Modus Morte: Chapter 4
“So that’s her?” Jayna said as she approached the small café with Mori. He simply nodded and smiled at her in his irritating way. Jayna had some serious doubts about why she was following him and even more questions about this blue woman. As she approached she could tell that the woman was talking but she couldn’t see to whom. When she got closer she noticed that the woman was talking to what appeared to be an empty chair. Another nutcase. Jayna sighed to herself. Just what I need. At least it isn't Adrienne, after all.
Mr. Mori smiled at her as if he had heard her thoughts. She knew he wasn’t a mind reader but if he decided to spring that one on her she decided to give him what for, at least in her mind, by calling him an irritating bastard and giving him a few suggestions on what to do. All of this involved a hot poker and a goat and something she was certain was illegal in more than a few dimensions.
“Jasper-san.” Mori said approaching the table and smiling in that annoying fashion. The woman didn’t seem to notice the irritating smile and just raised an eyebrow at him.
“About time.” She said. “I was afraid you had forgotten us.”
“Us?” Jayna wondered but before she could ask who in the hell was ‘us’ and how nuts this woman was, Mori decided to introduce her properly.
“Jasper, this is Jayna Alexander, and Miss Alexander, this is Jasper Tinveil of Minutemen Inc. Her lovely cat Reaper is also hiding here, somewhere.” He added. It was at that moment a large black cat jumped out of the chair that Jasper had been talking to and put its paw in the coffee cup in front of the blue woman.
“Reaper.” she hissed at him before standing up. “Hello, Jayna, nice to meet you. Feel free to ignore him, Reaper can be an annoying, pretentious bastard sometimes.”
There was a distinct growl and “HEY” from the cat. Jayna talked to her own cat often, and he talked back, just never in English. “I resent that comment.” Reaper said before fluffing up his tail and knocking the coffee cup over completely in objection.
“I’m sure you do.” Jasper mumbled as she dodged the contents of her cup in a clumsy stumble. This is when Jayna first noticed that Jasper appeared to have suffered some none-too-slight injuries recently. She had a large cast on one leg that went up to mid thigh, and a bandage wrapped around the entirety of one of her arms. “Nice to meet you, Jayna. I appreciate you coming out here on such short notice. Please, have a seat and order anything you want. They have a great iced Chai here.” She said before resuming her seat, away from the spilled coffee.
“No thanks.” Jayna muttered before taking a seat. “Let’s just get to the point here. What do you have to do with the zombies?”
“Well I accidentally resurrected them, of course.” Jasper replied. She definitely wasn’t one for beating around the bush. A nice change, all things considered.
“You resurrected them. Why in hell’s name did you resurrect them?” The other woman looked down at the table as if she was a bit embarrassed by the answer.
“Well, I didn’t do it on purpose; I was working on a different spell completely.” Jasper then looked back up to Jayna. “I’m sure Takeo told you I’m an untrained sorceress.”
“Takeo, eh?” Jayna said, looking at Mori. She knew his first name but had never known anyone inclined to be on a first name basis with him, especially a young, untrained sorceress. “Yes he did.” Jayna smiled at Mori’s obvious discomfort that suddenly sprang up. “Which begs me to ask, just how did you come to solicit Takeo’s help.” Jayna asked.
“First, I think you should hear about the zombies.” Takeo said, in an obvious diversionary tactic. “Jasper-san, tell her about the zombies first, won’t you?” Oh, he was avoiding something good. Jayna would definitely have to find out what was making him so uncomfortable. She noticed his usual near-perfect grammar slipped as well. Very uncomfortable.
“Well, I was on the roof of Saint Heathenry’s Flowering Child, trying to cast a summoning spell, and I was attacked right in the middle of it.” Jasper paused and sipped the coffee a waitress had just refilled, as if trying to collect her thoughts.
“Why were you doing a summoning spell on top of that particular cathedral?”
“Because that was where someone’s body was buried.”
“Well if you wanted to talk to the corpse why didn’t you just get an Ouija board?” Jayna huffed.
“I can’t.” Jasper shivered. “I won’t touch one.”
