Enhance: Chapter 18

Yumi fell face first into the ground, the blow that hit her rattling her brain. She was seeing triple and her head was throbbing. The crowd was roaring around her, cheering her onward and she was not feeling it but she didn’t have much choice in the cage.

Pushing her hands flat against the ground and she got up slowly. Stumbling around for a moment she turned her gaze toward her opponent and glared. He had long black hair in a ponytail, was tall and looked like he was Asian or something like it. Around his mouth was a bandana though so she couldn’t be sure.

He was looking at her with blank eyes and which she hadn’t seen the guy emote much at all since she started fighting him. She ran toward him and suddenly he was gone, vanished into thin air but he wasn’t invisible. He teleported and he’d be attacking soon.

She slowed down and whipped her head around trying to figure it out. This wasn’t the first time she’d seen this trick out of him and it was just as annoying as the first time. He dropped down from above her and she jumped back. She managed to avoid the stomp but she had to block his follow up punches. After the third he vanished again.

His arm went around her waist and suddenly she was being lifted backwards. Throwing her hands down she landed on them and lifted with her hips, throwing him off her.. He hit the walls of the cage and slid down, glaring at her. She glared back and stumbled backwards for a moment and then got ready. “That all you got?”

He vanished again and she crouched slightly. Narrowing her eyes for a moment she whirled around and then raised her arms blocking his fist. Her leg came forward kicking him in the chest swatting him away. He stepped back before turning and roundhouse kicking her in the chest.

They panted daring the other to make another move. She was hurting all over the place and was pretty sure her lip was split and her eye was swollen. But she was not going to give up after only her first fight.

The guy lowered the bandana and spat onto the mat, revealing a snarl. He vanished and appeared behind her again. She ducked down and his fist went over her head. Pressing her back against his chest, she grabbed his arm and flipped him over her head and slammed him onto his back.

Flipping forward she jumped and stomped down onto his chest hard. He coughed as she turned and then punched him in the jaw. She drew back her arm and punched him harder doing it again and again. His head snapped back against the floor of the ring and he groaned not sitting up. She watched him, just in case he was baiting her but he didn’t.

Backing up slowly she got to her feet and raised her hands and shouted at the crowd. The crowd roared back and she soaked all in.

The metal door of the cage opened and the referee came over grabbing her arm and shouted into the microphone, “We have our winner! The new comer! Petrine!”

The crowd roared again as they walked out of the ring. The hallway snaked a few times and then to a set of stairs going up to the skybox. She was greeted by Rook and two of his body guards that equaled about three of her between the two of them.

“Good shit out there girl. Didn’t think you had it in you to beat The Rogue Bandit on your first match.” Rook appraised her slowly and then nodded. “Take a breather. Next match won’t be for a week. And I need you to keep winning. Underdogs makes a lotta bank.”

She smirked and shrugged her shoulders. “I doubt I’m much of an underdog now.”

“Heh, always beginners’ luck. Wait till ya go back for round 2. You might change your tune.” He motioned toward one of the others and they tossed her a thick envelope. “Your part of winning. And a little extra for fun.

She caught it and rubbed it slowly and nodded. “Thanks boss. See you in a week.” Though she talked on friendly terms with her current ‘boss’ she had to fight the urge to punch him every time she looked at him. He was a means to an end and though as ‘Petrine’ she was making him money, as Yumi she was going to be taking it.

She walked down the hallway and then worked her way toward the exit. Before going to the end, she went to a locker room and grabbed a small drawstring bag. Slinging it over her shoulder she walked back into the hall. She could hear another match starting up and had an urge to watch it. See the competition. But as she stared she caught sight of her previous opponent.

His face was cleaner, still bruised and bloodied. One good thing about Enhance was faster healing. Hell, she looked like her bruises were at least a week old and not only a few minutes. They met eyes and he glared at her but he was going in the opposite direction. Good riddance.

As she walked outside, the cold shocked her and she groaned loud.  The ground had a very thin layer of snow on it and she knew that there would be ice on the roofs. Reaching into her pocket she got her phone out. She speed dialed back home and the call redirected toward Feint.

“I’m assuming the match is over.” Feint said from the other end. Her voice was pleasant and relaxed.

“Yes Feint. What’re you working on?” Yumi asked as she started walking.

“What makes you think I’m working on something?”

“Your voice. The only time you sound this relaxed is when your hands are busy.”

Feint laughed softly. “I am working on some mask upgrdes. The boys are doing a job.”

“Without me? Assholes.” She pouted.

“Well you were busy.” Feint chuckled. “How well did you do?”

“Another match next week. Same time, same place.”

“Alright. You’re going to join them aren’t you?”

