Ch. 1

Chapter 1:

Location: Planet Cornelius- The City of Luck

Date: June 11^th 2376

        Music and vehicles of all kinds are heard in the City of Luck. Ever since The New Exodus, the City of Luck has been the center of gambling in the universe. But what none of the workers, tourists, gamblers and crime lords realize is that at that very moment underground in the power distribution facility a fight was ensuing for the fate of the City of Luck. Five men armed to the teeth with Generation 2 Pulse Desolators fire on a seventeen year-old boy. When the Vasari Armada hired Midnight for this particular job, they merely believed that it would be an illegal weapons deal, not a full-fledged terrorist attack. Not that Midnight cared; this simply made the game more interesting. He had never understood people who wanted to avoid the City of Luck; you can challenge yourself and make a ridiculous amount of money at the same time. Clad in black leather trimmed with silver, Midnight had been a hired gun for the Deadwing Organization since he was twelve. In just five years he became one of the most feared mercenaries in the entire universe. He had tanned skin revealing that he was partially a Puerto Rican (by 25% to be exact) his dark brown hair was trimmed in a popular fashion combed down in front of one of his eyes. Nimbly avoiding the pulse blasts, Midnight drew a fidget spinner from one of his pants’ pocket and spun it letting go instantly. The fidget spinner split apart and formed and energy shield around the criminals, one panicked and opened fire, which was quite a stupid move seeing as how the pulse blast ricocheted off of the wall of the shield and hit him square in the chest. As he fell, his dead finger pulled down on the trigger and pulse blasts continued to fire until the remaining four were dead. Midnight clapped his hands together and the shield fell returning to its form as a fidget spinner which flew back into his hand. He jogged down the tunnel not wanting to be too hasty. If he didn’t let the timer on the bomb tick down more before defusing it, the challenge would be gone and his fight with the gunmen had already been dreadfully boring. He reached the explosive and saw that it still had ten minutes left before detonation.

“Dang it!” he yelled. Feeling bored already, Midnight pulled out his vintage smartphone and started to play the old Angry Birds game to kill time. He kept getting stuck on that annoying level with the King Pig at the end of the first world. Playing for some time, he finally cleared it. “Yes!” he yelled, glancing at the bomb, he only had forty-five seconds before detonation. He smiled, finally something to get his heart pumping. He ran over to the device and saw that the ‘detonator’ was actually an old I-Pod shuffle. Crap; that meant that the real one was back on one of the guys down the tunnel. With twenty seconds left on the timer he knew there was only one thing he could do. He pulled a tarot card with the emblem of an English knight’s shield on it and used his magic to activate it and let it surround him and the explosive. He had never been blown up before, the prospect was, interesting. Knowing that the rest of the city would be fine, he relaxed as the bomb exploded.

        About half an hour later, Midnight woke up right where he had been when the bomb blew up. He was a little bit drowsy, but otherwise unharmed. Looking up he saw the man who had hired him staring. Well, man wasn’t really an accurate description. He was like a man but if a man had the narrow-slit eyes of a serpent and a gecko tail. Captain Justin Gravedale of the Vasari Armada was well into his thirties and was dressed in the violet trimmed white uniform of an officer of his rank.

“So, it wasn’t an arms deal then?” Gravedale asked

“Oh it was, because you know; every meeting ends with five dead guys, a bomb, and a seventeen year-old warrior mage saving the City of Luck.”

“I’ll take that as a yes” Gravedale rolled his eyes; he extended a hand which Midnight took and helped him to his feet. “I’ll extend you the same offer I did last time I hired you”

“And I’ll decline” Midnight said as he walked back down the tunnel. Grave dale kept his pace.

“You’re a good kid, Midnight. You should be in school worrying about girls and college, not fighting as a mercenary.”

“There are loads of things that should happen, Gravedale. We should feed the hungry and steady the weary, and yet here we are, loyal to our own agendas forgetting that doing good in the universe can be mutually beneficial. Not because those causes aren’t important, but because we are so busy dealing with our everyday lives to pay heed.”

“Don’t turn this around on me Midnight. I’m serious; can you honestly tell me that you have no interest of returning to your home?” Midnight stopped walking and pulled out a canteen filled with Mt. Dew.

“It wouldn’t be the same.” Midnight replied taking a swig of the soda. Gravedale nodded in understanding, he knew they were beginning to enter a sensitive subject so he decided to back off. They exited the power station to find a squad of local police waiting, Gravedale nodded and they rushed inside to collect evidence. They turned down the street and kept walking.

“You know, if you aren’t interested in going back to school you could always join the Armada. It wouldn’t even matter that you were a human; we have over a dozen species enlisted. We could use someone with your resourceful attitude.” Gravedale tried, Midnight smiled at that one.

“And have the top brass constantly breathing down my neck? Thanks, but no, that seems like your kind of place but not mine.” Gravedale nodded and the two entered a light-rail train which sped off in the direction of the Starport. “You could try Celeste, I’m sure she would love the excuse to get out of life as a corporate pinhead.” They both laughed at that one, Celeste was currently a student studying at Arcadum University on Planet Deadwing, the HQ of the Deadwing Organization. The University and the Organization worked closely together to provide students smart and reliable enough a real-life experience in each expertise. Midnight had been one of her friends before her choice to go into business had meant that she wouldn’t be able to interact with him much anymore. She aimed to take over her father’s company when he retired. 4^th Degree cybernetics it was called.

“Say what you will about 4^th Degree, but they know how to make quality cybernetic materials.” Midnight said earning a nod of agreement from Gravedale. After Midnight had escaped Pan’s facility he had entered Deadwing’s rigorous training program. He easily had the brains needed to be a mercenary at the age of nine, but his body was weak from the horrific experiments he had been subjugated to at the hands of Dr. Pan. Deadwing had purchased cybernetics from 4^th Degree for Midnight to use. It took six months of replacement surgeries and a good year in rehab, but finally he had become strong enough to resume his training, graduating into his membership of Deadwing at twelve. The light-rail was pulling to a stop at the Starport.

“So, you’re headed back to Deadwing then?” Gravedale asked

“Yeah” Midnight replied “normally I would stay a day or two to enjoy the city but our annual gathering is in a few days and attendance is mandatory so I need to leave now.”

“I’ll have your pay forwarded to your account then” Gravedale held out his hand “Nice seeing you again, don’t get yourself killed again too soon, I had to wait twenty minutes to see your body reform as though nothin’ had happened and I don’t want to see that again for at least a year.”

“No promises” Midnight laughed as he shook Gravedale’s hand and exited the light-rail.