Danny Hebert's job as head of the Dockworker's Association wasn't all management and long talks with jumped up bureaucrats. Sometimes he needed to get down and dirty to deal with issues that popped up in the docks or even between his boys. It wasn't often that it happened, but it did happen some days.
Today was one of those days. It turned out that the Merchants had taken to squatting in some of their less used warehouses recently and were in desperate need of being run off before they did as they always tended to do and multiply by the dozens. He and Kurt had been spending the morning going from warehouse to warehouse, dealing with any unwanted trespassers as they came across them. The Merchants were a skittish bunch so the two of them would be more than enough to deal with anyone they came across.
They'd already had to run off at least five groups and it wasn't even ten yet. Thanks to Kurt's massive size and the equally large shotgun that Danny had taken to carrying with him, they hadn't had any actual trouble, but the day was just starting and both men knew better than to open their mouths and comment on that fact.
"I'm thinking this'll be the last one before we break for lunch." Danny said to his friend as he pulled out a key and unlocked the door to the warehouse, "I skipped breakfast today and kicking out all these crackheads is making me a bit peckish."
"You always skip breakfast, Danny." Kurt snorted as the door opened, "I don't think I've seen you in the morning with more than a cup of coffee and maybe a breath mint."
Danny laughed, "True enough, I guess."
The inside of the warehouse was much more packed than all of the rest, lined wall to wall with boxes. That meant that there were plenty of hiding places for potential trespassers.
Danny inhaled deeply, frowning at the slightly off smell. "Look alive, Kurt. We might have company again."
"Fantastic. Hopefully this bunch aren't all high off their asses too." Kurt huffed as he followed his friend inside. He let his arm hand loose, banging his aluminum baseball bat against the ground to spook whoever might be inside, "HEY! IF YOU'RE IN HERE, YOU'VE GOT UNTIL WE FIND YOU TO GET THE HELL OUT OF THIS BUILDING!"
The shout echoed through the warehouse before fading away. There was no response and the man looked over to Danny, "Guess we're going in."
"Looks like it." Danny racked his shotgun, the sound echoing just as Kurt's shout had. Still nothing. "That usually sends them running. If we're lucky, they're already gone."
"Or they're so drugged up they didn't even register it."
"That too." Danny pulled out his flashlight, shining it into the darkness and illuminating the numerous boxes and crates scattered around. This warehouse didn't have power because they didn't use it often enough to warrant it, "Let's just hope we aren't dealing with corpses. It's too early in the morning for that."
They made their way through the warehouse, maneuvering around boxes and crates as they looked for any signs of Merchants or even just a random homeless person who had decided to make this place their temporary home.
"What do we use this one for anyway?" Kurt asked as they searched, "I don't recognize any of these boxes."
"Mostly for storage." Danny answered, turning his flashlight into a space between two boxes. Nothing but dust and rat droppings, "We drop anything we don't need in here. This one's pretty full so we don't use it often but we still can't let the Merchants settle down in here."
"Of course." Kurt agreed easily, "Give them an inch and they'll take a mile. Before long we'd have practically the entire gang set up down here."
"Like they weren't already?" Danny chuckled as he moved some boxes that had fallen into their path. The smell had gotten worse but his earlier thoughts of it being Merchants were fading somewhat. What he was smelling wasn't the usual filthy stench of body odor that he had come to associate with them. It was more robust and cloying, like smoke.
"True enough, I guess." Kurt said, "Though with what the ABB did to them a week back, I doubt we'll have to deal with that for too much longer."
"I wouldn't be too sure about that." Danny said, "I'd say we're going to be dealing with them for a few more months at least. They're like rats, always popping up where you want them the least."
"Ain't that the truth."
Slowly but surely, they cleared the warehouse, starting on the edges and working their way inwards. They found no signs of any Merchants or anything of the sort, and Danny was moments away from calling off the search and moving onto the next warehouse when he pushed a pallet out of the way and paused.
"What the hell…?" He muttered at what he saw, moving forwards to get a better look. His eyes widened. "Oh hell. Kurt, come here!" He yelled back at his friend who had moved to check another spot, not taking his eyes off of what he was seeing.
Right in front of him was the loading bay. Several meters of the floor had been completely cleared of any crates or boxes in a near perfect circle around the center. Not only that, but a thin layer of what looked like fine grey ash caked absolutely every inch of this part of the warehouse. It was on the walls, the floor hell, even the ceiling and overhead lights as well, sticking to the concrete and sheet metal like it was nothing.
