Moonlight Rendezvous (Part 1)
Seeing that for most of you this is your first taste of my non-blogging writing, I hope you enjoy. Also I apologize for any inaccurate descriptions of locales. I've never been to the Empire State Building myself. (D:) So now I'll just shut up and let you read.
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The subway rumbled out of Grand Central, accelerating until the air outside sped between the side of the cars and their concrete tube in a howling rush. Zags braced himself between the floor and the bar that ran across the ceiling as the car shook slightly along the track. Really he couldn't remember the last time he had come to the city. Apparently it had been too long. But it was always an experience, this place.
Tonight was business though. He slid the small crumpled paper out of his jacket pocket with his free hand and peeked down at it again. "Meet me tonight. Outdoor observation floor, Empire State Building." And that was it, no clue as to who the sender was. Zags had no clue how he had ended up with the note either. It seemed to have just... shown up. But for a guy in his line of "work", he was rather used to weird stuff.
On that note, he had to remind himself why he was traveling the old-fashioned way. Sure, flying around on a triangle is cool and all, but when you do it in a city of 7 million people, it kind of attracts a lot of attention. And besides that, he wasn't completely sure of the intention of the note. Best to keep things low-key. Not that he had gone to much lengths to disguise himself; his outfit was the same as ever. A loose charcoal gray shirt, with an open sleeveless white hoodie over it, complimented by jeans, sneakers, and black gloves. Aside from that, his usual entourage of equipment was in place, though not exactly visible to the naked eye. Hidden beneath his hoodie, held in place at his back by two belts, were two short daggers, aligned horizontally with their handles pointing in opposite directions, and between them, a short but sturdy collapsible staff.
The most important piece of his arsenal though, was currently hidden by a thick black headband and a pair of rectangular aviator goggles placed over it. The white flame tattoo-like mark that signified his power was, at the moment, blazed across his forehead, the symbol "Ψ", the Greek letter Psi, etched in black in the midst of the flame. Zags was in Psi mode at the moment because he wanted to keep track of his surroundings. Sure he was still quite aways from his destination, but you never knew... especially with something like a mysterious note appearing out of nowhere. For the moment though, nothing was registering as out of the ordinary. Well, except for this guy sitting a couple seats away that Zags knew was staring at him from behind. Psi mode was handy like that.
One subway transfer and a few blocks walk later, Zags found himself standing outside his destination. He let out a low whistle, looking up at the height of the building. He had never been here in person before, so it was slightly awe inspiring. It had been the tallest building in the world at one point, though now it was probably in the bottom tier of the top 5 or so. Still the tallest building in New York though. Shaking off that thought, Zags peered inside. There was one security guard, who was busy reading the newspaper. Besides that, just a security check point stood between him and the elevators. There was no way Zags was going to do this legitimately. After all, a metal detector did not mean good things for what he was packing. And there was the fact that it cost like 20 bucks to get up to the observation platform.
There was a small flash of light by Zags' left eye, which faded to reveal the signature white-flame tattoo now curled around the particular body part. Though instead of the symbol being "Ψ", it was now "Θ", the Greek letter Theta. Peering once again through the glass, but staying off to the side slightly so the guard wouldn't notice, Zags looked carefully across the lobby to the elevators, spotting the "up" call button. A small point in the glass of the door seemed to shimmer slightly, as though being looked at through heat waves. If one was standing by the elevators, they would notice a similar distortion around the call button. Zags poked his finger through the distortion in the glass, where it promptly vanished, seemingly passing through the glass, but it didn't come out the other side. He felt it hit the button, pushed firmly, and then brought his finger out again.
Zags backed up and glanced around a bit while waiting for the elevator to come down, so as not to look totally suspicious. There was a slight "ding" across the lobby, signaling the elevator's arrival. The guard looked up when the doors slid open, seemed a bit confused when no one came out and started to get up to check it out, but then seemed to change his mind, sitting back down slowly and returning his attention to his paper. Zags waited a few more seconds, and as the elevator doors began to close automatically, the distortion in the glass in front of him expanded, covering virtually the entire doorway. Zags glanced around again quickly, and then slipped through. And then, he was in the elevator, as easily as if he had walked through an open doorway, while the elevator doors shut behind him just a second after he entered.
Hitting the button for the 86th floor, Zags leaned back against the wall as the cables did their thing, his tattoo fading back to its former spot hidden beneath his headband. An elevator ride that long left you wondering what to do for a bit. Zags found his mind wandering to a possible scenario involving the 600th floor. But that was something else entirely. Finally the elevator reached the desired floor and the doors opened with another soft "ding".
