41 - Fate Laughs//Lea

Lea and Nora were halfway to Mr. Foley when he placed Deanney's Noiz into the bag. He smiled, opening his mouth to start his speech in earnest.

His words seem to catch in his throat, and he looked down at the bag he was holding in his hands as if it had defied him in some way. As the girls approached, they noticed that it was vibrating quietly.

In a flash, the bag had been destroyed and the eight Noiz had freed themselves. They spun in a circle, surrounding Mr. Foley. He let out a surprised yelp as his feet were lifted off the ground.

Soon enough he was flying far above them, the gems around him shining brightly in all eight colours. As they did, they made a thunderous droning sound that made Lea feel like her head was exploding.

A raucous red, a bolstered blue and a gregarious green; the colours of the Heist Phantoms.

A shining silver and gleaming gold; representing the unused Noiz.

The punchy pink of Alejandra's Noiz, the pure purple of Mr. Foley's Noiz...

The unyielding yellow of Deanney's Noiz.

Aside from the Silver and Gold, each had taken a dream and turned it into a wish; imbuing their bodies with physical and sensory skills that were impossible for the average human, all in pursuit of something they couldn't achieve normally.

Now that very same magic they had relied on was starting to turn against them.

"Sir!" Navy said, rushing to the girl's side. "What's going on?"

"The Noiz!" Mr. Foley said, reaching down as if he could still reach them. It was too late, he and the gems were already a few dozen feet above them. "My Very Great Thing."

As if in protest at the mistranslation, the Noiz glowed even brighter, spinning so violently that nobody could mistake the colourful light show for something positive.

The crowd had already started to disperse, running off with no regard for Paradox City's mayor, who they could barely see as the colors surrounded him.

In all of the whirling and sound, Lea could hear vague distinctions, but they never lasted long enough for her to make out until she heard her favorite song.

"StairS," Lea said. "StairS! Up there!"

"I very much doubt that we can find a set of stairs long enough to get the mayor and those insufferable things back in our hands," Navy said angrily.

"That's not what she means, right Lea?" Nora said. "You can hear music?"

"From the Noiz," she said. "I couldn't tell at first, but I can hear it all now; europop, classical, EDM, bluegrass, new wave, swing."

"Swing?" Nora repeated.

"Ms. Lacombe has even worse taste in music than she does in clothes," Navy said, adjusting his collar. He was staring at his boss, high up in the sky, with such intensity that Lea wouldn't be surprised if he flew up to save him by the sheer force of his own will.

"What about the others?" Nora asked. "The Silver and Gold?"

"I can't hear anything," Lea said. "Just those six genres being mashed together like a sweet smoothie full of deli meats."

As soon as she said that, the Noiz clumped together as if drawn to each other by a Magnet before flying off. Mr. Foley, screaming at the top of his lungs, was pulled along with them.

"What now?" Navy said impatiently. "We do all of that work and the stupid stones just fly off? We'll never find them! They could be anywhere in the world!"

"No, Navy," Nora said, as if in a daze. Lea knew exactly how she felt.

The strange pull she'd felt the first time she had ever been exposed to a Noiz was back.

"Paradox Park," the two girls said in union.