Chapter Text
The pitter-patter of shoes. A soft rain fell from the sky, most of it blocked by the tangled wires above. The smell of sewage overtook the small alleyway.
The inphernal , with purple horns curling like a ram, jumped onto a low-hanging ladder. They saw the vigilant following them, his green oni mask not hiding his glare. The inphernal cursed as they threw themselves up, aiming for the rooftops to hopefully lose the vigilant.
They knew working with Phoenix would come with consequences. They didn't expect Crossroads' most efficient vigilante to go after them. His name was passed along Phoenix’s inphernal s like a plague. ‘Do not speak of Him, for He shall appear,’ they used to tell them, warning them of the consequences of leaving her territory.
They panted as they pulled themselves onto the rooftops, another flash of fear pushing them forward as the vigilante latched onto the ladder below them. He was twice their speed. They thought they had an hour before they got caught in Crossroads, yet the vigilante had proved them wrong, already following them after fifteen minutes. Their boot slipped on a wet patch of concrete as they rushed forward, adrenaline pumping through their veins, as the vigilante only closed the distance between them.
“More efficient than Ban Hammer himself,” they muttered, fighting for breath as they dashed forward. The rooftops only got wider. They refused to look behind them, to look Him in the eyes. They barely managed to jump to another roof, and a sinking feeling told them they were cornered. “As observant as Firebrand, the Protecter.”
The edge of the roof was just as they expected it. Too far for them to jump to. An overwhelming sense of fear swamped them, and the thumping of shoes behind them did nothing to calm their nerves. They barely had time to look over their shoulder--let alone summon their gear--before they were slammed into the ground, any air stolen from them as they gasped.
“Wait, Phoenix won't forgive you for this--” they gasped, attempting to pull the vigilant off of them, but a sharp pain at the back of their head made their vision flicker. All they saw before they passed out was bright green eyes staring through their soul.
~``+``~
“Shuriken!”
Shuriken shot up from his bed, wiping sleep out of his eyes. He blinked a couple of times as his room slowly unblurred. Another yell from Slingshot surprised him enough to make him fall on the floor. Slingshot opened the door to look at Shuriken. Without looking at him, Shuriken could already imagine Slingshot’s face, eyebrows furrowed in annoyance as he looked down at Shuriken.
Shuriken fought the blankets around him to stand up, tugging at his shirt nervously. Slingshot face-palmed before turning around. “You have five minutes.” He closed the door behind him, leaving Shuriken to process what he had said before running to his closet.
He waded through the unwashed clothes piling above his laundry basket as he grabbed clean ones, putting them on and rushing out the door into the bathroom. He stopped to look at his horns. The green paint was peeling off, revealing some pink underneath.
“Already?” He mumbled, poking the spot before grabbing his toothbrush. Finished, he rushed outside and grabbed a couple of pieces of bread to shove in his mouth. He managed to slide into the car with a couple of seconds left, Slingshot shooting him an unamused look as he started the car.
He could see Vine Staff adjust her kimono in the passenger seat. She looked over her shoulder to see Shuriken. “Did you spend the entire night gaming again?” She asked, Shuriken freezing. He reached for his zipper and fiddled with it, chuckling nervously. “Uhm, yeah. But it’s such a good game!”
Vine Staff hummed, although she seemed unconvinced. “If you don’t go to bed earlier, I’ll have to check on you.” She concluded. Shuriken’s eye widened. “Wait! I’ll--I’ll go to bed earlier, promise!” he waved his hands around to show his panic. Seeing Vine Staff purse her lips, he reached for his zipper again.
She eventually sighed. “Alright. But if you wake up late again, I’m checking on you.” Shuriken nodded quickly and forced a smile. The rest of the car ride was quiet, save for the small chattering of Vine Staff and Slingshot. Shuriken paid them no mind--simply watching the rooftops fly by and imagining himself swinging across them.
