It was the smell that woke me up this time, the smell of bacon being fried on a pan. It was a homely smell, reminding me of when me Dad would get lazy and cook us all the same meal. Which was still cooking for six people, me, my sisters and him but it was him that called it lazy.
"I'm up," I grumbled, rising from the bed as the door swung open.
"Wow," Doris went, her brows raising up as I started to rub the sleep from my eyes. "That's lucky timing, didn't think anyone could be such a light sleeper."
Stretching I threw the blanket up in the air, rolling off the bed before it could fall back on me. When it the bed again, it landed in a neat manner with only the lightest of creases on the quilt would let anyone know that I hadn't remade it properly.
"Mighty feat," she remarked, still standing at the doorframe with a rather amused expression. "But don't show off," her expression morphed into a shaper one, "Make your bed like a normal person. All it takes is one drunken night and you'll slip on a shoe you didn't know was there, break your back and then what will you do?"
"Change me name to Igor I suppose," I replied, grinning slightly at the woman as she made her way out of the room to let me get dressed but not before letting out a yell before the door closed behind her with a soft click.
"Breakfast is ready on the table, so help yourself!"
I took a moment to take a real look around my current lodges. It was a small room, with a single wardrobe and a long mirror that stood beside that. Next to a singles' bed was a bedside locker, the red color of which contrasted against the blue sheets of the bed like flame sitting on top of the water.
I put on a green plaid shirt, something at I wouldn't have even glanced at years ago as something that I'd wear. But I found that it suited me well enough now, at least with the broader shoulders that I'd gained since last trying one out.
I was walking towards the room door with a small jitter to my steps, when suddenly there was a flash in my eyes, somehow the world became nothing a series blues, reds, yellows oranges, and even a few purples. Quickly losing any sense of balance, I could feel my body twist sideways as it fell down, I only barely managing to grab hold of the door in time to stop from smashing into the floor.
Closing my eyes in an attempt to stop the sights before me but it did nothing. Instead, I was forced to take in all the colors, finally giving me enough time to really grasp what I was seeing, that the colors were mostly people shaped, moving in the ways people would.
I could make out the shapes of two people on the same floor as me. The first was a man standing by a really red surface, frying something I think. The other was a woman, bending down to pick up something off the floor from another room nearby.
I think it was Mr. and Mrs. Urich?
Blinking hard again, the world shifted back to normal, like what I'd just experienced was a fever dream of a stressed mind. But I knew it was something else, I knew that it was another power. First I'm bulletproof and then I can see using thermal imaging?
Did I get the brick package?
It seemed likely, especially given I think I'd used some form of super speed or enhanced temporal perception yesterday.
"Freaky," I pulled open the door, walking towards where I had seen the two. "Wonder how many more powers I'll get," I wonder if I could leap tall buildings as well?
My ears twitched, picking up a greeting shared between the two.
"Hello, handsome," Ben said, the contentment clear in the pitch of his voice.
"Hello, gorgeous," Was her response, her voice telling me that this was a tradition between the two. Something that they just did. I wondered what the story behind it was, but I don't think I know them enough to ask them that yet.
Pulling around the corner I entered the kitchen, with both of my hosts having by now sat down at the table. There was a third spot, one set on the other side for me, already full of rashers and other fried food that I wouldn't usually touch… but I was hungry enough that it didn't matter.
"Morning," I spoke, nearly a whispered as I gingerly sat down on the chair as if it would suddenly teeth and go to bite me. I waited for the automatic response of morning from the two before asking the question on my mind. "This… mine?"
I asked while pointing down on the plate in front of me, failing at keeping a certain level of meekness out of voice.
"Of course, it is," Doris spoke, smiling at me like I was a fool to think otherwise. "I'd hardly let you use our shower, sleep in our guest room and then… not let you our food."
I chuckled lightly, grabbing at the fork and knife, then chowing down on the food like I was a hippo that hadn't seen food in a decade. As I shoveled the food into my mouth, I could hear an odd sound, like the kind that came from machines smashing into the ground.
But when I stopped eating in an attempt to figure out where the sounds were coming from, the sounds quietened. Like they were never there to begin with… that was when I noticed both Ben and Doris looking at me with wide eyes.
"What?"
"Nothing," Ben leaned onto his hand, rolling his eyes as he did so. "Just hadn't thought that there was such a thing as a human trash compactor, seems I was wrong about that."
That was when it hit me, I was the one making those noises… as I was eating.
"Sorry about that," I replied, feeling the heat rise to my cheeks even while my eyes fell to my now empty plate. Looks like finished it without noticing. "I don't know what came over me."