Zags strolled out of the elevator and out onto the observation deck. There were still a few people about, seeing as the place was open until 2am, but not all that many. As he was still a few minutes early, he found a secluded spot at a corner of the building and leaned against the fenced-in railing. Now normally, Zags wouldn't be inclined to do this in the least. Knowing you can generate an energy triangle to catch your fall puts a pretty significant damper on the fear of heights.
It wasn't too long before... "Mr. Zags?" The voice came from a young woman who was walking up to him. Zags turned to her and nodded, crossing his arms. "I hope I didn't inconvenience you by calling you out here tonight." She seemed perfectly normal, except for the way her voice and face seemed to carry no emotion whatsoever. Just a blank stare and saying the words in a monotone voice.
"Well, there was a movie I wanted to watch on TV," Zags answered idly.
"Oh." Still no change in the expression and tone. "I apologize."
"It's no big deal," Zags said, waving a hand. "It was on FX; they'll show it three more times this week."
"Oh. I see."
There followed a slight pause, eventually interrupted by Zags clearing his throat. "So... what exactly did you want me to come here for?"
"Oh. Yes. The truth is I want to confess my love to you."
There was another short silence. Zags seemed to be waiting for something more, merely raising an eyebrow. "...Really?" It was obvious by his tone that he wasn't convinced in the least. If someone told you that they loved you in the same tone as this woman had, you probably wouldn't be convinced either.
"Yes. Won't you please accept it?" The woman held out her arms rather stiffly, as though expecting Zags to come running into them. Running into someone's arms wasn't Zags' style, needless to say.
"You're not very subtle, are you?" Zags said, making no move at all.
"What do you mean?" She remained standing in the same position, arms outstretched.
"OK, let's be totally honest here," Zags started, crossing his arms again. "I have no clue who you are, so obviously I would have no feelings for you. Things hardly work out like that anyway. Second, for pete's sake let the woman go already."
"Who is Pete?" She seemed to ignore the second statement.
"Obviously you wouldn't know. I know you've been stalking me since I entered the city, by possessing different people, like that guy on the subway for instance. You don't exactly hide your spirit or intentions very well. And you probably have something to do with the fact that the elevator operator is in a broom closet on the 61st floor, and why the security guard changed his mind about checking why the operator wasn't in the elevator. And now, by using a young woman confessing her love scenario, you probably hoped I would let my guard down and then you could... do whatever you wanted to do that you got me all the way out here for. Haven't figured that part out yet. Either way, you're not very good at this, are you?"
There was another pause. The woman finally lowered her arms. "You are... formidable."
Zags tapped his headband with the back of two of his fingers. "I just notice things. Now are you gonna come out of her or what?"
There was a pale blue glow around the woman for a brief second, and then she collapsed to the ground. The glow, however, remained and collected into a pulsing ball of light. The voice that spoke seemed to emanate from it; it pulsed as it said: "Human emotions are so..." It didn't finish the sentence, as though it couldn't find a proper word to describe what it thought.
"Yea well..." Zags said. "That's what makes us human. And makes us different from you ...whatever you are." The ball of light didn't answer, but it did seem to pulse rather brightly for a second in response to Zags' last statement. "So... did you even have a reason for bringing me here, or did you just not plan this far ahead?"
"It was a test." The orb dimmed again, resuming its pulsing. "You did not let your emotions get the better of you. You pass. Congratulations."
"Lame..." Zags said. "It's rather easy not get emotional over someone who doesn't show emotion in the first place. Seriously, you kind of fail at planning."
"Fine then." The orb pulsed rather brightly again, and Zags thought he heard a slightly frustrated tone creep into the voice. "We will have another test. We will see which is more advantageous in battle: to have emotions that cloud your judgment, or to not have emotions and a clear mind."
"Sounds like you're pretty biased there..." Zags muttered in a low voice. "But whatever, I accept. Might as well make this a trip to remember. But if you don't mind my saying, can you even fight?"
The orb made no vocal response to this, but suddenly zipped away into the night. Zags could follow it for a little while, but soon it got lost in the mass of lights from the city. And where is it going...? Zags wondered. He didn't need to wonder for too long. A thick, heavy flapping sound floated across the air as a dark shape approached from the direction the orb had vanished in. It soon landed on the fence in front of Zags, causing the metal to bend and groan beneath its weight. "Oh nice trick," Zags said, clearly unfazed by this new appearance. "You possessed a gargoyle."
The stone creature flapped its weighted wings once, causing the fence to bend inward a bit more. The particular gargoyle was shaped like a griffin, though it stood slightly upright instead of on all fours, with a beaked head, stone feathers etched into the wings, fierce clawed forearms and powerful crouched rear legs like a cat's. The same monotone voice issued from within the gargoyle, echoing slightly. "This body will be suitable enough. Let the test begin."
