This World

by Lee, TD

  “You’re not going to talk to them?” Taron questions.

  “No point, all they need to know is that I helped. It’s your bar that you work at and your mascot that they were trying to take away, you’ll know more about it than I do. Makes more sense for you to talk to them,” Dom answers.

  The girl that has been thrown and carried around like a ragdoll finally wakes up in Taron’s arms. She sleepily calls out, “Taron?”

  “You’re finally awake Eva,” Taron says with a smile.

  “What happened?” Eva asks.

  “You were a target of a kidnapping, but it’s okay we got them all,” Taron answers.

  Eva smiles, responding, “Good, good. Um, can you put me down now?” Taron eases Eva into a proper standing position, she’s a lot shorter than I thought.

  “Well, if that’s all it is, we’ll be leaving now. Until next time Taron,” Dom says, walking away and waving goodbye to Taron.

  “It was nice to meet you, please have a good rest of your night. Do note the proper authorities to take care of the rest of these people,” Kirika says, bowing before she walks with Dom.

  “That Dom, always the enigma,” Taron murmurs with a smile on his face. He looks at me and says, “You better catch up with her, she’s quite the impatient lady.”

  “Are you going to be okay here?”

  Taron sighs, smiling a bit, “Yeah, Dom has always been the kind of person to just up and go after a fight rather than dealing with consequences. Cops get here pretty quick anyway.”

  “Okay, well, it was nice to meet you Taron,” I say before leaving with Ainia following close by.

  I catch up to the others. If I didn’t just witness them fighting, I would just think these people are just taking a nightly stroll. How strange. Is this what it’s like to be a super person? Just wandering around as normal after dealing with something like fighting? Or maybe that’s just something you grow to be used to. I’ll never understand super people, but it’s interesting to see how they live. Oh man, did I just admit to myself that super people interest me now?

  “How did it go talking to Meteor, Ridley?” Dom asks me suddenly.

  Oh, right, Meteor. “Um, well, I can’t really say.”

  “I don’t blame you, you had interruptions. If not for Genma’s and his lackeys storming the bar, we have that crazed bitch next to you trying to take you away,” Dom sighs in disappointment.

  “Crazed bitch?” Ainia raises her voice, “You want to say that again?”

  “You think I’m afraid? I didn’t see you do anything when going against the Kilmer lackeys. You sure talk a big game, but you definitely don’t walk the walk,” Dom argues. Uh oh.

  Ainia quickly holds her umbrella from the pointed end and swings the hooked end at Dom. If Ainia were to pull back, the hooked end will hook onto Dom’s neck and she’ll get pulled back. However, all of this doesn’t faze Dom in the slightest. Dom gently nudges the umbrella away from her. “Careful with that, you could really hurt someone. Whatever, the mission today is a total squash and we’ll just have to deal with that fact. Adele is an understanding woman, she won’t be upset.”

  We all start to walk again, but there’s more tension in the air. I’m just waiting for a fight to break out between Dom and Ainia.

  To try to break the awkward silence and tension, I try to get Dom’s attention, “So, um, Dom.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Are you okay? You seemed to be in a completely different place when you were fighting with Genma. You wouldn’t stop smashing his head into the ground and-”

  “Don’t worry about it. It’s a thing of the past that will never be spoken of again,” Dom warns me in a gravely serious tone, that for once I can’t take seriously since her cheeks are starting to blush again.

  I say, “I don’t mean to pry, but-”

  “Yes you do, you completely mean to pry,” Dom corrects me.

  With that we’re back to the complete awkward silence again. Is this normal? I hope this isn’t going to just be the norm now. Going from the Prospector who wouldn’t shut up to Dom who keeps to herself so much, it’s a drastic chance. Kirika’s pretty quiet too, I wonder why. She’s charismatic regardless, but I find it strange that she’s more on the quiet side than anything else. And Ainia is just Ainia, the only thing I expect her to say is anything angry at this point.

  We make it back to Adele’s agency. By this time it’s completely dark out. We’ll probably talk about what happened and then I’ll be heading on home, hopefully it’s quick. Even though I didn’t do any fighting, I am pretty tired from all of the stimulus.

