Chapter 8 - Failures of the Past
Arc and Ember sit on the Living Room couch watching the evening news. She turns to him.
“Still nothing from Sereb?”
Arc shakes his head. “No. And I’ve been taking him and Jackal into town for almost a week now.”
Ember shrugs. “Well, it was a longshot.”
“True. But I honestly don’t know what else to do. Diva and the other lieutenants just kinda fell of the proverbial map.”
“Couldn’t you ask Sunburst to search for them?”
“I suppose so. But I felt bad enough taking up his valuable time looking for Frank.”
The phone rings. Ember turns to Arc as he stands to answer it.
“With any luck, that’ll be good news.”
Arc sighs. “I’d be happy with either kind right now.”
He picks up the receiver.
“Hello?”
“Arc, it’s Frank!”
“What’s up?”
“Jackal just phoned me! He says your dog appeared to point out an apartment building on the outskirts of town!”
“That’s great!”
“Don’t get your hopes up yet, my friend. For all we know he just smelled someone inside cooking bacon.”
“He’s dependable.”
“If you believe in him, so do I. In any case, would you like my boys to help you in checking out this lead?”
Arc shakes his head. “Nah. I’ll give the Hero a call. Let him and his partner go in there.”
“That’s probably for the best. He appears far more… durable than you or I.”
“Can’t argue with that. Anything else?”
“Not at this time, no.”
Arc looks at the wall clock.
“Well, it’s almost time for me to pick Jackal up. He and I will see you in about an hour.”
“Very well.”
“Goodbye.”
Arc hangs up the phone and turns to Ember.
“Sereb found a scent!”
“What?! Where?!”
“Some apartment building. You up for some recon?”
Ember grins. “You know it! When do we leave?!”
“As soon as I get back. I’ll drop Jackal off, swing back here to pick you up, and the three of us will head to the apartment building.”
“I’ll be ready.”
Arc picks up his keys and heads for the door. “See you in a bit.”
Getting into his Jeep, Arc heads downtown. He spots Jackal and Sereb walking down the sidewalk and pulls over next to them.
“Hop in.”
Jackal does so as Sereb hops in the back seat. They turn around and head down the road out of town.
“Frank says you two found something.”
Jackal nods. “Uh huh! Me write down address like you told me!”
He rips off the top sheet of paper and hands it to Arc.
“Thanks. I’ll see to it the Hero hears about this.”
“What now?”
“I’m taking you back to Frank and Wolf.”
“Okay!”
A short time later they pull into the overgrown driveway. The pair head inside with Sereb at Arc’s heels. Jackal calls out.
“Boss! We back!”
Wolf hurries into the room
“Keep your voice down! The boss is trying to sleep!”
Jackal looks confused. “He go to bed this early?”
“Yeah, well… he’s been sleeping pretty much all day.”
Arc puts a hand to his chin thoughtfully. “I did think he sounded tired when I spoke to him a while ago.”
“What wrong with him?”
Wolf rolls his eyes. “Do I look like a doctor?!”
Arc frowns. “This is getting worrisome. I mean… he doesn’t seem to be getting any better.”
“Snake called a few minutes ago too.”
“Oh? What did he want?”
Wolf shrugs. “Just to see how things were going on this end. He says nobody’s doing anything at the base other than moping around.”
Jackal sighs. “They miss the boss.”
Wolf frowns. “Yeah, well… he could head back there if he was stronger.”
“Maybe. But I still think someone would try to nab him.”
“Key word there being ‘try’. We’d be all over them before they even got CLOSE to the boss!”
Arc rolls his eyes. “Yes, well… anything else?”
Wolf shakes his head. “Nah. I just wish we knew what happened to him in the hospital.”
“What do you mean?”
“Don’t you remember? The boss came out of his haze after we pulled his IVs!”
Arc shrugs. “A lot of hospital drugs can do that to someone.”
“Yeah, well… I just have a bad feeling about that place.”
Arc sighs. “Would it help if I went to the hospital and retrieved his chart?”
Wolf frowns. “It certainly couldn’t hurt. At the very least the boss could get some peace of mind.”
“I’ll see what I can do. No promises though.”
He turns to leave
“Take care of Frank.”
