Angels with Newfound Hope
Chapter 3: Omen
"Alright Reza, what did you want to tell me so badly?" Alex thought aloud as he sliced Reza's letter open. The page itself smelled strongly of citrus. He took careful note of it as he read through. It was packed with pleasantries anyone would hate, but nothing else of note.
'Okay. There's clearly something linking what I'm missing in the letter. Maybe it's the smell. I know I smelled that before, but where?' He thought to himself. The heat was getting to him again. His head was getting coated in a thin sheen of sweat. He decided a cool shower was necessary.
There wasn't much the male could wash his hair with in there, so he had to make do with some body wash. Thankfully, it worked to some degree. A sudden headache came on right as he stepped out.
"Oof. I hope this place is stocked with painkillers." Alex opened the medicine cabinet to a rather large bottle of the pills. His eyes widened at the sheer size of the bottle itself. Just one of those would probably be at least three to him.
With one of the pills out, he had a good gauge for the size. Those things were practically horse pills. He hesitantly popped it and set the bottle back with some difficulty.
"Okay. No more of that. Now for a clothes iron." The freshly bathed brunette began his search with different cabinets in the room. During his shower, he remembered a bit he read about lemon juice and secret messages. He started rifling through the linen closet next. Blankets of varying thickness amongst other things almost came tumbling out onto him. He finally found the iron wedged between two comforters on the top shelf.
After he managed to get said iron out with some hassle, Alex went back downstairs to decode the letter. All it read was 'Meet me at the portal tonight at ten'. He set the letter down and went to make a snack.
That snack turned out being a full on braised fish meal. It was getting close to ten when the stormy-eyed male finished one of his supplied books. It was entertaining, but really nothing special. The ending was even a typical setup for an inevitable sequel.
The defacto ambassador took stock of his equipment, which wasn't much. On the coffee table lay his pistol: a five-seven with muzzle brake silencer attached. Next to it was his karambit, sporting a matte black finish on the blade and retention ring. Lastly was his own watch. It was the kind that could make use of augments. Equipped in the slots were wound regeneration, and a bulletproof shield.
Reza was most likely still toting his revolver everywhere he went. He thought back to the specifics Chris told him about. It was your average six-shooter: nothing special aside from stopping power. Still, that one factor alone could prove his demise.
He tucked his pistol away in the waistband of his pants. The knife was clipped neatly onto the back of his belt. He would have taken his spare clip, if he had it. There were still twelve rounds loaded at least. That would be more than enough to gun the guy down if he tried anything stupid.
The human began to notice how uncomfortable his gun proved with the silencer on, and removed it for now. In the very least, he could now alert people to his location. One last pat-down reassured him about his equipment choice. He stepped out of his home and into the unknown...
Alex snuck out of the dimly lit neighborhood, his escape from the sodium lamps and oblivious dragons ending rather well. The portal he came in through loomed upon the hill along with Reza. He idly kept himself in order as he waited.
"There you are. I was wondering whether you'd get it at all." The hispanic mused as his partner stepped closer.
"What did you expect?" The paler man grumbled. He honestly didn't want to be around that asshole more than necessary.
"What a wonderful night it is. Just look up at the stars. They're all so clear here, without all the pollution lingering in the air. It's as if we're looking into the face of eternity itself. We thought we'd end up finding aliens out there somewhere for so long. And after all these years, we're still alone. Turns out we were just looking in the wrong places." Reza stared wistfully into the sky for a moment longer. Alex himself mused on all the light pollution of the bigger cities, especially Onyx. He couldn't even go to a park to get away from all that.
"So why did you call me here" The black-clad human turned to his partner.
"So we can send the generator back for one. As for the other, do you know what this place is?" The olive-eyed man motioned around him. His taller companion was glad he hadn't noticed his gun yet.
"You said something about trouble. How much are we talking here?" He asked with concern, Reza's wistful stare dropping in the meantime.
"More than enough. I'm afraid this whole place will be gone soon. We'd better be gone too before it happens." The hispanic's obscurity clearly irritated the other. He swore Reza was doing that on purpose.
"I'm done being obscure, Reza, spit it out already." The paler growled. He was officially through with this.
"I guess my hopes were too high when I thought you'd seen it too. Maybe it's because I had a head start. Even then, it took me a while to understand. In any case..." Alex stopped listening when he noticed subtle movement in the bushes. He thought originally it was just the wind. There was just one problem with that, there was none that night.
"Reza." He whispered to his rambling companion.
"This might take a while to explain properly, but we've got the whole night." Said companion refused to listen. The black-clad man grabbed his shoulder and spun him around.
"Reza! Look." He pointed to where the bushes were rustling. The darker's squinting turned to an enraged snarl.
"You! How dare you stalk me even here!" Reza yelled out. The disturbance drew closer until it left the bushes. It was none other than Maverick, who hid in the foliage to listen in on their conversation.
