A tingle clambered up his spine as he scanned the room. A few dozen sets of eyes flicked in their direction as they entered and watched their every move like a hawk searching for prey. Devon proceeded in without a care in the world while Sean’s steps nearly faltered as they made it to their station.
A set of metal chairs with a few numbers and letters on them faced down a series of isles manned by the normal workers. He turned to look back at the people who had stared him to near death as he entered.
They were positioned much in the same way they were with a straight view down the isles with a line of sight to the single entrance. One pair had very distinct uniforms that marked them as members of the Julio reapers while a few others shared similarly unique appearances that outed their affiliations. The rest looked very non-descript, similar to Sean’s own baggy clothes. It was an eclectic mess of lackeys that, by all accounts, should not be sharing the same room.
‘I wonder what kind of guy is the leader of the block for them to make something like this happen?’ The idle thought ran from him as he whispered to Devon.
“What are we really doing here? I know we just need to look intimidating, but we have to have a real purpose.”
“Eyes forward. Scan the isles as we talk.” Sean abruptly turned straight ahead as he was warned. “We are officially here to stop any employee theft and anyone that tried to break in.”
He watched the workers bring down a massive tub with opaque sides. An awkwardly shaped shadow jostled around from within.
“Why don’t the just use cameras?” He heard his coworker snort.
“They do but if we are watching then the products won’t stand a chance of leaving the premises and disappearing forever. We are also here to show that Louis knows who the real boss is. The block boss asks for help running his business and the lower bosses help him out or they disappear. Simple really. Always a bigger fish”
That caught his attention. The frustration in the boss’s tone made a little more sense. It wasn’t just irritation that Imani couldn’t make it. It was irritation that he might be ousted out of his lucrative position.
“I see. So, we just sit here for the next six hours and then we leave like we weren’t guarding a massive black-market warehouse?” The comment earned him a chuckle.
“Pretty much. The chairs will vibrate after the uneventful night, and we stand up and get out. Not before getting my guns though. It’s always embarrassing when you leave your gun by accident.”
The attempt at a joke fell flat thanks to the intense worry seizing Sean’s body. Hour after hour of tense staring passed them by without another word said or an event that needed their intervention.
He was finally letting the tension leave his body. It was exhausting being on edge for so long and he was feeling it. His eyelids fluttered as he readjusted in the metal seat. His ass ached and his back cracked as he turned to look at a newcomer opening the door to take their spot.
‘This really isn’t too bad. I could see myself doing this a little more often for a thousand dollars.’
The boss’s offer was far too good to pass up even though it was plainly obvious it wasn’t going to be above board. They had heard some of the henchmen get up and shake a worker down, but no one had been caught stealing yet despite the vigilance.
‘Only a few more hours left.’
Sean flinched. A noise caught his ear from the door’s direction, but it wasn’t opening. It was far different from the loud droning rackets that dominated the warehouse. It wasn’t the skid of tires on concrete, the thump of heavy objects impacting the ground, or the beeping of large machinery.
The noise happened again. He could barely pick it out from the cacophony of sounds, but it was there. His hand hit Devon on the leg, startling him from his silent stare.
“Hey, do you hear that?”
They waited and listened for a few moments before Devon shook his head and went back to staring. Sean let his concerns fall away. It was just another in the lengthy list of noises that blessed the lucrative job.
He watched as a forklift picked a pallet from one of the shelves and slowly lowered it to the ground for a series of other workers to inspect.
The noise happened one more time, just louder. It silenced everyone that heard it. Workers froze and the guards froze in their movements before an alarm began sounding. Every single lackey in the room stood up from their metal chairs and turned to the entrance where the siren continued to blare. The double doors buckled as something slammed into them. The massive chunks of metal looked capable of surviving a nuclear blast, but the force easily deformed them.
“Oh shit.” Devon swore under his breath.
The rest of the lackeys became a blur of motion. Most of them took cover behind large boxes while the others stood tall and proud facing towards the caving doors.
“What do we do?” Sean’s eyes darted to his coworker.
“We hope it isn’t what I think it is and wait for things to resolve itself.” As he spoke, he was taking soft steps backwards.
