It was another cold December evening in Sowei City. The snow had settled in nicely on the streets of the castle town, as the citizens of the country went about their celebrations for the fast approaching festive season.
In one such household, one Robert Johnson was hurriedly putting on his best clothes, ready to go out in the cold. He covered his shoulders with a ragged black coat, so as not to get cold. Meanwhile, his son Jon was lounging on the couch, reading a novel.
"Hurry up, son. We don't want to be late now, do we?" Robert told his son, rushing him off the couch.
"Do I have to go? It's cold outside." Jon complained while putting on his socks.
"Yes! We've been invited by the King himself! Now, quickly, put your coat on, and let's go!" Robert tossed another coat to Jon, who smiled and shook his head at his old man. The two then left their abode, and began the trek up Mount Soweiland, in order to reach their destination, the Sowei City castle.
Half an hour quickly passed, and the two men arrived. Nick was standing outside the front gate, frozen half to death in his own armour, supposedly to welcome the guests. He was wearing a scarf and a beanie, leaving his very red nose as the only visible part of his face. He let out a grunt of acknowledgement once he noticed Robert, then went back to standing there. Robert waved back at him, and they made their way inside.
"Ah, General Johnson. I'm pleased to see you again." Leo declared once he saw the pair walk in the room, leavng the group he was talking to and approaching them. The two shook hands, and Leo turned his attention to Jon. "And you must be Jonas, I presume? Well met, kid."
"Pleasure to meet you, sir." Jon said. Leo grimaced.
"Don't call me sir, kid. I feel old." Leo admitted, scratching his neck. "Follow me around, will ya? I'll get you to Lucius." Leo quickly turned around and snapped his fingers as he and Rob left to find the King, leaving Jon behind.
Jon caught himself staring into the distance as he thought about how bizzare the opportunity to be invited to such a closed-off event. Everyone around him appeared to be in the high society of Soweiland. Entrepreneurs, philanthropists, generals and admirals (well, apart from that one guy in the orange polo), yet there was also him, an almost 19 year-old literature student, working part time at McDaniels as a cook.
Unfortunately, this train of thought would be interrupted by another gent down in his luck.
"Boo, Johnson!" A young man blared in his ear, startling him. A guy wearing red, with a lether vest and a cowboy hat, with slicked back hair and a toothpick between his teeth.
"Damn it, Bryce! I'm standing here!" Jon held his head, as Bryce extended an arm to pick him up from the floor. "What in God's name are you doing here? This is a private event!" Jon whispered angrily at the guy.
"Well, I saw you walking by with Mr. J, and I wasn't about to let you leave your best friend back down there, so I followed you. I had to forfeit my gloves to that guard outside to get in though. What did you give him?" Bryce shrugged as he explained, chewing on that toothpick while he did. Jon didn't even know what to respond, so he gave a confused look to his friend.
"Say, Johnny? You know any of these people?" Bryce scratched his head, unable to recognise any of the bigwigs in the room. Jon nodded negatively.
"I know one of them, definitely. That blonde guy, in the black and yellow. He's a reporter from Sowei City News." Jon pointed at a man, who, as it happened, was in the midst of interviewing with a brown-haired lady, who looked exteremely agitated. She slapped the reporter across the face and stormed off.
"My father with hear about this, Soleman! Don't come near me again!" She yelled. But the reporter was gleefully smiling.
"That was a confession! Take notes, Steve! I'll be quizzing you later." Soleman boasted to his assistant, who quickly started taking notes on an agenda.
Bryce burst out laughing at the sight, claiming it was comedy gold. Jon crossed his arms waiting for his friend to regain his composure. He had a feeling he recognised the woman from somewhere.
"So how come you're here, man? This seems kinda important." Bryce asked once he did. John scratched his chin.
"My father was invited. I'm surprised we came here myself, as he was feeling a little under the weather last week, but he dropped everything he was doing so we could make it here today." Jon explained.
"I see." Bryce said. The cowboy took another look around the castle lobby, and his eyes settled on the buffet, where a tall blond lady was discussing something with a gentleman whose head was shaped oddly. Neither seemed to particularly enjoy the conversation.
"Yo, who's that? I'm going to talk to her." Bryce declared, and started walking towards the buffet, before Jon pulled him back by his vest.
"What are you doing, bro? Stop cockblocking me!" Bryce squirmed, as he flailed his hands around in an attempt to escape his grasp.
"That's the King's daughter, Renee, you idiot! I wouldn't if I were you." Jon told him. Bryce winced, and put his head down in dismay.
"How do you know her, anyway?" Bryce asked, lifting his head up.
"She's in the Council, Bryce. Do you ever read the news?" Jon rubbed his temples in dissapointmet, while Bryce just stuck his tongue out at him. The boys went back to observing the crowd that was forming. A loud man smoking a cigar was chatting with a bearded fella with a big 'A' on his jacket, while a lady in a lab coat was explaining something to a man in a longcoat and fedora. The man in the orange polo from earlier was on the phone with someone.
"Oh, there you are Jon!" Robert said, having just returned, with King Lucius in tow. "I've been looking for you."
"Hey, Mr. J!" Bryce saluted Robert, who greeted him back,not realising he shouldn't even be there. His majesty stared at the young man in confusion, before snapping out of it and quickly turning his attention back to Jon.
