Enhance: Chapter 6

Yumi was happy.

Darren had delivered the money early and that meant shopping. The first thing she did was find a new pair of shoes. It took about an hour but finally she found the pair. Comfortable, good grip, nice balance and didn’t restrict her toes. Plus they were bright red.

She contemplated stealing them, as was her way, but she decided to be a normal citizen this time. After buying them she tossed out the old ones, put them on, and jogged around the city. Keeping herself at a normal speed was a torture but took her out to the lakefront.

She found herself circling around the boardwalk twice when something caught her eye. There had been a man with a Dip’n dots cart. Slowing down in front of the cart she said hello and knelt down. The cart was decorated with a grid of the various colorful flavors. She knew the norm of chocolate, strawberry and vanilla. However, mint, cookies’n cream as well as rainbow were new to her. She looked at each of them and she couldn’t decide on which she wanted.

“Dip’n dots huh.” She scrunched up her face in thought. “Which of these would you suggest then.”

He made a sound of amusement as he looked down at her before going into thought. “Chocolate crunch is my best seller. My personal favorite is Mint though.”

With a quick nod Yumi stood up and pointed at the mint box. “Then give me a small mint.” She said and then laughed. If she had a small mint she would definitely be able to get that jet.

“Good choice.” The man said. Scooping out a serving of the tiny ice cream dots. While he made it Yumi opened her wallet and pulled out a five. They traded currency for treat and she smiled. “Keep the change.”

The man tipped an imaginary hat and she giggled softly. Taking the spoon that was also offered she walked away and ate a mouthful. Her eyes widened as she looked down at the cup.

“Whoever made Dip’n Dots is a fucking god.” Yumi whispered putting a spoon full of the frozen treat in her mouth.

She ate and walked for a few blocks and made it back into the city. There was a small park nearby complete with jungle gym, swings, and a seesaw. She had read about these and seen pictures of them but he never thought they were real. Spoon still in mouth she went toward the swing set. Sitting down comfortably she pushed off and it was surprisingly nice.

She didn’t know how much time had passed but eventually she heard the sounds of teenagers. They seemed to be no older than high school. There were a couple of them together in big groups and then others were separated and just hanging out on their own.

She watched them and wondered what it was like to be that kind of teen. Grow up going to school and dealing with parents. Having boy troubles and teachers that hated you. Instead of life or death test that even if you did them right ended in a cattle prod up the ass.

She frowned in mid thought. The first problem was the fact that she was out of ice cream and she didn’t want to go and buy more. However, her second was the kids. They were all gathered around some stranger. A guy that was easily in his twenties. He was standing on the edge of the playground wearing a hoodie.

Being nosy and curious as she was she decided to listen in on what he might have been saying. “I’ve got all kinds of things. Got Mary Jane. Speed. Snuff. Whack. I even got a little bit of Enhance.” He said like he was proud of that achievement.

Her eyes widened when she heard that and she crushed the cup in her hand. One of the teens came forward then, sounding excited. “I want Enhance. Let me see it.

“No I’m gonna get it.” Shouted a girl.

“Easy kids. Highest bidder gets to try out Enhance. Alright? Now show me the money.”

“How about I show you my cash.” Yumi said. The dealer and the teens started as they looked at her. She had smug look on her face but on the inside, she was pissed. She’d seen what Enhance did to a person and a kid did not need that in their system.

“You tryna to get in the game girl?” The dealer asked suddenly ignoring the kids. She didn’t look like just some regular. She had money, he figured that much. But at the same time he got a good vibe from her.

“Only if you got something worth my time.” She said producing a thick wad of bills.

“I take it you don’t want anything regular.” The man reached into the pocket of his jacket and pulled a black case. “You want Enhance.”

“How’d you guess?”

“I’m good at gauging customers.” He said and glanced at the money in her hand. “So we doin this trade or not?”

“Let me see it first. Before we exchange hands.”

“Can’t do that. Gotta get the cash in hand and then you can take all you want.” He said and shrugged. “Or the kids can get it. I don’t care. I just gotta sell this stuff.”

“Fair enough. Those are your terms. Now listen to mine.”

She was on him in an instant, shoving his back into a wall and her arm against his throat. From the way she had done it, he was actually lifted off the ground. He was a scrawny shit and it didn’t take much effort for her to keep him up.

“This place is off limits. Kids. Off limits.” She growled. “You don’t sell this shit to kids. If I find out you sold to kids, I even think you might have sold this poison to kids, I will find you and I will. Break. Your. Neck. We clear?”

The guy nodded the best he could and Yumi smiled backing away. She dropped him and he fell on his ass. She turned around and ignored the wide-eyed teens. Instead she bent down and picked up the black case that supposedly had the Enhance in it.

Popping open the case she saw a syringe and a vial of clear liquid. Was this really Enhance? She had no idea. Feint would know though. Putting the case into her pocket she nodded. Hearing a slow click, she was able to turn around in time to see the gun come up.

The bang was loud and the pain was immediate. She stumbled backwards as she looked at her shoulder. It was bleeding hard and she started to step forward when another bullet took her in the stomach. She gasped and fell down to her knee choking back pain.

