This is a story written by me starring several TTV Boards members, who all signed up for being included in this topic.
Chapters will be posted when I have the time.
The Wild Masks
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Chapter One
Young Nights
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“Pickles aren’t meant for dumpsters.”
The young man turned back, slowly, with a look of the utmost disgust mingled into his sharpened glare. “How in the world do you think that is a valid excuse for swiping pickles out of a dumpster?”
“I’unno.” The other man shrugged, his hand still very much holding the brand-new jar of pickles. “What I do know is that, since they’ve still got the seal, they aren’t contaminated, which means they’re just as good as all the other preservative-laced pickles wasting away on store shelves.”
“You’re even more of an utter disappointment right now than you usually are.” The younger man scowled, his sharp eyebrows angling down to show his clearly-displayed annoyance. “If you’re so desperate for pickles as to rummage through garbage-”
“It,” The other man retorted, straightening himself as he did so, “Is about making the world a better place by not wasting perfectly good resources. Isn’t that part of what we do anyways?”
“Um, boys?” A chipper voice mumbled from behind the other man. “You’re, um, kind of clogging the path for the rest of us. Perhaps have your squabbles five feet outside of the alleyway? Thank you.”
“One to talk.” The younger man mumbled in a completely audible whisper, slowly clearing the way for the rest of his team. The other man nodded as he passed with a smile, his height making his six-foot-one superior feel ever bit less so. Shortly after him, although wisdom compelled one not to verbally make such a statement, came the only female member of the team, glaring up at her leader with a toothpick in her mouth. The young man avoided direct eye contact lest it spark a confrontation.
“It’s been a while since we’ve been able to pull off a caper like this!” The chipper voice resumed, floating on past the young man’s unamused eyebrows. “Finally back on the field like we were meant to be. It’s good to feel the air again, you know?”
“You’re literally not even here right now.” The young man frowned.
“No, but I got that standing fan repaired, and wow the difference it makes in here!” The machine chipped and whirred, the small cameras embedded around its durable exterior hissing as they adjusted their focus. “It helps me pretend that a breeze can actually be felt down there, and that I’m doing something way cooler than just typing on a massive keyboard doing boring security stuff while everybody else gets to go and have fun.”
Everyone had turned towards the device as the voice on the other end trailed off in depression. The awkward moment seemed to triple and quadruple in awkwardness as the seconds passed, ending only when the last person in line snatched the tiny machine out of the air and kept on walking.
“Save it for the autobiography, kid.” He muttered, looking up with a sigh at the massive building before him. “Do you think they’ll get suspicious if we keep showing up wearing matching suits and being this out of the ordinary?”
“I hope you’re not questioning our suits, Tone.” The young man glared as he strode past, gesturing with a snap for the rest of his team to follow his lead. “Now you all know the drill: We hit security and we hit them hard. If we can get into the fountain controls we can stop the automatic shutoff, and from there it’ll be eggs.”
“NO.” The fellow called Tone backpedaled. “I know what’s coming. It’s another one of your atrocious puns. They’re the reason we keep having bad luck with these endeavors. I don’t want-”
“Over-easy.” The young man fought back a snarky grin and ascended the minimal steps to reach the front door, pausing just inside as security eyed the entire group with a suspicious air. Tone was visibly groaning as he entered, gripping the bridge of his nose all the way.
“Remember, team - this is for him.”
“WILD MASKS!!” The young man bellowed, unveiling an angular, grey mask resembling a wolf. The rest of his team revealed additional masks, causing the security guards to fly into a panic and rush at the group. “On our blood - we avenge this day!!”
Before the guards could reach him, a sonic pulse echoed outwards, rattling their teeth and giving the young man plenty of opportunity to don his mask. In an instant his silver hair flared, adrenaline rushed through his veins, and his arm swung out, launching the metal baseball bat hidden in his sleeve directly into his palm.
“Now, Race!” He bellowed, the short girl casually walking forwards with her hands in her pockets. Across the room, more of the security personnel drew their weapons and fired. Race became a blur for a moment, tearing up the glamorous carpet as she went, not having to act for long before Tone let off another sonic pulse, vibrating the internal mechanisms of the guns and forcing them to jam.