They reached the Cafe a bit after. They collectively got out of the car, and Slingshot prepared to open the Cafe for the day. Vine Staff settled at the cash register as Shuriken grabbed a notepad, doodling a cat in the corner while he waited for Slingshot to enter.
The said inphernal walked inside and clapped his hands. “Eight hours start now,” he commented, pointing toward a clock on the wall. As Slingshot and Vine Staff disappeared into the kitchen, a inphernal entered the room. Shuriken straightened up and plastered a smile on his face.
“Welcome to the cafe!” He said excitedly, moving over to lead them to a table and passing over a menu. The inphernal nodded gratefully and grabbed it. “Just ring the bell when you need me! I’ll be right there.” He winked at the inphernal . Another inphernal entered, and he quickly went to greet them.
It wasn't long until someone he recognized entered the cafe. It was busy as always, the calm chatter of the cafe soothing his nerves. He watched as a red inphernal with a helmet entered. He recognized him as Skateboard. Slingshot's friend, if he recounted correctly. He could remember Slingshot describing someone similar to the inphernal during dinner.
He led Skateboard to a table. “Hey, uh, you’re Slingshot's brother, right?” he asked. Shuriken nodded with a smile. “Yep! That’s me! Shuriken, at your service.” Shuriken sent Skateboard a cheerful smile. Skateboard nodded and pursed his lips.
“We’re also in the Phights together,” Shuriken stated, watching Skateboard's eyebrow raise. “We are? I haven't seen you.”
“Uh, yeah,” Shuriken stuttered. “I’m more of a ninja, so maybe that's why you haven't seen me.” Skateboard gave Shuriken a disbelieving smile and nodded. “Look, could you--”
“I am, I swear,” Shuriken interrupted, “I’ll come say hi the next time we’re in a match together.”
Skateboard grimaced. As if knowing something was wrong, Slingshot poked his head out of the kitchen. “Hey, Skateboard!” Slingshot said excitedly. Skateboard's face immediately grew calm. He waved Slingshot over, and Shuriken backed away, finally realizing his mistake and pinching himself for it.
He ignored how Skateboard visibly relaxed as he walked away. He would just apologize when they were phighting together. A ringing bell reminded him where he was as he hurried over to take the inphernal 's order.
~``+``~
The moment the eight hours passed, Shuriken found himself in the car. He didn't help with closing the Cafe. The last time he was trusted with it, he accidentally left the back door open and a raccoon snuck into the pantry.
Vine Staff and Slingshot eventually entered the car, settling into their respective spots. The car settled into a low hum as they drove home.
“Spaghetti,” Shuriken said randomly. Vine Staff jumped, and Slingshot chuckled, both of them going silent. Vine Staff was the first to talk. “We can do that.” Looking around, she noted that there were no objections. “Spaghetti it is.”
Shuriken ducked into the bathroom as soon as he set foot inside the apartment, searching for green dye. He pulled out a bottle and sighed as nothing came out. “I’ll have to grab more tonight,” he muttered, poking his horns again.
It didn't take long for Vine Staff to call him down for dinner. He quickly entered the living room, seeing Slingshot already sitting at the table. Shuriken shoveled food onto his plate and sat down precariously. Slingshot rolled his eyes, but he had a soft smile on his face. He let silence fill the area before speaking. “So, me, Skateboard, and Boombox are gonna hang out tonight,” Slingshot began, watching Vine Staff for her reaction.
Her eyes widened, and she barked out a laugh. “I’m actually planning to go out with a couple of my friends also, so you’ll be home alone, Shuriken.” Shuriken puffed out his cheeks and crossed his arms. “Hey, I'm also totally gonna hang with my bros! Play a couple games with them, y’know?”
Slingshot and Vine Staff shared an amused glance. “The ones you can't tell us about?” Slingshot guessed, laughing as Shuriken grinned back. “Yeah, cuz they’re super secret agents!”
“Just make sure you dont stay up late,” Vine Staff scolded, “We have work in the morning.” Shuriken used his finger to salute her. “Copy, stay up super late.” Vine Staff rolled her eyes, and Slingshot laughed again.
