Tonight is the night....

The Boom Boom Room's masquerade gala started in half an hour and everyone was getting their preparations set, as well as dressed in their finest suits, dresses, and masks.

"Testing," Chris said into his sleeve mic.

"Loud and clear, everything is in the palm of my hand now, and I got my own mini fridge, too," Ricky said, looking around the screens of his new office, obviously happy with the new accommodations.

(Picture: Example of "Ricky's Lair")

Ricky then smirked and zoomed the camera on the screen of the locker room.

"By the way, babe, nice ass," Ricky snickered.

"Hey, hey, behave!!" Chris snapped, spinning around and glaring at the camera as everyone either laughed or groaned in annoyance.

"Is Matt almost done?" TJ asked, buttoning his shirt.

"Should be almost done. And cut the kid some slack, okay?" Chris said. "He's not a huge fan of doing this as much as we are."

He sighed and rolled his eyes as then the door opened and Devin, already in her evening down and mask in hand walked in.

"I present, our undercover agent," she said, and moved aside to reveal Matt.

(Picture: Matt's disguise; College made by me)

His hair was longer, meaning Devin must have put in some extensions

"He doesn't look that bad, he looks great," TJ shrugged, making Matt punch his arm. "Ow, hey!"

"Matt, we promise, we'll make it up to you," Chris said to the clearly upset tiny dancer.

He just pouted with his arms crossed and looked down.

"Come on, let's get you wired," Angelo motioned to him.

He huffed quietly and walked over to him.

He helped set the wires under his clothes, and then put in his ear piece before taking out a small box.

"Now this.... Will be your panic button," he said, opening the box to reveal some earrings. "A little something we invented, inspired by something Devin once suggested."

(Picture: Onyx earrings)

"Ooohh..." Matt murmured as he admired the shiny earrings.

"These are a sort of GPS tracking device, but something extra," Maria explained as she the clicked one of the stones and our phones beeped. "This also sends everyone a distress alert in case anything goes wrong, and we will be there faster than you can blink."

He gulped and nodded as he offered to clip them on for him.

"Alright, everyone ready?" Angelo asked.

We all nodded and agreed. "As we'll ever be," Craig said.

"Alright then," Angelo said. "Let's party."

***

"Alright, sound off," Ricky said into his microphone.

Ryan, Rob and Sixx were sat in the control room with him, Ryan munching on some popcorn.

"Team Circus, we're set," Harley said with a smile as the Goons settled into the limo they were in. Andy, Agent Purdy and Jimmy were also with them.

"Why the hell are we in this team?" Ashley asked.

"Hell if I know," Jimmy shrugged.

"Gotcha. Okay, now.... Team Cobra," Ricky said, reading the list.

"Loud and clear, Roadkill," Vinny said as he and a few Cobras sat in the limo. Gaia, Maria and Bethany were with them.

"Geek Squad, where you at?" Ricky asked.

"Ready at the labs and already walking in," Ryan Ashley said as she and Balz sat in the limo with Tyler and another of Ryan Ashley's interns, a pathology intern named Jaclyn.

Alex, Johnnie, Kyle and Bryan were all back in the lab waiting for any call if needed.

"And my favorite one, Team Hotheads," Ricky smirked.

"Up yours, Olson," Craig snapped into his mic as Chris rolled his eyes. It was them two, TJ, Devin, Kuza, and Danny and his guys.

"And Bats," he said. "You ready, buddy?"

Matt was in a separate limo, as to not raise suspicion.

"Yeah... I am... Almost there, too...." he said, looking out the window.

"Alright, let's get these these guys," Ricky said.

Chris and his team had arrived first before the others, but Cobra's limo was not far from their's.

"Pretty big place for an art gallery and club," Angelo said.

"It all depends the person, really. Most people just show off," Sixx explained in his mic.

"Looks like the young Lord Barrett likes showing off a lot then," Ben scoffed.

"I think its classy," Harley smiled as she walked up, the other Clowns with them along with the agents who were with them.

"Well, let's party," Chris said as they pulled on their masks and headed to the entrance.

***

Strange European music played throughout the place as everyone entered, acting casual.