  We enter Adele’s office and I’m surprised to see a familiar face. Adele greets us, however, “Welcome back! I see the mission was quite the success.”

  “What’s he doing here?” Dom asks, quizzically.

  Dom is confused much like I am as I see Meteor standing in the middle of the room. He looks a bit annoyed, but not as bad as he was back at the bar.

  “He has agreed to help us with our case, he just needed more clarification. Quite the addition if I say so myself,” Adele says with a wide smile on her face. She then looks at Ainia, remarking, “Oh, and I see we have another addition as well.”

  “I’m not part of whatever the shit this is. I’m only here because I need to escort Ridley home,” Ainia remarks.

  Dom leans against a bookcase and asks, “That reminds me, how did you even know Ridley was with us and at the bar?”

  “What?” Ainia questions.

  “It’s an easy question. How did you know Ridley was at the bar with us?” Dom asks again, a bit more aggressively this time.

  “I-I, well, I,” Ainia’s stuttering. Never thought I would see the day.

  “Well is it not obvious?” Adele chimes in, “Ainia followed you all.”

  My head immediately turns to Ainia and I ask, a bit disgusted, “You were following us?”

  “I’m just doing what I was ordered to do by that stupid judge!” Ainia snaps. “If it weren’t for the fact that he made me your stupid guardian I wouldn’t need to. And if you’d only stay put like I tell you to, this would be over quicker for the both of us! It’s all your fault! If you weren’t there because of your stupid friend dying and-.”

  Meteor immediately intercepts the conversation and dashed so quickly towards Ainia that it made me jump with how sudden it was, “You do not insult Ridley or Hiro like that ever again.”

  “And what are you going to do about it you degenerate?” Ainia sasses back.

  “You don’t want to find out,” Meteor threatens. His entire right hand becomes engulfed in flames.

  “Now, now, no fighting in my office,” Adele says, with a calm composure. “Have no shame, detectives follow people as well, more discreet of course. Cutlass is only doing her job, court ordered after all. Though I do I have a suggestion to make your job easier, Cutlass.”

  “And what is that, oh great wise one?” Ainia asks Adele mockingly.

  “How about you join us Cutlass?” Adele suggests.

  “Stop calling me that!” Ainia snaps angrily.

  Adele cracks a cheeky grin, reminiscent to the Prospector, and says, “So it is true, you truly do hate your former codename. The people around Blind Justice must have taken a toll on you. Regardless, would you join us in our case? It will be much easier for you to keep your watchful eye on Ridley this way.”

  “Why the hell would I join this stupid group of misfits?” Ainia scoffs.

  Kirika chimes in, “It would be, indeed, easier to keep watch on Ridley. If your intent is to follow Ridley, wouldn’t it just be easier to work alongside Ridley and the rest of us instead of following in the background?”

  “As much as you annoy the ever living shit out of me, Adele and Kirika have good points. Just join up with us, temporarily at the least. It’s not like this case is going to last a life time,” Dom agrees.

  Everyone quiets down, waiting for Ainia’s response. Her eyes take a quick scan at everyone in t
he room. “Would you all stop staring at me?” Ainia breaks the silence.

  “Well, we would if you would just give us an answer,” Dom says.

  Ainia grits her teeth and lets out, “Fine! Fine, you guys win. I’ll join this group of misfits. Temporarily, of course.”

  “Glad to hear,” Adele says with a smile, “welcome to the team. With that, let us call it a day and resume tomorrow. Kirika, I understand you cannot be here tomorrow, but I will fill you in on our findings.”

  “Sounds great, sorry I can’t be of help tomorrow,” Kirika says.

  “Think nothing of it. You have your own mission to fulfill regardless,” Adele speaks cryptically. “Let us meet here tomorrow afternoon. I will explain what we will be doing then.”

  “Finally, I’ve been dreaming of lying in my bed unable to sleep all day,” Dom remarks, walking to the exit of the door.

  Kirika follows Dom out of the door, saying, “Get good rest tonight everyone!”

  “I’ll wait for you outside,” Ainia says to me, following Kirika out.

