To become more important than the current street urchins we basically were presently, we’d need to do a couple of things.

Our options, as usual, weren’t exactly glowing. For one we could break off and start our own gang, I’m a meta and I bet I’m pretty strong enough to sustain a level of fear and authority over the goons – If I grow and feet taller and have the balls to go through on my threats.

Problem though. I don’t have any goons. It would also be very counterintuitive given we want to meet Invincibill to ask for protection, and if we were meeting after creating a new gang, it’s more likely he’ll want to kill us rather than work with us.

Another option was to get on the news. The regular thing, become some crazy meta and try to rob a bank. Except, banks are impossibly difficult to rob, even for metas.

The security and protection thrown into it is so top notch that even if Invincibill himself tried, he’s more likely to come out limbless than with a single note of credit.

Yes, the man whose power is invulnerability would come out limbless.

Most banks are supported by the government directly or even run by it, as such, to insure everyone is sufficiently dissuaded from robbing banks, a lot of that alien invasion technology was thrown into it.

Meta tech as it’s colloquially known. The extra-terrestrial remnants of the war from centuries ago, combined with our technology made for something rather brilliant.

So brilliant I don’t have any faith in Invincibill, a C-list villain.

A third option and more likely to work was to go meet Rex’s cousin. The man is a Captain of sorts in the gang, he leads his own crew and reports to the Lieutenant, or sometimes, directly to Invincibill.

Problem though, the man is the major reason Rex is in the gang in the first place, he owes his cousin a ton of credits.

I haven’t bother to ask what he needed such a crazy number of credits for yet, and I don’t think I will. I’d rather know as little as possible about the man as I can manage, I don’t need him nor I getting attached passed the simple gamble I’ve presented.

A gamble I’m not quite sure will work out right now. Rex’s cousin did as asked all those years ago and scrambled out the credits for whatever shit Rex had to deal with.

Rex says he isn’t quite sure how his cousin managed to pull it off, but all that matters is that he did and now he’s called on him to clear his debt by working the gang.

I really doubt his cousin will be thrilled to hear that he’s trying to leave the gang and possibly clear his debt by selling me to Invincibill.

Doesn’t sound very grateful.

And possibly worse, it doesn’t sound like a solid plan. Imagine being told your cousin who is reluctant to work in the gang wants to meet your bosses’ boss, the boss of all the bosses and ask if he could have a shit ton of credits and also leave.

I don’t see it playing out very well. However, this is the option we’ve chosen, it’s really the only option.

“Just down here then.” Rex mutters, leading me down the step of stairs that breaks into a basement or underground bunkeresque space.

Great, another one of these, hopefully no one tries to murder me this time.

We entered through the doors of a rather dull bar with very little patronage near the centre of the gang’s control, this is apparently where his cousin runs his crew as well as washes money for the gang.

The space is insane down here, it’s possibly larger and wider than the bar itself. There’s a work out corner, a second bar for some reason, and a few evenly spaced rooms demarcated by a light wooden structure.

Rex greets several of the men loitering about. Many of them asking if he’s bringing by his long-lost son for his cousin to have a look.

Irritating. He and I are basically the same damn age.

Nevertheless, I pay them little mind and, in a moment, we’re let through to see Rex’s cousin.

Unsurprisingly, the man can be found in the room with the fanciest and bling on it, the wood is stronger on his and his actually has a working door.

A door Rex pushes forward, “Hey Rey, I’ve go-”

“Aahh~” the moan of pure ecstasy comes at me from nowhere, but I soon find where as I take another step and right in front of my eyes is a man with his pants down and a woman, bent over palms flat as paper on the wall, panting like a…

“Damn son! Can’t you knock!” Rey, Rex’s cousin yells, starting to pull out of the voluptuous woman with her skirt raised up over her stomach.

“Aaah~” She moans yet again, arching her back even further this time and looking back at him. No words are said but Rey ploughs back in.

“Shit! Boy want do you want? If you gonna stand there and watch me fuck with some kid you better start talking!”

With the woman rhythmically moaning and groaning with each slap, Rex finally finds himself and steps into my view.

Annoying…

“Uh, I’ll let you finish.” He stutters backing out of the room. Shutting the door behind him he stares back at the set of men he greeted not a minute ago, all of them with shit eating grins on their faces.

“Why didn’t you-!”

***

After Rex is treated to the quality experience of being the laughing stock for a few moments, we get seated on bean bags near the workout equipment and wait for Rey to finish with his…appointment.

