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Suyo is pacing back and forth in front of his desk, deep in thought. He's in his twenties and has very dark brown hair that was cut short. He's quite skinny, but has some muscle showing. His phone starts to ring, so he walks over to it and picks it up.
"Suyo, it's Moy. Any news on the organization?"
"Not yet. I'm working on it."
"That's good. Without you and your squadron of police robots, this city wouldn't survive."
"Your words are kind."
"I'll contact you if I hear anything. Moy out."
Suyo hangs up the phone and walks over to the window. His eyes focus on a teenager who is skateboarding down the road and begins to do crazy tricks. Suyo almost takes his eyes off him when he suddenly jumps into the air, grabs a horizontal pole, and swings up onto the roof of a building.
"What business does he have on that roof?" Suyo asks himself.
"Should we go find out?"
Suyo whirls around to see Brando standing in his doorway.
"Don't scare me like that!" Suyo says, recovering his composure.
"Sorry Suyo."
"Knock next time! Jeez!"
"I came to report something."
Suyo gives Brando a curious glance. "Report...?"
"It's him again."
"Him? You mean...?"
"Yeah."
Suyo sighs in annoyance. He walks over to a cabinet and grabs a vest and a hat out of it. Both are emblazoned with big dark green text reading GLOBAL MOD.
"Hi-ho, hi-ho, it's off to work we go," Suyo says as a puts on a pair of sunglasses.
He walks out of his office and is going down the stairs when a loud explosion ensues. Alarmed, he runs down the remaining steps and hightails it to his motorcycle.
Moy was sitting at his desk sorting out some paperwork when someone walked in and came up to his desk.
"How can I help you?" Moy asked.
"I'm here to report a level in the Portal."
"Down the hall, third door on your right." Moy pointed down the hallway.
"Thanks." The man started heading down the hall.
"Hold it!" Moy said, standing up.
The man turned around.
"What's with the briefcase?" Moy inquired.
"Oh, I was on my way to deliver this to a friend," the man replied. "When I passed by I thought I'd pop in and report something while I was in the area."
"Okay then." Moy sat back down and the man resumed walking down the hall.
He entered the level reporting room and sat down at one of the small tables, setting his briefcase down beside him. He about to start filling out a report when someone burst into the room, gun drawn and aimed at him. The newcomer was fairly short, Asian-looking, and had a big black birthmark on the left side of his face.
"Put your hands in the air!" the gunman ordered.
The man obeyed. "What is this, a stick-up?"
"Shut it! You're coming with me!"
"Where?"
"That's on a need-to-know basis and you don't need to know."
"Hey, I have my rights!"
"Take your rights and shove 'em up your-"
The gunman was interrupted suddenly by a huge explosion and he was blown out of the doorway. Moy came running down the hall wielding a semi-automatic rifle. He then noticed the guy unconscious against the wall and ran over to him.
"You okay?!" Moy asked. No response, so he turned to the room where the explosion happened. Readying his rifle, he slowly walked in.
The explosion had destroyed everything in the room. The tables and chairs were in pieces and the cameras had been destroyed.
The man was lying in the center of the chaos. Moy walked over to him and checked for a pulse.
"Dead," he told himself, frowning.
He looked around the room for the cause of the explosion. His eyes came to the briefcase that the man had brought with him; it had shattered to pieces. As Moy went to examine it, his cell phone rang.
"It's Suyo," came a familiar voice. "What's going on?!"
"I don't know, I just heard this big explosion and came running to the room."
"Which room is it?"
"The level reporting room."
"Oh hell."
"You better come help me figure this out."
"Way ahead of you. I'm pulling up to the door right now."
Suyo came running in the room, his revolver at the ready. "What's the situation?"
As Moy explained, Suyo walked over to the now-destroyed briefcase and examined the insides. He picked up a fragment and examined it closely.
"Strange, this doesn't look like a piece of a briefcase..."
"The briefcase was suspicious, so I turned to my computer and accessed the cameras," Moy continued. "I saw the man about to fill out the report, but then my computer suddenly shut off. I heard an explosion, so I grabbed my rifle and came running."
Suyo picked up the briefcase and examined it.
"I'm no expert, but it seems to me that a bomb was inside the briefcase, given the explosion earlier and how the remaining parts are bent out and not in."
"That's probably the case," Moy replied, "but what I want to know is, why? What was the point of bombing the room?"
Suyo stroked his chin in thought. "It was meant to destroy the level reporting system," he said after a few moments.
"So that means-"
Suyo nodded. "Big R knew this was coming. He said that the level reporting system would get bombed and soon after the city would fall into ruin."
"Time to call the team?" Moy asked.
Suyo agreed, so Moy pulled out his walkie-talkie and tuned it to a special station. "R-Team, meet at the Main building ASAP!"
"Ready to go Suyo?" Moy asked as he put away the walkie-talkie.
Suyo pulled out his revolver and a long machete. "I was born ready."