“Who is teaching you this stuff, anyway? Because they should have told you not to do spells on roofs, especially one in the middle of a graveyard on J Street.”
“I am,” Reaper growled with an annoyed flick of his tail. “And she’s getting better, trust me. You should have seen the Ouija board incident.” If resurrecting dozens of zombies was an improvement, Jayna was most happy not to have seen it.
“Hush.” Jasper scolded the cat before picking him up and dropping him off the table. This Reaper was probably an interesting story all on his own. Jayna would have to ask about him later. “I was doing fine. I hadn’t resurrected the entire graveyard until I was attacked by this blue gibbering maniac.”
“Blue…maniac.” Jayna said suddenly, paying much closer attention to Jasper. “Let me ask you this. Did this maniac attack you with shadows?”
“Yep. And then with a knife, and then with a headstone.”
“A headstone…?” Jayna sighed. “Why don’t you go back to the beginning of this story?”
“Well, I was on the cathedrals’ roof, overlooking the cemetery. I had a nice ceremonial fire going and everything.”
“A fire? On the roof?” Jayna looked at her incredulously.
“Well it was controlled. I had it set up in a large stone basin that Reaper had me drag up there.”
“With good reason,” Reaper snapped. “Do you think I’m going to let you play with fire on top of a centuries-old building? That place wasn’t always a church you know…” Jayna had a feeling that the cat would have continued indefinitely, if Jasper hadn’t turned the chair he was sitting in over, dumping him unceremoniously on the floor, again.
“As I was saying… I was in the middle of casting the spell when I heard this rambling madman behind me muttering something about being replaced, and ten cats in the pokey or something. That’s when the shadows literally rose up around me and tried to attack me. Unfortunately I had the fire between me and the edge of the building they were going to fling me over. Either that or they were actually aiming for the flames, I don’t know.”
“You landed in the fire….”
“Yes, and that’s when our maniac decided to meet me up close and personal…like with a knife in the ribs. I was still trying to put out my now flaming leg which does not help my concentration in the slightest.”
“Jasper is a speedster.” Mori decided to helpfully interrupt. “Her main powers come from her super-speed.”
“Yes, and that’s how I was going to get away, if I hadn’t had one leg on fire, a bunch of live shadows grabbing at me, and a maniac vying for a nice place to put a dagger in me.” She paused.
“I have to say this story doesn’t bode too well for my abilities, but I was in a spell trance when this all started. It’s still hard for me to transition between practicing using magic I hate anyway, and back to being the speedy type. Didn’t help that the moment I did come completely out of that trance is when we fell off the roof and I landed in the middle of the graveyard.”
“Which is where the spell dissipated to.” Jayna filled in. “Did Warren fall with you?”
“Warren. So that’s the maniac’s name.” Jasper said thoughtfully before going on, “Yes. However, lucky for him I was there to cushion his landing.”
“Ouch.” Jayna winced at the thought. Warren was a lot bigger, and heavier, than Jasper appeared.
“Yeah, let’s just say I’m not too well at this point. Of course between the shadows, the concussion, the broken ribs, and the third degree burns on my leg, I was not paying attention to what the madman was doing until he uprooted a tombstone.”
Jasper then thought a moment, putting a hand to her temple. “Well, either he did it or the shadows did it, but that was when a tombstone was thrown at me. I think it may have been the shadows ‘cause I kicked him in the balls to get him off me after we fell.”
“Good. He deserves a good kick in the balls.” And three dozen more with spiked shoes, she thought. “Then what happened?” Jayna knew that Jasper probably wouldn’t have been much of a match against Warren, since she had explained that she couldn’t use her powers or her speed at that moment from being too disoriented.
“Well, that’s when the zombies started popping up. There were hundreds of them. I think they must have buried more then one person per grave there. This Warren then started acting like they were talking to him because he really went psycho on them. He forgot about me completely and started screaming at them like they were talking to him. Of course they didn’t forget about me, and boy, were they fun too.” This earned a snort from Reaper, who had decided yet again to sit on the table.
