Sample Chapter | Volume 3 of Elemental Angels

Two masked men remain in their car watching over the Northern Trust Bank. The automatic doors clanked open with the arrival and departure of the customers.  They ducked as people came by their car, so they would not be spotted.  They lowered the visor to block the bright sunshine bearing down on the car.  The one in the passenger seat felt a rush of chills up and down his spine.  He wiped under his mask to clear the beads of sweat sopping into the wool mask.  “Is this really smart?”  He asked his partner in crime.

“Getting cold feet, huh?”  The other laughed, tucking mounds of his dark hair into the back of his jacket.

“No... It’s just that, it’s the middle of the day.”

“And that’s exactly why we’re going to do it now.”  He spoke articulately so his partner would understand.  “Now come on.  When that lady gets in her car over there, we’ll head in.  You know the plan right?”  He watched the lady sit down in her car, slamming her door.  He glanced back to his friend shoving a gun in his hands.  “Right?”

“Yeah, right...”  He stared at the gun.  The lady pulled from the parking lot into the rush of traffic.  He nodded to his friend, and they opened their doors simultaneously.  They slipped in next to the door, hanging their weapons low as they scouted around, one facing back while the other went for the door.  He could see a pair of police motorcycles coming up the road, and then ducked into the spinning door.

Inside the bank, he shouted, “Get down!”  He waved the gun for all their eyes to see.  The people inside began screaming, not use to such a low level crime.  “I said get down!”  He repeated.

“Please?”  The other criminal asked politely while shooting a bullet through the ceiling.  The customers cowered shivering on the floor, embracing their valuable heads.

“Stay quiet, and nobody move.  We don’t take kindly to heroes either.”  He glared through the mask at all them.  They trembled behind the counters, as he approached them.  “Hey!  When was the last time the vault was opened?”

“... This... this... morning...”  The bank teller shriveled up as he stammered.

“Alright, do you know the combination?”

“I’m sorry...”

“Sorry, you don’t know it.”  He pointed the gun in his face.

“No, I know it!  It’s just that the money inside was already taken.”

“Do you think I’m stupid?  Huh?”

“No!” 

“I know the armored truck was here... came right after the other incidents.  Try anything else and it will be the end.  Do you hear me?”  The bank teller nodded, with tears in his eyes.  “Rich fools, think you can get over on me.  Open it now!”  He commanded pulling him over the counter.  The teller tripped to the floor, his chin brushed against the plush carpet before scurrying over to the vault.  The robber nodded back to his partner, to follow him.  The teller was in such a hurry that he nearly collided with the vault.  His sweaty palms slipped and the fear inside of him clogged his knowledge of the combination.  “Just watch him.  I’ll look out for the cops.”  The robber said to his partner.

His partner raced up beside the teller steadying his gun in his hands.  Breathing over his shoulder did not help the man open the vault any sooner.  The teller’s wandering eyes continued to fall on the gun aimed loosely at his side.  “Just take your time, we’re in no hurry.”  The other robber reassured, calming the teller down.  The safe door, two tons thick, parted with the suction of the air rushing from within.  The light within came on by itself.

“Hello,” came a voice from inside.  The man stepped back seeing a bubble gum pink girl glaring from inside the vault.  Aiko’s clashing red uniform was embroidered with a symbol of the Pi Police department.

“How did you...?”  The robber asked her, and even the teller marveled at how she could have gotten inside of a sealed vault.

“You’re under arrest!”  Aiko presented him with a pair of handcuffs.

“Close it back!”  The robber at the front door commanded his partner.  The robber by the vault shoved against the door, but Aiko’s small muscles rivaled the strength of his own.

“Oh no you don’t!”  They both turned around to find another girl leaping down from the ceiling.  Knight held a golden trimmed bow and rose-trimmed arrow on the robber by the bank vault.  She shot an arrow through his gun, nicking the palm of his hands.  He had no choice but to raise his hands and surrender.  “Are you alright Aiko?”  Knight asked her.

“Yeah Knight, but...” Aiko tried to warn her.

“Hold on there, cop.”  The other robber held his gun to Knight’s head.

