Rebel: A Monstercat Fanfic

047 - Disturbance

Song of the Chapter: Triumph - WRLD (Future Bass)

Sorry, Chewbecca17. Don't hate me. It was an accident. 

And the Chapter name isn't like "disturbing", it's like a disturbance in the Force ... btw

Also there's a lesson learned in the next chapter; pay attention

(Phantom's POV)

It's past midnight when Noisestorm finally agrees to let Nitro take us to Tristam and Braken. He told us only a million times that he saw them on the roofs, and I think Noise only agreed because the kid was driving us both crazy.

Nitro takes us along back alleys and gets us into the main part of the city without any trouble. He leads us right to the roof ladder, and my stomach tightens as I look up. Why does it have to be heights?

Noisestorm nudges my arm gently, smirking at me in the moonlight. I make a growling noise at him, but follow slowly up to the roofs. The height immediately makes me dizzy, and I stumble again. My breath catches in my throat and my heart speeds up until it's painfully pounding against my rib cage, as if it's trying to break out. My knees lock and my hands shake but suddenly Noisestorm is next to me, his arms around my shoulders. He gently leads me over to a door thing, where Tristam, Rogue, and Eveelyn are sitting down. "Sit," he says firmly, helping me lower myself to the floor next to Tristam. My head is spinning, my vision unfocused and doubled, like I'm stuck cross-eyed. At least it's better when I sit down.

"Nice to see you, too," Tristam teases, giving me a friendly smile. Tristam is probably the most friendly person I know, and I feel a little more confident with him next to me.

Gradually, I can see normally and my heart starts to slow down. I'm still afraid, but not nearly as much as before. Now, I start to notice things, like how Braken's green scarf is wrapped around Tristam's right leg, and there's a decent-sized bloodstain where he must've been hurt. Seeing his scarf makes me look up at Braken, who's sitting further away by himself, thinking and staring at the stars. I notice an enormous purple mark on his neck, which has been covered by his scarf ever since we met him. It doesn't look like a birthmark. It looks like a scar - a burn scar to be exact. I have a few of those, one on my arm and a bigger one on my back. His looks worse, like he couldn't escape the burning, like it stayed there for a long time. I wonder what happened to him, but I don't dare ask, especially after catching the cautious glances Rogue and Tristam throw at him. They look at him like they're afraid they'll set him off or something, like he's some sort of time bomb. I don't understand. All I see is a quiet, curious, somewhat lost and broken boy, watching the stars with a childlike fascination.

Braken suddenly looks at me, his wondering eyes suddenly flashing something - something that scares me. It's fear, but he's not afraid. It's more like the power of fear. Something happened that made Tristam and Rogue nervous, and I think it has to do with the power of fear. Braken learned something I've known for a very long time: fear is an excellent motivator. But he didn't learn it on the victim's end. He learned it on the other side, on the oppressing end. He caused the fear, and now he looks like he's thinking about the kind of power he's just discovered - not planning to use it yet, just thinking. The sudden flash of fear is gone quickly, but it lingers in my mind, unnerving me.

I turn my attention to Noisestorm, hoping to distract myself for just a moment. He's sitting on the other side of me, his arm still around my shoulders. I think about that and relax. As long as he's here, I know I'll be okay. I rest against him, leaning my head on his shoulder and closing my eyes. I'm exhausted from the panic of being on the run. Now that we're here, the both of us, safe and sound up here, I can finally relax.