Needless to say, Ramon took the deal.

I’m not sure when Austin got the medic, or if she was just out there, trailing our hide when we came here, but I’m glad.

Selena, Ramon’s daughter, would survive and so would Ramon. The patrons of the store, since lifted from the influence of my powers, witnessed the entire thing. Austin stepping in and tossing several bullets into the unsuspecting young woman.

They wouldn’t say anything, of course they wouldn’t. But now they know that Ramon’s Pizzeria is once again under the control of Invincibill’s gang.

Whether or not they come pay a visit to the fast-food joint after this is none of our concern apparently, it’s not our job to promote one business or the other, it’s just our job to tax them for protection.

Ramon paid half of what he owed upfront and quick. But now he owed the other half and the bill for being tended to by our medic.

Our medic who happens to be a middle-aged woman with absolutely no yellow on her, before I could ask why she’s seemingly exempt from the coloured rule Austin answered for me as he introduced her.

“This is Beau, she’s our medic as you can see. Oh and, she doesn’t have on the colours because we can’t have our only doctor getting hurt, wouldn’t be prudent.” He chuckles.

“Is she the only one for the entire gang?” I ask, confused as to why a gang as large as Invincibill’s would use only one medic, and even more confused as to why she’d be here with us if that was the case.

“What? Of course not. Some captains like Rey get medics of their own if they can afford them for the team, and if you can’t, well, you don’t want to not have your own doctor.”

Beau smiles brightly at me, her gloves still terribly stained with blood. I nearly gag.

“Right…you wouldn’t.”

Prompting me to take a walk with him, we stroll further away from the Pizzeria that ought to be a crime scene of sorts with all the blood that’s been spilled.

When we get to the edge, where the frozen, dead white trees are lined up in the snow along with all the trash from the Pizzeria and likely from other places as well.

Then he speaks, “I’m serious about what I said in there, kid.” Almost absent-mindedly he pulls out a pack of cigarettes and lights a stick.

“You did good.” He clarifies after a puff.

I can only stare at him. The compliment feels nothing like a compliment, it doesn’t feel like it should, not at all.

Did I really do good?

No, of course not. All I did was all I’ve been doing, being selfish, putting myself and my goals first, that’s all I did.

Good would be fighting against crime with my powers, would be becoming a supe and walking about in some bright coloured suit with a grin of justice and truth slapped on my face.

Saving people and stopping gang fights. Fighting villains like Invincibill and Lynx.

That would be good.

“I did what I had to”

He nods and puff out another plum of smoke, “Yeah,” he chokes a bit, “You did, you have the guts, and you have the will.”

Looking down at me I see a ghost of a smile on his stern face, “I doubted you kid…hell, I should probably stop calling you ‘kid’” He snorts, somehow still without smiling.

“Ah, yes, probably, my name’s Vern.” I’m not sure what drove me to introduce myself so confidently, but I did, with my hand out for his to grasp.

He takes it in his and gives it a firm, perhaps a little painful shake, “And I’m Austin, I’m sort of like the Captain’s right hand man…don’t laugh.”

I don’t. But I nearly do.

“I’m not sure how you did it but you got Ramon on the floor, immobile and with his elbow and knee caps blasted out.” He shudders, “I don’t want to think about how much pain that is.”

For someone who went ahead and put three bullets into a young woman and asked for payment due, he sure doesn’t act like it.

I suppose everyone’s got their job persona and their actual persona.

I accept that explanation rather than consider the fact that the buff man may or may not be psychotic, much like the rest of Xoxia’s top tier criminals. Very rarely do you find a sane criminal mind in Xoxia.

“He would have blasted me out of the place like he did Rex, and that looked particularly painful.” I mutter, stuffing my hands in my pockets. I should’ve gotten mittens rather than leather gloves; the cold just doesn’t stop.

Again, Austin snorts, he turns and spy’s Rex lying down in the snow, breathing at a calm pace now.

“He was such a bitch about it, kept shaking too. But I guess that’s what happens when you don’t have what it takes to remain in this field. You get sent on one mission and you fuck up, get sent on another and you keep fucking up.”

He sneers at Rex’s prone form in the distance and spits, “I don’t have a clue why Rey is so insistent that his worthless cousin join up.”

Then he looks to me, a glint in his eye, “And I’m not sure why you’ve brought something so…important, up with him by your side either.”

I automatically feel nervous.

“What do you mean?”

“Rey mentioned that this is just training, just a test for better, bigger things to come. I wonder what that could be, and how it involves him.”

Looking away, drawing patterns in the snow I mutter, “I’d rather not say, at least not until we’re done with the…test.”

Austin stares at me, I can feel his gaze boring a hole into the side of my head.

Then he huffs, “Fine, you seem like a man of your word, I’ll ask you then, if Rey doesn’t tell me anyway that is.”

