Mac conjured a van from nothing.

I stood in shock as Mac produced a van from his hands, likely an ability relating to his power.

Beside the van was a set of three small crates, presumably one for each of us.

After conjuring the van, Mac turned around and said, “Pretty cool, eh? It’s just somethin’ I can do with my power, Machinery.”

Aria and I nodded in agreement, while Moriti shrugged.

Mac walked over to the crates and opened each of them. How he opened them was, simply put, unconventional. His forearm and hand transformed into a hydraulic rescue tool, which easily removed the tops of each crate.

“Listen up, here’s the plan. Weaponsmith is currently staying at a hotel in the city, so ya’ll are goin’ to disguise ya’ selves as hotel staff. Once we’ve made it to his room we’ll jus’ deal with em’, simple as. Ya’ll will wear the disguises in these crates.” He explained.

Mac created three earpieces from his hands and handed them to us.

“I put cameras in the shirt pocket of the uniforms so I’ll be able to see what’s goin’ on, but just in case, tap the earpiece if something goes wrong. I’ll try to get there as soon as I can. It’ll also let ya’ll talk to each other.” He explained further.

We all put the earpieces in and changed into our disguises. The uniforms were a standard suit with a red vest and black bowtie for Moriti and me, and for Aria, her uniform was the same but with her bowtie-like cloth tied like a flight attendant’s. We were also given name tags and key cards.

We entered the van and started our drive to the hotel.

The hotel looked extremely fancy from its exterior. The hotel’s color scheme was dark red and gold, with gold pillars and red outlines making up its many floors.

Mac dropped us off and we entered the hotel. Mac had told us on the drive here that Weaponsmith was on floor 10, room 8, so we knew where we had to go. The problem was getting the key to the room or finding an alternative method inside.

The three of us huddled to the side of the main entrance and discussed our plan before we did anything.

“We’ve got to figure out how to get into his room first, whether it’s using a key or breaking in. Do you guys have any ideas?” I asked.

Aria immediately looked over to Moriti, and Moriti sighed, saying, “I-I guess we could use my shadow transport power to enter his room. My power allows me to enter a shadow like a portal and exit out of another shadow. It’s like teleporting but I can only use it if the shadow fits my full body or if there are shadows for me to use. I can take you guys with me as long as you’re touching me, it’ll just be more difficult to find a shadow large enough for us all…”

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

“See Moriti! You just need to speak up more, you’re a real asset!” Aria exclaimed, trying to compliment Moriti.

“Y-yeah, whatever…” Moriti mumbled.

I looked around the area we were in, looking for a good shadow. There was of course the main entrance’s canopy that provided a large shadow, but that’d be much too clear for anyone to see. We’d be stopped or questioned almost immediately. I realized something that I had to say to the group.

“The back of the building where the dumpsters are is for sure covered in shade, so it’d be the perfect place for us to go. We can pretend we’re taking our garbage and then use the shadows back there to teleport into Weaponsmith’s room!” I explained, a little excited that I had come up with a useful idea.

Aria smiled from ear to ear as I said this, saying, “That’s so smart! First, though, we’ll have to go collect trash from different spots in the hotel, so let’s split up and meet at the dumpsters at 9:30 am.”

“Sounds good, see you guys in a bit,” I said, already on my way.

I searched the complimentary breakfast bar for trash and collected at least 4 trash bags. Once I’d finished up with that, it was 9:32 am and I was ready to go to the dumpsters.

Once I got there I found Aria and Moriti already sat there, waiting. Moriti looked annoyed and Aria still seemed as cheerful as ever.

“Sorry guys I just got held up, I’m here now though.” I apologized, Moriti’s annoyed stare burning through my skull.

Moriti eventually let go of the death stare, motioning Aria and me to grab his arms. I grabbed his left, Aria grabbed his right. He began to sink into the ground like it was a viscous liquid. We were being pulled in, so we got to feel it too. Entering the shadow sent a sudden wave of cold throughout my body, all heat being voided in the body parts sunk in the shadow. It didn’t feel like liquid like how it looked, instead, it felt like hyper-compressed cold air that was colored black.

After a moment, I could feel the parts of my body that had already entered the shadow return to a normal temperature.

Once we had passed through completely, I found myself in a marble bathroom. The facets were made of gold, everything was polished to perfection, to a point that my reflection would show on the wall. The lights were off, explaining how we teleported in here despite the daylight outside.

I looked over and Moriti nodded at me, motioning me to open the door and enter the bedroom where Weaponsmith was. We were ready for anything but knew we’d have the advantage since he’d be caught off guard. Before I opened the door, I heard a clinking sound. I assumed it was from whatever Weaponsmith was doing and paid it no mind.

I slowly pushed the door open, finding a man staring straight at us, sitting on a bed. The man had jet-black hair, and pale skin, and was wearing a combat suit, complete with armored plates segmenting his chest, arms, and legs. He had a symbol of a knife and gun crossing on his chest inside of a grey circle. He had a smirk on his face that told me everything I needed to know. This man was Weaponsmith and knew we were coming and prepared for our entrance.

Weaponsmith’s eyes motioned to a grenade on the floor before us whose safety pin was already pulled.

“You thought you could ambush me?! I’m a fucking hero, I can’t be killed!” Weaponsmith screamed.

The entire world stopped for a moment, and I felt my life flash before my eyes. Or, at least what I could remember of it.

There was no way out of this.