Two people with powers? I ’t ighis, what do they want? More importantly, why had Amht them into his turf? I’ll kill the little bitch-boy, he’s had it ing for a while. His work has been sloppy retly.
They stepped out onto the empty street and he spotted the rest of his gang crowded threateningly around a woman out of dreams. She wore tinted sungsses and had hair as white as snow, just like her skin, it was almost blinding. Her clothes were fitted and clearly expensive. She gnced around for Amos and the other powered person, but didn’t see anyone. “Where’s the other two?” He growled, gng at Parker.
“Dunno, they were over there when I left,” Parker said, pointing towards a spot he far street er.
“Hello!” A cheery voice tore them both out of their muttered versation. He looked up to see the woman walking over, she was eveier now that he saw her face. Who the hell was this chick? She had her hand outstretched and an almost silly smile on her face, he could practically see the rainbows and sunshine behind her head. Was she stupid or something? They obviously had warned her that he had powers, yet she approached him so brazenly. She was either insane or dangerous.
Either way, he didn’t smell any blood on her a no sense of danger either. Those senses seemed to linger even if he didn’t have his powers active. He still couldn’t fathom the rules of his powers, but he khere were many. Whatever she was, right now, she wasn’t a threat. Not yet anyway.
She raised a hand up to her heart, “o meet you! I’m Sonya,” She said, sounding like an unfppable cheerleader. “You must be Shark!”
He hesitated and shook her hand when she approached, her smile became more rexed and she released her grip after a heartbeat. “ I help you? What’re you doing in my territory?”
“This is your turf?” She asked, looking surprised, “I heard you were the boss but I figured with the kind of men you had w for you, you were part of a bigger operation.”
He tensed, she was observant then, using fttery to dig for information. Parker seemed to swell a little with pride o him and he resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Idiot.
“My guy here says you’re like me, that true?” He asked, crossing his arms.
The woman, Sonya, lowered her sungsses and he nearly recoiled at the sight of her eyes. They were meical! They spun and shifted and whirled inside of her head like they were stantly making adjustments to her surroundings, refog like a camera lens. “I’ve got very good eyes, Mister Shark,” Sonya said proudly, crossing her arms behind her back, “I’m pretty good at seeing the potential in people, as well as knowing whether they have powers or not.”
That caught his attention, “You tell if someone has powers?”
“Yes.”
“You looking for work?” He grinned, now they were getting somewhere.
“Actually, I promised your boys I’d try to iate an iment deal with you, you’re a pretty strong guy I’m guessing, and it’s a shame you only have what, a couple blocks to your name?” She pointed out with a shrug, “I happen to be looking for talented men to work for me.”
“Yeah? You got money, huh?” He asked, resting his hands on his hips. So her power was her eyes, he didn’t know if her eyes did anything else but he still didn’t sense any immediate physical danger from her. She’s trying to throw me off to avoid a fight, he reasoned, She’s defenseless. “What about the other one, I heard there was two of you?”
“Marta? She’s ihe shop with Amos, she’s such a sweetie,” The woman said, thumbing over her shoulder. He gnced past her and at his men, they were just standing there. Their expressions were rexed but he caught something in their eyes that he didn’t like. Why weren’t they moving to stand arouhey should be positioning themselves to overwhelm this chick if a fight broke out, he looked her way and narrowed his eyes.
“What’s up with my guys?” He demanded, a frown f on his face.
She looked over her shoulder, pretending to be fused, but he caught the hint of a smile on her face, “We came to an agreement, I’d try to work out a deal with you and they’d stay out of my business.”
She wasn’t saying everything, that shouldn’t be enough to get them to keep their distance. What the hell did she do? Was it the other ohe problem was, he couldn’t detect a lie in her posture or voice. Her throat didn’t shift a nothing from those freaky eyes of hers. She’s telling the truth? That doesn’t make any sense. “What kind of deal?” He growled, gng at his men and making a sharp motion. They hurried over and finally formed the ring he’d been expeg out of them. They could still move, that was good.
“Like I said, I’m hiring,” Sonya said with an easy smile.
–
Marta looked out the cracked window and gripped the front of her dress, exploding in her chest. Sonya hadn’t said much about her strange powers that involved making deals, but she was beginning to put a few pieces together. Even so, shaking hands and smiling at people was not going to get her out of the situation she had put herself in. Unease had been building sihey’d arrived at the er and saw that group of men. She was sure she could take them, she was strong! Sonya had stopped her, though, was it out of or was she angling for something else?
What are you thinking, Miss Sonya?
“I got it!” Amos called, making Marta jump. She whirled on him aepped back with a startled look on his face. “Sorry!”
She rexed, “No, I’m sd you found your… whatever it is,” She said, “I hope its worth it.”
Amos gnced outside and froze, “Shark’s here. Is Sonya going to be okay? Shouldn’t you go help her?”
Marta looked back at the window and frowned, “She told me to stay here and keep an eye on you until she called,” Marta said.
“And you trust her? She could get herself killed,” Amos said.
