Darren sat in the living room one of the gloves in their hand. They were wearing the other one. They moved and twisted a tiny screw driver, focusing on the battery. They kept working as a door clicked open. They looked back and watched Echo and Shade come back in a few bags in their arms. Echo looked at them and then toward the bedrooms. She slowed and winced touching her forehead.
“Has anything changed?” she asked.
“No. He’s still asleep.”
“Is it right to say asleep?” Shade asked. “It’s been three days.”
“Yeah it has. And there’s nothing we can do for him but wait,” Darren shook their head and set the glove down. They brushed their fingers through their hair. “In the meantime, we’re down half of the team.”
Echo made a face, “Feint won’t leave Phase’s side until he wakes up.”
“Guess you don’t need to be a mind reader to know that about her,” Shade said. He walked toward the hallway and leaned against the corner of the wall.
Darren showed off the gloves on their hand. “She won’t leave but me and her have been doing some work on, among other things, the gloves. They’re ready to be field tested for real.”
Shade shook his head, “Meanwhile Yu’s not leaving our room. Has she eaten anything?”
Darren shook their head, “Not that I’ve seen.”
“Dammit Yu.”
“It’s pretty par for the course for her,” Rogue walked in from the roof and he teleported to the ground. “She’s blaming herself for it.”
“Did you manage to find it?” Darren asked Rogue and he dropped a manila envelope in front of them. “Perfect.”
Shade arched his eyebrow, “The hell’s in there? Russian missile codes?”
“Better. Party invitations.” They slid their hand inside and pulled out seven ornately designed cards. They were on thick plastic, red embroidery on gold material. Darren sifted through them and counted ten. “I didn’t think they’d be able to get us this many but I’ll definitely take it.”
“That’s what you had me find?” Rogue snorted and went to get coffee from the fridge. “The hell invitations were worth the effort?”
“Something to kill two birds with one stone,” Darren flipped over the invitation and handed one over to Shade. “There’s going to be a big fancy fundraiser at the One Flip casino. They’re raising money toward the Harris building memorial.”
“Let me guess. Those families aren’t going to see a cent from the charity,” Darren shook their head and Shade scowled tossing the invitation back. “Where do we come in?”
“We’re going to have two jobs there. One is obvious. We’re stealing stuff.”
“Our favorite past time,” Echo replied.
“Exactly. But this second part is going to be tricky,” they rubbed their jaw. “Because it’s based around Harris there’s a very very good chance that G will be there. And frankly not having your masks is starting to become too big of a problem.”
“If they had them Phase might have been able to get help before he got shot,” Rogue stated flatly and Darren gave a grim nod. “But we’re still on the watch list.”
“We are but that can go away if we have G renounce the claim he put out.”
“Because he’s such a nice guy, right?” Shade snorted.
Darren shoved their hand into the envelope and pulled out a USB stick. “If she’s still reliable than this is going to be more than enough to get G to start singing a different tune. And that tune begins with exonerating you all.”
Shade nodded and raised his finger, “Question. You’ve got ten invites. And there’s only seven of us. Who are the other three for?”
“Some friends. They’ll be here in a couple of days. Just in time for the party,”
“So do we want to address the elephant in the room or wait until our leader is up and moving?”
They grew silent at Rogue’s question because it was definitely something that had run through their minds individually. Shade folded his hands, “First me and Rogue with that woman. And now Phase with that other guy. And he had the same powers as Phase and Feint too. They’re definitely related right?”
“That’s my assumption,” Darren rubbed their chin staring at the table. “And they called Yumi 365. So it’s likely the guy that you ran into at the park Echo.”
“Why was he even there?” Rogue asked.
“No idea. Gotta wait for Phase to wake up.”
“Alright,” Echo put her hands on her hips. “We need a plan in the meantime.”
“I’m got some leads on the N Kings. I can follow up on that. You wanna come with me again Rogue?”
“Sure. Better than being stuck here doing nothing.”
“Cool. Let me just,” his eyes were downcast. “Let me just try to talk to Yu again.”
Darren stood up taking off the glove, “Come with me Rogue. I can get you fitted for your gloves. You can both test these for me.”
Rogue left with Darren but Shade and Echo stayed together as they went to the kitchen. Shade went through the fridge and put things together and warmed it up in the microwave. Echo watched him carefully and he could feel her tenseness. But he didn’t say anything as he worked. Taking the warm plate, he glanced at the food, a piece of grilled chicken, some asparagus and rice. He let a dab of the mint sauce that he prepared as well, took a deep breath, and started walking.
He walked down the hallway and passed Phase and Feint’s room. The door was cracked open and he saw the glow of some kind of screen but didn’t stop to seriously look. Getting to his room he pushed open the closed door and it was dark inside. He walked in and carefully stepped over the clothes and scattered trash on the ground. It smelled musty and not for the first time he wished that they had a window so he could air the place out.
