Authors: Matt Stephens
Vincent hugged her back. "I will." he turned to Tecca. "We have to stop by my place first. I need some equipment. You ready?"
Tecca nodded, filled with a fierce energy. "Let's move."
~oo00oo~
Vincent took his time, gathering what he'd need, making sure he had everything. He sent one last look around his apartment; very aware that he might never see it again. It was the last chance he had to listen to doubt. Connie was half right: It wasn't really his war. He wasn't one of them; he just knew about them. He'd helped out hundreds of homeless people too; and wasn't considered part of their family either...
His eyes slid unconsciously to the windowsill; half expecting to see Yasi perched there.
What would she do?
He asked himself.
She'd protect her own.
You failed to protect yourself from the Riverfolk; you didn't pass any of Yasi's tests... You didn't say anything against Owen, or even try to save your own life in the Underside... History says you're not ready for this.
Vincent closed his mind to the questions. If he went, he was probably going to get himself killed; but if he didn't even try, he'd never forgive himself.
Taking a deep breath, Vincent turned to go. He caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror... and froze.
The long coat Yasi had given him went down past his knees. The hiking boots were far more appropriate for the Underside than office shoes. He took the old Lostkind Lantern, his first memento of the Underside, and clipped it to his utility sling, slung over his chest like a bandoleer. He took the Riverfolk Goggles, just in case he couldn't risk using the light. He hesitated at the weapons, but eventually took the knife he'd been issued during the fight, and the crossbow Tecca had left him after Wotcha died. That left the charm bracelet, made for him in another life by the homeless children. The people who fell through the cracks of the world had thanked him for noticing them. He didn't dare wear it around his throat; so he tied it around his upper arm instead.
He looked the part. He was dressed in a bohemian mixture of modern and medieval. He was a steampunk urban warrior, looking like something outside the normal world.
He wasn't a New Yorker any longer.
He was Lostkind.
~oo00oo~
Tecca's jaw dropped when he saw Vincent step out of his apartment, and lock the door behind him. "Huh."
Vincent left his door key under the mat, and spread his arms a little. "What do you think? Will I blend in?"
"Well... yeah." Tecca guessed. "But I don't know what you expect to do... You cannot possibly take them." Tecca said bluntly. "You look like us, but... If Yasi couldn't stop him, I doubt you can."
"Doesn't matter. I'm not going to fight Vandark. I'll never succeed." Vincent said honestly. "But I've got an insurance policy."
"Meaning?"
"Meaning, if anything bad happens to me; it won't matter. Vandark will still lose."
~oo00oo~
Tecca had led the way out of the apartment building, to the nearest manhole. Waiting until the street was empty, the boy produced an odd shaped piece of metal like a conjuring trick, and used it to lever up the manhole cover. The boy moved with experienced ease, having done it a million times. Vincent had always exited this way; but never entered.
Tecca didn't even hesitate, leading the way down the pipe, until they came to a maintenance hatch. "Phone exchange." He told Vincent. "The city fixes phone circuits through here. Try not to bump anything."
The exchange passage was narrow and filled with electronic bits and pieces; and Tecca led him through. There was a chalk mark on the floor. One of the Lostkind's glyphs. "The door only opens from the other side, but the Labyrinth is right below our feet now." Tecca explained.
"Let's go then."
Tecca held up a hand. "So. If you do manage to do... whatever the hell it is you're planning to do? What then?"
"Then Vandark loses,
and
the Lostkind win. Either way, the bad guys are done."
Tecca was staring blankly. "Okay. We're not going in until you tell me what you're planning to do down there."
"Well, you're half right." Vincent said, turning to face the boy squarely. "I'm not telling you anything; but you're not going to come with me, so it hardly matters."
Tecca took a step back instinctively. "You still need me."
"No I don't. If you don't let me in this way; there are a hundred others I can try. I need a Watcher I can trust." Vincent challenged. "Not the kid traitor that let Owen loose, and left secret messages for the Riverfolk."
Tecca froze for a microsecond, and then reached for his belt.
"Looking for this?" Vincent probed, holding up Tecca's belt-knife. "Connie took it off you when you were enjoying your ice-cream sundae."
Pause.
"How did you know it was me?" Tecca asked nervously, not bothering to deny it.
"You missed." Vincent said simply.
"What?"
"When the Riverfolk attacked me, Wotcha gave you the crossbow. She took a beating to distract them... and you missed."
"I could have just missed. It's harder than it looks."
"I know. That's why I didn't say anything to Yasi." Vincent just looked at him. "But it turns out I didn't have to. She knew it was you." He started counting on his fingers. "You were there when they met their first Wildman Warrior in the Labyrinth, and probably slipped him the blade. You were there when Owen was a prisoner, and with the rope; you could have levered the hatch open; you knew that Yasi and I were close, and Owen was able to use that knowledge when Yasi had him prisoner; and you knew when the attack would come. Something that even Yasi didn't know. That's why she sent you up to me." He glared. "I didn't need you to find a door kid. After three years, I got friends in all the ignored places in this city. But I needed to be sure. And you didn't even bother to deny it."
Tecca swallowed, but when he spoke, it was with the fiery passion of a true believer. "We've been eating out of garbage cans!" He snapped. "Stealing
garbage,
for
food.
Doesn't matter if it wasn't rotten; it was still refuse to you people! Ever since my grandmother was my age; that's the way it's been. I tried to convince her that we could live like Kings. Vandark understood that. So did Owen. I tried to convince Wotcha! She said I was being silly. Silly! For wanting her to be comfortable and powerful instead of pretending she had to sleep in the gutter; she thought I was 'being silly'. Well I refuse to live like that when I get old. I'm gonna be a King!"
