Price, Chapter Four
TanaNari
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Chapter 4
Gold lightning danced across the cloud of perfect white that signified the newcomer's powers. It condensed down, a stark opposite of the fog of frost pouring off of Kitten. Eventually forming a beautifully intricate armor of white and gold that looked bizarrely too perfect, ignoring light sources and shadows. It kinda reminded me of those live action movies with cartoon characters running about. It looked really, really wrong to see something so pristine and clear on this battlefield covered in dust, blood and ice.
Kitten recovered before I did, turning to face the newcomer as I was, very slowly, trying to stand on the absurdly slick ice. "Do you have any idea how rude it is to interrupt someone in the middle of a game?" There was a crackle-pop sound as ice slowly spread itself across Kitten's body. White and crimson splotched across her like the world's worst barbershop pole. She brought my sword up and rested it across her shoulder. "Wait, I know you! You're Anima!"
That's Anima? I'd never seen her in person, but I was pretty sure she didn't usually run around in plate armor.
"And you're Kitten, correct?" There was no hint of femininity in Anima's voice, her words were distorted like an echo through a canyon.
"One and only." Kitten took a couple quick hops away from me, moving faster than she ever had when I was fighting her. She was wearing an armor of her own, now, constructed entirely from ice her power made for her. "They say that we're the most powerful Imbued on the eastern seaboard. That you might even be the strongest on the whole continent."
Anima looked over at me. "You have any friends here? Backup?"
I still hadn't managed to get to my feet, so from my sitting position, I answered. "No." My voice cracked and the word came out as little more than a squeak. I coughed a couple times, for theatrics than an actual need to clear my throat, then spoke deeper than my natural voice. "No, I came alone." I hesitated for a moment, feeling the need to further justify myself. "I don't need any backup."
"It's true. He's been all sorts of fun. I've never met anyone that can take a beating like he can." Kitten was her usual happy self. "You here to settle those 'versus' threads all those losers put up about us online?"
And here Kitten was fucking ignoring me again. "Hey, I'm not the one whose blood is all over everything." Of course, the only reason for that was because my power recovered any lost materials, but Anima didn't need to know that.
"Hush now, the big girls are talking." Kitten's gaze never stopped focusing on Anima. "As I was saying, you don't display your powers in combat much. I'm willing to bet there's a reason for that. Some special weakness, perhaps?"
Anima shook her head, just a little. "I'm a pacifist for personal reasons. It has nothing to do with my powers or their weaknesses."
Kittens smile slipped a little. "Oh, you're one of those. Funny thing about pacifism, it only works if everyone's a pacifist. You've just told me is that you have zero combat experience, and are afraid to kill. Those are weaknesses, and I am so very good at using wea-"
"Won't matter." I could hear the tension in Anima's voice even through the distortion. More white fog and gold lightning started forming around Anima, taking humanoid shapes. They, like the armor, were cartoons imposed on a world where they didn't belong. Blades glinted too brightly, the bowstrings were visible even from where I was sitting. They knelt, bowing their heads toward Anima like faithful who just met their god.
"I've read your files. I know you've got the ability to sense and exploit flaws in an enemy. I know you've translated that skill into a form of living lie detector. Whatever weaknesses my power might have, they do not apply here. If I give the command, you will die, and there will be nothing either of us can do to stop it. Now stand down."
Kitten tilted her head, and chips of ice fell to the ground. "Oh, my, you believe yourself. And my power believes you, too. What did you lose to gain a power like that? Must have been something incredible."
Gold lightning danced along the kneeling cartoon summons, along with the howling of the wind. The chill air didn't stir. "More than enough."
"You are such a hypocrite. You know you can kill me, and you know what I'm going to do because you weren't willing."
Anima tensed up, and the cartoon characters' heads snapped up. They looked like nothing so much as evil cartoon elves. The red glow from their eyes reflected like flames on their too-white, too-sharp teeth. One spoke, his voice like crunching leaves. "Give the word, my Princess, and I shall take her head and place it before you in rightful tribute."
"I think that won't be necessary. For either of you." Flux spoke. Holy shit, I forgot he was there again. Does he have some kind of mind powers? "Kitten, I think you've had your fun for the evening. Besides, your new friend already covered it a dozen times over, and that's before I lost count. I believe, back in the day, they had a name for that. Sorta like a scapegoat, but not..." he paused for a moment of thought.
I didn't believe for an instant he actually forgot, he was just playing up the drama. "Oh, right, now I remember, a whipping boy."
