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Spellbound - Chapter Eight

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Chapter Eight

No Time to Party


She roared, and slammed a final kick into the dummy.

It rocked back and forth, hitting the wall several times before finally coming to a stop. Angrily, the girl drew her fist back for another punch, only to be stopped by a yell. “Grimm! That’s enough! It’s been three days! I know you’re angry about Lance and Noir getting Lunaco but punching things isn’t going to get you anywhere!” Commander P snarled, spinning her around and looking her in the eye.

Anger gone, she deflated and sighed, running a hand through her hair. “I know, I know… but it sure as hell makes me feel better…”

“Good. Then get changed, because we might have a new lead in tracking them down.”

She rubbed her nose, wiping the sweat off of it. “Please don’t tell me it involves running around in the sewers again. We’ve done that more times than I can count.”

Before the Commander could answer her, Yumi popped her head into the room, hair done up into a classy bun. “Grimm, how come you’re not ready yet?”

“Yeah sis, why aren’t you ready yet?” Grin joined in, a cocky smirk on his face as he adjusted his shirt.

Footsteps came down the corridor and Rose, garbed in a cute green dress, stepped into the room. “Hey Grimm, why aren’t you-”

WHATAREN’T I READY FOR?!” the Vice-Commander finally snapped, her brother laughing at her irritation.

Commander P shook his head and laughed, before taking the time to adjust his tie and smoothly slip on a pair of sunglasses. It was then that Grimm realised that they were all dressed in garments that looked fit for a grand party. “We’re following the trail of the weapon. If Lunaco was telling the truth, and there really was a counterfeit gun, then the best way for us to find out about it is to go straight to the heart of their operation, somewhere everyone will be talking about it. The “King of the Underworld” is throwing a party tonight,” he smirked, taking his hand out of his pocket and fanning out tickets, “And we’re invited.”

Grimm quirked an eyebrow in surprise. “Not getting our PR doubles to attend this time? I’m impressed, Commander.”

Rose pouted, her hair falling softly in waves around her shoulders. “Why should they get to have all the fun? We deserve a night off! And besides, they and Morgan are operating for us.”
A laugh finally escaped Grimm’s mouth as she watched Rose pout about the lack of high-class parties they got to attend. “Alright, I’ll go get ready. The blue lace dress?”

“That’s the one, Vice-Commander. Now hurry up!”

She decided to comply with her Commander’s orders for once and raced back to her room, finding the dress and assorted accessories all laid out on her bed. It was a sleeveless high-collared dress, made with navy lace that stopped just above the knee.
It was the kind of outfit that could make a girl feel absolutely unstoppable. Grimm took a few seconds to admire herself in the mirror, turning and almost tripping over her heels. “No matter how much I wear them, I still can’t get used to the damn heels,” she grumbled, the shoes making a clicking noise on the floor as she strode off to one of the bathrooms to do her make-up.

Several minutes later, she emerged from the bathroom and met Commander Plasma and the others in the foyer of the floor. He had a guitar case slung over his back, and Rose was just finishing sound checks on her microphone. “Our cover is the entertainment and its’ managers again?”

Her brother nodded. “Yup. You should see how much we paid the actual band to make them leave the party alone! If we don’t get a lead, Eranol’s not going to be happy.”

Yumi fiddled nervously with her earpiece as the group took the elevator down to the car that was waiting for them, a nervous silence hanging in the air during the drive.

The lights of the city flew by, just visible enough through the setting sun that gave everything a dull orange glow. As usual, Grin had his nose pressed against the window, watching the scenery fly by, his sister going through all her equipment silently.
Rose suddenly spoke, making everyone jump. “Commander, do you think we’ll find anything there?”

He laughed heartily, trying his best to keep everyone’s spirits up. “Rose, it’s one of Luke Terzo’s parties! We’re sure to pick up some information. And besides, it’s not what you know…”

The car pulled up to an elegant, almost gothic looking building of large stature, more and more expensive cars pulling up with every passing minute. Commander Plasma smiled as he got out the car, gesturing to the swanning crowds, “But who you know.”

And almost immediately, his grand entrance was ruined as a blonde woman with her hair done in a slick ponytail sauntered aggressively up to him and yanked at his arm. “Fancy seeing you here, Aiden,” the woman whispered, eyes narrowing into hard slits.