“I forgot about the other one, didn’t I?  At this rate, I’ll never get deputized.”  Knight held her hands into the air.

“You always forget about the other ones!”  Io, the girl with the pearl white skin shouted surprising them all.  A block of ice formed around her fist and she struck it across the back of the criminal’s head.  He toppled to the ground by her feet.  Knight spun around to handcuff him, but bumped into the chest of the burly amazon, Phoenix, who held a gun over her shoulder with a smile.

“Phoenix!”  Aiko raced over to them holding the other robber by the arm.  “Io!”

“Yes?”  The bounty hunters said at the same time.

“What are you two doing here?”  Knight asked.

“Why should you care, Knight?”  Phoenix snickered, waving her gun in the air.

“We saved your butt.”  Io enclosed a block of ice around the robber’s hands and lifted him to his feet.

“You two always get in the way!  Damn bounty hunters.”  Knight said.

“You’re just jealous because we do a better job than you.”  Io laughed maniacally.  The robber she held, cracked his head against hers, knocking her off her feet.  He shoved Knight down and the two fled.

“You were saying?”  Aiko mocked.  The two robbers bolted straight for the door. Knight shot her arrow, piercing one of them through the jacket.  Io placed her hands to the ground, a sheet of ice rippled under the other’s feet tripping him up.  Phoenix rubbed her hands together then blew through them, sending a gust of fire to engulf his mask.  He stumbled over the ice, tossing the mask from his face.

“If you singed my hair, I will be so pissed!”  He gritted his teeth, revealing his face to them.  They all gaped; his handsomely portioned face caught them all off guard.

“Wow, he’s not bad looking.”  Io gawked.

“Whatever.”  Knight crossed the room to the other one pinned to the wall with her arrow.  “That’s why you two can’t catch anything; you let your emotions get in the way.  Now it’s time for the unmasking of the other.  I’m sure he’s...”  Her hand fell to her side holding the mask.  She found herself engrossed in his angelic beaming face.  He tried a gentle smile, but she glanced away to the other.  His hazel eyes followed her every move embracing her heart ruthlessly.  She tried not to look at him.  

Backup from the Pi Police force finally arrived.  “Are you alright Aiko?”  The captain busted through the doors.  “Knight… what is she doing here?”

“Helping me out, Captain Ocelot.”  Aiko saluted him as he entered.

“At ease, but I just can’t understand why you can’t find a partner on the force.  Like Civet?”

“Civet’s too silly, doesn’t get the job done.”

“That’s no excuse.  Knight’s a Gamma vigilante and she doesn’t even have the right to apprehend anyone pass a citizen’s arrest.”

“Well, maybe if someone would deputize me...”  Knight suggested.

“Hum... I’ll think about.”  Ocelot pulled the arrow from the wall, nodding for the others to arrest the robber.  Looking at the arrow, he knew Knight must have caught the robber.  “No wonder how this one was caught.  But, who caught this assailant?”  He pointed to the one on the floor, shivering from the glaze of ice.

“That’d be us.”  Io waved jumping in front of him.

“Not you two.”  He slapped his forehead, surveying the damage done to the inside of the bank.  “I should have guessed.  The freezer burn, the smoke damage... I only wonder why the fire department wasn’t called.”

“Hey, but you should remember who caught that long haired dude. There’s bounty on him.”

“No, you forget.  Not just the one, but for the two.  That’s means you only apprehended one, and will get nothing and like it.”  The captain’s say was final.  They glared back at Aiko and Knight who giggled at them.

“Come on old man, we need that money.”  Phoenix argued.

“Sorry, but why don’t you go running back to your leader Carmen for other bounties on the loose.”  Ocelot scowled.

“We can’t.  She left the group because of assassination threats from the Hellions.” Io hoped for sympathy.

“Too bad, they might have gotten her.  Now I’ll have to.”  He stated coldly.  “I guess she turned tail and went back to work for the Hellions.  She deserves whatever she gets for surrendering to them.”

“How can you be so cruel?”  Io had to hold Phoenix back from grappling his neck.