"Oh, cool, isn't that an actual Botticelli next to that statue?" Ricky asked, zooming in to some artwork near the entrance

"Remember, Emerson is said to be a notorious art thief who sometimes even defaces whatever he can get his paws on," Chris said, looking over and frowning in annoyance. ".... Was it really necessary to paint a freaking gas mask and a circle-A on it, though?"

"I think it adds a little more flair to the color scheme," Harley shrugged, earning her a few looks.

"Great. Freaking anarchists, too," Craig grunted in annoyance.

"Let's go," Angelo said as they continued down the hallway before reaching the end and appearing over a large grand staircase.

"Whoa," TJ said as they admired the entire ballroom.

A massive crystal chandelier hung over the large room, its wall littered with renaissance paintings and damask designs of all sorts.

Masked guests played poker and gambled, ate, danced, drank and enjoyed the lively ambiance.

"Gotta hand it to the Royal Council, they sure know how to throw a hell of a party," Cobra said, impressed.

"You can say that again," Harley smirked. "Remind me to have my birthday party here next year!"

"Okay, let's focus," Chris said, then discreetly spoke into his microphone, which he had in the cuffling of his suit, like all the other men.

"Alright, Circus team takes the north side," he said. "Geeks, take the west wing."

"On it," Misery said into his speaker on his sleeve as his team headed to their spot.

"Already there," Balz said as he stood with Ryan Ashley by the bar, then ordering gins. Jacklyn and Tyler were amongst the crowd pretending to be a couple and just chatting at a poker table.

"How will we know what this suspect looks like?" Jaclyn asked Tyler in a hushed voice, eyes hidden behind a dark feathery mask that covered her eyes. His was a Venetian styled crow's mask.

"That's up to Matt, but we'll know it when we see it, too," He said. "They'll stand out compared to everyone else here. We're mostly just extra eyes."

She nodded and quietly sipped her champagne.

"Cobras team, take the east wing," Chris instructed as the Cobras walked into the building from nearby.

"Yes, sir," Bethany said as she, Maria and Gaia walked into the building first, Cobras not far behind them.

"Remember the profile," Maria said to Bethany.

She nodded as they decided to blend in at a roulette table.

"Hotheads are taking take north

"I'm here..." Matt's voice sounded through the mics.

"Matt... We're all here," Chris said. "You can do this."

"Everyone's gonna be nearby and ready," Devin said.

Matt took a deep breath as he looked at the building after closing the limo door.

"This is my mission... I can do this...." he thought as he adjusted the mask on his face and walked in.

***

"I hate to admit it, but these guys sure know how to party," Craig said as he got a glass of champagne from a waiter as he, TJ, Angelo, Devin and Craig.

The others of the group spread out to cover more ground in their area.

The five entered a room that others were walking into, and saw it was a theater, and a show was going on.

Ballerinas dressed in black leotards, tutus and make up danced across the stage as the guests observed, some sitting in provided seats.

Before we knew it, the ballerinas turned and pulled guns one each other and bangs suddenly went off and they hit the ground.

Chris's eyes widen in horror and he was about to step up when TJ when Angelo stopped him.

"They were blanks," Angelo said. "There would have been blood... Look..."

Chris looked over and relaxed as he saw no blood while the dancers were dragged out off the stage, the audience applauding.

"Contemporary in a way... I like it," Ricky said in his mic while he watched through the screens.

"Focus, Roadkill," Ryan scolded.

"Pretty freaking dark shit," Craig said.

"Let's split up and cover some more ground," Chris suggested.

"I'll check around the poker tables, see if I can swindle some cash out of some old farts," Devin said, adjusting the bust of her gown a bit before walking to one of the tables.

"Geez," TJ rolled his eyes and were about to walk when....

"Hold it," a voice said. "You three."

 The four turned and were faced with a young man with slightly disheveled hair and dressed in a red and black suit, a gas mask covering his face.

"The bosses want to see you, gentlemen," The man said.

Chris, TJ, Craig and Angelo looked at each other nervously.

"Go... We'll handle it from here," Chris heard Kuza said into her mic. "Just yell before you're dismembered or something."

Chris sighed and motioned the agents to follow the man's orders.

"Lead the way," Chris said.

***

Matt took a deep breath as he watched Chris, TJ, Craig and Angelo disappear from a disappearance.

"Okay Matt, you're up," Sixx said. "Good luck, kid. Just stay calm."

