?”
“The one and only. Talking to you from one of Feint’s computers running my own programs. Regardless forward me the contacts. I’ll track down what they’re up to now.”
“How long will that take?”
“Depends. If Phase can find the stuff I hid away then a day at the earliest. If he can’t find it, we’ll be held back a while.”
“Then let’s go help him find it.”
Shade and Yumi stood up and turned. Shade crouched low and Yumi stepped in his cupped hands before being lifted up and jumping. She started climbing to the top of the building and the pair of them turned. Their mask triangulated Phase’s location instantly and they homed in on it.
Halfway across the city Phase slowed down and landed on the rooftop of a series of apartments. It was slick with ice so he had to keep moving slowly. From the ground and from the front they all looked the same. However as he walked his mask sent out a pulse and finally there was a ping back. As he walked across the rooftops he stared down and flipped through visual spectrums.
Once he hit X-ray he zoomed down and then found what he wanted. Darren’s apartment was about two floors below him. Going to the edge, he jumped forward and phased down a floor and then another. Once he was where he paused and looked around.
For starters the place was cramped, everything cramped into one room. There was a bed, a desk, and a closet. The ground was littered with clothes that had probably once existed in said closet. A broken laundry basket was sitting against the door. The desk had three broken monitors, one in good condition and two smaller ones on a shelf. There were glowing ethernet outlets and power outlets across the wall.
All the drawers were yanked out, some completely out of the desk and spilled across the floor. Pens, scrap paper and printed pages filled with words were on the ground. The light on the ceiling was broken and the shattered bulbs were hanging still. Carefully maneuvering through the wreckage, he went toward the closet.
It was deeper than he had thought and the wall had a huge hole in it. Turning on the night vision he looked into the hole and saw the inner workings of the apartment complex. Pipes, bricks, the smell of wet and sewage.
“Darren what the hell am I looking for?”
He said this to himself, not expecting any type of response. As he stepped through the wall he slowly began to climb down, letting the sweep from the mask continue with the same ping back. Keeping his back against the wall and using his legs to work his way down he did his best to avoid hitting anything. As he climbed down the ping was returning faster and getting louder. He went down at least two floors when the pinging was loud enough to give him a migraine.
“Mask, ping mute.” Rubbing his head slowly he narrowed his eyes. “Now where is this damn thing.”
Running his hand across the bricks in front of him as he turned his gaze to examine every brick. He tapped down the wall until he found a loose brick and paused. Pressing his fingers against it he found where the sediment was lose. Digging his fingers into grooves that seemed to have been made on purpose he yanked hard.
Pulling out the brick he turned it around and saw a USB stick tapped to the back. He pulled off the tape and managed to grab the stick and began to climb out. He reached the hole in Darren’s wall when the mask pinged again. He glanced down at the USB and the ping wasn’t coming from there.
He climbed through the hole in the wall tapping his mask. “Is this stupid thing broken? I’ll have Feint look at it.”
“I knew waiting would pay off eventually.”
Staying frozen in place he let the mask run it’s scanner. It pinged and then focused in behind him. He nodded slowly and then turned to face the voice. There was a thin man behind him. They had long curly hair that reached their shoulders, a black top hat atop his head. He was thin, pale skinned and wore a tailored suit, slacks, and shoes.
Phase took a step back against the wall and then glared at him. “Who are you?”
“I might as well tell you. It cannot hurt.” He took of his hat, placed against his chest and bowed before him. “My name is Luce. I am a Knight of the Royals. And you have something that we are looking for.”
“Well funny. Maybe you can use it after I’m done with it.”
“That won’t be possible.”
“Oh? And whys that?”
“Because you won’t be alive to use it.”
In an instant he appeared in front of Phase and grabbed him around the throat. His eyes went wide at the speed that the Knight moved. However he turned intangible and fell through his hand. He then leaped through him and dashed toward the open window.
Before he was even close to it Luce’s leg slammed into his chest and drove him back into the apartment. His broke the desk and his head crashed into the wall. Shaking his head roughly he quickly flipped to his feet and blocked a punch. He blocked two more and then took one in the stomach with a grunt.
They backed off before engaging again. Phase was able to dodge a few of the hits but suddenly he was hit in the face. The mask was able to take the hit but he heard it crack. Touching the cracked line on the mask and he looked at the man. This guy was dangerous. More dangerous than he initially gave them credit for.
Luce took a step forward ready to attack again. Phase reached behind him dipping his hands into his pouch. As they lunged forward Phase threw his hands forward tossing a pair of smoke bombs. Both exploded in the air instantly filling the room with white smoke.
Phase made a dash for the window. He got a hold of the sill when a hand grabbed the back of his hoodie. Phase fizzled through the grip and jumped outside. Turning in the air he grabbed the edge of the sill and began to climb. Once on the roof he tried to get his mask to tell him where to go next. However, that one hit was still causing the mask to struggle. “Either this thing can’t take a hit or that guy hits way too fucking hard.”
Taking a step forward he turned to try and go into the city. He didn’t want to bring a Knight home again. He didn’t get more than a few steps forward before being kicked into the ground. Rolling to his feet, he skidded backwards and held his stomach.
