THIS DIDN'T LOOK LIKE a closet at all. Rather, it was a whole other room inside the apartment. On top of the apparent Dyna Blades staring him right in the face, the entire space also had equipment for them. It was like a skating shop.
On a shelf were wheels of various sizes, a charger with a green light indicating the batteries were fully charged, and fancy-colored Dyna Blades lined perfectly across the walls. The first thing that came to mind was whether or not they were real. Stephen then asked himself if the items inside this room truly belonged to his roommates.
'Why would they hide something like this from me?' he wondered, approaching one of the Dyna Blades on the shelf.
He made the wise decision not to touch the ones on the pedestal. Laying hands on those was too obvious an act. As he took the ones off the shelf, a sticker fell. Picking it up, he noticed it had an attractive design—almost like a callsign—that read, "The Lion's Den."
This was the name inscribed on the sticker in a playful cyan font. It also had a lion's face with a dark blue mane. He turned the Dyna Blades upside down to check if they were real, causing other matching stickers to fall out. Owning Dyna Blade gear wasn't enough to tell him what this could mean.
He planned to investigate the room more until he heard a knock at the front door. Everyone had a key to the house, so there was no way it could be the girls unless they forgot their keys. Quickly, he returned everything to where he found it before checking to see who it was. Through the peephole, he noticed it was two members of the Westside Toris.
Stephen opened the door, only to be greeted by ninety-degree bows. Before he could speak, Castiel Case, the second in command of his gang, said, "Boss, please forgive us! We heard you were ambushed by the Skull Raiders and went to the warehouse. When we got there, we saw blood, and the entire place was trashed! We—"
"Calm down, Cast," Stephen paused.
Castiel Case, a blonde-haired boy with straight hair and the same age and height as Stephen, always clung to him like a brother. Then there was Maxwell. He was always there whenever Stephen walked across campus, acting as if he were his bodyguard. Considering Stephen had no real friends, these two were as close as he came.
"But, sir, your wounds!" Maxwell said, lifting his head.
How could Stephen not be moved by these two? He often preferred to work alone, but seeing them come all the way here to ensure he was alright was touching.
"You said their names were the 'Skull Raiders.' What can you two tell me about them?"
"They're a new group that recently made a name for themselves in the Dyna Blade world," Castiel answered.
Maxwell then added, "Yeah, we thought Chang and his boys might have broken the treaty, so we went to the east side to teach 'em all a lesson! You weren't there, and he started laughing, saying that he hired a bunch of Skull Raiders to do his dirty work. Flippin' coward!"
"We were gonna go to their hideout till we found out they had Dyna Blades," Castiel finished.
Stephen closed his eyes to think. His hands were near his chin, signifying how deep in thought he was. There was a moment of silence until he finally asked, "Tell me about the world of Dyna Blades."
Castiel and Maxwell weren't too knowledgeable, but they shared what information they knew. Those who wore Dyna Blades were known as "Road Riders." A coalition of five or more Road Riders can be called a team. Each team is gifted a self-made emblem they can use to challenge other teams.
When a team challenges another team to a match of their choosing, whichever team loses is forced to discard their emblem, thus disbanding their group. And teams aren't situated in one area; they can be found all across the world.
Hearing new terminology like "Road Riders" allowed Stephen to piece things together. His roommates, whom he'd been living with for years, were a team of Road Riders!
Now it made sense that they were trying to avenge him. Considering he came home with wheel tracks on him, they likely went out to investigate who did this to him. For it was obvious the marks came from Dyna Blades. As for how long his roommates had been riding, that didn't matter to him at the moment.
It was the fact that they were trying to fight his battle that irritated him the most. So he said, "You two, tell me where they're located, and I'll take things from here."
"But boss, we'd like to—"
Before Maxwell could finish, he was stunned by the glaring look in Stephen's eyes.
"That's an order."
A few minutes later, Stephen was at the park, carrying a duffle bag that contained a pair of Dyna Blades.
His roommates had brought a bunch of skates, each varying in size. The ones that fit him were designed with a slick, crimson vamp made of metal. Taking them out, he opened them up and replaced his sneakers. They were a lot lighter on his feet than he expected.
The next thing he did was read the user's manual taken from the house.
'The basis of a running start is your own leg strength. The assist motor responds to your strength when you kick the earth and accelerate the wheel's rotation, huh.'
Equipped with a braking system, it could be turned off via a switch built on the outer soles of the skates. It would then override the acceleration system if turned off, enabling the skates to operate as normal inline skates. The best way to stop without brakes would be to use a spin-turn technique. Dyna Blades were a lot more complicated than he imagined.
Based on what he read, they were essentially self-propelled shoes equipped with a powerful suspension, air cushion systems, and ultra-small motors in the wheels. It was 2026, and technology continued to make improvements on the more minor things.
But the biggest thrill of Dyna Blades was its precisely calibrated cushion system. If used right, it could propel a Road Rider upward, giving them enough air to perform stupendous tricks.
Without wasting any more time, he stood up to begin his first ride. The instant he put force into his legs, an electronic zipping noise was heard, indicating the skates were functioning. Immediately, he raced down the sidewalk at incredible speeds!
'They're moving on their own,' he thought as his hair flew back against the wind. 'Wait… Why isn't the braking system working?'
