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Agents of Darkness II

For Agents of Darkness I, click here!

The red-skinned male opened the door to the large two-story house in a friendly part of town. He allowed his green-skinned companion to enter before him. “After you, my dear!” he said, with a smile and just a little too much charm.

“Thank you!” the female smiled back, longing to get into the house after the long walk they had to make from the railway station, without being spotted by too many people. They’d received many strange looks whilst on their train journey, and their explanation of ‘going to a fancy dress party’ didn’t seem to wash with the young man who’d asked why they were dressed funny. The fact that the red man’s tail cramped and then swished uncontrollably as they stood on the packed train didn’t help matters either.

“My feet are throbbing off!” she said as she walked through the door and into the lobby. The lobby led onto the open living room and kitchen toward the back. A fireplace was on the wall to their right, and beside the fireplace was an old Grandfather Clock. On the fireplace was a sealed envelope.

He closed and locked the door behind him, and she walked over to the fireplace. The fire automatically lit itself as she approached, causing her to jump. Laughter echoed around the almost empty room.

“How did you do that?” He asked as he looked around the room noticing how bright the moonlight was as it streamed in through the many windows dotted around.

“I don’t think I did!” She replied as she lifted the envelope. “This building has a soul. I can feel it!” The envelope had Mr and Mrs Sinster elegantly written across it in gold lettering. “Mr and Mrs Sinster. Is that us?”

The man opened the folder he was carrying, and read the bullet-pointed list from page one. “Identities: Mr and Mrs Sinster. Yes that’s us!”

She opened the envelope and a stream of magical stars cascaded out and swirled around the room. From out of the stars an angel appeared before them.

“Hello,” said the angel with the most musically toned voice either of the two new housemates had ever heard. “My name is Gabriel,” he said, drawing back on his angelic tones. “And before you ask, not that Gabriel. I’ve been sent from above to watch over you. And by that, I mean to guide you down the correct path for your mission.”

“So HR have sent a babysitter?” Mr Sinster asked.

“I’m from above HR” Gabriel answered. “Way above. Let me see the mission you’ve been sent on.”

Mr Sinster handed the file to Gabriel without thinking. Thick black smoke poured out from the file, which then transformed into a bright red flame and finally vanished.

“Oops.” Gabriel smiled. “It appears your mission may have changed.”

The Grandfather Clock chimed for midnight, but stopped after the eleventh chime, not that anyone physically present noticed.

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Superhero Shorts: The Cloud

With the alarm box wires cut, Finger Bones forced open the door. He smiled as he heard the familiar sound of silence. He stomped through the back of the bank towards the vault. The night security guard appeared at the end of the corridor, and Finger laughed as he sprayed him with his neutralising rayspray. The guard could only watch on, the rest of his body frozen, as this invader opened the vault door and disappeared inside.

A moment later, the guard watched again as Finger emerged from the vault carrying a single folder. “Good evening, Seb!” Smirked Finger as he passed the immobilised guard. From where the guard stood, he could see Finger get into a waiting car outside and speed away. A couple of minutes later, the neutralising ray’s effects wore off, and the guard was able to run to the door. The car was nowhere in sight, so he returned to his office to raise the alarm, closing the vault door on his way passed.

“It’s Seb from security,” Seb called the duty manager first, as is the bank’s protocol in these events. “We’ve been hit. Finger Bones. He just took a file, nothing else. It’s as though he knew where the file was. It’s as though he knew me!”

After the call, Seb walked to the back door of the bank to try to close it securely. Footsteps on the road behind startled him and he turned around quickly, coming face to face with the unmasked avenger, the Cloud.

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A Long Long Time Ago Miles From Anywhere

“Rimaykullayki!” waved the strangely garbed visitor as he approached King Rabletop III whilst doing his morning exercises. The king stared forward without uttering a word.

“Rimaykullayki!” said the stranger again, not sure if Rabletop had heard him the first time. “I’m Alan. My ass and I are lost. I think we took a left when we should have took a right back there. We’re heading to Machu Picchu.”

Rabletop stood properly and looked at his strange visitor. “You’ve made me lose count now”, he grumbled.

“Sorry, my strangely dressed friend. Do you know if I’m heading in the right direction?”

“Strangely dressed friend? You can talk. What’s that bird growing out of your head?”

“Bird out of…? Oh, you are referring to my regal feathers. I am Apu Alan, King Alan, Son of the Sun.”

“King? I am the only King of the Land. I am King Rabletop III of this Great Egyptian Empire.”

“Shouldn’t you be an Emperor then? Of an empire?” Alan was genuinely confused.

“Never mind that!” Rabletop didn’t like being questioned, so decided to ask another question. “Son of the Sun? Does that mean Great Ra is your father?” Rabletop bowed respectfully and raised his hands up to the sky.

“No,” Alan replied. “My father’s name is George. I was appointed Apu Alan last week, and have since then been looking for a site suitable for Machu Picchu. I was told to search the lands for a well-hidden site deep within a rainforest. Obviously I’m lost as there’s only a couple of trees here. Do you know of any rainforests?”