“My turn.” The young man lowered himself down, and bolting forwards darted across the room at high speed, somehow staying low to the ground even as his bat streaked behind him. A roll at the end planted his heel in the face of one guard, before kicking off and knocking a second one flat with his knee.
Swipes were dodged and replied in similar metallic fashion. Within thirty seconds the whole lot was a bruised, unconscious heap of poor, innocent security guards, just trying to make the next paycheck. “I’m getting old.” The young man groaned, feeling his ribs. “Couple of them actually got hits in there. You let him go to the top?”
“Let him out as soon as we reached the building.” Tone replied, sliding his hand out of his pocket long enough to gesture upwards with his thumb. “Before too long you should hear his all-clear over the speake-”
“Attention all personnel, please remain in your quarters.” A voice buzzed over the sound system. “There is an unidentified helicopter craft on the roof of the building, please remain in your rooms and remain calm. Thank you for staying with us.”
“Corey, can you confirm? We’ve got what appears to be a-”
“Calm down, boss, I just cooked up a distraction is all.” The cheery voice chimed in, back to being as chipper as previously. “I managed to shut off the fountain’s backup protocol just now, so go ahead and do your thing. All elevators are locked, and so are the emergency exits and restrooms. Only one door has a manual override, and that door’s on the 87th floor.”
“You’re wonderful, kid.” The young man replied. “I’ll give you the alert when we’re ready to clear out. Big man, you got me?”
The tall fellow responded by picking up the edge of the fountain and ripping it out of the ground. Water began to fly everywhere, and another pulse from Tone sent the pumps into overdrive, several inches of water coalescing within minutes.
“My shoes are getting soaked.” The young man grumbled. “All right, Rook, let’s do this. It would’ve been easy to bring something like a phone to do this with, but I think we need a little more power than that…”
The taller man wrapped one arm around the young one and suddenly moved upwards, the added weight not impacting his motion whatever. Abruptly pausing in midair, the young man climbed up onto Rook’s shoulders, reached out to the massive chandelier in the middle of the ceiling, and with a couple well-placed strikes, caused it to creak.
“Alright, Corey… HIT IT!!” He barked as the last swing impacted with its attachment, sending the chandelier tumbling downwards in a slow spin.
“Impact in three!” He bellowed out, although he was barely heard. Tone quickly ascended the furniture while Race simply stood, watching it fall with the utmost boredom. It hit home, the electrical fixture impacting the water and sending a massive shock into the walls and floor of the building, shorting out just about everything present.
Rook quickly descended with the young man on his shoulder. “Alright, we only have so much ti-”
He paused only momentarily, sending a glare at Race upon noticing her glowing stomach. “-Only so much time until the minimal amount that the alarms have been on draws the attention of someone other than room service. Get it, Rook.”
Rook nodded, lowering the young man down to admire his handiwork, the blast doors over the entrance frozen mid-way. He turned around to see Rook rocket towards the massive vault door at the back of the room, carefully place his hands on it, and suddenly disappear. In his place was an elaborate statue of a sphere floating alongside curved, draping rectangles, which flowed like water into the base.
Tone and Race splashed over, Race getting there just ahead of Tone, and wasted no time in dragging the statue out of the way. Making ticking noises with his mouth, the young man set an origami mask down right where the statue had been, and after nine clicks Rook returned to take its place.
“Perfect. Now if everything’s set, then let’s-”
All the glass at the entrance shattered suddenly. “TONE!” He turned with a snarl. “This is supposed to be somewhat stealthy, you know!”
Tone shrugged in response. “Your speeches take too long. Let’s bounce, fellas.”
Vaulting through the half-open entrance, with Rook carrying the statue, the group made their way to the same alleyway, disappearing into the darkness. Before the young man exited the scene he deliberately caused, he paused at the entrance to the alleyway and help up his hand, the distant robotic tool slowly returning to the earth.
“Gotta hand it to you, Corey, you pulled your part off masterfully. It’ll be an hour before anyone notices what’s happened.”
“You…” The chipper voice began irradiating awe in all directions. “You really mean that, Ren? I’m finally a real- a real Wild Mask?”
Ren smiled. “I can’t be the one to make that choice by myself. But in my book, you did good out there, kid. Now let’s do even better.”
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