There are other, more nefarious things littered about the place but I think it best not to look. Instead, I thank whatever deity watched over us that Paige agreed to stay back at the motel this time.

It would have been wholly strange to have her stare at that scene with Rey and the woman and then have to go back to the motel with me.

Well, I’m sure she already knows what I think of her, or what literally everyone thinks of her. She’s got this magnetic pull that just draws people in for better or worse, so far, it’s been worse though.

Not a very nice streak of good for people like us.

After a moment more of waiting the door to Rey’s office swings open and the woman from earlier walks out, her skirt dropped down and her hands occupied with her purse.

A wholly different look from before.

Rex lets her pass before tapping me up to get going. “Rey sure took his time.”

“Well, I hear they enjoy it that way?” I blurt out, my brain having no filter.

Rex stares down at me, a mixture of shock and frustration on his face, “What would you even…ugh, let’s just get in.” He drops the topic and once again pushes the door open.

“Still ain’t knocking I see.” Rey grunts, seated behind his desks, legs up and a roll of something that definitely isn’t just a cigarette between his lips.

“Ah, sorry. Bad habit.”

He cousin doesn’t say a thing, just stares.

Rex and I stand there for the moment, the both of us undoubtedly feeling the same nervous sweat.

Finally, he speaks, but he’s gesturing at me, “Who’s the twerp?”

Gulping, Rex takes a step forward, “He’s the reason I’m here today.”

“Oh, you mean you’re not here to get a job and pull your own fucking weight? What a surprise.” Rey puffs, sending a cloud of smoke into the air.

Rex breathes but doesn’t deign his jab an answer, “We want to meet Invincibill.”

This draws his attention. He looks between me and his cousin, the question in his eye is easy to read.

‘Are they kidding?’

“Can you set up a meeting?” Rex persists, not giving his cousin anytime to process the little bomb he’s just dropped.

Rey shakes his head and looks at the roll between his fingers, “I’m sorry, it may just be the janga speaking so I’ll have to ask you to repeat yourself cuz it sounded like you said you want to meet Invincibill and want me to set up a meeting.”

“You heard right,” Rex says, putting a little oomph of confidence into his voice at last, “We need to meet him.”

Rey slams his fists down on his desk, scaring the shit out of me as he stands.

“The cops, hoes and shit the suppressors all want to meet fucking Invincibill. What makes you think you’ll be walking into his room like now? What the fuck you thinking up there? You trying to step to Invincibill? Hell, you trying to step to me!”

Rey’s gotten agitated in a matter of seconds. I think he heard that oomph of confidence and marked it as a threat.

“Sorry to cut in but, we have something for Invincibill alone, or rather, I have something for him.”

From the towering height of likely six feet plus, Rey looks down at me and quirks an eyebrow, “What did you say?”

I look between him and his cousin.

Fucking Rex is paralysed.

“I said, what I’ve got if for Invincibill alone. I need you to set up a meeting.”

He nods. Not a good nod though, if the way he steps out from behind his desk and towards me is any indication.

“Oh yeah? Is that thing a bullet? You threatening my chicken cos here? What you got kid? Who sent you, Lynx? It’s Lynx, isn’t it? You a fucking cannibal too?”

“Want to know who sent me?”

He says nothing, only glaring deeply and intensely at me. Still Rex hasn’t moved.

“I need protection and I can buy it…from Invincibill. Now if you can set a meeting for us to meet, I think both Invincibill and I will appreciate that very much.”

He snorts, flicking his nose, “And how do I know you and my dumbass cousin here aren’t just dumbasses?”

“I’m just a kid, a kid promising to get you into Invincibill’s good favours, you would like that wouldn’t you?”

He laughs outright now, “And what’s in it for you?”

“Me? Well, I get to keep my star.”

***

 

For nearly a minute Rey hasn’t said a thing. In fact, neither has anyone of us. But Rex is paralysed in some kind of panicked state, whereas I’m simply waiting to hear what Rey thinks about this offer of mine.

The smug, interested look on his face may seem like a good sign but I’ve seen that look on Steve and T.V, hell even Neil several times before.

That look doesn’t mean they’re interested, it means they’re thinking about a way to kill you at the moment for stepping into their time and spouting out absolute nonsense.

I hope it’s a lot different here at Invincibill’s gang.

Suddenly he claps, as though hearing my thoughts he nods and says, “Well, things must be different where you’re coming from.”

“Where I’m comin-” he raises a finger and I shut up.

