REPTILIAN CHRONICLE: SCALER'S JOUNREY

Prologue: One faithful night…

A young boy, around the age of twelve probably, walked down the streets of a residential area of an unknown city as the sun slowly went down. The whole city was covered with a layer of snow that thickened by the hour with more snow falling from the sky. At this point, it could have been around nine in the evening as much as it could have been five in the afternoon. The boy had blue eyes but his hairs were covered by a toque. He was wearing a blue winter and pants of the same color and red sneakers. The boy was walking on the pavement and often looked at the windows of each house, at least the ones with activity inside. He looked at all the happy families in the windows as he kept walking toward who knew where for now. He sometimes looked back forward to make sure he would not bump into anyone. He eventually went on the yard of a house, one with no light on. He walked on the marble leading to the door in the front but, just before reaching it, he reached through a pocket and pulled out a key. He unlocked the door and entered the house. Once inside…

"Home sweet home…" The child quietly sighed.

Considering how dark it was inside the house, no one else was home. The child turned on a few lights, one from the entrance, another one from a living room, and a last one from the kitchen. He then removed his coat which he revealed a blue shirt with short sleeves. Underneath the shirt, since it was not buttoned, the boy was wearing a deep blue t-shirt. His first reflex afterward was to go back in the kitchen to look at the fridge. A handwritten note was on the fridge's door and kept on with a magnet. The note read as follow:

"Bobby,

I'll be working overtime tonight. There's a chilli leftover in the fridge if you're hungry. I'll be seeing you later in the night.

Love, Mom."

Bobby sighed exasperatedly and took down the note. He crumbled it and threw it in a bin with many crumbled sheets of paper inside. He went back to the fridge and opened the door to pull out a bowl with plastic wrapping covering the top. He then went to the counters to open a drawer and take out a smaller bowl and a spoon which he used to make a small serving of chilli. Even though he was taller than the counter and the stove, his arms could not reach anything properly so he had to move around a chair and get on it. Bobby put the small bowl in the microwave and started it. In the meantime, he went in the living room and took a picture frame then returned in the kitchen. After a few minutes, the microwave rang and the child pulled out the bowl. Due to how hot the bowl became, he clenched his teeth and groaned in pain. With his meal ready, he sat on the table and put the picture frame to face him. The frame had a picture of a grown man with brown hairs and was wearing glasses. Bobby just stared at the picture while eating his meal or at least he tried. Most of the time, he was just playing with the food in his bowl. He then heard the doorbell ring and looked toward the door. Who could be here at this time of the day? His mother would have just entered the house without notifying her presence from the outside. Bobby left his seat at the table and went to the living room to look outside. He saw a black sedan parked by the pavement in front of the house getting slowly engulfed with the snow falling. He was surprised but he smiled. This car could not make him any happier but why? Black cars suspiciously present in front of someone's house had a tendency of scaring people. The child immediately headed to the door and opened it. He found himself in front of two tall men in black.

The first man had very white skin and white hairs and had beard on most of his face. The beard went on the sides, on the chin and even under it. He had a slightly bulky frame that his suit could not keep concealed. He was holding a briefcase in one hand. He stared at the child with his menacing red eyes piercing through his shades with a serious look.

The second man was larger and slightly taller than the first one. He had a mixed skin, something between Caucasian and hispanic, and was bald but did have a red goatee around his mouth. Unlike the other man, this one presented himself to be more welcoming with his smile.

Both men were in their thirties and wore sunglasses. They removed their sunglasses when the door opened. They were holding badges in their other hand and were about to present themselves but…

"Rafael! Thomas! Come in!" The boy gleefully welcomed.

The first men let out an annoyed grunt as he entered the house with his colleague. Bobby returned in the kitchen and put the picture frame back in the living room. While doing so, the child accidentally bumped into the first man and felt an unusual feeling. It was the always that same feeling he had ever since he met that man for the first time. The men sat down at the table in the kitchen before Bobby could return.

"There's chilli if you want to serve yourselves. Though, I have to warn you it's a leftover." The child proposed.

"No thanks. I already ate on the way here." The first man replied.

"Don't mind if I do!" The second man said.

