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The troubles of the prior Friday still linger in his mind, even with the date locked in for when it finally arrives. And yet, he still has notable trouble focusing on the matter before him.
Kneeling, Shock Dragon examines the scene laid before him. An open truck that is devoid of anything, yet there are hints of a fight having taken place. Bullet casings littered the area, and various objects were knocked over or thrown judging by the dents in some of them. These pale in comparison to the biggest factor.
The rainbow-colored sand, some of which trickles between the hero’s fingers as he studies it. Rainbow. Sand. And not painted, as rubbing his fingers along the grains would attest to. It was naturally colored this way, or rather unnaturally.
Was the user of this sand the aggressor? Defender? Were they heroes or villains? If the latter, what was their goal in attacking this vehicle, stealing anything that might’ve been here, and cleaning the place of bodies?
He lets the rest of the sand shift through his fingers. No answers would come like this, so he makes do with the best he’s got. Tapping the side of the visor, he scans the tires of the truck. The HUD within displays the pattern after a moment, highlighting it in bright blue before marking out the trail of its movement along the ground.
Plenty of footprints are visible in different colors as well, different shoes. A quick search into the databases he has access to reveals that these are all designer brand footwear and very much not the cheap kind. Rich criminals? After having fought Gargoyle and the Stonedge Mafia, this bore little surprise to him…
Two sets of footprints picked up by the scanner show matching prints, flat and featureless, but with the trace of an energy residue to both. He narrows his gaze, focusing on this pair of prints. The scanner brings the results back, technological power sources of a similar nature in both, but one is purple and the other colored like a rainbow.
The sand. One of these paired individuals is responsible for it. And out of all the tracks, he finds with a glance around, these two are the only ones that leave the scene right through the entrance into the area. Bingo.
With a solid trail to follow, Shock moves off, using the rooftops to pursue the footprints as they lead him past many streets, across rooftops, and through parking lots, until he arrives at an empty back lot.
Almost empty.
Some kind of feline, yellow-furred with brown spots, is crouched at a scene with a truck similar to the one at the previous site. He is clad in an incredibly revealing costume consisting of a very high-cut speedo, thigh-high stocking-like boots, bicep-high long gloves, a crop top covering only his pecs and shoulders, and the mask covering the top half of his head.
And beside him, an animal Shock could not identify too easily. The fluffy tail indicates a wolf, but the ears are too tall and pointedly narrow to be a wolf. And of course, that wildly styled mane didn’t help matters either. Then there was the outfit, a black body suit at the base with many metallic armor pieces including a codpiece that made this canid fellow look more carbon fiber and polymer than flesh and blood, especially with the rainbow colors that shift through the trim and detail of this synthetic design alongside being the colors of his eyes, mane, and tail. At his side is an equally colored and aesthetically matching spear with a curved rainbow blade at the tip.
With no hesitation, Shock leaps down from the roof, thudding audibly as he lands on the lot’s pavement. Both their heads perk up at the sound, the cheetah looking over his shoulder while the canine immediately takes a combative stance, spear held at his side.
“Ah, I’ve seen you on some of the news reports.” The feline stands up, turning to face the dragon properly. “Quite nice to meet you face-to-face at least, Shock Dragon.” With a slight bow, the cheetah enters a flourishing stance. “I am The Professor, and this is my protégé, Rainicorn.”
The canine relaxes at that, his grip loosening on the spear handle as his posture straightens back up. He gives a bit of an acknowledging nod and wave of one hand. “Sup?”
“Following a trail you two left. Had a truck like that one there too. What’s the reason for the obvious hunt?” Shock inquires as he approaches.
The Professor straightens up, clearing his throat. “Yes, that. We are trying to deduce the motivations behind these individuals as well, but in each scene we arrive at, more questions arise than answers or clues.”
“What do you mean?”
“These vans have been acting suspiciously, as you can see.” The cheetah points to the license plate, which is covered by perfectly sized screens.
“Huh. I didn’t notice it on the last one, but yeah, that’s pretty damn suspicious.”
“Correct. The next piece of the puzzle is just that. Each van we have encountered has equipment that alone would not warrant suspicion, however together… Well, Rainicorn, care to flex your education for our friend here?”
“Construction equipment in the one you found, I assume you saw it? Wrenches, hammers, saws, crowbars, ladders, wood…”
“Mmm, things that don’t feel out of place if they’re doing some remodeling or construction, aye. But there wasn’t any of that stuff when I was investigating the scene.”
The cheetah blinks at that. “Is it gone?”
“Yeah. The back of the truck was open, nothing inside. Nobody around the scene as well, awake or unconscious. No sign that the police had been there either.”
“But… we left that place with the individuals tied up and called for some officers to look into their activities before coming out to investigate this site.” The Professor rubs his chin. “That is all the more suspicious!”
“Should we head back and check?” Rainicorn asks The Professor, gripping his spear handle tightly again.
“No, moving in reverse is not possible at this stage. We need to press forward and hope to take the advantage again. Sir Shock, it would be most beneficial if you were to assist us in our investigation. May I inquire if you have the free time to do so?”
“My schedule is clear and my interest is more than piqued now. I imagine you have another area to investigate?”
“Quite so. Our next destination seems to be near one of the malls, a location I read you are very familiar with due to previous incidents.”
“The antique shop? Seriously? They've already had enough trouble, what would anyone else need from there?”
“That is what we aim to discover. All we managed to get out of the individuals we encountered so far is the location of each next truck.”
Shock looks around the scene. “What individuals?”
“These right here-!” The Professor turns as he gestures around them, only to freeze with surprise. “Where did they go?”
Rainicorn looks over as well. He is just as confused as the leopard hero. “We took our eyes off them for a second! How did they…?”
Shock taps the side of his visor again, scanning the surrounding area. Designer shoe footprints as before, but none that indicate they left the scene at any speed or by any powers. They just vanished.
“How troublesome. Just when it looks like things are going fine, they are turned on their head and-” He cuts himself off, stepping swiftly to the back of the truck. “Tarnation! The equipment here is gone as well!”
