Greenlights Chapter’s 1-3

Chapter One: Darcy

“Open up!” The voice demanded. He banged on the door.

“What's the magic word?” Darcy yelled back as he stuffed his bag with even more jewelry.

“If you don’t open this door your punishment will be even more severe!” Another voice called.

“Those were not the ones I was thinking of...” Darcy mumbled to himself. He was skinny but strong, and his hair was black and had a white streak. His gray eyes were pierced like swords. He wore two brass bralettes on each hand and a gold chain on his neck. He wore a black tee shirt and a leather jacket with black denim jeans that had been ripped. On his feet, he had black tennis shoes.

He heard the Officers outside power up a gravity cannon*.

“Dang,” Darcy said out loud. He hoisted his bag over his shoulder and ran to the nearest window. It was too late. The door flew off its hinges with a loud bang and Darcy stopped. Three cops came through the door.

“Hands up kid!” One, a woman with blonde hair and a mechanical arm yelled. She held a pistol pointed straight at Darcy.

Darcy put his hands up. “Oh, come on,” He mumbled to himself.

Another, a man with a partially robotic face said. “Should we kill the sucker now?”

“What?” That last yelled outraged, A man with white hair and a beard, “He can't be more than ten!”

“I’m uh,” Darcy interjected, “I'm fourteen.”

All three cops glared at him.

“Listen,” The robo-face said “This kid has robbed like eight other stores in the last two weeks! Let's make it easier on all of us and kill the kid.”

“No!” Blondie replied, shocked. “He is just a kid!”

“I agree” oldie but not so goldy said.

“Hey, guys” Darcy interjected, “Just curious, what do you two wanna do with me?”

The two more moral cops looked at each other and the woman said, “Take you to jail I guess.”

“Man, but I really don’t want to go to jail.”

“Should have thought before you robbed eight stores.” The Old man replied.

“How about this,” Darcy replied simply. “I’m gonna show you a magic trick, and if you don’t expect what happens, you let me go.”

“What?”

“Cool glad you agreed,” Darcy said backing up. He backed up and pulled a small coin out of his pocket. “I’m gonna flip this coin three times and it's gonna land on heads every time.”

The cops looked a little confused but didn’t stop him. He flipped the coin and held it out to the police. It was heads. He flipped it again, and yet again it landed on heads. He flipped it one final time and held it out proudly.

“It's tails.” the old man said.

“Really? Are you sure?” Darcy shook his head. “Maybe take a closer look.”

When the old man came just close enough. Darcy punched him on the bridge of his nose. New Phoenix police were all brawn, no brains. He then proceeded to kick him in the stomach, sending him back into a wall. He flicked out his wrists and grapple hooks came out of his bracelets. The wires wrapped around the two remaining cops, and he pulled them with all his might toward each other. They collided and fell apart. He then shot the wires at the walls around the window he had previously been running toward and pulled himself through. As his body hit the glass the window shattered, and Darcy was off.

Darcy loved the adrenaline rush of swinging through the city of New Phoenix. He took a deep breath of the radiation-filled polluted air. When he had been given his bracelets he was told that a SuperHero in comics from the old days used devices a lot like these to swing through a city and fight crime. Something like Spider-boy. Darcy shuddered, he didn't understand how a spider-themed hero would be at all entertaining.

Darcy eventually came to a rougher place in town. The buildings were collapsing and the people were forgotten. A perfect place for someone like him to hide until his boss called him in.

He came to a stop in front of his favorite hideout. It was an old brick building that had fallen over.

Darcy climbed inside a shattered window. Once inside he dug around in his bag for his flashlight, turning it on he had a better view of what was around him. It was a little kids' room. There were toys scattered across the floor and an upside-down bed. To Darcy’s left there was a dresser that had fallen on its side and there was carpet on the wall.

Darcy quietly made his way through the room and out the door. Using his grapple hooks he descended to the first floor where he found the master bedroom. There was a bed that was lying on its side and two nightstands on either side of it. Darcy crossed the room carefully until he made it to a curtain. Darcy went through the curtain and ended up in a walk-in closet. He had set up a sleeping bag and pillow. He had no clue how long he would have to stay here, could be an hour, could be a week. Darcy lay down and before long he was asleep.

Chapter Two: Leo

Leo hated prison.

He had been in this dang place for almost two years now, for a crime he didn't commit.

However, he had to pretend he did.

To protect his brother who did commit the crime.

Leo was waiting in line to get the excuse of food that was prison lunch. Finally, he got to the counter and got some white mush that might have been mashed potatoes, celery, and a glob of some weird soup.

Lovely, He thought, rolling his eyes. He took his food and sat in an isolated corner of the cafeteria. He had only survived this far because he stayed away from all the other prisoners. He had been here since he was sixteen and had been the youngest prisoner for quite a while.