Another massive clang filled the room as the door dented in even more. The few brave henchmen flinched at the noise. It was clear to everyone that it was about to be mayhem. One of the men’s hands glowed a vibrant orange as it swelled with power. A few others activated their abilities as well, flooding the space with a range of colors and strange sights.
“Whatever you do, don’t try using any power or even look like you are a danger to anyone. They will kill you without a second thought. Devon crouched down behind a large metal crate, pulling Sean with him.
There was a lull in the noise. An awkward silence overtook the world as they knew it. He couldn’t bear it a second longer.
“Devon, is there another exit?” He scanned the room for half a second before all hell broke loose.
The doors exploded off their hinges, flying into the room. They miraculously avoided crushing a single person as they embedded themselves into the concrete floor.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
A slowly creeping fog filtered into the room, obscuring everything on the other side. The henchmen immediately began launching their powered attacks into the doorway, waiting for a scream or retaliation. Nothing answered them. It was still despite the fireball and various objects that were just thrown into an abyss of grey.
“Really bad. That’s at least five dead.” began stripping his suit jacket off and undoing his nice leather belt.
Sean did a double take before inching closer to the tattooed man.
“What do you mean dead and why are you stripping?!”
A loud zapping sound filled the warehouse causing everyone around to flinch in surprise. Half a second later, six distinct thuds hit the floor. He grabbed the side of the barrier they hid behind and peaked around to find the cause.
Where the defenders had once proudly stood against the unknown assailants, only limp bodies remained. Not a drop of blood was visible on their bodies. The few that he could see still wore the same expressions as they had just before the noise filled the room.
“Six. I was off. Just listen to their commands and we might make it out of this alive. Oh yeah, take your jacket off. They are extra rough if you have baggy clothes on.”
Sean stuttered in confusion while working the hoodie over his head.
“Evil doers, we are members of the Hero Union and we are here to raid this facility. If you resist you will be killed. If you try to run, you will be killed. If you do anything that we don’t like, you will be killed.”
The ski mask came off with the jacket, leaving him barefaced.
“What are you doing?! Put that shit back on! We might still be able to save our image if the news crews are outside. If you are the only one without a mask, they will plaster you across the city by tomorrow morning.”
Sean scrambled with his ball of clothes, pulling the black garment from it and hastily throwing it over his head. An eruption of noise exploded into the space, throwing Sean to the floor as the very sound waves pushed at him.
Barrels tumbled to the ground, shelves collapsed, and the lights popped all at once. Only a few of the remaining fluorescent tubes offered them any vision.
He scrambled on the ground with his eyes blocked by the poorly aligned mask and his ears ringing from the concussive blast. Authoritative shouting broke though the developing tinnitus.
“On the ground! On the ground! Hands where we can see them”
“Don’t move!”
“Use your powers and you will be killed!”
The complete confusion Sean was experiencing only worsened as he felt a knee slam into his back and his arms pulled from where they supported him. The person above him zip tied his wrists together and picked him up like a child.
His feet dangled in the air like a lifeless doll as he tried his best to remain as calm and still as possible.
‘Holy fucking shit! I don’t want to die! Please be a dream! Please!’
His internal pleading ended as the man holding him up carried him out of the room, tied up and blinded. A flood of overhead lights shone through the black fabric but offered very little in the way of vision. The rough asphalt parking lot scrapped at his shoes as he forced to stand.
“Six in each carrier! Separate them from people they were near! Don’t need another Anchovie situation!” The shouts were militaristic.
Sean could hear camera shutters fluttering on repeat as he pushed around.
“Get inside!” The man pushed him between his shoulder blades, throwing him into the tall lip of the unidentifiable thing before him.
“I-I can’t see shit out of this thing!” He shouted out over the loud noises with a developing ache in his shins.
A set of large hands hefted him from the ground and tossed him inside, sliding him across the cold steel floor.
“Shit.” He clenched his eyes in pain as he sat up.
The clang of large metal doors blocked out most of the light and sound from the outside. He fell back to the side, bumping into a pair of legs that kicked him away.
“Get the fuck away from me!”
