Red Sun Rising

Chapter 7: Jared's Light and Darkness

Danny:

"Argh!"

I winced as Kento knocked down another clone trooper, sending his weapon flying. That was the fifth one in the past half hour.

"Sorry!" Kento yelled back without slowing his pace.

I had dared him to run a hundred laps around HQ in no less than one hour to keep him busy. Otherwise, he would've continued snooping around the Minions' sleeping quarters in search of more purple taffy. In hindsight... it wasn't really a good idea.

"Sir," a clone trooper ran up to me, his helmet slightly dented, "is there no other way to keep the Swecanian occupied? The men are getting worried. Half a dozen of them have already been sent to the infirmary. Plus, the Minions aren't happy about their taffy being almost all out."

Massaging the side of my temple, I watched as Kento sped past us once more. The clone trooper was right. There had to be some other way to entertain Kento that ensured the safety of the troops here.

"Well, any ideas?" I asked.

He glanced down at the floor in thought before shrugging his shoulders at me.

I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. "Okay, alright, um... Kento? Kento!"

The Swecanian skidded to a stop five inches in front of me, giving me a close-up of his vivid purple eyes. I took an involuntary step backwards, the clone trooper next to me raising his gun on instinct.

"Yes-Danny-roo? What-can-I-do-for-you? Hey-that-rhymed-cool! Now-what-do-you-need?"

"Um, well, we're in need of..." I trailed off.

"Masks? Toxic-gas? Trip-wire? Toffee?" Kento listed off, looking more and more excited by the prospect of going on an errand. "Sweets-would-be-nice-oh-but-weapons-might-be-helpful-too. Reminds-me-of-that-time-I-met-dwarves-from—"

"That's it!" I said. "Kento, head over to er, Erebor, the Dwarf Kingdom. A few extra weapons wouldn't hurt. And armor too. Ah, maybe you should get those from the elves or one of the villages of men. I don't think the dwarves have armor our size in stock."

"Aye-aye-captain!" Kento did a quick salute and ran off, going through a portal halfway across the courtyard.

I snorted. "That's Max's title."

"Right, sir," the clone trooper next to me said. "That's because you're the lieutenant." He walked off down a hallway, probably to get his helmet repaired. A half-smile formed on my face.

Lieutenant was an unofficial title Steven had given me back when we started the D.T.C. The Rockwell cousins were the only ones with a title in their codename: Commander Ray, Captain Laser, Sergeant Hawk. I was just Phantom Hunter and I had preferred it that way.

When the clone troopers were new to HQ, they had asked about my rank, wondering if I was just a D.T.C hunter or whatever. Steven had immediately named me Lieutenant.

"Jarvis, how is everything?" I called out, heading back to Steven's Technolab. I had left him in charge of overseeing Tyton's current situation before chasing after Kento.

"No irregular activity detected, sir," Jarvis reported. "The museum curator, Mr. Palmer has sent a message asking about the Flamourian opal Max borrowed the other day."

"Ah, tell him... the use of the opal is necessary for our current situation. We'll talk to the Flamourian leaders about it."

"He also wishes to know if you have any news on the creature that caused havoc at the museum."