Grin immediately burst out laughing, his older sister covering his mouth quickly as the Commander’s face went red. “And fancy seeing you here, Nadina,” he replied with a grimace, looking as though he was contemplating strangling someone.

“I think we should break them up,” Yumi spoke quietly to the rest of the group, Rose and Grimm nodding silently in agreement.

Before they could do anything, a man slid smoothly between them. “All guests this way, please,” he gruffly told them, indicating towards the door.

Nadina and the Commander’s staring contest continued for several more seconds, before she scowled. “I hope your band is better entertainment than last time,” the woman finally said, before whipping her head around and stalking off.

“And I hope your power supply doesn't cut out like last time!” Commander Plasma shot back, gesturing for the others to get out of the car and follow him into the door.

With grins on their faces the rest of them followed their superior, just as his earpiece beeped quietly. "You're not stealing my case again, Aiden! Heaven only knows why the chief decided to hand Lunaco over to you and your band of idiots, but he's coming into my custody and that's final!"

He chuckled at her outburst over the communication channel. "Whatever you say, Nadina. Tell the chief I say hello!"

With that, Commander Plasma cut the link and strode into the party.

The spacious hall was bustling with people, swanning to and fro as they filled the room with the sound of their chatter. A slight sandalwood scent hung in the air, accompanied by the smell of the meat and cheese platters on the far side of the room, and champagne was swirled in long-stemmed glasses.

Grimm sucked in a deep breath. "He really outdid himself this time, didn't he? The camera feeds from the last party were nowhere as grand as this."

Rose looked back at her, idly flicking the latches on her microphone case. "He did, but it's missing music! Music is the heart and soul of every party!  Let’s go set up, boss!"

The Commander smiled toothily. "Tahlia, Antonio," he started, using the fake business names, "don't forget to enjoy yourselves!"

Grin lifted his chin in a gesture of acknowledgement.  "You got it, Dino!"

The group split up into two; Rose, Yumi and Commander Plasma making their way towards the corner of the room where they were to play, Grimm and Grin beginning to mingle with the other guests.

The younger Vice-Commander's face was set in a winning smile, his strides full of purpose as he made his way towards the first person he recognised. Cheekily saluting, he addressed the other man. "Hey, Dice! Why am I not surprised to see you here?"

Surrounded by a gaggle of women, the fur-coat clad young man with the bleached hair took another puff of his cigar and laughed. "Because wherever there's a party like this, Jared Dice is on the list!"

The male gestured towards Grin as the harem turned towards him. "Ladies, allow me to introduce you to a good friend of mine. This here is Antonio Grimes, private security provider, manager of the band and one of my most favourite customers! Did you enjoy my last batch of "gifts?””

Grin thought back to the last drug batch that Dice had given him. He was a frontman, nothing more; sold the drugs and found more customers. The last batch had lead Ross Trevor straight to the maker, and in turn Fortress to the Lunaco tipoffs.

Of course, Dice had an odd sixth sense about when a drug maker was about to go "bankrupt", and always jumped from one to the other mere weeks before it happened. He hadn't yet connected the incidents to Grin and his boss, although the younger male could tell there was slight suspicion just under the surface.

Nevertheless, Grin laughed. "Fantastic as usual, Dice."

"Of course they were! I only buy from the best suppliers. Isn't that right, ladies," he purred, kissing one of the women.

The Vice-Commander sensed a potential lead and made himself appear as casual as possible, a relaxed smile spreading across his face. "You know, I don't think I've ever actually met any of your suppliers. Could be good for us to set up a rapport – you know, keep you in business, higher in the big leagues, all that crap.”

Dice paused in kissing the woman and looked at Grin with a doubtful, almost guilty smile that nearly made his heart stop in fear. “I said I only buy from the best, but I never said they were reliable. I swear every time I go for a new one the old asshole goes downtown or bites the big one after about a month! Like a jinx or something, I dunno,” the dealer shrugged, dropping his carefree demeanour for a few moments.

A small chuckle escaped Grin, covering up his relief at not being caught out. "Hah! The great Jared Dice, believing in that superstitious bullshit!"

As soon as the middleman rolled his eyes, the Vice-Commander knew he’d won. Too many of them had an ego, he thought, as Dice reluctantly  abandoned his harem and brought Grin over to a lanky man tapping away on the latest smartphone. Though he wore an expensive aftershave, it wasn't quite enough to mask the sickly sweet scent of the drugs and his beady eyes examined the Vice-Commander for what seemed like an eternity.