The two eventually packed up and left the apartment. Shuriken cleaned the plates and ducked into his room. He lifted his mattress to look down at the clothes on his bedframe. They were baggy and covered with green swirls and dots. Large tactical boots sat on top, held together by a green rope. He moved them aside to make sure the long tail feathers weren’t crumpled, curling up in front of him.
The real treasure was the mask. An oni mask with bright green LED eyes, made by himself. He smiled and grabbed the mask. “Let's go, Silver Shadow,” He muttered to it, throwing his costume on and throwing himself out his window.
~``+``~
His first stop as a vigilante was, of course, a store to grab his horn dye. The worker there lazily raised his head. It wasn't uncommon to see Silver Shadow there, always dropping by when he needed something on his daily runs. The Worker waved to him before dropping his head on the counter again. Shuriken browsed the dyes, grabbing the green one he always did and a chocolate bar.
“Have a good day, Silver,” He said, voice muffled by the counter. Shuriken grinned from underneath the mask and dropped 100 bux in the tipping jar. “Great service as usual, Spray Paint!” Spray Paint muttered a thanks as Shuriken stepped out of the store and grabbed his grappling hook, hooking it onto the nearest building and pulling himself up.
He ran across the roofs and perched on a metal pipe in the middle of Crossroads, watching the crowds of inphernals run into each other as the many lights flickered on for the night. Shuriken pulled out his chocolate bar to gnaw on it.
A flash of blue caught his attention. A inphernal with curly teal horns and a deep frown ducked into an alleyway. Alleyways were always a hotspot for crimes in Crossroads. He quickly grappled onto the respective building, making sure not to peek too far into it in case they looked up.
The inphernal followed the right wall until they reached a dead end. Shuriken contemplated jumping down, just to see if they were alright, but seeing another inphernal passing around the corner quickly shot the idea out of his head. This inphernal had red bull horns and a mean-looking grin on her face. Her clothes were worn and playgrounder-like, a bat with a mean dent hooked onto her back.
Shuriken mentally prepared himself to jump down and save the teal-horned inphernal before they started talking. “Shot,” the teal-horned inphernal acknowledged, the bull-horned inphernal snorting. “Yeah, yeah, I get it. ‘O wise Phoenix has requested your presence!’” She mimicked, her voice going up an octave with a premade british accent. “Cut to the chase. Why did she call me?”
The teal-horned inphernal leveled Shot with a glare. “As I was going to say, Phoenix has sent out a hit.” He pulled paper out of a satchel. Shuriken leaned over to see what was on it, but the darkness of the Alleyway covered it. “Captured Violet. Our insider Blackrockian. Sold them out to the police.”
Shot snorted again, snatching the paper and squinting to see it in the darkness. “Ooh, this guy?” She said, shoving the paper in her coat. “Yeah, yeah, I’ve seen him around. Grunts like to speak of him like he’s some kind of Sword. Won’t be too hard to find.”
Shuriken froze. Could that have been him? But he couldnt remember catching a Blackrockian. The last inphernal he had caught was this guy who had stolen a couple of wallets from inphernals. Sure, they ran pretty far, and yeah, he did have to knock them out and drop them off in front of the police station, but there was no way someone like that could be a part of some playground gang.
“Why did we even keep them?” Shot complained, ignoring the glare from the other inphernal. “I mean, they couldn't fight; it was really annoying, and they kept ignoring every warning we gave them. It was their fault.”
“Because Phoenix promised to protect them,” the other inphernal replied easily, voice carrying a hint of annoyance. “And Phoenix can't have their promises broken. It would mean fewer inphernal s coming in.” They stepped forward, lowering their voice. “And remember this hit is alive only. You’re on thin ice, Shot, and you know what happens to inphernal s Phoenix deems useless.”
Shot laughed. “Alright, Mr. Spooky,” she quipped. “Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing.” The ‘Mr. Spooky stepped back without a word. They held out their hand, and Shot rolled her eyes. Taking the paper out, she slammed it back in the other inphernal 's hand.
