Down into the depth of Hell we go... or atleast, you know. like.. downtown.
PS: I can;t believe how much you guys hate babies. i mean... i know i drink their tears and all, but... i mean... damn.
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The Realm of the Unwanted looked like the seedy part of some city. Neon flashed from all over. Various smells wafted about in a rather unpleasant, but tolerable, blend; smoke, car exhaust, and strange food she did not even want to contemplate. It was so normal looking, if you didn't look up at the dirt and roof sky above, you might forget you were underground at all.
Cain had removed Toto from his vest and was now carrying the pooch under one arm. When Raw had made it to the bottom of the ladder, the tin man motioned everyone forward. DeeDee kept a tight hold on Glitch's hand, as he was so distracted by all the sights and sounds around him, he kept trying to wander off. The crowds were loud and boisterous and it was hard to move about without getting shoved one way or the other by someone passing by. DeeDee was glad she didn't have anything valuable, for there were surely pick pockets about.
"Cain," Glitch began, a little nervously. "Help a zipper-head out with a memory or two. In this realm, who exactly are the Unwanted?"
"Criminals, outlaws, and a few living experiments gone wrong," the tin man informed. Oh, lovely.
"And my deadbeat dad is here? How odd," DeeDee muttered sarcastically. Glitch suddenly pulled free of her grasp, almost skipping over to the side of the street.
"Hey, look!" he exclaimed.
"What's he doing now?" Cain asked unhappily.
"I dunno," Dee told him, going to join the headcase. He was investigating a small coin box that hung on the wall beside a large plate glass window.
"Anybody got any money?" he asked, sounding very much like a child who wanted to ride the mechanical spaceship in front of Wal-Mart. Written in garish orange and green on the coin box was: Ask Airofday.
"Questions are answers unspoken," DeeDee read the rest aloud. "That doesn't even make sense."
"Awe, come on. Please?" Glitch pleaded, drawing out the last word. Cain gave a short sigh and pulled his gun from the holster. Was he gonna shoot it? No, he twirled it around and slammed the butt into the coin box. Dee smirked in amusement.
"That works," she quipped. Cain gave her a wink and reholstered his weapon. Crappy carnival music piped out of the box and a curtain behind the window pulled back to reveal Airofday, a silly gold, Punjabi-dressed, six-armed rip off of Kali, the multi-armed Hindi Goddess.
"Can't say they didn't welcome us with open arms," Glitch intoned, over-acting the insinuation. Dee shook her head and chuckled. Airofday's sextuple arms began to move about sinuously.
"Questions are answers unspoken," she said from behind the glass.
"Isn't it a little cramped in there?" Glitch asked. Raw snorted with laughter behind him.
"Reference to uncomfortable tight spaces," Airofday recounted. "Answer, yes."
Glitch and Raw both lit up with amusement. "Isn't that good?" Glitch asked Dee with a huge grin. She nodded indulgently.
"Amazing," she said, taking his hand. "Now, we have to go find Ahamo."
"Answer," Airofday intoned. "Ahamo is a hard man to find."
This caught everyone's attention. "You know him?" Glitch asked in astonishment. Airofday responded by silently pointing to her coin box. Glitch frantically gestured towards the box. "Money!"
Cain just gave Airofday a hard look and held up his pistol, hammer cocked. She got the message.
"Answer," she said. "Know personally? No."
"Wow, that's a big help. Thanks," DeeDee snarked.
"We were told that Ahamo was here in the realm," Glitch told the woman behind the glass.
"Reply, know of someone who might know this Ahamo," Airofday responded. "Answer, The Seeker."
"Where can we find The Seeker?" DeeDee asked. Airofday's response was to point each of her six arms in a different direction. Raw doubled over in laughter. Glitch grinned at her mischievously.
"And you thought I had trouble with directions," he quipped. Airofday stepped out of her window, revealing the two Indian girls who stood behind her to provide the extra arms. After a moment, she of the golden garb exited the door beside the window.
