Cloey tilted her head in curiosity at what she was seeing. The odd shape of the vehicle in front of her made her try to understand what was up and down to sit on.
Whatever was in her mind, blocked by something, could be dealt with later, because right now, Cloey wanted to handle something else for a change to soothe her excitement for a potentially good day tomorrow, and maybe even figure out a plan to properly apologize for her outburst after school.
This tricky-looking cycle would have to do while she waited. After all, it looked like one of those toys kids can play with while the grownups were doing their own things in the garage.
Far from looking like an ordinary bicycle, the seat was overwhelmingly weathered and sluggishly green. The wheels were somehow oval-shaped, and the back consisted of three trumpet-like objects attached firmly with rusty nails. Now that she had a good look at it, the bike-vehicle thing gave off more of a shady circus contraption than an actual thing for little toddlers to play with.
"Neat, looks like something I can play with while Dad is busy with the truck. But I don't know where the seat is for on this thing."
She stopped momentarily to think about what she was doing right now. She, a second-year high schooler, was trying to play with toys for little kids. Still, she had collected stuffed animals ever since she was a little kid, and the number of toys continued to grow. Also, there was an old tree house in her house's backyard, where once in a while she would have a sleepover with friends other than her main group, the Quad Four.
However, it was not too late to experience the joys of childhood while it lasted. For Cloey, it was simply a means of gaining experience for a potential career in the education workforce.
She appreciated it when Mrs. Carol Stride said that if she had an interest in the garage, working with the tools and automobiles, but Cloey didn't think she had the spark that would allow her to tinker with cars easily. Knowing her own body, she'd probably make a mess of things as she clumsily held on to the tools while dealing with people's calls. A job like this would be better suited to someone more capable, like Nate or Sam.
Without further ado, she tried to feel the leather seat of the weird-looking vehicle, to have a sense of what it would be like if she chose to partake in playing with this large toy. Her pointer finger stretched, anticipating the feel that she imagined in her head.
"... Huh? What is with this...?"
Her hand immediately retracted back to her personal space because of something weird about the texture of the seat. She expected it to be cool to touch since the outside had those shaded structures that block the sunlight from scorching the surface of the vehicle, but for some reason, the leather seat felt eerily warm. It wasn't some ordinary thing, but something that wasn't supposed to be there at all.
The seat of the strange-looking miniature motorbike in front of her felt alive.
Any action that she was going to make dissipated before she even realized it. Within seconds, an engine roared inside the toy vehicle, like a heartbeat that could be heard after a defibrillation. The bike turned green and gray in a gradual process, overcoming the dusty and weathered leather-like color from before. The three trumpet-like tubes in the back of the seat stood up and writhed profusely like a nest of tied snakes. Its status of being alive was evident from the growling noises inspired by a running motor.
Cloey gasped in surprise at the view of contortion. Something that looked so harmlessly weird and innocent could end up so vicious and horrific. The machine-thing turned and twisted until it became a creature clearly sentient. The way its legs were balanced by air-pumped wheels, and one of its hands was the handlebars from before. She gazed upon the three trumpets on its back, rising above its head.
The eyes glowed because of the headlights, and the rest of the body was covered by dirty orange rust and the green-gray color that magically covered itself.
The creature here right now, it wasn't anything like she had ever seen, except Cloey knew that was not the case. In fact, she did see something like this, and it was back at the Volanten River next to Kelter Park, where Quad Four tried to help find Aliana Augero's lost soccer ball after Brandin lost it. When Cloey looked for the ball by directly swimming through the river, Nate saved her at the last second before the monster underwater took her life. After things got sorted out, Manson arrived with the others and mentioned how these hidden monsters were actually Fadens; their black and gray colors indicated that confirmation. The monsters that almost ate her were called Fadens, creatures thought to have been driven out of Green Country cities long before.
This Trickcycle Faden, as she would like to call it for now because of its tricky design for a bicycle, made a quiet honking sound as its handlebar hands felt the air, though it lacked multiple fingers to tend to the space around it properly.