“Who them?” Yumi asked though she was already starting to move, running toward the nearest building. She was gripping the sides tightly as she climbed. Each edge was rough and cold against her hands. Climbing with only one hand was not an easy feet but she was making it work.

“You know who.” Feint rolled her eyes. “Be careful Yumi. It’s very icy out there. And there’s supposed to be snow tonight. I don’t want to have to go find you after your break your leg somewhere.”

“You worry too much Feint.” Yumi laughed. Once she was on the rooftop she reached into the bag and pulled out her mask. Pressing it against her face and strapped on she took a relaxed breath. She touched her phone and switched it over. “Besides, what’s a job without me?”

“Of course. I’m sending you their location and the best route there.”

“You’re the best Feint.” Yumi glanced at the corner of her mask as the map appeared over her right eye. She took another breath as she walked toward the edge of the rooftop.

She leaned forward then jumped as hard as she could. Flipping forward she landed and continued her careful sprint. Despite her recent fight, the run was a grea way to wind down. Going over the mission she shook her head. Basic B&E. Nothing they hadn’t done before.

“Hey Shadeow. Phase. Where you guys at?”

“Yumi?” Phase glanced up from the computer he was currently working his way through. “We’re more or less done here.”

“God, you guys really no how to kill a night Shadeow.” She said and sat on the edge of the building.

“Hey you have your night job and we have ours.” Shade said going through the bag at his feet. Chips, processors, graphics cards, the works. All things that were on the checklist that Darren had forwarded to him. “And I told you to stop calling me that.”

“Don’t like my nickname for you?”

“I’ve heard better.”

“If you need something to do we could use a distraction,” Phase said.

“Wiz Kid! What kind of distraction and where?” Yumi stood up excitedly.

“Well I was hacking in and tripped an alarm. Not my fault. Hacking isn’t my bit. Regardless the police are en route. So slow em down.”

“Mark them on the map and I’ll see what I can do.” Linking her fingers together and cracking them she turned as the blinking red and blue lights were placed on her map.  She turned and then started running toward it.

She jumped off the edge and fell. As she fell she spread her arms for a moment. This was a possibly stupid idea but she liked it. She flipped and landed in an alleyway. She then darted forward and jumped in front of the car. She braced herself as she slammed into the windshield and bounced over the top before landing on the ground.

The cars swerved to the side, screeching to a stop. Yumi groaned on the ground but remained as still as possible. She didn’t feel the pain as much as she should have but she needed a moment. Reaching out she pulled off her mask and hid it under her shirt. She heard one of the doors open quickly as someone rushed out.

“We need an ambulance here now! We’ve got a pedestrian hit by a squad car!” An officer said as his partner rushed toward Yumi. When he touched her throat to check a pulse and tried to resists the urge to groan.

She waited for the officer to walk away before she stood, grunting slowly. Once she was upright and put her mask on her face she slinked away. When the pair of cops turned back to face her, they were greeted by an empty street.

She ignored the pain and jumped up grabbing the edge of the wall. The indentations were very slight but she was forcing herself to climb. Despite wanting to go faster she grit her teeth and went slow. Frustration coursing through her as she climbed the pain started to bleed out of her thoughts as she climbed faster.

When she finally swung herself over the edge of the rooftop, she spun and landed crouching on her feet. Standing up and cracking her back she winced but smiled. She turned and saw the movement on the rooftops. She waved them down and in a few minutes the three of them were together. Shade glanced at her and then shook his head.

“So what’s it like being hit by a car?”

“It sucks.”

Shade laughed softly and Yumi glared at him.

“You still want to go through with this?” Phase asked as he looked at her.

“I told you I was serious.”

He sighed then turned toward Shade. “Can you take this stuff back home?”

Glancing at him for a moment he nodded and took the bag from Shade. “I can but let me go with her. I know the Vanguard. Might be helpful.”

“You sure?”

“Totally,” he smiled. “Besides I can handle Yumi.”

He laughed lightly turned and started running again talking into his mask, “Be careful you two. Hate to make this a duo with just me and Feint.” He disappeared into distance after a few buildings got between them. Yumi pressed a hand to her mask when the map popped up. A few red dots appeared on it and she nodded.

“Let’s get going Shadeow.”.

Together they turned and started running. The first location was a warehouse. It wasn’t the best guarded place but guarded none the less. Assault rifles seemed to be the name of the game, though there were a few shotguns.

“So what’s the plan?” Shade asked and Yumi laughed.

“Heh, you’re asking me what the plan is?” Yumi asked.

“This is your thing.” He told her and rolled his hand forward. “So, what do you have in mind.”

She nodded and tapped her mask. “Okay mask, locate targets with guns.” A pulse went through her mask and swept over the area focusing in on any armed gunman. She waited for a moment when her mask beeped at her. “Alright there’s like twelve of them.”