She waved goodbye, stepping out of the alleyway with a small pout. Mr. Spooky attempted to straighten out the paper before giving up and rolling it up. Seeing an opportunity, Shuriken hooked his grappling hook to the side of the wall and turned upside down, sliding down until he was level with Mr. Spooky. “Boo.”
Mr. Spooky flinched and whipped around. Shuriken barely missed a punch, swinging to the side. “Whoa, a little trigger happy, aren't ya?” Mr. Spooky narrowed their eyes. They straightened themselves up and summoned their gear, a cloud streaming through their fingers.
“Hey, hey, chill down a bit, will ya? I’m just curious what you and your bro were talking about!” In the middle of his rant, Shuriken attempted to grab their satchel. Mr. Spooky stepped back. “Silver Shadow,” They acknowledged. Shuriken giggled. “Yep, that's me! Now, if I could just…” He reached for the satchel again, quickly pulling back when a piece of the cloud in Mr. Spooky’s hand shot for his arm.
The cloud splatted on the wall, looking more like a marshmallow than a cloud. Shuriken pulled on his grappling hook, rising slightly above Mr. Spooky. “Whoops, my bad. Could I take a look? A little peek?”
“Its you,” they replied. Shuriken audibly gasped. “If you wanted my autograph, you could've just told me--” Shuriken was cut short as Mr. Spooky sent out another cloud, this time whipping right past his head. He unhooked his grappling hook and quickly stood up, summoning his gear and letting one graze past the inphernal ’s cheek. They hissed and backed away.
“Not a good look for my greatest fan,” Shuriken quipped. Mr. Spooky stepped forward and grabbed Shuriken’s arm. Shuriken was quick to yank his arm away, raising his foot to kick Mr. Spooky in the knee and create some space. He reached behind to summon more shurikens, but a cloud shot out from Mr. Spooky's hand and landed on Shuriken’s arm.
It flung him back and into the wall, sticking his arm to it. He attempted to pull his arm off the wall but failed, wincing as he stretched his muscle too far. Another cloud sped past, forcing Shuriken to focus. He sent another burst of shurikens with his free hand, this time catching the inphernal in the leg. Mr. Spooky hissed and rammed his foot into Shuriken's stomach.
Shuriken yelped and doubled over. The inphernal spent no time wasting the opportunity, pinning Shuriken to the wall with another cloud. They walked forward and grabbed Shuriken's face. They pulled it up to level Shuriken’s eyes with theirs. “Not so strong now, huh, Silver?” They smirked, kicking Shuriken again.
Shuriken winced again as the world swam, biting back a yelp. There was a faint sound of someone dropping to the ground, and a blur of orange came up from behind the inphernal. His instinctive thought was how Shot had come back, hearing the scuffle in the alleyway, but as his vision cleared, the thought was wiped out of his mind.
An inphernal in orange and blue stood behind Mr. Spooky. A crystal sprouted out of his horn. Coils snaked up his arms, hands covered in bandages. He was quick to knock the teal inphernal out, meeting Shuriken's eyes with a grin. “Yo.”
“Hey,” Shuriken crackled weakly, wincing as he began to cough. The inphernal stepped forward with a smile. “Names Coil,” the inphernal said, “Nice to meet you…”
“Silver Shadow,” Shuriken replied, almost sighing in relief when he didn't cough. He began to tug on the clouds. They were still stuck in place. Shuriken sighed and turned his focus to Coil. “Thanks for that! Dunno what I would've done if you didn't swoop in.” Coil nodded, a wider smile forming on his face. “Oh yeah. Mostly just saw those guys and felt the urge to knock ‘em, y’know?”
Shuriken tilted his head. “You’ve had a couple of run-ins?” He asked, Coil nodding solemnly. “Oh yeah. Apparently, I keep ‘stealing all the cores’ from them. First come first serve, I say!” He crossed his arms and nodded. “Don’t know much about them other than they’re really bad at ambushing.”