If he didn't stop now, he was about to hit a rail that would send him flying over the edge of a hill. Little did he know, these weren't brand new Dyna Blades; they belonged to his roommates. And they had switched off the braking system!
Furrowing his brows, he tried to think of a solution. The spin-turn technique wasn't an option. If he tried that, he might end up breaking his leg at the speed he was moving.
'Calm down, Steph…' he said to himself.
As he got closer and closer to the rail, he noticed a bird gliding high above the edge. It wasn't any ordinary bird; it was the Steller's Jay that had been following him since yesterday. A voice was then heard in his head, saying, 'Even though birds can fly in the sky, the reason you can't is because you're always clinging to the ground.'
Smirking after coming to terms with his own resolve, Stephen crouched down, accelerating faster. Moments from crashing into the rail, he leaped high into the sky!
The ground was, without a doubt, more than one hundred feet beneath him. Looking forward, he could see the entire Salt Lake City from where he was. Nothing could be heard. Not the engines from the cars beneath, not even the sound of the wind. It was as if time had come to a complete stop.
'Ha! No way this is real!'
Just as he thought this, the Steller's Jay glided right past. He smirked at it as he noticed it getting smaller and said, "One day, I won't come down, ya know."
Inside an underground railroad within Salt Lake City, the leader of the Skull Raiders was sweating profusely.
"Is it true?" he asked someone over his radio.
"Yes, sir… The Lion's Den is really coming!"
Their leader, a hairless man with a skull tattoo on his forehead, threw his radio against the wall. He angrily commanded two of his men to stall whoever was coming to their turf. The men wearing masks were more terrified than he was.
"No way, man! I ain't trying to mess with the Lion's Den!" the henchman responded.
His second subordinate added, "If you wanna fight them, you can deal with them yourself!"
The three suddenly heard a woman say, "Don't tell me you're running away."
They each looked up to see three girls perform dazzling spins. Two landed right behind the henchmen, easily using their momentum to throw them into the ceiling. They crashed just before falling about thirty feet to the ground. An impact like that managed to knock them out. The smallest of the three girls stuck her tongue out and said, "Bedtime for you, bald man!"
The leader of the Skull Raiders couldn't believe what just happened. The look on his face was one of regret. He had never seen the Lion's Den team before, and it only took two of them to wipe the floor with his best subordinates. In a frantic tone, he said, "Just who did I piss off to get you guys on me anyway?!"
The two girls blocking his path from behind wore blue and white jackets. While the smallest girl in front of him had the same kind of jacket. On their heads were hats with cat ears sticking atop them, and how they wore their goggles made all three look menacing. Who else could they be except for Victoria, Kimberly, and Mila?
Head tilted toward the leader, he saw his reflection in Victoria's goggles. In a serious tone, she answered, saying, "Let's just say you messed with someone you shouldn't have."
Kimberly got into a racing stance. Her Dyna Blade wheels began spinning while she was stationary. The results caused dust to fly out. Scared of what she would do next, everyone suddenly turned to the side upon seeing a figure approaching.
Casually strolling towards them was none other than Stephen Huntley. In shock, the girls called out his name when they saw he was wearing their Dyna Blades.
"W… Wait, I know that name," the Skull Raiders leader said.
"And I recognize that voice," Stephen replied. "You're the same guy who did me dirty earlier…"
There was now a worried look on the leader's face. Stephen looked around and noticed that two men were already knocked out.
"Dufus brother Steph!" Mila screamed. "Sister Ally's gonna be mad when she finds out you took our Dyna Blades!"
He looked over the leader's shoulders and saw two girls sporting matching jackets. Even though Kimberly didn't have her hair tied in pigtails, he could tell it was her. Mila's threat was more than enough for him to make the connection. What he wondered was how much they knew about Dyna Blades.
As he thought about it, Kimberly removed her goggles and smiled at him. Their reunion was cut short when the Skull Raider's leader began looking around frantically.
"Hey, pal," Stephen said with a serious look. "What's your name?"
"Huh…? It's Griffin."
"Griffin, huh? If you repent now, I'll promise to go easy on you."
That statement angered Griffin. Veins bulged from his head as he screamed for Stephen not to look down on him, saying, "You think you're tough with a bunch of girls backing you up? Why don't we settle this like real Road Riders with a formal one-on-one?"
Stephen hadn't been in the Dyna Blades world for even a day, and already someone was challenging him. Perhaps it was because Griffin was trapped like a rat, so he tempted him as opposed to his roommates, whom he knew he didn't stand a chance against. Or maybe it was because he had humiliated Stephen once and didn't see him as terrifying.
"Sure, why not?"
"Good," Griffin said. "Let's place our emblem on the line then, punk!"
Suddenly, Griffin went tumbling several feet from the ground. In his spot, with her leg up high, was Victoria.
"Don't screw with us, bastard!" she shouted.
"Wait, Vicky," Stephen said. "This is my fight."
She slowly lowered her leg. Removing her goggles to look him in the eyes, she said, "Steph, the emblem is a Road Rider's symbol. It means a lot more than just a piece of metal, you know. Lose it, and that's the end of the road."
"Teams, emblems, Road Riders," Stephen boldly announced. "All that stuff's a tad confusing. But if there's one thing I know, it's that I don't plan on losing a second time."