“Yeah.”
Arc heads back to the Jeep. He gets in and heads back towards town. Cherry calls out to him.
“What do you think you’ll find at the hospital?”
“Probably nothing.”
“Then why agree to go?”
“To see for myself just what’s wrong with Frank. His symptoms don’t coincide with imprisonment and smoke inhalation. There’s something else going on here.”
“But what?”
Arc sighs. “No idea.”
“Do you think the hospital did something wrong?”
“That’s another possibility, I suppose. Or were you suggesting foul play?”
“I kinda was actually.”
“There’s so many nurses and doctors around all the time that doing something shady should be impossible.”
“Should be?”
Arc nods. “Right. Unless everyone was in on it, which seems like it would be impossible in such a setting.”
Cherry sighs. “I hope you’re right.”
“So do I.”
Arc returns to his house just as the sun finishes setting. He honks the horn a couple times. A few moments later Ember steps outside and gets in the Jeep. She turns to Arc.
“Ready for some fun?”
Arc shakes his head as they back out of the driveway. “You and I have very different opinions on what that word means.”
“Believe me, I’m looking forward to getting some payback!”
Arc turns to look at Sereb in the back seat. “So who’s scent did you pick up?”
“Diva and Stingray.”
Ember grins menacingly. “Good! Maybe they’ll be home.”
“Part of me hopes that’s true. But the other part hopes they’re not so we can look around and gather some clues.”
Ember raises an eyebrow. “Clues? On what?!”
“Why they infiltrated the Shards and what they hoped to accomplish.”
Sereb frowns. “Stingray and her fellow Lieutenants seemed to be the magical experts of their gang. Now that they’re gone, the Shards lack any real form of leadership or magical prowess. We must be sure they are not planning something even more heinous.”
Arc nods. “Agreed.”
Heading to the address from Jackal, Arc points at a run-down building.
“There it is.”
Ember curls her lip. “What a dump!”
Sereb raises an eyebrow. “I do wonder what those women would be doing here.”
“If they’re there, we’ll ask them.”
Arc drives past the building as Ember turns to him.
“Uh… where’re you going?”
“We’ll park elsewhere and walk back. I don’t want anyone spotting our mode of transportation.”
Sereb looks around. “That and this does not appear to be a very safe neighborhood.”
Ember eyes a group of ruffians hanging out on a street corner. “You’re right about that.”
Finding a secluded alley Arc pulls into it and stops.
“This’ll do.”
Ember frowns. “You’re just going to park here?”
“Not exactly. Armor up and I’ll show you.”
Arc and Ember call forth their armor and step out of the Jeep. Sereb hops out and looks around before speaking.
“Now what?”
“This.”
Arc points a gauntlet toward his Jeep. It slowly shrinks down to roughly the size of a football. Kneeling down Arc picks it up and stashes the vehicle in his ring.
“There we go. Now I don’t have to worry about someone stealing it.”
Ember nods. “And we can just take a portal home, right?”
“That too.”
He removes two magic cloaks from his ring and tosses one to Ember.
“Let’s start this mission off with stealth.”
Ember sighs as she puts on the cloak. “Great.”
Sereb chuckles. “Look at the bright side. If Mio is there, the stealth part of the mission will be over before you know it.”
Ember grins wickedly. “Yeah! And I’ll get some payback too!”
Arc turns to her. “Let’s try to keep a level head, shall we? Sereb, you go with Ember and tell us where to go.”
“Very well.”
Ember kneels down and picks him up as Arc touches his earring.
“Everyone reading us?”
Max nods. “Loud and clear, sir.”
Hugh grins. “We got your back.”
Xenos frowns. “I’d still rather be there!”
Viktor turns to his friend. “Orders are orders, Xenos.”
Arc clears his throat. “Rose, are you ready?”
“Yes, Arc. I’ll keep my eyes and scanners open and ready.”
“Great. Let’s go.”
They begin their walk back to the apartment building as Arc takes the lead. Ember frowns.
“Uh… shouldn’t I be in front?”
“No. If trouble crops up I want to be there to take it on.”
“Then shouldn’t you be carrying Sereb?”
Sereb nods. “I am less effective behind you.”
