Chapter 62 - Distractions

 

Tyler POV - On a Rooftop in Little Russia

 

I wonder when the last time I just took a moment to relax was? It was probably while I was still in school. Maybe it would have been better to just stay there and not worry about the monsters hiding in the dark and the ravenous hordes among the stars. There are plenty of extremely powerful beings on this planet. In many of the universes, just one of them could solve any and all problems that might come my way. Though, in just as many universes, not all the power combined could solve my problems…It really was dumb of me to come to the Marvel multiverse.

 

"Mreow!" A warm, furry creature paws at my chest.

 

"You're right Katya, if I didn't come here, I wouldn't have Gwen or Nia or anyone else. What's a little pain when you have people by your side?"

 

"Meow!!!" 

 

"Yes, I have you too." I pet her smooth fur, eliciting a deep purr.

 

In contrast to the big boroughs like Manhattan, which have decreased in population and grown smaller due to all the unrest, the cultural neighborhoods like Little Russia have grown larger. Perhaps it's because the price of everything has plummeted and can't be artificially inflated, or perhaps the increased amount of chaos in the cities makes for good opportunities. Regardless, whatever these people think their biggest issue is, it's dwarfed by the ones I  know will come. I really should be taking care of those things instead of sitting here, relaxing. But my power and knowledge are limited, even with Cortana's help, I'm struggling to find out anything about the vampires or any other secret organization. Even the more active individuals I look for seem to appear and disappear. The people living in the Marvel Multiverse must be used to hiding. The smart ones lurk in the shadows, while the dumb ones get caught...maybe I should stop killing off the more active vampires, if I wait, they'll lead me to some bigger fishes, ones that can provide information.

 

"So Katya, it seems like you've made a new friend besides me."

 

"Mreow?"

 

"I can smell perfume on you...it almost qualifies as a human aphrodisiac."

 

"Meow."

 

"No, I'm not jealous, I'm glad you're not alone without me."

I hear an explosion Downtown.

 

"Well, that would be destiny calling for me."

 

Katya lays down on my chest, and I let her stay there for a moment before removing her.

 

"See you later, Katya." She looks at me for a second before licking her fur.

-----

I arrive in front of a burning jewelry store, the firefighters on the scene are preoccupied with keeping the fire from spreading, likely waiting for backup. The cops are busy keeping the crowds from approaching.

 

"There was a break-in about an hour ago, I've identified three individuals involved in the event, however, they aren't on any records on them, just previous recorded instances of their activities. They're very experienced thieves." Cortana says into my ear.

 

"Well, by the smell of it, at least one has been roasted alive. If the others are alive, I can't tell, the roaring flames are drowning everything out."

 

"I suggest letting the authorities handle it."

 

"Why do you say that?" I ask as I head through the flames, to the dismay of the onlookers. I should be safe against the heat, but to be safe, I cover the rest of my head in armor.

 

"This doesn't require your help, and you have better things to do."

 

"Like what?" I spray the flames with fire retardant as I make it into the store.

 

"There are people who depend on you, people who know and care about you."

 

"Nobody depends on me, Cortana, they might care about me, but that's simply because I provide a service for them. I'm either their landlord, their food source, their teacher, the biggest thorn in their side, or an object, for them to cast whatever shape, meaning, or image they want onto. As much as I want to, I don't have friends. Even you only tolerate me because I halfway made you. What am I if not-"

 

"Shut up" I hear her whisper menacingly, then the overlays on my contacts turn off.

 

Great...just great. Tyler, the burner of bridges, that's what I am.

 

Making my way through the broken and empty display stands, I find a dead man with his arm on fire. He's surprisingly intact considering the circumstances. His death seems to have been from glass shards ripping his throat open, but whether that was before or after a woman's heel smashed into his face is impossible to tell.

I continue through the wreckage, searching for clues, but beyond the dead thief, all the main rooms are barren of them, the flames likely burned anything that was here. Nothing in the employee or manager areas, either. With nowhere else to go, I decide to go to the ladies' room. Perhaps a clue about the woman who stomped on the thief's face is there.  The door to the restroom is completely removed from its hinges, and though it's in bad shape from the fire and explosion, it's clear that it was removed carefully with a drill. Several large air canisters lie on the ground, completely melted and deformed, with similarly deformed tubing dangling down from a medium-sized vent in the ceiling with its cover removed, maybe large enough for a particularly lithe person to crawl through, more likely a drone for some kind though. A large pit in the corner of the bathroom is also present. In it, I can hear the sounds of rats and the distant rumbling of the subway.