“Your definition of fun is warped, Jasper.” He said before turning to Jayna with his large red eyes. “It was all I could do to get her out of there. If I hadn’t been there she’d probably have ended up dead.”
“If you hadn’t been there I wouldn’t have been there either because you suggested the cathedral’s roof.” Jasper gritted her teeth at the cat. “So I think this is partially your fault.”
“You were the one casting the spell.” He retorted.
“You were the one supposed to teach me.” Jasper snorted, Jayna had a feeling that this would go on all day unless stopped. Mori looked very content to just watch them argue.
“So you got away ...” Jayna said, interrupting them. “What about our Mr. Mori here, though? How did you get him to help you? He’s not exactly known on J-street proper, nor is he the most helpful individual. You’re the first person I know of who I’ve seen him on a first name basis with.” This line of questioning obviously didn’t set too well with Mori. He looked like he was squirming a bit in his seat.
“It really is not necessary to go into that.” Mori said, trying to deflect the conversation away from him.
“Oh, yes it is. If I’m expected to help, I want to know what lead her to you.”
“Well, that’s simple. I have friends who know him.” Jasper said bluntly. “He owes a favor to one of them.”
“A favor?” Jayna asked. That answer was about as clear as mud.
“No I don’t.” Mori said his smile faltered a bit as Jayna eyed him harshly. This was fun, she hadn’t seen him this uncomfortable before. And his grammar slipped again. Yay.
“Oh of course, you’re right, you won’t after you help me get rid of the zombies. You see, he knows Silver Fox, who happens to be Dom’s sister.”
“Dom…the Goddess?” Jayna asked. “Why would he owe a goddess a favor? He doesn’t actually run around with that type of crowd.”
“Well, technically Silver Fox is only half Goddess, The other half is a demon.”
This was too wonderful. “Really?” Jayna smiled at Mori “So now you're owing goddesses favors?” He was decidedly unhappy with the fact that Jayna knew about it.
Modus Morte: Chapter 5
“Ladies…and I use the term very loosely, I assure you, I believe we need to be on our way…”
“Aw, did I embarrass you, Takeo?” Jasper teased.
“No, it is just that we are about to have company, Miss Jasper.”
“Aw crap.” Reaper said from his position on the café floor. “Zombies.”
Jasper and Jayna both looked up and past Takeo, and Jasper gasped. A dozen or so extremely old, decomposed bodies were inching their way slowly down the far side of the street proper. “Where do they keep coming from?”
“Well, I would assume, from Saint Heathenry’s Flowering Child’s graveyard.”
“Oh shut up, will you? Haven’t you ever heard the word ‘rhetorical’?” Jasper snapped. Takeo grinned. “Well?” Jasper added, smirking right back at him.
“Well?” Takeo repeated, still grinning.
“The zombies…?” Jasper prompted.
“Yes, quite a few of them.” Takeo retorted, either not catching her meaning or, more likely, choosing not to.
“…and…?” She continued, smirking at him, as Jayna fingered something in one of her pockets, glancing to the approaching zombies, becoming slightly nervous.
Reaper interrupted the battle of annoying quips. “Well, do something you little goog, or do I need to remind you of what Silver Fox said?”
Takeo glared down at the cat, who grinned. Jayna was getting tired of the grinning, smirking, and all-around annoyances and pulled one of the vials she had been fingering out of her pocket.
“Jayna, let Takeo take care of the zombies.” Reaper growled. “It’s part and parcel of his favor. He has to keep Jasper safe until her leg is healed, and the zombies are gone.”
Jayna looked at the cat in amazement. “That must be some favor.”
“Yeah well, he…”
“Reaper.” Takeo glared at the cat, as if willing him to silence.
“Look, kid, I lived with two goddesses and a half-demon, half goddess with perpetual PMS. You don’t scare me.” Jasper stifled a giggle as she hobbled away from the table, lost her balance, and ended up grabbing Jayna’s arm for support.
“Behave, boys.” She looked at the zombies, still slowly making their way to the café, and at Takeo. “Have fun.” She glanced at Jayna. “Do you think you could help me get to the Minutemen building?”
