The door shut with an audible click. Tetris sighed and let the bag on his side slide down his shoulder. He then turned to face the inside of the apartment, and with a mild smile called out, "I'm back for a bit. Still have another run to make."
The apartment he stood in was quite small. One room, with a kitchen on one end of the open space, and two single beds on the opposite wall. The only decor was a worn rug and a set of thin curtains that he had scavenged from a nearby yard sale.
Nobody was there to answer him, of course. Kievr was taking on extra hours at the museum to cover for a sick coworker, citing that he needed every last bit of money he could get. Although what they had was, at least to Tetris, okay. Unremarkable, far from good, but better than before. Rent was due in a few days, and he was confident that they'd have a little change leftover.
The Riolu strode to the kitchen, skirting around the wobbling couch in the center. He was lucky his latest delivery had a dropoff only a few blocks from here; it gave him the chance to refill his water canteen and take a breath. Especially since his last job of the day had gotten complicated. Some of the details reportedly got changed earlier in the day, but not canceled outright. That meant the item to be delivered was pretty important, and could come with a premium payout. Hopefully.
Tetris tucked the full canteen back into his runner's bag. He stared down at the empty icebox, hearing the grumble in his stomach. He could only sigh before moving to the door. As was his routine, he stuck his head out first to check both ways down the street. Satisfied, the Riolu locked the door and made his return to Wilson's.
—
"Here's the cargo, kid. Be gentle with it." The Gengar pushed a wooden box across the glass countertop.
"Yes sir. Always am, sir." The Riolu carefully tucked it into his bag.
Wilson tried to cover up his chuckle. This kid was probably the most polite out of his runners, and it was quite refreshing.
"Good. Ya got a little over an hour to get it to the new hand-off location," the Gengar said with a harrumph. He spun a small handwritten card in his fingers before handing it over. "Can't believe this guy. Not two hours out from his expected window and he changes where he's hiding. Gonna charge him for that."
Tetris glanced at the card, then simply shrugged. "Hey, if it means we get to keep a valued customer-"
"Ehh, save the patronizing for someone else," Wilson interrupted, turning his attention to the tray of jewels at his side. "I've been doing this too long to care about that. Get going."
Tetris nodded and stepped outside going east. He looked down at the card once more and groaned. The new handoff was out past the eastern suburbs, near the forest. He'd be lucky if he got there in an hour. Sticking to the ground level roads and weaving between the early evening crowds was going to eat up too much time- shortcuts would be needed.
Bolting up a fire escape, Tetris climbed up to the concrete roof. He could trust his feet to be nimble without having to think about it and spend that energy on being mindful of his surroundings. He had a good record of staying out of sight of any nasties so far, but he couldn't let himself become complacent. Down the skyline, the Riolu was able to see past midtown, where all the luxury leisure was entrenched. That meant bars, gambling dens, clubs; all places with crowds to blend in to. For the sake of speed he hoped he wouldn't need them.
Tetris took a running start and made a long leap to the next building, with the wind at his back helping to carry momentum. He crossed a few more gaps before making a sharp turn down onto a tiled gable, jumping off the slide at the last moment to reach a banister and pull himself up. He carried on in this fashion; the jumps and dives and wall kicks morphing into a flow state.
This kind of work aligned itself well with freerunning, and Tetris learned quickly that he was very, very good at it. So good at it that the moves often became a pattern, an active puzzle to react to. He could let his body work on autopilot at a few points.
But the journey wasn't mindless. Much of the time traveling was spent in his own head, like a lucid daydream.
Hopefully this guy doesn't bail before I get the payment, Tetris thought as he hopped a railing. It's really weird, though. This is maybe the third or fourth client in the last two weeks to change locations, let alone at the eleventh hour. I wonder if there's something spooking them into it.
The Riolu slowed to a halt at the edge of a low townhouse. He had reached the start of the suburbs, where the smaller residential buildings were spreading out farther and farther, larger yards taking up more and more space. From here on out he'd have to go to the ground, as rooftop travel was near impossible. The crowd was nonexistent. He was going to be very visible, which he could manage. But it did make his neck bristle.
He took a step forward, and paused. Now that I think of it, all the clients were originally supposed to pick up in the city center, near the markets. I haven't seen anything change while I was there last time. It's always busy, but wouldn't that… no, no, I'm gonna be up here all day if I overthink this. Still got another half-kilm to go and maybe 20 minutes.
Tetris shook his head. Time was the priority here. He lowered himself down from the rooftop, clipping a bush, and set off down the cobblestone road.
After winding through the curving streets that rolled over the hills, the end of the trip brought him to the edge of a thicket of trees and brush. The trees sat at the dead end of a dirt road, and behind those trees was a large barn sitting abandoned and dilapidated. This isn't suspicious at all, he thought as he looked back at the open trail behind him. The fur on Tetris's arms rose in doing so.
He clenched his fists and released them, breathing slowly in sync with the motion. "You're fine," he said, hoping he was correct.