Shuriken was about to ask what Coil was talking about until his ribs began to sting. He winced. “Ribs,” Shuriken whined, “always the worst.” In turn, Coil began to laugh. “I feel you.” A pause. “Anyways, we should probably get outta here before this guy calls his friends.” Shuriken nodded and looked down at his arms. “Well, I'm uh, kinda stuck.”
Coil stepped forward, pinching the cloud and attempting to rip it off. When it didn't work, he planted one foot on the wall and grabbed the fluff with both hands. “Alright, ripping off in three.. Two.. one…” He pushed back, Shuriken leaning into it. A piece of the cloud flaked off as Coil fell on his behind.
“Owch,” Coil whined. Shuriken snorted. He pulled out his gear, aiming the sharp point towards the clouds. They easily slid through. Coil held out his hand, and Shuriken threw the shuriken at Coil to let him finish the job. Once the cloud was removed, he stumbled off the wall. A large clump of the cloud was stuck on his arm, although it had seemed to harden once it was cut off.
“Good thinking,” Coil complimented, raising his fist to give Shuriken a fist-bump. Shuriken accepted it and started talking. “Dunno how long this will stay on my arm though.” Coil hummed thoughtfully. “I mean, you can probably just dip it in water and it’ll dissolve, right? It is a cloud after all.”
Shuriken tilted his head. “That's what I thought, but I'm pretty sure clouds aren’t sticky, y’know? At least fog isn't.” Coil nodded again. Shuriken sighed dramatically and shook his head. “Whatever, I'll deal with it when I get to my… base. Yeah.” Coil snorted. “Sure.”
At the corner of his eye, Shuriken noticed Mr. Spooky slowly rising off the ground. He grabbed Coil’s hand. His free hand went for his grappling hook and fired it on a wall. Shuriken pressed a button, and it pulled him and Coil up. Coil looked surprised, gawking as they entered the air and almost face-planted onto the brick wall. Shuriken was quick to pull him onto solid ground before such happened.
“What-” Coil stuttered as he began to process. His eyes flicked to the ground where Mr. Spooky was, now standing. Coil pursed his lips and lowered his voice. “Dude, how are you so… slithery?” Coil asked, eyes fixated on the hook. Shuriken smiled. “Well, I am a ninja. A part of the job description, y’know?” Coil laughed again. “Sure. At least that’s how it is in the movies.”
Shurikens phone rang. “There’s my timer,” he commented, Coil nodding. He smiled again. “Alright, stay safe.” Shuriken nodded. “Right back at ya. Thank you.” He hooked the grappling hook on a different roof. “Night!”
The hook pulled him away as he swung onto the roof, bouncing along until he was a block away from his house. He ducked into a broken house and quickly dressed out of his vigilante gear. Walking out, he climbed up the apartments till he came across his and climbed into his room’s window.
His arms were still sticky, but the clouds had thankfully dissolved. He shoved his clothes under his mattress and collapsed onto it, exhaustion dragging him into sleep.
~``+``~
A sharp alarm woke him from his slumber. He slowly sat up, licking his dry lips as his hand lazily slapped the sleep button. At least he woke up on time, he mused, stumbling out of bed to get ready for work.
Vine Staff seemed surprised to see him as he stumbled down the stairs. She smiled. “Good morning, Shuriken. Got some horn dye?” Shuriken nodded. He had applied it in the bathroom, remembering the dye when he saw himself in the mirror. “Aye aye, captain. Where’s Slingshot?”
“Skateboard’s driving him to the cafe, so we’re alone this morning.” Vine Staff said. Shuriken nodded and sat down in a chair. “So,” he began, not wanting to sit in silence, “how was your night out?” Vine Staff smiled brightly. “Ah, it was great! We went out to see a movie I’ve been wanting to see for a while, and we spent the rest of the day browsing plant shops. Did you know the new one down the road has a couple of Lost Temple plants? Never thought I would find them.”
