Chapter 52 - Claws

 

"So, Lila, how do you like your new place?" I ask, plopping down the last of the luggage. 

 

The girl comes out of one of the rooms, wearing shop gloves and a little soot on her clothes. "The apartment is fine, but you still haven't explained anything about what's going on or why some teenager from Harlem is actually the Harbinger."

 

"I see you already set up your little workshop. Not worried about your mother?"

 

"The bitch is fine, now answer me before I scream and tell everyone your identity." You little brat. You must think I'm stupid for revealing my appearance to you.

 

"You should watch your mouth. Else someone might see that it remains shut."

 

"You would threaten a child?" 

 

"You act like an adult, so you get treated like one. And I'm not threatening you unless you want me to. I'm only warning you that other people might act on you. Without me moving you, vampires would have eventually attacked you. Either because of past involvement or proximity. Right now, I'm the keystone to the archway you live under. Take me out and you will get crushed." I glare.

 

"...sorry."

 

"You're scared and overwhelmed, I get it, but acting on emotion alone is not only unproductive, it's self-defeating."

 

"Sorry."

 

"Don't apologize to me, apologize to yourself. Honestly, it doesn't matter who I am, not to you at least. I'm taking care of you right now in the hopes of earning brownie points from your uncle James Rhodes. If not for him, I would have simply left after I killed the vampires." Honesty is the best policy.

 

"If vampires are real, then are zombies real too?"

 

"The universe is but one infinity among an infinite number of other infinite universes. If you can imagine something, or even imagine imagining something unimaginable, it exists. There's no use dwelling on it."

 

"My mother needs the drugs so she doesn't die from withdrawals. Now that you've killed the suppliers, how is she going to get more?"

 

"I thought she was a bitch?"

 

"She is a bitch, a whore, and a shit mother, but she tries. She's all I have left." Poor girl must still be mourning her grandfather, apparently, he was her legal guardian before he died, and the state delivered her back to her mother.

 

"She won't need the drugs anymore, instead we'll get her on a serum of weaker brain chemicals. I'll provide you with the serum a few times a week and within a month or so, she should be back to normal."

 

"That doesn't sound real."

 

"Neither do vampires. If you must know, the reason why it's not done is that the production of such a thing is completely impractical when someone can instead go with therapy. She can skip the pain of withdrawals thanks to my skill set, but she'll still have some serious character issues. 

 

"Thanks."

 

"No problem, Lila. Just don't get too excited with your tinkering at night. Some people in the building have really strong hearing. If you find yourself needing anything, just message me. See you around, kiddo." And with that, I close the door to the apartment. 

 

Giving out one apartment as a favor for the man who will become a War Machine is nothing. Especially considering that I'll be having a lot more available pretty soon. 

 

I should probably tell Matt about the appearance of vampires in the city, Nah, I'll just text him. A message pops up on my phone.

 

[Mercury ~ Can you hurry up, please? The sisters are starting to act feral. It's a little scary.]

 

Dammit, I know I shouldn't have gotten distracted, Laura and her sisters are probably fuming that they haven't gotten their snipers and death rays yet. I can't wait until I can get these troublemakers into Logan's hands. 

 

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*BONK*

 

"Oww, Laura. You didn't have to head but me." If only I had an Adamantium skeleton.

 

"You should have gotten here earlier."

 

"I got a bit held up, but once Mercury texted me about you guys acting up, I came right away, what's going on?"

 

"You promised us weapons, that's what."

 

*SIGH* "Where's the list of weapons you and your sisters wanted?"

 

"Here." Laura hands me a piece of paper from her back pocket.

 

"Let's see. Rocket Launchers, no. Rail guns, no. Laser guns, no, they're shit weapons. I told you nothing too crazy, didn't I? Play video games if you want to destroy everything in sight."

 

"Video Games aren't a replacement for the real thing. We have our energy back now, but we have a lot of steam to blow off. I need something to destroy." She looks down at the ground and u sheaths her claws.