Leo's hair was brown and his eyes were a very light blue. He wore an orange jumpsuit with the number 36235 printed on the back.

Leo started eating his odd-tasting food until he felt some guys in some guys' presence.

“Hey kid,” Some random prisoner said, he had two other prisoners flanking his right and left, “I believe you owe us some money.”

Leo looked around, “Are you talking to me?” It had been so long since Leo had talked that he was almost scared by his own voice. It was deeper then he remembered.

The man laughed, “who else is over here?” He asked.

The guy was covered in tattoos of the most deadly reptiles like snakes and crocodiles. He wore the same orange jumpsuit as Leo and his eyes were reptillic. His hair was stark white and looked like he had been electrocuted.

“I’ve never bought anything from you,” Leo said calmly.

“Oh yes, you have,” Mr. Weird Eye stated, “Every breath you’ve breathed since you’ve been in here, every word you’ve spoken, and every step you’ve taken.” He leaned in so his face was only a few inches from Leo’s “This prison is mine.” His breath smelled like fish.

Leo clenched his fists. He wanted to punch this guy in his ugly face. He knew he could take on all three of these guys, but here, you mess with the wrong guy, and you won’t live to regret it.

Leo grimaced. “How much do I owe you?” He asked.

Reptile Guy smiled, showing his sharp snake-like teeth. Leo cringed on the inside.

“Two-hundred drake.”

“What!” Leo shouted, “You expect me to have that kind of money just lying around!”

“Not my problem.”

Leo shivered with anger. You could knock him out right now, He thought, but he didn’t. He didn’t want to start a fight.

“I can get it by next week,” Leo said, turning back around.

“I want it by tomorrow.”

“Not possible.”

“For your sake,” Reptile Guy growled, “Make it possible.” He then walked away.

Leo sat paralyzed. All of his muscles were tense. He sighed. I guess I gotta find a way to make some money.

Chapter Three: Terelle

Terelle walked with his hoodie up. If the law caught him he was dead. He was on the verge of something great and he couldn't die now. Terelle grew up in a bad neighborhood. He and his family had constantly been being robbed by the rich government types and when his dad didn't have any more money to steal, they killed him. The government of New Phoenix was extremely corrupt. And it was killing people. He was done.

Terelle turned down a dark alley and maneuvered through the streets until he found the guy. A guy who was about twenty years old was leaning casually against a wall wearing an all-black hoodie. When he looked up he revealed his thin facial structure. His eyes were dark green and his hair was blonde. Across his left cheek was a nasty scar and he had a prosthetic left leg. He had a backpack slung on his shoulder. Terelle took off his hoodie revealing dark skin, brown eyes, and curly hair. Terelle was tall and buff, he was very strong, smart, and capable.

Terelle stood casually next to his informant. “What’d ya get?”

“There is going to be a convoy of New Phoenix militia moving down Glendale and Camels Valley,” Greyson said cooley, “They’ll have a shipment of military-grade weapons and armor.”

“Good that should even the odds.” Terelle responded thoughtfully, “Are you sure you don't want to get paid?”

“Nah,” Greyson responded. “It's payment enough that you're doing something to end this tyranny.”

“Yeah well, while the rich folk are sittin’ pretty, everyone else is in a hell hole. Something had to be done.”

“Yeah, it took long enough,” Greyson sighed. “The city was founded in like 3500 right? It's been five hundred years.”

“Maybe it wasn’t always like this,” Terelle stated.

“Maybe.”

“But let's focus on the here and now, we gotta stop those in power from killing even more people.”

“Always one to get to the point,” Greyson mumbled under his breath. He reached inside of his backpack, pulled out a tablet, and handed it to Terelle. “This has all the info I got.”

“All of it?

“Yep.”

“Not just what I asked for?”

Greyson nodded.

“Holy Crap…” Terelle was taken aback. “How much is that?”

“Approximately Five Hundred Gigabytes worth of info on all the evil shtick these guys have pulled since the year 3925.”

Terelles' eyes went wide.

“With this,” Greyson added, “You could not only defeat our enemy but make them hated so much that they’ll not be able to show their faces anywhere in town without getting killed immediately.”

“That's if they escape my guys,” Terelle said confidently. He started to leave but Greyson grabbed his shoulder.

“One last thing,” He reached back into his backpack, pulled out a book, and handed it to Terelle, “Before you do anything, read this.”

Terelle took the book and read the title.

“The Art of War huh,”

“Read it,” Greyson said sternly “The guy who wrote it was Sun Tzu, an absolutely genius strategist and king in China. Back before the bombs dropped many soldiers would read it to help with their own strategy.”

“You really think I need this?” Terelle growled.

Greyson shook his head, “Careful not to get cocky, because that could kill ya.”

Terelle felt very angry that Greyson might doubt his ability. He turned and walked away.