Kitten giggled happily. "Ooh, yeah, I like that!"
"So, Anima, remember to thank him after we're gone. You don't have to worry about getting blood on your precious hands tonight."
"I have your word?"
"Yuppers!" Kitten tilted her head back until it had bent far, far further than a human neck should have been flexible enough to accommodate. I couldn't help but think of a pez dispense are she looked right at me despite still facing toward Anima. "Besides, fate has already selected Whipping Boy to kill me. And who are we to fight destiny?" Kitten then fell backward, rolling a couple times before sitting down next to me, just a little out of arm's reach.
"Looks like I've gotta go now. I'll think of you often." Her smile seemed legitimately sad and disappointed, then it perked right back up. "When I'm gone, be sure to ask Anima what happens when people get in my way. Plus one per month until you manage to stop me. And remember that, from now on, to make sure there's an extra special bond between us, I'll do it using your sword."
I tried to lunge at her, but she was too fast even without the ice slowing me down. She rolled a couple more times, was on her feet, and hopped away without a care in the world. "No need to be so impatient, Whipping Boy! Take your time, get stronger. I promise I'll be counting the days."
And with that, she was running off. She hopped onto the top of some kind of sports car, climbing in through the sun roof as it sped off. A yellow and orange shimmer emanated from Flux, and he moved faster than my eyes could follow, a streak of orange that quickly passed the vehicle. After all of that, they both got away.
"Are you okay?"
I started at Anima's question. I hadn't even heard her walk up to me. I hesitated for a moment, a million questions going through my mind. How did you know I was here? Why did you let Kitten get away? How powerful is she? How powerful are you? What was that shit she was spouting about destiny? But those were questions I could ask in a few minutes, I needed something right away that would thank her, without admitting I was in so far over my head that Chinese people were using my feet to prop up an end table.
Eventually I turned to face her, having settled on the one thing I could trust. "So, when I signed up for this job, I thought I'd be on the other side of daring rescues involving beautiful princesses." I hoped my smile didn't look creepy, considering I was still wearing a ski mask.
Her hand extended out to me. "I'll take that as a yes." Her voice had changed, losing the booming echo and becoming that of a girl. There was nothing special I could say about her voice, other than how completely ordinary it sounded.
I reached out for her. "You just rescued me, and now you're asking for my h-" I froze as I touched her armor. The same senses that let me see Kitten could see into Anima's armor, and what it found there was impossible for me to understand. A storm of power concentrated into a shell as thin as a sheet of paper. There was no inside to the armor, it was hollow. In a way that just shouldn't be possible.
I barely noticed as she helped me to my feet. "Is there something wrong?"
I snapped out of my daze. "No, nothing. It's just, my power lets me know things about what I'm touching. Your armor is." I hesitated, not knowing how to describe it.
"Yeah, I know," she didn't sound too happy. "I hear stuff like that, sometimes. Don't bother trying to figure it out, no one else has managed to, but there are physicists and theologians alike who claim they have. And, no, it's not that special. There's a bunch of people who work the same way, in some form or another."
I could tell she'd had that conversation before, probably a lot. "Well, I know one thing about it." She didn't say a word, and didn't seem to care about my ideas. Its lack of weight, the way it curves in on itself with no beginning and no end, how its consistency changes while staying forever the same. How I couldn't use my power for more than sensing it. "It's absolutely gorgeous."
I earned a 'hmph'. "So, newbie, do you have a name? I highly doubt it's actually Whipping Boy."
"Haven't thought of one," I admitted. "Didn't seem important to me. I was kinda hoping to make a name for myself first." After all, why have a name if you didn't matter enough for people to care?
"And you went after Kitten to make that name?" The incredulity dripped from every word she spoke.
I shrugged and smiled. "Well, you have to admit, if it had worked..." I trailed off, letting her draw her own conclusions. Better to let her believe I was confident in my powers and knew I could take care of myself, instead of stumbling into a fight with someone I'd never even heard of before like a suicidally stupid amateur. No, that is the wrong attitude to have, especially when dealing with someone who might be able to offer help. "But my business with Kitten is personal. She killed..." someone I loved, my neighbor since I was four, my sister's best friend, the girl I was sort of a stalker for. Someone I fantasized about rescuing since I first figured out... "A friend."
Anima hesitated for a moment. "I'm sorry. I assumed the worst about you, instead of thinking you had a good reason for doing what you did. It's just... going after Kitten is insane, and it was easiest to imagine you didn't know."
