Rey's left staring at me and me back at him, my response still hanging in my throat and Austin still silent as ever, arms folded standing up right beside me.

Won't be getting any help from him. But still…

Still Rey's unnecessarily giddy behavior puts me off.

"Tell me a bit more about this pick up then," I start, I figure it's best to know just what I'm getting into lest it turns out badly like it almost did with Desire and her Droid. "I can't just blindly accept."

He loses his joyful grin at this, "This is the only way to the lieutenant, you understand that right?"

It's my turn to frown. What a blatant arm pull, if I let him get away with it then I could end up being his lackey for much longer than I really need to be.

He must think because I'm young, I'm stupid.

But I can tell when someone's trying to use me and I can tell when I've had more than enough of that shit.

With dangerously narrowed eyes I glare at him, he doesn't seem surprised, but then I speak, "You must realize that if it turns out that you're trying to trick me, that you're trying to use me and have no intention of bringing me to the lieutenant… I will kill you."

He still doesn't flinch at my words. I suppose a man in his position must have been threatened more than a few times over, and likely by men and women far more threatening than I.

He nods ever so slowly and lets out a sigh,"I understand perfectly that you're more than capable of ending me and dear Austin here."

He raises a finger and wags it, "But! If you do, not only will you be on the run from whichever gang you're truly from, but you'll have the entirety of our gang after you as well, oh and did I mention you won't get any of the things you came for?"

Rage fills me up at his words, he's completely unfazed either way. He knows and accepts that I can end his miserable life right now and still…

I stop time…but am I powerful enough to go against two gangs?

The answer to that is a straight no. All it takes to end me is a well placed bullet from the outside of my power's influence and I'm done for.

I can't drag Paige into such nonsense.

He steps up to me from behind his desk, leaning into my space, "You have all the power right now, everything can be decided by you… right now. So make a choice, Vern."

"Will you just do this one job and move on to whatever crazy you have going on in your head, or will you cap or kneecaps and be hunted?"

I shoot my gaze up to him at last and he backs up, "I could very well choose both you know? Torture can be a very fruitful tool,"

He doesn't say a thing to this, the room is silent once again and I take a deep breath in and make my decision known.

"But I won't be torturing you today, just tell me what the job is and I'll get to it."

He nods to Austin beside me and he steps out while he gets back behind his desk, his giddy smile back in place like it'd never left, "I'm sure you've done this kind of job back at your old gang… whichever that was. But I'll explain it for you to get the gist, just in case you're actually just a kid with a shit ton of balls."

A frown mares my face but I take a seat in front of his desk and listen.

" Needless to say, you'll be picking up a package for us, I scored the crew a deal with an outsider."

So that's why he's so giddy. An outsider huh.

Outsiders, generally people who have made it out of Xoxia or have always been out of Xoxia and for some strange reason want to bargain with the closed off, snow buried, crime city, usually do so at rates that profit both Xoxia more.

With the increasing amount of villains and unnatural events occurring within the city, it's hard to leave the place because the border is the most heavily patrolled place in the entire city.

Swarming with Suppressors, anyone caught trying to leave without proper legal means is immediately arrested or most times, killed on the spot.

Outsiders take advantage of the city's exclusivity as well as its strict, crime breeding environment to prop up their businesses.

The drug line being a very popular one.

Drugs in Xoxia have been stamped on over and over again. It's far riskier to grow or brew your own drugs than simply take a dependency deal with the Outsiders.

The Outsiders make drugs with far stronger efficacy and they do so in bulk. They aren't plagued with Suppressors either so they can grow or brew the drugs in quantity.

As such, Outsiders make money of Xoxia gangs with their products and the gangs make money by selling Outside products at a marked up price compared to the local and unreliable products, taking complete advantage at the rarity of said drugs and thus it’s value to other, more common items.

And it works to a remarkable effect.

"We just have to meet them at the south border and get our shit." he claps his hands and snaps his fingers, "And boom! We're rich!"

Now I see why he wasn't bothered about the other two debtors. This will put up the crew for months to come. However….

"You're sending me to the fucking border?" I exclaim, slamming my hand on the desk, "Do you have any idea how many people die trying to make it out, trying to get products?"

The Suppressors, if anything, are diligent. The reason Xoxia isn't flooded with drugs is still because of them; the metas they encounter or actively go after are often the peddlers of said drugs in Xoxia, with barely any non-metas going after the significantly dangerous market of trafficking.

Ninety percent of the drugs from outsider deals are confiscated at the meet ups and gangs are decimated in the fight.

I've been fortunate never to have been sent there by Steve but now…

"You're a meta, a good one too, not sure what your power is but you sure make an effective fighter. This should be a cake walk." his grin doesn't leave his face, rather he throws a nut in his mouth and chews.

He's right. This should be a cake walk, especially with my powers… but is it really?

In the end it doesn't matter, this is the path to what I'm chasing, security, proper security for Paige and I.

I just have to try.

