The rest of the day seemed to have gone relatively well. Everything ran on schedule. The show went exceedingly well again, though it started to lead people asking if a new show was in the works. Time to start brainstorming for another show soon. Having more than one show running might be a bit of a hassle, but if the Gang kept it balanced enough, everything should be fine. The only problem in the Skyline all day was just teenagers trying to harass the staff and some other guests. It led to them being escorted out and given a stern warning. Aside from that, almost everything ran as smoothly as they could.
The only thing that was out of place was Bud's absence. He was having some trouble in doing his research, leading him to be holed up in his room. Dude was quick to spin the story that he wasn't feeling well and needed some time off. As much as Dude didn't want to, he used Bud's autism as a reason for his sudden sick leave. Thankfully, that was enough. Everyone else in the Gang knew the truth. Dude couldn't hide it from them. He told them about his discovery in the attic and what Bud was up to. He extremely stressed that no one disturbs him. He knew how Bud was when it came to his work and that he would be more than unhappy if someone distracted him. Something that Dude caught Sprout and Misty trying to do. Twice. Sprout intending to play a prank. Misty...actually Dude didn't know what she was planning, but probably something similar to what Sprout had in mind.
After hours of not hearing anything, Dude decided to check on Bud. Some fruit and a bottle of cool water should be enough to help with an offering. He knocked as calmly as he could, but Bud didn't answer. Did something happen to him? No, try not to think like that! Maybe he was wearing a pair of ear defenders or noise cancelling headphones? Dude knocked a little louder, hoping for the best and fearing the worst. His prayers were answered when Bud finally opened the door. A pair of headphones hung from his neck, classical music being heard from them. Did he hear those noises like Dude had and tried to block them out? Clicks and whirs from his small robotic helpers can also be heard from within the red room.
"Thought you could do with a break." Dude smiled kindly, holding out the food and drink.
"Thank you. Please come in." Bud sighed, looking incredibly relieved. Did he not give himself time to stop and take a break? Dude didn't want to think that Bud wasn't taking any breaks. He hoped that he was. Regardless, he stepped in the bedroom, taking in everything. It was still like how his room was in Pavilion. A few small robots were set to work. Some were scuttling on the floor, going under the bed and chest of draws to clean, while some were flying on the ceiling to clean away the corners. The only thing that was different was Dude's discovery and the dark aura surrounding it. The artefact was now in a stand. A couple of Bud's robots were scanning it at a distance. One robot was laying on the desk, completely broken. It was like it was short circuited and smashed itself on the desk. It was impossible to think that Bud would do it himself. Bud's tablet was on the bed, the screen flashing a little as it collected data from the robots.
"What have you found?" Dude asked, hoping to get some straight answers.
"This is the Sceptre of Shadows. It shouldn't be here." Bud immediately became more serious. He sat down on the bed, scooping up his tablet. He gestured for Dude to sit down so that he could share his findings. "Unfortunately I haven't found that much. The information is extremely limited. I find that unusual and unsettling. Something like this should have more information."
"That doesn't sound good. What have you been able to find?" Dude mused, glancing at the screen in front of him and his friend.
"From what I have gathered, there is a myth surrounding it. A rather unsettling myth, and one that doesn't seem to be that well known internationally." Bud explained, his face looking grim. With a quick swipe on his tablet he showed an image of a stone carving. It appeared to be broken, making part of the ancient text incomplete. However, there was a carving image of the Sceptre. "I had also found this image of a subscription. It's partial but from what I've been able to translate, it's warning about a form of "Darkness". From other information that I've found, it's supposedly acted as like a tool to stop it from coming. Unfortunately, the source isn't fully reliable as there are other conflicting details. I've contacted several museums and archaeologists, but they know even less about this thing. Not many know about this, and those that do all called it a myth that shouldn't be remembered."
"Didn't you tell them we had it?" Dude asked.
"I didn't know if I should've done that. Not with how little we know about it." Bud explained, quickly glancing at the Sceptre. His eyes went wide for a brief moment and tapped at his tablet rapidly. The drones that were scanning the Sceptre immediately backed off. They were probably flying too close and Bud didn't want them to suffer the same fate as their fallen mechanical brother. Dude meanwhile glanced at the Sceptre of Shadows rather coldly. This thing was supposedly a myth and as Bud said, not meant to be here. How or why was it even here in the first place? This didn't make any sense.
"Where did it come from? Or at least this myth surrounding it?" Dude continued to ask.
"It allegedly came from this jungle." Bud said, bringing up a map on his tablet. He zoomed in to the relevant area and using the pen tool, he swiped a cross on a small area. "Using all of the data that I've collected, I'd estimate that its origins are from this area."
That's on the other side of the world. Around South America by the looks of it. This Sceptre took quite the journey. So there was technically a how as to it being here. Someone obviously took it from its resting place, and brought it to the Skyline. The question as to why and now who was still murky. Dawn? Maybe. She had this darkness surrounding her 24/7. If she had that thing then it would explain where her powers came from. But why did she not have it on her? It would make sense for her to have it rather than not. Maybe it was stolen from her? So the previous Skyline Gang could've had it, but why hide it in the attic? Why not just return it?
"Could Dawn have put it in the attic somehow? Or maybe the old Skyline Gang?" Dude asked, wanting Bud's opinion on this matter.