The barn was the final destination, so Tetris picked his way over roots and brush to reach it. The dark green canopy overhead spread shadow on the ground. His own footsteps seemed to echo through the grove. There wasn't a sign of the client already being here, but that might be good. No one would know Tetris was supposed to be here, either.
The barn door was hanging open by a crack. A hollow harmony of creaking wood and light winds sounded from within. The air felt dry, and Tetris felt his throat choke on it. His eyes darted around, looking for anything out of place or wrong, but with the building in bad shape it was hard to read. He reached out, drew a breath, and pulled the door open.
He was immediately greeted by an unmoving body lying face down on desiccated hay.
Tetris clamped his mouth shut and light-footed his way in. He dropped to a knee to check for signs of life- thankfully, only unconscious. But the large bruises on the back of this Pikachu's neck and skull indicated they hit hard with something blunt, and very recently too.
He heard something whistle through the air behind him and twisted out of the way.
Something metal hit the ground where he had been hard, the clang it produced pierced the air. As Tetris rolled and spun up to his feet, he caught sight of two figures standing in the doorway. One, a Throh, held a pipe in their hand, while their Sawk partner cracked their knuckles and glared at Tetris.
The Throh leveled the weapon at the Riolu and spoke in a fast, gruff manner. "You're quick. But that won't save you from the both of us. You got one chance to hand over the package and make everybody's lives easier."
"Fat fucking chance," Tetris spat back, eyes scanning for a way past and hands tightening around his bag. "Who sent you? Why'd you target this dropoff?"
"Ain't your business," the Sawk scoffed. "Give it up and we'll take it easy on you. Break just an arm instead of both your legs."
Tetris was silent. His eyes searched the figures standing before him. He caught a glint of an emblem pinned to the collar of the Throh- a black crescent, outlined with dark red.
He gasped. There was no point in talking to these guys, he had to leave by any means necessary. Tetris began to sprint to his right.
"Wrong choice!" the Throh barked. They heaved their weapon through the air and spinning right at the Riolu's head. Tetris had to dive and roll on the floor to avoid it, and he smashed his head into a wood crate on the way down. By the time he was up the enemy was in his face.
He ducked the Throh's right hand reaching out to grab him, but couldn't get away from the Sawk's leg sweep quick enough and hit the floor. His reflexive roll sideways got him out of range of a swipe for the bag and allowed him to spin up to his feet. As the Sawk closed in again, Tetris hurled with a blur of a Bullet Punch.
The blue enemy staggered back and cursed aloud. The Throh, now angered, reached into Tetris's personal space with a left hook that clipped the ribs. Tetris delivered a fresh Bullet Punch to the attacker's gut for the trouble. With those two backing off, it gave the canine enough room to slip past them and the fallen client and bolt for the barn door.
He crashed his way outside, feet pumping at full throttle to carry him out of the property. His opponents tumbled out the door shortly after and sprinted after him, shouting threats and nonsense.
There wasn't safety out here. Tetris had to shake off his pursuers, but he was running out of trees and would soon reach an open field with no way to break line of sight. He could take the path back to the row of houses, but he'd be exposed until he could reach them. The hills might give him an advantage, but the lack of obstacles between them wouldn't help much.
He stumbled over a root he didn't see and slammed against a large tree, costing him time and space. He was quick to get going again but the gap was closing.
There's gotta be something! Tetris screamed in his head. If I can just reach the road, I can find a hiding spot-
A large chunk of a Rock Slide smashed into the dirt just next to him, followed by two more. The Riolu glanced back to see the Throh preparing another volley. One of them was bound to hit Tetris if he didn't get clever. All he could do now was pour on the speed and outrace his enemies.
Two more pieces of boulders flew past, with a third coming down hard across the back of his legs. It toppled him, sending him rolling over the stone wall just ahead and slamming into the uphill slope behind that, but ignoring the pain Tetris pushed himself up and got back to running. The two Fighting-types behind him had to slow down to clamber over the wall and keep on the tail. Tetris continued to get over short walls and duck around corners, getting some distance back but failing to ditch his pursuers entirely.
As he crested the top of the large hill, the canine spotted the largest building he'd seen out here- a stone spire jutting out high above a square box of stone and wood. Two heavy and ornate doors formed the imposing front entrance. It looked fortified. Good enough to defend him.
The canine pushed his way through the doors and shut them behind him. He was able to pull down the bar latch right as his pursuers slammed into the doors and caused them to shudder. There was a round of angry yelling outside, mostly threats. Tetris let go of his breath and scrambled backwards further into the building, only now taking a second to see where he was.
There were just a few rows of pews in here, with a large but simple altar on the far end in front of a large window of stained glass. Decoration was minimal. The amount of available hiding spots was even fewer. There was another door off to the right, but testing it proved it to be locked.
Tetris stomped his foot on the aged floor. This was a dead-end, a potential death sentence for his escape. While hiding behind the altar was very obvious, it was all he had and he dove for the cover.
He bit down on his lip, ears twisted to listen in on the front door. His heart was up in his chest. The Riolu was stuck. He was going to be killed here. If only he hadn't taken this stupid job…!
"Pardon me," said a low and calm but judgmental voice, "but may I ask what you're doing here?"