Danny ignored all of that in favor of staring at the heap in the middle of the floor. It was a pile of ash much larger than anything he had ever seen before, at least the size of a king-sized mattress and shaped like a bowl or some sort of nest. It was glowing softly with the heat of the embers inside of it, casting an orange glow for several feet.
Laying in a heap in the very center of the bowl was what appeared to be a young Asian woman. She was completely nude, not a single stitch of clothing on her body as she lay completely motionless atop the pile of glowing ash. Danny could easily see steam rising into the air around her from the heat that the ash was putting off and yet he couldn't see a single burn on her skin, the woman seemingly completely unscathed despite the heat.
"Oh shit." Kurt said as he came up behind him, seeing the same thing that Danny did, "Is she alive?"
The woman hadn't moved an inch despite Kurt's words, but Danny looked closer, staring at the outline of her shoulder against the nearby floor. To his surprise, he caught a faint hint of movement, a rising and falling in the limb that indicated she was breathing.
"I think she is." Danny said, giving Kurt his gun and moving to get closer to the odd scene, "She's breathing at least."
Danny crouched down beside the woman, careful to keep his bare hands away from the burning hot ash underneath her and his eyes away from her more private areas. Even still, he could see that practically all of the skin on the woman's body was a bright pink, like she had gotten a really bad sunburn without any of the peeling that normally came along with it.
But Danny knew what burnt flesh smelled like. A few too many accidents with welding equipment had ingrained that smell into his memory. What he was smelling right now was nothing like that. It was the smell one got after burning a pile of kindling down to nothing but charcoal and hot ashes. For whatever reason, this woman's skin was completely immune
"Should we call the PRT?" Kurt asked, having realized the same thing that Danny had, "I mean, she's clearly a cape, right? With how hot that ash is, there's no way she'd still be unconscious unless she was in a coma."
Danny thought on his friend's words before slowly shaking his head, "No, they wouldn't answer us anyways. We'll have to deal with this ourselves."
The PRT had its hands completely full right now. After that attack on the Rig a few days ago and the sudden increase in Merchant activity around the docks and Boat Graveyard, they were swamped enough that they'd stopped taking calls altogether, instead putting people straight through to the police.
Danny definitely wasn't going to trust them to take care of this, not in this part of the Bay. There was a reason that his dockworkers took matters into their own hands when it came to criminals and the sort. Crooked cops were a dime a dozen over here and he'd rather cut off his own hand than hand over a naked woman who seemed to be in some sort of coma to one of them.
That meant the options were to leave the woman here and hope she woke up, toss her out with some clothes and hope someone else helped her, or get her help themselves.
It shouldn't have been that difficult of a choice, Danny had a responsibility to the Dockworkers Association and to keep his boys safe, and mingling with an unknown cape was definitely not a way to do that, but it wasn't as easy as it should have been. He wasn't sure why, but something about this woman reminded him of his daughter. Despite looking nothing like Taylor, Danny couldn't help but see his little girl in the woman's sleeping face in a way that he couldn't explain. Maybe it was the vulnerable state she was in or even just the dark color of her hair, but he couldn't bring himself to not help her.
Shucking off his jacket, Danny leaned down and wrapped it around the woman's naked body, concealing her nude form. He then hooked his arms around the woman's knees, ignoring the way the hot ash heated his shirt as he supported her back with his other hand and lifted her up. She remained still as he raised her, not moving or making a sound as he stood and cradled her to his chest.
"Woah, what are you doing, Danny?" Kurt asked as he stood.
"Taking her to my truck." Danny answered, turning to make his way out of the warehouse, "I'm gonna get her comfortable and then see how things progress from there. If she doesn't wake up in an hour or so, I'll take her to the hospital."
"Seriously?" Kurt looked a bit incredulous at Danny's words, "You do realize she's probably with one of the gangs, right? ABB most likely. This whole scene stinks of concrete shoes gone wrong man, you're probably getting wrapped up in something bad here."
"I know. I can't just leave her here, though." He didn't say anything else and though he still looked unsure, Kurt sighed and followed his boss and friend out. Danny wouldn't do something like this without a reason and Kurt would follow his lead like always.
They made their way out of the warehouse, following the same path that they had taken when they entered and exited into the parking lot. Luckily there was nobody around, this area of the Docks practically empty this time of day as always. That meant that nobody would be there to report the grown man stowing an unconscious naked woman in his truck.
