The video game theme song looped again for the third time. I had picked up a console and was sitting on my new chair in the sitting room of my apartment watching the screen. It was a flashy and fun looking game with interesting mechanics that I had grabbed at the store. I had the controller in my hands and just couldn't bring myself to start it. The controller was comfy and I knew I would enjoy playing the game. It just felt useless. The theme looped again when the com Owl had given me started vibrating on the counter. I threw the controller away and headed over to it, whatever Owl needed would help distract me from that.
My hand closed around it and Owls icon appeared, “How fast are you?”
That was telling, “How fast do you need me to be?”
A few seconds later the Owls icon disappeared and a map of the city appeared. The destination she wanted to meet was different this time, rather than the other side of the city it was much closer. When she didn't speak again I rolled my eyes and headed to my bedroom. Grabbing my coiling dragon staff, I headed for the roof of the apartment building. I passed Amanda's door just as she cracked it open. She had the baby raccoon in her hand and glanced at my hand where I carried my staff, “Going out?”
I reached out and scratched the raccoon's head. Its little paws wrapped around my wrist to hold on, not wanting me to pull away, “Yea, someone needs my help.”
She took over the scratching and nodded to me, “Stay safe.”
I waved at her then headed up to the roof. It took two large jumps to get where Owl wanted to meet me. I paced in the alley she indicated when I watched space twist and she appeared. She stepped over to me and i could see she was looking at the hologram on her forearm. It showed an occupied warehouse, she flicked it to a different destination and this time it showed an occupied alley, “We are going to Angle City.”
They was she said it told me it was suppose to mean something. She glanced at me when I didn't react. It made her pause before she continued flicking through destinations, “Did you fall out of a pocket dimension or something?”
I shrugged at her question and she let out a hum, “Angle City is a city on the other side of this continent. It's not a good place to be and you are going to be my heavy hitter.”
“Are we picking up another piece of the tablet thing?”
She stepped close as she found some place without people and pushed a button. Space twisted around us and suddenly we were in a dark tunnel below a street. There was a small trickle of water in the middle and Owl started walking, “We are going to an auction. One of them is up for auction there.”
We took a left at the fork in front of up and headed up an exit on the side. Owl pushed open the door and lead us up the steps, past a few people wearing rags. They looked surprised when they saw us and huddled deeper together Owl ignored them and stepped up onto a street and I figured out why this was not a good place to be. The street was littered with trash and i could see barrels being lit on fire for warmth by random people. The buildings around us could do with a good cleaning or repair, some were starting to sag and all the windows had bars across them.
There were buildings that should have been abandoned but the front door was tore off and had quite a bit of traffic entering and exiting them. I saw ladies of the night walking the street looking for buyers. Anybody that looked like they had their life together was hunched over on themselves like life had ground down on them and taken something from them.
I saw burnt out wrecked cars or cars on blocks ripped apart for parts. I could hear gunshots in the distance, none of that compared to what I could feel in the air. It was a creeping sickness of rot. You couldn't smell it, see it or hear it. It felt metaphysical. I could feel the city trying to grab me and hold on, “What the hell happened to this place?”
Owl gave me a glance as she led the way, walking down the cracked sidewalk, “Your guess is as good as any. People have come up with all kinds of ideas but the best guess is it was cursed a long time ago. People have left this place, lived all over the globe and somehow they always end up back here. It's like the city doesn't let them go.”
Owl took a weaving path to our destination. Some alleys were blocked off by walls of trash or closed off with welded fences. It took us through much of the city. Word must have spread because people started getting out of our path, I could see them duck into buildings or look at us through the cracked windows. We stepped onto a street that looked cleaner than the rest. The street was wide, you could drive four cars door to door down the street.
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Neon lights rested above both side of the street. They pointed at stores that sold weapons or drugs. There were casinos on both sides with people standing guard outside, glaring at the people on the other side. They wore suits and dark sunglasses at night. We walked down the side and when people noticed us they ducked into the casinos or shops. I could see out destination up ahead, it was a big building with a massive wooden door that was cracked open. It had random lights sprinkled about it and it looked more like a cathedral than an auction house.