“Twelve? That’s a lot.” Shade said with a bit of surprise. “Rook isn’t playing around.”

“Just sabotage them. Maybe blow up their supplies.”

“Blow up. I think I have a few explosives. Nothing too big.”

“What do you have?”

Reaching into his pockets he ran through them slowly and held up a small packet. “Black powder and a shell.  Enough for a pair of explosions.”

“Sounds great. Can you deliver them?”

“Not with all of them gathered like that.”

“So you need a distraction then.” He could hear the smile in her voice.

“Not just any distraction. A good distraction.”

She nodded quickly and leaned against the edge of the rooftop. “Got any toys from Darren?”

“Course I do.” He reached toward his waste and placed the small pouch into her hand and nodded. “Don’t waste them.”

“No problem. Get to the warehouse, do your thing and set the bombs. I’ll be doing my thing out here.”

She jumped forward and flipped over the building and landed behind a crate. She flitted forward staying in the shadows like she was Shade himself. She peeked around the crate and caught someone walking forward. His gun was down lazily and he reached into his pocket.

She watched him curiously as he pulled out a pack of smokes. He got one out and then went to light it. She dashed forward and then elbowed the guy in the stomach roughly. He grunted and before he could do anything else, she pressed her hand against his mouth and then flipped him hard onto his back.

She turned and stomped down onto his face and he didn’t move. She checked for a very slow pulse and then nodded in satisfaction. Bending down she picked up the gun and checked it for ammo and then circled around the warehouse slowly.

She needed to get them all outside. She bit her lip in thought for a moment before nodding. She had an idea. Clocking the gun she started shooting into the air, startling even herself with it. However, it did the job because she heard the guys start shouting and running out.

She didn’t sit still as she moved from crate to crate leading the gunfire toward the doors. Once she got nothing but clicking she tossed the gun down and ran to the edge of the crate before putting some oomph into her jump. Landing on the wall of the warehouse she climbed upward quickly.

She climbed over and onto a ledge she turned around and crouched. Putting the pouch onto her lap she sifted through it slowly. A few noise makers. A dozen smoke bombs. She then found the Darren toys. A couple IEDs and some RADs, Remote Activated Devices. Darren’s personal acronym for them. Wireless hooks up to their explosives for precision detonation. In this case her smoke bombs.

Taking a RAD out she rolled in her hand. It was pretty much a rectangle with a big red button and a iPod shuffles circle wheel around it. A small screen above the dial had a blinking number 4. She dialed it around for a long moment watching the number increase all the way to 8.

Reaching into the pouch she picked up a small handful of smoke bombs. Raising her eyes up again she narrowed her eyes as she watched the goons gather together. There were a few stragglers but they had arrived.

Leaning forward she threw them up. “Okay mask. Highlight the smoke bombs for me.” Reticles appeared over each bomb and they bounced across the ground. She watched them roll between their feet and she smirked as she hit the button. “Boom.”

Several loud bangs and smoke exploded across the street. She winced as it blew into the air but smoke to the ask. “Okay mask. Heat mode activate.”

Everything took on a multi colored facet and she could see the goons stumbling around and waving their guns about. They weren’t shooting yet and that was good. “How’s it going on your end?”

“The bombs are in place.” He said and the wind was rushing from his side of the mask. “Gonna meet you on the roof.”

“On my way.” She stood, cracking her legs at the same time. Letting out a groan she started running and then jumped forward. A few short jumps later she was on top of the warehouse and Phase waved her down.

“Using the IED RADs?” She asked.

“Long name but yes I am.” He ran his fingers over the wheel until he landed on the number 3. “Want to do the honors?”

“Such a gentleman.” She took the detonator from his hand and pressed the button happily. The ground shook slightly and then shuddered. The foundation of the warehouse shook for a moment and on instinct they each jumped away. They left the area and were on the edge staring at the warehouse. It was burning on the inside and the flames had caused a few of the windows to break.

The goons finally caught sight of this and rushed toward it but it was too late. Yumi smirked as she glanced at her partner. “So how many locations are left?”

“Two more according to Darren.”

Yumi nodded. “Then let’s get a move on. It’s going to be a long night.”

It was early in the day when the pair of them finally came back to the house. The place was filled with boxes as they were in the process of moving still. However the gist of it was there. Feint had her computers set up in one of the rooms opposite the bedrooms. She’d spent days wiring things through the walls so that she could sit downstairs and work through the TV.

Phase was wandering back and forth between his own room and the kitchen. He was making food for himself. He could hear Feint down the hall typing away but he knew she was just as tired as he was.  However, neither of them ever went to sleep unless they were all in the house. An unspoken rule that had just happened over time.