"The Seeker," she explained. "Doesn't talk to just anybody. He doesn't like strangers."
"He'll like us," Cain insisted. "Where is he?" She looked boredly off to one side.
"I might be able to arrange a meeting," she said, obviously fishing for an offer of payment.
"Really? What's the catch?" Cain asked.
"Twenty platinums," the faux-goddess told him. DeeDee had no idea how much that was, but, from the way Glitch reacted like he'd been stuck with a pin, she assumed it was a lot.
"Twenty platinums?!" the headcase coughed in shock. Cain didn't even bat an eyelash.
"Done," he said. DeeDee knew full well they had no way of paying the woman, but Airofday was unaware of that fact. The princess smiled inside her mouth. "Where is this meeting place?"
"Local tavern at the edge of the Realm," the golden woman told them. "Meet there at the rising of the first moon, after midnight."
"We'll be there," DeeDee said, trying to sound as cool as Cain did. She doubted she pulled it off, but it was enough to satisfy Airofday, who smiled. The not-a-goddess then reentered her building and the curtain in the window closed again. "Midnight? How long is that from now? It was still light out when we came down here."
"Six hours," Cain said. DeeDee gawked at him.
"How do you do that? You don't even have a watch!" He gave her a half smile and pointed up behind her. She turned and saw a huge clock tower, the kind with a clock face on each side.
"Alright," she said, holding her hands up in submission. "I'm an ass. But what are we supposed to do until then?"
"How about we get something to eat?" Glitch said, making a face. He gazed at Cain beseechingly.
"We don't have any money, Glitch," Dee told the headcase apologetically. She really was sorry, too, as she was just as hungry as he. Glitch pouted, trusting his hands into his pockets petulantly.
"Hey, what?" he said. He removed his hand from his coat pocket, proffering several folded bills. "Look, money!"
Cain took the bills from him and fanned them with his thumb. "Where'd you get this?"
Glitch was smiling, rather pleased with himself. "I took it from Demilo's wagon. I guess I forgot. Now, we can get some food!"
The headcase was bouncing with excitement. DeeDee gave a doubtful look around. While the concept of eating sounded great in theory, the offerings of the realm seemed dubious at best. Should have asked Kali about a safe place to eat.
"Come on," Cain said, motioning them all forward. He looked back and forth between all the eateries and vendors along the stretch of road. DeeDee had no idea what he was looking for, but hoped he knew what he was doing. After a while, he stopped and led them to a small diner, Catfish Jack's. He opened the door and motioned them all inside.
The smell was divine. She had no idea what they were cooking, but it smelled wonderful. DeeDee really wanted to believe what her nose was telling her.
"How do you know this place is okay?" she asked Cain.
"There's a blue double moon in the window. That's the logo of the O.Z. NHFB - Non-Hazardous Food Bureau," he told her. "Means this place is clean… ish."
"Good enough for me," Glitch said. She agreed wholeheartedly (and whole-stomachedly). They found a booth and sat down. It was against the far back corner, so no one could sneak up on them from behind. Cain had pushed her in ahead of himself and sat on the outside, back to the wall so he could watch the door. DeeDee looked at the menu in utter bewilderment for a moment before setting it aside.
"Just order me something I can eat," she told Cain. When the food came, she didn't even bother to ask what hers was. There was a huge slab of something covered in what might have been gravy, something leafy and green that had been boiled, and a big pile of something purple that was mashed. It was all delicious, but he had ordered her far too much. Toto wriggled out from under his arm and stood, forepaws on the table, on the seat between them. She pushed her plate over so he could gobble down her leftovers.
"Cain, can I ask you something?" she inquired. He grunted in response, mouth full of food. She took it as a yes. "You were a tin man in Central City, right?" He nodded. "Why was your house so far away, then?"
He swallowed and wiped his mouth on his napkin before answering. "That was a resistance safe house. After Zero found out about me, we had to get out of the city and go into hiding. We were only there a week before he found us. Someone was working for Azkadellia inside the resistance."
