Why is there a double upload when I already mentioned I have a final exam on Monday?
Uhh...
Don't question it.
Time management is a skill I have yet to master. Or learn. Or even graze for that matter.
Anyways, the chapter!
Also warning for drug use (it's pretty minor) and also a lot of profanity. A lot. A lot a lot.
Interlude III: Various
"Oh, that's the stuff... fuckkkkk"
Adam's head lolled back into the sofa as his hand, along with the bag of white powder held in it, fell to the side. His vision started to expand, colours becoming brighter as his senses started to dull, leaving only a perfect euphoria. For a moment, he wanted nothing more than to be absorbed deeper into the couch, but after a moment he pushed himself up before levelling a manic grin at the other people in the room before raising his hand to wave the bag in the air.
"This is the shit right here. Fucking hell."
"Yea? Let me see that for a second."
"Sure, sure, we got more right?"
Adam looked over his shoulder at the person who had given him the bag, eyes narrowed in clear accusation before the man nodded and pointed to a pile of the same substance in the corner of the room, causing Adam to flop back onto the couch.
"Fuck yea."
Following confirmation that they did indeed have more of the stuff, Adam tossed his bag over to the person who had requested it, before getting lost back in his euphoria, which only continued to grow. After a few moments of silence, he turned his head over toward the person now inhaling the white powder into their face.
"Hey, Sherrel, do you think you could make something that can duplicate this stuff? Then we'd never have to do shit ever again!"
With a cheer, he threw his hands up in the air before they fell back onto the couch.
"I-I'll get on that."
Adam glanced over again and let out a bark of laughter. Sherrel was just as out of it as he was and it showed. That was funny to him for some reason. Hilarious even.
"Y-y-y-you doooo that."
Adam paused, confused at his suddenly slurred speech before he shrugged and continued.
"T-T-Then, we'll beeeeeeee kingssss of this cityyy!"
Adam let out another laugh, and this time Sherrel joined in with a soft chuckle that only drove Adam to laugh harder.
"BOSS! WE HAVE A SITUATION!"
Adam jolted out of the couch at the sudden yell before falling off of it headfirst, hitting the ground with a thud that disoriented him for a few moments before the pain finally hit him, clearly his mind as the sharp throbbing of his head snapped him out of his drug induced haze.
"OW, FUCK! WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT! MY HEAD!"
Now suddenly more awake, Adam pushed himself off the ground with all-consuming anger in his eyes, levelling his gaze toward the now terrified member of his gang who stood frozen in front of an open door.
Taking a deep breath to resist the urge to murder the gang member, Adam calmed down a bit before making eye contact with the gang member again, this time with mere anger in his eyes instead of a promise of death before biting out a response.
"WHAT."
"O-oh, uh- someone's taking our drugs?"
Adam blinked, processing the words in his still addled mind, mulling over the sentence in his head as he wrapped his mind around what his subordinate just said before it finally clicked.
Before he even spoke, the gang member ducked down, covering his ears a moment before an ear-splitting yell rocked the house.
"WHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT!?"
"We don't know who it is boss! We turn away for one second, and another pile or box is gone!"
Adam saw red.
Pushing past the now cowering gang member, he stomped his way out into the dark of the night, lit up only by the stars and moon above, before whipping his head around to look for the intruder. Yet, despite his efforts, the only people he found were fellow members of his gang, all either surprised at his sudden appearance or fearful.
"WHO THE FUCK IS STEALING MY SHIT! IS IT ONE OF YOU FUCKERS?"
The merchants quickly shook their heads, all backing away from their crazed leader before Adam walked right up to one of them, who looked like a deer in headlights.
"YOU! DO YOU KNOW WHO'S STEALING MY SHIT?"
"U-Uh NO BOSS! It's like the thief is invisible!"
"INVISIBLE?"
"Y-yes boss."
"Hey, wasn't there a news story about an invisible parahuman who attacked a school?"
Adam turned to the sound of the voice, to see another of his subordinates, who looked as if she already regretted speaking up. Adam marched over to her, getting right up into her face before speaking in a soft whisper that was no less intimidating than his outburst.
"Tell me everything you bitch."
After a moment of hesitation, the women did so. Adam listened intently, and once he had heard the full story, he scoffed.
"So what you're telling me, is that some jumped-up school shooter is TAKING MY FUCKING SHIT?"
"Actually no one die-"
"SHUT THE FUCK UP!"
The woman whimpered as Adam spun in place back toward the house.
"SQUEALER, MUSH! GET YOUR ASSES OUT HERE, WE HAVE A GHOST TO FUCKING KILL!"
"Wh-what?"
Sherrel stumbled out of the house, still clearly feeling the effects of the white powder before Adam ran up to her and grabbed her by the shoulders before shaking her violently back and forth.
"CHOP CHOP, IT'S MURDER O CLOCK YOU FUCK!"
Sherrel stared at Adam wide-eyed before she gave a small confused noise of affirmation which Adam took as good enough before he stalked into the house.
"MUSH! WAKE UP MOTHERFUCKER, GET DOWN HERE!"