"I took a look at the chest that the Sceptre was in. It seems to me that until you touched it, no one has opened it for a long time. It could be possible that Dawn smuggled it in here somehow through her magic. Or someone else put it there themselves, without the previous Gang's knowledge."
Not exactly what Dude wanted to hear, but it was still one nonetheless. However, as Bud was explaining this issue, he didn't notice how Dude was staring at the Sceptre, colour draining from him. He can hear it all over again. The horrible whispering. It was more intense than before. And it was so awful that it took everything that Dude had to not get up and grab it. He tried desperately to distract himself.
"What if we return it to where it was found? Would that stop this "Darkness" from coming?" Dude asked, shaking his head a little to block out the intrusive sounds. So far nothing bad has happened since Dawn, but who said that something worse won't come soon? Best to try to resolve this now before everything goes from bad to worst.
"In theory. But I don't think it's worth the risk, Dude. Not when we know so little." Bud sighed after taking a sip of water. He glanced over at Dude and finally saw how abnormal Dude looked. He was shaking his head a little, as if he was poorly attempting to clear a headache. And in all honesty, he looked a little sick. "Are you okay? You look very pale."
"I think it's being around that thing that's doing it." Dude muttered, gesturing shakily at the Sceptre. Bud took one concerning glance at it, and then back at Dude. This was very strange. Bud had the longest exposure to the Sceptre out of the pair, and yet, Dude seems to be the one that was affected the most by it. There was something else about the scans picked up that he neglected to mention. There was a strange energy that came from the Sceptre. It was abnormal to everything that was logical. Not only that, but there was something negative about it. He didn't want to draw possible comparisons, but if Dude was right to suspect Dawn's involvement, the energy might be similar to her magic. The more he thought both it, the worse Dude suddenly looked. He needs to do something quick before it potentially gets from bad to worse.
"Let's get you outside." Bud concluded, standing up rather quickly. Dude shakily got to his feet, just as eager to get away from the Sceptre. Bud quickly retired all of his robots to their charging stations manually. He didn't want to lose another one by accident. Needless to say that once Dude got outside, he felt better almost immediately.
It was a large space. Plenty of room for Rainbow to play in and explore. It was mostly a green area, a quarter of it being patio. There was a large tree that offered plenty of shade. It wasn't stable enough to build a treehouse (much to Sprout's disappointment when he found out) but Candi did ask for a swing to be made to play on. On one end of the garden was a vegetable patch, which gloriously grew enough to make everyone happy. It was also fenced off to prevent Rainbow from trying to stick his nose into it. Flower patches and bushes flourished thanks to the tender care that Candi and Pip provided. The garden housed benches to sit on, a barbecue and a dog house for Rainbow. It even had a concrete fire pit for when the Gang wanted to feel like toasting marshmallows and making s'mores. It was all surrounded by a high hedge and fence for privacy. It was perfect to just come outside and relax.
Once Dude had settled on one of the benches, everything felt right with the world for a brief moment. Whatever the Sceptre was doing no longer had an effect on him out here. Bud saw this and immediately started to brainstorm. If Dude was going to be in this kind of trouble, something needed to be done about it. Holding it in some kind of case should do the trick. Maybe something like those storage tubes that Pip uses for her large drawings. It's just finding the right material to keep it from effecting Dude and possibly anyone else. It does call for some experimenting. And possibly breaking the Skyline's budget.
"So, do you really think that putting the Sceptre back is a good thing?" Bud questioned once Dude's colour came back to him.
"I'm willing to take the risk." Dude replied, face full of determination.
"Do you think that the others will be on board with it?" Bud asked again.
"Even if they aren't, I'm still going. Alone if I have to." Dude doubled down on his determination. This thing was dangerous. Even if there is a risk, it was better to return it to its resting place, right?
"You're not going alone." Bud suddenly announced. Dude felt his jaw hit the ground when he heard that. Bud wasn't usually one to get into the great outdoors that often. The closet that he got to nature is the beach and the furthest that he had gone from the Skyline is the nearby town. He wasn't one to change his routine that much either. Any change that was major to his routine often caused him to have a meltdown. So Bud volunteering to step out of his comfort zone was surprising. And somewhat relieving.
"Thanks Bud." Dude smiled gratefully. He doesn't have to be alone in this. Especially if that Sceptre starts to cause him problems and he's on his own.
"Just one request." Bud stated, wanting to nip something that was nagging him in the bud.
"What's that?" Dude asked with a raised eyebrow.
"If things go wrong when we put it back, I'm allowed to say "I told you so"." Bud offered to compromise.
"You've got yourself a deal." Dude smiled in agreement, reaching out a hand to shake. Bud accepted the gesture, giving a firm hand shake. Dude took a deep breath from this. He felt apprehensive about the Sceptre of Shadows and returning it. Noe that he had a friend going with him, it started to feel a bit less stressful. Of course there were still other things together such as funding for the trip and making sure that they had everything that they need for it. For now, it was best to enjoy this moment of peace while it was there.
Then the peace was interrupted.
"Misty! Where did you get that?!"
Dude stood up rapidly as he heard that. That sounded like Mimi shouting. It sounded like she was in a mix of panic and fury. What was Misty up to now? The alarm bells started ringing louder as the back door swung open with a panicked Candi standing there.
"Dude! Bud! Please help!" She begged before heading back to the chaos on the house.
"Oh no..." Dude muttered, before charging into the house. Bud followed after him, feeling his nerves spike to a hundred within seconds. Misty was causing mischief again...