Ashlie's POV
Nick and I slowly walked through the sea of people in the marketplace. He kept a warm hand on mine, and I couldn't help but smile to myself at his tentative touch. The sunglasses that I kept over my eyes were dark and thick, making it hard to see, but I managed. It also kept the illusion that I was actually blind.
I felt Nick tense up as we approached another stand that appeared to be selling mechanics and computer software, squeezing my hand. I could feel the fire that lurked in his fingertips threatening to burst free. I gripped his palm tighter, hoping to reassure him.
Nick took a deep breath and led me to the booth, where a large man in his late thirties sat. He had something in his mouth, and his eyes were glassy with the light of a drunk person.
"Hey honeeey," He slurred, gesturing at me, at least in my general direction. I kept up the act of blindness, and I didn't look at him, still following Nick, who had also noticed the shopkeeper's flirting.
"Would you like to buuuuuuy something, pretty lady?" he asked, trying to reach back and grab something, but missed, and ended up sending a metal pole clattering to the floor. I rolled my eyes under the sunglasses, and nudged Nick closer to the stall. I had spotted the thing that we needed, behind a rack of computer hard drives. The man smiled at us, thinking that we were interested. But we had a different plan in mind. I saw a rat running off with something shiny in his mouth, making a hasty getaway from the stand. I informed Nick of this.
"Excuse me, sir," Nick said, shifting his hold on my hand so I could watch the path of the rat. "I noticed that there is a rat running off with your keys, and we thought that you would like to know about it," He added slyly, and I tried to stifle a giggle at how this man was very obviously being blackmailed.
"AHHhHhh. Those pesky witte varrrrrrrrrrrrmmmmmints. I'lllllllllll be riiight back," he slurred, and stood up a little too fast, banging his legs on the booth table. Grunting in pain, and apologizing to the table, he got up and went over in the direction of the rat.
I muttered to Nick. "I'll go get the phone. You stay here, just in case he decides to look back. I'll be back in a flash," I added at the end, winking, before I remembered my glasses. (Genderbent Flash. Yeah I saw that comment and I laughed so hard I nearly died. XD) Nick rolled his eyes and let go of my hand.
I felt the lightning in my feet flow up to my heart and brain, almost like charging up, and then I let it go, time slowing down, and the air around me getting fuzzy and distorted, as I walked over to the phone, calmly grabbed it, and walked back to Nick. To him it took the span of half a millisecond, but I was able to take my sweet time.
I put the phone in the pocket of my jeans and let the energy die back down, time returning to normal. I put out my hand, and Nick took it silently, knowing that I'd gotten what we came for.
And just in time too. The shopkeeper stormed back to his booth and dropped a pair of slobbery, metal keys on the table, his eyes still glassy and drunk.
"That littlllllllllllllllllle rat woooooooon't bother youuuuu anymooooore, prettyyy lady," He huffed.
Nick decided to humor him. "We thank you for your kindness, and I hope that we have been of service to you."
"Gah. No, the pleasurrrrre was all mine," he said, even though that wasn't what we had asked.
"So do you want to buyy anything?" He asked, with less of a slur.
"No thank you," Nick told him. "We thought we'd just stop by to take a look. We'll be going now."
"Okaaaaaaayyy. See you around, malady!" He charmed, trying to bow, before remembering that he was still in a chair, and he banged his head on the table. As he was rubbing it in confusion, we ran for it, diving into the crowd. We were gone before he'd even looked up.
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Cory's POV
I followed Dawn's faint, fuzzy outline through the crowd, keeping my hood low over my head. Dawn weaved through the crowd like a fish through water with the grace of practice. It was like he'd done this every day.
Suddenly, he slowed down, and I subtly grabbed hold of his invisible shirt, staying by his side. I heard his voice next to me.
"I see what we need. Do you see that boy with the blind girl?"
I looked up, and spotted the pair. The girl was wearing dark sunglasses that concealed her eyes, as well as a dark blue shirt with white flecks, and gray shorts. She had bright red hair that was tied up in a large gray bow.
The boy next to her was obviously leading her around, holding onto her hand tenderly. He had rectangular glasses and raven-black hair. He wore a dark blue vest with a black undershirt. Both of them wore black and brown fingerless gloves, and looked to be only about our age, maybe a year older. I wasn't sure about this.
"How can you tell that they have a phone?" I questioned.
"I have a sensor built into my faceplate that allows me to see heat readings. I can tell that they have a phone," Dawn confirmed.
"Who has it?" I asked, slowly moving closer to the pair.
"The blind girl. In the left pocket of her shorts. I don't know why the boy would trust her with it, but that's where the readings are coming from." Dawn said. "I'll distract them, and then you sneak around from behind and grab it. It's not too deep in there."