"What do you want me to do about the mess?" Kurt asked as Danny loaded the woman up into his truck, "Or do you just want to leave it for another day."
"Call Shane and some of the boys to take care of it." Danny answered, walking around to the driver's side, "That ash is still hot and definitely a fire hazard. We also need to take stock of what we lost because I know the loading bay wasn't that empty before. You'd maybe be able to fit three trucks in there before, not eight."
Kurt nodded, "Got it. I'll tell Shane to grab some people and head over. Are you coming back any time today?"
"Yeah, I'll be back. Just give me a few hours and I'll come help with the count."
"Alright. Hope you know what you're doing, Danny. Stay safe." Kurt called after him as he loaded up into his truck.
"I hope I do too." Danny muttered, slamming the door closed and starting his truck.
~~~ Yuko ~~~
Regaining consciousness wasn't quite like waking up from a dream. I didn't have anything to compare it to of course, but it was more like I simply hadn't existed in one moment, and the next my eyes were wide open, staring at an unfamiliar ceiling with an even more unfamiliar bed cradling me softly.
My body felt weird. Raw. Like the feeling one gets after an incredibly hot shower a hundred times over, and even the clothes rubbing against my skin felt like sandpaper.
Still, I didn't move. I just laid there on the bed for several minutes, staring at the ceiling as I got used to this new state of affairs. My mind churned behind my eyes as I came to terms with what had happened to me, the memories of what had occurred still fresh in my memories as if they had literally just occurred.
I died. Bakuda betrayed me and blew me up and I died. If it wasn't for my quick thinking and her need to force me to watch my own death approach, I would have stayed that way permanently. I could feel panic set in in my mind as I realized this. My breath began to quicken and my vision blurred, the beginnings of a panic attack coming upon me much more quickly than my previous experience as my death replayed in my head over and over again.
The ticking timer, the feeling of resignation mingling with pain inside my mind as I stared at the countdown to my inevitable end displayed on a tiny LED box. I was going to die. I was going to die and I couldn'tdoanythingaboutit-
I clenched my eyes shut, gritting my teeth hard enough to taste iron in my gums as I drove those thoughts from my mind with all of my might, slamming them into the deepest recesses of my brain along with all of the existential dread that they induced. Now was not the time. I'd deal with it later, when I was fully confident in my location and safety.
As I slowly calmed myself down, my mind flitted to the last minute gambit I had employed, such a far shot that I truly wasn't sure whether or not it would work at the time.
I hadn't had enough time to fully transform, or even take on the physical traits of any of the creatures at my disposal before my death. Metaphysical traits on the other hand, I was able to employ near instantaneously so long as I had the mist to do so. Enhanced insight, sharper memory…
Or a phoenix's ability to reincarnate after its own death.
It was a complete shot in the dark whether or not my powers would even remain active after my own death or if I would just fade away into whatever afterlife or lack thereof awaited me, but it seemed that my gamble had paid off and saved me from the icy embrace of oblivion.
And now I was… somewhere. This was certainly not the warehouse that I had died in, and I very much doubted that my costume had survived the blast that Bakuda believed would leave nothing but ash remaining.
That meant that whoever had found me had also dressed me… I wasn't really sure how to feel about that information.
Deciding that I had spent long enough in my head, I decided to finally sit up and take in this new place I had found myself in. It was a bedroom, that much was clear, but definitely not one in my house. The wallpaper was unfamiliar and the floor was carpeted as opposed to the hardwood present in every bedroom room back home.
I looked around, quickly spying a small mirror on the far wall. I gazed at myself in it, taking in my disheveled appearance, from my oddly pink skin to my normally straight hair that had been thrown into disarray. The clothes I was wearing were unfamiliar as well, a sea green sweater that was clearly too big on me as well as some sweatpants.
Unfortunately, that was all I was wearing. Whoever had dressed me clearly wasn't the most comfortable with doing it because I wasn't wearing any undergarments, leaving me completely bare underneath this stranger's clothes. How lovely.
Swinging my legs to the floor, I stood from the bed, only to wince and almost immediately sit back down as my legs nearly gave out below me. It seemed that my resurrection had caused more issues than just raw skin. I waited a moment before trying again, taking it much more slowly this time. I placed my feet on the carpet, putting a bit of weight on them before adding more and more. Once I was convinced of my ability to hold myself up, I slowly rose again.
This time, I was able to actually walk without falling over, though every step I took was a stumbling, unsure thing. Still, I powered through it and managed to get to the door, opening it and walking out into the hall beyond.
