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The Blue Demon : Chapter One, Part One
Written by Nic Ventura
Prelude:
He ran as fast as he could. A large man ran down the concrete sidewalks of this town of Crystal City. He couldn't believe he of all people was being chased by a mere myth of the streets, The Blue Demon. He spotted a side alleyway that people would take to cut time getting between 'The Main' and Broad. He ran as fast as his stubby legs would take him, his blubber jiggling as he ran, like waves of water always cresting but never crashing. He stopped and took several deep breaths. "Yes..." he muttered huffing and puffing. "Lost him," he finished in a labored manner.
Then a soft but dangerous voice filled with uncontrolled hate floated from above and it made the man's once red cheeks go white, "You’re wrong..." Then a flash of blue light followed by a loud explosion, and a gaping hole appeared in the man's head
Chapter One: Life
A young man with a welding torch stood over the dismantled body of the X-RL20 service bot. The motion driver had short-circuited and the thing rammed right into a wall. So doing his job for money Darrik was repairing the damaged maintenance bot. Sounds of yawning came from behind the mask. He had been at this bot for the better part of the day and not accomplished much. He put down the electrical welder and reached up and pulled off the mask. Shoulder length black hair tumbled out of the helmet, his face a pallid flesh color due to lack of sun. He looked like any normal Crystilian. His face had botches of dirt and oil, but with or without the stains he still looked young and fit. He pulled off the electrical resistant gloves, stepping out from behind the work table and walking out of the work room. It was lunch time.
Darrik waved to his partner and friend, Tom, "I'll be heading to Mikey's for lunch, want anything?" Darrik's voice rang out in a contralto. Tom, a Neocean with light brown hair and blue eyes that truly showed his heritage, looked up to his good friend and responded, "Nah, Christi and I are going to Deers for lunch together. Promised her I'd go. So just pay for yourself," Tom finished with a grin.
Darrik nodded, stepped out of the door, and took one last look at where he worked ever since he left the gang. ‘The Electrical Sprocket Repair Shop’ it was called. He took pride in his work there; he loved fixing things.
Darrik walked down 'The Main,' a large plaza near the center of Crystal City. It was basically a large center to get to other parts of the city. He looked to his right and saw a collection of the good police of the city in an alley. “Probably another crime,” Darrik thought to himself. He turned to a long tube where the above ground maglevs traveled to other parts of the city. He stepped up to an electronic booth and pulled out his ECS stick. Inserting it into the booth, the booth immediately came to life with an electronic voice. "Hello, welcome to the Crystal City Public Transit system, CCPT. The purchase of a ticket above ground is two ECS. Please choose destination."
Systematically a list of destinations appeared on the computer monitor reading:
Please speak destination clearly....
1)Stone Face District
2)South Side District
3)East Side District
Before the the list completed Darrik interrupted, "The south side district, please." He responded clearly. The machine went through a series of hums and clicks, then popped out a card stating destination and departure time. "Thank you for using CCPT," the electronic voice droned.
Darrik walked up the stairs, putting his ECS stick back in his coat pocket and his ticket in hand. Afterwards he stepped to the ticket reader, slid his ticket into the device, and with a swish and a click he was walking into the Maglev, but not to the destination he had told his friend.
END CHAPTER ONE PART ONE