Skyline Gang: Trial of Darkness

Chapter 2

The Skyline was a place of mystery and magic. It just had this ability to bring people together. The nearby residents always seemed to come flooding here almost everyday and tourists come and go just as easily. The only thing that stayed after the park had closed was the Skyline Gang. Dude, Sprout, Mimi, Pip, Candi, Bud and Rainbow the dog lived at the Skyline permanently. At least that's how it had been since they came to this world and saved it. At first they were confined to the Pavilion by Dawn, someone that practiced in dark magic and killed the previous Skyline Gang. After playing and winning her game, they were able to break everyone free from the darkness. Since then, they had taken residence in the house that was left for them.

It had been about two months since they arrived. And things were on the up and up. After a few weeks, everyone in the Gang had settled into their own routines. Wake up, tend to a couple of things in the morning, greet the staff and assign duties, open the gates, greet the guests, put on some shows, close the park and rest. It was hard at the start, not being used to needing this kind of stamina to work. They got used to it, and started to wake up less tired and sore. Everything started to get a rhythm.

The locals were welcoming enough too. The staff started to like the new Skyline Gang more and even started to offer tips to help things run better. The guests were mostly the same. Everyone pretty much recognised the regulars by face and name at this point. The kids especially were great to get along with. Some of them only met the previous Skyline Gang a few times and didn't get to know them that well. Others missed the previous Skyline Gang but warmed up to the new Gang after a short while. Even most of the parents said that it was nice to have a younger Skyline Gang as it made the kids connect with them easier.

However, there were still a few people that weren't on board with this new Skyline Gang. They would always say things like "the old Gang was better" and "why should teenagers do the job of a group of adults". It was always insulting and sometimes it was worse than that. There was even one point where a nasty letter was sent to the house itself. Thankfully, only Dude read it before anyone else did. Some of what was written was truly disturbing. He mentioned it to Bud, and both agreed to have it filed away for evidence in case the same thing happened again. So far nothing happened.

But talk about showing some form of gratitude...

It didn't matter right now. Everything was running smoothly and the disruption of complaints were minor for the time being.

"I need to sleep! I'm dying!" Sprout complained, flopping onto the sofa in the den. He fell back on it so hard that he bounced a little from the impact. Everyone else was in the den as well. Bud was tinkering with a small robot that needed maintenance. Mimi was gossiping to Pip on the other sofa. Candi was in the kitchen and Rainbow was laying down on a large cushion, feeling just as lazy as Sprout at that moment.

"What are you talking about, Sprout?" Dude chided, hands on his hips. "I would've thought that you had a good sleep last night."

"You don't know that." Sprout countered.

"Sprout, I had to literally drag you out of bed this morning because you didn't want to wake up." Dude smiled smugly, recalling how the morning went.

"It takes a lot of mental energy to come up with my genius jokes!" Sprout moaned dramatically. Dude rolled his eyes affectionately at this. He can't exactly blame Sprout for wanting to stay in bed, even he had to admit that he found the beds comfy. They were just as comfortable as their old rooms were back in the Pavilion. Then again, the rooms were just a copy of what they had before. The only difference was that there wasn't a private bathroom attached to them. The house wasn't big enough for that. They weren't soundproof either so everyone needed to be aware of any loud noises they might accidentally make. Only one bedroom was barren. A bedroom that had a grey door. Other than a bed, wardrobe and desk, it was blank and empty. The Gang collectively decided to turn it into an extra storage space, but hadn't gone through with it 

"Here you two! Something to help make you both feel refreshed!" Candi announced as she came out of the kitchen. In her hands was a try with five glasses of lemonade. Each glass was colour matched to coordinate with each member of the Gang.

"That's sweet of you, Candi. Thank you." Dude smiled gratefully as he took his glass. Sprout scrambled to cartoonishly sit up, eager to take his own glass.

"That's Candi for you. No matter what, she's always sweet." He grinned before taking a sip of the soft drink. "It's quite literally in her name!" Candi grinned at the comment, and she started to pass around the lemonade to everyone else. She had a spring in her step, which made everyone wonder how the glasses stayed on the tray. As she passed lemonade to Pip and Mimi, Sprout continued speaking: "Hey, imagine if we had an opposite of Candi. Now that would be bonkers!"

"You mean...you don't want me around anymore?" Candi whimpered, shaking a little. She didn't like to think about it, but she did have slight abandonment issues. She had a bad revaluation of someone who she thought was a friend, really wasn't. She trusted the Gang. They were true friends to her. She just didn't want to be alone again in a tragic way. So to suddenly hear something like that was quite shocking to her. Sprout immediately looked ashamed of himself. Another thought that he probably should've kept to himself. Especially since he and the others knew about what happened to Candi before she arrived to the Skyline.

"No, Candi. Don't be silly." Mimi immediately stepped in. She put down her drink, standing up. She carefully took the tray from Candi, also placing it down. She consolingly placed her hands on Candi's shoulders. "You're always going to be part of this Gang."

"I think what we're saying is what if we had a friend that was the opposite of you." Bus keenly added, fetching the red cup that he had received yet. "Not to replace you, just a new member of the Skyline Gang."

"That's good. I was a little worried." Candi sighed in relief, hand over her heart. Her worries melted into a curious smile. "But it would be nice to have a new friend too!"

Silence washed over the room. It was awkward and unsettling. Candi's words were meant to be innocent, but it somewhat had a small negative effect. Having a new friend, a new member to the Skyline Gang, did sound intriguing and a nice change. However, that would only bring a small problem. No one in this house chose to be in the Gang. They weren't even from this strange world. If they wanted a new member, how would they do it?! The Skyline Gang leader before Dude did it. It was his last action before he was killed. The only problem was that no matter who they asked about it, the answer was always the same. Nobody knew how it was done. And maybe that was for the best. No one could misuse that power. Especially given how disrespectful most of the public was when this new Skyline Gang just showed up out of nowhere. It wasn't like anyone had left instructions anyway. No one would've had the time, given how swift Dawn made her work complete.

"Whose turn is it to cook tonight?" Pip suddenly asked, wanting to divert all attention from this silence.

"I believe it's Dude's." Mimi grinned. Dude grinned back, thankful to be distracted like this.

"Bud, what do you prefer tonight?" He asked. Since Bud was on the spectrum, his taste preferences were different to everyone else's. It would mean that if the genius wanted something different, Dude would have to cook two meals. He didn't mind that, it just meant extra work.

"I'll make it easier for you." Bud concluded, taking a sip from his lemonade. "The lasagna you make is good for both myself and the others."

"Coming right up!" Dude cheered, immediately taking off into the kitchen. This was relatively normal for the Gang now. They made their own routines and preferences to that routine. Sharing and swapping responsibilities was part of that routine. No one ever had any complaints about it. Things were running smoothly. Why should the peace be disturbed?