“That’s true. But I kinda like the idea of Ember’s hands being full.”
Ember raises an eyebrow. “Dare I ask why?”
“So you’re unable to act rashly.”
“How so?!”
Arc chuckles. “You’d have to drop Sereb to do anything.”
“I’ll do it!”
Sereb sighs. “Please do not.”
“No promises.”
Arriving at the building Sereb begins sniffing along the corridors. Arc and Ember look around at the mounds of trash that line the halls. Cracks in the plaster are everywhere and large chunks of ceiling are missing. Ember frowns.
“This place is literally falling apart.”
Sereb sighs. “Indeed. Why would anyone live here?”
Arc sighs. “It’s probably not by choice.”
Ember raises an eyebrow. “Can you elaborate?”
“A lot of drug addicts and alcoholics live here. The apartment building Cybil lived in when we found her wasn’t much better.”
Sereb pricks up his ears. “I hear children in several of these rooms.”
Ember frowns. “What are they DOING here?!”
“It’s not their fault. After all, they can’t control what their parents do.”
Sereb sighs. “Is there nothing but misery here?”
“Not everyone whom lives here is an addict. Some have physical or mental problems that prevent them from holding a steady job.”
Ember frowns. “Everyone has to live somewhere, I suppose.”
Sereb nods as he looks around. “Agreed. However, it just doesn’t seem right for young humans to be forced to live in such squalor.”
“I know what you mean, Sereb. But all children are taught from a young age to stay away from drugs. Some of them do listen.”
Ember gestures to the scene before them. “Well, it appears some of them didn’t. If Cybil was any indication, it doesn’t look like something anyone would be happy with.”
“She was addicted to alcohol, not drugs. But both can be equally destructive though.”
Arc sighs as he takes their surroundings in.
“When I was in middle school, I had a friend who lived in this very building.”
Ember frowns. “Were his parents addicts?”
“Yeah. I didn’t see much of them, as they always seemed to be sleeping or off partying.”
He walks over to an apartment door.
“They lived here.”
Sereb nods soberly. “Painful memories?”
“Yeah. He was a really nice kid and all. But he had a problem.”
Ember looks at the door. “What was it?”
“His mouth.”
Sereb sighs. “Did he speak before thinking?”
Arc shakes his head. “No, no. Literally, the inside of his mouth. You see, he had terrible breath and awful looking teeth.”
Ember raises an eyebrow. “He didn’t brush them?”
Arc puts a gauntlet on the door and closes his eyes.
“Probably not. I was just a kid myself back then, so I didn’t understand what was really going on.”
Sereb appears confused. “Going on?”
“Yeah. Back then I just thought he was hyperactive, or something.”
Ember speak warily. “What was it?”
“He was on drugs. Just like his parents.”
“Did you try to help him?”
Arc shakes his head. “I didn’t understand drugs back then. My parents just told me to stay away from them. No one really explained how to recognize their symptoms.”
Ember grimaces. “What happened to him?”
Arc shrugs. “When we finished middle school he moved to another town. I… never saw him again. It wasn’t until years later, when I learned about the symptoms, that I figured out what his problem was.”
Sereb raises an eyebrow. “What was it?”
“A drug called ‘meth’.”
Ember purses her lips soberly. “What’s it do?”
“A lot of things. Makes you hyper, messes up your teeth and lips, twitches, weight loss, pupils messed up… that sort of thing. Back then I just figured he was unhealthy, or something.”
Sereb shakes his head. “There wasn’t anything you could have done, Arc.”
Ember nods. “Yeah. He made his own choices.”
Arc sighs as he turns away from the apartment door. “I know. But sometimes I still wonder if I could’ve helped him.”
“Do not dwell on the past, Arc. Things that cannot be changed are beyond all of us.”
Ember sighs. “We should keep moving.”
“Yeah.”
Arc looks back at the door one last time.
“I’m sorry… Brandon.”
Sighing, Arc turns back to Sereb.
“Lead on.”
A short time later Sereb points to a door.
“The scent is coming from here.”
Ember raises an eyebrow skeptically. “The basement?”
“That would be the perfect place to hide. In buildings like this no one goes down there except maintenance workers.”