I felt bad, indirectly lying to her. But that was a feeling I'd gotten used to over the years. "Kitten said something about doing something when people get in her way?" I suspected I already knew the answer, but I needed to hear it.
Anima looked away, searching the sky for something that probably wasn't there. "Two lives. That's her rule, every time the police or any would be heroes manage to stop whatever it is she's trying to do, she kills two people at random. As powerful as she is, she could kill a lot more than that if she goes down fighting. Her danger sense means a sniper or bomb won't work. Overwhelming firepower is the only strategy, and there's only a handful of us who have both the durability and firepower to go up against her. And after that, it's a matter of having the speed to catch her when she runs."
"That why they sent you, instead of a team?"
"Actually, 'they' probably don't know this happened yet," Anima admitted. "If they realized what was going on, they'd probably send someone in. Innocent lives be damned. Guardian would be their first pick. He might be a colossal ass, and wouldn't be able to beat her, but at the very least he wouldn't lose. They'd use whatever intel he could gather to come up with a better strategy. So what if it would ruin dozens of lives in the process?"
Holy fuck that sounded bitter. "So, umm, no offense, but why you? I mean, I thought you didn't do the hero thing. Are you really as powerful as they say?" Kitten certainly thought highly of her power.
"No one is as powerful as they say I am. I'm a pretty hard counter for Kitten, but if Flux had stepped in I'd be dead right now. Mooth promised that wasn't a risk, and this was the best way to save lives. She's an oracle. Knows if someone's going to die within twenty four hours as long as she pictures them in her mind. Also sees the last moment of any Imbued who dies. Or, in your case, a lot of last moments."
Well, that explains that. "Tell her I'll try to keep the dying to a minimum, but I can't make any promises."
"Kitten." A simple, tired acceptance. "Telling you how bad an idea that is won't make a difference, will it?"
"Someone has to stop her." I left the accusation that she could have, and didn't, unspoken. I tried to feel bad about it, but even Kitten was sure she was going to lose if Anima went all out, and that didn't happen. "She said something about it being my destiny to kill her. I don't buy it, but I think I can challenge her without her killing people if I lose. Not that I intend to lose, now that I know exactly what I'm fighting. I can take her."
Anima looked over, studying me for a minute. "She's why you have powers, right? You got your powers right after finding out about your friend that Kitten killed?"
I nodded.
Anima's armor shifted, opening a hole in the side, near her hip. Through the golden glow, I noted she was wearing jeans under her costume. "I really shouldn't be doing this. And if you tell anyone I did, I will swear in a court of law that you're a liar." She pulled a rumpled up series of papers out and handed them to me. "That's what information I have on Kitten, straight out of the police database."
"Isn't that-"
"Illegal? Very." Her voice made it clear she was starting to regret her generosity.
"Thank you." I meant it. I looked at the papers, not trying to read them, simply looking at what I held. Hopefully in here was the information I needed to win our rematch. "Is there anything I can do to, well, if you need help you can ask."
"I'm okay. Listen, we should get going. Would you like me to give you a ride somewhere?"
A part of me felt insulted that she assumed I didn't have a car. She was right, but she didn't know that. "Oh, I see how it is. First you rescue a guy, then you get him to take you back to his place..."
She just stood there stunned, looking for the words. "Nah, I'm joshin' ya. I have a ride, I walked the last couple blocks." All true. "I'm not so rich that I can afford losing a car every time I get into a fight."
"Got a cell? I can't talk you into staying out of this, so the least I can do is make sure you stay away from the worst dangers. There's a lot of things the civilians don't know about. It's better than you running around blind and getting into the wrong kind of mess. And I might be able to get more information about Kitten."
"Sure," I pulled out my shitty cheap cell. "Something to call the police so they could clean things up. You can call me any time after five thirty. My powers include not needing to sleep, so it doesn't matter how late you call."
"Don't spread that information around too much. Some insensitive people might call you lucky."
We swapped numbers and I jogged off before calling Laura.
======================
A/N- Flux has no mind powers. He's just very good at not being the center of attention.
"Mooth" is not a typo, but it isn't the right spelling of the word. I leave it as a bit of a puzzle to see if anyone figures out the meaning to her name.
I wonder if people will ship Zach and Anima, now. Or if Alex/Zach is still the fan OTP.
Zach has mastered the fine art of lying while telling the truth.
And I'm glad I got the weekend as an insulator. The next two chapters? I'm going to need to write both of them before I publish either. Also, as a bonus thingy, I'm considering a look at the police file on Kitten.