 

"This is all very interesting, but unless I decide to crawl through the intestines of New York, I'm not going to be any closer to finding out who kicked that thief-"

 

Wait *Sniff Sniff* I smell...betrayal, and anger…

 

An object flies out from one of the stalls and bounces next to my feet, a perfectly round metal ball. Instinctual fear floods over me, and I dash out of the room in a blink of an eye. I watch as every ceramic and metal piece within 5 meters of the object turns into bright, hot slag.

 

That could be me right now. 

 

Two men dressed in black, all bruised and bloodied, burst from the same stall the object came from. They look at me, one throws a metal object at my feet, two balls with a wire in between, while the other simultaneously throws two knives at me. The knives bounce off of me while the balls and wire tangle my feet together. With a little resistance, I easily snap through it.

 

The larger of the two men look at the other rather sternly, then throws a smoke grenade in between them. Seeing them about to escape, I rush to the larger of the two men, knock him out, and sling him over my shoulder before he can get away. I blindly look for the other in the smoke, but the overwhelming noise has rendered my echolocation useless. By the time the smoke has cleared, I know the other thief has escaped underground. Looking at the captured thief, I notice he's...dead. Mouth foaming from chemicals and a large metal shard lodged into his abdomen. It's clear he wanted to end things quickly and sacrifice himself to buy time for his comrade.

 

Fuck, I only had a few questions. I drop his corpse and inspect the stall the two were hiding in and find a few playing cards, some signs of struggle, and a woman's black heel, the same size, and shape as the imprint on the other thief's face.

 

"FREEZE, DON'T MOVE!" I hear behind me.

 

I turn around to come face to face with several SWAT officers dressed in some sort of fire protective uniform. 

"GET ON THE GROUND!" One points his rifle at me.

 

With one long look at them and their hesitation,  I run out of the building with my clues in hand, a blur for any camera that might see me.

 

----

Tyler #2 - Tyler's HQ

At the same time as I'm running through subway tunnels, I'm also knocking on the doors to my HQ, my home away from home. By the time I got here, Cortana had locked me out and turned on the alarms, so unless I wanted to wake everyone up and cause even more trouble for myself, I'll be sleeping in a hotel. 

 

After a few minutes, I hear Rachael walk up to the door. 

 

"I know you're there, Rachael, please open the door."

 

After a moment, she opens the door with a disgruntled look on her face.

 

"Do you really think of us as a nuisance?" she asks.

 

"Whatever Cortana told you, I didn't mean it that way. I'm...just having a rough time."

 

"Do you want to talk about it?" 

 

"Not really, maybe tomorrow. Can I come in?" She shakes her head.

 

"Gwen said you couldn't stay here tonight." She bites her lip. "Tyler...what would you think of me if I let you in?"

 

"Honestly? I'd think you were trying to put yourself above her in my eyes."

 

"I really am that deplorable in your eyes, huh?" she smiles.

 

"No, there's nothing wrong with a little healthy competition."

 

"No, I think I'll build myself up before I tear a girl down." She steps through the door and buries herself in my chest. I hug her back.

 

"I know you're hurting, so can I stay here with you?" she asks.

 

"Thank you, Rachael, but you need your rest. Come to think of it, why are you even up this late, it's past midnight?"

 

"Henry needed help with his homework, and I have no clue what I'm doing."

 

"Can I help?"

 

She freezes at the words, then I feel a few tears sink into my shirt as she grips me tighter.

 

"Rachael?" 

 

She looks up at me with an expression of pure joy, then she jumps up and kisses me fiercely. Just as quickly as it began, the kiss ended and Rachael recomposed herself.

 

"Of course you can help, but only for an hour. Then you have to leave, Henry needs to sleep as well, and until you can tell me you love me, I'll be following Gwen's lead."

 

She lets go of me, locks her hand in mine, and drags me to where Henry is playing video games with the volume off. As soon as the door opens, he turns off the TV and throws the controller away. 

 

"Hey mom, hey Tyler." He says nervously, picking up a piece of his homework.

 

"Hey Henry, I heard you needed some help with your homework."

 

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