The rest of the day passed surprisingly quickly, but that didn't mean the weirdness let up even for a second. It took until near the end of my work time to notice something peculiar. More peculiar, that is. I had seen a lot of heroes drive into the lot to park, but I hadn't seen any of them leave again. I tried to push it into the back of my mind and just continue checking people in. Once my shift was finally over I hurriedly left the premises.

As I reflected on my day of work my mind started racing. This was weird. Surely something strange was going on here. But what? It had to have something to do with the Petite Group, right? I was under the impression that whatever they sent me to do was in some way in aid of completing their next big psychotic "Artwork" or something. But what if it was already in progress?

Did they do something to the Club? No, the weird behavior was from people coming in, not people leaving. Did they get the heroes beforehand? Unlikely, since they all came to the club at separate times throughout the day. But maybe the fact that a lot of affected heroes went to the Club was a coincidence? That would make sense at first glance but if Diamond Hills wasn't part of the plan, then why send me there?

Maybe the heroes weren't the target. Maybe I was. They could've done something to me in the backroom and then sent me out for whatever reason. But why target me? That made even less sense. The Petite Group never targeted specific people. In fact, the idea of them targeting heroes in general was somewhat out of character. Usually, they put their art in a public place and just leave it there for random people to observe.

So maybe I wasn't a target, but a guinea pig? Maybe they exposed me to their art and sent me out to see if it had the desired effect? But why me? Why not a civvie? Nothing made sense. I resolved to just keep everything to myself unless I was specifically asked. For now.

It didn't take long until I reached the alley the trio mentioned. As I was told, there was graffiti everywhere. I always enjoyed looking at them, especially those left by Empowered. I almost instantly recognized a common Power-Graffitti and approached it.

"わあ!!!" was scrawled on the wall in a somewhat unassuming position, sandwiched between two much larger tags. I touched it and abruptly two drawn hands appeared from behind the Japanese text. They didn't come out of the wall, of course, everything stayed strictly 2D. It was more like a little cartoon that played on the wall instead of a screen. The hands grabbed the letters they were trapped between and pushed them out of the way. A horrifying creature began to slowly emerge from its hiding spot, growing until it took over nearly the entire space. Its claws were dripping blood and the sharp teeth in its mouth were revealed by a demented grin.

The わあ graffiti was designed to scare unwitting people. Some rando who leaned against the wall or brushed against it accidentally. What exactly happened was always different, since Powers that could achieve that effect were usually quite different from one another, but it was always fun to see. I watched with a smile until the monster crawled back where it came from. Once everything was over I took a step back to take in all the painted walls in their full glory. They said their friend Smear left a means of communication here for me and that I should figure it out. So let's.

The written graffiti was the usual stuff, names and slogans and such. Nothing stood out at first glance. Pictures then. There were a variety of different ones. A hero and villain locked in combat, a huge flaming sword embedded with Nordic runes (The symbol of Midgardsummer), etc, etc. The only one that could maybe have something to do with communication was a person in a hoodie standing next to a payphone. The door to the booth was open, and the person's face could not be seen under the hood.

I walked up to it and pressed my palm against the surface. Nothing. It neither felt any different nor did it activate anything. Off the cuff, I could think of three other ways this could potentially work if this was indeed the right picture.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

First, I closed my eyes. After waiting for about a minute I reached out again only to once again feel the wall, and nothing more. Another dud. Two methods left.

Next, I positioned myself in a very particular manner. I needed the shadow of my arm to be able to reach the booth when I stretched it out as well as be just the right size to pick up the phone itself. It took me a little while to find the right spot, but when I did I immediately got to work.

I carefully lifted my arm and lined its shadow up so that it looked like it was reaching inside the booth. Nothing yet. I took a deep breath and made a fist. I was immensely proud of myself when I felt something solid. With a grin, I carefully pulled back and sure enough, my shadow was lifting the painted phone from its hook.