Dice's chilled demeanour and laughter proved enough to break the awkward tension between them and eventually the three engaged in conversation, Grin once again displaying his carefree facade to arrange a business meeting with the two older men. Internally, he thanked the holo-tech masking his face and his public relations double for getting him so close to a good source of information. He only hoped that it wasn't an entire bust.


On the other side of the room, Grimm laughed as she slicked her hair back, her face a complete opposite of her aggravated thoughts. Though in any other social situation she would've gladly zoned out from the conversation being held by the vapid women in front of her, she'd found that the wives and mistresses of the local crime lords tended to be vicious gossips when in the vicinities of one another.

The one in the skin-tight black dress preened, fanning herself with hand as she continued. "...So we ended up getting the money back from that loan shark, and now he's somewhere no-one can find him. I must say, dating that idiot has its perks."

A dry chuckle escaped Grimm’s lips as one of the women turned to her, a delighted smile on her face. "So what about you, Tahlia? I've been out of town for a while - you have any interesting stories I've missed?"

She pretended to think for a couple of minutes, before grinning. "As it turns out, I have."

"Oooh, tell us!" One of the younger women squealed, her breasts almost falling out of her pink dress as she leaned forwards in anticipation.

"I'm not sure if any of you saw it on the news, but Fortress," she spat the word with false venom, "came under Rogue attack about a week ago."

The woman in the black dress - Reina, Grimm had to remember her name was Reina - rolled her eyes at the mention of the name. "Ugh, that bunch of hopeless idiots? Glad to hear. But what's so special about that?"

Biting down her temper, Grimm kept talking. "What they didn't mention on the news was that Elton Lunaco was involved. I reckon he finally got arrested!"

"Elton "Looney" Lunaco? The self-proclaimed untouchable? Ooh, my baby's going to have a fit when he finds out!"

"Arrested? Old Looney? By them?"

"From what I heard, I think they actually managed to track and catch him."

It was then that Nadina walked past, catching the tail end of the conversation and sauntering in like she owned the place. "It seems everyone's talking about Looney. Funny, but I'm sure I saw him here a few minutes ago in a navy suit. Fortress can't be that good if he's pissed off already," the policewoman smiled, a note of smugness in her voice.

Before Grimm could interject, Reina talked again. "I'd laugh if you were right. If that guy in the navy get-up was him, I'd like to know how he got out."

"There's no way the hunk in the navy was Lunaco! The man with him could've been; I don't think he's ever taken off his glasses in public, so most of us have no idea what his entire face looks like. They were definitely wearing the same custom suit. If my husband had that kind of fashion sense - well, I'd be with him a lot more often."

Grimm laughed again. "So what, he shares a tailor with someone now? Why haven't I seen this guy? It'd be nice to actually have some eye candy for once."

"You'll know him if you see him, Tahlia - blonde, muscly and probably good in bed-"

"Excuse me for a moment, ladies, but I need to go powder my nose," Grimm interrupted smoothly, blowing a kiss to the women as they acknowledged her leave.

She weaved through the crowd, following the directions to the restroom and sighed in relief at the peace and quiet.


When she returned, she spotted Grin gesturing at her and the pair of Vice Commanders regrouped at the corner of the room, where Aiden was currently taking a drink.
"Hear anything good?"

Grin licked his lips, thinking. "I set up a meeting date with Dice and his supplier. I might be able to find out if his current supplier is in contact with Lunaco. Speaking of which, Dice reckons he saw him here tonight, without his glasses."

Grimm blinked in surprise. "The wives said the same thing, although Nadina," she pointedly ignored a groan from the Commander, "picked up on it first. Apparently there's someone here that could be him or a possible bodyguard, wearing exactly the same suits."

Commander Plasma sighed resignedly. "Not a solid lead then. The night's still young - I'm sure you two will find something. Good luck!"

The older man walked back towards the stage, and began playing again as the Vice-Commanders looked at each other. "Man in the navy suit?" Grimm asked.

"Man in the navy suit," Grin confirmed, as the pair made to split up.

And it was then they spotted someone else - a male with ink-black hair and a pristine business suit - coming straight towards them. His face was split in a jovial grin and the bustling crowds were nothing to him as he slipped through them effortlessly as breathing.
At last, he reached them, clapping them on the back as though they were the oldest of friends. “Oh, hello there – “Tahlia,” “Antonio”- it’s been such a long time!”