He begins to walk off now, I follow, “I won’t tell Rey that I got involved this time, but to make up for it, you’re going to be absolutely on your own the next place we hit.”

Sure…seems like it anyway.

***

 

When Austin said I’d be on my own, I didn’t expect to be truly alone, I thought he meant it figuratively really.

But it turns out that Rex has got it too bad to even walk properly right now, so I can’t even argue the fact that I’m headed to the next place all by my lonesome.

It’s not as though it would have made much of a difference inn the end, Rex would still make me carry the weight of confronting these people.

I’m more or less fussed about the fact that I have to shout out that embarrassing line, calling out the owners on their debt.

I don’t know how I’m going to do that with a straight face!

We’re headed to one the gun shop now, Beau, our medic, and Rex are still back at the Pizzeria waiting for one of the drivers to show up. I wish I could get a ride, specifically in a four wheeled, four-doored vehicle.

Enduring this much cold wasn’t what I was expecting truly, I mean, it’s winter everywhere else in the world but winter here just seems like an entire arctic storm.

The people of Xoxia are much prepared though, many of them have coats lined with heaters and gloves connected to the same thing. I unfortunately never had enough money to afford one of those kinds of coats for myself.

I got one for Paige, we share it though, since she usually disappears at least twice a year, jumping into the future weeks or months at a time.

But for now, I suppose that’s just more motivation to get this job over with, the sooner I do, the sooner I get to meet Invincibill and the sooner he pays me for helping him with his Lynx problem.

Although, Austin and I are currently headed to the nearest gun shop on the list, and not the nearest place on the list.

The nearest place would be the other meta that’s holding out on Rey and therefore Invincibill, the owner of a Tailoring shop.

“Why aren’t we headed to the Tailors? Shouldn’t we take out whoever is closer?” I ask, looking up at the giant of a man.

He hums lightly, “I figured we spice it up a bit, Meta, Gun, Meta, Gun. We’re on Gun now, should get you some experience with fire fights, you’ll need it in this line of work anyway.”

That doesn’t sound ominous at all.

Still, not much I can do and it’s not like I actually want to fight another Meta, I barely got out of my scrape with the last one.

Though, I have learned something new about my powers.

First being, it doesn’t nearly have the range to encompass an entire building much less the entire base of a Pizzeria.

The other being that I have a lot of trouble using it while nervous, or perhaps nervous shouldn’t be the word, no, stricken with fear and anxiety ought to work better at explaining that.

With Selena, Ramon’s daughter near me with her eyes glowing bright and dangerous, I have much doubt I could have been able to survive had she paid me the due attention I was worth.

I certainly wouldn’t have been able to freeze time in time, and even if I was, I’m not sure what can still move under my influence. I think something like light and lightning must be exceptions.

Or would they? Whenever I use my powers, I feel a bit suffocated and stuffy all of a sudden, and my eyesight is shot to hell as well, or maybe it’s just dark.

I’m not sure, but whatever it is I think all that matters is that I identify my target, pause time and incapacitate them before they can kill me.

Which is the exact strategy I’m going to use for the owner of the Gun shop we’ve just turned up on.

Austin nods slightly down at me, patting my back as he does, “Here’s the place, ki-Vern.”

He’s still getting used to using my name, I feel the urge to have him call me whatever he wants but I suppose that won’t do.

The Gun shop is situated in an environment far brighter than I’d imagined. There’s a small hearty diner around the corner, a mechanic's pit stops and directly opposite the gun shop itself is a supermarket.

Peeking through the glass windows of the shop I find there’s barely anyone around. A shiver racks through me as I realize that not up to two hours ago, I was in this exact situation and here I am, again.

And I still have two more stops after this. Fuck.

My stomach churns as my hand brushes against my pistol, I’ve only got so many bullets left in it after using it on the previous owner and on Ramon.

But I guess this is a Gun shop, they’ll have a new magazine for me.

After, I make them bleed.

The thought of the red, silvery liquid spilled all over the floors once again makes me want to throw up, but I have little time for that, Austin taps my shoulder and gives it a firm squeeze.

“You can do this.” He says, devoid of any motivational spirit.

I nod and stroll in. Like the Pizzeria, the shop has a bell on its door and it rings throughout the entirety of the building. The place is rectangular in shape and is divided in two sides – the customer side and the server’s side – by the glass display.

There’s no one behind the counters and display shelves, the wall is lined with guns of all times; shotguns, sawed off and normal, pistols, handguns, sub-machine and even machine guns.

But just as someone turns up from the back of the room, an averaged height woman with a vibe of danger and anger, I notice what makes the gun shops such trouble for the gang.

And that would be the two turrets tracking my every move with ultimate range stuck at the far top corners of the wall, conveniently on the server’s side.

“Hello, welcome to Desire’s Gun Shop, how may I help you, I’m Desire.”