I took a deep breath. "Got it..." He said, and looked around.

The suspect could be anyone, so Matt had to trust his gut on this.

He walked around, making a few flirty faces at some party goers while going to the bar.

"Champagne, sweet," I said, flirting a bit with the bartender, who smirked back.

"You can add that to my tab," a voice said and Matt turned, facing the one who spoke.

Matt immediately felt an intimidating vibe off this guy as he smirked.

"Can't allow such a gorgeous little lady like yourself to handle paying her drink," he smirked.

"Can I have a name, sweetheart?" he asked.

"Shit, I need a name..." Matt thought quietly.

"Ma... Malia," Matt smirked, holding her hand out to him. "How do you do?"

He smirked and took her hand  kissing the back of it.

***

The four agents were bought into a strange looking throne room with strange scribbled statues, detailed paintings and drawings of buildings and ships and other stuff all over the walls, and other stuff.

That's when they saw on a small flight of stairs leading to a marble platform were three thrones.

The throne to the left was empty.

At the throne to the right, a tall fellow in a red waist coat and pants sat, a scarf on his neck and his straight hair reaching a little past his ears. A young, pretty brunette girl sat on his lap along with a caramel colored poodle. If Chris remembered right, this was the eldest brother of the three, Sebastian Danzig, a.k.a., "The Gentleman" himself.

At the center was none other than Emerson Barrett, a.k.a. "The Pirate" himself. He wore very dapper looking clothes, a feathery top hat included, with a can in his hands and a little white Pomeranian on his lap. A beautiful woman, possibly Hispanic, sat at the arm of his throne. He observed the four agents curiously.

"Well well well.... Supervisory Special Agent Christopher Thomas Cerulli," the young man in the top hat holding the cane said as he pet the dog.

Chris gulped quietly before nodding. "That's correct...." he said while the two guards took their spot on either side of the thrones.

"And the other two are Agents Angelo Parente, Craig Mabbitt and Thomas Bell, correct?" he asked.

TJ quietly nudged Angelo who took a deep breath. "Yeah.. That's us...."

"My, you surprise me and our Council with your appearance tonight, gentlemen" the young dapper man smirked, obviously amused. "I do usually appreciate when guests R.S.V.P. their arrival of course, but I'll make an exception, considering tonight we are celebrating."

"Celebrating?" Angelo asked.

"My lovely doll's birthday, of course," he smiled, taking the woman's hand and kissing it, making her smile as she got closer to him. "Shy."

"What's this guy, Dr. Evil or something?" TJ muttered under his breath, earning him an elbow jab from Craig.

"AWESOME!!!" a voice exclaimed suddenly behind them, making the three men jump as then a thin, blonde haired young man pop up, dangling from a sort of rope swing that hung from the ceiling.

Chris then figured this must have been none other that the middle brother, Remington Leith, a.k.a., "The Vampire."

Not exactly a nickname he's a big fan of at the moment.

The scrawny blonde acrobat jumped down to his feet next to the three agents before throwing and over both Chris and Angelo's shoulders. "Feds comin' to our little shin-dig! We're moving up in this world, little brother! I told you!!" he exclaimed with a hyper laugh, smacking TJ's back as he headed to his own throne next to Emerson.

"I'll say, big brother," Emerson smirked, handing the small dog to his lover before standing up, pacing a little. "But see.... Federal agents don't just show up on their own free will to a party like ours, unless they seek information... Makes me wonder what kind of  juicy gossip they could possibly want from us or our Council...."

"And I thought Ricky was a little shit," TJ grumbled quietly to Chris, making Chris shush him.

"You have a point, baby brother," Sebastian said. 

"Tell us then, suits... Why are you really here?" Remington smirked at them.

The agents looked at each other before Chris nodded and sighed.

"Well....." he started.

***

Matt giggled as he sat along with the others

"Compliments of the bar," a waitress said, serving a glass of champagne in front of Matt.

"Thank you," Matt said, and took the glass, taking a sip.

"So, you said you were from Virginia, correct?" the guy asked.

"Yeah," Matt smiled. "Trust me, its so boring, so I decided on a new scenery.

"Pennsylvania was your calling?" he asked.

Matt shrugged with a nonchalant smile. "I figured why not."

"Interesting," he smirked.