Ben just nodded at me, dropping his own fork onto his empty plate, picking it up and placing it into the sink that was behind him before holding out his hand for me to pass over my own plate. It was with a small smile that Doris stood up, walking toward the sink, something that meant Ben had to lean his chair forward to allow.
Suddenly I was taken in by the odd calmness to the room, by this homey feeling that I… I'm not sure that I'd felt in years. My heart skipped a beat as the two slowly smiled at each other with just the tiniest twists to their lips that reminded me of home.
So in engrossed with the idea of their interaction I failed to notice Ben stand up and tap me on the shoulder.
"Yeah," I blinked, coming out of my own world with the same kind of energy that a sloth would use to speak. "Sorry I was in my own little world."
Ben just gave me a look, nodding his head just a little while his hands came up to take his glasses off and wipe them off with a piece of cloth that he had in his left pocket. Once he was done, he motioned for me to follow him with a wave of his arm.
We left the apartment by the time he spoke again.
"You feeling okay?" Mr. Urich asked me, his voice soft and quiet in contrast with the harsh buzzes of the New York street that we were walking along.
I wasn't used to the busy city streets yet, the constantly yelling, the never-ending series of cars, of buses, and all assortment of vehicles that rushed passed us with their horns blaring. It all still took me by surprise is all.
It felt like a dream at times, one of those dreams where all the information I could glean from the area around me became for too much focus on anything for longer than a second. Not without being in danger of walking into someone.
"Yeah… just still a little bit shellshocked is all," I responded, kicking up a can lift on the path, managing to hit it into a nearby garbage bin. "Not used to this level of weirdness is all."
"Yeah, I don't know if there's anyone that would be," Ben replied as he stopped in front of a black car, it wasn't a model that I recognized but it looked to be at least three years old. "Get in, I've got something to show you."
"You've got a car?" I asked, shocked but still going inside the vehicle. "Why did we have to use a cab yesterday?"
"Doris needed to borrow it."
"Huh," I let any conversations topics I had lull into the back of mind, just decided to enjoy the drive to wherever we were going. jIt was only after what felt like half an hour at least that the conversation actually picked up again, this time Ben starting with a statement that I hadn't expected him to.
"I've been looking over some of the things you've said," he said, his hands shifting around the steering wheel so he could make a right turn. "And I can't help but wonder if you've made a mistake."
"Mistake?"
"Yeah," his eyes briefly swept over to me before going back to the road. "We're assuming that your powers are something that you got when you were abducted, from the abducted. I'm just pointing out that… could be wrong."
"Think I'd noticed being super tough," My reply with far more emotion than I intended to, sounding rough when I really didn't feel all that angry. I was more depressed than anything else, more drained. It felt like I needed something to pick me up.
Some excitement.
Suddenly Ben pulled into a parking lot, stopping the car in a spot so it was alone on a row of empty parking spots. As he got out, I went to follow him, closing the door much harsher than I ever intended to but thankfully not so hard that I'd worry about breaking it.
"Maybe they got you," Ben spoke again, continuing his line of questioning that I'd almost though dropped seconds ago. "Maybe you panicked, maybe you'd always had these powers and only needed to be stressed to unlock them? All I'm saying is that we don't know that the people that took you, also were the ones that gave you powers."
"That it could have happened afterward," Nodding I let my eyes peering at the tar-black ground. "Given that I've seemed to have lost years of my life. That's sensible enough."
"Exactly, the combined trauma robbing you of your memories. But there's still some leads that we can follow, ones that… " Ben trailed off as he spotted another car coming into the park, his eyes narrowing as he tried to make out who exactly had arrived. "... are connected to a story that I'm already working on."
Ben's frown turned into a smile as the older redhead from yesterday stepped out of the newly arrived car. A hard grimace on his face as he walked towards us with his hands in his coat's pockets.
"O'Reilly," Ben said, his tone low while his eyes roamed at the pockets with only a small amount of concern. "It's good to see that you could make it," With a hand extended and a serious expression over their faces, the two shook.
"Well… we need to move quickly," O'Reilly replied, his eyes only looking to me for a single moment before coming back to Urich. "Is the kid trustworthy?"
As they stopped shaking hands, I was going to respond to O'Reilly with a snipe at his age, maybe something about his greying hair but Ben beat me to making any sort of noise by making a loud chuckle.
"That any way to thank someone that saved our lives yesterday?"
"That's how I keep that life," Was the redhead's response, dry but somehow with plenty of heat to spare. "Constantly vigilant, for all I know, the kids' a plant that's here to find what I told you."
(Jim O'Reilly)
"It's nice to meet you again, Mr. O'Reilly," The young man held his hand, something that caused Jim to roll his eyes. "I'm Pat, Pat Doyle."
The older man could hear the accent, could tell just by the way the younger man's tongue rolled that he was dealing with some direct from Ireland.