Shuriken nodded, “Right. Well, I also was hanging out with my friends, as usual, and we uh…” he faltered. He did not think of a viable story. Vine Staff sighed and shook her head. “If you wanna hang out with inphernal s, you can come with me the next time I go out. Maybe you’ll make friends.”
“I have friends!” Shuriken rebutted, crossing his arms and sticking the bottom of his lip out. Vine Staff looked at him disbelievingly. “Sure. Just know that the offer is up in the air.”
~``+``~
Once again, he was perched up on top of the roofs. He always made sure to move around so he could see more, but seeing how that gang was after him, he certainly didn't want to stay in one place. He was nearing the edge of the Playground area of Crossroads, where the most crime happened.
A large bang from behind him made him jump. He turned around and attached his grappling hook to a large sign to fling him towards said sound. It came from around a skating park. A trash can was tipped over, likely the sound he had heard. Two inphernal s stood near the edges of the park with their gears summoned, yelling at someone out of sight. The oddest part wasn't the inphernal s. It was the things around them.
Biografts were scattered around the area. Shuriken had no idea that there were Biografts in this area; he thought they were programmed to stay in the Blackrock region. They were all powered off, the usual faint orange glow gone. Something in their chests had been ripped out. Shuriken slid off the roof to get closer to the two inphernal s he could see.
“These Biografts are Phoenix’s!” One of them yelled, gear pointed at whoever they were targeting. Shuriken slowly stepped closer. Their target snorted. “I don't see your name on them,” he said, “and I got to them first. You should’ve come quicker.”
One of them pulled back their arm and threw something at their target. “Enough is enough,” he muttered, and with a swift summon of his gear, he shot a couple of shurikens at the two inphernal s. They yelped as they got hit, and looking at Shuriken, he noticed their faces go pale. One of the two grabbed the other’s arm and pulled him away, muttering something about ‘we can’t deal with two of them.’
Shuriken, satisfied they had run away (and a little proud of himself for scaring them without doing much), looked over to see who they were targeting. A familiar orange and blue face was there. Coil.
They both looked at each other in surprise before Coil huffed in amusement. “Small world, huh?” He commented, Shuriken beginning to laugh. “Yeah.” A pause. “Hey, at least we’re even now.” Coil smiled back and nodded. Shuriken looked back behind him to see the robots. “You do all this?”
Coil nodded with a satisfied look on his face. “Oh yeah. It’s how I power my gear.” Noticing Shuriken looking at him with a confused expression, he continued. “You know how Biografts are robots made by Blackrock, right? Yeah. Because they’re robots, they have to be powered by something. I call them cores. Apparently, this new Playground gang, Phoenix or whatever, also powers something using the Biografts’ cores.”
Shuriken nods. “So you’re fighting against them for resources, and that's why they put a hit on you?” He guessed. Coil nodded and snapped his fingers. “Exactly. Even though I’ve been in this business longer.” Shuriken hummed in acknowledgement. Coil grinned as if he had suddenly been struck with an idea. “Say, you wanna go hunting with me?” After a moment of silence, Shuriken shrugged. Not like anything interesting would happen tonight. “Sure.”
Coil grinned wider. “Alright, follow me.”
~``+``~
After a bit of running, they eventually reached the supposed place where Biografts roamed. Unsurprisingly, Coil was right. There were many Biografts scattered around the building. Shuriken remembered it as a Blackrockian hotel that was abandoned years ago, but the abundance of robots was suspicious.
Coil looked back at Shuriken. “This is a well-known gambling spot in Crossroads, but you have to be invited. Real secret stuff.” Shuriken scoffed. “Looks real secret,” he quipped, and Coil chuckled. “Just don’t get caught by the cameras.”
“Aye Aye,” Shuriken said. “Wanna swing with me?” At Coils' nod, Shuriken grappled to a nearby roof and offered his hand. Coil took it. They swung over, making sure to stick in the shadows. There was only one camera, and a quick shuriken powered it off. A Biograft standing around it swivelled its head to see where the projectile came from. Coil pressed Shuriken back against the wall. “They’ll come around this area to see who did it,” Coil hissed, Shuriken nodding.