  As Meteor starts walking towards the door to leave, he suddenly stops in front of me. He holds something out his hand and says, “You forgot this.”

  I grab the picture of Hiro and Meteor. Oh my God, I can’t believe I left this behind! What kind of friend am I for leaving this kind of momento behind? Shit. “Thank you Meteor.”

  “Call me Drake, Meteor is old. And don’t sweat it kid, you got dragged away. I picked it up for safekeeping,” Drake says. He unexpectedly pats my head gently. This is weird, because he was so uninterested back at the bar. “See you tomorrow kid, get some good rest.” He walks through the door.

  Maybe now is a good time to get more information from Adele about what we’re doing. I feel like I’m the only one in the dark. I approach Adele’s desk, where she’s scanning over several papers. She notices my presence and asks, “Are you wondering what it is that we are doing and also the people within our group?”

  “Y-yeah,” I mumble, how does she do that?

  Adele smiles, responding, “I will go over the general case with you all tomorrow. Now that we have a solid foundation of an investigative team. However, I can help fill you in on the members of this team.” She reaches into a drawer of her desk and takes out a thick folder, handing it to me. “Study the dossier on everyone else, I will be expecting it back tomorrow.”

  I grab the folder, it’s a lot heavier than I thought it would be. “Thanks, I’ll be sure to go over it. Have a good night Adele,” I say. I turn to walk to the exiting door.

  “Yes, please get some good rest. We will only be busier from here forward,” Adele says as I leave the room.

  Ainia walked me home without saying a single word. She seemed really annoyed, she was a bit forced into joining the group. Well, all I can hope is that she’ll be less forceful with me and everyone else. Everyone is quite the enigma though. Why is Kirika part of this group? And Drake too. Why did he show up at the agency and joined seemingly out of no where. He didn’t seem interested at all when I was talking to him, but nice to know he had a change of heart for some reason. Adele somehow has connections and I’m starting to wonder how. She even offered Ainia to join and knew what Ainia was doing. It’s weird, like she was predicting and prepared for Ainia to even be a part of what happened tonight.

  I didn’t open the folder Adele gave me yet. As soon as I got home, I realized how tired I was, definitely not a good time to read anything. When my head hits my pillow, I immediately doze off.

  Chapter 24

  I’m randomly awoken in the middle of the night. Damn. I check the time and it’s 3 in the morning. Tossing and turning, I can’t fall back asleep.

  It’s been a while since I’ve had a night that I had a hard time sleeping. My eyes aren’t that tired now either. What should I do? Maybe play a game? Oh, wait. I have that folder of information that I should probably look through. Yeah, that sounds like a smart, productive thing to do. I move over to my desk and open the folder. There’s tons of papers in here, but they’re all bundled with colorful specific binder clips. I pull a stack of papers out bound together with a blue binder clip and start reading the information; accompanying these papers are several pictures and articles.

  Dominque Albanec. Age: 29. Powers: Peak human strength, speed, reflexes, endurance, and stamina. Has the ability to convert bodily energy into a physical form. Right leg is cybernetic, can load one cannon in a chamber at her knee. Winner of the fifth Masters of Intense Arts tournament, located on an island built by the tournament creator, the Kilmer Corporation. Dominique was one of the key players that exposed the criminal syndicate that is the Kilmer Corporation, but lost her right leg as a result of the ensuing conflict. Since then, she has had to adapt to her cybernetic leg. She learned her martial arts from an elderly man who is no longer part of this world, and trained at the early age of 7. Even as a child she competed in fighting tournaments to get away from the parents that hover over her to be an academic. Rumor has it that she can fly, but she will not confirm or deny this allegation. Has been mostly silent about what she’s seen or done on the island where the tournament was held. Incredible fighter and adapts to situations quickly. Has a quick wit, but short-tempered. Very good, keen eye that is helpful.

  So Dom is a fighting champion? That makes a lot of sense actually, she handled Genma with ease despite his agility. She lost her leg because she was helping take down the Kilmer Corporation, but found out that the Kilmer Corporation is still a thing. Dom sure is interesting.