But that didn't give Jim anything else to work off, so he just stood there and stared at the outstretched hand, letting awkwardness sink into the air as the seconds passed by. Eventually, the redhead decided to throw a bone to the young man, but with an old Irish spin. His hand grasped around the boy's and he shook it none too gently, rolling fingers around his knuckles… or at least attempting to.
"Jesus, you've got a strong hand," The older man let out with a pain-filled grunt, his hand hurting on the immovable object that was Pat's hand.
"Have you forgotten that I'm… like super durable?" Pat stared at Jim, his eyes blinking a sort of innocence that the older man would expect out of a young child. Something about the way he stared at him, his eyes piercing but lacking any real sting.
"Nope," Jim wheezed, trying to play off his actions. Letting go of Doyle's hand with only a small grimace to show that he was harmed at all. "Just showing you a real Irish handshake."
"Reminds me of home," Pat winked, something that Jim hadn't expected, with a small grin on his face. It caused the older man to take in the lad's features once more, especially now that Doyle was both clean and wearing clothes that didn't look like they'd been found in a swamp. "Everybody failing to intermediate me, next thing will need to do is have a few blokes ask me if I think I could beat them in a fight."
"That happen a lot in Ireland?" Urich asked, his face too amused for what should've been a serious meeting for Jim's taste.
"More than you'd think," The youngest among shrugged, brushing some of his overly long hair out of his eyes. "But less than you'd fear. So… what's the situation?"
Jim glared at the lad now, his blue eyes staring dead into the brown ones that Pat had. He waited for some response, for the younger man to shift his eyes away, to show some kind of weakness. But Doyle gave away nothing at all.
"Pat," Urich sighed out, causing the lad to turn and face the man, saving Jim from losing a staring contest. "A bit more decorum, please."
"Right," The newcomer said in such a polite tone that Jim almost didn't notice the almost inhuman way the man didn't blink. Something that Doyle had been doing fine for the last few seconds, but it seemed to have caught up with him since then. "Sorry about that Mr. O'Reilly."
"It's fine," he ground out, his teeth grinding together from the stress. "You're right to rush anyway, never know if someone we won't like will arrive. So… has Urich told you the situation?"
"Nope."
"Well," Jim reached into his pocket, grabbing at a loose cigarette that he then brought to his lips. "See… I'm a man that works for a certain group, one that has its business in the seedy side of the world-"
"Irish Mafia," Doyle interrupted him, causing Jim to freeze while the younger just kept nodding his head rapidly. "Got it."
"Right then," he sighed out once more, something that Jim noticed Urich found amusing. "Well, my bosses have paid off certain people, I don't have any names, but they're high off in the police, in the mayor's office, the D.A and they've even hinted at having a man on the inside of the FBI."
"Must be have something big in mind if they're doing all that?" Doyle questioned, his eyes lifting up to the sky suddenly, a motion that was too much of a jerk to have been a normal reaction to anything going on.
"It's human trafficking, selling young girls to the highest bidder, sometimes even young boys," Jime explained, taking in a deep puff from his cigarette before blowing out a science fair volcano's worth of smoke into the sky. "Not something that I thought we'd be involved in when I was a young boy."
"That why you came forward to Mr. Urich?"
"Yeah, Jim's conscience is a bit too big for the life he lives," Urich spoke up, though his voice was light in tone, his face was as serious as the subject truly demanded of him.
"I've got my own girl, I can't stand the thought of someone taking her from me," Jim felt the need to explain. "And so I can't condone doing it to other people."
"See… I'm guessing that there's a problem here?" Doyle questioned, letting the heel of his left foot grind into the ground in a swirling motion. "Otherwise Mr. Urich would've just released all this to the papers."
"Right in one," Urich responded, snapping his fingers together as he did so. "See I can't print any of this without proof, something to collaborate Jim's story. Sadly, he can't come forward with his name or anyone's name and while he could give the location the girls are coming through…"
"Still have only the word of an anonymous source?" The youngest amongst them scratched at his nose, not enough to break skin but only enough that the nose moved back and forth slightly. "What about pics?"
"Tried to get them past my editor but he ain't going to bite on them without a source that can name themselves."
"Video evidence?"
"Hey," Jim erupted out, his voice showcasing how annoyed he was by the idea of it. "You know how much trouble it was to get some pictures of the place, I've made no secret that I'm against it. It would be far too supercilious for me to carry a camcorder."
"How about the old fire trick?" Jim's respect for the idiot went up a few notches with such a ballsy suggestion. "Start a fire, say you heard gunfire, some girls screaming, would get both firefighters and some cops down there to look at things."