“Mother… fucker…” She growled and dashed forward. Running past the guy she dashed into an alleyway. She couldn’t risk trying to kill him, not like this. She slowed down as fine motor skills started to abandon her.

Panting heavily Yumi leaned against the wall of an apartment. She glanced down the alleyway toward the street that would exit into a dead end. If she was trapped here she’d take his gun and shoot herself for being an idiot.

Looking at her stomach she felt the blood seeping through her shirt and hand. She was swearing with each step. In hindsight it was a stupid move but in the moment it felt like the right thing to do. Closing her eyes, she tried to take a steadying breath but with fire in her lungs as her stomach moved.

The shoulder wound had at least stopped bleeding. She slid mid step and almost fell onto her face but caught herself last second. “Fucking shit.” She grumbled and leaned against the wall.

She reached into her pocket and got out her phone. Rather than unlock it she just hit the emergency call button. She then typed in her old name: 365. The guy was probably either scared shit less and didn’t think that she would still be alive meaning no chase. With that in mind she jerked a dumpster out and hid behind it. If she just rested her eyes she’d be okay.

Phase eyes opened slowly and he groaned. Rolling onto his side he thought he heard something but ignored it at first. As it continued he tried to actually listen to it. It was a low whining beep. “Christ what now?” he mumbled.

Wandering into the living room he ran into Feint hunched over her laptop.

“What’s that sound?” Phase asked rubbing sleep from his eyes.

“It’s the emergency signal. I was out when I heard it. Came home soon as I could.” She said quickly as she was typing against the keyboard. She was typing faster as a map appeared and a red dot appeared on it. “And since you’re here it means Yumi’s in trouble. I’m going to get her.”

“We’re going to get her.” Phase said as he went to get a jacket for them both.

Feint sent the picture of the map to both of their phones. Picking them up and she checked to make sure the picture sent. Once they were ready they got in the elevator and took it straight down.

Once on street level they started running. Feint held her phone up and started following the red dot. A line from their current position and she followed it forward. Meanwhile Phase made sure Feint didn’t walk into any people though he eventually just stood in front of her and forced people to go around.

What the hell could Yumi have gotten into that kind of trouble? They were durable. She was durable. She was strong and competent and yet she was asking them for help.  In the back of his mind he hoped that she had just done it accidentally though there were enough fail safes to prevent that.

“Turn here.” Feint said pointing down an alleyway. There was a dumpster blocking part of the alley and they ran past it but Feint slowed. “Wait. The signals around here.”

She turned around trying to find it, to find her, and after several frantic turns she came up with nothing. With a growl Phase turned and kicked the dumpster hard and shouted. And the dumpster shouted back.

“Ow! Goddammit! Don’t fucking kick the dumpster you fucking asshole!”

“Yumi!”

Both of them moved together, shoving the dumpster aside to find her lying against the wall. Feint moved first and held her fellow experiment tightly. Yumi grunted but hugged her back anyway. “I think she’s really starting to care, Phase.”

Feint helped her to stand and glared seeing the red spots at her stomach and shoulder. She saw the holes and sizes and guessed the cause. She touched them but The pair exchanged glances and Phase came closer to help her walk steadily.

“That was a good nap.” She was shaky for a second but then looked at them and smiled. Taking a step away from them she was able to stand on her own two feet. “See, perfectly fine.”

But when Yumi took a step she nearly fell over. Feint caught her quickly glared, “What happened to you?”

Instead of answering the question Yumi reached into her pocket. Pulling out the black case she handed it to Feint. Arching her eyebrow she took the case and opened it up. Feint gasped eyes widening further. “This is Enhance.”

“Dick Squad RX thank you.”

Phase shook his head and wrapped his arm around her waist and started walking. “From the top. What happened?”

“Well I was enjoying my new shoes.” She pointed down and smirked. “Which are still awesome. Anyway, I was enjoying them and my Dip’N Dots when I saw a guy at the park. He was trying to sell some drugs to the neighborhood kids. I felt the need to step in and ended up threatening him. Pretty well might I add. With my success, I took a little bit of his stock cause I knew you’d want to get your hands on it.”

“I didn’t want you to get shot for it.” Feint said though she hadn’t taken her eyes of the container. Taking the vial out she looked through it and held it up to the light. “This is. This is going to give me a lot of answers.” Putting it away she took Yumi’s arm and put her arms around her shoulders.

“Probably. But let’s go home. You need to get some new clothes and sleep on a real bed.” Phase said as they crossed a street. They got a few looks from pedestrians but none of them cared.

The walk back wasn’t arduous just slow. Phase helped find clean clothes for Yumi while she spent a long time in the shower. Meanwhile Feint was in front of her computer sending and replying to dozens of emails from various people to get the sample analyzed.

Turns out Darren knew a lot of people. When she told them about her theories they put her into contact with some smarter people. It probably benefited them in some way shape or form. Feint was fine with that for the time being.