Gold lightning danced across the cloud of perfect white that signified the newcomer's powers. It condensed down, a stark opposite of the fog of frost pouring off of Kitten. Eventually forming a beautifully intricate armor of white and gold that looked bizarrely too perfect, ignoring light sources and shadows. It kinda reminded me of those live action movies with cartoon characters running about. It looked really, really wrong to see something so pristine and clear on this battlefield covered in dust, blood and ice.
Kitten recovered before I did, turning to face the newcomer as I was, very slowly, trying to stand on the absurdly slick ice. "Do you have any idea how rude it is to interrupt someone in the middle of a game?" There was a crackle-pop sound as ice slowly spread itself across Kitten's body. White and crimson splotched across her like the world's worst barbershop pole. She brought my sword up and rested it across her shoulder. "Wait, I know you! You're Anima!"
That's Anima? I'd never seen her in person, but I was pretty sure she didn't usually run around in plate armor.
"And you're Kitten, correct?" There was no hint of femininity in Anima's voice, her words were distorted like an echo through a canyon.
"One and only." Kitten took a couple quick hops away from me, moving faster than she ever had when I was fighting her. She was wearing an armor of her own, now, constructed entirely from ice her power made for her. "They say that we're the most powerful Imbued on the eastern seaboard. That you might even be the strongest on the whole continent."
Anima looked over at me. "You have any friends here? Backup?"
I still hadn't managed to get to my feet, so from my sitting position, I answered. "No." My voice cracked and the word came out as little more than a squeak. I coughed a couple times, for theatrics than an actual need to clear my throat, then spoke deeper than my natural voice. "No, I came alone." I hesitated for a moment, feeling the need to further justify myself. "I don't need any backup."
"It's true. He's been all sorts of fun. I've never met anyone that can take a beating like he can." Kitten was her usual happy self. "You here to settle those 'versus' threads all those losers put up about us online?"
And here Kitten was fucking ignoring me again. "Hey, I'm not the one whose blood is all over everything." Of course, the only reason for that was because my power recovered any lost materials, but Anima didn't need to know that.
"Hush now, the big girls are talking." Kitten's gaze never stopped focusing on Anima. "As I was saying, you don't display your powers in combat much. I'm willing to bet there's a reason for that. Some special weakness, perhaps?"
Anima shook her head, just a little. "I'm a pacifist for personal reasons. It has nothing to do with my powers or their weaknesses."
Kittens smile slipped a little. "Oh, you're one of those. Funny thing about pacifism, it only works if everyone's a pacifist. You've just told me is that you have zero combat experience, and are afraid to kill. Those are weaknesses, and I am so very good at using wea-"
"Won't matter." I could hear the tension in Anima's voice even through the distortion. More white fog and gold lightning started forming around Anima, taking humanoid shapes. They, like the armor, were cartoons imposed on a world where they didn't belong. Blades glinted too brightly, the bowstrings were visible even from where I was sitting. They knelt, bowing their heads toward Anima like faithful who just met their god.
"I've read your files. I know you've got the ability to sense and exploit flaws in an enemy. I know you've translated that skill into a form of living lie detector. Whatever weaknesses my power might have, they do not apply here. If I give the command, you will die, and there will be nothing either of us can do to stop it. Now stand down."
Kitten tilted her head, and chips of ice fell to the ground. "Oh, my, you believe yourself. And my power believes you, too. What did you lose to gain a power like that? Must have been something incredible."
Gold lightning danced along the kneeling cartoon summons, along with the howling of the wind. The chill air didn't stir. "More than enough."
"You are such a hypocrite. You know you can kill me, and you know what I'm going to do because you weren't willing."
Anima tensed up, and the cartoon characters' heads snapped up. They looked like nothing so much as evil cartoon elves. The red glow from their eyes reflected like flames on their too-white, too-sharp teeth. One spoke, his voice like crunching leaves. "Give the word, my Princess, and I shall take her head and place it before you in rightful tribute."
"I think that won't be necessary. For either of you." Flux spoke. Holy shit, I forgot he was there again. Does he have some kind of mind powers? "Kitten, I think you've had your fun for the evening. Besides, your new friend already covered it a dozen times over, and that's before I lost count. I believe, back in the day, they had a name for that. Sorta like a scapegoat, but not..." he paused for a moment of thought.
I didn't believe for an instant he actually forgot, he was just playing up the drama. "Oh, right, now I remember, a whipping boy."