Matt smiled as they continued to converse, when suddenly his vision began to blur.

"W-What the....." he thought as he looked around.

"You okay there, sweet thing?" 

It sounded like he was speaking through a filter.

W-Why am.... What is this..... Wait.....

Matt slowly looked at the champagne he drank and his stomach sank as he realized it.

"I-I need some a-air..." Matt mumbled, slowly getting up and making her way to the hall that lead to the bathrooms, and then deciding really quick to turn on the mic on the bracelet he wore.

S-Something's wrong.... I-I need help.....

***

"Hey, I just lost sight of Matt," Sixx said, frowning at the screen.

"What? We had all cameras on him," Ricky said.

"He's not coming up anywhere," he said. "Not even the other rooms. The group he was with is still there, though."

"Wait, I have him here at the bathrooms," Ryan said, and the three men looked over at Ryan's screen.

Matt stumbled down an almost empty hallway, leaning against the wall,  before someone with his face away from the camera came up to him and lead him in a different direction.

"Get me visual on that next camera," Ricky said, going to his screen as the scene popped up there.

"He... He looks drunk...?" Ryan said.

"On champagne?" Sixx asked. "The kid isn't exactly a lightweight as far as anyone knows. He's trained to handle liquor for clients."

"There's no camera there," Ryan said looking at all the cameras. "Looks like a hidden corridor or something."

"Shit," Ricky muttered, then clicked his mic. "Okay, agents, I need eyes on Matt. Whoever's closest to the bathrooms by the bar, go check it out."

***

"That's us," Ryan Ashley said, then spoke into her watch. "We'll look around."

"Come on," Balz said. "He can't have gotten far..."

Ryan downed the rest of her drink before putting the glass on the table and went to look for the little dancer.

***

"Disappearances?" Sebastian questioned.

"Of undercover agents?" Emerson said, looking at his brothers before back at us.

"We've heard nothing of that," Remington added.

"You sure you've never seen either of these women?" Craig asked as he and TJ held up the pictures of Agents Hale, Momsen, and Lavigne.

Emerson stood up, walking over with his cane in hand, taking the photograph of Hale first.

"Hmm... This one... She seems familiar," he said. "She and I conversed in my art gallery before dinner was served."

"So you've seen her?" Angelo asked.

"Why yes. She mentioned her name was Amelia, an art student," He said.

"That was her alias," Craig explained. "She was on the case we're on, but disappeared."

"You happened to know what happened to her?" Chris asked.

"Not sure... She mentioned she was going to get a drink before dinner, but.... I never really saw her in the dining hall afterwards," Emerson said, deep in thought. "I assumed she left...."

The four agents looked at each other before suddenly Ricky spoke out.

"Guys, something's wrong...."

***

Ricky frowned and clicked the mic as he looked at the screens. "Matt, come in, where are you? Can you hear me?" 

He raised the mic volume a little but all they heard was a faint mumbling.

"Matt?" Ricky asked.

More mumbling.

Ricky frowned before he patched in everyone. "Guys something wrong with Matt, I can't get to him."

"We can't find him either," Ryan Ashley said. "The blind spot leads into a hidden corridor, but we don't now where it goes and its empty. Door hear leads to some cellar."

"Stay where you are, I'm heading there now with Jimmy," Agent Purdy said in his mic.

"Get me cameras outside, whatever you got, but find Matt," Ricky said, starting to get worried. "Everyone, I'm patching you all in together."

***

Chris frowned and looked around, TJ as well.

Something wrong, Agent?" Emerson asked.

"Its just.... One of our own has gone MIA," Chris said.

"I can't see him in our area," Misery said.

"Nothing here," Devin said.

"He was just there a second ago," Gaia said.

"We can't see him either...." Vinny said.

"Matt come in," Ricky tried again. 

"H-Help...." Matt 's weak voice suddenly mumbled.

"Matt?! Matt talk to me, baby, what's going on!?" Kuza's frantic voice spoke.

He just heard some more incoherent mumbling before there was suddenly a thud.

"Matt?! Kid, come on!!" Sixx exclaimed. "Talk, damn it!!"

Suddenly.......

"Finally. Little bitch sure has a resistant ass body," an unknown voice spoke in the background, and everyone froze.

