Sitting across from my father is a woman I never imagined I’d be seeing so soon: Lavagirl. I’d recognize that muscular frame and bright red hair anywhere. She’s wearing similar athletic gear to the last time I saw her, and her hair is in a messy bun. I did too well with our first encounter. I hoped she would reach out, but I didn’t think she would show up at my house. How did she find me? It doesn’t matter. She wants something from me, or she wouldn’t be here. If she just wanted to out me or kill me, I could have done nothing about it. If she’s here and not burning the house down, then I can assume she comes in peace. The best plan is to go forward with this lie of hers until I can speak to her alone. I scoot beside my father on the couch and turn toward one of the most dangerous Neuvohumans I’ve ever seen.

“Hey, Vivienne, I must have missed your text saying you were in town,” I said.

“Yeah, we always talked about meeting up after we got out and after Daeshim got discharged yesterday. I thought I’d hit you up, and we'd get the whole gang together,” she lied.

What is she playing at? What is the angle with this meeting? Referencing Daeshim in an attempt to provoke a reaction is pointless. I’ve spent years mastering a poker face; two can play this game. “I’m happy to see you. You were such an impulsive hothead back then, and it’s good to see that you haven’t changed.”

My joke makes her burst out laughing. “See, this is why I like you, man. There’s nobody like you. And it’s great to meet you finally, Mr. Blakely. Eryk always spoke so highly of you,” she said.

“Thank you, but I’m sure you kids want to catch up, so I’ll leave you alone,” my father said.

As soon as he’s out of earshot, I turn to look at her, mask dropping from my face. Face to face with a woman that beat the brakes off Daeshim, anyone else might be scared, but I’m not. In a fight, I’m worth less than her pinky toe, but this is a battle of wits, and you are not my equal. You might’ve entered Eryk Blakely’s house, but you’re dealing with Nobody.

“Why?”

“Why what?” She asked coyly.

“Cut the jokes; why are you at my house?” Is she close enough for me to stab her?

“Cause you’re interesting,” she replied.

“And that’s enough of a reason to track me down, enter my home, and threaten my family?” I asked. There has to be an ulterior motive.

“Woah, your dad’s not in any danger. But yeah, I came here 'cause you’re interesting,” she said as if it was the most obvious answer in the world. She can’t be this simple. Tracking down a stranger and showing up to their house because they’re interesting is insane.

“What do you actually want from me, Vivienne?” Her way of thinking is unlike anyone I’ve observed. Does she know what I took from Daeshim? Better to play it close to the vest and not give any unnecessary information.

“I’m a simple girl who just loves fighting. Always have been. Always will be. The feelings I get from pitting myself against another skilled fighter are unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. It’s like electricity coursing through me and the only time I truly feel alive. I crave adrenaline pumping through my system as I prove my dominance. Nothing I’ve tried can replicate the excitement I get from combat, ” Vivienne said.

She’s a battle junkie. She’s so upfront to the point that she might genuinely be here just because of curiosity.

“And you think I can give you a good fight? I’m afraid I’d disappoint you in that department,” I answered. I might be able to turn this chance encounter into a windfall. No, I will. If the universe continues to show me favor, I will continue to prove I deserve it.

“No. Dude, I’d mop the fucking floor with you. You showed off no visible powers of any kind and were definitely the weakest Neuvohuman there. And somehow, despite all the chaos last night, you seem to have gotten out of no worse for wear. I’ve never met you before, so I did some digging. When I used my connection to find you, I also asked about Nobody. And according to them, Nobody doesn’t exist. So either you’ve been working from the shadows for years, or that was your first outing as a Cowl. Given your age and relatively recent trigger event, the latter is what I’m thinking. That means in your first appearance, you helped destroy two gangs completely.”

The jokes are gone. She’s staring at me with an intensity that is making me wary. The weight of the situation fills the room. I misjudged her. She isn’t as simple as I thought. I lean back into the couch and grin, my face mirroring the intensity of her own.

“You’re quite the detective. I’m not surprised to hear about the demise of the gangs. They were terribly unorganized and suffered terrible losses on both sides.”