The Biograft approached their area. Coil squeezed his fist, and the small light from his coil changed color from blue to red. Shuriken didn't have long to gape at it before Coil dashed forward. He punched the Biograft in the face, Shuriken summoning his gear to throw into the robot's joints. The Biograft’s gears groaned as Coil quickly dealt the finishing blow, the Biograft collapsing to the ground.
“Nice job!” Coil commented. “Have you dealt with these guys before?” Shuriken shook his head. “Nah, but I know enough about robots to know the basics about beating them.”
Coil nodded. Grabbing the Biograft’s chestplate, he ripped it off. Inside was a glimmering diamond-shaped item. Coil pulled it out, the Biograft’s orange color faltering. He threw it to Shuriken. “For safekeeping, yeah? My backpack can only hold so many of these.”
Shuriken scoffed playfully. “Yeah, yeah. Just say you’re too lazy to carry it on your own.” Coil rolled his eyes, punching Shuriken’s shoulder. His retort was cut off by a loud, robotic voice behind them.
“INTRUDERS. DETECTED.”
They both shared a glance before quickly splitting up. Two Biografts quickly rounded the corner on both sides, forcing Shuriken and Coil back to their original positions, back-to-back. Shuriken sighed dramatically. “If we survive this, you owe me a core.” Coil snorted. “Fair.”
A Biograft dashed forward. Shuriken quickly threw his gear at its knee, taking advantage of its slowing down. He summoned a shuriken and shoved it into its face. The other Biograft threw itself at Shuriken. It scratched his arm, ripping through the fabric. Shuriken winced as he shoved the Biograft back, ignoring the pain in his ribs as he slammed into the Biograft.
Coil seemed to be doing better than him. His coil was flashing colors quickly, moving too fast for the Biografts to catch up to him. Shuriken delivered a blow to his Biograft’s face, hissing as he drew his hand back. He shook it a couple of times before summoning a shuriken and throwing it at the Biograft’s chest, powering down and collapsing beside the other Biograft.
The sound of the last Biograft hitting the floor allowed the two to look at eachother. They both high-fived. Coil grinned. “You’re good enough to be my apprentice.” Shuriken scoffed. “I’m sorry, your apprentice? Don’t you know how I am? THE Silver Shadow.”
“Well, yeah, but The Hellhound’s apprentice sounds so much cooler!” Coil argued. Shuriken shook his head dramatically. “You only want my fame.”
“Hey, I didn't say that!.. Out loud.” Shuriken hit Coil’s arm before wincing as his knuckles jolted. Coil looked up from his collection of cores. He put his hand out. “Here, let me see that.” Shuriken gave him his hand, and Coil, after a moment of staring, cycled until his coils turned green. A beam appeared on Shuriken.
Shuriken flinched before forcing himself to relax. He could feel his knuckles ebb less as the beam continued. “You can heal?” he asked, unable to keep the surprise from his voice. Coil nodded. “Not well, but enough to relieve some discomfort. It costs more cores but works in a pinch.” He pulled away from Shuriken once his knuckles looked normal and collected the last core.
“Lets go before someone sees us.” Shuriken nods in agreement and grabs his grappling hook. “You wanna go flying?” He asked. Coil, after a moment of hesitation, nods. “Sure. Just dont crash us into a building.” Shuriken laughed. “No promises.”
Hooking the grappling onto a building, Shuriken pulled Coil closer to him. “You might wanna hold on,” He warned, before promptly pulling him and Coil forward. Coil yelped, and Shuriken felt slight panic from behind him. Before they could land, Shuriken continued the momentum by grappling onto a different building.
After a couple of seconds in the air, Coil laughed. “This is awesome!” He yelled, clutching onto Shuriken. Shuriken grinned, but knowing Coil couldn't see his face, he settled with a nod.
