The Darkman 2
KiNa looked at his reflection in the slick glass window with a sense of awe. If he didn’t know who he was looking at, he’d never have guessed it was himself. Master SoYa did an amazing job of disguising him as someone completely different.
It’s kinda suspicious how good he is at all these secret things.
A change of clothes. A different hair style – KiNa didn’t realize how long his hair was getting! A dab of mind magic illusion. Putting them all together created a completely different image, one that the Darkman and his old friends in the city wouldn’t recognize.
Together, the boy and his teacher plotted and planned the mission that was now unfolding before him. Master SoYa brought the boy energy crystals that were small and powerful enough to run his recording device, which KiNa cheerfully called the Vidarchy. The boy put together bits and pieces of all the technology he could find to condense the size of the Vidarchy, finally getting it to the point where it was small enough to hide in a small pocket on the front of a specially-stitched cloak.
Pure portable brilliance!
It was somewhat difficult to act normal with the knowledge that rare recording technology hung in his front pocket, but KiNa did the best he could. It didn’t take very long for his act of lost helplessness in the right dark alley caught the attention of the Darkman’s helpers. They were always on the lookout for other children, as they were instructed.
The Darkman approached KiNa the same way he did seasons ago, with honeyed words and persuasion. The boy was shocked that he allowed himself to be taken in the first time so easily – KiNa could see right through the promises and sweet-talk now. In fact, it felt pretty good to know that this time, the boy was the one pulling something over on the Darkman.
The man opened the door to the familiar cellar basement, motioning for the boy to come in, “Here we are… uh… what did you say your name was again?”
“Friz,” KiNa told him, a totally guileless look on his face.
“Friz?” the Darkman repeated.
The boy nodded. Friz was the most awesome secret identity name he could think of. It sounded like what a lightning bolt did to someone’s hair.
I’ll be seeing your hair stand on end before this is over, Darkman.
As KiNa came inside, he made sure to get a good panning view of the tiny living quarters and the dirty state the children there endured. He wrinkled his nose and made sure to comment, just to get the Darkman’s reaction recorded to the device.
“It doesn’t smell very good down here,” KiNa complained.
“You’ll get used to it,” the Darkman gave him a nudge down the steps. Once you were inside his domain, that was the end of the rainbows and unicorns.
“What do you mean?” the boy turned around with wide eyes. “I’m not so sure I want to stay here.”
The man sneered a bit, shutting the door heavily behind him. He proceeded to work the locks and fold the key away in his trouser pockets. “We made a deal, didn’t we?”
“Deal? What deal?”
“You behave yourself and you might get something to eat,” the Darkman flopped down in a nearby chair. He raised his voice sharply to the other children who sat huddled in the far-back corner, “Alright you brats, I’ve got a new one for you. You know the drill. Take him over and find him a place to sleep.”
A few of the children moaned, most too frightened of the Darkman to move, even when instructed. Finally, soft footsteps approached KiNa. It was a girl, about his age, with somewhat scruffy hair and sharp, intelligent eyes. Far too intelligent to be fooled by the Darkman’s fast talk.
How did she end up here?
KiNa frowned slightly as she approached him.
Then, again, I guess I was fooled by the Darkman the first time, too.
“Are you just going to stand there? Or are you coming?” she asked him roughly. That’s when the boy realized she was standing there, one hand outreached and motioning him forward.
“I-I’m coming,” KiNa said, quickly following the girl back towards the living quarters.
I don’t remember seeing her here before.
“You better get something to eat,” she told him, motioning towards the large kettle over the fire. “There’s not much, but Darkman will have you out on the street first thing tomorrow.”
“What? Why?” the boy asked.
“That’s what happens to all the boys,” the girl gave him a disapproving face. The way she stood spoke impatience.
“Oh,” KiNa said, just peering at her, trying to figure out what she was so annoyed about.
“Well?”
“Well what?”
The girl grabbed a chipped bowl and spoon, thrusting them into his hands, “Do you want me to feed you, too? Or do you think you can manage to figure out how to hold your own spoon?”
Hold on, who does she think she is?
KiNa felt like retorting, but some of the younger children were watching. One of the smaller girls wrapped both her arms around the bossy girl’s wrist, clinging for comfort.
“I can manage just–”
But the bossy girl wasn’t paying him any attention. She was already caring for the smaller girl, in a much nicer voice, “Come on, it’s almost bed time. Do you want me to tell you a story?”
“Yes!” the child chirped, looking instantly much more happy than before. She led the bossy girl back towards the group of scruffy kids in the corner, leaving KiNa to his own means.
He wasn’t really that hungry, but knowing that would seem suspicious, the boy began to fix his plate. KiNa picked through the food, making sure to get a shot of it with the Vidarchy.
“If there’s nothing else to bust him for, it should be the awful food,” the boy told the device quietly. After the wholesome meals in the tree home, trying to swallow this swill made him gag a little. He knew it wouldn’t be for much longer.
I’m only here long enough to capture what I need to incriminate this jerk. Then it’s time to bust out these kids.
The boy choked on something that tasted like meat, but crunched at the same time.
Though that bossy one… maybe she should just stay here if she wants to act like that.
The boys were coming back from their tasks on the street, shuffling KiNa over at the tiny, overcrowded table. None of them looked at him or tried to talk to him. They were too busy eating the crunchy meat. KiNa gagged again, just watching them, feeling all the more worse at how much they appeared to relish the meager food they had.
That’s what I’m here for, right? To fix this?
After a time, KiNa was able to pick out a few familiar faces. Some were boys he didn’t quite remember. But two boys, he did, though he was surprised that both of them were actually still there in the Darkmans’s cellar.
Roh… Puddle…
They both looked a little older, simply because time passed. Where Roh just had a harder, more calloused appearance, Puddle had become almost gaunt and somewhat sickly looking. There was little trace of the easy-going bantering that had once ran between the two boys. In fact, KiNa couldn’t detect if the two were even still friends. It took all of his will power to keep his mouth shut and not give himself away.
There’ll be plenty of time for that kind of thing later. Whatever’s going on with them, I’m sure Master SoYa can help.
That’s when KiNa realized his mistake. The dirty plates were being piled on his end of the table since he was being the slowest to finish his food. That meant he was stuck with dish duty.
Not that it’s all that hard… they don’t leave much on their plate.
“Come on and get to it,” the Darkman chided him, locking up and heading towards his own room for the night. “You got an early morning tomorrow. Don’t want to miss it.”
The boy frowned, pursing his lips together. Eyes narrowed as he stacked the dishes and muttered under his breath, “Oh, no. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”