Regona City: Tempest (BK3)

Phantoms

One moment the city was crowded, clean, and bustling with life. The next they were in an area Sahara had never seen before. An alley which looked all but abandoned. It was filthy. Buildings towered to all sides, blocking out most of the light.

Sahara felt herself shiver as the temperature around her seemed to drop. For some reason, despite the alley looking empty, she had the feeling as though eyes were on her from all around. While her head swiveled from side to side, none of the three boys ahead of her seemed to notice...or perhaps care. Fighting off another shiver, Sahara sped up so that she was right behind the others. They turned corner after corner.

At one point Sahara became aware of two boarders suddenly appearing behind them from seemingly nowhere. She would have panicked, yet Terrell and the others didn't react in the least. They disappeared again when they rounded the next corner.

Then, they suddenly came up two teens who were casually sitting on a wall, legs swinging. As soon as they caught sight of Terrell their faces seemed to light up.

Terrell simply acknowledged them with a nod.

One jumped from the wall and Sahara watched in wonder as he bent over. He pulled open a hidden trap door, revealing a large black hole. Terrell disappeared through it.

"Yo," Noah told the teen holding it open before he followed.

The teen grinned, however, it dropped as he watched Glen. When Sahara was left, both teens turned their eyes on her. There was no warmth, just curiosity with a hint of hostility. Not wanting to be alone with them another second, Sahara quickly followed the others.

The floor sloped downward and she found herself having to quickly adjust her stance on her board to stop herself from slipping off. Not using gravity pull had its disadvantages.

A light appeared ahead and as Sahara went towards it she suddenly found herself following the other guys in what looked like an underground tunnel. Lights flickered all around on the rounded walls. The smell made Sahara scrunch up her nose. Sewers? She wondered.

She lost track of the way in no time. When a small drone buzzed overhead her eyes followed it in surprise. It continued along the tunnel, disappearing from sight. Another two followed. As Sahara was focused on them, it took her a moment to realize they had come to their goal.

Hearing voices she turned her head only to freeze.

Before her loomed a massive chamber. Tables, chairs, and couches spotted the area. Gadgets were strewn around everywhere, making it look like a workshop. There was a second floor which had rails to stop people falling, however, there were no stairs but ladders leading up to them.

However, Sahara's eyes were drawn to the boarders in the room. There were some lounging on the couches, some working on gadgets, a few floating around on their boards, and some walking by, carrying equipment. From her guess there were around fifteen in the room. One buzzed by at a dangerously fast pace, avoiding a couch with skill before disappearing through a smaller door. A large hologram image was alive in one end, looking suspiciously like it was a camera view of the outside they had just come in from.

"It's pretty empty," Noah noted.

"Empty?" Sahara repeated, her voice faint. For some reason the room gave her the feeling that she had walked in on an army preparing for battle.

Noah only grinned. He boarded forward before jumping off. "Look who's back!" Tucking his board under his arm he strode forward.

There were cheerful greetings yelled from all around.

A head popped out from the second floor. His longish black hair was pulled back in cornrows at the top, but the bottom ends were not pulled in with the rest. Sahara furrowed her forehead. He looked familiar.