There was a staircase at the end of the hall leading downwards. With some difficulty and a great deal of help from the nearby wall, I made my way to it on shaky legs. There was a voice coming from down the stairs. It was a man and he sounded a bit angry or maybe exasperated. Either way, that was likely the person responsible for my relocation. Guess it was time to meet my rescuer.
I made my way down the stairs, taking them one at a time as my body slowly began to cooperate with me a bit more. As I walked, the voice became clearer and clearer to my ears, until finally I reached the bottom and found myself on the cusp of a rather modest living room. The decor wasn't exactly to my tastes but the soft yellow light drifting from a lamp in the corner brought me a sense of comfort that I had sorely been lacking.
The owner of the voice turned out to be a rather tall, thin man with glasses. He was leaning up against the kitchen counter, a landline held to his ear as he spoke angrily to the person on the other side.
"...sn't waking up any time soon and Taylor'll be home in a few minutes anyway. I should probably start heading over there. Yeah. Yeah, I'll talk to you later, Kurt. Bye. Jesus christ."
I stood back as the man put the phone back in its place. He sighed, grabbing the bridge of his nose underneath his glasses, "Just great. How in the world am I going to get an unconscious woman who clearly isn't related to me across the city without looking like a creep or getting arrested?"
"It probably helps that the woman is awake now." I finally decided to speak up, making my presence known. The man startled, jumping slightly as he turned to find me standing at the bottom of the stairs.
"You're up." He said, a bit of relief leaking into his tone as he looked me up and down, "That's good. I couldn't find anything wrong with you but I figured that I wouldn't, considering… you know."
I raised an eyebrow at his words, making my way down the last few steps with some difficulty, "I'm afraid I'm not sure what you're referring to. My memories are a bit… tumultuous, to say the least. I assume you're the one who rescued me and," I looked down at the clothes I was wearing, "dressed me as well?"
The man nodded, only looking slightly embarrassed at my words "I did. Couldn't just leave you there and the PRT isn't taking any calls right now. Figured it was better to get you out of there and somewhere safer until you woke up or didn't and I took you to the hospital."
It seemed that I had awoken at a good time then. If he had taken me to the hospital in my current state, I had little doubt that my identity would have been in danger.
"I see. Then may I know the name of my rescuer?" I asked the man.
"Daniel Hebert, but just call me Danny" He said simply.
The name somewhat rang a bell in my mind but with how sluggish my thoughts were at the moment, I wasn't able to put a finger on it. Resolving to figure it out later, I committed the name to memory even as I nodded, "Then thank you, Danny. I am extremely thankful for what you have done for me."
"Of course. I couldn't just leave you there." Danny said, before his gaze turned slightly stern, "Though would you mind telling me why you were in one of our warehouses in the first place? I don't recognize you and I'm sure you aren't with any of my boys."
I paused slightly at his question, "That is… difficult to answer. I assure you that my presence in the warehouse was nothing untoward but I cannot tell you why I was there. Truth be told, you are probably better off not knowing at all."
He nodded, a slightly unhappy look on his face, "Yeah, I figured. You don't talk like some street thug. You're probably someone pretty important, huh?"
I just gave him a thin smile, not answering his question. Thankfully he got the message and sighed, running a hand through his thinning hair, "Alright then. Guess I won't get an explanation for all that ash either, huh?"
Ash. The word made my mouth go dry but I suppressed the panic that wanted to rise as a result and answer his question, "No, I'm afraid not. Would you mind telling me the day? I haven't quite managed to regain my bearings just yet."
"It's Saturday." He responded, causing my eyes to widen.
Saturday. When I had enacted my plan to free my father, it was Wednesday. I had been unconscious or dead for three days. In that amount of time, Bakuda would have been able to come up with nearly any story as to what had happened to me. She would have doubtlessly assumed command of the gang by now and done who-knows-what with the position.
I needed to get back right away.
I must have stood there frozen a bit too long as Danny gave me a concerned look, "Are you sure you're okay?" He asked, startling me out of my thoughts, "I can get you to a hospital if you need it."
I took a deep breath, gathering my thoughts. "Thank you, Danny but I must decline. I've already spent far too much time away from my duties and I must return."
I turned to him and suddenly bowed low to the man, shocking him, "Rest assured, I will not forget this kindness. I'll make sure to return it someday soon."
Danny's face was uncomfortable as I rose back to my full height, "Oh, you don't have to do that." He waved me off, "It really wasn't a big deal."