“It’s alright, I know you’re from another crew, I’m just not sure which and quite frankly, I can’t tell if this is a trap or not. But I’m inspired by,” he slaps a hand on Rex’s shoulder, “How well you’ve managed to bring out the man in my cousin, he walked in here with you, a kid and asked to see Invincibill. Ha!”

He laughs, shaking his head. I wonder whether I should laugh along with him, I’m not sure so I just put on a shaky smile.

“Honestly, my immediate thought was that he’d found Invincibill’s lost child or something. But the man is far too young to have a kid your age.”

He is?

“So, what did you tell my cousin to inspire him so much?”

In this moment I look up to Rex and find he’s staring back down at me. His eyes moving from side to side.

Trying to get me to lie huh.

Well, I can’t say I blame him. Rey is quite intimidating and right now, he looks so proud of Rex finally having some balls.

“That’s…a secret.” I mumble, throwing my sweaty fidgeting hands at my back. There are many situations I can’t simply solve with violence, even if I can pause time right now and kill everyone – or try to anyway – it would serve me far better to follow the chain of command.

“A secret huh.” Rey repeats, staring a hole into the side of his cousin’s head. There’s no trace of that mirth from earlier in his voice, he bits his lower lip and looks like he’s about to explode.

“Y-yeah, I’ll tell you if you let us see Invincibill.”

His head whips to me and for a moment I feel an outburst coming, but he holds back.

“Invincibill isn’t an easy man to meet. You’ve got to go through a process, but you’re on the right track, you came to me.”

I sense a ‘but’ coming on.

“But I can only get you as far as his right hand.”

Ha! His right hand.

My amusement at the word seems to show on my face because Rey nods slowly, “Yeah, laugh it up if you want, but know that his right hand, is far scarier than I am, you don’t want to mess with him.”

Biting my cheek, I try best to remove all unseriousness from my face.

“Heh, you’re still a fucking kid. You think this is funny, don’t you?” He hisses. Looking at Rex he angrily grabs his cheeks, squeezing them, “You brought a kid who thinks right hand is funny to meet Invincibill? What the fuck are you thinking!”

Shoot, he’s spiralling, he’s beginning to see how much of a joke this is

Who would have thought looking amused would ruin the entire fucking plan.

“Hey, I know when to get serious, just get us to hi-”

“Shut the fuck up.” Rey doesn’t even shout. For a man that’s merely a captain of his own team in a gang, he’s got the oppressive presence of a boss.

Still squeezing at Rex’s jaw – now open from the pressure – he yells, “Answer me bitch, what you think? What you trying to pull?”

Is…is Rex crying?

He is, but he’s speaking once more, albeit less audibly given the hand squeezing his mouth, “I have a plan.” He gabbles.

Rey, hearing this much lets his grip go, “A plan? The same plan this damn kid is telling me about?”

Rex sniffles and wipes his face, nodding as he does, “Yes, but different okay, more for you, more for him and more for me.”

“More for you?” Rex shakes his head, pacing about his office, “I don’t even understand what the kid wants, why the heck would you want to get close to a Boss? And you? What the hell are you in this for?”

Inhaling deeply Rex says, “You get good with the Lieutenant, you get more jobs, more territory, more money.”

Rey still doesn’t believe a word he’s saying, “Do you know how many other crews have come up to me with that same offer? Besides, you’re saying this like you’re the one giving out the shit. We’re scrambling for the little we have already, my boys are on the streets every day, looking out, getting jumped all to protect the much we have now and you say I’m gonna get more? From where!”

“We’re going to take it,” Rex says, “We’re gonna take it and a whole lot more until we have the entire city and keep expanding from there. And he’s going to make that happen.”

They both have their eyes on me and like always I feel a cold wave of nerves at the sudden attention.

“What the kid?”

Rex nods, “He says he can do it; he guarantees.”

“You fool! What the hell does a kid know about a expanding a crew!”

“He knows enough to tell I want out of the damned crew at a single damned glance!”

Rex outburst shocks me to the core. Not only has he retorted to his terrifying cousin, but he’s exposed his reason for being here.

I look to Rey and he’s just as shocked, perhaps even more.

“So, you…you trying to use this and clear up your debt…” he nods, as though piecing every dirty secret Rex has behind his closet. “That’s why you you’re so…inspired, ha.”

Rex tamed down immediately, and from the looks of it is trying to explain how that is not the case, but the words just won’t leave his mouth.

He doesn’t have to. “Fine then. It’s your funeral.”