The second man left his seat and took a bowl and a spoon from the drawers. Anyone would say it was absurd for a stranger to know exactly where things were in the kitchen but this man was no stranger to Bobby. The first man put his briefcase on the table and opened it toward himself. The second man sat back at his place and began eating. The men's presence motivated Bobby to eat his dish.

"Are we still going to the mountain to sky or snowboard this weekend?" Bobby asked.

"Sure thing, kid. Do you think you can teach me how to slow down this time? I had trouble last year and I sure don't want that again this year." The second man replied with a laugh.

"We're not here to discuss about trivial weekend activities." The first man scolded.

Both Bobby and the second man looked at the first man as the latter pulled out a few sheets of paper from the briefcase.

"Come on, Raf! We're just talking about the weekend while you're preparing the job. You know, if you wanted me to not speak about anything, you better prepare faster next time." The second man pointed out.

Rafael just let out some air from his nostrils and looked back at the child.

"So, about my father…" Bobby brought up at his turn.

"Yes, we wanted to speak of your father tonight." Thomas said.

"Great! That means this time you did find something, right? Ever since he vanished six years ago, my mom is having a rough time these days and I wish I could help her."

"The investigation has been put on standby." Rafael declared.

Bobby's smile vanished. He was shocked. He was not expecting that at all. He did not know how to react.

"Standy? What do you mean?" He asked, confused.

"Following years of stagnation and lack of progress in this case, our chief has asked us to halt further investigation until new order and to work on another one which received a new lead." Rafael explained.

"But why did you come here to tell me that? Couldn't you have told me by phone or some other way?" The boy asked.

"That's because the next investigation involves YOU."

Rafael threw the sheets of paper on the table. They were in fact newspaper articles of this year. Bobby stopped eating and put his plate away. He took the newspapers and read the headlines:

"Twelve years old boy scales building to save endangered birds!"

"He who lives in tree for three months to save nearly extinct mammals!"

Bobby did not understand what the men were talking about. Sure, he was the center of attention in the news and he was even given a nickname but, other than that, he saw nothing of interest. He looked back at Rafael.

"So?" He asked, still confused.

"Do you not notice a pattern, Scaler Jenkins?" Rafael suspiciously asked back.

Bobby began trembling. He shook his head to decline but this made Rafael more skeptical toward the boy. The man slowly stood up his chair.

"He's just a child. Don't scare him to death." Thomas advised, growing worrisome of what his colleague could be thinking of doing right now.

"Impossible actions performed by a single child, can't you see anything out of place in these!?" The standing man said with a higher and more aggressive tone.

The voice scared Bobby who backed away with his chair, still looking at the standing man.

"A boy that climb a skyscraper with no equipment!" Rafael shouted.

"I saw the birds in need of help! I tried to climb up the building and found out my hands were sticking after it so I climbed the building to save the birds!" Bobby replied, panicking.

"I appreciate your honesty in that one. Next, a boy that lives in a tree for three months!"

"It was summer vacations! I just spent it different from other kids and I saw those unique animals stuck on the tree. I stayed there four months because it took four months for an environmental protection agency to come over and do their job. Otherwise, I wouldn't have stayed there that long. Plus, if you think about it, there are many things in the nature that taste surprisingly good!"

The man became angrier. He was about to grab the table and flip it but Thomas stepped in to prevent the situation do degenerate by standing up and grabbing Rafael by the arms.

"That's enough, Raf! You're scaring the kid!" Thomas warned.

Rafael was forcing his way to break free but his colleague managed to keep him put. Since he could not do anything, Rafael looked back at his friend.

"WE HAVE CODEMANES YOU KNOW, T…" He began shouting.

The doorbell rang once again, silencing everyone in the kitchen. Thomas and Rafael sat back at their seat but Bobby did not approach the table. He was still too scared of Rafael and wanted to avoid another of his outbursts. Rafael just put his hands on the table and slightly leaned forward.

"You should go answer the door." He coldly said to Bobby.

The child nervously nodded and left his seat. As he made his way to the door, he overheard a strange conversation between the men.

"Are you sure he's THE kid we're looking for, Rhombus?"

"What is it that doesn't ring you a bell, Turbine? Do you need another "heroic" deed before you wake up?"

"I'm just asking. Maybe there are other kids that can do the same things as him or better. Besides, where the kid is, he won't be able to do us any harm in our plans. So, why bother?"