***

Rey's left staring at me and me back at him, my response still hanging in my throat and Austin still silent as ever, arms folded standing up right beside me.

Won't be getting any help from him. But still…

Still Rey's unnecessarily giddy behavior puts me off.

"Tell me a bit more about this pick up then," I start, I figure it's best to know just what I'm getting into lest it turns out badly like it almost did with Desire and her Droid. "I can't just blindly accept."

He loses his joyful grin at this, "This is the only way to the lieutenant, you understand that right?"

It's my turn to frown. What a blatant arm pull, if I let him get away with it then I could end up being his lackey for much longer than I really need to be.

He must think because I'm young, I'm stupid.

But I can tell when someone's trying to use me and I can tell when I've had more than enough of that shit.

With dangerously narrowed eyes I glare at him, he doesn't seem surprised, but then I speak, "You must realize that if it turns out that you're trying to trick me, that you're trying to use me and have no intention of bringing me to the lieutenant… I will kill you."

He still doesn't flinch at my words. I suppose a man in his position must have been threatened more than a few times over, and likely by men and women far more threatening than I.

He nods ever so slowly and lets out a sigh,"I understand perfectly that you're more than capable of ending me and dear Austin here."

He raises a finger and wags it, "But! If you do, not only will you be on the run from whichever gang you're truly from, but you'll have the entirety of our gang after you as well, oh and did I mention you won't get any of the things you came for?"

Rage fills me up at his words, he's completely unfazed either way. He knows and accepts that I can end his miserable life right now and still…

I stop time…but am I powerful enough to go against two gangs?

The answer to that is a straight no. All it takes to end me is a well placed bullet from the outside of my power's influence and I'm done for.

I can't drag Paige into such nonsense.

He steps up to me from behind his desk, leaning into my space, "You have all the power right now, everything can be decided by you… right now. So make a choice, Vern."

"Will you just do this one job and move on to whatever crazy you have going on in your head, or will you cap or kneecaps and be hunted?"

I shoot my gaze up to him at last and he backs up, "I could very well choose both you know? Torture can be a very fruitful tool,"

He doesn't say a thing to this, the room is silent once again and I take a deep breath in and make my decision known.

"But I won't be torturing you today, just tell me what the job is and I'll get to it."

He nods to Austin beside me and he steps out while he gets back behind his desk, his giddy smile back in place like it'd never left, "I'm sure you've done this kind of job back at your old gang… whichever that was. But I'll explain it for you to get the gist, just in case you're actually just a kid with a shit ton of balls."

A frown mares my face but I take a seat in front of his desk and listen.

" Needless to say, you'll be picking up a package for us, I scored the crew a deal with an outsider."

So that's why he's so giddy. An outsider huh.

Outsiders, generally people who have made it out of Xoxia or have always been out of Xoxia and for some strange reason want to bargain with the closed off, snow buried, crime city, usually do so at rates that profit both Xoxia more.

With the increasing amount of villains and unnatural events occurring within the city, it's hard to leave the place because the border is the most heavily patrolled place in the entire city.

Swarming with Suppressors, anyone caught trying to leave without proper legal means is immediately arrested or most times, killed on the spot.

Outsiders take advantage of the city's exclusivity as well as its strict, crime breeding environment to prop up their businesses.

The drug line being a very popular one.

Drugs in Xoxia have been stamped on over and over again. It's far riskier to grow or brew your own drugs than simply take a dependency deal with the Outsiders.

The Outsiders make drugs with far stronger efficacy and they do so in bulk. They aren't plagued with Suppressors either so they can grow or brew the drugs in quantity.

As such, Outsiders make money of Xoxia gangs with their products and the gangs make money by selling Outside products at a marked up price compared to the local and unreliable products, taking complete advantage at the rarity of said drugs and thus it’s value to other, more common items.

And it works to a remarkable effect.

"We just have to meet them at the south border and get our shit." he claps his hands and snaps his fingers, "And boom! We're rich!"

Now I see why he wasn't bothered about the other two debtors. This will put up the crew for months to come. However….

"You're sending me to the fucking border?" I exclaim, slamming my hand on the desk, "Do you have any idea how many people die trying to make it out, trying to get products?"

The Suppressors, if anything, are diligent. The reason Xoxia isn't flooded with drugs is still because of them; the metas they encounter or actively go after are often the peddlers of said drugs in Xoxia, with barely any non-metas going after the significantly dangerous market of trafficking.

Ninety percent of the drugs from outsider deals are confiscated at the meet ups and gangs are decimated in the fight.

I've been fortunate never to have been sent there by Steve but now…

"You're a meta, a good one too, not sure what your power is but you sure make an effective fighter. This should be a cake walk." his grin doesn't leave his face, rather he throws a nut in his mouth and chews.

He's right. This should be a cake walk, especially with my powers… but is it really?

In the end it doesn't matter, this is the path to what I'm chasing, security, proper security for Paige and I.

I just have to try.