Straight away Grimm could tell the strange man knew who they really were, and narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “Such a long time? I don’t think we even know you.”

Immediately the man paused, brow furrowed in intense concentration, and then he sighed. “Oh, bugger. I’ve gotten my timelines mixed up again. Well, you meet me here now – or have met me here before. Why are tenses so confusing?”

Grin looked at him strangely, his hand pressed to his microphone so the Operators could hear everything. “I don’t know. You tell me. Who are you?”

He laughed heartily as he adjusted the pink waistcoat worn beneath his spotless jacket. “My name’s Horace, for now. Later you’ll figure out my real name, the pronunciation is close enough. How’s your search for - !”

Everything stopped for the merest of moments. The crowd froze in negative colours – a waiter carrying champagne, Commander P in the middle of a guitar chord, a woman descending down the stairs in mid-step, a man knocking over a tray of dip with his elbow.

The world seemed to shudder, and just like that it was back to normal, the dip clattering to the floor and the Commander’s guitar chord ringing through the air.

Grin turned to his sister, face a mask of disbelief. “Did you see that?”

The buzzing of the crowd was suddenly too much for her, chatter on every side, and she barely uttered a yes.

The younger Vice Commander then turned his head to Horace, about to ask him the same question, and froze at the look of absolute rage on the man’s face.

Gone was the jovial, easy-going expression, replaced with glacial eyes and a curling upper lip, and Grin could swear he almost saw something shimmering blue and violet near the man’s shoulders. “So that’s where that one went.

Grimm stared, utterly confused at Horace’s change in behaviour. “What the hell do you mean by that?”

He turned to look at her, all traces of humour gone from his face. “It means I have some very important unfinished business to attend to. It was good to see the pair of you again. Please excuse me."

Horace spun on his heel, coattails whirling, and clicked his fingers.

From the ground up, he dissolved into blue and violet light until there was nothing left.

Gone.

Completely and utterly gone.

The party continued like nothing had happened, guests still gossiping and revelling with one another, loud music still playing as the young Vice-Commanders stood there in a state of shock. Grimm reached a shaking hand up to her earpiece, and managed to somehow croak out words. "Please tell me you saw that from the eye-cams," she said, still in a state of shock.

It was a few long, long seconds before she received a response from any of the Operators, but eventually Morgan responded, her voice utterly flat. "I saw him. I saw the impossible. Only Or - time can tell if we'll see him again."

One of the other Operators chipped in, rewinding the video in Headquarters and watching it again. "We saw it, but the video fuzzes out after he says his name, and it's audio only from there until after he disappears," he confirmed, his voice shaking as he replayed the footage.

Before any more of the Operators could go on, Grin suddenly nudged his sister, inclining his head to the left.

The two men in the navy suits, standing at the end of one of the refreshments tables. Grimm had to grudgingly admit the muscly one in the hat was kind of good-looking, but she focused instead on scanning her eyes over the shorter man next to him. She'd recognise that pale complexion anywhere - it had to be Lunaco.

"Anyone have ID on the taller guy?" Grin covertly muttered into his earpiece, he and his sister casually making their way closer to the duo.

The Operators didn't respond for a few seconds, busily tapping away at their screens. "No ID, Vice-Commander. He looks dangerous, so be careful."

Slowly, occasionally chatting with other partygoers as they moved through the crowd, the sibling Vice-Commanders edged ever closer to Lunaco and his mysterious bodyguard.

And then a whine of microphone feedback startled them, and everyone else, as a smooth voice came over the speakers and cut off the band. "Good evening! I hope you're all enjoying yourselves tonight," the voice spoke, as its owner made their appearance, coming down the top of a staircase.

His suit a red so dark it was almost black, hair neatly combed - Luke Terzo, "King of the Underworld" himself.

As he continued his speech, Grin noticed Lunaco and the other man edging towards what looked to be an elevator at the back of the room, punching in a security code before the doors opened and they got in.

Without another word Grimm and her brother walked over whilst Terzo was still talking, surveying the security pad for a moment and punching in the  numbers as they were relayed back to her over the earpiece.

The elevator went zooming down and stopped almost immediately as it started, opening up to a bland, nondescript room with a single door and a few filing cabinets.
Which the pair ducked behind when they heard the familiar voices coming from behind the door.

