Shadow's Dance (old)

Chapter 27: Claws to Hearts

Jane plugged the usb flash drive in to the tiny slot in the metallic case. Almost instantly her suit had its small upgrade that she worked on all throughout the night just for the event. One that would have eyes from Phantom and ears from people that controlled how the heroes operated.

She slipped her gear on with ease, Jane made sure not to forget anything. Brushing her hair out then blow drying it to ensure that the horns were covered completely but still looked presentable.

These were the people to impress.

These were the minions of Phantom.

These were the ones who rolled her dice.

Heart rate, pupils, breathing, patterns.

Jane's hand tightened on the frame of the doorway. It could even be a trap. She passed through the hallway with a heartless expression. This was a job that required many thing.

Love isn't one of them.

It was the A.M.O.N.G. room that she appeared in. As it created targets and dummies that she could test her new gloves. Their slick plated with blue highlights made her feel the small trickle that she had built up. Luck for Jane, the material adapted like her cells and still gave some protection. Her hand was outstretched infront of her and slowly started adding more power. The glow it produced looked so pure and innocent. Her fingers bent as though it grabbed a doorknob, a ring of blue floated inches away as a second one with symbols that changed and shifted only to produce a skinnier band before a larger one that faded outward. It's components changed in size and the symbols flashed and shifted to make the glow even stronger. After about an hour of doing this it shrunk and a duplicate appeared. It now looked like 2 solid rings just before a glowing middle. A powerful ray blasted out and hit a simulated target. She could smell the burning of circuits with a gaping hole.

"Good, but not nearly perfect." Jane whispered harshly to herself as she saw the room repair itself.

She looked down at her hand and tugged the glove off to see nothing new. It did its job, that's what mattered. If there was an attack Jane would counter and be able to strike without risking damage to herself.

Putting the glove back on she flexed her hand. Jane walked out of the room figuring it was close to when they were going to leave. She shifted her scarf awkwardly and straightened her suit.

Running her fingers through her hair Jane felt off. Something was wrong. She could feel the energy was different. Her eyes lit up as a yell echoed through her bones. A chill ran down her as it died off. Bursting out of the hallway she tried to see where it came from. There wasn't any thing that followed it so she raced to their gathering spot. Her heart pounded in her chest but her breathing was stable. She could see 5 blurry figures standing there.

Giving a sigh of relief Jane said. "What was that noise? That scream?"

One of the heads turned to her so that she could see the black void of where the eyes were supposed to be. "I don't know what you mean 382. All we want is your attention."

She growled at the creatures. "Is this as low as you'll go Nick? Making imposters of my allies. Where are they?"

"Well, I implanted a better version at the party, they left about 5 minutes ago with it while the real one was busy trying to prepare for something that already happened." She could hear the voice but it wasn't Nick's.

Jane could t tell where it came from, she knows someone who could do that. "Herring and Patch. Why are you doing this?" She asked calmly.

Someone jumped down seemingly from the shadows as the 5 imposters faded to show Patchwork. "The imposter will do more than you could. We told Moon before hand because he would have sensed it wasn't you. Jane, you're still recovering. The last thing we need is some attack on that group and letting out captain drown."

"Remove it, now." Jane shifted her head to glare at Herring. "That's an order."

"There still in the car, 2 minutes in, are you sure about this?" Patchwork's faint voice said.

"Yes, you're overextended yourself by being this far from your illusion. I need to be there, the real me needs to be there."

Patchwork's eyes shifted from the solid black to his regular white and green eyes.

"Don't you ever do something like this again or I promise you that it won't be just Nick and all of Phantom on the wall." Jane stormed out of the building to catch up with the car.

Jane could hear the squeaking of tired as it suddenly stopped. She portaled inside where the doppelganger had.

"Thanks for telling me what Patch and Herring has planned." Jane sot a look of disapproval towards Moon. "I can't protect if you give me false information or trick me. What if something major happened like the rise began? How can I do my job if you put me on the side lines?"

"I don't think it's a good idea to go in anywhere with half of your power. I don't want to see you laying dead on the ground!"

"I can take care of myself, or have you forgotten what has happened to all of us?"

"Well it doesn't mean that you have to do this by yourself. I called them in, I made that choice because I care."

"This whole thing is bigger than me, you, or anyone. Do you think any of us chose this life? No. However, I know how Phantom thinks, I know how Nick thinks, I know how the public thinks, and I know how the Mages think. Because of that knowledge I have to take very careful steps. By calling those two in not even a month after a crash raises suspicions. Why do you think I didn't contact you? It's so that no alarms would go off."

Mae tried to calm the two down. "Alright, let's just admit that we have disagreements and move on."

The two glared at each other and made the air stiff with tension. It was as thick as butter. The car stopped and the door opened to reveal bright flashes of light and a cluster of people.