“What about them?” Jayna nodded towards the pair, still glaring daggers at each other.
“They’ll catch up, right, Reaper?”
“Yup.” The cat replied, never taking his eyes off the Asian, who had already pulled the sword Jayna had noted earlier. It was hard to tell who he wanted to use it on more, the cat, or the corpses. As the zombies ambled closer, he apparently decided, and the first one fell in the space of an eye-blink. He wasn’t superhumanly fast, but was fast enough.
“Showoff.” Jasper snorted, moving in the opposite direction. “I coulda done that. A lot faster, too.”
Jayna grumbled under her breath. “What did he steal to be that fast?”
“A talisman from Silver Fox.” Jasper answered. “But it’s a really limited ability. I doubt it was worth it.”
“Care to bring me up to date, then, Jasper? You seem to be more up on things than I am.”
“Sure, we can discuss it on the way.”
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
Takeo glanced back at the girls as the third zombie fell. “That, Reaper, could very much be trouble.”
“Jasper can take care of herself.”
“I was referring to them going off and talking without us.”
“Just get rid of these walking maggot-bags.”
“Yes sir, Reaper-san.”
“Smartass.”
Two more zombies fell, then a third, which crashed to the ground beside Reaper and continued crawling, its dismembered hand wrapping around Takeo’s boot.
“Make sure you scrape that crap off before you come inside.” The cat quipped before turning and chasing after the girls.
Takeo sighed, cutting down yet another slow-moving zombie. “…why me…” The pendant at his throat glowed slightly, reminding him exactly why.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
“You’re telling me that Mr. Perfect back there got caught stealing a talisman from a half-demon and lived to tell the tale?” Jayna looked at Jasper incredulously.
“Yeah, but she let him keep it. I guess she was feeling generous."
So Jasper is an innocent too. Jayna thought to herself. Demons almost always have ulterior motives beyond the obvious. “What happens if he backs out of the favor?” Jayna couldn’t resist finding out, since Jasper seemed more than happy to explain.
“Silver Fox breaks his hands.”
“I’m surprised he didn’t just let her, he’s not the type to owe favors…”
“Perpetually.”
“Ouch.”
“Would sort of put a crimp in his livelihood, wouldn’t it?”
“To say the least.” Jayna flexed her fingers in sympathy.
“So this Warren weirdo that attacked me….Takeo had a run-in with him, and you knew who I was talking about…”
“I’ve had problems with him in the past. He’s not one to play around with.”
“So I gathered. What’s his problem?”
“That could take a few days to explain. Let’s just say he thought you were someone else and leave it at that.” Jayna didn’t feel like discussing the psychopath any more than necessary, and it showed.
“Takeo said this guy was trying to recruit help to break into your shop?”
“Takeo talks too much.” Jayna retorted.
“Only when he’s being blackmailed.” Reaper interrupted, having caught up with them.
“It’s not blackmail, it’s returning a favor.” Jasper came to Takeo’s defense, seeing the latter wasn’t present.
“Po-ta-to, po-tah-to, Jasp.” The cat sniffed.
“Blackmail or no, I think we should focus on one set of problems at a time." Jayna interrupted Reaper before he could continue the argument.
“How was he doing, anyway?” Jasper asked the cat, somewhat concerned.
“He is done.” Takeo had caught up with them, and was following closely behind.
“You still got a bit on your shoe, kiddo.” Reaper grinned up at him.
“Wonderful.”
Modus Morte: Chapter 6
“You know the one thing I have a question about, Jasper, is how did you get to that cafe if you can barely walk?” Jayna asked as they watched Takeo remove the zombie funk from his boot.
“Takeo helped me.” Jasper said nonchalantly, as she appeared to search for something.
“Oh, he’s a real gem, isn’t he?” Jayna mumbled roughly as she was beginning to wonder what Jasper was looking for so ardently.
“I’m lucky though.” Jasper said. “The Minutemen building is only a couple of doors down now. I don’t go far if I don’t have to. Being a superhero and an invalid doesn’t work well together on J Street.”