“Teleportation of some sort?” Shock suggests, moving up beside the leopard to look into the truck, his scanner picking up nothing. With another tap, he switches it to an arcane frequency, at which it immediately provides results in residue shaped like white flames. Looking around the area, he finds similar traces present at various spots around the lot.
The Professor notices what Shock is doing, tapping the side of his mask, the eye sockets of the covering attire lighting up blue. “Hmm, yes, there is heavy usage of magic in the area. Not any I have recorded to date, but there is a first time for everything.”
“If you have a bead on the source of magic, we can confirm that the next truck is related?” Rainicorn nods out toward the street. “Maybe stop them from leaving however these two groups did?”
“Anti-magic or counter spells can only work if the magic or user is of an equal understanding.” Shock states. “I can try to do something about it, but we need to get a move on if we want to catch them. Preferably in the act if they are planning something, or getting some information that can implicate what they are up to.”
“It is worth a try. But trying is nothing without the means to act first, so let us move swiftly!” The Professor stands proudly before rushing out of the lot and to the street.
Rainicorn looks at Shock, nodding out at the street before following after The Professor. The dragon does the same, following them out to the street.
Only to find a sleek truck there, colored and patterned to match the leopard hero and his costume. The Professor is already getting in it, at which Shock notices it is a one-seater.
“How… does that work between the two of you?”
His answer comes as Rainicorn leaps on top of the truck, gesturing for Shock to do the same.
“Fear not, you shall have a sturdy footing on the roof.” The Professor states, starting the engines. “Make haste in doing so, we cannot waste time in getting to our destination!”
Throwing caution to the wind, Shock does as ordered, vaulting on top of the vehicle and crouching beside Rainicorn. The canine is standing tall, a fact that both concerns and reassures the dragon.
He has no further time to process that as the truck lurches forward. But as they take to the road, the truck reveals the first of its secrets as it lifts into the air. Glancing over the side shows the tires have converted into hover pads.
He instinctively clutches the roof, steadying himself as they soar, then zoom over the streets well above traffic.
“Yeesh, this could give STAR Innovations a run for their money…”
“It's awesome! The Professor knows how to make amazing technology! He even made my costume!”
“Ah, so that is an outfit.” Shock looks over Rainicorn. The work on the canine's suit is genuinely impressive, but something tells him that the suit is mostly if not purely cosmetic.
“Brace yourselves, we'll be coming to a sudden stop shortly!”
“Your outfit is pretty nice looking too!” Rainicorn says as he leans into a ready stance.
“Let's talk shop later.” Shock leans forward, seeing them approaching the side of the mall. Lo and behold, they see a third vehicle like the prior two.
Right in the middle of hauling boxes of various sizes and models into the back of their white truck. At the sight of the approaching heroes, they ramp up their activity with haste.
“Hey, aren't you going to slow down?!” Shock asks as the vehicle surges toward the suspects.
“We'll worry about the damages after the fact! Tally ho, into work we go!!”
Shock realizes The Professor might be a tad insane as he rams his truck head-on into the side of the other one, pushing it away from the men loading into it.
Upon which Rainicorn leaps brazenly off the roof, even with the trucks still in motion, landing in front of the men. Shock follows suit a moment later and has his first good look at the suspects.
Clad entirely in white suits, there is not a part of their attire that does not look bleached. Their skin, fur, feathers, or scales are equally white or blonde. But the most notable feature is the flaming white dragon-shaped masks they all wear.
“Creepy.” Shock mutters. “Now then, care to explain what you all are doing?”
No response comes, the individuals just stare at them with unnerving silence. After a moment, they set down the cargo they had been carrying, bringing out various medieval-style weapons. Shock counts daggers, swords, maces, and axes among others.
“Okay, not talkative and not friendly.”
Rainicorn brings his spear up, holding it with both hands as he aims the tip at the masked goons. “You will speak, or pay for your silent insolence like your friends did! Even if they did vanish!”
Shock pauses at that, hand going up to his visor and tapping the side, prompting the scan again. His eyes widen at the results that come back in less than a heartbeat.
“These aren’t people.” The dragon firmly states to the other hero.
“Eh?” Rainicorn stares at Shock in confusion. “What do you mean? They look like people!”
“Magical constructs in the shape of humanoids.” Shock answers. “My scan indicates that they’re composed of living magical flame. Whoever is responsible for them has to be a pretty powerful mage or with a specific sort of power.”
“Living flame?” Rainicorn turns back to them. “Now that you mention it, yeah, they are glowing a bit.”
The Professor comes up behind them. “Studied our foes more, have you?”
“Did you pick up on them being-”
“Incoming!” Rainicorn brings his spear up, the blade blocking a sword as it comes swinging down at the distracted dragon.
“We shall talk more afterward!” The leopard states, bringing one hand up at the aggressor. The glove sparks before firing a visible wave of kinetic energy at the hostile, knocking it back into another. “Pincer them in!” He orders the other two.
Rainicorn nods, rushing to the left and striking at the flame goon on the outer edge of the group, funneling them back with his rapid attacks toward the center.
Shock moves to take the right, water weaving over his hands as he comes in to strike the first one on his side. Evading the mace swinging up at his head, he punches them right in the chest, sending them staggering before blasting them in the chest with pumping water.
Besides causing steam to rise from their body, this fact confirms the results of the scan, yet nothing else seems to happen to the goon. Shock narrows his gaze, pushing forward and kicking them with a flying charge, knocking the one into more of the rest as they attempt to skirt around and attack the dragon.
The Professor stands back, arms folded in thought as he analyzes the other heroes’ attacks and their effects. “Water does not work as well as it should. Yet they react to physical attacks as much as anyone short of immovable object-centric powers would. Rainicorn! Make this situation more coarse for them, if you would be so kind!”
With a nod, the rainbow-maned hero slashes another goon across the chest, then brings one hand up from the handle of his weapon and fires out a slipstream of multicolored sand around them. The stream washes over the crowd, some of it splashing over the dragon as well. With a clench of his fist, the sand particles zoom in and form shells around the goons, slowing them down before bringing them to an absolute halt.