Runouw City was filled with the sounds of people rushing to and fro, trying to get a few last minute preparations done. A good majority of the normal citizens were scurrying toward their loved ones and homes, shepherded by the Representatives. The rest of the staff was busy preparing for battle. Most of them, anyway; some were unaccounted for.
In an open field some distance away from the city was an assortment of targets; sandbags, wooden boards, aluminum cans, you name it. About fifty yards away, a man in his early twenties stood holding a bow. He was fairly tall with a light skin tone, short brown hair and glasses. The man pulled an arrow out of his quiver, nocked it in his bow, and aimed for a dummy that stood in the middle of the range. Increasing his grip on the bow, he closed his left eye and steadied his aim. His finger loosened on the string...
"YO, ZUNAR!"
SWOOSH! The arrow missed the dummy's head by inches. Zunar sighed in annoyance and turned to see his friend Nan trotting up.
"Hi Nan," Zunar replied as he drew another arrow.
"The Runouwlympics isn't for another year you know," Nan joked.
"Very funny." Zunar raised his bow and fired another arrow. With a barely audible THUNK it embedded itself in the dummy's chest. As he pulled out another arrow, he added "Did you need something? Or did you come down here just to mess with me?"
"No, actually. I have a message."
The next arrow clipped the dummy's left ear and Zunar glanced over at Nan. "A message? Let me guess, it's from Suyo."
"Good guess," Nan answered with a slight smile.
Zunar rolled his eyes. "Did he break something again?"
"We're setting up defenses. All the staff need to meet at the Main building immediately for a briefing."
Zunar's face turned grim as he released the next arrow which flew wide of the dummy, knocking a nearby can over.
"I dunno all the details, Suyo just sent me down here to tell you," Nan explained.
Zunar lowered his bow. "I'll be up there in just a sec." He started walking out toward the range.
"Okay, see ya later," Nan called as he headed for the city.
Zunar collected his arrows and set off for the Main building.
"Is everyone here?" Suyo stood alongside Moy outside of the Main building, looking out over the crowd of staff members. "It's been thirty minutes, everybody should be here. If not... sucks to be them, we're starting now."
"I called you all here today to inform you of some recent happenings. Earlier today there was an attempted bombing of the level reporter. You might have heard the explosion earlier."
The crowd murmured in acknowledgement.
"Unfortunately the level reporter will be temporarily out of order as we repair the damage. This normally wouldn't be the cause for this much alarm, but these aren't normal circumstances. Runouw foretold this bombing a couple months ago and said that it would be soon accompanied by an ambush on the city. With our efforts focused on repairing the damage, an attack on the city is highly probable. Because of this, I ask that everyone set up defenses around the city and be prepared for anything."
"If you ask me, I think it's a load of rubbish." All eyes turned to Emkay, who had spoken. "Whoever heard of trusting in a bloody fortune?"
"Attacking us while we're recovering DOES make a lot of sense, you know," YB remarked.
"True," Emkay answered, "but I don't think we should do too much, particularly if it burdens us in other ways."
"Such as...?" Suyo inquired, one eyebrow raised in curiosity.
"Erm..." Emkay struggled to think of an example.
"I think he has a point." Doram stepped up toward Suyo and turned to face the audience. "If we don't set up defenses, any incoming enemies won't know we suspect them coming, so we might get the jump on them instead of the other way around. But if we do have defenses, it'll be harder to do that."
Suyo stroked his chin in thought. "At the same time though, it leaves the city vulnerable."
"How many times have we rebuilt this place?" Brando chimed in. "Once more couldn't hurt."
"Brando's right," Moy admitted, looking at Suyo.
Suyo sighed. "Alright, you guys win. No extra defenses, but be prepared for a fight at a moment's notice. Spread the word while I go inform Runouw."
Suyo headed inside the Main building and entered the elevator. He pulled out his ID card and slid it through a card reader, and the elevator headed up to the highest level. Suyo walked down the hallway and reached Runouw's office. He knocked on the door three times, hesitated a second, and knocked twice more. Soundlessly the door swung open.
Inside, behind a large oaken desk, sat Runouw. He was in his mid-twenties, with average brown hair that was cut short and straight and he had a perfect all-around build, complete with a lean body. He didn't look like someone you wanted to mess with. As Suyo entered and closed the door, Runouw slowly swiveled around to face him.
"Suyo." Runouw greeted Suyo with a curt nod.
"Afternoon, Runouw," Suyo replied. "I met with the staff just a few minutes ago and told them about your premonition."
"I see." Runouw tented his fingers in nervousness as Suyo sat down in a chair opposite him. "I assume not everyone... was convinced?"
"That's putting it mildly," Suyo admitted. "They refused to fortify the city, but they did at least agree to be prepared for anything. Needless to say, I think people are starting to doubt us."
"I'm not surprised." Runouw turned back to his window which overlooked the city. "A fortune is a... risky thing to bet on." A moment passed in silence, then Runouw said "What about you, Suyo? Do you... think it will be true?"
Suyo nodded. "Yes, I think so. Besides, it's better to be ready and something not happen than be caught with our pants down."