"Too risky to the girls in there," Urich came to shut down that idea with the reason they'd decided against. "And especially when the fire would need to be somewhere that the gang left guarding wouldn't able to deal with themselves before the fire brigand gets there."
"So… what about a different kind of disturbance?" The younger man started to pace before them. "I could go in there, make a lot of noise when they start shooting me… you can call in the cops."
"And you'll get away how?" Jim found himself asking before Doyle let out a wide smile, bent his legs and then… leaped up. At first, the Irish Mafia member wanted to scoff at the other man but that was before he the magnitude of the leap truly entered into his mind as Doyle sailed more than a full story high only to land without making more noise that one would usually make hopping from one leg to another one.
"How about like that?" Doyle grinned at the now gapping duo.
"Your some kind of freak aren't you?" The redhead moaned, scratching the bottom of his chin with his left hand.
"Probably," The younger man shrugged. "Thought that with a super tough body, I'd get the strength to match."
"As you see, Jim," Urich started to speak, using familiar tones and terms of address in order to seem like he was more Jim's friend than he actually was. A kind of manipulation that O'Reilly could more than respect. "Our young friend here has the capabilities to get this done."
"But not the outfit," Doyle drawled out, his grin widening just ever so lightly. "Don't want them to be able to pick my face out in the future, makes doing things a normal guy would do a bit of trouble if I got to deal with the Irish Mafia out for my blood."
"Right… that's not actually bad thinking," Jim said, his own face stretching into a smile. "I've got a few things that I think you could use."
("Patrick Doyle")
I'd gotten into the back of O'Reilly's car, driving me towards the docks. This was when I saw exactly what he thought I could use.
"This isn't as cool as I thought it would be," I sighed out, looking at just what Mr. O'Reilly thought I could use. It was a simple blue hoodie, the strings that should've been on the side were cut off, roughly if the strands on the side were to be believed, there was also a black ski mask. "I was thinking of something… more inspiring?"
"What were you thinking that I'd have some Stark shit?" O'Reilly laughed at me, the noise familiar to me in the accent at least when compared to the ones that I'd been hearing recently. I found American laughter foreign to my ears, which it was. "Ain't getting any of that as poor as I am."
"No, but like where's the cape?"
O'Reilly looked me like I was some oddball for wanting something so fundamentally essential in the Super Hero business. The greatest of heroes wore them, except WonderWoman but she'd got the boobs that I never have… hopefully, that is.
I do exist in a comic verse now, Gender Bending could happen to me.
"You've read too many comics, kid," Jim scoffed, his voice nearly breaking out into a laugh ontop of that. "A Cape will just get in the way of what you'll be doing."
Ah, another one of those 'no cape' freaks, it is a shame that so many people don't understand the purpose of the cape. The ever-lasting symbol of power, of hope and the spread of influence. Why a good cape can make you appear much bigger than you are, lets people either be fearful of your presence or hopeful from your silhouette.
"This will just have to do," I replied, pulling the jumper over my shirt while adjusting to make sure that the plaid would be unnoticed underneath. "I never thought I'd be the mask sort-" It was at that point that I felt a pair of gloves slap into my face. "You could have thrown them to me, rather than at me."
"It's more fun this way."
He wasn't the only one to chuckle from that, the car filling up with the sound of my one oddly deep ones. It wasn't until we were about ten minutes away from the docks when I'd finally decided to put the mask on my head.
It felt pretty weird, scratchy like it was made from some sort of cotton. Though I would've expected it to block some of my ability to breathe, it didn't really. This was a good way to keep my identity secret...
...but it wasn't for me.
How can I give someone a reassuring smile if they can't see me mouth?
"Why would that matter?"
"Was I speaking out loud?" I responded to O'Reilly's question with my own and a frown to go with it. It wasn't like I needed the man to tell that he'd heard me, just his reactions seconds ago told me that he had. "Sorry about that, just anxious about the whole thing."
"You run your mouth off when stressed?" he replied, barely turning his head to the side so he could see me better. "Not the best sort of quirk to have in this line of work."
"Keep your eyes on the road," I blurted out, tucking in the collar of the shirt while glancing around the car. It was only then that I really thought about what O'Reilly had said. "Line of work?"
"Yeah, you're basically going all vigilante," I could see O'Reilly's grin from the reflection of the rearview mirror. It was this cold, proud but amused expression on his face that kinda made me want to punch him right in the gob. "Running your mouth will only get you killed."
That was a good point, especially in this world that has Iron Man and the Hulk in it. That means people like General Ross, it means organizations like SHIELD and… evil spy organizations… like that one with the Nazi's in it. I was particularly interested in not having their attention on me as long as possible.
"I'll take that in mind," Eventually I replied, leaning back on my seat and shutting my eyes for a little bit, letting the darkness of the evening to fill my sight. Somehow the day had passed without me noticing it, which was a good thing since I needed to strike at night to get those girls free.