 

"Yeah, there's no way you guys would be okay after all you went through. In the way of weapons, the best I can do for you guys is a minimum and flamethrower. At least you can attempt to not wake up the neighborhood with those. As for something to take your anger out on, don't you have Kimura?"

 

"That bitch has become tamer lately after your sister encouraged us to leave her alone. I think they have some sort of plan going on."

 

"That does not sound good. Do me a favor and do the exact opposite of whatever she tells you to do."

 

"But she's your sister. All any of us have is family."

 

"Does the same go for Logan?"

 

"..."

 

"Look, my sister's cute, I love her, but she's also evil and manipulative. As for what to do about your venting problem, there's a growing presence of vampires in New York City that I could use some help curbing. Have you fought one before?"

 

"Once. The Facility sent me on an assassination mission, but they didn't know he wasn't human. I thought he was just a mutant at first, but he didn't die until I beheaded him. The facility then prepared me in case a similar situation popped up again."

 

"I'll test you all and see how comfortable I feel letting you out go fight vampires. There's been nothing from the Facility recently, but I'll continue keeping an eye out."

 

"Thanks, Tyler."

 

"Anything I can to turn you back into a lean, mean, fighting machine. I'm joking, of course."

 

"I don't only want to kill things, you know. I want to do something more than just fight."

 

"Nobody wants to be a tool for fighting, but I wouldn't be the best person to advise you. Logan would be a better teacher than I at this, he was once turned into a fighting tool like you were."

 

"I don't want to talk to him. Not yet. I wasn't really looking for help, but now that we're on the topic..."

 

"Damn Laura. I'm the last person you should be asking something like this." I shouldn't have led the conversation here, I only wanted to test her attitude with Logan.

 

"Just tell me something already so you can go make guns already." Okay, boss.

 

"Get obsessed about tea or something."

 

"Tea?"

 

"Sure, why not? Everyone loves tea."

 

"It sounds boring."

 

"I'm sure your mom has better advice for you than me. Well, I guess I better be off then. Lots of mass murder weapons to make." I turn away to walk off, but Laura grabs me by the collar.

 

"I changed my mind. You can make weapons later, so why don't we have a little sparring match. Perhaps I can teach you a few things about fighting."

 

"Thanks for the offer, Laura, but I simply don't have the time." Unless I suck complete ass, she's gonna want to keep fighting me. 

 

"Come on, you're durable and I haven't gone all out in a long time."

 

"Laser guns? No problem. I'll see you in a little bit. Great talking to you, Laura." I rip through my shirt and continue walking away. 

 

After I take two steps, she puts her claws behind my back and in front of my neck. 

 

"Lesson one, never turn your back on your opponent." She hums.

 

I push the claws behind me out of the way and step into her, flashing a disarming smile.

 

"Lesson 101, lesson one, is invalid if you can see in all directions." I quickly grab her jaw, open her mouth and blow some concentrated antiseptic gas into her mouth. She falls onto my shoulder.

 

*GASP* "You kissed Laura. I gotta tell mommy." 

 

"Ben? Where did you come from? Hold on, come back, you got it wrong. I didn't kiss Laura."

 

"I'm not that gullible," Ben says as he enters his mom's door.

 

Shit. I guess I missed his tiny heart. Could've sworn no one was nearby. I didn't commit sexual assault, did I? No, It's technically self-defense, not that anyone will see it that way. Laura probably won't remember this, so as long as I can keep Ben and Rachael from spilling the beans, I'm golden. Time to put my bribery face on. This will take a while, so before I forget…

 

"Cortana, spam as many government contact lines as you can with the coordinates of the Facility and phrases like: Confess." The Facility was a joint project that both the U.S. and Canadian governments were involved in. Hopefully, this can cause enough attention to cripple the organization by the time I'm ready to let the Kinney's loose.

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