Walking toward the bed he saw the lump under the blankets, her back facing the wall. Her hair was a mess and he could barely see it from the side of the blanket. The rest was hidden away and he sighed. Setting the food down on the edge of the bed he sat near her leg.
“Hey Yu.”
She didn’t reply to him and he grabbed the plate pulling it forward.
“You haven’t eaten in a while.”
She still didn’t reply and he scratched the back of his head, pretty par for the course.
“I haven’t seen you drink or eat something in three days. And I’d rather you not die of starvation or some shit.”
Yumi mumbled and he blinked quickly. That was the first she’d said something in a long time. She’d said a few things in passing here and there but for the past day she was silent.
“Not even being a shit. What did you say?”
She shifted on the bed and spoke with a scratchiness to her voice, “I don’t have to eat.”
“Ah. Well. Pretty sure that’s not true. Just being alive we kinda gotta consume food right?” She mumbled again and he sighed. “Missed that one too.”
“I said I’m not a normal person,” he could hear the scowl in her tone. “Me. Feint. Phase. None of us need to eat or drink. We can just. Survive.”
“Ah,” Putting the plate down on the nightstand he pointed. “I brought you something. Its still warm at the moment. Just a bit of chicken and greenery. Eat some of it.”
“I’m fine.”
“Please.”
“I’m fine DJ.”
Something about that stung. He wasn’t sure why but it did. He stared at her and she hadn’t moved in all the talking. He stood up slowly going toward the corner the door. His foot caught on a discard piece of clothing and he stumbled toward the dresser but got his bearings.
“We just want to help you. I want to help. But this. Staying in our room. Hiding from what happened. From us. It’s not going to change what happened. It’s not going to help the shelter and it’s definitely not going to help Phase wake up sooner. It’s not helping anyone, least of all you. Please Yumi. Don’t shut us out.”
He stared at her and she didn’t move from the side of the bed. Didn’t talk again. The room just hung in silence. He just made it past the bed when the plate he’d left behind for her, crashed into the wall. The food and pieces of the plate sank to the ground and he looked back to glare at her. Yumi was sitting up her chest heaving and her eyes were narrowed focused on him.
“What the hell is wrong with you?”
“Fuck you.”
“What?”
“Fuck you. Just fuck you. You want to help. Leave me the fuck alone.”
“You’re just going to sit here in the dark by yourself forever then?”
“Yes! Phase got shot. Phase almost died! All because I fucked up. He came out because I asked him. He got hurt covering for me. What’s the point of me going out there and trying to help people if all I do is get the people I care about hurt? I’m done trying DJ. If he doesn’t pull through. If Phase.” She stopped unable to continue. “ I don’t want to be the reason one of you gets fucking killed! I’m done DJ. Just leave me alone.”
She slid down into the bed slowly and hid her face behind the covers. He reached toward her but he felt the gentle nudging in his head, “Leave her. For now. Just give her time.”
He looked at the door but Echo wasn’t there, at least not where he could actually see her. He glared at the ground, grinding his teeth together. “Fine.”
He went to the closet grabbing a small draw string bag. Leaving the room he closed the door behind him and dragged his fingers through his hair. He pulled and winced feeling some strands come loose. Dropping them to the ground he shoved both hands back into his pockets and walked into the living room. Rogue was standing retying his bandana around his head.
Darren came out and handed a pair of gloves to Shade which felt perfect once he slid them onto his hands. The strange stiffness of the wiring was there but it wasn’t too bad. He could get used to it. He looked up and realized that Rogue had been staring at him. “What?” his tone had more bite to it than he realized or even meant.
“That answers that,” he replied shaking his head. “Where’s your business taking us?”
“A house on the southside. Apartment. A friend said they heard a rumor that the N Kings found a way to make Enhance locally. I don’t think they have but he told me about it so I gotta check it out. Better than going alone.”
“Right. Let’s go then.”
“Wait,” Darren came out and tossed a pair of ear pieces to them along with pouches. “I know they suck but make do with them. They’re better than the wires”
“Yeah yeah,” Shade affixed it to his ear and wound it through his hair. Rogue did the same and both tied bandanas around their mouths finally. They both tied the pouches around their waist. “Let’s go.”
Shade walked out of the balcony and looked at the glove. He’d swung with this thing once before but doing it for real was going to be different. He was glad that he had Rogue at his back for this one. Jumping forward he shot one arm forward and shot the line. The hook snagged into a brick and he swung forward like he was flying.