A groan somewhat resembling the sound of human communication echoed down from the second floor of the house. Adam listened to it for a moment before turning around.
"FUCK YOU TOO! DIDN'T NEED YOU ANYWAYS!"
Walking back out of the house to a still-stunned Sherrel, he suddenly came to a dead stop as he took in the scene outside before his eyes narrowed. Sweeping past his subordinates to what they were protecting behind them, he looked at one spot after another, almost wishing he was dreaming before he turned his attention back to his subordinates who were all staring at him. Him. Him...
"Why the-"
Adam stopped himself as his subordinates looked at him with fear and confusion in their eyes before he exploded like an active volcano.
"WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU ALL LOOKING AT ME INSTEAD OF THE SUPPLY! LOOK YOU DUMBASS MOTHERFUCKERS!"
With terror in their eyes, the merchants turned around to look at their crates, only to see... nothing. Nothing at all. Almost as one, they turned back to Adam somehow with even more fear in their eyes.
"FUCK! YOU LOT HAD ONE JOB! ONE MOTHERFUCKING JOB!"
As the other merchants flinched back, Adam kicked over a nearby trash can onto the ground before walking back over to Sherrel to grab her wrist.
"Alright fuck this, you fucks aren't worth shit anyways."
Pulling Sherrel along with him, Adam walked over to the most open area in sight before yelling up into the air.
"COME OUT AND FIGHT ME YOU FUCKING COWARD! YOU DON'T GET TO STEAL MY SHIT WITHOUT GETTING YOUR SHIT KICKED IN! COME ON!"
Face now red with anger, Adam spun in place to see if he could spot anyone coming out to meet his challenge yet after a few seconds, only silence reigned.
"Figures. Fucking figures. Can't have shit in this city…"
Adam snarled as he continued to look around, yet failed again to spot anyone. Yet just as he was about to give up, he noticed a small white substance on the ground. Walking over to it, Adam knelt down, took a sample onto his finger and jammed it into his mouth.
After a moment or two, he turned to Sherrel, who was now more aware of what was going on now that the high had subsided a bit.
"This is meth. Our meth."
Looking further out into the darkness, he spotted a trail of the substance leading further out into the city. Standing up, he looked at the still terrified merchants behind him before speaking.
"Alright you fucks, fall in line. You four stay here, protect what we have left, and the rest of you come with me. We're chasing this fucker down. Sherrel you stay here as well, and tell Mush to get the fuck up."
With that he marched off, his steps echoing in the silence before suddenly the rest of the merchants scrambled to catch up to him. Following the trail of the white powder left behind, Adam held in his rage just for a moment, preparing to unleash it in its full force the second he found where the thief was.
Suddenly the trail went cold, and the smell of salt enveloped the group instead. Raising his head, Adam looked up from the ground, only for his mind to go blank upon the sight he saw.
The waters of the Bay roiled and fell onto the docks of the city, yet right near where Adam was, just at the edge of the docks, were bags and bags, all empty and all pointing toward the ocean beyond.
He recognized those bags. They were his bags.
Adam looked back out at the ocean even as the other merchants came to the same realisation that he had with dawning horror.
"FUUUUUUUUUUUU-"
"QUICK, DRINK THE WATER! DRINK THE WATER! SAVE WHAT WE CAN!"
"-UUUUUUUUUUCKKKKKKK!"
Adam knelt down as he exhausted the breath in his lungs before raising his head with a manic glean in his eyes. If this ghost wanted war, then he would give it war. No one stole drugs from the merchants and got away with it. No one.
"ALRIGHT YOU FUCKS, YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS. IF THIS MOTHERFUCKER WANTS WAR, WE'LL GIVE THEM WAR!"
The merchants quickly nodded their heads as Adam whirled his head around toward them, causing them to shrink into themselves.
"WHAT, ARE YOU FUCKS NOT MOTIVATED? DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS?"
Adam gestured to the empty bags as the merchants hesitantly responded with questioning noises that didn't sound like any language he had ever heard.
"IT MEANS, YOU FUCKS, THAT WE'RE GOING TO RUN OUT OF DRUGS! DO YOU WANT TO LIVE WITHOUT THAT SHIT? I DON'T!"
Adam watched as understanding dawned on his subordinates' faces before they also let out a roar, shaking the silence of the quiet nighttime docks. Now satisfied, Adam turned toward the rest of the city with the ocean at his back.
"YOU HEAR ME YOU THIEVING SHIT!? WHEN THIS IS ALL OVER, THE WATERS WILL BE TAINTED RED, NOT WHITE! TODAY, THE MERCHANTS GO TO WAR!"
(~)
"So... you're saying that the Undersiders were the ones who knocked my subordinates unconscious?"
"Yes my lord, along with an invisible cape. They're likely the same cape who attacked Winslow High School as well."
Kenta clenched the handle of his chair as anger threatened to rise up and consume him before he tempered it. Pushing himself off of his chair, he watched as his subordinates around him went silent, all looking at him but not daring to meet his eyes. The sight brought a modicum of satisfaction back to him before he walked over to a map of Brockton Bay with his territory clearly defined.