Shock bounces off one with a final kick in his flurry, the sand shattering as the flame golem just vanishes from existence. “Smothering the flames fueling them?”
“A solid tactic to be certain!” The Professor nods. “Without air to fuel their constitution, they are unable to act. Shock, do be a lad and go check that truck out.”
The dragon averts his gaze from the encased goons towards the truck in question, then blinks and sighs. “I don’t think I’ll be able to open it up,” He remarks as he witnesses the full extent of the damage, the side of the white truck completely crumpled in by the front of The Professor’s vehicle. “What is your ride made out of?!”
“A fairly tough and substantial substance that I alchemized personally!” The Professor replies with a proud smile. “I shall be more than glad to inform you about it once we are done here.”
Shock groans softly. “Right. Maybe I could figure out how to use it myself. A motorcycle made of this stuff would be pretty awesome.” As he gets that idea, he moves up to the truck. With great effort, he pries the more undamaged door open enough to slip inside.
Within he finds many empty painting frames alongside boxes torn open or damaged enough to reveal the inner contents of a myriad of art supplies. But on closer inspection, he finds an odd sight. There are only white to gray shades of paint buckets, tubes, and palettes.
“What the hell… Who paints with only white and gray?” He mutters, picking up one of the tubes to examine it. Lotus Productions. Not a company he has heard of, a fact that surprises him.
Then he feels a surge of magic around him, blinking as a white flame extends from the tube and grabs onto him. Before he can drop it, the flame obscures his vision for a few seconds. When it returns, he finds himself in a dark room looking at a map, the only thing lit up by any light. In the darkness, he could see more crates, including some of the ones he was just looking at, judging by the spilling art supplies coming into view of the map table. But his focus is returned to the map, approaching it and noticing multiple pins placed around the city. He presses his visor’s button again, prompting it to take a quick snapshot of the map.
“You aren’t supposed to be here.” He hears a voice hiss from behind him, prompting him to turn around and confront its owner. Before he can make out the flash of a white humanoid shape, his vision blurs as he feels himself being relocated by magic again.
As it fades, he finds himself back in the truck at the scene outside the mall. But as expected, all the boxes and their contents have vanished from it. With a frustrated growl, he exits the vehicle to find Rainicorn and The Professor standing with their arms folded, the former leaning on his spear planted into the grass on one side of the entrance into the mall, the latter looking over the spots the flame constructs had been.
No trace of the fire-made goons, just the rainbow sand that had imprisoned them now scattered over the concrete. At hearing his footsteps, both look over at the dragon.
“Ah, there you are!” The Professor stands up, eyeing Shock over. “We were worried, you entered the truck and then vanished alongside the things that were inside it, I presume?”
“Yes. I don’t know where I went, and I did not have the time to figure out where. All I saw was a pretty good map giving ideas of leads to look into before I got sent right back to the truck. There is probable cause to investigate further, there is certainly something in the works.” He taps the side of his visor, projecting the picture of the map he took.
The Professor comes up and looks over the map, noting the pins around the entire city. “Well well, solid evidence! We were afraid that we couldn’t get a lead on the next area due to these individuals vanishing at the same time you did. But with this, we’ve got plenty of spots where we can investigate. I see the two spots we’ve already been to, however…” He points at the pin centered in the web around the entire city. “If we target this point, this seems to be the final destination, judging by the string from the other points coming out from it. Or going to it.”
“That’s… STAR Innovations Tower. Or near it.” Shock mutters. “Are they planning to try and raid that…? It's a very questionable location to target, but if one knew what they’re after, there would be trouble to contend with. Whoever these people are, they’re not local.”
“Correct. Their modus operandi is quite different from all criminals and villains of the city my apprentice and I have encountered thus far. But rest assured, we shall have our triumphant comeback at that location!”
The Professor repointed with no small amount of dramatic flair at the particular pin, then just held the pose.
Shock raises a brow, watching him in silence for a good few minutes before clearing his throat. “So, are we going there…?”
“Tomorrow!”
“T-tomorrow?!”
“Yes indeed! I have other business I need to get to, so if you can meet us on a rooftop around there tomorrow, that would be much appreciated! And it would give our targets the time and means to put themselves in a position they cannot flee from!”
Before Shock could respond, the two vanish in a blink of light, the dragon's visor flashes with the sign of technological-based teleportation. He dispels the map, sighing with his hands on his hips, wondering what he would do for the rest of the day as he takes off.
The next morning, Shock is crouching on the edge of a rooftop with STAR Innovations Tower dead ahead, and the mansion belonging to Martin a bit to the right of the skyscraper. He wonders what the vampire would think of his costume change. Maybe he could go find out…
Before he gets the chance to push off and test that, his visor picks up two approaching heat signatures following another blip indicating a technological teleport.
He stands and turns, finding Rainicorn there, but with The Professor in what looks to be a suit of bulky battle-ready power armor, helmet included, in the shape of his costume.
“...I can't tell if that's any better.” Shock remarks, noting it appears to have the same openings.
“I assure you, Shock, this armor is quite capable of offensive and defensive capabilities! It is on par with my apprentice's own, but that is second to his powers!” The Professor poses proudly and heroically. “Now, I assume you are here because you are ready to wage war on the flame fiends finagling freights!”
“Uhm… yes. Not the way I'd put it, but yes.” Shock points out to the Tower. “I have spent the better half of my morning patrolling around the building, but I haven't found any suspicious activity yet. No trucks matching the ones found at the previous scenes.”
“Did you alert the law enforcement to the potential incident taking place today? Or is that a factor to tend to first?”
“The Khyber Squad have a unit on reserve for anything that suddenly comes up, which will likely be when we find the would-be heisters. Or if-”
From the left side of the Tower, they see an explosion of white and gold light go off, followed by a plume of smoke rising from the street.
“Never mind, looks like we've got trouble already. That could be ours!” Shock moves swiftly, pushing off the roof and leaping in the direction of the disturbance.
Rainicorn follows suit, summoning his polearm to one hand, while The Professor pilots his power armor and jets after the parkouring heroes from above.