“You say that like you had nothing to do with that,” she said.

“I could say the same for you,” I countered. Is she trying to get me to admit to a crime?

“Fair enough, we both played a role in what went down. But with my employer being dead, I’m between jobs. You got anything going on?” Vivienne asked.

“You don’t seem too broken up about whatshisname. It was something Italian, right? Antonio, Luca, or was it Leonardo?” I asked, feigning ignorance.

“Gio, but somehow, I doubt that you forgot that. We weren’t friends or anything. He just hired me for an odd job here and there. I only agreed to it last night because he told me I’d get to fight Lee Daeshim. I’m sure he planned to betray the Dragons even before you and the bumblebee showed up. Also, don’t dodge the question. There is no shot that you did all of that and don’t have something bigger planned.”

Am I in a position to refuse her? If she decides to transform, there isn’t anything I can do. I don’t have a gun, and I doubt the knife will do anything. I am losing ground here. I cannot let her force me to recruit her. If she is going to join me, it has to be on my terms.

“Maybe I have something in the works. Before we talk business, I am dying to know, how did you find me?”

“I saw someone sneaking around after Nobody left, stealing drugs and money. I followed them back to a red truck with a girl who looked like she’d seen better days. I snapped a pic of your license plate and went to my contact with it. It didn’t take them long to find all your info—one of the victims of the New Farford Massacre. Makes sense someone would awaken amongst all that tragedy. It didn’t exactly take Sherlock Holmes to solve this one. Cowl tip number one, don’t use a vehicle registered in your name to commit crimes,” she said.

That was such a stupid amateur mistake. If she had been less curious and more vengeful, I’d be dead already.

“Also, if anonymity is such a big deal to you, don’t go back to the site of a recent Neuvohuman fight as a civilian. Regular people avoid those, so it’s automatically suspicious for someone to be snooping around,” she stated.

“I’ll take that advice into consideration.”

“You should. Most Cowls don’t share my temperament and personality. Now what kind of job we talking about? You wanna hit a bank or something?” Vivienne asked me.

“Nothing so pedestrian. I have much grander goals, but who said that they include you?”

“Alright, don’t play so hard to get. I saw Daeshim swat the insect, so you’re out of backup until she’s healed. You need muscle, and I’m out of a job, whattaya say to working together for a bit?”

She’s quite perceptive. There are worse things than hiring her as a minion. Pros are getting a meatshield that can fight off other Neuvohumans and the raw intimidation factor her other form gives off. Cons are she betrays me at some point for some minor gain and she figures out what my ability actually is. It isn’t like I really have a choice, though.

“I’m not opposed to it, but what kind of relationship do you share with this contact of yours? Personal? Professional? Contractual?”

“None of the above. More like they owe me. I’ve got dirt on them and use it to squeeze them for information occasionally,” Vivienne responded.

“They need to die immediately. After that, we can start laying the groundwork for my plan.”

“Do we really need to kill them?”

“Yes. All it takes is them putting two and two together about the two inquiries you made, and everything comes crashing down. You may not care about anonymity, but I do. And I will not let loose ends jeopardize anything,” I said.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“I don’t really care about my contact either way. But let’s talk splits,” Vivienne said. “I’m feeling generous, so we can do 50/50 even.”

“That sounds acceptable.” It doesn’t matter to me what the splits are. I am not planning on this being a long partnership. “But if this is going to work, you need to forget my name and face. I am Nobody, and that’s all you know.”

“I’ll keep your secrets safe, Nobody. And I only have one condition to working together—no harming kids. I’m not joking about this. If you hurt a child, I will burn you from the inside out. I will not budge on this.”

Her demand is doable. If a child has a power I want, I can take it and leave the kid alone. There is nothing that would be worth the chance of her cooking me. “My plans have nothing to do with children. If that is your only demand, then I just need to grab something from upstairs, and then we can go,” I said.

“Got it, but we should take my car. It’s clean and is registered under a fake name.

