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MidReal Story
Shadows Over Old City Hall
Scenario:I live in an old city plagued by crime.
Create my version of this story
Elena Russo
police detective hunting the vigilantes, works with Jamie and Mason unknowingly, slim and sharpfeatured, red hair, intelligent and methodical
Mason Lee
vigilante, partners with Jamie, tall with a rugged appearance, black hair, cautious yet brave
Jamie Mercer
vigilante, partners with Mason, athletic build, brown hair, determined and resourceful
Chapter 1
I was running out of time.
The bank was only a few blocks away, and I had to get there before the robbers did.
If I didn’t, people would die.
I pushed myself harder, my legs pumping as fast as they could go, my lungs burning with the effort.
The city’s skyline loomed ahead of me, the buildings dark silhouettes against the night sky.
I could see the bank now, its lights still on even though it was after hours.
I skidded to a stop in front of the entrance and glanced around quickly to make sure no one was watching.
Then I slipped into the shadows and made my way to the back of the building.
There was a small window there that I knew led into the basement.
I crouched low and sprang up, my fingers outstretched.
They closed around the edge of the window ledge, and for a moment I hung there, my heart pounding in my chest.
Then I pulled myself up and swung one leg over the narrow ledge, ignoring the way it scraped against my thigh through my jeans.
I had more important things to worry about right now than a few scratches.
Like getting inside and stopping those men from hurting anyone else. I dropped onto a metal shelf with barely a sound, rolling smoothly to my feet as soon as I landed.
Years of training made it easy for me to move silently even in tight spaces like this one.
The bank’s basement was empty, but I could hear someone moving on the other side of the room.
I crept forward, careful to make no noise as I moved toward the sound.
A few feet away, I spotted Mason Lee hunched over a computer console.
He looked up just then and caught sight of me.
He nodded once in acknowledgment before returning his attention to what he was doing.
I watched as his fingers flew over the keyboard, entering commands with lightning speed.
He’d already disabled the security cameras; now he was working on taking down the alarm system.
I knew from experience that it wouldn’t take him long.
In a matter of seconds, I heard a satisfying beep, and Mason stood up and moved aside to let me get to work.
We didn’t talk during missions if we could help it, but we’d learned early on how to communicate without speaking.
It wasn’t always easy, but it was necessary—especially since our lives often depended on each other’s actions.
I slid past him and stopped in front of a steel door that was marked "break room."
Mason took the one beside it, which led to the main area of the bank.
Mason returned my nod and moved off just as I heard footsteps approaching from the other side of the door.
I counted silently to three as I waited for them to get closer, then sprang into action as they stopped right in front of me, unlocking the door and pushing it open as I moved aside so they wouldn’t see me in the darkness beyond.
The first man stepped into the basement without a word, but I could tell he was nervous from the way his eyes darted around as he scanned his surroundings.
I’d been watching him for a few minutes already, so I knew there were two more men behind him, both armed.
They would be inside any second, and we needed to take them out before they could hurt anyone or steal anything else.
Mason and I had trained for years to work together like a well-oiled machine, and now it was time to put that training to use.
The second man entered the basement right behind his companion, and I heard a faint rustling as Mason took out the third one with a quick, precise blow that sent him crumpling to the floor in a heap, unconscious before he hit the ground.
That left just two more for us to deal with, which was no problem at all for Mason and me
As soon as I heard Mason’s signal, I sprang into action, moving silently across the room until I was directly behind our first target.
He was so focused on the computer console that he never even saw me coming.
I slipped to one side, positioning myself in his blind spot, then delivered a quick punch to the back of his head that sent him tumbling forward onto the floor, out cold before he even hit the ground.
The police would be here any minute to investigate the alarm, but they wouldn’t find anything amiss—just another failed robbery attempt.
They had no idea what was really going on in this city or how deep the corruption ran, but Mason and I did.
We’d been tracking these crooks for weeks now, following their money trail all the way to this secret vault beneath the old city hall building—someplace even most cops didn’t know existed—and we were finally going to expose them for the criminals they were.
"Here," Mason said as he handed me the device, which looked like nothing I’d ever seen before.
"What is it?"
I asked, frowning at the strange object in my hand.
