W.R.E.C.K. - 5. Planning

Cyrus's POV:

As the three of us made our way to some strange business building, I felt confused about the land Alexandra once called 'home.' A country by default. The core of it was city-esque in nature…but, Wight-Led appeared to be barely more than the size of a small town. For Luis to have so easily taken over the place with an army alone spoke volumes about the country's defenses, it surely had none.

We made a plan on the fly to somehow capture Luis and force him to retract his militia from Wight-Led, but it was all shot to hell the moment we saw the man and his entourage enter a conference room. Alexandra spurred into action. My partner was right on her heals, as if he had expected her to do such a thing. The woman launched herself in a graceful arch moments before her knees landed on the shoulders of one of the soldiers and…

I sighed as I joined them in the chaos. Between the three of us, we made short work of the soldiers. The men were alive, but unconscious. That had been the first time I had ever seen Lexie at such a speed. I was used to my partner doing such things with rapid efficiency, but never my lilac-eyed friend.

"Luis, just what in the hell do you think you're doing?" Alexandra outright roared.

"What do we do now?" I whispered to my partner as we peered into the conference room that Alexandra had just stormed into.

"I'm thinking, I'm thinking," Revelin replied as he rubbed his temples with a hand.

"Why, Lexie?" Luis sighed, drawing my attention to him. The man was standing rigidly with his hands behind his back as he stared out at the view of the city through the glass wall in the room. "Why did you insist on rejecting me in the past?" He tossed a glare over his shoulder. His lightning blue eyes were a stark contrast to his deep bronze skin. "First, the rivalry with that callous Revelin…"

"Rivalry was all it was!" Alexandra insisted, a blush forming on her face. "I mean, sure Lin always had a nice butt to stare at, but it wasn't-"

"And then, you allowed yourself to be seduced by that wretched Verity!"

"For the umpteenth time, Verity is my best friend!" She growled. "I care about her and Lin a great deal, but that doesn't mean I want to have those kinds of relationships with either of them!" Fists formed at her sides and I wondered if she was restraining herself from attacking the taller man. "For the love of the cosmos! Luis, this is ridiculous. One does not hijack an entire country just for a damn date!"

"A date?" A half strangled sound came out of my mouth at the incredulity of it all. One would think that I would have been used to such chaos already. "Is that what all this is about? A general not being able to take rejection like a man?"

Fierce eyes narrowed in my direction as the taller man sneered at me. "What does a tiny thing such as yourself know about being a man?" He stated in a rather icy and calm tone. Nothing about his physical appearance inspired any kind of fear from me, but that tone of voice did.

For once, I felt no embarrassment about Revelin stepping in front of me to block me from the general's view.

"Luis, is that what all of this is really about?" Revelin questioned.

"Of course it isn't," Luis hissed as he directed his attention back towards Alexandra. "And though I feel rather insulted about such assumptions, and still believe things would have turned out better had you married me in the first place, there isn't any time to waste." He picked up a remote and aimed it towards the wall of the room. The entire wall lit up like a screen and began to play footage of several men of high rank sitting in a semi-circle and talking to one another.

"To these men, Wight-Led is nothing more than an indigenous little village nestled into a planet that is ripe for the picking." He explained. "When they asked for a volunteer unit to lay siege to Wight-Led until they raised enough funds to invade it, I took on the task. I can only buy you so much time to decide what to do." He reached over to lift Alexandra's chin. His expression turned soft and sorrowful. "Lexie, you've said it before, you made that odd dimension's 'Earth' your home and gave up Wandering to become its Idler. But, we were both born in this small country. Would you see the entire planet corrupted for wealth?"

"That's why you were trying to finish up that wall, you were trying to bide some time?" Revelin mused outloud.

I could almost see the agony that all of this caused my female friend. She seemed rather torn.

"Hometown or not," I pointed out. "It's all that the townsfolk have ever known. Can't quite ask them to up and move…"

"Cyber, you're a genius!" Lexie exclaimed as she took hold of my shoulders and gave me a shake. "Home isn't where you're born or where you live, it's the people around you. Why don't we warp all of Wight-Led into a safer dimension?"

I gaped at her as if she grown a few heads. "Is something like that even possible?"

"It is possible…though it would take a lot of work," Revelin mused beside me, rubbing his chin in thought. "And I mean a lot of work. Why, it would take an entire conductive fleet-"He trailed off as Alexandra and himself began to stare Luis down.

"You want me to help you move an entire town into another dimension?" Luis asked aloud. From the sound of it, he seemed to think it as impossible as I did.

"What was that you said earlier?" Lexie countered. "Would you rather see the town in the midst of a greedy planet take-over, or would you rather move it to a safer place?"