But I couldn't help but feel that I was wasting the day away staying inside this rather slow-moving car. Well, the slowness was more due to the traffic than anything else.
"I feel like such a stereotype in this getup," I leaned forward once more, letting my arms hit the back of the shotgun seat. "Look at the Irish lad in the ski mask and then… I walk in there'll be gunfire."
"Figuring that the Irish Mafia will think that we're being attacked by the IRA," O'Reilly rolled his eyes, another action that I saw due to the rearview mirror. "That's a funny image, but not going to happen. We're more likely to supply them, and that would mean it would more likely be UVF but that isn't likely given your accent."
The UVF is otherwise known as the Ulster Volunteer Force. They're basically the inverse of the IRA, even as far as wanting the inverse goal of keeping Northern Ireland in the UK… but I don't want to think about two terrorist organizations all that much. It was only that I lack the Northern Irish accent that either groups' members were likely to have.
"Right," I eventually replied to O'Reilly, nodding at the man while closing my eyes once more. This might that I didn't notice the car coming to a stop, or at least didn't think it meant that we'd come to my destination.
"This is your stop," O'Reilly told me, causing me to glance around the area. "I can't be seen dropping you off so close to the Docks. Would get me into a spot of trouble."
I didn't verbally answer, just opened the car door and stepped out onto the path before me, a crane near the docks in clear sight up ahead. Before I could make a single step forward, I felt a hand come out and tap me on the shoulder.
"Kid," Turns out it was O'Reilly from the sound of his voice. "When you're getting out of there, don't go back to Urich's. Instead, I've set up a place over a block west from his place, just tell the lady on the front desk that Jimbo sent ya."
With those words, I waited for the car to drive off, before I started to walk towards the docks with my hood up and my eyes staring straight ahead. Every step that I took caused my heart to race faster, every breath I took caused my mind to conjure up some issues with my plan.
What if I'd only been lucky and I'm not bulletproof? What if my big leap was a magic gust of wind shooting me up into the air?
All these issues, all of them unlikely in a world of superheroes. No, it was far more likely that I had at least 90's Superboy level durability. Something that I was about to be to the test as I come up to the thick metal-plated gates that separated the docks from the streets.
"I wonder if that's normal?" I asked, rapping on the gate with the knuckles of my right fist. Something that I found odd was how even though I knew I was super-durable, I could still feel how cold the metal was. Would've thought that being this tough would make me immune to that sort of thing.
"Hey!" A voice yelled from the other side, causing me to hop in fright. "I swear if you fucking kids don't stop banging on that gate, I'll come out and not even your own Ma would be able to recognize ya!"
"OI!" I yelled back, deciding to mess with the man. "This is the Police, Detective Stabler," There was a gasp from the other man, something that put a smile on my face. "Open up, we've gotten reports of gunfire coming from the docks, we need to check it out."
"This is private property," The said back, his voice trembling slightly but not giving away much else. "We're just practicing."
Oh, that is a poor lie.
"Going to need to see some papers about that," I leaned my back against the gate, hoping that the man wouldn't check with any cameras that could see me. "Can't just take your word on it, even on private property, ya need a permit to place shooting in an open area."
There was a period of silence, but then the man started yelling once more.
"Ya don't look like any pig? In that hoodie I doubt it's standard-issue," he asked, his voice tinged with so much suspension. "And ya the same name that the detective from SVU has? Don't tell me that you're Catholic as a well?"
"And I bet you've never met anyone named Rodgers? Who worked in the army? I replied back, getting bored with the game already, it made me wonder how much I could scare them by breaking the door down. "And clothes… that's just what's called plain clothes, used so suspects don't know they're being tailed."
There was a scratch of metal, the sound of the gate unlocking through what sounded like a series of electronically controlled locks. Something that I took advantage of as I squeezed my eyes together, thankfully activating my thermal vision and letting me see the trio of men holding up a few meters behind the gate, hands clearly holding up some automatic weapons.
I just smiled and leaped over the gate before it could fully open. There were some exclamations what the hell before I fell beside them…
"Hello, boys," I said, swiping my arm across their rifles so fast that none of them actually managing to pull the trigger before the guns were smashed against the wall, the resulting gunfire hitting harmlessly into the ground. "The man in blue is here."
I let the three guys jump back in fright before I decided to lightly, for me, smack them away by the shoulder. The gasped in my pain, something that did nothing to mask the sound of more guns cocking behind me.
"Take the fucker out!" Another man yelled out, this time I didn't manage to turn around before they opened fire on me, the bullets hitting into my back feeling like hail hitting my skin. While I could feel my clothes start to gain holes, start to rip, I couldn't find it in myself to care, not since none of them were even bothering to aim for my head.