Vincent scoffed. "The hell you are. I'm going in there, and I'm going to win this thing. And if I die, my 'insurance package' will still do the job. If Yasi's alive; she'll be by soon; and if she's dead, Vandark will still blame you. It took me a week to set this up, and Vandark's going to wonder why you didn't warn him." Vincent's voice turned to pure iron. "It won't take him long to realize that you were too busy eating Ice Cream with Connie."
Tecca paled.
"So. You still want to go down there?" Vincent challenged. "Because it's going to be worse for you than it will for me; and
that
is saying something."
Tecca swallowed.
"Run." Vincent growled, and stalked down the tunnel, not looking back at him. Tecca ran and Vincent checked his watch.
Six hours, forty minutes.
~oo00oo~
Vincent was swallowed by darkness the instant his feet touched floor. Feeling around on the top of his head, he pulled the goggles down to his eyes, and was able to see in front of him, enough to make out the walls.
What so few people realize about a labyrinth,
he thought to himself;
Is that all the walls are connected. The only ways in are above floor level since they all lead up to the surface; and the only way out is the Entrance to the Underside. The entire maze is all one wall that branches off into confusing twists and turns. To find your way out, albeit slowly, all you have to do is put your hand on a wall and keep following it.
It was a very slow, roundabout route, but it was a reliable one.
Vincent adjusted the ruby-red goggles, the pitch black now a dim red glow, and he started making his way deeper into the Underside.
~oo00oo~
Benji looked terribly disappointed as Connie finished telling the three of them the whole story. "No Buried Treasure?"
Connie ignored him, eyes focused on her brother. "Drew? You okay?"
Drew just stared at her. "I'd like the truth now, please."
Benji piped up again. "Oh it's true, I saw Vincent's maps. But I thought it was... meh. Secret City is much less interesting."
Tony just looked at him. "
Less
interesting?"
"Buried treasure, we can spend it. Secret City, there's not much point if we know about it; cause they'll never let us go."
"They let Vincent."
"CLAM UP!" Drew shouted at his two friends and glared at Connie. "Come on sis, what the hell is
really
going on?"
"Drew, you know me..." Connie pressed.
"Yeah, I do. I remember you making up stories all the time." Drew snapped. "Look around this apartment, there's not
one
true story to go with
any
of your stupid junk."
Connie twitched. Benji and Tony leaned back in their chairs, suddenly silent; trying to become absent from the conversation.
Drew immediately deflated. "Sorry, that was way too... Sorry."
"Drew, if I was going to make something up; I'd pick something a hell of a lot more believable than this." Connie said softly.
"I don't believe it." Drew said finally. "If it were true, I can't believe you'd want out. I've seen you at the clinic, at the Soup Kitchen... You love the kids; and you'd have a whole city's worth of people to take care of..."
"Why would I have to look underground?" Connie retorted. "There's plenty of lost boys right here on the surface."
"Like Tecca?" Tony offered, and they both turned to him. "I noticed what looked an awful lot like official papers on your breakfast table."
"You had breakfast at Connie's?" Benji jumped in. "And you didn't bring me?"
Drew spun on Connie. "Don't tell me... You want to adopt this kid and you think he comes from Neverland?"
"Neverland was in the sky." Benji countered; and everyone ignored him again.
"I don't think it; I know it. He does too." Connie told Drew.
Drew paused, stuck between not believing and believing this new evidence.
~oo00oo~
Vincent saw the light change and pulled off the goggles. He could see a light ahead. He'd done it. He had found his way through the Labyrinth. The first time he came here, Yasi had lead him to an underground channel that led straight to Twelfth Level. On his way out with Connie six months before, he'd seen more of the geography. He had no idea where he'd come out now, but was amazed to see there were almost a dozen exits from the labyrinth meeting to form a much larger Tunnel. It had to be the Main Entrance. He could hear two Riverfolk guards talking to each other; and here and there he could see signs of recent construction... and destruction alongside it.
Yasi collapsed the tunnel, and somebody rebuilt it.
He thought numbly to himself.
Whatever happened, it's well and truly over now.
He tried to creep along the edge of the Tunnel Wall, but there was little to no point. There were two Riverfolk guards. Vincent crept along as silently as he could, looking for an opportunity to sneak past them... And they whirled toward him. Vincent couldn't detect the slightest sound from his footsteps, but they had both spun as if shot.
"Take me to your leader." He demanded, proud of the way his voice held steady.
The two Riverfolk looked at him, unimpressed.
"Kill him." One said simply to the other.
"Okay McCall, here we go." Vincent told himself bravely, and pulled out the crossbow.
The Wildmen looked at him, looked at the weapon in his hand.
And started laughing.
Vincent gripped the crossbow.
Well, this plan is going well.
The Riverfolk moved in, drawing their familiar curved knives, and he took aim... And froze. He couldn't fire.
Oh come on!
Vincent raged at himself in a panic.
You knew this was going to be... Come On!
It was no good. They were getting in too close and Vincent couldn't bring himself to pull the trigger. He scurried backward, trying to get some room; trying to get out of reach...
The nearest one picked him up by the throat and Vincent felt his feet leave the ground; feet kicking against the faceless monster uselessly. Vincent had his fingers dug into the Riverfolk's wrist, trying madly to get some air as it all started to go black...