Shooting another he let the last one go and crossed a few blocks in seconds. The air whipped past him and he had to force himself to get into the swing of breathing in time with this. He looked over his shoulder and watched as Rogue zipped past him getting into the swing of this faster than he ever could.
“You know Rogue I don’t really know anything about you,” Shade said swinging forward. He landed and balanced on the edge of a building and watched Rogue keep going.
“What do you mean?”
“Well Yu, Feint, Phase and Echo are all experiments gone rogue. Darren apparently was some genius even when they were a kid. And then there’s us. I’m a high school dropout turned wannabe gangster. What’s your story? How’d you get here?”
Rogue stopped atop a higher building staring at the city. Shade swung forward, using two good turns and finally flipping to land beside him. He stumbled forward but caught himself and cracked his back. Both of them stared at the street below. Rogue put his hands in his pocket and didn’t say anything initially.
“You don’t have to tell me if it’s not something you want to talk about. Just curious about you since we’ve been living together for like a year.”
Rogue was already shaking his head, “It’s not that. I’m just trying to think of where to begin. Easiest place is the beginning, right?”
“I’ve heard that’s always a solid choice.”
Rogue shook his head, “You and Firebug have spent too much time together.”
“I’ve heard that a few times,” Shade grinned.
“My parents were immigrants here,” Rogue said after a pause. “Illegally came over when I was a baby. There was a civil war going on back home and America was the land of dreams.” He waved his hands. “Bullshit but not getting killed for existing was a good trade off back then.
“They came over here to California. We had family over here. Blood thicker than water but you can’t rely on blood family most of the time. We got here and the papers my parents paid for were good but not the job, or the place to live, and even worse papers for me.”
“Wait. So you were never legal?” Shade asked.
“Nope. No birth certificates. No social security number. For all intents and purposes, I don’t exist according to the US government.”
“That’s bullshit.”
“Seems par for the course when it comes to the group of us. Parents worked themselves to death for about a decade straight. Trying to find a good life for the three of us. We ended up leaving California for Chicago. Better chances back then. My dad died when I was only ten. Overworked in a factory. Mom’s health went to hell and she died trying to put food on the table. After that I was on my own. Taught myself to survive.”
The pair of them moved forward and sat on the edge of the rooftop. Shade looked at his friend and wrapped his arm around his shoulder. “I’m sorry man.”
“Well you know the feeling, right?”
Shade was already shaking his head, “Not like that. I dropped out of school because I didn’t fit the mold my parents laid out. My sister was their perfect child. But even if I was a disappointment to everyone in my family, I still had some. That sounded shittier than I meant.”
Rogue laughed, “It’s fine.”
“Okay so we have how you got here. But not how you got to where you are now. When’d you go from street urchin to Nightcrawler?”
“Nightcrawler?”
“Oh come on you have to know Nightcrawler.”
He smirked, “Yeah. I took it when I was a kid. Maybe 12 or something. Stole it from some drug dealer while he was eating. Most people don’t know what to do when a homeless kid comes at them with a knife.”
Shade opened his mouth but then threw his hands up in surrender, “Can’t say I would have known what to do then either.”
“For the record I don’t recommend doing Enhance that young. It almost killed me,” he shrugged again. “But it didn’t.”
“Okay another question.”
“You’re full of these you know?”
“Blame my girlfriend,” he frowned hard and stared at the street. He shook his head not wanting to dwell on that part. “Last one though. And then we get back to the job.”
“Fine. Shoot.”
“You and Echo.”
“What about us?”
“Come on man. Are you two a thing? I mean we found you guys as a package deal.”
Rogue snorted, “She’s my best friend before anything else. I don’t know if I found her on my own or if she found me cause of the whole mind reading thing. It was before I had Enhance. I saw her stumbling around lost, like a puppy. I knew what it looked like to be stumbling around with nothing but the rags on your back and no idea how to make it to tomorrow. I thought I was going crazy when I heard a voice in my head before I even heard her talk to me.
“I made sure she could eat and sleep and she kept me out of danger whenever I did jobs. Next thing I knew she was a constant in my life. Haven’t really looked for a relationship beyond friendship my entire life. Echo tried to play match maker once and it didn’t work out. She suggested I might be Ace but I never gave it a second thought.”
“Heh alright. Thanks for indulging me,” Shade put his hands on his knees and hopped back to his feet. “Alright. Like I said last question. Back to work.”
“Back to work,” Rogue repeated.
They jumped and the first swing was rough but getting back into the rhythm didn’t take long. It was like they’d been doing this routine for years instead of only hours. The discrepancy between heights made itself known quickly. But the moment they left the city behind needing the gloves went away and they just ran hopping from building to building. The afternoon sun was against their backs.
