Damnit... do I dare?
Warechu was, as to be expected, apprehensive to make a move. He cast his gaze around, catching sight of the many who walked these excessively cramped floors. Most had lazy looks in their eyes with not a care in the world, completely oblivious to both the situation at large and his own internal debate. He looked straight ahead again, right at it. If only he'd taken his phone, as then he'd at least have had a chance to avoid this situation.
The weight of the choice alone bound him, and he realized he probably wouldn't have an opportunity like this again any time soon. Would anyone blame him if he tried? Linda probably wouldn't care, heck, she'd be the first to make an attempt, but Warechu liked to think he had more patience and restraint than that. Then what would Kurome do? Their blue housemate was like a demon beneath that lazy exterior. Her strength, her skills, and even her style yelled out loud and proud.
What would his beloved Compa do?
Screw it! I'm going for it!
Warechu took his chance, and he'd find out soon enough whether it would come to backfire.
.
.
"Huh..." Linda began, peering over the shrubs as she stared at the decrepit looking building. "Not really all that big from up close. What do you think they made here?"
"Don't know, don't care; you remember the plan?" Kurome wasn't taking risks, nor wasting time. Linda either memorized the plan, or she was sitting this one out. Speaking of, the girl offered a smirk.
"Hey, remember who you're talking to." She looked ahead again, and her eyes trailed to the small vent poking from the side of the building. "I sneak in through the airways, slip into the security office - if they have one - and get an eye over the halls. Easiest job of the year."
"Really?" Kurome kept her tone reserved, cocking a brow to instill her mood. "Even easier than snapping a few pics?"
"Hell yeah!" Linda sounded genuinely giddy; this was either wonderful, or horrible, and Kurome really hoped it was the latter as she wasn't looking forward to being chained up again. "The pics were boring as heck, and unlike Warechu, I love me some good old fashioned burglary. Trust me, last time was a fluke; I got this."
"Of course." The midnight sphinx wouldn't believe it till she saw it, and Linda was itching to prove herself. What a day it's been... well, night now. Get home from work; place is trashed; friend is kidnapped; Oh yeah, and she's out to solve it all in one fell swoop. But hey, the factory was only ten minutes from the city, so it wasn't like they'd lost time getting to work. Hopefully Warechu was holding on tight.
"I'll text when I'm done, so keep it real while I'm gone." Like that the gangster was off, and Kurome could only shake her head and hope for the best.
Don't screw this up, Linda.
.
.
Looking up to the vent entrance as she approached, Linda began to realize there was a small aspect of the plan she never considered.
How the hell was she supposed to reach it?
Okay Linda, think. Little issues like height variation and logic never slowed you down before. The girl, true to her word, was a master of 'B&E' - breaking and entering. Once upon a time she snuck her way to the top of Planeptower, all to steal some shit for one of her previous employers. Turns out nobody ever bothered to look up around the goddess's home, nor do the security ever look out the damn windows at night. Once upon a time a small office worker saw her through the window, and Linda merely waved, to which the worker waved back.
Nobody ever expects the Spider-Gal.
Okay... not exactly a heavily stylized tower, but there has to be some faults in the walls or something...
Yet try as she might, Linda saw no means of grip along the cold stone of the factory. Sure, there were some pipes and all, but those things were rusted into next year, and Linda doubted they could even carry a racoon. With the current wall out of the question Linda eyed the trucks parked alongside it; maybe climbing onto them might give her the height needed. Shot down again by the looks of it, as not only did she quickly realize that climbing onto the vehicles might just trigger their alarms, but the things were too darn low.
Come on, cut me some slack! She officially gave up on this particular wall, and seeing as the corner wasn't too far away she decided to send a look to the other side of the building. Scurrying along the bushes and in the shadows she found herself on the other side of the place, and there she saw her saving grace.
The vent was still too high, poking out of the roof this time even, but she instantly saw her method of ascension right before her eyes. There, sat innocently against the wall and so courteously under a small windowsill, were a series of rusted beams. They looked to once have been part of a scaffolding set, but now their links were worn. However they were still linked together, and unlike the dead pipe around the front, these bad boys were still holding a platform.