In the lead, Shock is the first to arrive, stopping on a rooftop overlooking the scene. He is unsurprised to find an entire warzone unfolding, trucks all with Lotus Productions symbols and more of the flame beings armed with a myriad of firearms. Opposite them, using armored squad cars, are Khyber enforcers firing back with their own specialized firearms.
Rainicorn and The Professor come to a stop beside Shock, witnessing the same scene.
“Good lord, what is happening down there?!”
“Something we need to stop. Come on!” Shock leaps forward, the other two following close behind.
The dragon falls until he nearly hits the pavement, bouncing off it with the power of the wind creating a bounce pad. With the momentum, he lands behind one of the squad cars.
The officers recoil momentarily at the thud of his arrival, relaxing after seeing who it is. “Hell of a time to join us, zapster!”
“Better late than never. What's going on, why are they trying to shoot you up?”
“These crazy fuckers tried to rob STAR Innovations or something, can you imagine that? Just pulled up into the plaza and started piling out, coming straight for the doors. Didn't get close enough before the tower was sealed and the police were called. They were ready when they got here though, and that's some serious firepower they got!”
“How serious?”
“Melted through the standard police armor like it was nothing. We were called, and our gear is resistant, but too much concentrated fire and we're in no better position than the police officers before us.”
“That's deadly serious… sit tight, I'll see if we can't leverage the playing field.”
“By all means. Who do you mean by ‘we’?”
The sound of howling winds and ceasing gunfire gets the officer’s attention, looking around the corner of the truck to see a rainbow sandstorm formed behind the vehicles belonging to the mysterious attackers.
“That would be them. Be right back!” Shock slides over the truck’s hood, landing into a sprint over to the Lotus Production trucks.
As he charges into the eye of the sandstorm, he finds Rainicorn quite hard at work, dodging under the swing of one masked flame goon before skewering it with his polearm and using the pommel to smash into the chin of another. Yet there is no sign of the Professor.
Shock hooks one of the flame assailants in the jaw with a water-coated punch, knocking them to the ground before stomping on their mask, the clothes going limp as their wearer flickers out of existence.
“Sorry that I got started without you!” Rainicorn apologizes as he pulls his spear out and twirls it around to bring it slashing right through a group of five rushing him.
“Not a problem! Where's your plus one?”
“Taking a look at something! I'm the distraction! Or I guess we are now!”
“Right.” Shock blocks a baton strike from one of the others before retaliating with a strong knee to their chin, then washing them away by placing a hand on the chest and shooting out a forceful water blast. After which he finds himself surrounded by a group of the flame beings.
More than there were a mere moment ago. He glances around at the legion before spotting the reason why. One of them is sparking bits from itself, which then grow in size before forming into the humanoid shape they all possess, minus the concealing attire the others wear. Radiant white flames with golden edges shift around in an enthralling fluid manner, it is a sight to behold… Until it moves to take more of its fellow flame golems into itself, growing bigger with each one.
“That does not look like fun,” Rainicorn states as he slides to a halt beside Shock, stowing his polearm onto his back before throwing out a flurry of his multicolored sand as a stream upon the growing flame golem.
“We could probably use whatever your plus one is cooking up if there is anything!” Shock ignites his hands, firing a large bolt at the fusing flame entity, attempting to bring it back down to size. All it does is make the flame golem angry as it abruptly turns its attention to the draconic hero, raising one hand and blasting a wave of fire at him, then turns it to Rainicorn once his sand collides with its side, turning to glass from the intense heat.
“Hey now, that’s new…” Shock muses before lunging to the side, avoiding the spray of flames that had been sent in his direction. “Rainicorn, keep blasting him with sand, I’ve got an idea!” He shouts to the other hero.
“Make it quick, I don’t think they’re very happy with me!” The rainbow hero calls back, dodging more of the flames threatening to wash over him.
Shock nods, moving to the opposite side swiftly, noticing that the remaining flame golems had moved to willingly be taken in by the bigger one, vanishing into its flames and further increasing its impressive size. At the same time, Rainicorn fires out another flurry of sand, impacting its side and turning into glass again. Bingo.
Bringing both hands up, he calls on the wind and sends it swirling around the golem. With no distractions, he flows it into the chunk of glass with enough force to send it slamming through the fire. With swift motion, the top half of the flame golem is separated from the lower half as Shock brings the glass shard over to him.
“Now, send in your sand!”
Rainicorn sees the hole carved through the midsection of the golem, the flames licking as they start to descend. Acting fast, he sends another stream of sand whipping at the monster, gliding it between the two halves with a mass that he forces into a swirl around the gap in its midsection.
As the flames come down, the sand particles between the halves are seared into the rainbow glass, forming an increasingly sizable gap that keeps the two parts from reconnecting. The golem lets out a silent roar, a mouth forming as it indicates some form of pain from being kept apart like this.
“Keep it coming!” Shock orders, hefting the glass fragment before using the wind to launch it again, splitting the top half of the golem. Rainicorn follows it up the same way, sending sand streaming through the opening, separating the pieces with another growth of multicolored glass. With moments, the flames supporting it seem to flicker before fading, leaving nothing behind as it dissipates into ash that floats away on the wind.
“Good job you two!!” They hear someone shout from the side, turning to look at one of the officers shooting them a thumbs up.
“Wait… what's that?!” Another officer calls out.
The two heroes pause, sharing a glance before turning around to see what appears to be a draconic individual standing where the golem had been, pure white of scale and with blue vine patterns extending across its body from its face.
Shock glances at that face, finding a visor is obscuring its notable features before it ignites with a symbol. A lotus, white as this individual’s scales.
“Interlopers will submit or be erased.”
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September 7th, 2018The troubles of the prior Friday still linger in his mind, even with the date locked in for when it finally arrives. And yet, he still has notable trouble focusing on the matter before him.
Kneeling, Shock Dragon examines the scene laid before him. An open truck that is devoid of anything, yet there are hints of a fight having taken place. Bullet casings littered the area, and various objects were knocked over or thrown judging by the dents in some of them. These pale in comparison to the biggest factor.