"Keep your gun put up." Alex's whispers fell on deaf ears as the gray dragon lumbered toward them.
"I knew you were up to no good. What were you talking about? Were you planning some kind of attack here?" The officer growled. Alex stepped in before his rebellious partner could even attempt anything.
"Let's take it easy. There's no reason for-"
"Don't try to deny it. You both were talking about it in the café. You thought I wouldn't smell the lemon on that letter? Pathetic. You both are coming with me to the station." Maverick chastised. Once again, the paler human tried to diffuse the situation.
"Okay. I think we're overreacting here, but we'll come with if it'll help any-" Alex whipped out his gun the instant Reza did.
"Drop it!" He barked. The hispanic lashed out, shooting him in the shoulder and his escort in the side.
"Let us die then!" The fresh criminal yelled out in betrayal as he ran away. The brunette fired wildly at him, wasting five more rounds before the ripping pain forced his gun away.
"Get back here you son of a bitch!" Something slammed into Alex's back, sending him flying a few feet. His vision blurred when he hit the ground again. A deafening roar, possibly a call for help, battered his ears. Maverick lay down adjacent to him. His harsh breathing filled the air for a mere moment.
"I've still got my eye on you. You'd better not move for your own sake. I guarantee you I will not be nice if I have to run after you." The human sluggishly propped himself up on his elbows, about all he could do with his spine on fire and a bullet wound. His regen augment was doing a fine job of trying to kill the pain at least.
"Point taken." He wheezed. "Are you okay?" Alex inspected the wound. It seemed the bullet didn't penetrate his hide far enough to cause lethal damage. Only a trickle of blood stained his scales and the grass below.
"Why do you care? You had one of those things too. You could've just as easily finished me off." The officer growled. He looked like he would crush the man in his jaws at any moment.
"But I shot at Reza instead. He's dead to me if he'll happily attack the police. Listen, I'm going to get this bullet out of me. Do you need any help at all?" The wounded dragon shook his head with distaste. Alex made sure he was well warned before slowly drawing his knife. His blood eyes held a weary glower toward him as he eased the weapon inside.
The blade's tip grazed part of the bullet, sending a pang of agony through Alex's shoulder. He bit down the pain and forced his knife past the projectile. His shoulder felt like it was being torn to shreds whilst he worked the weapon around. Slowly but surely, Reza's bullet was coaxed out of his flesh. The human hissed through gritted teeth when the bullet finally dislodged from his flesh.
At that point, Sebastian and Bryce approached the two. It appeared to the stormy-eyed man that they had come to investigate the disturbance. The raptor and Maverick exchanged a few words whilst Bryce checked up on Alex.
"Hey kid. You okay there?" His concerned expression didn't help the smaller male's disposition. He put the thoughts aside and propped himself up.
"I think so. Should've known Maverick hits like a freight train. You're Bryce, right?" Alex explained. The dragon confirmed his identity with him before continuing.
"Yeah. Can you tell me what happened earlier?" Bryce questioned. The human's spite returned as he relived the moment.
"That asshole Reza pulled his gun on Maverick. When I told him to drop it, he shot both of us and ran off. That's when I was knocked on my ass." He let The officer mull over what he said, honing in on the other nearby conversation.
"Yeah, but you're Flyer on Duty. We're not likely to find him now. Not in the dark at any rate." The raptor explained to an annoyed silver dragon. That was what the human thought he looked to be at least.
"Well that's just brilliant." Sebastian let him simmer, turning to Bryce.
"What do you think, Chief?" The stocky reptile was swiftly snapped out of his thoughts. He returned his gaze to Alex.
"Can you walk well enough?" Bryce questioned Alex. He checked the hole in his flesh, noting how it had mostly healed at that point. He estimated another minute and it'd be sealed back.
"I think so. I'm honestly more worried about my shoulder. That's where Reza got me." He pointed to the wound. It trickled blood as it sluggishly healed.
"Sebastian? Get some help for Alex and Maverick, then we'll hunt down Reza." The chief ordered. His lackey knelt down to check on the brunette with little luck.
"No need. I've got something to help. I estimate another minute and I'll be fine." Alex denied as the officers gave him surprised looks.
"I don't think that's a sane choice, Alex. We're getting help for you two regardless." Sebastian argued. The human just shrugged nonchalantly.
"Okay then, go get them. But I guarantee you guys I'll be healed back up in like, thirty seconds." Alex lay back down in the soft grass. His eyes grazed over the sky lazily as they waited for help. Some paramedics eventually came and took Maverick away. The man was cleared to leave after they checked his now healed wound and range of motion.
The tan officer helped him up, he grabbed his gun and they both left the scene. The walk back to Alex's apartment was thankfully uneventful. He was bid a good night and that was it. Even with the evident exhaustion, the human still didn't let himself fall asleep til sunrise...