Thank you lady luck!
She really shouldn't have been so jumpy with her approach, but nothing bad came of it, and so Linda ignored that little slip-up and began to scale her way up. Sure, they didn't reach to the roof, but the open edge of the window lay in wait, and so she hopped, grabbed, and pulled herself up. The glass still remained strong, but there were some worn parts in the stone that acted as perfect grips.
This still wasn't enough to reach the roof, and eyeing the short bit of grabbable space she had, the girl's vision locked onto the slanted section of stone jutted out ever so slightly. A misplaced brick if she had to guess, and not much grip space either, but it appeared to be just close enough that if she flung herself she could catch the edge of the roof; otherwise she was taking a fairly painful tumble. Linda hyped herself up, counted to three, and flung herself towards the brick.
She missed by an inch.
Her fingers slipped against the stone, and for a second the world itself looked to slow down as her senses flicked into overdrive. Everything dulled into a hum as her heart pounded violently. Pain erupted in her side, and in reaction to the sudden pressure she anchored herself to it with the grip of a vice.
Her heartbeat slowed to a reasonable level, and as the light breeze became audible to the girl again she shifted her head to look at what she hit. A small rod of metal was jutted out the side of the building, where it wrapped around and went back in. It was a pipe, and while it was rusted a deep brown like everything else, the sturdy little thing held firm.
Okay... okay... so maybe I could have climbed the pipes around front all along. She looked down, realizing it was still a dangerous drop, especially from her position. Looking up she saw the stupid brick she missed, now easily reachable. Linda looked at the pipe again, and noticed just how close it was to the building; hell, the only reason it held her was because the damn thing was bolted to the wall, unlike the others which simply moved alongside the outer wall.
Not wanting to push her luck any further, as well as feeling herself begin to slip, Linda reached up and grabbed the brick. It had even less grip than she thought, and she couldn't rest her weight entirely on it lest she slip again. The woman knew she had to leap to the roof now; she was losing her hold of the pipe. Gritting her teeth she pressed both her boots on each side of the pipe. As she did so she took the brick above with both hands.
One... two... Three!
Both legs pushed, and her hands gripped down hard as she pulled. Linda gained a short distance of height for sure - especially compared to may of her other jumps - but it was enough for her fingers to graze the edge. Both hands locked into place, and she cheered internally, realizing she did it.
YES!
Wasting no time Linda hauled herself up, taking a moment to just lay there on the roof and breath. It really shouldn't have been that hard to get up; the difficult part was sneaking in. With her heart starting to settle down, the girl sat up and surveyed her surroundings. The area was mostly flat, and a door looked to connect to an elevated section of the factory; the upper floor. There wasn't much higher to go really - most of the height having been covered by the scaffolding - so she figured it was just a quick walk in and she could begin her search.
Linda was now left with a choice: follow the plan and slip into the ducts, or take the convenient door ahead of her. The plan itself was tempting, but her curiosity badgered her to at least take a peak inside. If it looked too crowded or risky, she could easily leave and take the vent sticking out of the roof anyway.
With her stamina restored and a newfound vigor, Linda cracked the door open and eyed the inside. Seeing as there was nobody around, which was hinted by the lack of sound before hand as she listened in before opening, the once-again thief slipped in and down the stairwell. At the bottom she repeated this pattern again on the next door, finding herself soon slithering down the halls as a pit of tension opened in her gut.
Where is everyone? Linda was not used to places she broke into being so empty, which was only made worse as she spied one of the many cameras she expected to see beforehand, taking note of how the indicator light was off; nobody was manning cams.
Right... She was a little apprehensive, but nevertheless she flicked out her phone and sent a text to her partner, only to pause. Actually... I should probably wait for her outside, just in case there's danger I can't deal with on my own..
This was the excuse she told herself while chickening out.
.
.
Kurome waited patiently, she really did, but this was getting a little aggravating.