"Oh fuck," Rob said in shock.

"We can charge extra for that. Hurry and help me. We got to get to the garage doors."

"Garage?" Ricky asked, worried.

"Nothing in the old schematics said of a garage," Ryan said, then clicked a button. "Chris, we think there may be a garage door.

Chris turned to Emerson.

"Does this place have a garage?" Chris asked quickly.

"The downstairs wine cellar has an underground loading dock. It was used for prohibitors bringing in the moonshine for the speakeasies and bars," the guard who bought them to the brothers, Andrew, said.

Ricky and Sixx looked at each other before suddenly a beep went off on the monitors and everyone's comms.

"What is that?!" Harley asked.

"The earring... He's in trouble!" Maria exclaimed.

"They got Matt, this is a code red!" Ryan said to the agents in the mic.

"They're headed there now with our agent to escape," Chris said to the brothers as he heard the feed..

"No....." Kuza mumbled as he quickly looked around the area for his little as everyone else tried to find him after receiving the alert.

"Samuel, Andrew, go quick," Sebastian snapped. "Philip, Austin, shut all entrances and exits. No one in and out that isn't a federal agent of a member of Federal Rogue. Three guards at every entrance and exit at all times."

"I'll go, with Samuel and Andrew," TJ said.

"Then let us help guard, my love," Shy suddenly said as then she and the other girl, Larisa stood up, pulling out machine guns from behind the thrones.

"Holy shit," Craig said in shock.

Emerson nodded. "Be careful, girls," he said, and let them step out.

"Rogue, guard all the exits!!!" Angelo exclaimed into his mic. "Help the Council guards. We got three armed dames coming to help, guys, let them do their work. I wouldn't stop them for the life of me."

"Got it," Maria said.

"I'll get SWAT ready for any surprises," Craig said.

"Let's go outside. We may be of assistance," Remington said as the brothers got their gas masks.

Emerson and Sebastian pulled on their gas masks as they all ran outside as well, seeing the party still in full effect.

"Anyone stand out to you?" Chris asked them.

"Not really," Remington said.

"Wait... Him...." Sebastian said. "That's not our usual bar tender....."

Chris looked over and noticed the bar tender was currently walking towards a back exit.

"Get him," Chris said as they all walked over, and the guy started to go faster.

"Someone stop him," Angelo said as they hurried towards him and into the hallway that lead to some bathrooms, where Andy was guarding.

"Hey!!" Andy snapped as he rushed over and held his gun up.

The bartender then pulled his gun out...

"HEY, FBI, PUT IT DOWN!!!!" Chris shouted as he, Angelo and Craig put their guns up, Craig guarding the three brothers when...

BANG!!!

The bartender shot his gun and Andy went down.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

Bullets flew and penetrated the bartenders back, everyone staring in shock.

"We need a medic," Angelo quickly said as he ran over to Andy and Chris ran over to the bartender.

"Where's the girl!?" Chris snarled at the bleeding man.

He just smirked at  as then....

"GUYS!! THEY'RE SPEEDING OUT OF THE GARAGE!!!" TJ exclaimed through the mic. "THEY STILL GOT MATT!! WE COULDN'T GET THEM!!!!!"

Chris looked over at the brothers in shock as they too looked over at the scene in horror, Remington pulling his mask off.

"Who do you work for!?" Chris snapped.

"Y-You'll never find her," He snickered weakly before going still, his eyes staring blankly at nothing.

Oh no......

~~~~~

FINALLY, I UPDATED!!!!! 🎉

God, you all have LITERALLY no idea how stuck I've been on this chapter. I think I literally even started this chapter at the beginning of this year (2020) and have been trying to organize it a billion times, fix it and edit it ever since from how stuck I was, AND how perfect I wanted it!!

AND, considering I was multitasking, the next chapter might be up pretty soon as well, so stay tuned!! 🌻

Also, in regards to some characters in this story (and a few others I have), I decided to just really minimize their appearances in this story from here on out, just so I don't make things all complicated and stuff. Some of them may of may not be cut from the story in the future, depending how the plot goes really. We'll see. 🤷🏻‍♀️

🎶Currently in Sapph's playlist:

Palaye Royale
"Hang on to Yourself"

https://youtu.be/cjSobSYXo_8

♡~ sapphire.