“What’re you working on?” Phase asked as he came back into the living room.

Feint was on the couch, sitting cross-legged with her laptop in place. She glanced up at him before going back down to look at her work. “Just some programs to work on for the masks. Gonna give you guys a crash course in hacking once this stuff is done.”

Phase rolled his eyes and walked toward the couch and then looked down the hallway. “Don’t think our new girl has enjoyed all the noise.”

Feint shrugged. “She stays in that room. As long as I don’t go over there she’s mostly quiet.”

“What about the bowl?” he asked and she nodded toward the room in question.

“Half empty last I checked. That was before midnight though. It might be empty now. If it is should we get more?”

“Definitely. Means she likes us.”

“That what that means?” She said with a light smile. “Our group has a mascot.”

He laughed and smiled leaning against the back of her chair, “If only the scantiest had given us pets. Maybe we would have stuck around longer.”

Before she could respond they both heard the door to the balcony open and watched Yumi and Shade burst in. “Honey we’re home!!”

Both rolled their eyes despite being relieved that they had returned. Yumi was the first to hop over the side of one of the only couches they had. Shade came second and then smiled at them. “That was an ordeal.”

“I can imagine.” Feint suppressed a yawn. “Did you get that much done?”

“The Vanguard are going to be feeling it, that’s for sure.”

They were quiet as Phase walked toward the back room and Yumi went toward the kitchen. “There any food that I can eat easily?”

“If by easy you mean warming up then yes.”

“I was hoping for something a bit more pre-prepared.”

Shade rolled his eyes but got up and went to the microwave to an aluminum foil wrapped plate. “There’s some chicken left over. Should be fine but I’d suggest warming it up for at least a minute. Think you can handle that?”

“Yes mom.” She said with a roll of her eyes. “How’s the mutt?”

“Growling like always.” Phase walked back from the room. “Though she ate all her food so that’s progress.”

“Whoopee.”

“Take off the foil.” Shade commented. “You’ll burn down the new digs.”

“I was in the middle of that.”

A few beeps later she was watching the food spin in the microwave. “At least she hasn’t bitten anyone,” Phase said.

“Yet.” Yumi added.

“Give her space and she won’t.” Feint chimed in. “I’ve been looking it up online. Outside of the connection that Phase seems to have with her she’s been pretty docile. “

Yumi waved her hands, “Woo. We’re good pet owners now.”

When the microwave finally dinged Yumi pulled the plate out and walked into the kitchen. As she walked Phase took some chicken from her plate, to her annoyance. Shade did the same and even Feint took a wing. She jumped away to the other end of the couch coveting her meal and stuck her tongue out at them. “You guys are asses. Just a big ole bag of asses.”

Before they could respond the screen shifted. Suddenly there was a full screen video call on their TV and a very haggard looking teen appeared in front of them. He was maybe eighteen from just looks. His face was a bit bruised and one of his eyes blackened. He wore a pair of thin glasses hanging as well as they could off his face. He was smiling as he spoke.

“Alright. This is very informal and usually a breech of contract but I’m in a bit of a dire stretch. Hello my friends. We’ve often spoken through filtered communication. However now I must need to speak to you face to face. You know me as Darren and that’s my name.

“I’ve been targeted by the Royals. A Knight to be exact. He wants me dead because of the information that I’ve been able to decipher from the files you got or me all those weeks ago. It’s of great importance to your future as well as my future well being that you help me. I’ve given you my location. Encrypted of course. Be wary. If a Knight could find me then they might be able to find you.”

There was a sound like roaring and their face seemed panicked. “I’ve got to go.”

The four thieves were silent as they stared at the TV that had shifted back to a mayoral ad. Some middle aged white guy named Nathan Pierce running for mayor of the city. They looked back and forth at each other for a moment and couldn’t quite get the words together.

“That was Wiz Kid?” Yumi blurted out.

“Apparently,” Feint took a breath.

“Their scrawny,” Yumi noted. “I know, not the time but its true.”

“Where are they?” Shade asked.

“The background was loud, like a train station but it also echoed so a subway station most likely.” Feint answered quickly.

“And they said a Knight had found them. Have we ever seen a Knight?”

“Probably. Just didn’t know they were a Knight.” Feint blinked suddenly as her computer pinged. A map appeared and a blinking red dot showed up on the map. A sudden word bubble appeared with the text ‘Hurry’ being typed out.

“So we should go.” Shade began.

“Not even a question. Wiz Kid needs our help.”

“All four of us?” Feint asked but she was already standing and grabbing her mask. “It’s a Knight. I’d rather nothing get us by surprise.” Phase placed his mask on his face. “Let’s go.”