The rainbow-colored sand, some of which trickles between the hero’s fingers as he studies it. Rainbow. Sand. And not painted, as rubbing his fingers along the grains would attest to. It was naturally colored this way, or rather unnaturally.
Was the user of this sand the aggressor? Defender? Were they heroes or villains? If the latter, what was their goal in attacking this vehicle, stealing anything that might’ve been here, and cleaning the place of bodies?
He lets the rest of the sand shift through his fingers. No answers would come like this, so he makes do with the best he’s got. Tapping the side of the visor, he scans the tires of the truck. The HUD within displays the pattern after a moment, highlighting it in bright blue before marking out the trail of its movement along the ground.
Plenty of footprints are visible in different colors as well, different shoes. A quick search into the databases he has access to reveals that these are all designer brand footwear and very much not the cheap kind. Rich criminals? After having fought Gargoyle and the Stonedge Mafia, this bore little surprise to him…
Two sets of footprints picked up by the scanner show matching prints, flat and featureless, but with the trace of an energy residue to both. He narrows his gaze, focusing on this pair of prints. The scanner brings the results back, technological power sources of a similar nature in both, but one is purple and the other colored like a rainbow.
The sand. One of these paired individuals is responsible for it. And out of all the tracks, he finds with a glance around, these two are the only ones that leave the scene right through the entrance into the area. Bingo.
With a solid trail to follow, Shock moves off, using the rooftops to pursue the footprints as they lead him past many streets, across rooftops, and through parking lots, until he arrives at an empty back lot.
Almost empty.
Some kind of feline, yellow-furred with brown spots, is crouched at a scene with a truck similar to the one at the previous site. He is clad in an incredibly revealing costume consisting of a very high-cut speedo, thigh-high stocking-like boots, bicep-high long gloves, a crop top covering only his pecs and shoulders, and the mask covering the top half of his head.
And beside him, an animal Shock could not identify too easily. The fluffy tail indicates a wolf, but the ears are too tall and pointedly narrow to be a wolf. And of course, that wildly styled mane didn’t help matters either. Then there was the outfit, a black body suit at the base with many metallic armor pieces including a codpiece that made this canid fellow look more carbon fiber and polymer than flesh and blood, especially with the rainbow colors that shift through the trim and detail of this synthetic design alongside being the colors of his eyes, mane, and tail. At his side is an equally colored and aesthetically matching spear with a curved rainbow blade at the tip.
With no hesitation, Shock leaps down from the roof, thudding audibly as he lands on the lot’s pavement. Both their heads perk up at the sound, the cheetah looking over his shoulder while the canine immediately takes a combative stance, spear held at his side.
“Ah, I’ve seen you on some of the news reports.” The feline stands up, turning to face the dragon properly. “Quite nice to meet you face-to-face at least, Shock Dragon.” With a slight bow, the cheetah enters a flourishing stance. “I am The Professor, and this is my protégé, Rainicorn.”
The canine relaxes at that, his grip loosening on the spear handle as his posture straightens back up. He gives a bit of an acknowledging nod and wave of one hand. “Sup?”
“Following a trail you two left. Had a truck like that one there too. What’s the reason for the obvious hunt?” Shock inquires as he approaches.
The Professor straightens up, clearing his throat. “Yes, that. We are trying to deduce the motivations behind these individuals as well, but in each scene we arrive at, more questions arise than answers or clues.”
“What do you mean?”
“These vans have been acting suspiciously, as you can see.” The cheetah points to the license plate, which is covered by perfectly sized screens.
“Huh. I didn’t notice it on the last one, but yeah, that’s pretty damn suspicious.”
“Correct. The next piece of the puzzle is just that. Each van we have encountered has equipment that alone would not warrant suspicion, however together… Well, Rainicorn, care to flex your education for our friend here?”
“Construction equipment in the one you found, I assume you saw it? Wrenches, hammers, saws, crowbars, ladders, wood…”
“Mmm, things that don’t feel out of place if they’re doing some remodeling or construction, aye. But there wasn’t any of that stuff when I was investigating the scene.”
The cheetah blinks at that. “Is it gone?”
“Yeah. The back of the truck was open, nothing inside. Nobody around the scene as well, awake or unconscious. No sign that the police had been there either.”
“But… we left that place with the individuals tied up and called for some officers to look into their activities before coming out to investigate this site.” The Professor rubs his chin. “That is all the more suspicious!”
“Should we head back and check?” Rainicorn asks The Professor, gripping his spear handle tightly again.
“No, moving in reverse is not possible at this stage. We need to press forward and hope to take the advantage again. Sir Shock, it would be most beneficial if you were to assist us in our investigation. May I inquire if you have the free time to do so?”
“My schedule is clear and my interest is more than piqued now. I imagine you have another area to investigate?”
“Quite so. Our next destination seems to be near one of the malls, a location I read you are very familiar with due to previous incidents.”
“The antique shop? Seriously? They've already had enough trouble, what would anyone else need from there?”
“That is what we aim to discover. All we managed to get out of the individuals we encountered so far is the location of each next truck.”
Shock looks around the scene. “What individuals?”
“These right here-!” The Professor turns as he gestures around them, only to freeze with surprise. “Where did they go?”
Rainicorn looks over as well. He is just as confused as the leopard hero. “We took our eyes off them for a second! How did they…?”
Shock taps the side of his visor again, scanning the surrounding area. Designer shoe footprints as before, but none that indicate they left the scene at any speed or by any powers. They just vanished.
“How troublesome. Just when it looks like things are going fine, they are turned on their head and-” He cuts himself off, stepping swiftly to the back of the truck. “Tarnation! The equipment here is gone as well!”
“Teleportation of some sort?” Shock suggests, moving up beside the leopard to look into the truck, his scanner picking up nothing. With another tap, he switches it to an arcane frequency, at which it immediately provides results in residue shaped like white flames. Looking around the area, he finds similar traces present at various spots around the lot.
The Professor notices what Shock is doing, tapping the side of his mask, the eye sockets of the covering attire lighting up blue. “Hmm, yes, there is heavy usage of magic in the area. Not any I have recorded to date, but there is a first time for everything.”
