Mage Academy

Chapter 2

The team wakes up in an all white room with little furniture, except for a couch and a table with a giant window on the wall. Irritated that they let down their guards, Tsuoa screams out, "Damn it, I can't believe those nice people would do something like this!" Banging his fists on the glass trying to get anybody's attention. As he's banging he notices that the window is more like a two-way mirror.

Aoi comes over to him and tries to calm him down, "It's best to keep your cool in situations like this. Plus we don't know the caliber of the people who trapped us, we don't even know why we're here" she says.

"I can answer that question for you." A random voice responds, "My name is Raiza and my parents took you so we can be friends." A small boy hops off the couch and approaches the gang, dressed in all white with pitch black hair, holding a stuffed bunny. "My parents say that I'm special and that I can only be friends with people that are special like me. If you're in this room that means they think you're special too, not like those other guys."

Zeo cuts him off and questions, "By 'other guys' do you mean the kids that have been going missing recently?" To which Raiza responds positively. Telling him that all the others are somewhere deeper in the house, getting prepped for shipping. This startles the gang and they urge Raiza to tell them where the kids are before it's too late.

"But if I tell you then you won't play with me." Raiza says while dropping his head.

Picking up on his sincerity, Aoi indulges him, promising that if he told them where the kids were then she, Gisei and Tsuoa will stay back and play with him while Zeo goes to scope out the mansion. This pleases Raiza and annoys Gisei and Tsuoa, "Why do we have to stay?" they groan.

Aoi pulls them aside, "Do either of you think you can sneak through this giant mansion without 1. Getting distracted, 2. Getting caught or 3. Breaking anything?" They both think about it for a bit before smiling shyly. "Besides, Zeo is far more suited to stealth than you are and he's the fastest, so he should be back quick. Right Zeo?" She says as she notions to him to which he gives her a thumbs up.

After returning to Raiza he tells them that the children are located in a lower level of the mansion, in one of the sub-basements. "You'll probably have to pass a lot of guards and bypass different security systems to get to the stairwell that leads there, so be careful not to get caught." He warns, "Now it's time to play like you promised!" He says as he drags Aoi and the others to the other side of the room.

Zeo escapes through a vent in the wall and crawls through for a bit before he finds himself above an empty hallway. He silently pops the latches on the vent and escapes, making sure to leave no trace of his arrival. As he examines the empty corridor he notices that the interior is almost laboratorial with different rooms filled with various different liquids and chemicals with numerous warning labels. He creeps deeper into the hall, tracking his steps so he can remember how to get back, using different room titles as markers. He starts to hear voices as he comes to an intersecting corridor, so he shocks the lock on a door to disarm and open it and slips into the room before he gets spotted.

As he's waiting in the room for the voices to pass he notices that he's slipped into a picture room, filled to the brim with photographs of the household, Raiza and his parents, and various photo books. His curiosity gets the best of him and he looks through a book and sees that the family has some extremely shady associates. He makes sure to make a mental note but comes to the conclusion that he has to save the missing kids as soon as possible. He puts his ear to the door to make sure there is nobody around and after he's sure he makes his escape. As he runs through the halls he gets to a stairwell that should lead to the sub-basements according to Raiza. Zeo begins to make his descent into the dark basements, being cautious with his footsteps in case the stairs creak. Not before long he finds himself at the bottom of the stairs and directly in front of a door, as he opens it he hears the wails of multiple children in sorrow.

"It's okay, you don't have to worry anymore. My name is Zeo and my friends and I are going to help you get back home." He pleas, attempting to console the kids in any way that he can. Unfortunately the children are still raucous and fearful causing Zeo to panic, "Aoi would be better at this than I am." he thinks to himself. "I should go get them now that I know the children are safe." As he relieves himself, he heads back up the stairs only to find two guards staring him down. The size difference between the two are incomparable, with one guard being the same size, if not smaller than the captured children dressed like a mafioso and the other towering over him casting an enormous shadow down the stairwell wearing jean overalls.

"It looks like one of them kids done escaped, huh Brutus?" says the giant. Bolstering what seems to be some kind of rod like weapon. "Lets say we rough him up a bit before we put him back down there!"

"Now, now, settle down Mangle, the boss said we can't rough up the goods too bad. Lets just put 'im to sleep and throw him back with the others." The shorter one responds as he takes out a gun like weapon from his inner coat pocket.

"Hey fellas, listen, maybe we can work out some sort of agreement? I'm not even a part of the shipment." Zeo negotiates. "How much Ney are they paying you. Maybe I can match it for you to let us walk out with no problems." The two look at each other and let out a hearty laugh.

"Hey big brother, he thinks he can get us that much Ney." the giant, Mangle continues to laugh and taunt Zeo's proposition.

The older yet smaller brother, Brutus responds through his laughter, "Hey kid if you can fork over 3 million Ney, then my brother and I will look the other way on your daring escape without another word."

Zeo stands and looks at them in disbelief, "I can't believe they're paying you guys 3 million Ney to watch some kids." He thinks to himself, while raising his fists, knowing that he can't avoid a fight. "Well fellas I guess there's only one way we can settle this." As he readies himself, it was Mangle who made the first move and jabs Zeo with a lightning rod. Zeo takes the attack head on and comes out unscathed, looking rather disappointed, revealing to the duo that he's a student of Mage Academy that uses Lightning Magic, and that petty attacks like lightning rods have no effect on him.

Brutus reins in Mangle telling him to calm down and be careful. Reminding him that their bosses want the children unscathed, "Ya see Mangle, you gotta be gentle when trying to put children to sleep." he says as he readies the weapon in his hand and aims it at Zeo, who stands prepared to defend. Unfortunately the weapon was too fast to react to as Brutus lets it off and Zeo immediately slumps over and goes unconscious, falling down the stairwell. "Only after they're knocked out is when the adults' fun begins." Brutus finishes as they make their way down the stairs to lock Zeo back in the childrens' room.