"I don’t know, but I found it in this guy’s pocket," Mason said with a shrug, "and I’m pretty sure it’s connected to these assholes in some way."
"Then we’ll take it with us," I said as I slipped the device inside my utility belt and pulled out the plastic restraints we used to secure our prisoners instead; I didn’t have time for distractions right now.
We still had three minutes until the police arrived, and we needed to be gone long before then.
The last thing we wanted was for anyone to see us, or even worse, arrest us, since they would never believe our story about why we were really here.
We both knew the risks when we decided to become vigilantes, but sometimes it still scared me how easily things could go wrong.
One mistake had already cost us too much; I couldn’t let it happen again.
Mason nodded his agreement as he secured the unconscious men with restraints of their own, then followed me back toward the window we’d used to get inside.
Once there, we slipped out into the cool night air and disappeared into the shadows before anyone could spot us.
Chapter 2
Mason approached cautiously, his hand resting on the weapon at his belt, his eyes scanning for any signs of danger. Jamie followed closely behind, her mind racing with possibilities. Could this be the break they needed to uncover the full extent of the corruption network?
As they stepped through the narrow opening, a cool draft greeted them. The passage was dark and seemed to stretch endlessly into the shadows. Mason took out a small flashlight, its beam slicing through the darkness ahead. The walls were lined with old stone, cold and unyielding, and every few feet, alcoves filled with stacks of dusty files and forgotten artifacts loomed.
"This has been here for ages," Mason muttered, "hidden right under everyone’s noses."
Jamie nodded, feeling a mix of excitement and apprehension stir within her. She knew that this hidden passageway could lead them closer to the truth or into a trap laid by their enemies. Either way, it was a chance they had to take.
They moved silently, aware of their time constraint and the approaching police presence above ground. As they delved deeper into the passage, Jamie's thoughts returned to the strange device she had tucked away in her utility belt. Was it a key to unlocking what was hidden in these shadowy depths? Or was it yet another puzzle piece in their dangerous game?
Only time would tell as they ventured further into the unknown, ready for whatever lay ahead in their relentless pursuit of justice.
From behind a bookshelf in the basement of the bank, I watched as Mason approached a large metal door that had materialized out of nowhere.
The tunnel we’d discovered earlier had opened into an even larger room filled with shelves of files and boxes; if it wasn’t such a mess, I would’ve thought it was some kind of basement archive or storage space for the building above us.
But it couldn’t have been that; at least, not anymore.
The only thing down here now besides us were a few armed guards and some very expensive-looking computer equipment meant to keep anyone from getting in…or out.
"Elena," Mason said through our comms as he studied the keypad next to the door, "we’re going to need your help."
I could hear the frustration in his voice, and I couldn’t really blame him; Mason was a genius when it came to technology, but even he wasn’t sure how to get past whatever security measures these people had put in place.
He’d already tried hacking into their system from the bank’s computers upstairs, but they had some kind of fail-safe in place that kept him from getting any information.
If we wanted to find out what was behind this door, we were going to have to do it the old-fashioned way: by blowing it up.
As I watched Mason pull an explosive charge out of his utility belt, something shiny on the floor caught my eye.
Bending down to get a better look, I realized it was one of those devices we’d found earlier, which meant it must’ve fallen out of his pocket when he took out his tools.
I picked it up before he could set off the charge and held it out for him to see.
"Is this what you were looking for?" I asked.
He nodded as he took the device from me; in that moment, we both knew they were in deep trouble.
Before either of us could say anything else, Mason used the device to hack into the door’s security system and unlock it with a few quick taps of his fingers.
The metal barrier slid open with a loud creak, revealing a vast underground facility lit by bright fluorescent lights; from what I could see, there wasn’t a single inch of space down here that wasn’t either taken up by high-tech machinery or covered in wires.
I’d never seen anything like it except in movies about evil geniuses plotting to take over the world…and speaking of which:
"What is this place?"
I asked Mason as he stepped through the doorway and scanned our surroundings for any threats.
"I have no idea," he replied, frowning, "but we’re not going to find out by standing around."
As if on cue, a robotic sentry located somewhere along the wall whirred to life and spun around until its glowing red eyes locked onto us.