“I suggest you don’t do anything more than you would regret.  You should leave now before I arrest you for interfering with police business.”

“Fine, you’ll get yours someday.”  Phoenix stormed passed him, Io followed behind her like a lost puppy.  The door melted in the fire of her fury.  Civet, another member of the Pi Police waited for the path to clear before hopping over what was left of the door.

“Hey guys, what’s wrong with her?”  Civet asked.

“Oh nothing, as if she didn’t cause enough damage while she was in here.”  Knight said.

“What do you have there?”  Aiko pointed to the clipboard in Civet’s hands.

“Oh, just the names of the two bank robbers.  We don’t have them on file for any serious crimes like this.  At first we thought they were responsible for the other crimes committed over the last two weeks.  But since this one took place in the middle of the day, we think they might not be related.  The other two seemed to be smarter; at least they went at night.”

“Hum, I wouldn’t jump to a conclusion just yet.”  Aiko said.

“I guess.”  Civet said.

“What were their names?”  Knight wandered.

“Oh, the one with the long hair’s name was Helios.  Now that was a cute boy, if I’ve ever seen one.”  Civet nudged Aiko, who rolled her eyes.

“And the other?”  Knight begged.

“I’m getting to it… hold on to your panties.  His name was Dawn...”

“Dawn what?”  Knight asked.

“That’s all he would give.  Just Dawn… You have an interest in him?”  Civet teased biting onto the pencil.

“No... I guess not.”  Knight’s eyes followed after Dawn, not sure of the feelings coming to her.  He watched her as well still smiling at her, while being shoved along with his friend into the backseat of the police car.

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Sample Chapter | Volume 4 of Elemental Angels

Many years passed by like a dream fades from memory.  There’s a glitter and gold trimmed chapel that’s privately owned by the Borealis family.  The chapel rests on the outskirts of the Borealis property.  One would think the chapel was a glitzy mansion rather than a pious place of worship.  Although the principalities that governed the Dionne System were also a part of the Sigma Clan, there had never been a king to bear the name Borealis.  It had been their hope for centuries to have a descendant become a queen or king of Arcadia.  After she married the prince, the clan desired for a king to carry the Borealis name into royalty.  A procession of the Borealis family celebrated the birth of a new baby boy.  With the birth of so many children from Uno’s cousins, her family continuously pressured Uno to birth many children as well.  Uno simply rolled her eyes as her cousin, Cameo, paraded her baby around dressed in a frilly white gown and booties.  She yawned, removing her hand from underneath the hand of Prince Mirage, her husband.  Holding hands was a public gesture they did to make others assume their arranged marriage had turned into love.  True love can be seen in the eyes, and neither had a staring fascination with the other.  Those eyes of hers only lit up when she saw Pluto.  As she approached Sir Pluto sitting in an aisle seat, Uno dropped a folded note onto the floor beside him.  With a smile over her shoulder to him, she exited the sanctuary.  Pluto followed her with his eyes as she left the room; he then looked around at the other guests present for the christening of the new Borealis baby.  He unwrinkled the note, and saw an arrow pointing towards the door.  He tucked the note into the bible, and walked casually pass the altar where Priestess Pax towered.  She stood still as a statue; her blindness seemed less of a handicap then Pluto stumbling after Uno.  Though her eyes were covered with a bandage, they seemed to follow Pluto out of the door as she turned her head in his direction.  He glanced back, and then jetted down the hall.

Uno stood near the entrance, smiling at him.  They grabbed each other’s hands, and kissed.  Pluto looked back to see if anyone watched.  “I think Pax isn’t blind.”

“Don’t be silly.”  She pecked him on the nose.

“I swear she watches me.”  He held tightly to her hands.  “So what’s going to happen?”

“Nothing.”  Uno frowned.  “I’m stuck with him for a while; these children keep him tied down.”

“Yeah, but did you have to have so many?  This is your third.”

“Yes, but this one is special!”  She smiled.  “Besides, Krono and Styx wouldn’t be here, if we had been together.”  Pluto’s children, Krono and Styx, were fraternal twins – one son and one daughter.