“If you have a bead on the source of magic, we can confirm that the next truck is related?” Rainicorn nods out toward the street. “Maybe stop them from leaving however these two groups did?”
“Anti-magic or counter spells can only work if the magic or user is of an equal understanding.” Shock states. “I can try to do something about it, but we need to get a move on if we want to catch them. Preferably in the act if they are planning something, or getting some information that can implicate what they are up to.”
“It is worth a try. But trying is nothing without the means to act first, so let us move swiftly!” The Professor stands proudly before rushing out of the lot and to the street.
Rainicorn looks at Shock, nodding out at the street before following after The Professor. The dragon does the same, following them out to the street.
Only to find a sleek truck there, colored and patterned to match the leopard hero and his costume. The Professor is already getting in it, at which Shock notices it is a one-seater.
“How… does that work between the two of you?”
His answer comes as Rainicorn leaps on top of the truck, gesturing for Shock to do the same.
“Fear not, you shall have a sturdy footing on the roof.” The Professor states, starting the engines. “Make haste in doing so, we cannot waste time in getting to our destination!”
Throwing caution to the wind, Shock does as ordered, vaulting on top of the vehicle and crouching beside Rainicorn. The canine is standing tall, a fact that both concerns and reassures the dragon.
He has no further time to process that as the truck lurches forward. But as they take to the road, the truck reveals the first of its secrets as it lifts into the air. Glancing over the side shows the tires have converted into hover pads.
He instinctively clutches the roof, steadying himself as they soar, then zoom over the streets well above traffic.
“Yeesh, this could give STAR Innovations a run for their money…”
“It's awesome! The Professor knows how to make amazing technology! He even made my costume!”
“Ah, so that is an outfit.” Shock looks over Rainicorn. The work on the canine's suit is genuinely impressive, but something tells him that the suit is mostly if not purely cosmetic.
“Brace yourselves, we'll be coming to a sudden stop shortly!”
“Your outfit is pretty nice looking too!” Rainicorn says as he leans into a ready stance.
“Let's talk shop later.” Shock leans forward, seeing them approaching the side of the mall. Lo and behold, they see a third vehicle like the prior two.
Right in the middle of hauling boxes of various sizes and models into the back of their white truck. At the sight of the approaching heroes, they ramp up their activity with haste.
“Hey, aren't you going to slow down?!” Shock asks as the vehicle surges toward the suspects.
“We'll worry about the damages after the fact! Tally ho, into work we go!!”
Shock realizes The Professor might be a tad insane as he rams his truck head-on into the side of the other one, pushing it away from the men loading into it.
Upon which Rainicorn leaps brazenly off the roof, even with the trucks still in motion, landing in front of the men. Shock follows suit a moment later and has his first good look at the suspects.
Clad entirely in white suits, there is not a part of their attire that does not look bleached. Their skin, fur, feathers, or scales are equally white or blonde. But the most notable feature is the flaming white dragon-shaped masks they all wear.
“Creepy.” Shock mutters. “Now then, care to explain what you all are doing?”
No response comes, the individuals just stare at them with unnerving silence. After a moment, they set down the cargo they had been carrying, bringing out various medieval-style weapons. Shock counts daggers, swords, maces, and axes among others.
“Okay, not talkative and not friendly.”
Rainicorn brings his spear up, holding it with both hands as he aims the tip at the masked goons. “You will speak, or pay for your silent insolence like your friends did! Even if they did vanish!”
Shock pauses at that, hand going up to his visor and tapping the side, prompting the scan again. His eyes widen at the results that come back in less than a heartbeat.
“These aren’t people.” The dragon firmly states to the other hero.
“Eh?” Rainicorn stares at Shock in confusion. “What do you mean? They look like people!”
“Magical constructs in the shape of humanoids.” Shock answers. “My scan indicates that they’re composed of living magical flame. Whoever is responsible for them has to be a pretty powerful mage or with a specific sort of power.”
“Living flame?” Rainicorn turns back to them. “Now that you mention it, yeah, they are glowing a bit.”
The Professor comes up behind them. “Studied our foes more, have you?”
“Did you pick up on them being-”
“Incoming!” Rainicorn brings his spear up, the blade blocking a sword as it comes swinging down at the distracted dragon.
“We shall talk more afterward!” The leopard states, bringing one hand up at the aggressor. The glove sparks before firing a visible wave of kinetic energy at the hostile, knocking it back into another. “Pincer them in!” He orders the other two.
Rainicorn nods, rushing to the left and striking at the flame goon on the outer edge of the group, funneling them back with his rapid attacks toward the center.
Shock moves to take the right, water weaving over his hands as he comes in to strike the first one on his side. Evading the mace swinging up at his head, he punches them right in the chest, sending them staggering before blasting them in the chest with pumping water.
Besides causing steam to rise from their body, this fact confirms the results of the scan, yet nothing else seems to happen to the goon. Shock narrows his gaze, pushing forward and kicking them with a flying charge, knocking the one into more of the rest as they attempt to skirt around and attack the dragon.
The Professor stands back, arms folded in thought as he analyzes the other heroes’ attacks and their effects. “Water does not work as well as it should. Yet they react to physical attacks as much as anyone short of immovable object-centric powers would. Rainicorn! Make this situation more coarse for them, if you would be so kind!”
With a nod, the rainbow-maned hero slashes another goon across the chest, then brings one hand up from the handle of his weapon and fires out a slipstream of multicolored sand around them. The stream washes over the crowd, some of it splashing over the dragon as well. With a clench of his fist, the sand particles zoom in and form shells around the goons, slowing them down before bringing them to an absolute halt.
Shock bounces off one with a final kick in his flurry, the sand shattering as the flame golem just vanishes from existence. “Smothering the flames fueling them?”
“A solid tactic to be certain!” The Professor nods. “Without air to fuel their constitution, they are unable to act. Shock, do be a lad and go check that truck out.”
The dragon averts his gaze from the encased goons towards the truck in question, then blinks and sighs. “I don’t think I’ll be able to open it up,” He remarks as he witnesses the full extent of the damage, the side of the white truck completely crumpled in by the front of The Professor’s vehicle. “What is your ride made out of?!”
