Thought the song might be fitting? It's a good song either way ;)
*****
After running down the street after the truck, which turned right into another street, the Horsemen slowed down, walking on the dark street. Khris let out a huffy breath, running a hand through her hair.
"What if we lose them? What if they hurt Dylan before we're able to get there? Of course they would hurt him, but how far would they go?" Khris rambled, staring at the ground as they walked. Lula and her shoes clicking against the street.
"Khris, hey," Danny stopped her, grabbing her by the shoulders. The others kept walking, they weren't going too fast though. "Dylan's going to be fine, okay? We'll find him and we'll get out of here. I promise you, okay? I promise."
She stared up into his eyes, her blue eyes becoming watery. Khris nodded subtly, hugging him by the waist. She let out a heavy sigh, glancing up at Daniel from her spot resting on his chest. "I'm sorry- I'm just anxious."
"It's alright. Let's go," he kissed the top of her head, releasing his grip on her. The two followed after the rest of the Horsemen, jogging lightly.
The five turned onto the street they saw the truck going down, walking along it for another few minutes before Lula spoke up, "They have Lionel Shrike's safe, guys. Think! Where could they be going?" She made the answer obvious, Jack responding.
"Water."
"Yes, Jack. Water. Very specific," Lula smiled at him in a joking manner.
Jack shrugged, a faint smile on his face. Danny spoke up, "Well, we saw them go down this street. There has to be some sort of harbor or source of water this way."
Khris nodded along, hand clutching Danny's, the two walking close to each other. Merritt added, "Let's just keep walking this way then."
****
"Did you guys hear that?" Khris spoke up, looking at the other Horsemen, worry painted on her face. There was a loud splash nearby, it sounded like a cannon being fired off. "C'mon!"
Khris let go of Danny's hand, running off. She heard the footsteps of the others following her closely. They ran under what appeared to be a large arch of some sorts, running until they were approached by water and a flight of stairs. Khris stumbled messily down the stairs, her shoes not helping in the slightest.
She stopped suddenly, a mess of stairs in front of her. She shook her head, going down in a hurry, almost falling, luckily Danny was there, grabbing her arm. The other Horsemen got down the stairs, Lula still trying, Jack helping her. Danny shook his head at Khris, right when they got onto solid ground, before he pushed her into Merritt, who caught her before she fell.
Khris furrowed her eyebrows at Danny about to yell, when he sprinted forward and jumped in the water with a splash. "Danny!"
Merritt held onto her as Danny dived deeper into the murky water. He let Khris go after a few seconds, she ran to the water, searching is helplessly. "C'mon, c'mon..."
Jack and Lula made it down, standing next to Khris and Merritt by the water. They all stared into the water, hoping, praying Danny would retrieve Dylan, and they would all be okay. They backed up from the water as they saw bubbles appearing on the surface.
Soon enough, Danny's head popped out of the water, Dylan in his grasp. Jack and Merritt helped him get out of the water, grabbing Dylan in the process. Dylan flopped onto the ground, soaking wet, Danny hovering over him as he got out of the water as well.
"Dylan!" a chorus of yells came out of the Horsemen's mouths.
They all kneeled down by his lifeless-looking body, Danny kneeling down properly. Khris looked at him while he looked at Dylan, Jack mumbling. "Dylan, come on, buddy, breath!"
Khris sucked in a breath as Danny applied pressure onto his chest, water soon spewing out of his mouth. "Dylan, come on..."
Dylan coughed out some more water, breathing heavily, opening his eyes wide. He lifted his head, looking at each of the Horsemen, raspy breaths leaving his mouth. He laid his head back down as Danny told him "you're okay".
"Jesus! You scared the hell out of us, man," Jack laughed lightly, looking down at their leader.
"Are you alright, bro?" Merritt asked as Danny helped him sit up.
"Thank you," Dylan nodded at Danny, putting a soaked hand on his shoulder.
"This is the least I could do," Danny looked down at him, Khris placing a hand on his shoulder.
"No. There's a hell of a lot less you could've done," Dylan was still catching his breath, leaning over heavily.
"That was not an option," Khris stated firmly.
"You took a bullet for us, it was huge," Merritt added.
"You really did, man," Jack agreed, holding up the chip.
Dylan looked at each of them until his eyes landed on Danny, "Thanks for pulling me out. Seriously."
"Yeah," Danny nodded.
"You got yourself out," Lula nodded. "We did the easy part. Literally, in my case, I was just standing on the shore while Khris almost toppled over and Atlas jumped down and got you." Dylan shook his head, chuckling. "I'm serious."
They exchanged a few laughs, looking at each other. Khris leaned into Danny, letting out a breath. "Hey, you guys," Jack scrunched his eyebrows, looking down at the chip. "Something's not right."
"What's wrong?" Khris asked, looking down at the chip.
The others looked at the chip as well as Jack peeled a piece on it off, holding it up before letting it fall on the ground. "It's fake."
