The Mask: Burdens and Reputations

Danger Zone

Sorry, sorry, sorry. We've been struggling so much with life that it's affected posting. Our bad guys.

-Twisted

His eyes dart over to T as they pause in a thin alleyway crowded with rubble.

There really weren't many people he'd want to be with on a mission like this.

Jay would have had his back.

James did have back, but would have hated every second of it.

Gil would have come, but he would have worried about Gil getting noticed.

Which would have been very counterproductive.

Beam would rather get keelhauled than step a single foot anywhere near Yu territory.

But T?

He trusted T.

Knew T would keep to plans and improvise where needed.

T'd also been here before.

On his own.

He was the perfect partner for this mission.

Except his Pirate Princess and T shared a body, and he rather liked her body safe.

Back on the ship.

Or at the cove.

Which left him in a constant state of torn.

He trusted T to a point.

Trusted that T would not do anything ridiculously stupid.

But there was always the chance that they could get separated.

That T would be left to his own devices.

And those devices could get-

Tricky?

Reckless.

Painful.

He takes a slow, deep breath.

Reckless things often led to pain.

"How far?" He whispers when T inches closer.

"Bout fifteen."

He nods before crouching close to the ground to peak around the corner.

It was quiet.

And that bothered him.

He slowly stands, "I ain'nah seen ah single person since we be ah leavin' the main town."

"I know." T frowns, "c'mon," he summons, already climbing the wall, "I don't like this."

He sighs as he jumps for a handhold and pulls himself up.

They'd talked about avoiding the roofs before, knowing there weren't many reliably steady ones left after the way the Isle shook for so long.

So if T was heading for them now, he was really spooked.

And he couldn't blame him.

This small part of town had always been run down and filthy, but it usually had the most amount of people in it.

Sidekicks and Nobodies.

Where was everyone?

He shakes the fear trying to take hold in his spine as he follows behind T, letting him take the lead now that they were closer to enemy lines.

When T hops across several buildings in the opposite direction, and then climbs a particularly shabby looking building that towered over the area he stops in confusion.