All the Time to Lose (Wormverse)

Ch 13: Plan B

Suddenly, I stop as several visions show me a forcefield appearing in various distances in front of me. I stop, several feet in front of a forcefield. I hear a crisp, clear voice call out, not quite bored but not quite panicked either.

"Please stop running. We just want to make sure you're ok. Mostly cuz somebody opened fire without getting a good read on the situation." I turn to see the trio of capes that had surrounded the merchants. I glance between them, unsure of how to proceed.

With my powers acting up the way they are, I cannot make a proper decision. So, I decide to look for a way out. "Sorry. Got off on the wrong foot there. Apparently you got caught in our crossfire with the Merchants. Vigilant spotted you which made some confusion on the plan."

I narrow my eyes at the one in blue as he continues, pointing at the girl and then the boy. "I'm Castle, and this is Fulgur and Vigilant. I don't think I've seen you around here-Wait no. Weren't you at the Leviathan fight?"

Oh that's right. I think I remember seeing them there. I nod. "Do you have somewhere to stay for the night? Maybe buy you some food? Make it up to you somehow?" My powers have started to clear up somewhat, though my migraine hasn't.

I can see that he will indeed buy me food or whatever I ask for to make it up to me. Although...I can also see that there is a possibility to learn more from them should I mention my lack of permanent accommodations.

"You part of a gang or something?" I ask, trying to see if they might work for Coil. "Nah, we're our own team. No real affiliations yet, except that the neighborhood we just left is 'our' territory. We guard it, and keep it free of other gangs."

This could work...especially if they're willing to stay in that 'unaffiliated' category. I think on it, before eventually deciding that I could escape from them if I really needed to. My biggest concern might be this Fulgur's lightning gun.

"I would not say no to a place to stay for the night." The man who calls himself Castle replies "Cool. You can take the guest bedroom." What's a bedroom? I wonder to myself as I follow them to the edge of the roof.

I could bother to actually climb down, but it is much faster to fast-forward myself through that. Before I can though, the one called Vigilant calls out "Uh, yeah, we don't actually walk on the road...ever. Even less now that Leviathan has torn most of them to shreds."

I glance back at them and he waves me over. "C'mon. We'll show you." I do so hesitantly. As I reach them Fulgur speaks up "What do we call you anyway?" I pause. I normally don't bother to give my cape name since it's not my real name, but it would be inconvenient if I don't here.

"Aeon." I answer simply, hoping that will be the end of the questions. It is not. "Cool. So, are you a teleporter or something? Vigilant saw you on the ground but then you were on the roof. So, what are you? Speedster? Teleporter? Flyer?"

She gasps a little "Can you turn invisible?" Thankfully, Castle speaks up here "Give her some breathing room. You're the one who almost shot her, this is us apologizing." At least she's quiet now.

Then, Vigilant speaks up "You ok? You seem to be responding badly to sound." I nod and mumble something along the lines of 'migraine-land'. He nods "Oh, believe me, I know. Migraines suck. I've got some medicine for that back home if you want some."

I look at him "There's stuff for that?" "Yup. Varies widely in strength. I've got prescription stuff. Not the strongest but it handles mine pretty well." I must admit, I'm a tad upset that I didn't receive any of this medicine while I was in the hospital-thing.

With that, Castle starts generating horizontal forcefields in mid-air, forming steps into the air. As we climb these steps, the panels behind us fall away and are replaced by fields in front of us, forming a sidewalk in the air and over the rooftops.

I can't be bothered to pay attention to where we're going nor how long it takes. I'm too busy enjoying the dark, silent streets. Eventually, we come to a stop above the roof of a building. Vigilant goes down a set of forcefield stairs to the front door.

He enters the building and I am left with Fulgur and Castle. Thankfully, neither of them are talking. We are not kept waiting long before a second-floor window is opened and Vigilant leans out to look at us. He waves us inside.

I find this odd since he was clearly able to enter the front door in his full costume but I decide not to question it. Castle takes us down to the window and we climb inside. I look around to find modest furnishing.

There's a desk, a dresser, another one of those things that I was resting on in the hospital, and two doors. Vigilant looks around a bit before looking at me "So uh yeah uh. Furniture. Bed. You have your own bathroom, it has no other entrances." He points to one of the doors.

"I'll bring you up some dinner and some migraine medicine. If you need anything just holler. You might be able to fit into some of Fulgur's clothing if you want to wash yours. I'll have Fulgur show you how to work the shower since it's kinda finicky."

I honestly don't know where to begin. I suppose the best place to start would be to ask for definitions. "Umm.." "What's up?" Castle asks. "I-I have a-a few questions..." "Go ahead." Fulgur says cheerfully. I reply "What's a bed? What's dinner? And what's a shower?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~