Maybe it was her own damn fault for agreeing to let Linda show her stuff, but when she saw the girl slip around the factory as opposed to taking the vent she spied earlier, Kurome started to wonder if she'd made the right decision.
The ding on her phone mitigated this suspense, and flicking it open she read the following text.
"Place is clean, waiting for you on the roof. There's some scaffolding around back. Jump, and I'll catch you."
So apparently the decision wasn't as poor as she thought. Taking a moment to stand she looked up, and spied her partner on the roof, offering a wave and pointing towards the back; a clear indicator of what she wanted. The previously restored divine wasn't really feeling like wasting that much time though, and seeing as nobody could be seen in the widows ahead, she opted to take a more... direct approach.
Walking up to the place she watched as Linda's smile fell into wondering, and after a quick stretch she bent down. It had been quite a while since she'd jumped, and while the woman was confident in her power, she was curious if she could still reach as high as the rooftop; she was out of practice after all. Linda remained at the top, and as she looked down Kurome offered a quick wink...
Then rocketed upwards.
Hmm... not quite. She made it a sizeable distance, but even so the woman was only able to reach the very edge of the roof. Rather unfashionably to her discontent, Kurome was forced to grab it, pulling herself up by one arm and orienting herself upwards as she pierced the heavens with her legs. With a silent huff she pushed herself into the awaiting air, lazily adjusting midway through the air with a slow spin, and landing lightly on the roof in a display of what she hoped was some sense of elegance.
Linda took a second to pick her jaw from the floor... only to then fall to said floor on her knees.
"It's not fair... you totally cheated!"
Kurome cocked a brow, perplexed as to what the girl was whining about. Linda stood again, having collected herself from those pathetic seconds of amusingly adorable self loathing.
"Whatever, just... just come on." A dejected Linda beckoned her along, and while it had been amusing for a time, the tiniest bit of regret slipped its way into the forgotten one, and Kurome was left with a familiar salve of bitter displeasure across her tongue. Such feelings of unease were cast aside for a wave of focus.
Linda paused at the bottom of the stairs, looking out first before waving Kurome to follow. She did so, and as they trekked along she couldn't fight off the short flickering's of paranoia eating away at the back of her head. The cameras were off, and while it had been part of the plan for her partner to shut them off, Kurome had all of a sudden she got this terribly conflicted feeling.
Sure, the cameras were dealt with, but where the hell was everybody? Linda walked along cautiously, and while it was possible the woman had planned this route for them to avoid trouble, Kurome couldn't help but question the speed of her partner's action. Linda had been much too fast for Kurome to honestly believe she set this all up, meaning the most likely answer was that everybody was just somewhere else. It was, to be quite frank, ridiculous how empty the halls were... as if they were meant to seem abandoned.
Everything screamed trap.
The area would be made to appear lifeless, and then once the targets delved in and confidence began to settle into them the illusion was cast aside and the invaders captured. Once upon a time Kurome had used a similar style of deception, creating a scenario where her foes believed they were alone, only to rip away the curtains in a move of complete dominance.
Linda, you better not have just walked us into an ambush.
"Hold on." Linda stopped both her, and her mind. Kurome pushed herself against the wall along with her partner, and it was then they were both witness to it; a small echo of sound; voices perhaps? "You hear that right, it's not just me?"
"Yeah." Kurome let out, slipping past and carrying on.
Linda followed behind silently, and they traced the echoes along the barren halls. It was definitely voices, and for a second Kurome felt like she could make out the sounds. Laughter, or, at least she thought it was laughter; you couldn't really tell with how many other voices joined the fray. At the peak of the noise the duo were able to make out more than just shouts and cheers; there was music as well.
"Are they dancing?" The question was so asinine Kurome had to pause and look back, watching unimpressed as Linda shrugged. Taking a minute to think, she regretfully couldn't write off the idea completely, but this was a gang they were dealing with, so she highly questioned such a simple and peaceful answer.
The door was ahead of them now, and while they could spend all night speculating about what was behind it, Kurome decided she'd rather see what it was now. And so, with a show of force, she kicked the door in, ready to face their enemies head on.