We got close and the door opened, someone stepped out. He was tall, at least seven feet. He had tribal swirling tattoos on his face and looked like whoever made him went four parts muscle one part bone. He had on a grey suit that was straining to contain his bulk. His bald head shined under the light and he glowed at us as we approached. His palm was about the size of my chest as he held it out, “You're not welcome here. I can't let you in Owl.”
Owl stepped into the arms reach of the guy, “Peter Reynolds, also known as The Cleaner. I need a word with your boss.”
Peter shook his head, “Ms. Bain is busy. She doesn't have time for you.”
“She has all the time in the world and you know it.” When he shook his head again, Owl turned to me, “His boss has the stone. He is a titan enhanced. I have seen him crumble cars into basketballs and use trains as clubs. His durability is matched only by his strength.”
I gave her a nod then stepped forward and pulled my arm back. Peter shook his head and crossed his arms, "That's not a good idea.”
He was tall so I was at the perfect height for this. I stepped forward and drove a chi enhanced fist onto the left side of his stomach. I think he was the hardest thing I had hit since I arrived on the planet but it didn't matter. Flesh and muscle folded around my fist and Peter let out a wheeze. I pulled my fist back and Peter grabbed his side before falling to his knees and curling in on himself. Owl watched him fall, “Is he going to be ok?”
I gave her a nod, “he will be a little sore tomorrow but otherwise fine.”
We stepped past him and Owl pushed open the door. Inside to the side there looked like a place that would take peoples coats and father in there was a desk with a little lady at it. Her eyes got big as we stepped through the door and she stood up, sprinting for a side door. Owl didn't have a reaction to that but she seemed to know where she was going so I followed her.
We walked past the not empty desk and the room opened up to a giant seating room with a stage. It looked like an auction floor, I could see booths on the floor above us. There was a big chandelier hanging down from the roof, just low enough to give light to the full room. Owl led us to the side where another door was. Inside was a set up stairs we headed up leading to a setting room and the lady that was at the front desk knocking rapidly on the door ahead of us.
Owl stopped and waved me forward. The lady gleaned back at us then turned and ran from the room, not past us but down a different hallway. I walked forward and watched her disappear down a corner before turning to the door she was pounding on and twisting the handle. The tile flooring extended from the rest of the building into what I would call an office.
The lighting was set inside the ceiling and it was brighter than the rest of the building. The walls looked like they were made from the same tile the floor was and there was a couch against one wall. Two chairs closest to the door for people to sit in front of a desk. On the desk there was a computer currently in use and a holder of a fancy dagger with a curved handle.
The lady using the computer was wearing a bright red business suit. Its shoulders came out to points and she barely looked up from the computer when I opened the door. She was chewing on her lip in frustration and I could smell ozone in the air. She had what looked like an afro but I could see electricity jumping between each individual hair so it was probably just unreasonable to tame. Her attention snapped from the computer to us and soon an Owl entered the room behind me.
She glared at Owl behind me and I realized why Owl asked how fast I was. The lady stood up and the papers on her desk lifted up with her motion. She reached over and snatched the dagger on her desk then started walking to us. Blue electricity started to bleed off her and the papers from her desk followed her motion. She crossed the distance between us at a walk but time had slowed down to an extreme. She was so focused on Owl that she ignored me right up until she got close enough for me to reach out and grab at her wrist.
I missed. The second I started moving her eyes snapped to me and she shifted her movement. My fingers missed her wrist by the thickness of a feather. She stopped and started taking a step back so I followed her. She was trying to stab Owl and I couldn't let that happen. She took a step to the side and I followed, staying between Owl and her.
I expected her to keep stepping back but she kept side stepping and started walking up the wall. I stopped following her and started stepping back towards Owl. She got pretty high up on the wall before she snapped her arm out and threw the dagger at Owl. The dagger flew through the air weirdly, it didn't spin but flew point first the whole time. I grabbed my kiseru from my waist and threw it at the dagger. They collided mid air and bounced off each other making the dagger miss Owl.
The lady gave me a dirty look then stepped off the wall onto the ground. She walked over to where her dagger had stabbed into the wall and jerked it out while my kiseru bounced off the ground into my hand. She walked back to her desk, collecting her papers from the air then slammed them down on the desk while glaring and speaking with scorn, “What do you want Owl.”