"How do I keep it up?" Zane asked himself as he gazed into the mirror. He was currently in a white collar shirt, blue jeans, and sneakers. He had pale white skin and long black hair. However, this was not actually what he looked like. Zane is a master of stealth and disguise. This outfit was only temporary for a village celebration of the summer solstice. "I'm, like 99% sure that I'll win an award at the celebration, and I really don't want to go up on stage..." Zane mumbled to himself as he exited his house. Outside there was an entire village built on an active volcano. This was Zane's hometown, as they needed these harsh conditions to survive.
As Zane walked towards the town square, he felt a cold breeze on his face. That's weird, Zane thought. Isn't it the beginning of summer? But he shrugged the thought off as he continued to the square. "Hello, Zane!" Zane turned as he saw the scrap shop owner bound towards him. He was always able to see through Zane's disguises as his best friend. "Hey Pyro," Zane said enthusiastically. "On your way to the celebration?" Pyro hesitated, then spoke. "Yeah, but I also came to see you. I'm worried about how cold it is. It's the summer solstice! This is unnatural, and I wanna get to the bottom of this."
Zane thought a bit, then replied. "You're right, but how could we find the source of the cold? It could be miles underground for all we know!" Pyro suddenly grinned. "Exactly. You're the best stealth master and infiltrator in the world. You could find anything given the circumstances. Zane, I need you." Zane smirked. "Okay, but first two things. First, I can use as many disguises as I want, and second, I get most of the credit. But can it wait till tomorrow? I'm really tired." Pyro sighed. "Okay, but tomorrow, be on top of it! I can't have you half sleeping on this expedition!"
Zane rolled his eyes as he walked back to his hut. As he walked in, he felt the wind, and that sent a shiver running down his spine. Okay, this is really concerning. Zane thought. When he got to his room, he ripped his costume off, revealing his blackish skin, dirty blonde hair with a red tip. A blue bulb held his hair together into a ponytail at the end. Ragged red-black clothes covered his body. His eyes were orange, and his fingernails were so long, that they looked like claws. His overall appearance looked like a criminal, but he was really a hero with a heart of gold. Also, one in need of sleep. He dived into bed and instantly fell into his sub-consciousness.
In the morning, Zane rushed back outside only to see that the entire village was gone. Oh, shoot! The ceremony has started! But, wasn't it yesterday? He dashed down to the pool of lava they called the town square, (which they really shouldn't, as it's circular, and the 'town' is really more of a colony). Sure enough, the whole village was at the lava pool, but Pyro was over near the cliff waiting for Zane. Pyro spotted him and gestured for him to come. Just as Zane started to climb down, the wind, so strong and so cold, hit him and he was knocked off. As he plummeted downwards he thought, Did... did they cancel the celebration yesterday because of how cold it was?
The drop was at least thirty feet, but when Zane landed he felt fine. Huh, Zane thought. That's real wei- "Get offa me!" Zane jumped at the sound of Pyros voice. "Umm, sorry Pyro," Zane grinned sheepishly. Pyro grunted as he rose from the rocky ground. "Heh, I guess it's alright, but I think I might have already found the source of the cold." "What?! Already?!" Zane gasped as he leaped backward in shock. Pyro smirked as he dashed off." C'mon! The sooner we solve this the better!" Zane followed him and soon caught up with him." Pyro, is it just me, or is it getting warmer?" Zane asked as the duo barreled deeper into the cave. "That's because the closer we are to the source of the cold, the closer the stolen heat is," Pyro skidded to a stop."Hmm..." Zane looked around and saw a metal tube straight ahead of them. He took a step into the tube only to find out that it was ice cold. The cold shot through his foot like a bullet and Pyro whipped around at the sound of Zane's screeching voice. Zane collapsed on the cave floor like a ragdoll and blacked out.
"Hey, champ," Pyro shook Zane awake. "How you feelin'?" Zane groaned as he tried to stand up. "I can't feel my foot." "I looked at it, it'll be alright. Try to stay off of it," Pyro said as he marched to the entrance of the cave. "Let's go back. It's too dangerous here." He grabbed Zane's hand, helped him up, and walked him back outside.
At the scrap shop, Zane was discussing the options with Pyro, who at the moment was making special heat boots so they could explore further into the cave. "I've got to get in there! You can find an override panel, shut the machine off so I can get further in there, and find the mastermind behind this. If we're lucky, he'll decide to shut down the machine once and for all." Zane concluded. " And if we're not lucky?" Pyro contradicted. "Then, I dunno. But it's worth a shot." Zane said reluctantly. "You know more than anyone that we need a plan B. I refuse to head in there unless we have a second plan," Pyro sighed. He walked over with the heat boots. "Here, this'll speed up the recovery of your foot. But cmon. We need a backup plan."