I climb the stairs to my room; I’m going to need my helmet. I should change into something more fitting for nightly activities. Just removing my shirt causes me immense pain, and I have to bite my tongue to prevent myself from yelling. I awkwardly jump around as I try to take off my pants. The amount of noise I’m making causes someone to jiggle my doorknob. Vivienne comes through the door to ask me what’s taking so long. Why does no one respect a closed door? I couldn’t have been in here for more than ten minutes. She finds me shirtless and with my pants on the floor.

“Oh, that’s a nasty bruise you got going there. You get that last night?” She asked while inhaling through her teeth. “That looks fucking terrible. You gotta get that checked out. Don’t worry. I know a guy who can get you all fixed up. He’s an odd fella, but he’s discreet and very good. He’ll want to be paid upfront, but he’s your best bet of getting that looked at with no questions. We can go there before we go after my contact.”

I will have to use the money I stole to pay him. It's a minor setback. I continue getting dressed as Vivienne speaks about the man we’d have to see. Today’s outing shouldn’t result in me ruining another set of clothes. This time, I put on black joggers and a darker crewneck. I’ll probably sweat a ton, but it’s better than showing skin. I put on my boots and grab my clothes from last night. I’ll have Vivienne burn them once we leave town. I leave my phone and wallet at home; I’ve learned from my mistake with the truck. Putting my mask and money into a backpack, I follow her to her car. I didn’t notice before, but her windows are completely tinted black. I climb into the back seat and press the button on my mask, transforming it into a helmet.

“Hey. What kind of ability do you have? I’ve been curious since you left. Whatever it is isn’t flashy. I assume you’re a Mentalist because whatever you did to him made him give up. He fought me for so long, but then you did your thing, and something died inside him. He wouldn’t have died if you hadn’t done whatever you did to him. You didn’t kill him, but you killed his will to live,” she said, pulling out of my driveway.

Nobody is confident, charismatic, and professional. “It’s a secret, obviously. Surprise is necessary for it to be most effective.”

“Jeez, I can’t get over how creepy you sound with that helmet. Like a bunch of ghosts arguing over each other. But, fine, I’ll let you keep your secrets,” she remarked.

As we’re driving down my street toward the highway, we pass a black SUV. I think that was Maria. I don’t have time for her currently; there are too many things to do. I can’t afford to waste brainpower and time trying to reconcile this manufactured relationship that has reached the end of its usefulness. Either she gets over it, and I’ll continue the facade for a while longer, or we just end it.

Vivienne doesn’t make any small talk during the drive. It allows me to collect my thoughts and think about what must be done. I need to find some expendable transients to experiment on. How many abilities can I put in someone? Is there a limit? Can I give abilities to someone who already has one? So many questions that need answering. I don’t pay any attention to where we’re going while lost in my head, and I only become aware of my surroundings when Vivienne tells me we’re here. It’s a rundown strip mall off the path—the kind of place with seven or eight stores that barely stay afloat. In this case, the whole place is abandoned and looks like it hasn’t seen business in years. Some of the shops look ransacked and destroyed, while the others have their windows and doors boarded up.

The parking lot has three other vehicles: a white contractor van, a bright red lowrider with black flames, and a Tesla Model X. It’s rare to see one of those; they got recalled after the car’s AI failed and drove into a group of kids on a field trip. That killed the market for AI-driven vehicles and is why Tinkertech is so heavily regulated. Even if a Tinkerer has a specialty that can improve people’s lives, the BNA and the government fight tooth and nail to control the spread and influence of technology. It’s what I would do. No, It’s what I will do. Any technological advances I gain through stealing powers will become closely guarded secrets that only benefit me. Vivienne parks the car before she addresses me.

“Heads up, Nobody, this doctor has a lot of Tinkertech. He’s not a Neuvohuman, but it doesn’t mean he isn’t dangerous. He’s got some weird rules. You’ll see them on the door.”

“No problem. Are you coming in?” I asked.

“Yeah, I’ll come in just in case. Wouldn’t want my new partner to die.”

“Where are we, by the way?”

“We’re about thirty minutes away from Breeton,” Vivienne answered.