"My, you've grown into quite the refined gentleman, Jonas." Lucius pointed out. Jon smiled at the King.
"Thanks, Mr. Pascal. How are your daughters?" Jon asked, shaking the King's hand in the meantime.
"They're quite alright, thanks for asking." Lucius responded. Bryce slowly turned his head to look at his friend, mumbling that he was sure he knew them. Jon ignored him.
"Be quiet now, Luke, he's gonna speak!" Robert shushed them, and the lights dimmed. The lady with the lab coat was now on the impromptu stage they had set up in the corner, along with another gentleman wearing red and white. Leo had slo climbed up on the stage.
"Esteemed ladies and gentlemen of Soweiland!" He started, and everyone in the crowd turned to him, excluding the man in the orange polo, who continued being on the phone.
"I'm sure you've all been made aware by the media about the events of the last month, when an intruder from some parallel realm of some kind, made a joke of our military and left, taking a prisoner from maximum security with her. Thanks for exposing all that, Mr. Soleman." Leo spoke, grumbling that last part, while glaring daggers at Soleman, who waved at him in the most annoying way possible.
"It became evident to me, at that very moment, that there needed to be some change, gentlemen. With the realms of possibilty opening up by the day, and magic being real, apparently, us regular people need a way to fight back!" He continued. Someone from the crowd coughed when he said 'us regular people', but Leo ignored it.
"Therefore, I have come witha proposition to you esteemed gentlemen here today. With your funding, the Ministry of Defense will be able to form a new institution, that will train young people using experimental Hi-Tec gear, poweful enough to defend our country from even the toughest of foes." Leo explained his idea, and applause rang out across the lobby. The Prime Minister proudly smiled to his subjects.
"Hold on, now!" Someone interrupted from the crowd. Everyone's heads turned to look at the loud man with the cigar. "I don't trust you politicians, you're the scum of the earth! How do i know you're not embezzling all our money?"
'Sounds like trouble...' Jon thought to himself. He saw some eyes rolling in amongst the crowdas the loud man spoke.
"I agree. Shouldn't the taxes we pay be enough?" The man in the orange polo waved his hand. Several voices agreed with the sentiment, and Leo's smile dropped for a moment.
"Rest assured, Mr. Tuscan." He spat, getting everyone's attention back. "Your money is being well spent. And as for you, Angelo, you don't even pay taxes in Soweiland, so quit complaining." Angelo scrunched up his nose in respose, and turned away.
"I was certain we'd have an input like this, when I invited you all here, so how about a little demonstration to calm your nerves, ey? Take it away, Science Department." Leo said, and walked to the back of the stage. The man and woman with the lab coats walked to the front, the former wearing a metallic contraption on his back, and looking rather anxious. He turned around to show the machine to the crowd.
"This is an experimental jetpack engine. It's composed of two canisters of a plant based biofuel that I developed myself, it mixes with some gasses and chemicals that occur naturally in the atmosphere, creating a combustion that allows the user to fly. It can support up to 200 kilograms." The lady explained, pointing to the canisters in question. She then signaled to the man to turn around, and he pressed a button that was attached to the pack. The engine made some concerning noises, before taking off, and the man in the seat yelped.
The crowed was in awe as the guy flew around the room, Bryce's jaw dropping in amazement. Mr. Tuscan dropped his cigar on the floor the moment he saw the flying contraption, but an assistant of his with a teal vest and rectangular glasses picked it up for him. Some time later, the man ame down and took off the pack, which the lady with the long hair from earlier swiftly took away. Leo glared at her as she walked pass.
"That's what you'd be funding, folks." Leo smirked, as the small crowds went in an uproar.
"Dude! Did you see that!?" Bryce asked Jon, who nodded in response. "We HAVE to sign up." He then declared, but Jon only scratched his head.
"I dunno, man. Someone needs to take care of my dad, and I don't know how long we'll be out..." Jon explained, looking away from his friend.
"No worries, Jonas." Lucius said. "We'll take care of your old man while you're gone." Robert nodded in reassurance. Jon was left at a loss for words.
"So, it's settled! We sign up, the moment we can! We're gonna rock these jetpacks, Johnny! Woo!" Bryce cheered, and started shaking his friend around wildly.
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Outside the venue. Mr. Tuscan and his assistand had regrouped, following the presentaion.
"A disaster is what this is, Gardner! How are my men supposed to operate with the threat of flying supercops over their heads!? We barely just recovered from what those feds did to Jimmy..." Tuscan ranted. Gardner just stood there, rolling his eyes behind his glasses.
"It's very unfortunate, sir." Gardner said, adjusting his glasses.
"You're signing up for that programme, Gardner. I want you to report on every technology they make. Get me samples if you can. The Black Island Mafia will NOT be felled by some delusional egghead's science fair disaster!" He exclaimed.
"Do you intend to fund this project, sir?" Gardner asked.
"Unfortunately, I have no choice. Appearances must be kept. You get in there and do what you can, capiche?" Tuscan said, witha very unpleased look on his face, as they started walking back to their carriage.
"It will be done." Thomas Gardner confirmed. Nobody but him was aware of the sinister gaze underneath his rectangular glasses.