Kitten giggled happily. "Ooh, yeah, I like that!"
"So, Anima, remember to thank him after we're gone. You don't have to worry about getting blood on your precious hands tonight."
"I have your word?"
"Yuppers!" Kitten tilted her head back until it had bent far, far further than a human neck should have been flexible enough to accommodate. I couldn't help but think of a pez dispense are she looked right at me despite still facing toward Anima. "Besides, fate has already selected Whipping Boy to kill me. And who are we to fight destiny?" Kitten then fell backward, rolling a couple times before sitting down next to me, just a little out of arm's reach.
"Looks like I've gotta go now. I'll think of you often." Her smile seemed legitimately sad and disappointed, then it perked right back up. "When I'm gone, be sure to ask Anima what happens when people get in my way. Plus one per month until you manage to stop me. And remember that, from now on, to make sure there's an extra special bond between us, I'll do it using your sword."
I tried to lunge at her, but she was too fast even without the ice slowing me down. She rolled a couple more times, was on her feet, and hopped away without a care in the world. "No need to be so impatient, Whipping Boy! Take your time, get stronger. I promise I'll be counting the days."
And with that, she was running off. She hopped onto the top of some kind of sports car, climbing in through the sun roof as it sped off. A yellow and orange shimmer emanated from Flux, and he moved faster than my eyes could follow, a streak of orange that quickly passed the vehicle. After all of that, they both got away.
"Are you okay?"
I started at Anima's question. I hadn't even heard her walk up to me. I hesitated for a moment, a million questions going through my mind. How did you know I was here? Why did you let Kitten get away? How powerful is she? How powerful are you? What was that shit she was spouting about destiny? But those were questions I could ask in a few minutes, I needed something right away that would thank her, without admitting I was in so far over my head that Chinese people were using my feet to prop up an end table.
Eventually I turned to face her, having settled on the one thing I could trust. "So, when I signed up for this job, I thought I'd be on the other side of daring rescues involving beautiful princesses." I hoped my smile didn't look creepy, considering I was still wearing a ski mask.
Her hand extended out to me. "I'll take that as a yes." Her voice had changed, losing the booming echo and becoming that of a girl. There was nothing special I could say about her voice, other than how completely ordinary it sounded.
I reached out for her. "You just rescued me, and now you're asking for my h-" I froze as I touched her armor. The same senses that let me see Kitten could see into Anima's armor, and what it found there was impossible for me to understand. A storm of power concentrated into a shell as thin as a sheet of paper. There was no inside to the armor, it was hollow. In a way that just shouldn't be possible.
I barely noticed as she helped me to my feet. "Is there something wrong?"
I snapped out of my daze. "No, nothing. It's just, my power lets me know things about what I'm touching. Your armor is." I hesitated, not knowing how to describe it.
"Yeah, I know," she didn't sound too happy. "I hear stuff like that, sometimes. Don't bother trying to figure it out, no one else has managed to, but there are physicists and theologians alike who claim they have. And, no, it's not that special. There's a bunch of people who work the same way, in some form or another."
I could tell she'd had that conversation before, probably a lot. "Well, I know one thing about it." She didn't say a word, and didn't seem to care about my ideas. Its lack of weight, the way it curves in on itself with no beginning and no end, how its consistency changes while staying forever the same. How I couldn't use my power for more than sensing it. "It's absolutely gorgeous."
I earned a 'hmph'. "So, newbie, do you have a name? I highly doubt it's actually Whipping Boy."
"Haven't thought of one," I admitted. "Didn't seem important to me. I was kinda hoping to make a name for myself first." After all, why have a name if you didn't matter enough for people to care?
"And you went after Kitten to make that name?" The incredulity dripped from every word she spoke.
I shrugged and smiled. "Well, you have to admit, if it had worked..." I trailed off, letting her draw her own conclusions. Better to let her believe I was confident in my powers and knew I could take care of myself, instead of stumbling into a fight with someone I'd never even heard of before like a suicidally stupid amateur. No, that is the wrong attitude to have, especially when dealing with someone who might be able to offer help. "But my business with Kitten is personal. She killed..." someone I loved, my neighbor since I was four, my sister's best friend, the girl I was sort of a stalker for. Someone I fantasized about rescuing since I first figured out... "A friend."
Anima hesitated for a moment. "I'm sorry. I assumed the worst about you, instead of thinking you had a good reason for doing what you did. It's just... going after Kitten is insane, and it was easiest to imagine you didn't know."