Shuriken eventually lowered himself onto a roof. Coil jumped out of Shuriken's grasp with excitement. He grabbed Shuirkens shoulder, a spark in his eye. “You have to teach me that.” Shuriken chuckled, batting Coil’s hands away. “If you can find one, I’ll be happy to teach you… But you have to be my apprentice.”
Coil immediately groaned, shaking his head. “That’ll destroy the Hellhound’s pride! I can't do that!” Shuriken laughed again. “Alright, alright, fine. Free lessons.” Coil reached for his backpack and grabbed a core, passing it to Shuriken. “As promised. You know what you can do with it?”
“Not at all,” Shuriken chirped happily. Coil rolled his eyes and laughed. Reaching into his backpack, he grabbed out a pen and notepad, scribbling something on it. “You can find me here. Drop by whenever.” He stuck the notepad on Shuriken’s mask.
Shuriken tore it off and read the notepad. It was an address. He nodded and shoved it in his pocket. “As much as I would love to give you my number, I hide my face for a reason.” Coil smiled and nodded. “Aye, no judgment from me, Silver Shadow.” He gave a hopeful glance upwards. “See you later?”
“Definitely,” Shuriken agreed. “You fine getting down on your own?” Coil nodded. Without another word, Shuriken sent his grappling hook elsewhere, saluting Coil as he was carried away.
~``+``~
“Shuriken, if you fall asleep on the clock one more time-”
Shuriken groaned and lifted his head from his hands. He blinked a couple of times, Vine Staff above him with a frown on her face. Shuriken frowned. “But there’s no one here,” he pointed out, motioning to the empty cafe. “And there’s 30 minutes until closing.” Vine Staff scoffed. “Plenty of time for a customer to come. Now up!”
Groaning again, Shuriken sat up straight and shoved his hands into his pockets. Vine Staff nodded, muttering a thank you before walking away. Slingshot rounded the corner with two cups of coffee in his hand, placing one in front of Shuriken and sipping the other.
As if to prove him wrong, a inphernal entered. Vine Staff shot Shuriken a pointed look, who stuck out his tongue at her. She scoffed and rolled her eyes with a smile. Shuriken stood up, taking a final sip of his coffee. A closer look almost made him spit out his coffee.
Mr. Spooky. They looked the same, other than a bandage on their cheek. “Whoops,” Shuriken muttered under his breath before plastering a smile on his face. They wouldnt know he was Silver Shadow. He made sure to keep his non-vigilante self under wraps.
He passed the menu once they sat down. “Anything you would like to start with?” He asked cheerily. Mr. Spooky skimmed through the menu. “Coffee. Black.” Shuriken nodded, stepping away from the table to tell Slingshot. Shuriken then returned to his placement at the door, just within earshot of Mr. Spooky.
Mr. Spooky pulled out some form of communication device. They tapped on the screen for a second before bringing it up to their ear. “You said Violet was out?” The Blackrockian insider that Shuriken had supposedly taken out. Not that he could remember.
“Good,” Mr. Spooky said. “Now, how about Silver Shadow or his friend, Hellhound?” The bell rang as Slingshot stepped out with the coffee. Shuriken quickly grabbed and delivered it. Mr. Spooky muttered a thanks as Shuriken passed by.
“Nothing? Other than the Biografts yesterday at the Indigo Inn?” They snorted. “Knew Shot was all bark. Phoenix won’t be happy to hear it.” Shuriken froze. What did a random Playgrounder gang have to do with a supposed VIP gambling area? More than ever, he wished he could hear what the person on the phone was talking about, but any closer would be too risky.
Mr. Spooky was silent for a couple of moments before sighing. “Whatever. Tell Violet to meet me at Resurrection B in three days. Preferably with the documents.” They flipped the device off, clearly finished with the conversation. They left a couple of minutes after. Shuriken’s mind was racing--Resurrection B? They had coded places or whatever the movies called them?
One thing was for certain: he had to tell Coil. And he had left his address in Silver Shadows' pocket. Shuriken could barely hold back a smile. “Time to see what this gang is all about.”