Slowing down at the top of the building he pulled out his phone. Scrolling through his text he swapped to the maps making sure they had gone to the right spot. Nodding slowly, he glanced at Rogue as he dropped down beside him. “We here?”
“Close,” he pointed across the street and down a few houses. The apartment wasn’t bad looking. Had a few open and windows, some trash on the street around it and a few cars that were destined to never run again but the neighborhood wasn’t bad at first glance.
“Doesn’t exactly look like a drug lab to me.”
“That’s cause these guys aren’t dumb. And the lab isn’t in the apartment. It’s below it.”
“In the basement?”
“Yeah. The N Kings own the whole complex. Well not literally but essentially,” he shrugged. “Regardless we gotta get down there.”
“How are we going to do that? Neither of us can walk through walls. Unless you want to tell me something.”
“Sadly no. Same power set as you remember. But that’s what I have you for,” he gripped him on the shoulder and smiled. “So follow my lead.”
“Not big on plans, are you?”
“I planned our last group up. And that worked out great.”
“I guess.”
“Perfect,” he pointed toward the tight alley between the apartment and another. “Can you get us there?”
“Easy.”
They teleported to the sidewalk, just outside of the alley and Shade took point from there. He walked through the alley slowly, kicking garbage bags out of the way and stepped over a puddle of something that smelled like it came from a toilet. The entire alley itself smelled awful, the garbage hanging around having to have been there for weeks if not longer.
Both of them pulled the bandanas across their noses tighter and Rogue wretched, “What the fuck is that?”
“A distraction,” Shade grumbled.
Beyond the stench of the trash was a strong chemical smell mixed in but Shade almost missed it the first time. At the ground there were a few pockets that had fenced in half circles. Going closer he saw windows down there. Some had little gardens setup and others were just boarded up likely because of the smells.
He walked up to one that was two pockets away and crouched in front of it. The window was open and the influx of chemical smells in his nose made him almost dizzy. He could see inside for a second, there was no noise within the basement and no light at the moment. Unable to take it anymore he pulled the bandana close again and took a step back pointing.
“That’s our in. Can you teleport us?”
Rogue went toward the window staring inside for a moment and nodded, “What’s our play down there.”
“Look around. Make sure this isn’t just a meth lab. If it is Enhance we get rid of it. At least if it’s worth it. Not trying to get into a fight with these guys.”
Sliding the bag down his shoulder he pulled out a pair of chemical masks and tossed one to Rogue followed by a pair of goggles. He put them on and once Rogue was ready he grabbed his shoulder and they teleported inside. They only went a few feet forward but the change in environment was jarring.
The basement wasn’t that big. Maybe the size of a bedroom if that. Everything had been cleared out of it and replaced with a bunch of folding tables. Propane tanks were across the ground attached to giant pots on the tables. Open boxes of stuff you could find at any Walmart or Target were scattered along with tablespoons and measuring cups. Beside the pots were vials also simmering over controlled flames. Regular build your own chemistry sets.
There were four setups like this in the basement like this with fans hanging from the ceilings and all blowing towards the open window. They made sure to step carefully over the cords snaked across the ground. Rogue went forward and touched a paper taped to the wall. It was a list of measurements, mixing times and more. It was like a cake recipe except you really didn’t want to lick the spoon.
“Where is everyone?”
Shade shrugged, “Smoke break. Watching the shit cook will make you go insane. Or high. In a bad way.”
“What makes the neighbors put up with this stuff?”
“Money or threats. Take your pick,” Shade shrugged. “And the cops know but give them a fraction of some profits and they’ll turn a blind eye. Old hat.”
Shade walked to one of the pots and lifted the top off one and was assaulted with steam and more smells but the clear liquid that was boiling inside of it made him wretch even more. Shoving the top back on it he waved his hand in front of his face. “I’m no chemist but I’m pretty sure that’s the stuff.”
“What are the odds that this is the only lab they have?” Rogue asked.
“In my expert opinion, slim to none.”
“How much time until someone checks on this stuff?”
As if to answer him an alarm went off, a soft and annoying beep but it was consistent. Rogue walked over to him grabbing his shoulder. Shade held a hand to wait and reached into his bag pulling out a pair of green eggs. He dropped one into the pot near him and then went over to another and dropped the egg.
“Okay let’s go.”
They teleported to the alleyway again and right as arrived outside two quick bangs followed by shouting. They walked back to the street and Rogue got them back to the last roof. Shade got his phone out and went to a notepad erasing a line. “You got plans tonight Rogue?”
“I get the feeling you’re going to ask me anyway.”
Shade flashed a grin and shrugged his shoulders slowly, “Who’s to say?”
Rogue looked toward the sky and watched the sun kiss the horizon. He stared for a long moment and finally nodded. “Where we heading?”
The Harlequin Library 