He recognized the rough voice as one of the only truly talkative henchmen from the warehouse. A member of the Julio reapers that insisted on harassing the workers. The sound of a large engine filled the cabin and the rumble of movement let him know where he was.
‘A prisoner transport van. Must be.’
He had seen them riding through town before after a bust late at night, much like the one he was currently on the receiving end of.
Sean’s thoughts were zooming through his head as he put what little pieces he was offered together in hopes of figuring out what was going on. The vehicle took a corner quickly, throwing him into another pair of legs that wasn’t as angry as the last he had bumped into.
“They really didn’t strap him in. That's fucked.” A low baritone voice startled him from the doom and gloom-filled thoughts that had abruptly taken Sean over.
“You guys are strapped in?” A few of the men grunted in affirmation as he stretched his legs out to brace himself from sliding around anymore.
The ride grew quiet as they blew down a series of roads much faster than was normally possible in the full city.
“This is bullshit, man. They can’t just kill us cause we were in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
The same Julio gang member spoke in frustration. The thwack of metal on metal caught everyone's attention.
“Shut the fuck up back there. If we hear anyone say another word, then you will all be in solitary the rest of your miserable lives.” The man spoke in a constant low shout.
'Solitary? Like in prison? No way! This was just supposed to be easy money, not a speedrun to incarceration.’
“Fuck you and your ugly mother!” The same loudmouth shouted back while the other prisoners swore and moaned at the man.
“Fine by me. I hope guys all enjoy a lot of alone time cause that’s all you’re gonna be getting.”
A cackling laugh ended abruptly with a loud metal clang.
“I guess we can talk all we want now. You absolute piece of shit. Why did you have to go and do that shit? We are all gonna go insane cause of your loud mouth.”
“I hope we get just a bit of alone time with you so we can break every bone in your body!”
“I am gonna choke the life out of you with a bed sheet!”
"I'm gonna shit in your food!"
A barrage of angry shouts flew towards the Reaper ember.
“I’d like to see you greasy scumbags try. I could use that skinny brat as a bat to crush your skulls in!”
The carrier became a shouting match between the singular man and everyone else. Sean could swear he was hearing laughter from the drivers as they listened in.
“Hey, dude! Stand up and kick this fucker in the face for us.”
It was obvious who he was talking to. Sean turned in the source's direction.
“What?”
“I said stand up and kick this fucker in his face. I’m speaking English.”
A couple of the other men yelled their support, egging him onwards to give the antagonistic man a beating while the opportunity was still there.
“My mask- I can’t see anything.”
The truck took a hard corner again, threatening to fling him around as he fought to stay in place.
“Fix it then. And stand up to kick his ass. Do it for us. Come on! He fucked you too with his big mouth!”
‘Is this peer pressure from a bunch of criminals?’
Sean adjusted the mask slightly and freed one eye from the clouded tangle of fabric. It offered him a bit of clarity on the situation. The metal box they were stuck in was lit by a single yellow tinged light that barely illuminated the floor below it.
“Do not do anything back there. If you start hitting each other, we will end up in trouble and then you all will be even more fucked.” The authoritative voice shouted out through a small metal slot that separated the prisoners from the detainers. A set of angry orbs stared towards him.
“Ignore this dumbass. We are already going into solitary. There isn’t a worse punishment they can give you. Do it!” The prisoners erupted into noise, egging him forward.
Sean's stomach ached with anxiety.
“What the fuck?!” No other words seemed to fit the outrageous situation.
“I swear to god, if I have to stop this convoy to beat all of your sorry asses up, I will find a way to make your lives hell!” His voice grew in intensity with each syllable. Spit flew from his mouth as he screamed the last word.
Suddenly the world turned upside down. Sean watched as the set of eyes slowly jerked to the side and his head disappeared from the slot. Everything was in slow motion. The vehicle began tumbling as the world sped up once again. He was thrown around like a pet fish in an overzealous child's hands.
The first slam threw him into his fellow prisoners. The second slam stole his breath away. The third slam smashed his knees into the rough steel floor. The fourth ended his terror as he slammed his head against one of the benches.
Everything went black.