I can’t believe I lost track of time that badly. That’s nearly two hours from New Farford. And it’s in the opposite direction of Crimton. If this had been some sort of long con, I could’ve been abducted and imprisoned. The only benefit of her being so powerful is that she doesn’t need to bother with plotting. I grab my bloody clothes from my bag and ask her if she can incinerate them for me. We both get out of the car, and she quickly transforms into her obsidian form. Just by being in her hands, my clothes catch fire immediately and quickly become scattered ash. She changes back to her regular self and leads me to what used to be a laundromat.

The glass door has been painted black, except for the three rules written on it. Rule one is no violence inside the building. The second rule is payments are made upfront and in full. The third and final rule is taking your shoes off at the door. What an eclectic set of rules. They have nothing to do with each other. The rules someone puts in place say a lot about the person who made them. So, this illegal doctor is someone who values their own space and time as well as cleanliness. They’re professional and to the point.

I open the door, and Vivienne follows me inside. The first thing I notice is that all the washers and dryers have been ripped out. The left wall is demolished and has a curtain hanging as a divider. Above the hole in the wall is a sign that says operating room spray painted in red. I can hear what sounds like power tools coming from behind the curtain. The rest of the room is mostly those crappy red cushioned chairs you see in doctor's offices that they buy in bulk. To the right of the entrance is a mat with shoes on it. Four pairs are already on it, so I remove my boots, and Vivienne does the same.

After we take our shoes off, I see the two patients ahead of me. The first is a bald Latino man covered in tattoos. I’d estimate him to be in his mid to late twenties. He’s wearing a white tank top, grey shorts, and work boots. His face is tattooed to look like a skull, and he has subdermal implants to make his face more skeletal. His right arm is bent at an off-angle and looks incredibly painful. How hard do you bend an arm to make it do that? It could be an effective information-gathering technique, considering it’s not a debilitating or life-threatening attack. I should ask him how it happened before we leave.

The other would-be patient is stranger looking than the skeleton man. It’s a white woman wearing a skintight leather suit that covers her neck and the bottom half of her face. The suit has pouches and straps all over it. Given the few wrinkles I can see on her face, she's at least forty. She has a large scar across her forehead and a blonde pixie cut. Unlike the man, she has no visible injury to tell me why she’s here. Her eyes are quite expressive; she’s glaring daggers at me and Vivienne. Something about us seems to have set her off. Based on her outfit, I assume she’s a Cowl—a perfect chance to gain another ability. I bet I can goad her into attacking us. Vivienne said she loves fighting, so I’ll give her the opportunity.

“What are you looking at?” The voice changer makes both of them tense up, but the woman doesn’t answer. “I asked you a question. Do we have a problem?”

Somehow, the woman gets even angrier. Does she not realize that I’m egging her on for a reason? She’s letting her emotions dictate her actions, and it will lead to her death. The smart thing to do would be to ignore me. The woman mumbles something angrily. Vivienne is standing next to me, watching everything unfold.

“If you’ve got an issue, then speak up. We can’t hear you cause of your sex suit mask thing,” Vivienne said sharply. She really does love fighting.

The rules state that there is no violence inside the building; you just have to move the person you want to hurt outside. The woman stands up to face us. The excitement is back, and I feel alive. A glance at Vivienne, and she’s itching for this fight. This woman has no idea how strong Vivienne is. She walks closer until she’s right in front of us and snaps her fingers. Every sound disappears after her snap: the power tools, the buzzing of the lights, even my voice. Think quickly and clearly, Eryk. I can confirm that she is a Neuvohuman, and her ability is sound-related. Is it just sound-dampening, or are there other aspects to it? If that is all she can do, then we have nothing to worry about. I look over, and Skullface hasn’t moved. Good. There won’t be any interference.

The lack of sound is disorientating and seems even worse for Vivienne. She keeps trying to talk, and nothing comes out of her mouth. While Vivienne and I adjust to the eerie stillness caused by the Cowl, she swings at me, and I step out of the way. She adjusts and tries to leg-sweep Vivienne. She’s prepared for this and dodges the woman’s attack before bringing her foot down on the outstretched leg. The woman’s power prevents us from hearing her cry out in pain as my companion shatters bone beneath her boot. Her hateful eyes have become fearful as she realizes she is not the predator but the prey. Vivienne drags her outside by her damaged leg and throws her onto the sidewalk. I put my boots on and follow the two women outside.