What she saw forced her to pause.
.
.
I can't believe I was so stupid!
Warechu had to admit, he made the wrong choice. At the time it seemed so simple, but simplicity itself seldom meant right. Now, as a consequence to his rash thinking, he was left tired, filthy, and cold. The night had not been kind to the mouse, and worst of all his legs were killing him.
Nearly there... just have to keep pushing.
For a second his eyes lit up as he rounded the corner, and a bright smile filled his features.
Yes!
.
.
Kurome blinked, the small group ahead of them blinked, and the television continued to prominently show off the word 'pause'.
It took them all of ten seconds to realize what was going on, and all except the familiar guy in the middle hopped to their feet from the couch. Her eyes remained centered to the man lazily sitting there with a smile, even as his allies surrounded her with guns in hand - paintball again it by the looks of it.
"Yo." His smile turned cheery. "So we meet again. Just couldn't stay away from me, could you?"
"You?!" She tried her best to comprehend the situation ahead of her, but unfortunately for Kurome, her mind was stalling. As her mind tried to reboot itself, the guy waved.
"You remembered me; killer! Say, come on over and have a seat."
Defaulting seemed to be the only functional option in her head right now, at least until she could understand what the hell was going on, and so Kurome silently wandered over as the weapons trailed her every move. She flopped down next to the dude, and he turned his attention back to the TV.
"Been mastering the game by the way..." He gave a short chuckle. "You weren't wrong either; it's actually pretty fun."
"You were from the shop." She already knew this, but even so a part of her mind desired verbal confirmation. He sent a questioning glance.
"Uh, yeah. Damn, you feeling good?"
In response, Kurome blinked, taking a breath and trying to clear her mind. It was strange... unbelievable... stupid perhaps, that this was the same kid who walked into Chuko's shop and hit on her earlier. Why was he here anyway?
"I'm cool..." She paused for a second, leaning back as she chose to speak her mind. "Why are you here?"
"My buds and I hang out here all the time." His smile turned savvy as he faced the screen again, unpausing his game. "I guess you can call it a base of sorts."
"A base huh?" Kurome sent eyes to the few still surrounding them. She may not have had the best of views back during the shooting; these were definitely the idiots who fired at them. The guy next to her must have realised she was still being targeted, as he loudly cleared his voice and spoke.
"Excuse me, guys, put the straps away."
"But boss-"
"Put, them, away." He wasn't asking, and she watched as the group of four obeyed. The gothic gal offered an suitably short impressed whistle.
"That was fast." She sent a sideways glance. "You do this often."
"They behave most of the time." He said, smirking as he cleared a line in the puzzle game. "However they don't appear to have had the best experience with you. How did you first meet my... 'friends' anyway?"
"They were shooting up my ride." She said bluntly, watching with a hidden amount of satisfaction as his breathing stilled. He kept calm however and spoke.
"Sorry about that. I'll have them disciplined, I promise."
As he said that she noticed the four lock up, and with that she opened her mouth again.
"Yeah, okay, but I have something to ask."
"Shoot." He remained focused on the game, but she kept her tone even anyways as she knew he had his true attention on her - he was still just an excitable teen after all.
"Word around the street claims the Lerulians operate from here; true?"
"Yep." He popped the 'p', smiling wide as he did so. "Why, you interested in joining up with 'em?"
"Not quite..." She saw the smile dip a little, having a gut feeling he was more than intimate with the group. "We have... unfinished business."
"What happened?" Kurome saw how he was struggling with the game now, and she knew whatever he was waiting for, he knew it wasn't good - especially if it was impacting his performance. He probably felt she didn't have a good impression of the group...
And he was right.
"Simple. The assholes trashed my apartment and kidnapped my friend." He locked up completely, and Kurome deepened her voice in response. "I'm here to take him back, and make sure they understand not to mess with Kurome Ankokuboshi." She leaned in towards his frozen person, and whispered delicately into his ear. "You wouldn't happen to know where they are, would you?"