"Do you know who?" she asked. He shook his head.
"It was a long time ago. Whoever it was, they're probably dead by now," he said, spearing a forkful of something blue on his plate. "By one side or the other."
She nodded. Even if the Resistance had not found the traitor out, working for Azkadellia did not really have a great retirement plan. With her stomach full, DeeDee was having a difficult time keeping her eyes open. She kept nodding forward and losing track of the conversations going on around her.
"Hey, kid," Cain said gently. She opened her eyes to find that she was leaning heavily on his shoulder. She immediately sat bolt upright as if splashed with water.
"Sorry," she said, blushing. Glitch and Raw both gave her soft smiles.
"It's time to go," Cain said. She could hear the laughter in his voice. They'd let her sleep for hours!
Out on the street, Cain lead the way to the tavern Airofday had specified. He kept a watchful eye about them as they made their way down the busy street of the Realm. A huge blue neon sign proclaimed that they had reached the Local Tavern. DeeDee was mildly surprised to find that it was the establishment's actual name.
"I don't like the looks of this place," Cain told them ominously. "Why don't you guys wait out here? I'll cut the deal myself."
"No!" DeeDee snapped quickly. Cain's brows lifted in surprise. "We stay together," she told him emphatically, telling him with her eyes that this was not negotiable. He didn't push the issue.
Inside, Cain dropped Toto to the floor. The shifter scurried under a table. It looked like the place had been decorated by an army veteran. All camouflaged netting and jungle plants. From hidden speakers lazy sitar music played, at odds with the place's décor.
"You, sit and stay," Cain told the pooch, who immediately dropped to the ground and wuffed. He looked back at her. "You don't look too nervous," he remarked.
She shrugged. "I guess I just feel safe when I'm with you guys," she told him. It was true, though she really did feel anxious inside. Something was not right here.
"Really?" Glitch asked. "I don't."
"There's nothing to be afraid of." Airofday came striding out of nowhere. DeeDee was uncomforted by the golden woman's assurance. People that had been seated around the tavern suddenly took leave of their tables and quit the place as though some signal had been given. One probably had. Cain put his hand on the butt of his gun.
"Where's The Seeker," DeeDee demanded of the fake goddess.
"I'm here," said a man, coming from behind a pillar draped with camo-netting. He immediately put DeeDee in mind of Tom Petty; the same limp sandy blond hair falling over his eyes. He had ridiculous, fuzzy mutton chops and wore a long trench coat, a darker shade than Cain's. He moved to stand before her and demanded, "Show me your palm."
"What for?" Cain demanded in kind, taking a step forward.
"You want my help or not?" The Seeker asked challengingly.
Dee touched the tin man's arm, telling him to stand down. She released Glitch's hand, stepping forward and held up her right hand, palm out, as though taking an oath. The man smirked, knowing full well she knew what he'd meant. "The other one," he told her. She lifted the marked hand, showing him the symbol. For an instant he actually looked relieved, which was confusing.
"Now!" Airofday shouted. Men popped up from behind the bar and around pillars, some holding nets. They rushed the small party.
"We had a deal!" The Seeker yelled to Airofday. Just before the golden woman's men reached them, someone killed the lights. DeeDee shrieked as she was lifted off her feet and thrown over the shoulder of an unseen assailant.
"No!" she screamed, struggling. She could hear her friends shouting for her. She pushed on her attacker's shoulder and forced herself into an upright position. She caught the man under his jaw her with her hand, forcing his head backwards sharply. He lost balance and they both tumbled to the floor. She kicked out, hitting something soft and was rewarded with a loud groan from her assailant. She scrambled to regain her feet. Cain was yelling her name. She called back in kind, but when she would have gone to him, the man she had downed caught her ankle and jerked her off her feet again. She caught her head on the corner of a nearby table and saw stars. Then, saw nothing.