“True.”  Pluto smiled to think of his children.  “Please just tell me Uno.  Why did you have to marry Mirage?”

“I was the only available daughter of the Borealis family, and my family deserved the right to the crown a long time ago.  I had to make sure to leave children to pass on their lineage this time.”  She looked away.  “Prince Mirage has had his eye on me for a while.”

“Yes, and we know the prince must have exactly what the prince wants.”  He rolled his eyes.  “Just tell me when will this nightmare end?”

“Not for a while, I have to take over first.  I’m not sure how yet.”  Uno said.

“Oh.”  Pluto decided to change the subject.  “I hope your in-laws are good to you, because Orcus’s mother has it in for me.”

“Do you want me to arrest her?”

“On what charges?”

“I don’t know... harassing the future King of Dionne!”  She laughed, and Pluto hushed her and looked around.

“Please, I don’t want to start any animosity here.”  He kissed her cheek.  “If I have disappeared over the next few days, you know I’ve been arrested.”

“Oh Pluto…”  She laughed.

“No, I’m serious.”  He looked around, taking her arm. “I’m in trouble.  Delta is controlled by the Hellions and now it’s just as corrupt.  If my mother-in-law catches me passing information around about them, or digs up my past consultation with Lambda I’ll be in serious voodoo.”

“Do you mean doo-doo?”

“No, you know how evil my family is; it’s voodoo.”  He frowned, and then glanced around again.  He thought he saw someone in the courtyard.  He stared for a while catching a glimpse of someone else.  “Maybe I should go.”

“No!”  Uno protested.  “You must stay.  This is the last chance we have to console the two families!”  She grabbed his hand.

“Uno, I...”  He felt a tugging at his leg.  A little boy with pinkish hair, green eyes, and light tanned skin held tight to his leg.  “Oh, Uno... he’s beautiful... just like a real calypso flower.”  He touched his hair.

“Yeah sure.”  Uno didn’t seem to agree. “I don’t understand where he came from.  He doesn’t look like either of you.”

“Uno, there isn’t someone you’re not telling me about is there?”  He cradled Calypso with a smile.

She smiled back devilishly.  “I don’t know... that depends.”  They kissed again, and then both of them looked around.  “It’s a shame we have to be so secretive.”

“I wish I could take you and him right now, and just get away from it all.”  He handed Calypso to Uno.  “Go back to the others alright?  I really have to go.”

“Please don’t go.”

“No, I mean to the bathroom.  I’ll be back in moment.”

“You sure do know how to wreck a romantic moment.”  They kissed for a final time, and she returned to the chapel. Pluto entered the bathroom, and thought about Uno and himself with a happy life together.  He looked up at the window, cracking sunlight into the damp bathroom.  “Escape... then all our problems would be over.” He zipped up and washed his hands, while whistling.

“Over?” Came a devious voice from behind him.  “But your problems are just beginning.”  Pluto turned around to find two dark skinned, men holding riffles and handcuffs.  A jeweled turban covered their dark hair.  They emerged slowly from the stalls.

“Can’t a man get privacy?” 

“Pluto Australis, I presume?”

“I’m him… unfortunately…”

“You are under arrest for charges of negotiating with the enemy, treason, theft of valuable government documents, withholding information from the state, and adultery.  Yes, the last one is a violation according to the laws of old Dionne.  And no, General Orcus won’t be too happy about the last one.”

“Fine, I know my rights.”  He extended his hands.  “I’m guilty on all accounts, just throw me in jail.”

“No, Perse wants to see you before anything else happens.”

“I guess there is a first time for everything.”  He frowned, and then reluctantly let them place the shackles on his hands.  “Wait, can’t I tell Uno... I mean the princess that I am leaving?”

“Afraid not.  Sigma is still considered an enemy group.  You unsuccessfully completed your mission of a peace treaty between the two.”  Pluto’s head bowed down, and he gazed down the hallway one last time.  Uno paced up and down the aisle; everyone became restless.  She looked at the church clock then started for the entrance.  Pax placed her staff in her way, and shook her head.  Uno grabbed up Calypso, and returned to her place beside Prince Mirage.