"Honk, honk?" Cloey tried to communicate back.
In her innocent mind, Cloey thought she could make it understand with a soothing noise similar to the one it made just now, but it roared in her direction as it used its wheels to accelerate towards her. She screeched at the sudden turn of events and dove to the side with the spare tire piles, breaking her short fall.
"I'm sorry! Did I say something bad?! I didn't mean it at all! Honestly!"
Her words did not stop the Faden at all as it prepared to repeat another charge. Cloey's heart thumped heavily at the sight of it trying to hurt her or seriously kill her. She thought about going to Dad and Mrs. Stride, but she didn't want them to get hurt. So at the very least, Cloey decided to stay and distract it long enough that it tired itself out.
The monster made another go and went forward with breakneck top speed similar to a vehicle towards Cloey, completely ramming itself into the wall next to the entrance of the garage interior. Noticeable cracks spread from the source like a spiderweb.
Cloey still could not believe what she was seeing. Seeing what she thought was only Manson's distant warning of the Fadens invading the city long ago as superstition, that eventually escalated into dealing with one of these wacky-looking street vehicle creatures right now. Though initially she thought it was kind of cute and innocent-looking at first, it was now clear to her that the creature was no ordinary creature, but a bloodthirsty beast of the past to determine whether or not the sweet and naive Cloey could survive against its thunderous pursuit. Survival was important in her situation.
"Aaaahhhh!" Cloey shouted in fear.
Looking back, it was easy to navigate away from the Trickcycle Faden's target, as it always charges full speed in a straight line, never making any hard turns or sudden changes of direction. Even so, Cloey had to practically leap into the air, sometimes landing in the soft patches of grass, but getting scrapes on her limbs on the concrete ground trying to break her fall.
However, repeatedly doing this routine just to dodge again and again spent massive amounts of energy. Cloey wasn't an athlete like Sam Davis. In fact, doing the mile run for physical education back in school felt like her sides were getting pierced by thin needles. The PE teacher, Mrs. Ferge, held energy-consuming exercises early in her schedule; even the warm-up stretching period was a bit too much for her.
"I don't... have the energy... to do this again... and again... and—"
She went down to the ground, clutching at her sides as the familiar sharp tension rose in her gut. Her knees felt weak, and it was like she had anemia from losing so much blood from the scrapes on her shins.
The Trickcyle Faden wasn't even slowing down one bit when it met her gaze, rumbling its engine and its horns to signify the imminent charge. Cloey tried to move even an ounce, but it was no use. The monster was dead set on her as the target, and she would get run over by its terribly crusted wheels.
She braced herself, hoping that she would survive the impact, despite the chances looking grim and unsettling. Cloey closed her eyes with anticipation and fear.
A soft, fleeting light peeked through Cloey's eyes... in a few seconds.
A soft glow surrounded her body. Cloey thought to herself that she was an angel with heavenly light emanating in all directions. Except the holy golden light was actually verdant green light, a visual that looked similar to a memory from before.
In addition to what she was seeing, internally she felt something surge through her body system. It was like a rush of freedom, but something else entirely different. Her lungs could hold more air, with the lack of leftover body products that could've hindered her. It all came to Cloey feeling rejuvenated all of a sudden.
She glanced at her shaking hands, not noticing any discernible physical change in color or anything like that. Nothing seemed to be added, like a new set of limbs attached.
Noticing her own self that much was enough; she turned towards the area around them. The clean outside lot of the mechanic shop was now turned completely upside down, messed up by the Trickcyle Faden's sudden burst of speed, causing the grass patches to be constantly uprooted, dirt flying in the air as the cause. Concrete in the outer ridges cracked with white lines across.
The floor was completely covered with oil, screws, mechanical tools, blank sheets of paper, ripped tires, and some metal shoes lying on the ground...
"Wait? Did I see what I saw clearly?" she asked herself, looking over the pair of metal shoes that appeared right next to her side.