“There’s an oasis just up the Nile,” Rabletop pointed back in the direction Alan had approached from. “Back that way. Way back. There aren’t any rainforests around here. It’s not very often we have rain.”

“Wait a minute.” Alan had a moment. “Egypt? The Nile? Land of the Great Pyramids?”

“Spheres.” Rabletop corrected. “Great Spheres. I take it you’ve heard of us?”

“Oh yes, but I thought you had pyramids.” Alan’s eyes widened. “When I find the site of Machu Picchu, I shall construct some of the greatest pyramids ever built there, and then construct more in the lands all around. Our great civilisations will differ because of your spheres and our pyramids. We will be known the world over for hundreds of years to come! Yes, the signs are all there!”

Rabletop pondered the pyramids, but still decided his spheres would be the way forward.

“I shall leave you to your sunbathing then.” Alan said cheerily. “I shall head back the way I came, and look for this oasis of which you speak. If it isn’t suitable, I shall continue on my journey. Rome wasn’t built in a day.” Once again Alan waved.

“Rome?” Questioned Rabletop. He watched his visitor and his donkey walk back over the triangular sand dunes and away into the distance, where they first became tiny dots and then disappeared from view completely. “Why does everyone want pyramids?” He bowed, looked up to the sky, and then restarted his morning exercise.

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Reverence Ep.5: Road Trip

Æthelstan squirmed and fidgeted at his side of the carriage. Hempsty sat open legged in the centre as Katherine squirmed on the floor between them. Gemevere twisted her back on her portion of the seat, cracking a few bones as she stretched. Hempsty rolled his eyes which caused Katherine to giggle. Æthelstan twisted once more.

“Enough!” Æthelstan declared. “Stop the vehicle. This is ridiculous. I would sooner walk to Nottingham than travel in such cramped style. How can you manage with such a tiny carriage?”

“We wuz doin’ just farn!” Gemevere answered, “‘Til you two stopped us. By ‘eck, weyave loadsa room in ‘ere when you arn’t ‘ere.”

“At least youse can sit sorta properly” Katherine moaned. “I’ve got four knees in me face.”

“And your garment, cousin, takes up enough space for another person.” Hempsty had to join in the collective moanfest.

“There’s nowt wrong wiv me frock, ‘Empsty.”

“It is slightly old-fashioned.” Katherine lifted some of the dense material. “It must way a tonne.”

“This, deary, is the latest fashion.” Gemevere glared frostily at the woman crouched between Hempsty’s legs. “I dunno what that is what your wearin’, but it looks bloody awful.”

“Gemevere! Please! Language! We are still in company!” Huffed Hempsty.

“The wench certainly has a unique tongue.” Æthelstan remarked.

“Oi! ‘Oo are you callin’ a wench?” Gemevere squirmed. “King er no king Ah’ll show you just ‘ow much of a wench I am as soon as ahcun move!”

“Remain calm, cousin.” Hempsty pulled on the reins to slow Sentinel a little. “We merely have to go over this bridge, around the following bend, along the road a short while, and then we will enter Skundersthorpe. We shall bid farewell to our travelling companions there.”

“Skundersthorpe?” Æthelstan questioned. “Where on Earth is Skundersthorpe?”

“It’s on the road ter Nottin’am.” Gemevere snapped. “A long walk away, but on the way.”

“I thought you wanted to help people, cousin.” Whispered Hempsty.

“Depends on the people, ‘Empst. She tried to rob us,” Gemevere nodded to Katherine, “An’ ‘e could be a town vagabond fer all we know.”

“Vagabond!” Æthelstan repeated slowly and extremely loud.

“That’s done it!” Katherine giggled. “His face ‘as gone a bright shade of red.”

“Stop right now!” Æthelstan demanded once again.

“Verily you cannot expect me to stop whilst traversing a bend, Æthelstan?” Hempsty pointed out of the open window ahead of him. “This road is littered with chancers and peasants.”

“An’ we’ve met the same one twice!” Gemevere wasn’t letting Katherine off lightly, “and more’n likely a new ‘un an’ all.”.

“Now cousin. We shall be bidding farewell to these people shortly. Don’t you think we can do it fondly?” Hempsty really wanted to restore a little tranquillity to the cramped conditions.

“Ah’ll fondly bid farewell to ’em, Empst. Glad to. Sooner the better.”

Hempsty pulled the carriage over to the side of the road, where it joined a small gravel pathway that led through a small wood. “I shall let thee walk into to Skundersthorpe from here. It is much quicker along this path than following the main highway which takes us around the entire town before entering it for some reason. And there is no toll on the path either, so you can enter without paying.”

“Paying?” Katherine asked. “I’ve never paid to get into town ever.”