  Kirika Suzu AKA Scathach. Age: Physically 25, mentally 30. Powers: Limited shadow manipulation, creates hard shadow constructs, transfiguration into Scathach which gives her two sharp spears. “Hag” powers. Super strength, durability, reflexes, and speed. Songs have different properties and can cause several things. A former Magical Melange Musical Maid that went by the codename Soprano. Lost her affiliation with the Magical Melange Musical Maids 14 years ago when her powers spiraled out of control. She was slain and was put into a dead-like state for 5 years. Her residual powers are what kept at the brink of life and death. Her Spectre, Scathach, bonded with her, resulting in the woman that roams around to this day. Scathach boosted her powers and gave her new ones. Has been performing since her awakening, however her popularity has declined greatly since her peak since being a part of the Magical Melange Musical Maids. Would like to investigate more about her potential “hag” powers. Compassionate and charming, wonderful traits to have as a celebrity. Has an assortment of networks in the line of work she is in.

  Hag powers? Why does that sound familiar? And she was once a Magical Melange Musical Maid? It actually makes sense for some reason. It seems like a natural progression to go from one musical super person to another. I want to ask her about it though, like what happened to her.

  Dalong Chen AKA Drake or Meteor. Age: 26. Powers: Fire and earth creation and manipulation; favors using fire. Super strength, durability, stamina, and senses. Super speed only when engaged in flight. Possibility to spontaneously combust. A Deviant that was once a part of Titania’s Academy For Higher Evolution. Has also served as a part of the Retaliators up until his fall. Former popular superhero fallen from grace since altercation with the Puppeteer. The public started to look down upon Dalong after he killed the Puppeteer, ruining his image forever as well as the reputation of Deviants. Fought many supervillains throughout his career. Continues to fight as a superhero even within the unpopular public eye. Aggressive and aloof, he is one person that everyone would need to be careful around. Due to the several encounters with telepathic villains, he has gained exceptional willpower rendering any sort of psychic probing or control to be useless. Has the power to even sense anyone attempting to read his mind. There is more than meets the eye and a deep-seated mystery behind him. Has incredible experience and strong. Although a bit aloof, is ultimately a protector of the people.

  I already knew a lot of this just by reading the comics of Drake. I really want to know m
ore about the whole Puppeteer incident.

  Shiko. Age: 2 (In human years). Powers: Fire-breathing. Acid spitting. Poison spouting. Keen senses of hearing, smell, and taste. Super reflexes and speed. 4-tier transfiguration. First tier, Youngling, is simply a puppy. Second tier, Juvenile, is a larger dog, about the size of the average grown adult, that summons two ghostly dog heads. Third tier, Mature, is a demon-like dog that is about the size of a truck, the ghost heads become actual heads. Fourth tier, Advanced, has not been seen in full. Species name is Cerberus, affinity to fire, darkness, and poison. Can morph in between different transfigurations. Found kicked out of a home due to being an Evolture; family that previously adopted Shiko was under the impression Shiko was a normal dog. Adopted and has been taken care of since. Prefers to stay as a Youngling rather than any other form. Potential to become volatile, but listens to directions closely otherwise. Incredible senses and intuition. Adapts very quickly.

  Shiko was disowned because he’s an Evolture huh? I know Evoltures are pretty popular in some parts of the world since people collect them and have them battle for sport. There are even big tournaments for them. I remember really wanting an Evolture when I was a kid, but my parents were never really for that idea. Guess people just wanted a normal dog instead of something that can grow in size whenever it wants. Shiko is pretty adorable as a puppy though, so I’m glad it prefers to be that way.

  Huh, I haven’t even met this next person yet and they have the least amount of papers.

  Vesper. Age: Unknown. Powers: Dives and hides in shadows. Can manipulate his own shadow, but cannot manipulate others. Peak human reflexes, speed, stamina, and strength. Weapons expert, is carrying a weapon at all times. Suspected to be Taro from Team MNTY, not confirmed by any sources. Sustained an injury during childhood that completely destroyed vocal box therefore rendering him a mute. Communicates through writing or strange drawings. No further information is known. Tricky and amazing at scouting for information. Difficult to keep track of.