That was an understatement, to be sure. As Jasper continued to search for whatever it was she was missing, Jayna considered suggesting that Jasper look in Takeo’s pockets, but Reaper spoke up before she could.
“It’s in the cast.”
“Ah.” Jasper replied, pulling a card out of her cast. “The door key.” She explained.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
The Minutemen building had been Jasper‘s home since it’s construction. Even when she wasn’t on J-street it had been waiting there for her to return. Most of the Minutemen were gone now. Although they would occasionally come and go, they had been spending more and more of their time in other dimensions. Since the business front closed, the building had fewer visitors, to the point that now most of the J-Street residents, even those nearby, believed it empty.
Some of the children on J-street would occasionally trip the security system, daring each other to enter the supposedly haunted building, but no one besides the Minutemen had been past the lobby until today.
“This is home.” Jasper announced as she passed the high security doors with her two guests. “Watch your hands people. Reaper, keep an eye on Takeo, please.”
Takeo gave Jasper a disgruntled look as Jayna smiled sweetly at him. She was glad that Jasper knew about his habit of having sticky fingers, but she was beginning to question just what Jasper knew when she announced the buildings security system and its quirks.
“If you take anything that is considered precious in this building there have been spells placed around it to knock you unconscious before you have a chance to exit the lobby. The goddesses placed anti-tamper spells along with the anti-theft spells. So I suggest you don’t touch anything unless you ask first. What each of our resident goddesses considered precious is wildly different. You’d be surprised what you find protected.”
“I am beginning to get the distinct feeling that you do not trust me.” Takeo said, arching one eyebrow.
“Only now?” Jasper smiled “I must be too subtle. Want a tour? No one’s home but me, for a while, anyway.”
“Where are the other Minutemen?” Jayna asked as Jasper led them down a long hall filled with glass cases.
“Off. I don’t know. They have a tendency to stay in other dimensions for long periods of time. You could say they’ve scattered with the four winds.” She shrugged in reply. Both Takeo and Jayna stopped to examine the cases around them. Each one was crammed full with different objects, some of great power and antiquity, and others of common items that ordinary people would collect.
“This is the museum hall.” Jasper said “Each case belongs to a different Minuteman. This is what remained of what we salvaged out of our old home before it was destroyed.”
“Do you have a case here?” Jayna asked as she wondered what the helmet in a particular case was worth.
“No, these cases belong to the dead Minutemen.” She said sadly. “This is their stuff we saved from the pocket dimension we used to live in.” Jasper then opened the doors at the end of the hall that lead into a great room. “This entrance is rarely used. Dom built it as part of our public front. It’s got halls that lead to the offices and printing rooms. This particular room Dom called our hall of heroes. She wanted to memorialize our fallen heroes here. The personal rooms and the equipment rooms are all upstairs.”
“You live in an office building.” Jayna gaped.
“Basically, yes. There are two floors of offices alone. Dom was dedicated to her business.”
“And where might Dom be now, if she was so dedicated?” Takeo asked, a bit sourly. Jayna hadn’t thought about it, but he was right. The three goddesses that lived here had been gone for a long time.
“They were forced to go home for some time.” Jasper said leading them across the hall to a glass elevator. She waited for the two of them to enter and to tell the computer she wanted the forth floor before saying. “Dom wants more then anything to devote her time to Minutemen, Inc. But she can’t. We have branches in other dimensions that are still up and running so they take care of the necessary business there. I just stay here and hold down the fort.”
“A bit tedious to be here alone in this giant building, isn’t it? Don’t you get lonely?” Jayna asked. She ignored Takeo as he smirked and could imagine what he was thinking. He was a loner normally, she was sure. So he wouldn’t have a problem with it, but this building was enormously large for just one person.
“No, I have Reaper.” Jasper smiled, “and the others come in and out every so often.”
“Really?” Jayna asked crossing her arms. The look on Jasper’s face when they entered the first hall had been anything but happy. “When was the last time one of them came by?”