Sereb looks around. “I don’t think much of that happens here.”
Ember wrinkles her nose. “Yeah. This place is a dump.”
Arc reaches for the doorknob. Upon touching it the knob falls to the floor. Sereb frowns.
“That’s not a good sign.”
Arc shrugs. “Well, at least it wasn’t locked.”
Ember rolls her eyes. “Let’s just get down there.”
Opening the door Arc and company descend the stairs. They creak and groan under their weight. Sereb looks down as a step noticeably sinks.
“This does not appear stable.”
Rose calls out. “Take it slow, Arc.”
Max nods. “Yes sir. Haste really makes waste in a situation like this.”
Xenos shudders. “Yeah. Don’t want you three to meet your end to some stairs.”
Ember groans. “Agreed.”
Reaching the bottom they find a corridor and several doors. Arc looks around cautiously.
“Judging from the sounds coming from within, I think this door leads to the Boiler Room.”
Ember chuckles. “I think it could use some maintenance.”
Sereb nods. “Agreed.”
Arc turns to Sereb. “Which way now?”
Sereb sniffs the air.
“The last door at the end of the corridor on the right.”
Ember looks skeptical. “Are you sure? That door looks positively ancient.”
“I’m sure Sereb’s nose knows where it’s going.”
Sereb nods. “Yes. Their scents are heavy here.”
“Great. Can we decloak now?”
Arc shakes his head. “Let’s stay hidden for the moment. If anything, I don’t want to be surprised.”
Sereb chuckles. “Agreed. We’d rather DO the surprising.”
They approach the door. Arc looks it over.
“Looks like you were right, Ember. This thing appears REALLY old.”
Sereb stares at the door intently. “Do you think it still opens?”
Arc shrugs. “One way to find out. Rose, are there any life signs on the other side of this?”
“No. The room is devoid of life at the moment.”
Ember puts a hand on the doorknob, but finds it locked.
“I’m pretty sure I can break this down if you want, Arc.”
Sereb frowns. “That will make a lot of noise.”
“Agreed. I could probably Blink us through this.”
Viktor calls out. “Wait, sir!”
“Viktor?”
“I’m getting some strange readings from inside.”
Ember frowns. “Define ‘strange’.”
Hugh looks over his screen. “There’s some kind of anti-magic barrier around the room, sir.”
“Like the defense system around my base?”
Max nods. “Similar in concept, yes. But it only negates magic, sir.”
Xenos grins. “Brute force will still work in theory though.”
Ember backs up and puts her shoulder forward. “So let’s break it down!”
Arc holds up a hand, gesturing for her to stay where she is. “Any other ideas, guys?”
Viktor shakes his head. “Sadly no, sir.”
Max sighs. “Agreed. It looks like that’s the only way you’re getting in there.”
Ember approaches the door. “May I have the honors?”
Arc shrugs. “I suppose…”
Rose frantically interrupts. “NO WAIT!!!”
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10648449
In all honesty, I think I should go back and rewrite the entire first volume when I finish writing the story. 
First time writing anything since High School, and it really shows.
now what could be behind door number one.
wasn't diva capeble of creating anti-magic field's
oh the suspence, klifhangers dangit :D
Why am I singing a song about Kryptonite? Especially a chunk in a leadbox attached to a detonator?
10648743
Diva is indeed a very powerful magic user, yes. As for what's behind that door... it probably isn't what you think it is.
10649487
Not to worry. Arc is not a Kryptonian, so he would be immune to the effects of Kryptonite.
10649884
But neither is he immune to the effects and side-effects of the magical steroids they came up with, especially the side effects that come in the form of a bad cold. Remember last time he was barely even in contact with that stuff and he had to have Sereb completely change his race to that of a dragon to over come its and even then he was still very ill for for first few days. Though he does have very powerful draconian magic and crystals embedded in his body at the end of the day Arc is still very much human and not immune to the affects of guns and knives let alone biologicals.
10650954
Oh yes, Arc is far from immortal. Other than his Dragon Magic, crystals, and custom crafted armor, he's essentially just like any other human. I took their comment to be a joke that they were likening Arc to Superman. Powerful, certainly. But not immortal.