"That wasn't what I said at all." The general replied in a deadpan voice. He then let out a long sigh. "This is one of the most ridiculous plans I have ever attempted to help accomplish."

"Yes, you're the best!" Lexie cried as she promptly gave the taller man a loud kiss on the lips. "If we manage to get through this, I'll be the one asking you out on a date!"

I gave Luis a rather critical glance over, as if weighing if he were good enough for my violet-haired friend when I felt a tug at my elbow.

"We don't have time for that, appraise him later." Revelin pointed out with a snicker.

I sighed, knowing that he was right, and ran after him and Lexie while the two of them began to talk about their extravagant plan.

::::::::::

Vianis's POV:

The more that I looked around, the more I realized how unnecessarily extravagant that supposed strip club was. The town should have spent its wealth on more important things. As my gaze drifted over to the talented dancer for the umpteenth time that night, I scoffed. The damn town should have monitored the royalties that rolled into the club in the first place.

'Royalties, huh? That guy's worth his weight in 'em, I mean hotdamn.' Darryl commented.

'Silence.' I mentally responded.

'Come on, you can't tell me you wouldn't tap that ass if you had the opportunity.'

Just then, as if to utterly taunt me, the male dancer's gaze locked with mine and I found myself gulping hard. His eyes were reminiscent of pale blue fire opals with aquamarine flecks. Though I forced myself not to show it on the outside, I began to panic when the young man approached us with swinging hips.

'Oh shit, he's coming our way! Do something!' Darryl urged.

'Just what in the cosmos would you have me do?' I countered.

'Slip a tip in his thong, buy him a drink, anything!'

"Give our two new guests a couple of Vitaroga's on the house, Eleven." His voice was as soft and seductive as his dancing.

'Wow. Well, he beat us to it.' Darryl murmured.

"Thanks, er..." Verity trailed off as she waited for him to say his name.

"My stage name is The Chestnut Coronet." He supplied as he motioned towards his curly, shoulder length hair. "The chestnut color of the hummingbird's breast is apparently the same color as my hair, though I've never seen one in the flesh." He then leaned forward a little. "However, I will still respond to 'C-C' or 'Double C' if that's easier for you."

"Then, thanks 'C-C'," Verity reiterated as the bartender slid their drinks towards them. "Just how strong is this drink?"

"It has more flavor than liquor, I assure you. " The dancer replied.

My eyes widened when I saw the white-haired woman gulp down the drink all in one go. Honestly, did Wanderers have no shame? It was unprofessional to consume any amount of liquor at all while on a mission, but to down such a tall glass in one go? "That will be a no from me," I said loudly enough to be heard over the music. "Your intentions were quite courteous, but liquor, and other such substances are not to my liking." After all, I had already mindlessly consumed the shot that I was handed by Verity earlier and regretted it instantly.

"My, my," The other man gasped as he took a step closer to us. The less distance that separated us, the more I inwardly panicked. "You have quite a lovely accent. I've never heard that kind of an accent before."

'He totally wants in your pants...or is it our pants? Does it count when I'm not even in control anymore?' Darryl rambled.

Between Darryl and the performer, I was so distracted that I barely even registered the fact that Verity was already downing my unattended drink, as well. I would have begun to read the dictionary out loud for him if that was what he wished, but just then my master's charm began to glow insistently. Oh, damn it all.

"Listen to me," I stated as I took hold of both of the dancer's hands and looked into his beautiful eyes. "You are a magnificent, talented, dancer. The grace and beauty with which you move and speak is just as impressive. However, my comrade and I must now depart. I do not know if I am to ever see your lovely face again, but know that you are worth more than a thousand crowns of gold!"

That being said, I half-dragged Verity with me out of the club and didn't activate the charm until we were about a block away. "Master?"

"Cyber and Lin are busy arranging soldiers around the perimeter of the wall." It was Alexandra's face that appeared hovering above the charm this time. She frowned as her gaze landed on Verity, who had started to dance out of rhythm beside me. "Is my girl doing alright over there?"

I winced. "She may have had one too many Vitarogas..."

"Fucking hell!" Alexandra hissed. "That girl can't take her liquor at all, yet alone a Vitaroga. That shit's downright mild to those who grew up in Wight-Led, but it's fierce on foreigners..."

"I have a feeling it was meant to intoxicate me instead, but she went and-"

"Doesn't matter!" Alexandra cut me off. "You get her and Crystal somewhere safe and brace yourselves."

"Brace ourselves?" I questioned.

'I don't like the sound of that, either,' Darryl put in his two cents.

"Yes." She affirmed. "We're shifting all of Wight-Led into another dimension."

"Crisis in the cosmos!" I squawked.