"I was." I insisted, "My father taught me to always pay my debts and right now, I owe you a rather large one. I was in an extremely vulnerable position, and there's no telling what could have been done to my unconscious body before I woke up."
"I wouldn't say that. You were only out for a few hours."
"Even so, I know how much could happen even in that short amount of time." I gave him a look silently telling him that I wouldn't take no for an answer, "You've done me a service, Danny. I will not take no for an answer."
Danny sighed but seemed content to drop the subject, "Alright, I guess. If you're that insistent then I won't stop you."
I smiled lightly, "Wonderful. Now then, would you mind if I used your phone? There is someone who should be available to come get me."
He nodded, gesturing towards the landline, "All yours."
"Thank you."
By now, my legs were working almost fully, nothing but residual pins and needles remaining, so it was simple to walk over to the phone and pull it off the wall. A few button presses later, I held the phone up to my ear and listened to it ring as I awaited for a response.
Luckily, I didn't have to wait long. After only three rings, the phone was picked up, an angry voice appearing on the other end of the line.
"I'm not sure how you got this number but don't call it again." Kon's voice had an intensely calming effect on me, even in spite of his extremely angry tone, "I've got like three people on my contacts and I'm on the do-not-call list. I can sue you for this, you know? You aren't allowed to just use people's information however the fuck you want-"
That said, this little tirade he was on was a bit much, "Kon."
The single word stopped the man in his tracks. There was silence on the other end of the line for a long moment before, "Boss?"
"Yes, Kon." I smiled slightly at the surprise in his voice, "It's me. I can't explain things right now but I need you to come retrieve me. Can you do that?"
Kon was silent for nearly thirty seconds, clearly completely and utterly befuddled at the sudden turn of events which was understandable. He had clearly thought I was dead or at least missing so calling him suddenly from an unknown phone number was likely a mental flashbang to say the least.
"I-uh. Yeah! Yeah, I can do that." He finally got out. There was a rush of movement in the background, "Where are you at?"
Turning to Danny, I called out to the man who was watching me curiously, "Excuse me, Danny. What's the address?"
He told me and I relayed it to Kon. The man made a noise of surprise, "I'm actually really close to there right now. It won't take me more than five minutes, so sit tight."
How lucky. "Wonderful, I'll see you shortly, Kon."
"You sure you want to just head home? You don't want to go to the hospital?" Danny asked as I put the phone back on the wall.
"There's no need." I shook my head, "I'm not hurt. Not anymore at least."
He gave me a skeptical look, "Right. I'm guessing that's another one of those things I'm better off not knowing, huh?"
I gave him a small smirk as I made my way to the front door, opening it, "You catch on quickly. Thank you again for helping me, Danny."
"It's nothing. Just try to keep from doing… whatever it is you did again. I've still got to help my boys clean up that mess you made and take stock of our losses."
I gave him an apologetic smile, "I'm sure it won't happen again though I'm very sorry it did in the first place."
Although that did give me an idea as to how I could pay the man back. HIs words had jogged my memory somewhat, and I now knew where I knew this man's name from. Daniel Hebert was the name of the head of the Dockworker's Association, a rather well known man in the ABB due to his efforts rebuffing any of our gang's expansion into the area. He and his associates were responsible for stopping nearly all of our pushes to take the Docks as our territory. A rather impressive feat.
Well after today, all those efforts would be stopping. The Association itself would also find itself receiving a rather generous donation from an anonymous source if I could at all justify it to Sadao.
I smiled secretly, giving the man a small wave of farewell, "Have a good day, Danny."
"You too. Stay safe, alright?" He said, returning my wave with a small nod, before I stepped out of the house.
The moment that I stepped onto the porch however, I bumped straight into someone's chest. I took a step back, slightly confused as to what happened, only to pause as I took in the person I had just run into.
She was rather tall, was my first thought, standing above me enough that she actually had to look down to meet my eyes. Black, curly hair ran down her shoulders and back, sliding over her baggy hoodie and framing a bespectacled face that reminded me remarkably of the man I had just concluded my conversation with. She was clearly related to him. Likely a daughter or a niece judging by her age.
She gave me a surprised look at my appearance, before her eyes almost immediately narrowed into a dangerous scowl. I blinked, a bit taken aback by the intensity in her gaze. Were I anyone else, I certainly would have flinched at such a glare.
Even still, as I stared up at this girl, my power, which had been completely silent thus far, began slowly building. The glare wasn't just for show it seemed. This girl was dangerous.