Yumi came back into the living room wearing shorts and a tank top. Her hair was down and wet. Her towel was wrapped around her shoulders as she plopped down beside Feint. “So you seem jazzed.”

“Exceedingly.” Feint said and shifted at her proximity.  She looked at her shoulder and then her stomach. “You okay?”

“Fit as a fiddle.” She said and even flexed with a groan. “Alright a little sore but okay.”

Feint touched her shoulder gently. Yumi flinched but made herself relax and looked away. “Thanks for worrying about me.”

“Thanks for asking for help.” Phase said as he entered the room. He was wearing a short sleeve shirt and sweatpants. Feint was the only one still wearing her outside clothes.

“You make it seem like I never ask for help.” Folding her arms she pouted.

“You don’t.” Feint said simply. “Remember when you broke your arm trying to climb the apartment.”

“No. I do not.”

“Let me refresh your memory then.” Phase said and grinned. “You and I argued the night before and it ended in you making a bet. If you could get to the top of the apartment without help I’d owe you my next earnings. You proceeded to try, fall from midway up, and break your arm. Though that didn’t stop you. You kept trying to climb with a broken arm. We had to carry you back inside because you passed out.”

“I almost made it on the fourth try.” She said defensively

Feint turned a glare onto her. “And remember when you tried to pull off a heist on your own. Without preparing or even planning. You made it in and out but you almost died when a guard shot you on the way out.”

Yumi scoffed. “I wouldn’t have died.”

“He shot you mid jump, Yumi.” Feint focused her stare onto her and it was a heavy stare.

“Fine. Fine. You two are right. I don’t ask for help. It’s cause I don’t need it.” She said with another pout.

“You may not ‘need it’,” Phase said slowly. “But we’re in this together. Like it or not.”

“Yeah yeah.” Yumi leaned back and glanced at the empty other half of the room. She stared at the area around them and tilted her head. There wasn’t anything in half of the penthouse. Sure they had miscellaneous stuff just lying around but they couldn’t possibly fill it up themselves. There were at least two other possible bedrooms that were just empty.

“You guys ever think about having more people around here?” Yumi asked still looking upside down at the penthouse.

“More people?” Phase repeated. “Like living here.”

“Living here. Hanging out with us. Stuff like that.”

“We aren’t exactly normal.” Feint said softly. “Our vocation doesn’t help us become that social either.”

“Yeah yeah I know.” She said with a shake of her head. “Just something I was thinking about.”

There was a soft ding that got the attention of Feint. She glanced at her computer and leaned forward. She assumed it was going to be one of Darren’s contacts getting back to her. Instead it was Darren themselves.

She opened the email skimming through it slowly. She put a hand to her mouth and narrowed her eyes in thought. “Well Yumi, you might have gotten your wish.”

“What do you mean?” Yumi asked and leaned forward.

Feint leaned back and glanced at them. “Darren has another heist for us. But they said there’s someone else going to work with us.”

“What? Wiz Kid has friends?” Yumi asked sarcastically and laughed.

Feint rolled her eyes. “Apparently. His name is Shade. At least that’s the name Darren’s giving us.”

“Shade huh. Doubt he gave us any other information about him.” Phase asked and Feint shook her head.

“Nothing else. Though, the mission is going to be a little difficult.” Feint said and frowned.

Phase groaned. “Why’s that? Who and what are we stealing from?”

“We’re stealing from Royals. And we’re hacking their databases. We want the account numbers from all of the Bishops and up.”

Yumi gave them all a look. “The Bishops and up? What’re you talking about?”

Feint sighed but Phase put a hand on her shoulder. “I got this one. Yumi doesn’t do her homework remember?

“The Royals is a gang. The suits that we saw the other day when we were dropping off the painting were them. They’re a group that dedicates to controlling everything. Not just the drug trade but every business, every mayor, every person. Basically they want to take the entire city.

“They’ve been around for a few decades that stand a pretty good chance at doing this. The only one stopping them from doing that is the Vanguard. They have the same goal, which is taking control of the city. They’ve got a more personal touch. Local gangs and the people in the city definitely prefer the Vanguard to the Royals.

“The Royals have a special ranking system.” Phase continued. ”All based off Chess. Their leader is the King. His second in command is the Queen. After those two there’s Bishops, Knights, Rooks and pawns. Each member does a special job. I don’t know all of them but I know that they’re not people we want to fuck with lightly.”

Feint shook her head. “Getting involved in the local gang struggles isn’t our job. Stealing that account information will be problematic. We need to be careful.”

“Come on Feint don’t you remember? Careful’s my middle name.” Yumi grinned at her.

“If today was any indication I’d suggest a name change.” Feint said closing her laptop.

Yumi frowned as she looked at her. “I’ll play it by the book. No screw ups.”

“When’s everything supposed to go down?” Phase asked.

“Tomorrow night. I’ll forward the dossier to your phones.” She said taking out her phone and typing away at it quickly.

Phase pulled it up and started skimming. “This’ll be our first time working with someone else. Wonder what he can do that makes him good.”

“Hopefully he’s not normal either.” Yumi suggested with a grin. “That’d be awesome.”