That meant I didn't have to worry about my face being identified.
"Guys!" I yelled out, trying to be heard over all the gunfire I was still soaking up. "You do realize that I'm bulletproof!" Making my way towards them slowly, it was only as I was within a few meters of the men when they stopped firing.
"He must be wearing from fancy vest!" One of them yelled, taking the butt of the gun and then whacking me across the face with the barrell. It was an interesting sensation as it hit my jaw like I'd been to the dentist and was numbed.
There was a loud crack, then the rifle fell to pieces.
"So…" I cracked my neck slightly. Letting them hear the bone pop and watched as their faces went white. "What's in the back?"
I didn't even bother to wait for a response, instead, I just blew through the crowd of mafia goons in front of me like they were nothing but a bunch of bowling pins. Their groans echoing out throughout the docks even as I made my way towards some cargo containers.
There were about fifty of them on the docks themselves, it looks like they were still working on unloading the containers from the ship nearby, the crane still had a hook on to another one at the moment, but it looked like due to all the commotion that I'd made, the operator had thrown themselves out of it.
Once more I concentrated and let my vision turn thermal once again. I looked around the area, searching for the heat sources that should've been there if the girls were in one of them.
It didn't take long before my eyes had taken note of all the containers on land, finding them empty… expect for the one that mooed… but I doubt that the cow shapes inside that one were fakes.
If there weren't any girls on the docks, that meant that they could still be on the ship.
"This night just gets longer," I mumbled, my eyes having spotted the next ship over before I could even bend my knees. "Is it odd that I can't see any more ships nearby? Isn't this meant to be a docking area? How isn't this as suspicious as hell."
Suddenly my ears started to ring, a loud kaboom going off beside me. It was the first time that I'd felt pain since I got here, taking me off my feet and splattering my blood over the concrete ground as if I was nothing but a normal person.
"Proper paperwork punk!" I heard a strong Irish bogue yell down at me, their voice coming in and out of focus as the world above me swirled. It didn't last for long, just long enough for the man to come into my view,n their big brown beard thick with grey strands. "Did you think that you could just walk in here and take what was ours?"
He shoved the barrel of a shotgun into my face, one of those expensive shots guns that I've only seen in video games.
"Now, you're going to squeal about who told you about our cargo," It was then the man slapped me in the face with the barrel, something that didn't go as planned for the man. The metal bent in the shape of my jaw rather smashing it in.
Suddenly the pain in my side muted, I could even feel the strength in my body return to a state where it was like I'd only been scratched.
"Wha-" Before I got a chance to flip back to my feet, I could only watch as the butt of a clearly empty pistol snapped into my only successful attacker's nose, crushing it in a splatter of blood that rivaled my own from moments earlier.
I rolled back as a man dressed black dropped down from one of the cargo containers. His clothes were simple, looking close enough to sports gear that I wouldn't be surprised if it was true but they were painted black to mask the white lines that would usually be there. His face had some sort of self-made half mask, covering his eyes from view and looking like it was made of two parts, a white layer of cloth with a black one on top of it.
"You make too much noise, too many risks," The Man In Black told me, his voice low and breathy like he was trying to do a poor job to make it. "You could've gotten both yourself and those girls killed."
I ignored him, not out of any inherent lack of respect for the man, it was obvious that he was here for the same reason I was and meant that I had to give the man some respect. No, it was instead out of how my attention was completely taken by the popping noises that I could hear coming out of my back.
It was the shotgun pellets being pushed out by the regeneration that my back was currently undergoing.
There was a twitch from the man's eyes, another from his nose and that told me all that I needed to that he'd noticed what just happened. That was only a little suspicious, it's possible that he'd seen the pellets hit the ground but from the way his mouth gaping in surprise, I think he could actually hear the same thing that I did.
"As you can see-" The Man in Black scoffed openly as I said this for some reason. "-ain't nothing that can hurt me. How you learn about all this?"
My rapid change of tone and no doubt I deflected his insult towards me, seemed to take him off guard. That was If his body tensing was other to be believed.
"I overheard some goons talking about some merchandise," I could sense the air quotes in that sentence even if the man hadn't made any. "Taking about how they might be allowed to take some of the juicy desserts home to bake with… yeah, they mixed their metaphors."
"Eugh," It didn't matter, I got what the man was saying, and while disgusted with it, I couldn't be any more glad that O'Reilly thought that this was the one criminal enterprise that he wouldn't allow his group to engage in. "Well… that is an image that I will never get out of my head. Thanks for that."
"You're welcome," The Man In Black smiled, cheerfully at that. "I try and please."