She had to back away as he stood from the couch. He was calm, and Kurome simply leaned back and made herself comfortable. The guy began to walk over to the others who were now quivering, and stopped before a slightly taller man. Carefully he patted the individual's shoulder, and questioned with a playful tone.
"Now... this wouldn't happen to be true, would it?"
"We were jus-" A meaty slap echoed out as the guy was sent to the floor. Kurome let her smirk out now, feeling this immense sense of personal enjoyment bubble up at the sight. The guy leaned down, and spoke evenly again.
"Answer the question."
"Yes and no." The downed man offered with a groan, clutching his face, and even earning some bewilderment from Kurome. Nevertheless the kid waved for the man to carry on; he did just so. "W-we wanted to get back at 'em for ruining the flag, but they wasn't home. We trashed the place and ran, that's it."
"What about Warechu?" Kurome stood, making her way over to stand beside the frightful man. "Where is he?"
"W-who?" Kurome, instead of asking again, merely looked to the kid next to her. The boy nodded, and sent a brutal kick to the man's side. Letting out a cry, he curled in on himself, and Kurome asked again.
"Warechu; Gray rat, probably was wearing an apron when you messed our place up. I swear, if you don't tell me right now, I'll-"
The threat was interrupted by a light ringing, and pausing for a bit Kurome reached into her pocket where the rat's phone was blaring. She looked to the dude at her side, and he simply shrugged. Kurome flicked open the phone and accepted the call.
"Hello?"
"WHAT HAPPENED TO THE APARTMENT!?" Warechu's voice rippled violently against her eardrums.
"Warechu?"
"WHY DO YOU HAVE MY PHONE?!"
"TONE IT DOWN!" She screamed back, trying to ignore the ringing in her ears as her understanding of things slowly unraveled themselves. It was Warechu sure enough, but where the hell was he?
"Sorry." He sighed and continued. "But I just got back home and the place is wasted. You've got my main phone, so I had to break out the house phone upstairs. Where the heck are you anyway, and where's Linda?"
"We are out dealing with the pricks who trashed the place, who we thought kidnapped you." Kurome told, and the line went silent for a second.
"Oh..."
"Warechu..." She began, feeling her eye twitch. "Where were you?"
"Up at the shop. Linda went to get you so I took a cab. I wanted to grab a few groceries tonight, and accidently left my phone back home." His voice dropped off halfway thought. "Ended up spending the last of my credits on some discount steak; stuff was on sale and I couldn't resist. Thanks to that little blunder, I had to trek home on foot; worst three hours ever!"
"Warechu..." Kurome fought back the urges, but they were strong. "Have you ever prayed before?"
"Uh... a little... a long time ago?"
"I see... well you better start praying now, because when I get home I'm going to ring your fluffy little neck; understand?"
She didn't even wait for an answer before she hung up. That little shit had them up in arms, and now the woman found herself with the insatiable urge to kill. With that enormous amount of fury just barely contained, it was a marvel she didn't explode as the cheeky teen next to her spoke up again.
"So... your friend good?"
"Apparently." She spat, turning her dark gaze towards him; to his credit he showed no signs of fear. "There's still the little issue with my apartment."
"I see..." Idiot actually leaned in this time, wrapping an arm around her shoulders; Kurome had to restrain her urge to rip it off. "Well then, how about I set you up in a nicer looking place?"
Her fury paused, and she narrowed her eyes.
"Go on..."
"You work at the game shop right?" She nodded, and he smiled, stepping back as he rested his hands on his hips. "You know the apartment just up the street, around the corner and next to the suburbs. Well, I have a pretty kick-ass space open on the fifth floor. Two bathrooms, a kitchen, three bedrooms, and a large living room complete with a balcony to lay down under the sun. What do you say?"
"What's the catch?" He wasn't doing this just to make amends - Kurome wasn't stupid enough to believe that - and so she wondered just what he wanted from her.
"Simple, I want an extra set of hands for some... business I'm dealing with."
"Business huh?" She crossed her arms. "And what type of business is that."