Runouw sighed. "I'm... not too sure. I-"
Suyo slammed his hand onto the desk. "Runouw, we have to take action, whether or not it's true. You can't just sit idly by while suspicion of an attack lingers, even if it's based on something as trivial as a vision of the future. Do you not care about the people of this city?"
"Well... yes, but-"
"But nothing!" Suyo shouted, standing up quickly. "If you really care, you should tell them yourself! For once, show your face and talk to them instead of staying cooped up your office all day staring out your window!"
"Suyo, you must understand-"
"I understand perfectly! You're too damn shy to do things yourself! You have no confidence in your actions! What are you going to do if suddenly everyone dies?! You'll be left alone, with no one to advise you or do your dirty work! Is that what you want?!"
Runouw closed his eyes and sighed, but did not respond.
"Honestly, it's like I run everything around here! I maintain the streets and buildings, I keep order in the city, and what do you do? NOTHING! Nothing but sit in that damned chair and daydream! I have half a mind to take this place over because you're too lazy to do anything!"
"Only half?" Runouw inquired mildly. "Sounds like your mind is... pretty much made up."
Suyo opened his mouth to argue, but stopped as Runouw got out of his chair and walked to the door.
"Where do you think you're going?" Suyo snapped.
"I think it's about time I... took a vacation," Runouw answered calmly. He opened the door and walked out, closing the door behind him.
Moy was leaning against the side of the Main building, casually observing the other users as they went about their business. He glanced down at his watch and frowned in annoyance.
How freaking long does it take to deliver a message? Moy thought to himself. If he's not down soon-
His thought process came to a grinding halt as Runouw walked out the door. "Runouw?!" he breathed, his eyes wide.
Runouw glanced at Moy, put one finger to his lips, and shook his head. Silently he walked into the shadows of the Main building and disappeared.
Just then Suyo came bursting outside, frantically looking around. He caught sight of Moy and sprinted to him.
"Moy! Did you see where Runouw went?"
Moy shook his head, putting his finger to his lips as Runouw had done earlier. "I'm not supposed to say."
Suyo scoffed in annoyance. "Great. Just great."
"What happened?" Moy asked.
Suyo hesitated for a second, unsure of how to break the news. After a moment, he said "He's taking a vacation."
Moy's jaw dropped. "He's WHAT?!"
"You heard me."
"I can't believe it. Why...?"
Suyo chuckled slightly. "I think I scared him off. He's always withdrawn and doesn't like conflict."
"I'm more shocked you had the guts to challenge him."
"I didn't really challenge him, per se." Suyo leaned up against the wall, gazing out over the streets. He then told Moy what had happened in Runouw's office.
"What will everyone say when you tell them?" Moy asked after he had finished.
"You mean IF I tell them."
"Surely you're not going to keep it to yourself?!"
Suyo shook his head. "I don't plan on announcing it."
Moy crossed his arms, frowning. "And how do you propose we keep it secret?"
"The man hardly ever comes out of his office, Moy. Do you really think people are going to notice if he's gone?"
Moy sighed. "Well, don't say I didn't warn you." He got off the wall and started walking toward the local tavern, owned by Demonik.
Suyo merely watched as Moy walked off. This can't be too hard. I doubt anyone will notice his absence, he thought to himself. He made his way back up to Runouw's office. I'll show him how things get done around here.
The doorbell clanged as Moy entered the tavern and walked up to the bar. Buff, the bartender, walked out from the back room.
"What'll it be?" Buff asked.
"I'll take every fruity soda you got mixed together," Moy answered as he sat down on a stool.
Buff doesn't seem shocked at Moy's somewhat odd order. As he went to make it, he asked "Something on your mind?"
"You know me well, Buff." Moy sighed and looked around the bar. It was pretty much deserted.
In a few moments Buff brought Moy's drink to him and leaned onto the counter. "I'm all ears."
Moy took another furtive look around. "It's a long story but I'll cut it short: There's a new sheriff in town."
Buff raised an eyebrow as Moy explained what had happened earlier.
"I wonder what's going to happen now," Buff said after Moy had finished.
"Knowing Suyo, he might force defenses now that he's in charge," Moy replied. "He could probably code some crazy barrier system to protect the city, considering his programming expertise. I wouldn't be surprised if he's doing that right at this moment."
"But would that work?"
Moy shrugged. "Who knows?"
The doorbell clanged again and Buff straightened up to serve the new customer.
Don't do anything crazy Suyo, Moy thought to himself. Last time you almost killed a few people. Don't repeat that mistake...
That night, while everyone was asleep, a lone shadowy figure emerged from the darkness. The figure walked over to a nearby pond and looked down at its reflection.
"How much longer are you going to keep this up?" the figure asked, seemingly to itself.
The figure's reflection shimmered for a few seconds and changed into a darker, more sinister-looking face. "Until I get what I want, brother."
"You know that's not going to happen."
"Oh no?" the reflection cracked an evil smirk. "Just watch me. I'll have this city on its knees in less than twenty-four hours."
The reflection reverted to normal and the figure walked back into the shadows. I hope I made the right choice...