Marta watched the exge from afar, the men moving over to form a ring around Sonya. A lump formed ihroat, “Implicitly,” she lied. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Sonya as a person, she knew Sonya was her truly a good or bad person, she’d already gathered that from living with her. She had her dark side just like everyone. She also khat Sonya wasly thinking altruistically with her pns for the future, she’d made money off of healing a man’s father. That didn’t matter to Marta. What she didn’t trust was Sonya’s growing bravado.
Maybe it was a fatalistic way of thinking, but she couldn’t help but expeething to-
Her eyes flicked up as movement caught her attention. She looked up at the roof of the abandoned office building that Sonya and the men were standing in front of. A shape, a huge shape, had stepped onto the ledge and was looking down at them. It was bck, just like the beasts she’d fought oreet, but at least three or four times their size. Its thieck turned so the eye on the side of its reptilian head could look down at them. Her heart lurched. No!
It leaped off the side and hurtled towards the ground.
Marta darted for the door and threw it open, “SONYA!”
–
WHAM!
Like a et from above, a dark shape nded right on top of Shark with all the grad unfling certainty of a boulder. The force of the impact sent Sonya hurtling backwards, skipping across the pavement a few times before smming into the ground. The air ushed out of her chest and her head spun. She y there for a moment as shouting broke out followed by a gunshot. Ah, there it is, the other shoe. She thought wryly, This is what I get for being cocky. Arrogant. Overfident. Of course it’d be a Lurk.
She started to pull herself to her feet just as a pair of hands ed around her shoulders and dragged her up. She looked over her shoulder to see Marta holding her up, worry in the woman’s eyes.
“Sonya, are you okay?” Marta gasped.
“I'm fine! Where’s-” She gnced past Marta to see Amos hurrying out of his shop, rag dowreet. “Son of a bitch!” She snarled and looked to Marta, “He’s getting away!”
“But-” Marta started but Sonya frow her.
“Marta! I need him!” Sonya barked, “Don’t let him get away!”
Marta wi the ferocity in Sonya’s tone, but Sonya couldn’t feel bad right now. She needed Amos if she was going to get anywhere. He could make everything she needed, he could help her build a business empire and hold the ing society of superhumans in the palm of her hand. He could make them depe on her. He couldn’t get away, not now, with his brain she’d never find him again. She knew nothing about his history prior to being a businessman, there was no way she’d be able to track him down in New York. She’d gotten lucky running into him as it was and he wasn’t going to e back to his shop.
Marta let her go and Sonya steadied herself just as a body flew past them followed by a bellowing roar. “Marta!” Sonya barked, “Go!”
Marta looked back at the beast, then at Sonya, and then back at the retreating form of Amos. She swallowed, but nodded, “Be careful.”
“I will!” Sonya called and turned around to face the mohat was making short work of Shark’s men. They screamed, scattering as one of them was bit and torn in two by a head rge enough to e aire human, “Go!”
Marta darted away just as an inhuman bellow roiled up from beh the beast. The creature lurched, its body shifting as something lifted it up from below. It looked down in fusion as a gray-skinned monster with razor sharp teeth in the shape of a maed it into the air and hurled it dowreet with a titanic effort. “Get the fue!” Shark snarled, “Get away from it, idiots, this ain’t yht!”
He’s strong and cares about his men, Sonya gnced hastily towards the Lurk as it rolled, But that isn’t going to kill one of those things. Lurks were a stage up in the order of beasts that appeared during the first wave. If you put it into game terms, they were mini-bosses. They appeared rarely and liked to hide and wat high pces before leaping down on groups of easy prey. Just like most of the early monsters, they had no sense of self preservation or danger and would throw themselves heedlessly at an enemy. They were tough, tanking even artillery fire.
She looked around, Shark was strong but at this point in the game it wasn’t enough. She’d have to pull on one of her products if they were going to survive this. Her eyes searched the street, she needed cover! There!
“Shark!” She shouted and poiowards a warehouse a few blocks down, “Get it in that warehouse!”
“Don’t tell me what to do, bitch!” Shark snarled, “This is your fault!” He roared, stomping dowreet towards the monster.
“Do you wanna live through this or not?” She demanded.
He whipped his head in her dire, “You know how to kill it?”
“Get it somewhere tight, and you kill it,” She called back, “I have a pn, but your boys are in the way.”
He fixed her with a stare and with her powerful eyes she saw his throat undute and something in his eyes shift, ara pair of lenses bli her. She still couldn’t believe he was wasting his gift. She’d appraised him the moment they came into tact with one another and had been horrified to see that he wasn’t a shark at all.
She wasn’t sure exactly how far those powers went, but she was sure that it wasn’t limited to ‘be a shark man’. He was either refusing to use his full power or clearly didn’t uand what was in his hands. It was infuriating.
The Lurk got to its feet a out a bellow, people had to be watg from within their homes now. She couldn’t take any further risks. The more she was seen with Shark, especially cooperating with him, the more problems she’d have iure. He either agreed or she was out of here, he could deal with it on his own, survive or not. It would be a shame for him to die, but she wouldn’t lose sleep over it.
“Fine!” He shouted back, “We’ll do it your way!”
She grihat was all she o hear. She started for the warehouse while he charged at it, she o get set up as fast as possible.