Pluto struggled with the guards the entire way into the car.  They shoved him in, and nearly caught his face when the door slammed.  He struggled with his cuffs, flopping on his stomach, kicking and screaming.  They closed the window to the back seat and looked at each other, before starting off.  “Let me out!”  He yelled pressing his forehead on the glass.  “Let me out, or you’ll be sorry!”  The driver took a quick left from the cathedral.  Pluto flew into the window, smashing his head on the window.  “You did that on purpose!”  He yelled, kicking the glass.  “You!  When I get out here I’m going to...”  The driver turned again, and Pluto crashed into the other side of the car.  He began growling, and the man in shotgun glanced back at him.  Pluto’s eyes glowed red.  The driver suddenly stopped, forcing Pluto into the section divider.

“What happened to him?”  The man in the side seat asked.  “He was so calm at first.”

“He gets like this when he’s angry; even General Orcus has trouble containing him.”  Pluto growled again.  “Don’t worry we’re close to the fort.  Now all we have to do is get him out.”  Pluto watched through the windshield as they neared the Delta Fortress.  He gritted his teeth, and collapsed in the back seat.  The car slowed, and parked in front of the entrance.  They jumped out, with riffles ready and aimed at Pluto’s door.  The driver nodded to his partner then swung the door open.  “Come out Pluto, nice... and slow...”  After relinquishing his anger, Pluto sat with his head bowed down, calmly staring at the floor.  He slid from the backseat, and stepped next to the captain without a struggle.

“Take me to her.”  Pluto said, frowning down at the captain.

“Yes sir.”  He gently grabbed his arm and led him into the building.  The other man took Pluto’s other arm expecting resistance. 

Pluto solemnly walked up the stairs, and through the long corridors.  Walking the last steps of his life never felt so real.  Down the hall, ran two small children, with happy faces.  He smiled weakly at them, and they ran up to hug his legs.  “Daddy!”  The little boy said.

“Daddy’s home!”  The little girl squealed.

“Yes, yes Styx.”  He smiled at her.

“What game is this?”  The little boy wondered.

“Not a game, Krono.  Take your twin and get out of here for now, alright?  You should see your mother soon.”  He bent down and kissed both their foreheads, then passed through them.  The guards led him down the hall, where two other soldiers stood guard in front of a grand mahogany door.  He smiled nervously at the soldiers.  “Oh man…” he looked back at the door.  “I’d rather face all of you then to go in there.  I think I changed my mind.”  He turned to run, but they caught him, and forced him through the door.  “No.”  He raced back, but his only exit closed in his face.   He sighed, and found two more soldiers staring at him.  “Hi.”  He managed to say, clearing his throat.  He approached the desk in front of him slowly, then a soldier pushed him forward and he landed in front of his mother-in-law, Perse, lounging on the desk.  “Hello, mother.”

“Don’t you ‘mother’ me you lowlife.”  She pushed him back some, then smiled.  “I knew you would mess up one of these days.  I was just waiting for the detective to catch you.”  She laughed, sliding from the desk.

“You sent that guy after me?”

“Pretty sneaky, huh?”  She laughed in a raspy voice, walking behind him.  “I just knew you were up to something, but I had no idea.  Orcus wouldn’t believe me, but I told her.  I told her you were no good, no good at all!”  She leaned on his shoulder.  “Who knew you had done so much behind my poor Orcus’s back?  Treason against Dionne, cavorting with the enemy, giving secret information, and what was the last one?”

“Adultery!”  Orcus spun around in her executive chair.  She slammed a folder down on her desk.  “How could you?”

“It... wasn’t me?”  He frowned and waited for it to work.

“Then who do you say this is?”  She tossed a picture of Uno holding his hand.  “And what do you call this.”  She tossed another of them on a cruise.  “And all of these!”  She threw bundles of pictures at him, and then flung the rest into the air.  “You have the audacity to lie and say none of this happened?”

“No, I admit... I did it... everything is true.”

