1. The Beginning
It was midnight. The rain was pouring heavily, so of course, most people weren’t outside. Except for one. He wore a yellow hoodie and a white shirt underneath, along with black jeans. He had his long, black hair up in a ponytail. His name was Julius Sakura Graves. He was a stubborn, insensitive fellow on the outside, but he was quite soft on the inside.
Julius made his way to the Mystery Enterprises building, his hands in his hoodie pockets, grumbling to himself. He stepped in many large puddles that dampened his shoes and pants. Julius stopped as he noticed a bright, magenta glare off the sidewalk. He looked up, viewing the bright Mystery Enterprises sign. The building was big, but he knew it was bigger on the inside. “Finally,” Julius said to himself, circling around behind the building.
He knocked on two metal doors that didn’t have doorknobs—on the outside, at least.
Footsteps, bangs, and clashes could be heard from the other side until the doors were opened. A tall, lanky man stood in front of Julius.
“Why, my brother Jules, how nice it is to see you here!” The man exclaimed happily. He wore a dull, green sweater that seemed to have been cut into a crop-top, along with black stretchy pants and black high-heeled boots. He had a wide, yellow grin, and his left eye’s pupil was in the shape of an X. The man looked rather sickly.
“Hello, Eros,” Julius grunted. Eros squealed ecstatically and stepped aside, eager for Julius to come in. Julius leaned away from Eros as he passed him, walking into the hallway. The hallway smelled rotten, and the walls had many stains on them.
“How have you been? And why are you here?” Eros said, an innocent look on his face. Or, innocent enough.
“We need to talk,” Julius sighed. Eros blinked a few times, then nodded.
Eros led Julius to his office and sat down in a black, cushioned chair behind a scratched up desk. Julius sat at another black chair in front of the desk.
Before Eros could open his mouth, Julius already began speaking. “I wanted to talk about Lawrence, or, show you something about him,” Julius said. Eros’ eyes widened, and he quickly looked down. Julius continued, “I know you don’t want to, but uh, it’s important.” Eros frowned and whined, covering his pale, ailing face with his hands. Julius grumbled in response.
“But why do we need to talk about him, Jules?” Eros sighed. Julius rolled his eyes as he pulled a folded up paper out of his hoodie pocket, unraveled it, and handed it to Eros. He looked over the paper intently, but worriedly. It was a handwritten document, full of information on a specific person.
“Lawrence Rae Williams,” Eros read, “is destroying the city. He is enforcing redundant laws and sending out his soldiers over some poor, long gone boy.” Eros paused for a minute, collecting his thoughts. Julius was surprised at how serious he looked for once, then Eros continued. “The way Mr. Williams acts is unusual, too. Rumor has it that if you get close to him, you can hear gears turning. Wouldn’t want to say this to the public, though. We don’t need another incident, and I’m sure Dr. Eckstein would agree. Mr. Williams’ little speech malfunction was a nightmare.” Eros continued, “Something about a colorful world? Maybe he’s a robot, as well as off his rocker. Anyway, this is the information you wanted, Kai.” Eros stopped and turned the paper to Julius, showing that the rest of the paper was smeared and wet.
“Ah, yeah, I found it in a puddle in an alleyway. Too bad we couldn’t get those sweet deets, huh? Anyway, I guess I won’t bring more of it up. You can keep that paper or whatever,” Julius said, standing up.
“Wait,” Eros nearly yelled, startling Julius a little. “This handwriting is so familiar, look! It reminds me of dad’s handwriting!” Julius viewed the writing on the soggy paper and rolled his eyes. Eros whined a little bit.
“God, Eros, you forget everything else except that. Our dad is dead. Remember that one,” Julius scowled. Still standing up, he picked up a little photograph that fell out of his other pocket and quickly stuffed it back in. From the quick glance Eros got, the picture looked like it had two people in it. Julius was blushing, too.
Eros, hurt by Julius’ statement, turned and stared at the ground. Julius mumbled to himself. “Listen, I know it’s hard. Especially for you, but… Things will be okay. One day, at least. Keep seeing Theo, alright?” Julius sighed. Eros nodded a little, holding back his sobs. Julius frowned, then turned and walked out of the office, then down the stairs, and finally, out of the building.
BEST NOT B SLEEPIN ON THIS