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Yea that's where it leaves off. I am always horrible with cliff-hangers. Anyway, hope you enjoyed, and comments and critique are highly encouraged. Seriously, you're a new audience that hardly knows me yet so I'd like to know what you think.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The subway rumbled out of Grand Central, accelerating until the air outside sped between the side of the cars and their concrete tube in a howling rush. Zags braced himself between the floor and the bar that ran across the ceiling as the car shook slightly along the track. Really he couldn't remember the last time he had come to the city. Apparently it had been too long. But it was always an experience, this place.
Tonight was business though. He slid the small crumpled paper out of his jacket pocket with his free hand and peeked down at it again. "Meet me tonight. Outdoor observation floor, Empire State Building." And that was it, no clue as to who the sender was. Zags had no clue how he had ended up with the note either. It seemed to have just... shown up. But for a guy in his line of "work", he was rather used to weird stuff.
On that note, he had to remind himself why he was traveling the old-fashioned way. Sure, flying around on a triangle is cool and all, but when you do it in a city of 7 million people, it kind of attracts a lot of attention. And besides that, he wasn't completely sure of the intention of the note. Best to keep things low-key. Not that he had gone to much lengths to disguise himself; his outfit was the same as ever. A loose charcoal gray shirt, with an open sleeveless white hoodie over it, complimented by jeans, sneakers, and black gloves. Aside from that, his usual entourage of equipment was in place, though not exactly visible to the naked eye. Hidden beneath his hoodie, held in place at his back by two belts, were two short daggers, aligned horizontally with their handles pointing in opposite directions, and between them, a short but sturdy collapsible staff.
The most important piece of his arsenal though, was currently hidden by a thick black headband and a pair of rectangular aviator goggles placed over it. The white flame tattoo-like mark that signified his power was, at the moment, blazed across his forehead, the symbol "Ψ", the Greek letter Psi, etched in black in the midst of the flame. Zags was in Psi mode at the moment because he wanted to keep track of his surroundings. Sure he was still quite aways from his destination, but you never knew... especially with something like a mysterious note appearing out of nowhere. For the moment though, nothing was registering as out of the ordinary. Well, except for this guy sitting a couple seats away that Zags knew was staring at him from behind. Psi mode was handy like that.
One subway transfer and a few blocks walk later, Zags found himself standing outside his destination. He let out a low whistle, looking up at the height of the building. He had never been here in person before, so it was slightly awe inspiring. It had been the tallest building in the world at one point, though now it was probably in the bottom tier of the top 5 or so. Still the tallest building in New York though. Shaking off that thought, Zags peered inside. There was one security guard, who was busy reading the newspaper. Besides that, just a security check point stood between him and the elevators. There was no way Zags was going to do this legitimately. After all, a metal detector did not mean good things for what he was packing. And there was the fact that it cost like 20 bucks to get up to the observation platform.
There was a small flash of light by Zags' left eye, which faded to reveal the signature white-flame tattoo now curled around the particular body part. Though instead of the symbol being "Ψ", it was now "Θ", the Greek letter Theta. Peering once again through the glass, but staying off to the side slightly so the guard wouldn't notice, Zags looked carefully across the lobby to the elevators, spotting the "up" call button. A small point in the glass of the door seemed to shimmer slightly, as though being looked at through heat waves. If one was standing by the elevators, they would notice a similar distortion around the call button. Zags poked his finger through the distortion in the glass, where it promptly vanished, seemingly passing through the glass, but it didn't come out the other side. He felt it hit the button, pushed firmly, and then brought his finger out again.
Zags backed up and glanced around a bit while waiting for the elevator to come down, so as not to look totally suspicious. There was a slight "ding" across the lobby, signaling the elevator's arrival. The guard looked up when the doors slid open, seemed a bit confused when no one came out and started to get up to check it out, but then seemed to change his mind, sitting back down slowly and returning his attention to his paper. Zags waited a few more seconds, and as the elevator doors began to close automatically, the distortion in the glass in front of him expanded, covering virtually the entire doorway. Zags glanced around again quickly, and then slipped through. And then, he was in the elevator, as easily as if he had walked through an open doorway, while the elevator doors shut behind him just a second after he entered.
Hitting the button for the 86th floor, Zags leaned back against the wall as the cables did their thing, his tattoo fading back to its former spot hidden beneath his headband. An elevator ride that long left you wondering what to do for a bit. Zags found his mind wandering to a possible scenario involving the 600th floor. But that was something else entirely. Finally the elevator reached the desired floor and the doors opened with another soft "ding".
Zags strolled out of the elevator and out onto the observation deck. There were still a few people about, seeing as the place was open until 2am, but not all that many. As he was still a few minutes early, he found a secluded spot at a corner of the building and leaned against the fenced-in railing. Now normally, Zags wouldn't be inclined to do this in the least. Knowing you can generate an energy triangle to catch your fall puts a pretty significant damper on the fear of heights.