Orcus stood up; as a strong woman she felt herself unable to cry, even when she wanted to.  She wiped her eyes expecting something, but they were dryer than a desert.  “How could you?  How could you do this to me... the kids?  Don’t you care about them?”

“With all my heart...”

“Oh,” she placed her hands on her hips.  “But you would probably love them more if they were Uno’s children...”

“I will love them the same.”

“But what about me?”  She asked him, but he remained silent.  “Are you saying you don’t love me anymore?  Or did you ever love me?”  He looked away, and frowned.  “Fine, have it your way!”  She paced the floor, pushing her bang from covering her eye, and trying to breath.  “I’m not going to explode.  I’m going to get through this.”  She fumbled with her wedding band.  She looked at him, and placed her hands on the desk.  “Just say you still want me, and I can have some strings pulled.”

“Orcus?”  Perse turned around angrily.

“Can’t you see, Pluto?  I made you who you are today.  Placed you in the finest military base; you were a private and I helped you graduate to captain overnight.  Come on Pluto... who is it that’s been there for you?”  Pluto gazed at the floor.  “I created you!  You would be nothing without me!  And will be nothing when I leave you!”  She tossed the ring at him, striking him across his face.  “You were... no you are nothing!  You’re just a low level demon conjurer!  You came from a family so insignificant that you didn’t even have a last name!”  She raced over to him and slapped him across the face.  “You disgrace to my family.  The two future leaders of Delta, my son and daughter, don’t deserve to have your blood in them.  You really messed up this time, Pluto.  You spite my kindness for the last time.”  She snapped her fingers, and the men behind him grabbed either shoulder.  She turned around, and took up the manila folder.  “Everything that built you to where you are now is in this folder.  Your life is in here.”  She tossed it in the trash can and resumed her seat at the desk.  “You are so insignificant now that I don’t think you deserve a trial.”

“What?”  Pluto leaped for her, the soldiers held him in place.

“That’s right.  With those mood swings you have, you could just plead insanity.  Because it’s Dionne law not to punish the mentally ill further, you would get off scotch free.  But now, you don’t exist anywhere without your records.  You can’t get a fair trial anyway.  Guards!” she turned her back on him.  “Take this stranger to the dungeon.”

“Can’t you see how the Hellions are changing you?”  Pluto shouted.

“The Hellions are the true backbone of order.  Their order is the true order.”

“You should take a look at some of the secrets they’re holding.  They are the ones who should be prosecuted!”

“I know what they’re doing.”

“Then you know about...”

“Yes, it’s out of my control.”

“People will die!  You have to...”

“All I have to do is take back over Delta from an incompetent soldier who went AWOL!” 

“AWOL?  Is that what you’re going to tell everyone who isn’t in on this?  This is a conspiracy against me, to make me shut up.  I knew too much.”  He looked around, and no one made eye contact. “How long will I stay in prison?”

“As far as I’m concerned you don’t exist.  Something that doesn’t exist can’t be put in jail in the first place, right?”

 “Wait...” He stood his ground in the office, holding back from the soldiers.  “Will I ever see the twins again?”

“Keep him quiet.”  Orcus ordered, gazing nonchalantly out the window.

“You can’t do this!”  Pluto struggled against the guards.

“She just did.”  Perse laughed, further fueling Pluto’s anger.  He growled and yelled, as they pulled him kicking and screaming from the office.  Pushing off a guard he tried to run, but another blocked him.  A string of soldiers followed after him, pushing over the others to contain him.

“Daddy!”  Krono yelled.

“Stay back!”  He yelled.  “Don’t worry, daddy’ll be fine.  Remember that I love you.”  He yelled to them from the end of the hall.  The guards struggled to push him away from them, and the kids started to run after them.

“Kids!”  Perse yelled from the office.

“Grandma what’s going on?”  Styx cried.

“Oh don’t waste your tears on him.”  She wiped her face.  “How would you like some cookies?”

The kids looked solemnly down the hall after their father.  Perse laughed, taking their hands and giving a smile back at Orcus before leaving.  Orcus sat at her desk, looking at a picture of the four of them together.  She ripped his face off, and then tossed the picture into the trash can on top of the manila folder.

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