"As nice as this conversation is, we do got some girls to find don't we?" I wasn't an egotist, I didn't care about doing this solo in any way, so if this guy can help me find the poor girls then it was always going to be something that I'd welcome. "Any idea if they're on those ships?"
The Man In Black simply nodded, waving his arm for me to follow him as he turned his back to me and started to walk towards the larger of the two ships. It was the one without the crane connected to one of its cargo containers. It also wasn't the most impressive ship that I'd ever seen in my life, it was rusty in places and the pain on the edges was peeling off but it was large enough to hold over a hundred cargo containers.
Definitely, the first place that I'd have looked for the girls after the docks themselves.
"Found them.," We both suddenly spoke at the same time as her feet hit the ramp leading to the ship. My head turned to face his, while he seemed to turn his ear to hear my next response better.
"Seems like I'm not the only one that is special," I sniped, grinning at the rather unamused stare I could sense the other man was giving me from underneath his mask. "Come on, I-" I stopped, my thermal vision spotting a man around the corner, with a rather oddly shaped object on his back.
"What-" My fellow vigilante was interrupted, but rather me or even himself stopping mid-sentence, no it was instead the man from around the corner, jumping around his hiding spot and letting loose a spray of flame from a flamethrower he'd been carrying.
There wasn't any thought for my own safety, instead, I just threw myself in front of the flame, shielding the Man In Black's body with my own. I could feel the heat of the flames, but not like they were a roaring flame, instead, it felt like a radiator that was just starting to warm up. Hot but not enough to burn me.
With lighting fast reflexes the Man in Black threw something from his left hand, smacking the man on the nose and causing him to point the nozzle of the flamethrower upwards. Acting fast, I went in the flames dispelling from my back as I crushed the shaft and ripped the weapon off the man before throwing it into the water.
A single kick to the downed man's head, not from me if that was the case there would be no head, and the man as out cold.
"Flameproof as well? What are you just invincible?" My fellow vigilante asked, resuming the walk towards the cargo container that the girls were no doubt being held in. I could feel my ego being enlarged by the rather astounded tone the man now had.
"Only when the weather allows," I joked, no doubt confusing him with my little in-joke. I followed along with man then, waiting till we got to the container before shoving myself in front. "If I may?" I asked, putting my hand around the lock of the cargo doors.
The Man In Black nodded, which was when sirens started to blare out, something that seemed to spook him but that I'd been expecting for some time now.
"You go, I've got my own way out of here," I told him, ripping off the lack and swinging the doors open, much to the shocked gasps of the people inside the room. "Come on now, everything's going to be fine," I said, keeping calm soothing tones even as the young girls started to shiver in fear. "Some men are going to come by… just tell them the truth about how you got here and everything will be okay."
They didn't move, just stayed huddling in the corner of the container, filthy and pale. My heart went out to the young women that were shoved into this container for weeks, I'd be as scared by some stranger with a mask in their position.
It was also possible that they didn't speak English, but I'd hope O'Reilly would've told me that.
Turning around, not finding the Man in the Mask, much to my relief and walked till I was visible at the edge of the ship. Standing on top of the railing and spotting the cop cars gathering just outside the gates. I took in a deep breath, waited for them to make their way inside the docks… and then;
"HEY ASSHOLES! THERE'S A BUNCH OF GIRLS HELD INSIDE ONE OF THESE CARGO CONTAINERS!"
I could spot them all shifting their lines of sight, all aiming their pistols right at me, could even hear them yell at me to drop to the ground and freeze. But I ignored them, and the rounds that they shot at me, instead I ran to the other side of the ship, the side facing the water.
And leaped over the side of it after taking another deep breath.
(Louise)
"Becca, how about that favor you owe me?" Louise wandered up to the other girl, her much larger stature letting her tower over the girl. Louise wasn't wearing the standard school uniform for a girl, which was a pinafore instead she was wearing the male uniform. preferring the pants to the skirt.
"Louise," The much smaller Becca, who was dressed in the normal uniform for girls, greeted. "No, hello, how are you?"
"Come on," The taller of the two griped, her eyes rolling in her head as she loosened the tie around her neck and popped open the top button. "I got ya in with Rick didn't I!"
"Shh," Her classmate went, her face going red and her eyes looking up and down the street. "You know that I'm not meant to be dating boys, Dad would kill me."
"And probably him, too," Louise laughed, letting her eyes close as she leaned her head back. "It would be a shame if your dad found out."
There was a sort of awkward silence that descended between the two, something that wasn't helped as Becca started to glare up at her friend before scoffing and attempting to walk ahead of her.
"I can't believe that you're blackmailing me."
"Don't think of it as blackmail," The Redhead interceded, her smirk lightly spread across her face as she easily strides to the other girl's side, walking along with her. "Think of it as fun insurance. You… cover for me, I'll cover for you."