I shuddered at that awkward thought.
"Ready?" He asked.
"Yep," I confirmed. "Let's go."
Dawn kept low to the ground as he walked away, his outline disappearing into the crowd. I came around the other side, flanking the two, right in position.
Dawn must have seen me ready, because all of a sudden, the girl's head shot up, staring in the direction that Dawn had gone in. The boy followed her movements. I saw my chance.
Rushing in, I saw the phone in her pocket, the top of it peeking out. I slipped it out of her pocket deftly, and the blind girl screamed in protest. Suddenly, a mild shock ran through my arm, stunning me for a second, but I shook it off and ran for my life.
I weaved through the crowd, losing the two people that I'd robbed fairly quickly. Dawn came up next to me and we both exited the marketplace, heading down a dark, back alley that ended in a brick wall.
"That worked better than I thought it would!" Dawn panted, letting himself become visible again, holding out his hand so I could give him the phone.
I gave it to him and looked up. "I kinda feel bad that we robbed them. Don't you think that they might have needed it more than us? I mean, one of them was completely blind. They could have been homeless, for all we know." I told him.
"Well that was their loss. And besides. It is so much easier to steal and get away from a blind person than someone with full vision." Dawn mused.
"Well, boys. I think you'll find that I'm not as blind as you thought me to be." A threatening female voice said from behind us.
We froze. Dawn's eyes widened in fear. I slowly turned around. The "blind" girl that we had stolen from was standing there, right next to the boy who was with her before. Their faces were etched with anger and hatred, and the boy's gloved fists were clenched, seeming to give off a slight orange glow.
"W-We don't want any trouble." Dawn said, inching away from the two angry teenagers.
"Oh, you better believe you don't." The boy growled. He took a step forward. Dawn whispered to me through clenched teeth. "I'll take out the girl. You deal with the boy. Just don't let them see your face. Keep your hood on. Don't lose. Got it?"
I twitched my head subtly, letting him know I understood. "Got it. Let's do this."
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Uni's POV
I was so tired. I could barely even keep my eyes open, let alone help Tommy run. He was panting in exhaustion, trying to help us both escape, but it was soon going to be in vain. We could hear the dogs catching up, snarling and barking at our heels.
Shifting from the pug to the human so fast had zapped all of my energy, making it hard to stay conscious.
I saw the path veering through the trees, but I couldn't hear the sounds of the marketplace yet. Hopefully Tommy could.
I stumbled along, half being dragged. Tommy gasped for air. "I-I think I s-see the marketpl--" he was cut off by his own heavy breathing.
We stopped behind a tree for a second and Tommy tried to assess our surroundings. I looked up weakly, and saw the fringes of the town poking around through the woods.
"That way!" I gasped, and Tommy quickly readjusted his grip on my shoulder. We spirited as fast as we could, vaulting over a brick wall that led to a back alley, ducking down under a dark green dumpster. The barking of the dogs was muffled by the hubbub of the marketplace. Soon, it was gone all together, most likely thinking that we had kept going, instead of heading straight for civilization.
Tommy and I tried to sit up, but collapsed back down in exhaustion, our chests heaving as we gasped for air. My legs felt like literal jell-o, and I could barely move them.
Slowly, we regained our strength, and Tommy helped me stand up, leaning against each other and the dumpster for support.
I still felt weak from the rapid shifting forms, but that wasn't a big deal right now.
I reached up to feel my wolf ears and tail, running my fingers through the soft fur.
"Are you ok? I whispered to Tommy. He nodded and sighed. He stood up on wobbly legs and peeked over the dumpster, checking out the alley. I suddenly heard four voices, all angry, from the sound of it.
He quickly ducked back down, a frightened expression on his masked face.
"What?" I asked in fear. "What is it now?"
Tommy paused for a second, his mouth pressed in a firm line, biting his lip. "Just don't make any more noise than we already have," he whispered warily.
"What is it?" I asked again, getting impatient.
He check over his shoulder, and leaned closer to me.
"We've walked into a magical standoff. And there is some shit going down..."
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I'm sorry it's taking so long to get these chapters out. ;-; But my school ends next Tuesday, so I'll have more time to write and draw. XD WHY DOES MY SCHOOL GO TWO DAYS MORE THAN EVERY OTHER ONE IN OUR STATE???? O.O
As you can tell, I've never really written about someone who was drunk before, so I'm not sure if I did it right.... XD
Dawn and Cory are meanies. XD
No POV for Jon's group this time, because they were doing some pretty interesting things that they would want to be kept secret. X3
I'm trying to hype up for the next chapter, because it's going to be pretty cool. XD
Have a sweet tweet day!!