"Who are you?" She asked, suspicion present in every facet of her tone. As she spoke, my mind flitted back to what I had overheard Danny say on the phone, that someone named Taylor was due to return soon. This must be her.
Not wanting to make a bad impression, I gave the girl a small nod of greeting, "You must be Taylor, it's a pleasure to meet you."
She was still as leery as ever even as she returned my greeting with a nod of her own, "Nice to meet you. Now what are you doing here? And why are you wearing my mom's clothes?" Her tone was slightly dangerous, threatening even.
I wasn't exactly sure what I had done to get her so angry. Perhaps she was overprotective of her dad and assumed he and I had done something though that was a bit far-fetched. I was turning twenty in a few months and certainly looked like it while Danny was clearly in his late thirties at least.
I hummed, thinking of the best way to explain what had happened, "Your father helped me out of a rather tough situation and I'm afraid my clothes were rendered… unwearable, to say the least. He loaned me these for now but I intend to return them at the earliest opportunity."
Taylor went to say something, but she was interrupted by a car pulling up to the side of the road just off to the side of the driveway. It was a black sedan with windows that were tented so dark that I couldn't see inside of the car at all.
That was soon fixed as the window rolled down, and I couldn't help the smile that crossed my lips as I was met with the familiar face sitting in the driver's seat, gazing back at me with a great deal of relief, "Kon. It's good to see you again. How have you been since we last hung out?"
Kon gave me a confused look but as he went to say something, I subtly motioned behind me where Taylor was still watching us with an intent gaze. He got my meaning immediately and the smile of pure relief on his face slowly faded into something much more natural and easy-going.
"I've been good. I'd be better if I didn't have a cousin who disappeared halfway across the city on a whim." Kon said, shaking his head in disappointment, "Come on, let's get you home. Auntie's worried sick about you."
"That certainly sounds like her." I nodded, opening the door and climbing into the car, "We'd best not keep her waiting."
I turned to look back at Taylor as Kon put the car in drive, "Thank your father for me, please and remind him I'll be repaying his kindness someday soon. He seemed to think what he did for me was not a big deal but I beg to differ."
Taylor stared at me for a moment, but she slowly nodded her head, not saying a word. She then turned around and opened the door to her home, walking inside and slamming the door shut behind her.
"She was intense." Kon commented as he pulled forward and onto the road proper.
I couldn't help but smile lightly as we began to head towards ABB territory, "She certainly was. It appears that she took issue with my being there, though I'm not sure why."
"Some people are just paranoid I guess." Kon said, before turning to give me a warm look as I got situated, "I'm glad to see you're alright, boss."
I breathed deeply, remembering my near panic attack earlier, "Alright is… pushing it."
He frowned, "Bakuda's been telling us all sorts of stories, you know?" He said, chewing on the stick of his sucker angrily, "Spun us some bullshit about how you fucked up the rescue plan and got locked up too. The Faces ate it up but I didn't believe it for a second. Especially not after she immediately started barking out orders like she was the leader now."
So my fears had been valid. Without my father there, and with myself 'incarcerated' there was nobody to step up as head of the gang. Lee was neither interested, nor capable of leading and that left only Bakuda to take the reigns of the ABB as the only cape left. There was no telling how much damage the woman had done even in the short time that I had been unconscious/dead.
"Well, I'm back now." I assured the man as much as myself, "Bakuda's rule will not last another hour. I will ensure it."
"I know you will, boss. Although…" His face became uncertain, as if he was unsure about what he was about to say, "There's something else you need to know."
Judging by his demeanor, this was likely more bad news. I shook my head, not wanting to hear anything else that could shake my resolve right now.
"Not now." I said firmly, "Let me deal with Bakuda first then we'll get our affairs in order, alright?"
Kon looked unsure, "Are you sure? This is kind of super important."
"I'm sure."
"Alright, I guess. You're the boss." Kon leaned forward in his seat, fiddling with the radio for a moment, "You don't mind metal, do you? It's kind of all I've got on this CD and the radio in this car is busted."
It wasn't exactly my preferred genre, but it was his car. I nodded, settling back in my own seat as I prepared myself for the journey ahead and the task that lay at the end of it, "Do as you please."
Kon pressed a button and the car's speakers came alive with the sounds of a strumming guitar, quickly followed by a voice and a drumline. I recognized the music somewhat from my time with Tammi, a song about the end of something that was required to begin anew.
How appropriate.
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