"You know you used to be such a cute kid," Becca sniped, her brow furrowing while her eyes glared at the very steps that the other girl was taking. "Then you hit your growth spurt and started to hit the gym. Now you're shaking me down like our dads would be."
"Hey now," Louise was taken back, her mouth widening for what was obviously a mock shock expression. "I've yet to hold anyone upside down off a building and shake them for their money."
"It's only a matter of time," Becca now stopped in the middle of the path, turning around and standing on her tippy toes. "I've gotta eye on you."
The two stood their ground, glaring at each other for several seconds… till the two broke out into giggles. Louise threw her arm over her smaller friend's shoulder, bringing the girl in for a side-hug.
"Fine, fine," Becca sighed, breaking out of the hug and walking into a bus that stopped nearby. "Mom's going get a dig out of making a fool out of yours anyway."
Louise smiled, throwing her loosened tie into her backpack and walking the opposite way from the bus. Waving goodbye to her friend along the way. It wasn't long till she'd crossed several roads, made past another two bus stops and then finally called in a taxi.
She didn't bother to talk to the taxi driver, just handed him a card with an address written on it and the word, mute. The driver simply nodded and drove her to the address, not a single question asked, though he did play so rather horrid music… country music.
When she arrived at the destination, Louise felt her heart, churn in the pit of her stomach. she wasn't meant to come here and felt guilty about it.
See her Pop had set up a lot of prepaid motel rooms throughout the city, mostly within the same area. There were some tensions going at home that meant he wasn't always coming back at nights, or even during some of the days.
It didn't actually bother all that much since her parents had been doing this sort of thing since before she was born. They'd been separated six times, but it never lasted more than a month. It was never even that heated.
But Louise did miss her Pop, the man just wasn't around as much as she liked. So she'd make sure to wander in at times to the motels that he'd rented out, telling her Mom that she was spending the night within one of her school friends.
None of them would tell her Mom that it was a lie, and her Mom didn't get with any of their mothers. They'd lie to her just for the glee that they'd feel whenever Louise's Mom was fooled.
A little white lie that Pop never turned her in for, but one that he told her to stop doing. Something about it wasn't always safe thanks to is business friends… which was absurd… because those creep bags could harm her if they tried.
The part of about being mean and disrespectful towards Mom was more impactful, something that she'd agree with but Louise just wanted to visit her Pop.
She walked through the motel doors, heading to the desk jockey with a bored expression on her face. Trying to act all casual like and said;
"Jimbo sent me," She blew a wad of gum into a bubble, letting it pop before bringing back into her mouth. "What's the room number?"
The desk clerk, someone of gender that Lousie wasn't actually sure, just looked up to her in surprise. There was a moment that they looked down at their books, puzzled and that gave Lousie more than a little concern.
Did she pick the wrong time? Was Pop at a different motel? This was the one that the online banking site claimed that he'd paid with one of his aliases.
"Room thirteen," The Clerk told her eventually, causing Louise to breathe a sigh of relief as one of their eyebrows lifted up slightly as if she was accessing the Senior Highschool student and comparing her to someone else… and maybe checking her out, Louise wasn't sure. "Here!"
The Clerk threw keys, letting the O'Reilly girl catch
"Right," Louise moved forward, untying her school tie while shoving it her bag afterward. She was going to a Catholic School, one of the best in the state, Pop wanted her to feel at one with their religion. That meant terrible school uniforms were the standard there.
Something that annoyed her, long skirts and dress shirts weren't something that Louise found to be appealing.
It wasn't long before she was standing at the thirteen door, listening to the sound somebody moving about in there. Louise placed a key into the lock, hearing the click and the startled what coming from the other side that brought a smile to her face.
"Hey, Pop," She walked in, spitting out the wad of gum into the trashcan by the door. "Do you think...that… " Louise trailed off at the sight before. Instead, her aging father what she saw was a rather unusual sight.
The rather upper body of a man that was soaked to the bone otherwise, his ripped and torn up jumper drenching the carpet enough that she noticed that massive wet stain spreading through the area.
"You ain't Pop."
"I fucking hope not."
Author's Note: Hello, sorry for the wait. My beta was taking longer than I wanted to get this chapter back to me and it got to the point that I just said... fuck it. And that is how we came to where we are today. Obviously, there are a few holes in this situation, ones that are meant to be there.
All will be revealed in time. I hope that these longer chapters are to you guys' liking, because this is the plan from now on, there should never be a chapter that is shorter than 5k. Hopefully, you all like the coming chapter more since it goes into even higher levels of threats earlier.
And please, if you see any mistakes that I've missed point them out to me and I'll correct them.