I did not bring it to my ear but maneuvered it so that it was next to my shadow's head. Suddenly the hooded figure drawn next to the booth gave me a thumbs up. I watched as it moved into the booth and dialed a number for me.

The call connected immediately. "Is that you, Charles? Did you have a fun day at work?" the unmistakable gleeful voice of Manet said. "If it is at all possible I would appreciate it if you only answered with a simple yes or no. Security and such. You understand."

"Yes." I grunted.

"How nice. I knew we could count on you. 'Duchamp, Nitsch,' I said, 'this here is a woman who appreciates the true value of art.' Magnificent." I rolled my eyes. "You probably want your payout I imagine. We can certainly arrange that."

"Just get on with it, man!" was what I wanted to say. "Yes." is what I actually said.

"Of course, of course. We have a little hideout, it's fairly new. I hereby invite you to come over and pick up what we owe you. Oh, and it would be very nice if you could bring that friend of yours. The one who helped you rob that tour bus."

I was very tempted to ask why, but with people this volatile it was usually a bad idea to disregard their stipulations. "We may have another job for you two. All under the radar, of course. Find us at Velveteria. Since you managed to contact us, locating the entrance shouldn't be too difficult. Just knock three times. See you. Oh, and bring some snacks. It's customary." And with that, the call disconnected.

I was halfway to putting the phone back on the hook when I shrugged and just let it go. Instead of falling it froze in middair. Looking it over I actually thought that that made the picture look a bit more interesting. I was about to turn and leave when the hooded man left the phone booth and, to my astonishment, climbed out of the wall and into the alley. It was fascinating to see the two-dimensional shape fill out and gain a third.

The person, now fully outside, looked at me for a bit. At least I assumed so. Just like when they were just a drawing the hood only revealed empty impenetrable blackness. Eventually, they moved forward and came to a stop next to me.

"Good job. I'll be seeing you." With that, they left. That must've been that Smear person the others were talking about.

With a yawn, I leaned against the wall. Time to say goodbye to Charles and get home. Without any further distractions, I began decoupling our minds.

-----------------------------

When I awoke, I found myself lying on my bed back home. I turned my head to the side to see Witchling practicing her magic while I rode out the post-Possession whiplash.

She had made some food, one of our cheap steaks from the looks of it, and was apparently resolved to cut and eat it with her bracelet alone. As usual, another - already empty - plate sat next to her. How she managed to stay thin while eating two portions every meal was beyond me.

"Hey." I said when I was finally feeling ready to move and sat up. "I'm back."

Jess just smiled and floated the forked piece of meat she was about to eat over to me. I accepted it graciously.

"Took ya long enough. Everything went smooth?" she asked while focusing back on controlling both the knife and fork simultaneously.

"More or less." I half-lied. Weird things did happen, but....making her worry about something that could very well be nothing seemed somewhat unnecessary to me.

"Did they keep their end of the bargain?"

I shrugged. "We'll see. They want me to pick it up myself."

"Hmmmm. Okay." she murmured, lost in concentration.

"They want you to come with." That made her stop. She looked up at me. "They have another job. For both of us, I think."

"Mal...you know how I feel about people like..."

"I know, I know. But the Petite Group has very very disparate cells. Maybe they are one of the less violent ones. You never know."

She leaned back. "I don't know...."

I got up and sat down next to her. "Look. I get you. The thing is, It's important to forge connections as a low-tier villain. I don't like them either, but it can't hurt to just hear them out. We don't even have to take the job, just show some goodwill by showing up and letting them make their pitch." I put an arm around her. "What do you say?"

She stared at the ceiling for a few seconds before letting out a big deep sigh. "A'ight. I guess. If ya insist. But when and where should we go?"

"Their location is somewhere around or inside the Velveteria Museum."

"That little thing?" she asked and I nodded.

"As for when....I say we get this over with as soon as possible. How does an hour or two sound?"

Jess pretended to mull it over for a second. "That's fine with me, but afterward we are going to do something together, like you promised. Deal?"

I chuckled a bit before giving her a thumbs-up.

"Deal."