Zane frowned. I know we need a backup plan! I just can't think of one! That is until he saw the military leader walk past. "The magma weapons!" he exclaimed, causing Pyro to jump. "What!? Are you crazy?!" "Sure, you could call me that, or you could continuously bug me about not having a plan B." Zane remarked teasingly. "THAT'S NOT A PLAN B THAT'S SUICIDE!" Pyro screamed. Zane gestured for him to quiet down. "I know, but he does care deeply for the citizens. If we tell him the situation, he's bound to help us." "Okay," Pyro said. "Let's get on with some power source hunting!"
"This is a longer tunnel than I thought..." Pyro panted. "Maybe we can sit down." "What, NO!" Zane dashed and grabbed Pyro right before he plopped down onto the cold metal floor. "Are you crazy!?" he hissed. "It's like dry ice! You'd be killed!!" "Normally, you'd be right, but the grounds been heating up." Pyro said nonchalantly. Zane hesitantly touched the ground and to his surprise, it was warm. That can only mean one thing, Zane thought. "We're right back where we started from!" Zane exclaimed. Pyro looked ahead and saw that they were back at the entrance. The ground warmed up from our heat boots, he thought. and we came back to the entrance. There must be some kind of secret entrance into the base of operations. Zane sighed as he got up and left the tunnel. "Wait! Where are you going?!" Pyro called after him. "To see the military commander. And get those weapons."
Later, at the cave, commander Scorch was lining up the weapons so they would hit inside the tube. "Ready! Aim! FIRE!!" he yelled. "Literally fire" Zane chuckled as he launched his catapult. The bullets and magma balls flew into the tube. There was almost no way this wouldn't work. Almost. Giant daggers of ice came flying through the tube from the other direction. Not only did they cancel out the magma weapons, they went right through them, and shattered, sending ice shards flying everywhere. Zane and Pyro managed to dodge most of them, but others weren't so lucky.
Soon after, Zane was helping carry the wounded to the medical center. When he finished he went back to his house to think. I thought for sure that would work. And I don't have another plan! He thought back to his first attempt to solve the problem and remembered footsteps that cut off abruptly. It must be some kind of trapdoor! He dashed off towards the cave, only to stop at the town square. People are huddling there, but the ceremony should be over! he thought. Are they there just to keep warm?
As Zane reached the tube, he shook the thought of the townspeople and focused on the job ahead of him. He dashed off into the tube and saw that the footprints were not that far off. He carefully followed them. After about ten minutes, he saw the prints cut off abruptly. Gotcha, he thought. "Hey, Zane! Wait up!" Pyro shouted from a ways away from the master of disguise. "Pyro," Zane said shakily. "You made me jump out skin!" "Heh," Pyro chuckled."Looks like your still in it to me." Zane rolled his eyes and gestured to the cut-off footprints. "We need to get in there."
"You go first," Pyro said. "What!? You expect me to just go in there without any preparation?" Zane said defensively. "Well, yeah." "you've got to be kidding me." He stepped onto the area where the trap door was. He was surprised when he opened his eyes and saw that it was an elevator. Pyro jumped down onto it with Zane. "Okay, this is weird.", he remarked. As they continued to go downward they heard cheering noises.
As the door opened Zane and Pyro were greeted by a bunch of penguins. "Congratulations!", they cheered. "You are our millionth customer!" Zane stared at them. "Uh, we're not customers. We're here to take our heat back.", Pyro spoke up. A larger penguin waddled up to them. "I'm terribly sorry, ol' chap, but we sell frozen foods. Our customers liked our so much they said we should eat it too." "Okay, but what does that have to do with the stolen heat?"
"Well, we can't heat up the food and it tastes terrible without being heated up, so, umm, we took your heat. Terribly sorry fellows.", explained the incredibly chatty, apparently British penguin. Zane's face lit up like a lightbulb. "I just got a great idea," he shouted excitedly. "Be right back!"
Ten minutes later Zane returned with a microwave oven. "This l'il contraption here heats stuff up in no time!" he said proudly. "And here are some blue prints. You'll need more than one." The penguins instantly started cheering. "Shut the machine off! Give these guys a present!" One of the penguins ordered.
Soon Pyro and Zane were walking home carrying several packs of frozen pizza. "Y'know, they were kinda nice." Pyro commented. "Yeah, but I can't wait to get home and chow down on some pizza!" Zane said eagerly. "Zane, Zane, Zane. "Pyro scolded. But deep down he was ready to chow down too.