“I won’t let you escape.”
“Damn you’re persistent. I’m a thief. No one let’s me do anything.”
Luce leaped forward and punched him in the jaw, the uppercut taking him off the ground. Stunned for a moment he landed flat on his back dazed. Luce walked forward and then stamped down on his chest keeping him still.
He coughed in pain before he was lifted off the ground. Luce brought his arm back and punched his face again. The mask cracked more and more with each blow. When the barrage stopped Phase couldn’t see straight through the mask nor through his eyes.
Phase coughed as he tried to move but his body wasn’t moving as fast or as actuate as he needed. He tried to move and kicked him in the shin. Luce shrugged it off punching him in the stomach again.
“You’re pathetic. Let’s see the face behind the mask.”
Phase’s eyes widened slightly as he jerked free of the grip. “Not today.”
Using all of his strength he fizzled through his grip and kicked him hard in the armpit. Landing shakily on the ground, he rolled across the ground he coughed and held his chest. Stumbling backwards Phase put as much distance between them as he could.
“Your resistances is admirable. If not futile.”
“Get away from him.”
Luce took a step back as Yumi crashed into the ground ahead of him. She turned her gaze to him before shouting. “Shade get Phase out of here. I’ll run after you.”
Shade slid over and helped him to his feet and slung him over his shoulder. “You’ve been through hell.” Shaking his head, he then turned to look at Yumi. “Be careful.” Picking up his friend and leader he walked him over the edge and jumped.
“You won’t get away.”
Luce started to run after them but he didn’t get far before Yumi jumped in, kicking him in the stomach. Luce staggered backwards but got his footing back and then lunged at her. He attacked with four quick kicks that she blocked but the following upper cut sent her backwards. Luce lunged again and kneed her in the stomach driving her into the ground.
Luce walked over to her and then grabbed her arm. Leaning down and yanking on it hard he dislocated it. She screamed in pain crawling backwards. Luce walked away and began to follow them. Yumi watched him and bit her lip roughly. Forcing her arm back into socket she got to her feet and ran after him.
He turned around to face her and swung at her shoulder. He felt it break as he was punched in the jaw. He shouted as he spun backwards. There was a large red mark that was smoking at the edges. Stumbling backwards and holding the wound he growled and watched Yumi.
But as he looked at the rooftop he was alone. Glaring he ran to the edge of the rooftop looking down. The area was empty, the streets were empty, and he couldn’t see anyone in the alleys. Swearing softly he rubbed his cheek as it still stung. “Maybe they are worth the attention.”
“I told you to leave me behind.”
“And I told you to be careful.”
Shade found her in a dumpster, bags of trash piled on top of her. He lifted her up and slowly pulled her out of the dumpster. When she whimpered he saw her arm and his eyes widened. “Jesus Christ. That guy put you both through hell too.”
“N-no shit.” She mumbled and shut her eyes. “Where’s Phase?”
“With Feint. The moment his mask went on the fritz she came running. They’re almost back home now.”
“We’re going to meet them there right?”
“You bet. Hold on Yu.”
“Not goin anywhere Shadeow.”
He picked her up slowly, bringing her into his arms. Holding her gingerly around her dislocated arm he started running.
When he walked onto the balcony carrying her Feint and Darren looked at them. “Not her too.”
Shade walked over to table, which Feint was currently clearing off. Laying her down against it they worked to get her jacket off and then looked at her arm. It was hanging loose against her chest. Feint ran her fingers across her, stopping against her arm. She lightly pressed against it and Yumi shouted but didn’t otherwise react. Gently she touched the break again and this time felt it. She could feel the bones and muscles moving underneath. Nodding she backed away and sat on the arm of the couch. “She’s healing. Slowly but healing.”
“How can you tell?” Darren went closer and stared right at her arm and was unable to see a change.
“Trust me. I know.”
“How’s our leader?” Shade asked.
“He hasn’t said anything yet. I’m worried about him honestly.” Feint said as she looked between him and Yumi.
Shade went to sit at the love seat, pulling off his mask. “Who the hell was that guy?”
“…Lu….ce..” They all turned toward Phase though Darren came closest.
“That name. What name did you just say?”
“…Luce. Luce… did this…” He said slowly.
“Luce. Fuck.” Darren swore and stumbled backwards. “That’s bad. That’s really bad.”
“Who’s Luce?” Shade asked leaning forward.
“A Knight for the Royals. One of the best. If he was going after that damn USB drive then I’m really on their shit list. I need that thing.”
Phase started moving slowly, grunting as he went to his pouch. Feint stopped him and gripped his hand moving it away and taking the pouch from him. She met his eyes and he nodded thanks before shutting them. Taking a breath, he leaned his head back and closed his eyes again.
Feint went through the pouch and found the USB drive. Darren’s eyes went wide as they snatched it up. “He got it.”
“That thing better have been worth it.”
“Trust me Shade. It will be. If you guys heal as fast as I think you do, by tomorrow they’ll be alright for the most part.”
“Just what is on that?” Feint asked with a frown.
“All the information on what you guys can do and the limits of Enhance that the Royals have figured out.”
The Harlequin Library 