The last clients and workers left the store a few minutes earlier. Still, the security guard, appropiately named John Bodyguard, could sense that something was off. And it was not even that he accidentaly added salt instead of sugar into his usual evening coffee. He wiped the desk with a tissue and decided to once again go around the store and check if everything is in order. He lazily got up and left his little office. The store was obviously quiet and empty. However, and it was something mr. John Bodyguard noticed with terror, the door to one of the administration offices were open. The guard gasped and carefully came closer to the door.
"Now what" he heard someone talk quietly "Where is that stupid Ring!?"
Mr. Bodyguard was relieved to recognize the voice of Raphael Dooserdorf, his boss and the manager of the store. He decided to enter the office and check what for the other man was looking for. The boss stood there facing the other way. He did not see Bodyguard entering, so John decided to be the first one to speak.
"Um... excuse me... sir?"
"Ah, my slave" Dooserdolf did not even turn around "I do not suppose you know where I can find the Ring of Synthax?"
"Um... WHAT!?" Bodyguard raised his eyebrows
"Don't worry about it. I see you cannot help me, with sadness." The other man suddenly turned his head 180°, which obviously should have broke his neck. The security guard took a few staggering steps back. He looked at his boss and noticed his eye pupils were completely black. "But I think I may just have to borrow your body now." the man spoke in a different voice.
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"Do NOT tell me you still have not caught Lord Lanthra!" Mrs. Ayumi Aruta angrily slapped her fist into her desk and looked at the two men in front of her. Aruta was a 70-something Japanese woman that just happened to also be the head of the 9th PISF departnment. She was a quite nice woman, personally,but demanded results from her employees, so it should not come as a surprise the two men in front of her bowed their heads in shame and a bit of fear, even though she spoke with a strong Japanese accent, which in other conditions would be pretty funny.
"Well... no, ma'am, we did not" the older man, general Hussein Abedi spoke quietly
"Do you two even know, what he will do after he will find the Ring of Synthax? " the woman asked rhetorically, taking her glasses off and looking at them "He will be able to escape into any of the alternative dimensions, and perhaps then return here to gain more, but armed with technology we can not possibly understand and cause more chaos then he already did!"
"Who knows what he has already done?" Asked the second man "I mean Lanthra is a shape shifter. That means he can basically become anybody he wishes to. Maybe he actually has made even more damage than we suspect?"
"We know what he is, LeBlanc" Aruta shook her head "I am asking how to stop him. Do you two even have a plan?"
"Do not worry, ma'am" said Abedi "from the intelligence we've gathered shape-shifters are exactly as mortal as we are. Two, maybe three bullets should do it".
"Okay, but how will you actually find him!? You were supposed to act when he was in Miami, yet you two and your experienced officers, as you two call them let him escape!"
"This is unfortunate, indeed, but..."
"No! No but's will do it this time, LeBlanc!" Aruta once again slapped her fist into her desk and turned around to look through window. She crossed her arms on her chest and began thinking. Finally she turned around "He posed as a shop manager and attacked a security guard. He is getting more and more desperate. We could not even help those people. We had to completely clean their brains. They don't even know they are alive!" she sighed " You two are out of the case. You proved your people are not capable of dealing with Lord Lanthra".
"But... ma'am Aruta, with all due respect, who else!? We are on this case since the beggining"
"Well, we have some rookie officers which just finished their training, don't we? I think this case will be perfect for them."
"You can not be serious!" This time it was Abedi who slammed his fist into the desk "How are they supposed to do it, if even my most experienced officers are not able to!? Are you seriously questioning mine... I mean my teams' qualifications!?
"First of all, Abedi, let me remind you that you are speaking to the Head Officer of this department, and I highly recommend you change your tone, or else you can go, collect your stuff and return home!" Aruta once again slammed her fist into desk "I am in charge here and if I decide it is their turn to prove themselves, so be it!"
"But, madame Aruta, what about our pay checks?" Asked LeBlanc. Both Aruta and Abedi looked at him. "What? Oh, wait... oh, yeah..." LeBlanc also slammed his fist into the desk
"I am telling you, head officer, that you are making a great mistake" Abedi continued savagely "you are putting our organisation at risk of being exposed. You know very well what will happen then. Panic, Protests, even uprisings. And it will all be on your head!
"Then it would be my problem, wouldn't it?" Said Aruta coldly "Return to your offices, you two are dismissed."
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Aleksander got off the bus at the usual spot, only one hour earlier. He did not want to wake his mother which has once again spent her entire night, so the 16 year old made his own breakfast and simply left the house. He loved his mother, but since their father has left them she just was not like her old self. Everytime she got paid, she spend the money either on alcohol, expensive jewelry or cosmetics. Sure, she made quite a lot of money as she was an very experienced IT engineer, but most of them she spent only on her own needs.
Aleksander was not happy. He was not physically strong, he was an outcast at school, with only just one friend, He was - thanks to his mom - the poorest kid at school, and because of his dad's Polish roots he was the laughing stock of one Eddie Felguson, whom he despised, mostly for stealing his "girlfriend" at the age of 10. Yes, Aleksander and Eddie were pretty sworn childhood rivals.