"Enjoyed your little outing, Lunaco? The boss is not going to be pleased with you if you didn't manage to get any Fortress agents down here. You are, after all, sharkbait, to put it nicely."

Lance's smug tone was unmistakable, joined by the almost song-like voice of his partner. "Oh, Lance, give the poor man a teensy break. I'll tell you what - you can help Lunaco out on the project for when he gets back, and I'll accompany him back up to the party. Let's give Asthor here a break from bodyguard duty, hmm?"

The door opened for a moment and in that second the Vice-Commanders caught a glimpse of a heavily fortified corridor, security guards patrolling and - were those lasers?

Noir sauntered out, hair done and dress glamorous, dragging an increasingly pale Lunaco by the arm and going back up the elevator.

With wide eyes, not daring to breathe until the voices on the other side of the door had stopped, Grimm muttered into her earpiece, she and her brother frantically making their way back to the elevator. “Commander, we may be compromised. Lance and Noir are here, repeat; Lance and Noir are here! They knew we’d be sending someone down to investigate tonight and had Lunaco walking the floor as bait!”

On the other side of the communication line, she heard the Commander cuss and tell Rose or Yumi to create a distraction, or something to get them out.

By the time the pair of them got back up from the elevator and had begun to make their way into the crowd once more, they could already see Noir and Lunaco eyeing the Commander and the band suspiciously.

Yumi chose that moment to faint, head lolling back convincingly and almost collapsing to the floor before the Commander abandoned his guitar and went to catch her.

Grin took the initiative and rushed towards the band. “Move, move! She’s fainted!”

His sister hot on his heels as the crowd watched, they grabbed her and propped her up in a sitting position, Rose going to fetch a wet towel from the kitchen.

The four of them clustered protectively around Yumi until Rose returned, the crowd murmuring amongst themselves and a few of them coming over to check if the young woman was alright. “Good job, Yumi,” the Commander whispered inaudibly, knowing she couldn’t move to respond.

“Well, this is worrisome. Is she okay?” a voice asked from behind them, and they turned to see Terzo himself making his way to Yumi, eyes concerned.

He was unable to get any further as Rose rushed past him, pressing the towel to her forehead. The Commander tried to smile at the other man but failed, faking worry. “I hope so. It might just be dehydration, but the last time this happened she wasn’t able to get up without feeling dizzy for days straight. I don’t think she’ll be able to play anymore tonight.”

A small frown crossed Terzo’s face, followed up quickly by a sympathetic smile. “I understand. Things like this can’t be helped. I may have to cut your pay, though.”

“As long as Mina’s okay, I don’t mind. Can we take her home?”

The man shooed them with his hand, rolling his eyes. “Go, go. Just make it up to me another time.”

And finally, they were able to take Yumi outside and into the car, packing up their equipment as quickly as humanly possible

Just as they were finally about to leave the party, Terzo grabbed the Commander’s shoulder. “Thank you for playing here tonight. Your music was actually better than that of the band I originally hired, Plasma.

They stared each other down for the merest of moments, predatory grins flitting briefly across both their faces, before Aiden broke away and Terzo turned back to the party, waving a mock salute as he turned.

Breathing a long, heavy sigh, Commander P got into the car and turned the ignition, just as Nadina came out of the building. She hissed something into her earpiece to the Commander, a smug look on her face.

Which promptly dropped as the Commander flipped the bird at her through the window as he drove away.
OH MY GOD THIS IS LONG OVERDUE
IT'S BEEN FINISHED FOR AGES AND I'VE HAD NO TIME TO POST IT

So if anyone's still following this story...

Sorry to those of you who were expected more of Valerie and Nebula! We return to 24th Century Earth for a bit, and find out how the fight with Lance and Noir went down.
Long story short, the rhinoceros mech was slain, but they got away and took Lunaco.
Grimm is very, very angry about it.

 And a new character has been introduced! Who is this strange man Horace, and what the hell is he even doing?

You'll find out next chapter! Enjoy, and leave your thoughts below!

All characters are mine.
© 2016 - 2024 nat-grim
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JordeXX01's avatar
just finished chapter eight earlier today. it's really starting to get juicy!!!  :D

(the whole chapter, i was wandering what happened to nebula. THE ANXIETY WAS ON POINT XD (it was still great though))