"You're not the one deciding. Looger's pretty sure of it and Jazz follows his lead without question. At this point, I'm just getting tired of all this nonsense."

Looger? Jazz? Rhombus? Turbine? Bobby never heard them calling each other these, even in public. It was always by their actual names. Though, he did not have much time to think about it. He already wasted too much time eavesdropping on the men and someone was at the door waiting. He grabbed the doorknob and opened the door. This time, and man and a woman were at the door.

The man was a Caucasian with black hairs and blue eyes. He was slightly muscular too and was wearing a suit like the two other men.

The woman was of same origin but had long brown hairs and brown eyes. In addition of the suit covering her slender body, she was wearing red lipstick on her lips.

Those two newcomers had their sunglasses they took off and their badge they showed. Much like the two other men, they did not have time to present themselves as Bobby immediately recognized them and…

"Zack!" The child welcomed as he hugged the man.

"Hey there, champ! It's been a while!" Zack greeted back.

Unfortunately, this moment was abruptly interrupted when the woman separated them and shoved the boy away. Bobby nearly lost his balance but managed to not fall down on the floor.

"Get your hands off him!" The woman coldly warned.

Bobby did not react much to her threat. He was used to that from her. Zack looked at the woman with a confused look.

"I was just saying hi to Bobby, Jasmine. There's nothing wrong in that." He said.

"You can quit with the fake family attitude, chief. And stop calling me Jasmine. It's all over now. We got what we came from." Jasmine replied.

The two men at the table stood up their seat and went to the child. Bobby was surrounded by the adults.

"What's happening!? What did I do wrong!?" The boy asked, frightened.

"I'm sorry, Bobby, but you'll have to come with us." Zack said on a more serious tone.

The child looked around and saw the stairs leading to the basement. As the adults tried to grab him, he fled downstairs and the adults collided into each other. Bobby sat on the railing to slide down the stairs.

"GET THAT BOY NOW!" Jasmine's voice yelled.

From there, Bobby did not know where to go now. It had been a long time since the last time he ever went downstairs. There was some light that showed a door and the child went to it. He opened the door and entered the room without thinking. He closed the door behind but had to search for a light inside the room. As he began searching, he heard someone falling down the stairs. This would surely give him enough time to do whatever to get out of this situation. He found a switch and flipped it. The room was filled with furniture and boxes that Bobby moved near the door to create a barricade. He then stumbled across a sheet covering the last piece of furniture. He pulled it away thus revealing a strange machine underneath. It looked like a built-in computer with a few button and a rotary switch on the keyboard. Out of curiosity, Bobby booted up the computer. The screen turned on and displayed many words and numbers. Those were scrolling so fast the child did not have time to read anything. When it was done scrolling down all the writing, the screen displayed the word "READY" blinking. The boy looked at the rotary switch and flipped it. A light came from behind the machine.

"I'm hearing something happening in this room!" Thomas' voice said.

"Well, what are you waiting for? GET IN THERE!" Jasmine's voice yelled.

Bobby heard the doorknob being twisted but, thanks to all the furniture he moved to block the door, the door could not open.

"It's stuck. The kid must've barricaded it." Rafael's voice said.

"RAM IT THEN!" The woman's voice shouted.

Something began banging on the door. Bobby looked behind the machine and saw a strange part that looked like the cannon of a laser gun brightening up. It then fired in a certain direction and a wormhole opened. The child approached it. This could be his only way out of here but, at the same, gave an uncertainty. Where could this portal bring him? Bobby slowly approached it and put a hand in front. The portal was generating lightning bolts that went in all directions near the portal. When Bobby got close enough, he could feel his clothes being dragged toward the portal and he struggled to stand still as it tried to suck him in. One of the bolt hit Bobby's hand. This scared the child who backed away as far as he can. He looked at his hand. It did not hurt but something unusual happened. His hand turned blue and some of his fingers fused together. He now had a reptilian hand. He got scared but his fear died down pretty quickly when his hand returned to normal. Though, the agents outside managed to break through the door, pushing the furniture all over the room. Bobby was sent back to the portal but could not stop. He fell into the portal and many bolts hit him. He felt his body constantly changing but could not see what was happening to himself as he was spinning out of control and the excessive amount of bolts hitting him dizzied him. He had no idea where he was getting sent to.