It was a cold afternoon in January and the blonde boy felt chills as he was walking the streets of Toronto. It was still dark and the school was not going to start for another hour, so Aleks decided to check if his favourite Ancient History Museum of Africa was still open, if only to talk to proffesor Jefferson. The museum was only a few blocks away, and the boy got there only after a few minutes.
The Museum itself was not really big, just about the size of two-and-a-half one family houses and a little additional building. Aleks took out his phone and looked at the time. It was 07:12 AM. The museum was open since 7:30 AM. Resigned, he sighed and pushed the door. To his surprise, it was open.
After reconsidering, he went inside.
"Hello!?" he asked loudly "Proffesor Jefferson!? It's me, Aleksander!"
Noone answered. The corridors of the museum were empty, with no staff to talk about the museums' exhibits. Despite this, the young man decided to ask:
"Is anybody in here?"
He should not be surprised that nobody answered. And he would not be, if not for the open door. Now he was full of fear, and worried about proffesor Jefferson, who was always one of the only people he felt he could talk to.
The boy turned right, towards the Ancient Egypt Hall. This exhibit was definitely the biggest one in the museum. He felt somewhat unsure of himself, as if he was being watched by someone. He decided to shake the feeling off and turned left. That's when he clearly saw someone vanishing around the corner.
"Hello! Proffesor Jefferson, is it you?" No answer. He started to run. "Proffesor Jefferson...?"
He stoped rapidly when he took yet another turn and saw the man in front of him, cleaning one of the exhibits.
"Hi, kid" Jefferson smiled "Did I scare you? Sorry, if so."
"Proffesor" said Aleks, relieved, although a bit angry "Why haven't you answered me?"
"Oh... sorry" Jefferson sounded genuinely sad "It is just the museum is in a bit of financial trouble lately... besides, you may have not noticed it, but I do have a bit of a trouble with my ears."
"You do?" Aleks asked surprised "You never seemed to. What is wrong?"
"Oh, nothing to worry about, sorry to bother you, kid" Jefferson sighed "Anyway, are you here for another ancient history lesson? You know, now it is not really the time... Besides, the Museum is supposed to be closed, isn't it?"
Suddenly, the light flickered a few times and suddenly it got dark.
"Great, if that was not enough, now the effing light is out" sighed proffesor Jefferson, turning around.
"Don't worry about it, I have a flashlight on my phone..."
"Okay, good, kid. But now, no offense, but it would really be better if you'd leave. Now." the proffesor said a bit harshly.
"Well... sorry, you're right... but why are you calling me <<kid>>? You still remember my name, don't you? "
"Yes, Yes, obviously I do... "Jefferson smiled "Arthur"
"It is not Arthur, it is Aleks!"
The proffesor looked at him in a strange way and took a few steps forward
"Okay, Okay... Aleks. Now, leave. Please"
"But why?" Aleks took a few steps back "And why are you looking at me like that?"
"Sorry, I have a problem with my eyes."
"What...?"
Alex concentrated his flashlight on Jefferson's face. And then he noticed it. The professor's pupils were black.863Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡREBr9MGdbV
He took a few more steps back and tripped over something. He looked at what he tripped on. Those were LEGS. Human legs. Aleks directed his flashlight and saw a body laying behind one of the exhibits.
The proffesor caught him and grabbed him by the throat and started snuffing rapidly .
"Sorry, KID" Jefferson smiled unnaturally "I have a problem with my nose."
Aleks could feel the other man's hands clamping on his throat. Desperately, he kicked his adversary in the crotch. Fake Jefferson let go and squirmed in pain.
"Ow! You little..."
Alex immediately got up and started running. The other man looked and slowly got up.
"Arthur! Come on, kid, it's hopeless!" He screamed in an unhuman voice
Alex did not listen. He just ran as fast as he could. He heard something falling down and crashing behind him. He jumped from around a corner. Suddenly he saw another figure jumping in front of him
"Armin, come here!" Fake proffesor Jefferson waved with a smile
Aleksander immediately turned around and jumped back behind the corner. He ran, changing direction every time he could, almost feeling the creature's presence behind him. Just when he was getting tired, he saw the doors at the other side of the corridor. Focusing his last bits of strength he finally ran through those door.
Straight into a young woman on the other side
"Hey! Watch where you're going, kid!"
Aleks did not need to hear anymore then the last word. He once again ran through the door he just came through. He did not listen to the girl telling him to stop, or some other people suddenly appearing alongside her. He just ran and he felt getting weaker until finally collapsing on the floor. He looked up and saw a figure approaching him.
"See? I told you it was hopeless, kid." Said Jefferson's lookalike coming closer with a grin.
Suddenly both Aleksander and fake Jefferson heard footsteps behind them. The boy turned around and saw six other people, five of whom were not much older then him enter the room.
"Let the boy go, Lanthra" the only older person, a red-haired woman ordered "This is the end. Give up"
The creature did not answer. Fake Jefferson only spun his head 360° a few times and, with an unnatural shriek, jumped and escaped through the window.
The other people quickly ran outside and began yelling something. But Aleks did not care. He did not care about anything. He just felt so shocked and tired... The last he felt was his face painfully meeting the ground, and then everything went black.
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