[B]"Stre-eeeeeeee-etch~!"[/b]

Benny lowered his arms after his wake-up stretch, smiling brightly. He felt good after his short nap for today, which was a little out of the ordinary for the youth. He usually woke up grumpy. Even Archibald, his toy mechanical butterfly, seemed a little more excited than usual as he flew around the room. It was as if the day was begging for something good to happen to the two of them.

Benny crawled out of bed, grabbing a shirt, and a pair of socks and pants out of his clothes drawer, putting them on before slipping his shoes on his feet and running downstairs. Archibald was close behind. [B]"Mom, can I go walk around town?"[/b] He asked, already at the door and ready to go. But no one answered. He called out for permission again, and was replied with by silence. He frowned and walked in to the family room, usually where his mom, or at least his dad was, but the room was empty. A quick check of the downstairs rooms revealed that the entire house was empty, save Benny.

[B]"That's weird..."[/b] Benny observed as he walked out of the house, now searching for his parents. They lived near the town square, so he checked there first. There seemed to be something going on, as a big group of people were encircling the square. Benny frowned, as he was sure there was no way he would be able to see what was going on. [I]Too many tall people,[/i] he thought to himself. But he was determined to investigate. He squeezed through the group, politely saying [b]"excuse me"[/b] as he did. He eventually got to the front of the group, getting a clear view of what was happening.

In the middle of the square, the mayor Vladimir Maximus stood, along with a fair number of Rift Hunters. Nothing was really going on... Until a white ship flew overhead and landed nearby. Then, a bunch of people stepped out, surrounding the square. Benny felt a sense of claustrophobia. Two other people, dressed in similar uniforms, stepped out of the ship and in to the center of the square. The mayor and them talked for a second, before one of them aimed his index finger at the mayor and shot at him with a blast of air. He hit the town hall hard, actually making it collapse on top of him.

[I]Cool! This guy was a mage! But he shot at the mayor...

Not cool! [/i]

Benny pivoted on his heel, immediately running in the other direction. A lot of other people did the same, but Benny did it a tad quicker, just reaching the head of the group before he reached the circle of visitors surrounding the square, hitting one of the men before squeezing past them. [B]"'Scuse me,"[/b] he said as he passed, which was replied by with a hearty laugh.

[B]"Uhm, uhmuhmuhm,"[/b] Benny said to himself as he ran away from the crowd. He was in a little bit of a panic, sensing the danger in the new visitors, which were announced to be some group called "The Crucible." Whoever they were they were probably trouble, and Benny needed some help. His parents weren't an option, so he ran in a random direction, hoping to find someone who could help.

After a healthy dose of running, with a few breaks taken in between, he finally stumbled across somebody: a teenager, with long purple hair and a lizard on her shoulder. He waved as he ran in her. [B]"Miiiiiiiiss!!!"[/b] He skidded to a stop in front of the girl, taking a second to breath before explaining his situation. [B]"Miss I just saw these guys come and shoot the mayor through the town hall building and I don't know where my parents are and I really need some help!"[/b] He stopped for a second, before quickly adding a [b]"please."[/b]