“A fairly tough and substantial substance that I alchemized personally!” The Professor replies with a proud smile. “I shall be more than glad to inform you about it once we are done here.”
Shock groans softly. “Right. Maybe I could figure out how to use it myself. A motorcycle made of this stuff would be pretty awesome.” As he gets that idea, he moves up to the truck. With great effort, he pries the more undamaged door open enough to slip inside.
Within he finds many empty painting frames alongside boxes torn open or damaged enough to reveal the inner contents of a myriad of art supplies. But on closer inspection, he finds an odd sight. There are only white to gray shades of paint buckets, tubes, and palettes.
“What the hell… Who paints with only white and gray?” He mutters, picking up one of the tubes to examine it. Lotus Productions. Not a company he has heard of, a fact that surprises him.
Then he feels a surge of magic around him, blinking as a white flame extends from the tube and grabs onto him. Before he can drop it, the flame obscures his vision for a few seconds. When it returns, he finds himself in a dark room looking at a map, the only thing lit up by any light. In the darkness, he could see more crates, including some of the ones he was just looking at, judging by the spilling art supplies coming into view of the map table. But his focus is returned to the map, approaching it and noticing multiple pins placed around the city. He presses his visor’s button again, prompting it to take a quick snapshot of the map.
“You aren’t supposed to be here.” He hears a voice hiss from behind him, prompting him to turn around and confront its owner. Before he can make out the flash of a white humanoid shape, his vision blurs as he feels himself being relocated by magic again.
As it fades, he finds himself back in the truck at the scene outside the mall. But as expected, all the boxes and their contents have vanished from it. With a frustrated growl, he exits the vehicle to find Rainicorn and The Professor standing with their arms folded, the former leaning on his spear planted into the grass on one side of the entrance into the mall, the latter looking over the spots the flame constructs had been.
No trace of the fire-made goons, just the rainbow sand that had imprisoned them now scattered over the concrete. At hearing his footsteps, both look over at the dragon.
“Ah, there you are!” The Professor stands up, eyeing Shock over. “We were worried, you entered the truck and then vanished alongside the things that were inside it, I presume?”
“Yes. I don’t know where I went, and I did not have the time to figure out where. All I saw was a pretty good map giving ideas of leads to look into before I got sent right back to the truck. There is probable cause to investigate further, there is certainly something in the works.” He taps the side of his visor, projecting the picture of the map he took.
The Professor comes up and looks over the map, noting the pins around the entire city. “Well well, solid evidence! We were afraid that we couldn’t get a lead on the next area due to these individuals vanishing at the same time you did. But with this, we’ve got plenty of spots where we can investigate. I see the two spots we’ve already been to, however…” He points at the pin centered in the web around the entire city. “If we target this point, this seems to be the final destination, judging by the string from the other points coming out from it. Or going to it.”
“That’s… STAR Innovations Tower. Or near it.” Shock mutters. “Are they planning to try and raid that…? It's a very questionable location to target, but if one knew what they’re after, there would be trouble to contend with. Whoever these people are, they’re not local.”
“Correct. Their modus operandi is quite different from all criminals and villains of the city my apprentice and I have encountered thus far. But rest assured, we shall have our triumphant comeback at that location!”
The Professor repointed with no small amount of dramatic flair at the particular pin, then just held the pose.
Shock raises a brow, watching him in silence for a good few minutes before clearing his throat. “So, are we going there…?”
“Tomorrow!”
“T-tomorrow?!”
“Yes indeed! I have other business I need to get to, so if you can meet us on a rooftop around there tomorrow, that would be much appreciated! And it would give our targets the time and means to put themselves in a position they cannot flee from!”
Before Shock could respond, the two vanish in a blink of light, the dragon's visor flashes with the sign of technological-based teleportation. He dispels the map, sighing with his hands on his hips, wondering what he would do for the rest of the day as he takes off.
The next morning, Shock is crouching on the edge of a rooftop with STAR Innovations Tower dead ahead, and the mansion belonging to Martin a bit to the right of the skyscraper. He wonders what the vampire would think of his costume change. Maybe he could go find out…
Before he gets the chance to push off and test that, his visor picks up two approaching heat signatures following another blip indicating a technological teleport.
He stands and turns, finding Rainicorn there, but with The Professor in what looks to be a suit of bulky battle-ready power armor, helmet included, in the shape of his costume.
“...I can't tell if that's any better.” Shock remarks, noting it appears to have the same openings.
“I assure you, Shock, this armor is quite capable of offensive and defensive capabilities! It is on par with my apprentice's own, but that is second to his powers!” The Professor poses proudly and heroically. “Now, I assume you are here because you are ready to wage war on the flame fiends finagling freights!”
“Uhm… yes. Not the way I'd put it, but yes.” Shock points out to the Tower. “I have spent the better half of my morning patrolling around the building, but I haven't found any suspicious activity yet. No trucks matching the ones found at the previous scenes.”
“Did you alert the law enforcement to the potential incident taking place today? Or is that a factor to tend to first?”
“The Khyber Squad have a unit on reserve for anything that suddenly comes up, which will likely be when we find the would-be heisters. Or if-”
From the left side of the Tower, they see an explosion of white and gold light go off, followed by a plume of smoke rising from the street.
“Never mind, looks like we've got trouble already. That could be ours!” Shock moves swiftly, pushing off the roof and leaping in the direction of the disturbance.
Rainicorn follows suit, summoning his polearm to one hand, while The Professor pilots his power armor and jets after the parkouring heroes from above.
In the lead, Shock is the first to arrive, stopping on a rooftop overlooking the scene. He is unsurprised to find an entire warzone unfolding, trucks all with Lotus Productions symbols and more of the flame beings armed with a myriad of firearms. Opposite them, using armored squad cars, are Khyber enforcers firing back with their own specialized firearms.
Rainicorn and The Professor come to a stop beside Shock, witnessing the same scene.
“Good lord, what is happening down there?!”