The silencing power has continued outside the makeshift hospital, so it’s not room-based. It could be a certain radius around her body or based on the area around the initial snap. Well, I’ll know shortly. There’s a disconnect caused by the quiet that makes the brutal beatdown I’m watching seem fake. It’s similar to watching a movie but up close. Vivienne punches her in the gut and picks her up before slamming her into the ground on her back. The woman favors one leg, and Vivienne keeps targeting it with jabs and kicks. The excitement I felt when the woman first stood up is gone now. There is no danger to me, and Vivienne didn’t even have to shift into her other form. How disappointing. I’ll put your ability to far better use than you ever could.

My ears pop, bringing my attention back to the wet thud of Vivienne's knuckles connecting to the other woman's face. The face covering is down around her neck, and she looks terrible after the beating. Two black eyes, a broken nose, and her bottom lip is split in two as blood leaks out of her whole face. The pummeling must have knocked her out and caused her power to shut off. So, the ability is dependent on the user remaining conscious. I have to remember to ask Vivienne how Shifting works after we leave. She needs a codename as well. I cannot call her by her real name when we are out.

“Pathetic. Don’t start shit you can’t finish,” Vivienne said while kicking her in the chest.

The woman mumbles something. So she isn’t unconscious. Vivienne leans closer to hear her, and the woman’s right arm twitches. She shakily raises her bruised hand and snaps her fingers. As soon as the snap finishes, thunder strikes with a resounding boom. Blood explodes out of Vivienne’s ears, and even with my helmet, my ears are ringing. I try to speak to Vivienne, but she can’t hear me. She’s wobbling in place, holding her head in pain. I’ll need to finish this. I leisurely walk up to the woman who’s cackling on the ground. The split lip and missing teeth distort her smile.

“Looks like I broke her. Oops,” she said while coughing blood.

“What’s your name?” I asked. My question confuses her, and she can’t figure out why I’m asking. She doesn’t answer, so I grab her right hand and immediately snap her pinky. She snarls in pain, and I repeat my question. She has good pain tolerance. Unfortunately, this will make it take longer. I do not revel in bloodshed; I am but a man using the tools best suited for the occasion. Her curses and threats are ignored. I don’t care about anything other than my task and her potential answer. I fall into a rhythm of asking and snapping, but she doesn’t break, unlike her fingers.

“I’m out of fingers, so what’s next on the menu?” Her words are slurred and sloppy due to her injuries.

I place my hand against her forehead and activate my power. I don’t speak during the five minutes. Nothing she can say or do at this point would make me stop. Blame your luck that you had the misfortune of meeting me. I’m sure I’d see the same terror as the man I shot if her eyes weren't swollen shut. Our powers make us special, and I’m removing what separates her from the chaff. She’s screaming bloody murder as I feel her power nestled inside me. The other gift she gave me is one I never imagined I’d ever experience: joy. The feeling is overwhelming me. It’s like my body is filled with carbonated bubbles threatening to spill over.

I pick the woman up and lay her down on her stomach with her head near the raised sidewalk. She’s too weak to fight back, a combination of Vivienne’s assault and me robbing her. I’m forced to get blood and saliva on my fingers as I forcibly open her mouth and place it against the curb. I need to buy a new pair of gloves. She’s sobbing as she realizes what I will do to her. I place my boot against the back of her head and slowly push into it. Let’s test your pain tolerance. The giddy sensation only grows as I push harder. The dirt and sand from the curb mix with her blood to make her screams unintelligible. I increase the pressure until her cheeks tear open, then pull my boot off. One hard kick ends her suffering and her life. Walking over to Vivienne, I realize I’m smiling so much it hurts. A sudden influx of a previously unknown emotion is making me enjoy this. I’m so happy I can finally be happy.