"The type your boss would take interest in." Instantly her guard was up again, and he just laughed as her body tensed. "Easy there, this isn't a threat." She relaxed a little gain, but never dropped her defenses fully. Seemingly knowing this was the best he'd get, the kid continued. "I've been meaning to set up a meeting with him, but things have been... annoying. There's this particular group of wannabe losers locking down the road next to the Planeptune mall, demanding 'tolls' if you can believe it, and I can't exactly have that going on during our meeting."
"Why does it matter?" Kurome questioned, and the guy's expression fell into a sturdy mask.
"The mall has a nice mini-golf set-up inside, and I was thinking of taking your boss out for a short game to ease off any tensions. I want to make a good impression, and show I'm not here to compete over territory; just to trade and sell." He reached out a hand. "So, how about it?"
Thinking back on it, the apartment was a complete mess - one she really didn't want to deal with after all this. Plus, this guy had a thing for her, or so she believed with how flirty he'd acted when they met at the shop. From the way he spoke it was easy to tell he had some position of power within the Lerulians, meaning he'd be risking his word and rep if he was lying.
With all this in consideration, Kurome reached out and shook his hand.
"Deal."
"Good." He let go with a smile. "I'll have my guys move your stuff later tomorrow; it's the least they can do after... that."
"Fine enough with me." She crossed her arms. "I've got two roommates; I presume they'll be allowed in with me?"
"Of course."
"And would I also be correct in assuming the job you have in mind will take place tomorrow?"
"You're quick, I like that." He smirked deviously. "Yeah, you'll get to show our 'friends' the error of their ways. I'll text you when it's time. So long as you don't outright kill them, you're free to use whatever methods you desire to 'shoo' them away. Sound alright?"
"Easy enough." Kurome replied, and his smirk eased off into a warm smile again.
"Then it's a deal. I'm Lonk, by the way; Co-leader of the Lerulians." He cast his sights to the door. "By the way, is your friend coming in any time soon?"
"Don't mind her, she's just like that sometimes."
"Huh, okay. Well, feel free to make yourself at home."
"Right." Kurome followed him back to the couch, where he proceeded to continue at the game as she took some time to truly relax; the night had been hell, and she reveled in the relaxation afforded. Linda eventually joined them, cheering on as the atmosphere settled. Things lost their tense edge shortly, but even so Kurome was left with one staggeringly annoying thought...
Why is it always me?
Author's note
...
Oh but sike, Warechu was actually just away shopping all along; hence why I proposed 'abducted probably' last time. Yeah, he was fine all this time - something Kurome won't be forgetting easily.
Look on the bright side at least: Kurome's got a new - and better - place to crash with the duo, and she's gotten on Lonk's good side. Score one for our heroes... or villains... I'm not really sure anymore.
Whatever, get excited for next time as our favorite emo gangster tackles what's to come.
Until next time.
Extra Note:
Not really a major issue, but this one goes out to anyone looking to review - as well as a certain individual. I like reviews as much as the next fellow, but if you're going to review it would be appreciated if you'd add something more than just a 'good job' or 'nice chapter'.
Positivity is nice, and I appreciate the enthusiasm, but I can't exactly tell what parts of it you enjoyed or didn't enjoy based on that alone. It's fine to reaffirm the story if you want, but I would much rather you mentioned what it was you liked or disliked; this way I can use that feedback to improve the story to come.
Even something simple like 'I thought this was pretty neat' or 'wow, [insert general description of section] was kind of a letdown' can work. If you can do so without major spoilers that would be nice, but if you can't it's no worry; spoilers are a risk people take when looking at the reviews section.
This story will see itself through to the end regardless of feedback, so nobody needs to worry about it being canceled just because you don't review - I know some stories work like that, but this isn't one of them.
Apologies for the long note, but I don't want the reviews section to end up clogged; it just looks messy. And I don't fancy removing reviews; not my personal style. This isn't a personal attack, and I won't really do anything if nothing changes anyhow; this is merely a request.
Anyway, have a good one.