Jasper didn’t answer but looked up at the numbers as the elevator moved. Reaper, on the other hand, did answer “Three weeks ago. I think Night visited, and the only reason she talked to Silver Fox a few days ago was because she called her.”
Jasper stuck out her tongue at the black cat as the elevator doors opened to reveal a huge room with a vaulted ceiling that held vehicles of all kinds.
“This is the parking area. There’s a platform built into the room to lower the street vehicles to the ground floor or to raise the ships up to the roof.” Jasper explained as they entered the room.
“I do not believe you live in an office building, Jasper-san.” Takeo said suddenly, as he examined a sleek looking motorcycle. “You live in a museum.” She just shook her head.
“The museum is on the 6th floor.” Jasper smirked “This building was designed with a team in mind. It has something for each of us and has a lot of possessions the others left here to be safe.”
“Regardless, this entire building is little more than a museum. If you are not careful, you will become just another part of the display.”
Jasper didn’t say anything she just limped on through the room as Takeo and Jayna watched her. “That’s what I keep telling her.” Reaper said to them. “She won’t listen. She misses them all too much to leave.”
“Shall we go on upstairs?” Jasper asked.
Modus Morte: Chapter 7
Jayna allowed Jasper to continue to lean on her as they made their way to her living quarters. She had to admire the girl's tenacity in view of her injuries. Jasper was slowing down the longer she was on her feet, and leaning more heavily on Jayna the farther they went. She was doing a good job of covering for her discomfort and most people would never have noticed any change in her mobility, but Jayna was not most people, and concentrating on Jasper kept her from paying undue attention to the wonders around her.
Once they reached a comfortable sitting area Reaper bounded ahead to curl up in the most comfortable spot. Talking or not, a cat is a cat is a cat. Jayna thought to herself, wondering what sort of mayhem Reaper and Lucifer could cause if they ever met, and decided quickly that some things were better left unthought-of. She helped Jasper settle herself, none too comfortably, onto a large overstuffed sofa. Jayna was relieved to find this part of the building to be more homey and less sterile and museum-like than the parts she had seen previously. This wasn't at all depressing and much more conducive to recuperation.
The room was literally bathed in warm colors. The white walls seemed to accentuate the gold and red tones that trimmed the room. Every picture frame, tapestry, and shelf unit seemed to have something with a cat on it. What was more surprising was the sword hanging on the far wall. Jayna didn’t figure Jasper was one to use a sword, but then it looked like it had never left the case before either.
Another thing Jayna noticed was the books. There were dozens of them crammed into the room. All of them stuck in places with no rhyme or reason. There was a large book of Japanese paintings with a small book of Brothers' Grimm fairy tales on top. The girl was eclectic, to say the least.
"You know you could have saved yourself a lot of trouble by just picking up the phone and giving me a call, Jasper." Jayna settled herself in a chair opposite the young mage-in-training while Takeo remained standing just inside the doorway. "I'm in the book, you know."
"Honestly, I never even thought of it." Jasper laughed, a bit embarrassed at the thought. "But I really do need to get outside once in a while, and Takeo needs something to do to keep his promise."
"And to keep him out of trouble." Reaper added. That didn't seem to sit too well and caused the door warden to grumble a bit under his breath in Japanese. "Watch your language, there are ladies present." the cat shot in his direction.
Takeo leveled an icy stare at Reaper and bowed stiffly, never taking his eyes off the cat as he did so. Jayna knew enough of Oriental martial arts etiquette to realize that one never takes his eyes off a possible threat, even when bowing. That tiny gesture raised her opinion, and curiosity, about the cat instantly. The entire situation was getting more intriguing by the second, zombies be damned.
"Jasper-san, you are home safe and I am less than fresh." Takeo raised one foot to indicate minute bits of zombie goo clinging to his shoe. "If you will not be requiring my assistance further this afternoon I would like to..."
"Of course you can go home and clean up. No need to be so formal." Jasper interrupted. She was beginning to see just how much of a punishment zombie duty was becoming for Takeo, who even by Japanese standards seemed highly fastidious. The slight man bowed again and spun on his heel, and the cat was off after him in a flash.