"What?" Lula questioned, leaning in closer as Jack handed the chip to Merritt. They all looked at it as Merritt handed it off to Danny, who inspected it. He looked up at the others with a sigh.
****
The Horsemen were back at Iong's, sitting in the back room, a large table in the middle of them. Jack leaned up against a pole, Dylan, wrapped in a blanket, sat on a chair across from him with Merritt standing behind him. Danny, also in a blanket, sat on the steps, Khris on the step under him, between his legs.
Lula walked down the steps next to them, sighing out. "No, I had the stick. The actual stick. I swear, it was in my hand, in the lab, and then I put it in the little case thing. And I gave it to Atlas," she turned around, looking at him, walking backwards.
"Right, which I then gave to Dylan," Danny continued, holding onto the blanket, while Khris stared at the floor. "Is there any chance you've possibly misplaced it at any point?"
"No," Dylan shook his head. "I took it from you, then slipped it back in your coat pocket when I pushed you out."
Khris spoke up, leaning against Daniel's leg, "Yeah. To which then, I grabbed it, and Danny and I went to go find the others. I held it in my hand the whole time."
"Either way," Merritt intruded, "we're left holding a whole sack full of nada."
"Yeah, but they're going to come after us as if we do have something," Jack mentioned.
"No," Lula put a finger up, Khris glancing over at her. Lula looked at all of them. "Okay. I agree that somebody got the better of us. Okay? Somehow. But I don't agree that we have a sack full of nada. Because we're all here. That's a sack full of something."
Khris nodded against Danny's leg, watching her make an encouraging speech. "Listen, we all know that Walter is not going to stop until he gets that chip. And we're the only ones that even know that he's alive. We can't just walk away. That's not what the Horsemen do."
The others slowly began to nod as Danny spoke up, "There's a quote... Um- it's actually by the magician that made me want to do this in the first place." Danny slowly took the blanket off, it laying in a pile on the stairs. He motioned Khris up, to which she stood up, walking to the table, Danny following. "It's, um, "A magician's greatest power lies forever shrouded in his empty fist," he held up a closed fist. "And-"
"And the very idea that he can convince the world that he is, in fact, carrying with him a secret," Dylan finished, looking at Danny and the others.
Khris smiled over at him, "Lionel Shrike."
"Right," Dylan nodded, Danny giving him a knowing smile.
"So what are you saying?" Jack asked. "Like we should pretend that we have something we don't?"
Khris looked back over at Dylan as he asked, "What is Walter's greatest fear?"
"Being seen," Merritt stood up from his spot on a stool, walking to the table.
"And what does the stick do?" Dylan asked, holding up a playing card.
"The stick can un-encode anything," Lula put the pieces together.
"It can open up a backdoor into any computer on the planet," Khris added, leaning on the table.
"Including his," Jack nodded, walking to the table as well.
Dylan smiled at them, tossing the card onto the table. Khris looked at it, 'The Fool'. "Right. We not only make him think that we have it, but that we're going to use it to expose and destroy him," Danny clarified.
"We need a plan, but we don't have time."
"We have each other," Khris added, looking up at Danny, then the others with a small smile. "And there are six of us."
"But we also need supplies, right? And resources," Lula commented. "And probably more than six people."
The six looked at each other before another voice spoke up, "Do you really think you don't have help?"
"Oh, she speaks English," Danny sighed, Khris nudging his arm with a smile. "Of course. Yeah."
Bu Bu and Li walked out into the room, standing at the table with the rest of them. "Do you know why the Fool is the most powerful card in the tarot?" she asked, holding up the card. "Not because the person who draws him is a fool. He's a fool because he's a clean slate, and, therefore, can become anything."
She continued, everyone watching, "You were chosen. All of you," she gestured to all of them around the table.
"Not because of who you are," Li finished, "but because of who you might become."
Khris noticed Lula smiling, she couldn't help but smile as well. "When you say "chosen"... Are you part of The Eye?" Merritt asked.
"Yes," Bu Bu answered. "We are part of The Eye," she put a hand on Li's back as he poured tea into small cups. "You've each doubted our existence. Wondering if we, indeed, were watching." Everyone looked at them, curiosity sparking in each of them. "We are. We always have been."
"This is the best magic shop in the world," Danny chuckled, putting a hand on Khris', which was resting on the table. "You know what she's saying, right?"
"Yes," Dylan nodded. "That now we have resources and help," he reached forward, taking Bu Bu's hand in his, "Thank you." He stood back up, looking at all of them. "So, who's in?" he grabbed a tea cup off the plater.
Danny smiled, taking a cup, "I'm in."
Khris nodded, standing up straight to pick up a cup, "Me too."
"Yeah, I'm in," Lula smiled, standing up, grabbing a cup.
Jack nodded, leaning over to grab a cup. "Let's do this."
Merritt smirked with a nod, taking a cup. As did, Li and Bu Bu.
They all smiled at each other, raising their cups with both hands before they all took a sip. Soon, they would be pulling off something bigger than they all imagined.
*****
(1978 words)