Pausing for a moment, he didn't speak as seconds passed, feeling the fear rising in the room before he reached out a hand to the map.
"Tell me, where were my men when this happened?"
"...in your territory my lord."
"My territory... mine..."
Kenta mused that if he dropped a pin in the room, then he would be able to clearly hear its echo as he continued to look at the map.
"And this... invisible cape has joined them?"
"Yes, my lord."
"Hmm..."
Kenta fell into deep thought. The Undersiders had been a thorn in his side since a few months ago. A small thorn, yes, but a thorn all the same. They had stayed in the darkness, clawing what little they could gain from his domain while he was distracted with the Empire who had continued to press against him and the ABB as they had since he had arrived in Brockton. So far, he had been content leaving them alone, for a dragon hardly considered himself with the skittering bugs below them, but this?
This was a humiliation. A challenge.
Not only had the Undersiders and this new cape attacked his subordinates, in his territory and in broad daylight, they had done so unprovoked. They had gained nothing from the attack and yet they had attacked regardless, not for their benefit but for his detriment. His subordinates were gone now, all put in jail when they had been discovered lying unconscious in the alleyway where they had been found.
It was a declaration of war. One he could not afford to ignore, lest the city believe he would allow challenges to his power without retribution.
Kenta finally turned back to his subordinates, who were all still standing or kneeling subserviently, not saying a word before speaking.
"Tell the rest of the ABB that they are to kill the Undersiders on sight. I have tolerated their attacks for far too long. The next time they dare challenge the dragon, they will die like those who came before them."
"Of course my lord."
Kenta smiled.
"Good. And as for this invis-"
The sudden opening of the door to the room caused him to stop as one of his subordinates stood panting in front of the door. Kenta would normally have killed anyone who dared to interrupt him, however in this case he decided that the man looked tired enough that the news he brought was likely important.
"M-my lord! On-one of-huff-of your warehouses."
Kenta raised an eyebrow.
"It's-it's been-huff-burned down."
The anger came back, this time a roaring inferno that almost bubbled to the surface before Kenta controlled himself, this time taking a few seconds to calm himself down. Rage would do no good here, it would better serve him in battle than now. Yet even still, a dangerous tone infected his voice as he glowered down at the message bearer.
"...by who?"
"W-we don't know my lord. N-huff-none of us could see anyone."
Kenta turned back to his advisor, who froze under his gaze.
"This... invisible cape. Do you believe they could have done this?"
"Y-yes my lord."
"...then they shall share the same fate that awaits the Undersiders."
Kenta walked back to his chair with slow, methodical steps before he sat back down while facing the rest of the room.
"Find out where these Undersiders reside. And find out who this invisible cape is. Then kill them."
As his subordinates murmured their agreements, Kenta watched them with steely eyes.
There was no need for him to make any threats.
The cost of failure was already well known.
(~)
"I'M GOING TO KILL THAT BASTARD."
Sophia seethed as she looked at her reflection in the mirror. The last few days had been hell. She had been beaten twice in a fight by the same invisible parahuman, both in costume and out of it, then she had been thrown into M/S lockdown for several hours before finally being released.
Emma's bitching didn't help either. The PRT had shut down the entire case due to the new parahuman and along with that, they had decreed that the students couldn't be held responsible for what they did during the school riot. Apparently Emma had been punched by Taylor of all people during it, however at the moment Sophia didn't really care about Taylor. No, instead she was dead set on killing the invisible parahuman for the humiliation it had inflicted to her during the fight.
"FUCK!"
Yet as much as she wanted nothing more than to hunt down the cape and kill them, the Protectorate had temporarily suspended ward patrols due to the presence of the new parahuman. Some bullshit about wards not being allowed out onto the streets with a high rated stranger on loose in the streets.
Also, Vista had taken every possible opportunity to remind her of the incident, and she had almost snapped and folded the little girl in half like she deserved, if not for the fact that such an act would violate her parole. And violating her parole would mean that she would never get a shot at the cape who had humiliated her again.
So she would bide her time, like a hunter stalking her prey. She would be patient. She would play the part of a "good girl," even if it disgusted her. And when they finally resumed patrols, she would seek out the cape and murder them, parole be damned.
Yes, she would lie in wait until her time to strike. Like the predator she was. And when she struck, it would be on her terms, instead of theirs.
But first, the waiting. The long, long waiting.
Sophia held in the urge to scream.
She would get past this obstacle just as she had ever other in the past.
And when she came out the other side, there would be hell to pay.
In her reflection in the mirror, a crazed smile spread across her face, mirroring her expression with vengeful intent.
A/N:
Hopefully I got the characterizations right for these characters. In order, the interludes are from Skidmark, Lung and Shadow Stalker if that wasn't already obvious.
The fact that this fic is now in the mature category is entirely because of Skidmark, I realized ten minutes into writing his part of the interlude that I would probably have to update the maturity rating for the fic because of him just to be safe.
Disregard the above statement actually, I looked over the guidelines and since its just profanity, I just kept it as Teen as there's nothing overtly explicit. If I'm asked to change the rating though, I will.
Anyways, hope you enjoyed the chapter and the double update.