"I'll see you out." Reaper said, racing ahead of the man. As soon as they were out of earshot Jayna began the conversation again.
"I have a couple of friends that I could have look at your injuries. I'm sure they could help."
"Thanks, but no thanks." Jasper shifted into a more comfortable position on the sofa. "I don't seem to take too well to magical healing for some reason. I've had some pretty bad reactions in the past and don't want to chance it, especially not now with all this zombie trouble. No offense."
"None taken. It was just a suggestion." That subject was a bust, so Jayna decided to move on to the more pressing issue even though probing into the Takeo subject was almost irresistible. "So how do you think I can be of assistance with the zombies? I'm not a magic user, you know."
"I know that people come from all over to research magic among other things at your shop. I've also been told that under the circumstances it wouldn't be wise for me to go there myself, so I was hoping you could do some digging for us."
"Actually I was leaning that way myself. From what I've been hearing things are getting ugly all over town and it's beginning to be bad for business. I don't see any harm in pooling our resources."
"Great, I'll tell you everything I know so far..."
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
Godsforsaken pile of walking flea-bait. Takeo muttered to himself as he walked away from both Reaper and the Minutemen building, across the street to an adjacent parking garage.
It was getting late in the day and judging from the clouds and darkening sky, would be raining soon, and ‘home’ was a lot further away than Jayna’s shop. “Some days start bad, and then get worse.” Takeo commented to no one in particular as he pulled a small pouch out of his coat.
Pouring out a handful of the contents he threw it against the concrete support beam in front of him, and it vanished, leaving a sleek motorcycle in its wake. Red, black, chrome, and not cheap. Also not off-the showroom specs, but no one had to know that. A complete cloak of concealment might be considered overkill, but a little security went a long way as far as he was concerned. After all, the Minutemen building was not in the best of neighborhoods. Taking the helmet, he started to put it on when a voice interrupted.
“Nice trick.”
Takeo turned to face the voice, sighing internally. Some days start bad, and then get worse. “Thank you.” He replied, studying the speaker. The teenager in front of him was several inches taller, and probably fifty pounds heavier than he was, and his jacket bulged slightly, probably concealing a weapon. And he was not alone, as Takeo caught movement to both his sides.
“Would hate to see a nice bike like that get stolen.”
“Indeed.”
“What’s a pansy like you doing with a machine like that?” The speaker to his right asked, coming out of the shadows and moving closer. “Saw you when you came in earlier, we were gonna take a little spin, but damn that’s a good trick you pulled…you some sort of Daniel Copperfield?”
“I believe the name you are looking for is David Copperfield.”
“Yeah, whatever, just hand over the keys and we’ll be on our way.”
“And why would I do that?” Takeo grinned, eyes flitting from face to face in the gloom. It was most definitely going to rain hard, and soon, and past the edge of the garage he could see a light rain start to fall. Being around Jasper for a few days, being on his best behavior, dealing with Silver Fox’s threats, Reaper’s constant belittling, and Jayna Alexandra’s attitude …
This was going to be fun, he decided.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
Elsewhere:
A sliver of filtered light entered the pitch-black space as a heavy wooden door opened inward on noisily rusty hinges into the chill, damp room. A figure slipped inside and pushed the door shut, plunging the area once again into total darkness. There was a soft scratching sound as a match flared to light a candle stub located in a niche at one side of the doorjamb, throwing eerily dancing shadows across the immediate area. The figure took the stub and moved deeper into the space, lighting other candles along the way and leaving small pools of flickering illumination behind it.
The light-bringer halted at a makeshift table/bookcase/desk combination located against a wall and lit a large multi-wick black pillar candle and placed the stub into a skull-shaped holder, shrugged off his backpack setting it on the floor, then removing his coat and hanging it on a claw-shaped hook protruding from the side of the bookcase. A black bowler hat with a fake white daisy in the band was removed from his head and laid gently on the table. The figure turned with a flourish and threw his arms out to both sides theatrically.
"Honey, I'm home!"