I felt bad, indirectly lying to her. But that was a feeling I'd gotten used to over the years. "Kitten said something about doing something when people get in her way?" I suspected I already knew the answer, but I needed to hear it.
Anima looked away, searching the sky for something that probably wasn't there. "Two lives. That's her rule, every time the police or any would be heroes manage to stop whatever it is she's trying to do, she kills two people at random. As powerful as she is, she could kill a lot more than that if she goes down fighting. Her danger sense means a sniper or bomb won't work. Overwhelming firepower is the only strategy, and there's only a handful of us who have both the durability and firepower to go up against her. And after that, it's a matter of having the speed to catch her when she runs."
"That why they sent you, instead of a team?"
"Actually, 'they' probably don't know this happened yet," Anima admitted. "If they realized what was going on, they'd probably send someone in. Innocent lives be damned. Guardian would be their first pick. He might be a colossal ass, and wouldn't be able to beat her, but at the very least he wouldn't lose. They'd use whatever intel he could gather to come up with a better strategy. So what if it would ruin dozens of lives in the process?"
Holy fuck that sounded bitter. "So, umm, no offense, but why you? I mean, I thought you didn't do the hero thing. Are you really as powerful as they say?" Kitten certainly thought highly of her power.
"No one is as powerful as they say I am. I'm a pretty hard counter for Kitten, but if Flux had stepped in I'd be dead right now. Mooth promised that wasn't a risk, and this was the best way to save lives. She's an oracle. Knows if someone's going to die within twenty four hours as long as she pictures them in her mind. Also sees the last moment of any Imbued who dies. Or, in your case, a lot of last moments."
Well, that explains that. "Tell her I'll try to keep the dying to a minimum, but I can't make any promises."
"Kitten." A simple, tired acceptance. "Telling you how bad an idea that is won't make a difference, will it?"
"Someone has to stop her." I left the accusation that she could have, and didn't, unspoken. I tried to feel bad about it, but even Kitten was sure she was going to lose if Anima went all out, and that didn't happen. "She said something about it being my destiny to kill her. I don't buy it, but I think I can challenge her without her killing people if I lose. Not that I intend to lose, now that I know exactly what I'm fighting. I can take her."
Anima looked over, studying me for a minute. "She's why you have powers, right? You got your powers right after finding out about your friend that Kitten killed?"
I nodded.
Anima's armor shifted, opening a hole in the side, near her hip. Through the golden glow, I noted she was wearing jeans under her costume. "I really shouldn't be doing this. And if you tell anyone I did, I will swear in a court of law that you're a liar." She pulled a rumpled up series of papers out and handed them to me. "That's what information I have on Kitten, straight out of the police database."
"Isn't that-"
"Illegal? Very." Her voice made it clear she was starting to regret her generosity.
"Thank you." I meant it. I looked at the papers, not trying to read them, simply looking at what I held. Hopefully in here was the information I needed to win our rematch. "Is there anything I can do to, well, if you need help you can ask."
"I'm okay. Listen, we should get going. Would you like me to give you a ride somewhere?"
A part of me felt insulted that she assumed I didn't have a car. She was right, but she didn't know that. "Oh, I see how it is. First you rescue a guy, then you get him to take you back to his place..."
She just stood there stunned, looking for the words. "Nah, I'm joshin' ya. I have a ride, I walked the last couple blocks." All true. "I'm not so rich that I can afford losing a car every time I get into a fight."
"Got a cell? I can't talk you into staying out of this, so the least I can do is make sure you stay away from the worst dangers. There's a lot of things the civilians don't know about. It's better than you running around blind and getting into the wrong kind of mess. And I might be able to get more information about Kitten."
"Sure," I pulled out my shitty cheap cell. "Something to call the police so they could clean things up. You can call me any time after five thirty. My powers include not needing to sleep, so it doesn't matter how late you call."
"Don't spread that information around too much. Some insensitive people might call you lucky."
We swapped numbers and I jogged off before calling Laura.
======================
A/N- Flux has no mind powers. He's just very good at not being the center of attention.
"Mooth" is not a typo, but it isn't the right spelling of the word. I leave it as a bit of a puzzle to see if anyone figures out the meaning to her name.
I wonder if people will ship Zach and Anima, now. Or if Alex/Zach is still the fan OTP.
Zach has mastered the fine art of lying while telling the truth.
And I'm glad I got the weekend as an insulator. The next two chapters? I'm going to need to write both of them before I publish either. Also, as a bonus thingy, I'm considering a look at the police file on Kitten.
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