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Track 17 Antwan's Alley: Part Two

"Aye, bruh, how you feelin'?" Antwan nodded at Marcello.

"What have you done?" Marcello glared.

Under the Influence: When Antwan succumbs to the effects of his specially cultivated drug, a surge of energy courses through his veins, mirroring the quantity he has consumed or smoked. However, this power boost comes at the cost of a cognitive tradeoff, sacrificing mental clarity for power. To activate this ability, Antwan must personally nurture and imbue his energy into the drug during the growth process, and the drug's potency is directly proportional to the amount of energy invested.

Match Me: Once Under the Influence is triggered, Antwan gains access to a secondary ability. If the target smells Antwan's drug, the energy from the drug is now inside the target and can 'level the playing field,' making them just as intoxicated as Antwan with none of the benefits.

'If I had to guess, this is an ability!' Marcello thought. "He's using some type of manipulation. Let's see...he probably enhanced the thing he's smoking with his energy, then probably has some other ability that's able to affect us in some way."

"Shit, you're pretty close," Antwan said, now only ten feet away. In his right hand, a bright light glowed. When it disappeared, a steel baseball bat was in his grasp; the word, 'L1ghter,' engraved in red on the side.

"I don't have time for this," Marcello growled, looking at the door. The windows of the building were shrouded in darkness, concealing any prying eyes that might be observing. 'I have to be careful, I don't want to reveal my abilities. They could be watching from any one of these windows. Also, my trust in her isn't too high; I'll limit myself to one ability, but which one?'

A quick movement to his right, a card glowing orange embedded itself into his bat. Antwan's bloodshot eyes widened, staring in slight disbelief at the playing card buried several inches deep into the baseball bat. "Aye bruh, what the-" His words were cut short as he ducked another card, which cut deep into a nearby metal sewer pipe, allowing a macabre blend of bathwater and sludge to trickle forth from the small incision.

"Normally, I would've hit that," Zoe mumbled, instinctively reaching for her orange four-leaf clover necklace, but remembered she had given it away.

"A'ight, let's run it," Antwan swung the bat as if he were hitting an imaginary ball.

The next thing Zoe knew, she was looking up at the dark grey swirling clouds, a loud pain in her chest. Something had completely knocked the wind out of her; Zoe's world spun as she tried to catch her breath. Lifting the back of her head off the ground, she saw that on her chest was a baseball made of highly condensed energy.

It felt like an eternity before she could move more than just her head. She pushed herself up, sitting on her knees, wiping her mouth, seeing a streak of blood on her arm.

She felt herself being blown back once more; this time it felt softer, less concentrated, as if a gust of wind gently but quickly shoved her aside. Several bricks on the wall behind her shattered as another energy ball bounced off it, whizzing back over her head.

'He's actually surprisingly experienced,' Marcello glared forward, his hand outstretched behind him; one of the large rings glowed brightly on his right hand.

'He pushed me out of the way,' Zoe thought, staring at him in surprise. "Was I knocked out?"

"Can you get up?" He asked, not taking his eyes off Antwan.

"Y-yeah," her voice was shaky. She looked down; a few feet away was the energy baseball that slammed into her chest. Curiously, Intrigued, she cautiously reached out, gingerly seizing the unusual projectile. She rose to her feet, using the wall as support.