Prologue Patience was still a new concept for Agent Holdfire, so when the enemies inside the portal lab appeared to be holding hostages, he began to strike them down without thinking. When the dust cleared, Holdfire found himself facing a scientist with a cybernetic arm, pointed directly at his head. "You've got the wrong guy, lady," he gasped, cowering. "The real bad guys are gone now. You'll be safe!" "You fell for my trap!" she replied with a grin. "Any last words?" "N-No! Don't shoot!" Holdfire pleaded, "I was just doing my job!" He slowly began to reach for his sidearm, but it was too late. The scientist fired a green laser from her prosthetic arm, disintegrating the poor agent's body into a void. She turned to the remaining lab. "It appears we've collected our next test subject!" she said. "Disconnect the tether and help him aboard the transporter." "What am I?" Agent Holdfire wondered as he was pulled into the void. "How come I'm still alive?" He had no answers. Chapter 1 After what felt like a few hours later, Agent Holdfire was awakened by a gentle jolt of mind numbing pain. He was about to ask what was going on, but he was quickly silenced by the sound of two voices. "Are you sure he'll be alright? He's been out for 3 days now." "Yes. I can assure you he'll be in good hands." the other voice replied. "Very well." With that, the voice trailed off along with footsteps and the door closed. Holdfire opened his eyes. "Ah! I see you're finally awake." a familiar voice said. Holdfire turned his head to see a young girl dressed in tattered medieval clothing. "What... where am I?" "You don't know? This has to be the most famous place in the world! Antis!" "I'm sorry, I've never heard of such a place before." "Oh, what a shame! Well, I'll introduce you to the town. My name's Trixy. What's yours?" "..." Holdfire remained silent. "Holdfire? Huh... That's a strange name." "But I never-..." "I can read minds." She said half jokingly. "I guess you're the first out-of-towner that I've met here. Come on!" Trixy grabbed Holdfire's hand and led him out of the room. "Let's go meet the others!" "You mentioned others?" Holdfire asked, "What are they like? Are they bad? Are they gonna attack me?" "It's okay, you're perfectly safe. They're really nice!" "But what are they?" "They're... well, to be honest, they're kind of like you." The two walked to the end of the hallway downstairs where a group of people were waiting for them to arrive. "Hey, Trixy! Who's your friend?" a tall, muscular man holding a mug asked. "This is Holdfire!" she replied, "He just got here. Isn't that exciting?" "Heavens, what a shame!" a blonde girl said. "It's nice to meet you all," Holdfire said, "My name's Holdfire, and I can’t say I’ve ever been anywhere this friendly and welcoming before." "I'm Violet!" said the young girl with blonde hair. "It's nice to meet you, Holdfire." "I’m going to give him a tour of the town." Trixy spoke, "Want to come?" "Sure!" Violet replied, "I'd love to show him around some of the buildings." "Excellent." She turned to Holdfire and pulled him out the door by the hand. The two women led Holdfire outside to a bustling city, full of people and medieval style buildings, unlike anything Holdfire had ever seen before. "This is Antis!" Violet said, "It's a town like no other!" "Well, it certainly is different." Holdfire said. "So far, you've met me, Violet, and..." Trixy began, but was cut off by Violet. "Cerulean!" she interrupted. "That's right! Cerulean!" Trixy continued, "She's not from Antis, so she can be a little weird at first." "Hey! I'm not weird!" Cerulean yelled, "I'm a human being, just like everyone else." "I'm going to side with Trixy on this one." Violet said, "I'm a human being, but I'm not weird!" "Exactly." Trixy replied. It wasn't until 30 seconds of arguments later that she realized... Holdfire was gone. "Holdfire? Holdfire! Where did he go?" Trixy looked around. "Did you see which way he went?" Violet asked. "No, but he couldn't have gone far..." "You there! Don't move!" a voice could be heard yelling from a nearby alleyway. "That voice..." "Holdfire?!" Trixy and Violet ran to the alleyway and stopped as soon as they saw Holdfire. He was aiming a gun at someone. "Is that a flintlock? How on earth did he obtain such powerful weapons?!" Violet asked. "I... I don't know." Trixy replied.
Chapter 3-4 sneek peek Chapter 3 "What's going on here?" Trixy demanded, "Holdfire, what on Antis do you think you are doing?" "I overheard this man confess to his crimes." Holdfire replied, "He just killed seven others in cold blood." "What?!" Violet was shocked, “You do realize he's of nobility right? He would never do such a thing without proper authorization from the kingdom.” "...and you think that means nothing?!" Holdfire paused pressing the gun in closer towards the knight in shining armor, "I know corruption when I see it, and this man has broken the oath he has sworn to uphold." The knight slowly took off his helmet and spoke up. "You know, I'm impressed... a person of your talent would make a great addition to the King's Royal Committee." Holdfire shook his head and opened his mouth to speak, but he was quickly interrupted by Trixy. “Are you out of your mind?! You can’t just turn down a royal request!” "I'm not a peasant!" Holdfire cried, "I'm not like any of you!" "I'm nothing like anyone here!" He shot the gun and the knight immediately fell to the ground. "Don't be so dramatic, it was just a rubber bullet." Holdfire muttered as he ran off. Chapter 4 - The Chase “Holdfire, you idiot!” Trixy watched him as he ran off. “He’s completely lost it.” Violet realized. “No kidding.” Trixy sighed, “I’m going after him.” "What about me?" Violet asked. She downed an energy potion and began the rush back down the alley "If I’m not back before nightfall, convince the others at the Inn to start a search party." Trixy yelled back. “Tell them all the drinks this weekend will be on us if they decide to help!" To be continued... Credits ---------- Music provided by Tunetank time-shift is by empire of sound the-awakening is by victorwayne Holdfire was made by @Pixelated_Pickax (me) Credit to @elise129 for making Trixy Violet was made by @Hi_I_am_Alex Credit to @--PolarBear-- for hosting the contest!