It wasn't too long before... "Mr. Zags?" The voice came from a young woman who was walking up to him. Zags turned to her and nodded, crossing his arms. "I hope I didn't inconvenience you by calling you out here tonight." She seemed perfectly normal, except for the way her voice and face seemed to carry no emotion whatsoever. Just a blank stare and saying the words in a monotone voice.
"Well, there was a movie I wanted to watch on TV," Zags answered idly.
"Oh." Still no change in the expression and tone. "I apologize."
"It's no big deal," Zags said, waving a hand. "It was on FX; they'll show it three more times this week."
"Oh. I see."
There followed a slight pause, eventually interrupted by Zags clearing his throat. "So... what exactly did you want me to come here for?"
"Oh. Yes. The truth is I want to confess my love to you."
There was another short silence. Zags seemed to be waiting for something more, merely raising an eyebrow. "...Really?" It was obvious by his tone that he wasn't convinced in the least. If someone told you that they loved you in the same tone as this woman had, you probably wouldn't be convinced either.
"Yes. Won't you please accept it?" The woman held out her arms rather stiffly, as though expecting Zags to come running into them. Running into someone's arms wasn't Zags' style, needless to say.
"You're not very subtle, are you?" Zags said, making no move at all.
"What do you mean?" She remained standing in the same position, arms outstretched.
"OK, let's be totally honest here," Zags started, crossing his arms again. "I have no clue who you are, so obviously I would have no feelings for you. Things hardly work out like that anyway. Second, for pete's sake let the woman go already."
"Who is Pete?" She seemed to ignore the second statement.
"Obviously you wouldn't know. I know you've been stalking me since I entered the city, by possessing different people, like that guy on the subway for instance. You don't exactly hide your spirit or intentions very well. And you probably have something to do with the fact that the elevator operator is in a broom closet on the 61st floor, and why the security guard changed his mind about checking why the operator wasn't in the elevator. And now, by using a young woman confessing her love scenario, you probably hoped I would let my guard down and then you could... do whatever you wanted to do that you got me all the way out here for. Haven't figured that part out yet. Either way, you're not very good at this, are you?"
There was another pause. The woman finally lowered her arms. "You are... formidable."
Zags tapped his headband with the back of two of his fingers. "I just notice things. Now are you gonna come out of her or what?"
There was a pale blue glow around the woman for a brief second, and then she collapsed to the ground. The glow, however, remained and collected into a pulsing ball of light. The voice that spoke seemed to emanate from it; it pulsed as it said: "Human emotions are so..." It didn't finish the sentence, as though it couldn't find a proper word to describe what it thought.
"Yea well..." Zags said. "That's what makes us human. And makes us different from you ...whatever you are." The ball of light didn't answer, but it did seem to pulse rather brightly for a second in response to Zags' last statement. "So... did you even have a reason for bringing me here, or did you just not plan this far ahead?"
"It was a test." The orb dimmed again, resuming its pulsing. "You did not let your emotions get the better of you. You pass. Congratulations."
"Lame..." Zags said. "It's rather easy not get emotional over someone who doesn't show emotion in the first place. Seriously, you kind of fail at planning."
"Fine then." The orb pulsed rather brightly again, and Zags thought he heard a slightly frustrated tone creep into the voice. "We will have another test. We will see which is more advantageous in battle: to have emotions that cloud your judgment, or to not have emotions and a clear mind."
"Sounds like you're pretty biased there..." Zags muttered in a low voice. "But whatever, I accept. Might as well make this a trip to remember. But if you don't mind my saying, can you even fight?"
The orb made no vocal response to this, but suddenly zipped away into the night. Zags could follow it for a little while, but soon it got lost in the mass of lights from the city. And where is it going...? Zags wondered. He didn't need to wonder for too long. A thick, heavy flapping sound floated across the air as a dark shape approached from the direction the orb had vanished in. It soon landed on the fence in front of Zags, causing the metal to bend and groan beneath its weight. "Oh nice trick," Zags said, clearly unfazed by this new appearance. "You possessed a gargoyle."
The stone creature flapped its weighted wings once, causing the fence to bend inward a bit more. The particular gargoyle was shaped like a griffin, though it stood slightly upright instead of on all fours, with a beaked head, stone feathers etched into the wings, fierce clawed forearms and powerful crouched rear legs like a cat's. The same monotone voice issued from within the gargoyle, echoing slightly. "This body will be suitable enough. Let the test begin."
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Yea that's where it leaves off. I am always horrible with cliff-hangers. Anyway, hope you enjoyed, and comments and critique are highly encouraged. Seriously, you're a new audience that hardly knows me yet so I'd like to know what you think.