“Something we need to stop. Come on!” Shock leaps forward, the other two following close behind.
The dragon falls until he nearly hits the pavement, bouncing off it with the power of the wind creating a bounce pad. With the momentum, he lands behind one of the squad cars.
The officers recoil momentarily at the thud of his arrival, relaxing after seeing who it is. “Hell of a time to join us, zapster!”
“Better late than never. What's going on, why are they trying to shoot you up?”
“These crazy fuckers tried to rob STAR Innovations or something, can you imagine that? Just pulled up into the plaza and started piling out, coming straight for the doors. Didn't get close enough before the tower was sealed and the police were called. They were ready when they got here though, and that's some serious firepower they got!”
“How serious?”
“Melted through the standard police armor like it was nothing. We were called, and our gear is resistant, but too much concentrated fire and we're in no better position than the police officers before us.”
“That's deadly serious… sit tight, I'll see if we can't leverage the playing field.”
“By all means. Who do you mean by ‘we’?”
The sound of howling winds and ceasing gunfire gets the officer’s attention, looking around the corner of the truck to see a rainbow sandstorm formed behind the vehicles belonging to the mysterious attackers.
“That would be them. Be right back!” Shock slides over the truck’s hood, landing into a sprint over to the Lotus Production trucks.
As he charges into the eye of the sandstorm, he finds Rainicorn quite hard at work, dodging under the swing of one masked flame goon before skewering it with his polearm and using the pommel to smash into the chin of another. Yet there is no sign of the Professor.
Shock hooks one of the flame assailants in the jaw with a water-coated punch, knocking them to the ground before stomping on their mask, the clothes going limp as their wearer flickers out of existence.
“Sorry that I got started without you!” Rainicorn apologizes as he pulls his spear out and twirls it around to bring it slashing right through a group of five rushing him.
“Not a problem! Where's your plus one?”
“Taking a look at something! I'm the distraction! Or I guess we are now!”
“Right.” Shock blocks a baton strike from one of the others before retaliating with a strong knee to their chin, then washing them away by placing a hand on the chest and shooting out a forceful water blast. After which he finds himself surrounded by a group of the flame beings.
More than there were a mere moment ago. He glances around at the legion before spotting the reason why. One of them is sparking bits from itself, which then grow in size before forming into the humanoid shape they all possess, minus the concealing attire the others wear. Radiant white flames with golden edges shift around in an enthralling fluid manner, it is a sight to behold… Until it moves to take more of its fellow flame golems into itself, growing bigger with each one.
“That does not look like fun,” Rainicorn states as he slides to a halt beside Shock, stowing his polearm onto his back before throwing out a flurry of his multicolored sand as a stream upon the growing flame golem.
“We could probably use whatever your plus one is cooking up if there is anything!” Shock ignites his hands, firing a large bolt at the fusing flame entity, attempting to bring it back down to size. All it does is make the flame golem angry as it abruptly turns its attention to the draconic hero, raising one hand and blasting a wave of fire at him, then turns it to Rainicorn once his sand collides with its side, turning to glass from the intense heat.
“Hey now, that’s new…” Shock muses before lunging to the side, avoiding the spray of flames that had been sent in his direction. “Rainicorn, keep blasting him with sand, I’ve got an idea!” He shouts to the other hero.
“Make it quick, I don’t think they’re very happy with me!” The rainbow hero calls back, dodging more of the flames threatening to wash over him.
Shock nods, moving to the opposite side swiftly, noticing that the remaining flame golems had moved to willingly be taken in by the bigger one, vanishing into its flames and further increasing its impressive size. At the same time, Rainicorn fires out another flurry of sand, impacting its side and turning into glass again. Bingo.
Bringing both hands up, he calls on the wind and sends it swirling around the golem. With no distractions, he flows it into the chunk of glass with enough force to send it slamming through the fire. With swift motion, the top half of the flame golem is separated from the lower half as Shock brings the glass shard over to him.
“Now, send in your sand!”
Rainicorn sees the hole carved through the midsection of the golem, the flames licking as they start to descend. Acting fast, he sends another stream of sand whipping at the monster, gliding it between the two halves with a mass that he forces into a swirl around the gap in its midsection.
As the flames come down, the sand particles between the halves are seared into the rainbow glass, forming an increasingly sizable gap that keeps the two parts from reconnecting. The golem lets out a silent roar, a mouth forming as it indicates some form of pain from being kept apart like this.
“Keep it coming!” Shock orders, hefting the glass fragment before using the wind to launch it again, splitting the top half of the golem. Rainicorn follows it up the same way, sending sand streaming through the opening, separating the pieces with another growth of multicolored glass. With moments, the flames supporting it seem to flicker before fading, leaving nothing behind as it dissipates into ash that floats away on the wind.
“Good job you two!!” They hear someone shout from the side, turning to look at one of the officers shooting them a thumbs up.
“Wait… what's that?!” Another officer calls out.
The two heroes pause, sharing a glance before turning around to see what appears to be a draconic individual standing where the golem had been, pure white of scale and with blue vine patterns extending across its body from its face.
Shock glances at that face, finding a visor is obscuring its notable features before it ignites with a symbol. A lotus, white as this individual’s scales.
“Interlopers will submit or be erased.”
Coast City Chronicles: 1-13: Scion of the Rainbow Sands
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"Within the confines of the rainbow sands,
A meeting of minds is all but abound!"Characters and story ©
Heroicswordsman23
Category Story / Fantasy
Species Unspecified / Any
Gender Multiple characters
Size 120 x 115px
File Size 29.3 kB
Listed in Folders
*crosses fingers* good luck....don't....get got by that.....thing.
screams and cheers for you until my throat bleeds, hoping you don't get added to a megalomaniacs evil hoard and i have to fight you*
Eh this was a great chapter, enjoyed reading it!
Nice thumbnail pic too, happen to have the original posted somewhere? 👀
Nice thumbnail pic too, happen to have the original posted somewhere? 👀
Eh? Well, I'll take what I can get, heh.
Oh, must've spaced on uploading it. Not yet no.
Oh, must've spaced on uploading it. Not yet no.
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