“I doorn’t doubt that.” Gemevere opened her door and stepped out of her side of the carriage. Hempsty moved himself around on the chair slightly so Katherine could slide herself along the floor and then leave the carriage herself. Æthelstan waited for someone to open his door for him, but soon realised that wasn’t going to happen, so stepped out through his door himself.

“Looks like we’ve picked up a stowaway.” Katherine commented as she noticed a woman sleeping on the roof of the carriage. Gemevere looked up and saw the curly-haired woman wrapped in a tattered blanket.

Hempsty stepped out of the carriage. “It’s no wonder Sentinel struggled, pulling the calash and five of us all by himself. Verily cousin, I think we too shall visit Skundersthorpe to enable Sentinel to receive a thoroughly good rest.”

“Saw we’re spendin’ more time wi’ these two, then?” Gemevere’s face filled with dread.

“Not if you don’t want to, deary.” Katherine smirked. “Oi! Missus. What do you want up there?”

The woman stirred upon the roof, and looked at the three faces looking back at her. She made a move to jump off the carriage the other side, and saw the bearded man looking at her from that side. She muttered something which none of the four travellers could understand, before becoming cloaked in a swirling black cloud. The cloud faded, and the woman was gone, replaced by a raven that flew into the direction of Skundersthorpe.

“Well, that’s summat yer doorn’t see every day.” Gemevere remarked, totally puzzled.

Hempsty tethered Sentinel to a resting station and water trough at the side of the path, and then ran to join the other three who walked together towards the new town… somehow putting their differences behind them.

This is the fifth part in the Reverence storyline. The previous four parts can be found in my Storylines menu.

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In a Quarter of a Section

The twin moons cast their dual shadows across the deck of the observation lounge.

The gathered waited in anticipation for the weekly event to occur, longing to see the moons appear to cross each other’s path on their respective orbits around Gelia.

The invited also looked on, sat in their luxurious thrones on the reserved observation platform, high above where the gathered stood and with a much clearer view.

“On this cycle, the larger moon, Da, is to pass in front of the smaller moon, Du, so for just under a quarter of a section only one moon will be visible. We will all only have one shadow to observe. Usually the larger moon passes behind the smaller one, and with the differing intensities of light we still see a double-light shadow. This week, we will have only one shadow to observe, and it is this that makes this event so special.” DragonoidEight announced to those spectators who wanted to listen.

“Why is that so special?” Comnor moaned to his father who listened to the robotic dragon intently. “It’s just a shadow.”

DragonoidEight looked at Comnor with ferocious intent. “It is more than just a shadow.” Sparks flickered from out of the dragon’s eyes. The robot stopped moving and slumped forward briefly before reactivating. “Apologies. Restart complete.”

Comnor huddled closer to his father, who pressed a red button in the arm of his throne. A blue light appeared above the arm, which then morphed into a woman’s face.

“Sarven? Is there a problem?” the image of the face said, with a concerned expression.

“Only a slight one, Sarta. This dragonoid momentarily malfunctioned. There was a definite feeling of emotion behind its words. And it was directed towards Comnor.”

“Comnor?” Sarta said gently, and the boy moved into his mother’s view. “Don’t worry about these dragonoids. Their android frames take control if the creature within ever tries to stir. They may snap from time to time, but they will not bite and they cannot hurt. Just listen to the tales they tell. They’ll soon be gone. They never remain present during the crossovers.”

“I’m OK, Moma. I only asked why the shadow was special when it turned on me.”

“Comnor, a single shadow is special because it’s a magical shadow. We only get to see them once every revolution, and our ancestors recalled great events occurring during the time of the single shadow. All in the space of a quarter of a section, they wrote, the world changed. So sit back, and look out for the shadow when the crossover is taking place. If the dragonoids fail again, I will recall them back to their chamber. Don’t worry!”

The blue light blinked out and Comnor looked at his father once again. “Pompa, will the world change in this quarter of a section?”

Sarven smiled. “If it will, it will be a very slight change. Most of our technological changes have happened, and there is nothing on the horizon which will change that so suddenly. Here, sit back and watch – the moons are about to cross.”

Comnor looked on in awe as he watched the large moon appear to swallow the smaller one. He noticed the lights in the observation platform dim, and then flicker out completely. He saw the shadows from the frames of the large glass windows merge into one as they stretched across the floor where the gathered stood below. He heard the whirring of machinery; beeping; clanking; creaking; groaning; cracking. He watched as one by one the metallic bodies of the dragonoinds fell to the floor on the reserved observation platform, and the dragons within them stretch their wings as they escaped from their technological prisons. He watched as they smashed their way through the glass window, and escape into the world outside. And he noticed other groups of dragons joining from all of the other observation decks.

“Pompa? Are the dragons free now? Is that what they meant by the shadow being special?”

Sarven didn’t answer as he pressed the red button once again, this time without a response. He noted that all of their technology had become inactive in the space of a quarter of a section, and he realised the dragons had used this moment to orchestrate their co-ordinated escape.

This is a slightly longer version to a story I have submitted for a Science Fiction / Fantasy writing competition over on WattPad.