The shoes were covered with rigid metal plates, shiny gray in color, with a red symbol engraved on the top of the ankle. Even though no one was wearing them, it looked as though somebody was already wearing them, like a foot firmly fit inside. The hole itself was covered in green material, and Cloey didn't know if it was glowing on its own or not.
But Cloey couldn't stare at these mysterious items any longer, because she heard the triple honk of the Faden as it charged towards Cloey yet again with blistering speed. It raged even more, causing the dust to whirl into the air like a tornado. The noise reminded her of thunder, making Cloey fall down in fear.
"NOOO!" she yelled before hearing a metallic clang.
From her view, it looked like the Faden rushed to her but suddenly stopped. When Cloey squinted her eyes, one of the metallic shoes from before stopped the living vehicle in its tracks, the wheels angrily trying to push against the small roadblock. Before it could have that chance, the other metal pair flew in the air and smashed the top of the Faden with an arc to build up power.
Cloey looked away from the direct hit, debris flying through the air as she gripped her shoulders like there was no tomorrow. The gust of wind wildy brushing her curly, orange hair, and the dirt cloud formed violently in the empty lot. When the whole place finally settled, the area was scattered with rusted parts. She knew that the monster was completely obliterated by the metallic shoes' impact, finally shattering into a million pieces, followed by the aftermath silence. Cloey went over to the summoned shoes after she carefully checked that it was safe all around her, but knowing her own mind, it was actually only a slight glance that didn't change anything.
"What are you?" she asked the shoes, expecting them to reply. "I had no idea what was going on, but you saved my life... This must be a power I got, like in one of those stories that I read before. The experience with that monster looking like a weird children's bike and with what I have in front of me was crazy, but I don't want to tell anyone about this. They won't believe me. Besides, I want to learn more about these shoes myself, since I don't want to hurt anyone with this power accidentally."
She held the pair in her hands, constantly looking over each side to make out what it actually was. Cloey thought about how it protected her from the monster and smiled. These shoes protected her from being harmed, and the shoes' metallic appearance reminded her of those medieval suits of armor that she saw pictures of online. Knowing the similarities between the shoes and the protective knights, Cloey closed her eyes and let out a weary sigh.
The whole thing with the Faden and the power she got when she was in a dangerous situation, it all seemed so surreal.
"These knight shoes are like my guardian angels. Knights from out of this world to fight against the evil in Standart City. They are the Knightly Defenders."
Cloey placed them in front of her. The knight shoes stood still on the ground, only emitting soft light in the shade, which faded from her view.
She softly closed her eyes in response. "I guess that's one way to hide them."
With nothing much going on in the empty lot outside, with the sun still up, Cloey went back inside the garage, hoping that Mrs. Stride and her father were okay. She saw that the family truck entered her vision as she went past the waiting room that she had been in before while she waited. Mrs. Stride followed up with a signal to make the truck go forward, where it was nested inside one of the empty garages.
"Hey, sweetie, how were you doing inside? Anything interesting?" he said to her daughter.
Her father found her at the side with a sleepy look, but also saw the minor scrapes that she had on her legs.
"Rough day outside since you were restless and stuck reading home magazines? I can understand that. See, when I was around your age, my brothers, my brothers, and my sisters all played in Vivid Forest. We would all pile up together in the mud after the rainy weather, and would—"
"WHAAAAATTTT?! NOOOOOO!"
A shout interrupted their conversations, and they both immediately went to the source of the scream, which they found out was Mrs. Stride, her finger pointing towards one of the cars placed inside the garage, where the glass windows were shattered into pieces, and the paint itself was rubbed away. Many dents and holes were also found on the surface, and that doesn't even compare to what was inside the car.
"Holy smokes! What happened here?" Cloey's father exclaimed.
"Oh, my," Cloey herself softly whispered. The Trickcycle Faden from before managed to reach the cars inside the garage without even getting Mrs. Stride or her father's attention. Regardless, Cloey felt bad for her, as it must have been owned by one of her clients. She pinched her pink dress in concern.