Arc 8 Superficial
Chapter 14
I flew like an arrow of love through the cityscape straight to the target of my seething desire, Ichigo’s apartment. This bitch has got a hot date and I am going to fuck her brains out! Nothing else mattered and everything went by like a blur of colors and sounds. I could hardly wait, descending onto the roof. Ichigo hopped off and led the way. She opened the door and we stepped down the stairs. We went along several floors in the shaft before she opened up the door to a hallway. I followed along eagerly anticipating what was to come.
There were only four rooms on this floor and we arrived at the far left door. Ichigo’s flat was rather large, about as big as the common room in the Junior bunks. She had a kitchen off to the side and in the opposite corner off to the side was a queen sized bed covered in red silken sheets. Several pillows sat fluffed up and blankets were folded to halfway on the cover. Laying upon this soft spot were five bat looking things… I peered closer.
“You have pet bats?”
“Bats?” asked Ichigo, looking up at me and then lining up her sight with mine, “No, those are my cats.”
“Cats? They got no fur.” I rubbed my chin, thinking it over… wait a minute, aren’t those like super expensive luxury pets that cost thousands each? What were they called again?
“Yes, they are hairless Sphinx cats. Those two were imported from Egypt and then those are some of their kittens.”
I got close, looming over the sleeping kitties. They were all wrinkly and not cute at all. Ugly, ugly cats. That one, especially looks grumpy as fuck. Hmm, they kinda look like shaved ball sacks. Heresy! Where is the fluff? These are not real cats.
It was almost like they heard me and the cats all opened their eyes at once staring at me. They didn’t rear up hissing or yowling or anything that normal cats did when they were around me. They just looked at me with those wide piercing eyes. They just sat there silently, eyes never leaving me. Eh, this is weird. Normally I would want to pet one, but these things are creeping me out.
I diverted my attention away from them and started looking over the room in detail. Ichigo was extremely clean, there wasn’t a dish in her sink. Everything was neatly stacked and piled in designated places. The kitchen naturally had my immediate attention since there were strange critters on the bed that I wanted nothing to do with. Ichigo rummaged around in the freezer before pulling out a bottle of Jagermeister. She set it down smiling at me as she went about procuring two shot glasses.
“We are still drinking?” I asked.
“Yeah, I said that we were going to continue once we got home. What did you think I meant?”
“Oh… so this is what you meant. I don’t know?” Well, I suppose all for the better I am not sure that I could perform at peak conditions being watched by those weirdo cats. They are creepy. It is just me jumping to conclusions.
“So what do you think of my place?”
“It looks very nice. You clean this place yourself?”
“I do, but I also have a maid.”
“You have a maid?”
“She is a hired cleaner from a service.”
“Oh.”
She handed me the shot and lifted her own, “To friendship!”
“To eh… friendship.”
I stared at it for a moment, it was the same color and smell as the Jager in the bar… it would be kinda weird if it was different. I drank it down and she smiled doing the same. Ichigo went to the living room section of the flat and sat down on the leather couch. She pat it invitingly and I sat beside her. To our right side, large bay windows looked out over the city. The glowing lights from billboards and strobing signs made the room lit even though the light was still off. It gave a soothing sort of ambiance.
I craned my head around looking over the rest of the room. She had a modestly sized tv it was only about fifty or so inches and was attached to the wall. She had a few older game consoles like a Super Tendo 69, there were only three controllers though. I hadn’t even seen one of those in years.
Along the wall next to Ichigo’s bed was a closet that dipped into the wall a bit and on the side of it was a wardrobe. I sort of wanted to see what costumes she had in there. Now that I was looking at the place I recognized where she took some of her pictures. It was a matted area beside the kitchen. Still, this place was only used for a few pictures. I am assuming that she had a whole set up somewhere else.
Her computer area was set up next to the closet. She had a modern desk and a comfy looking chair that could spin. The pc was nothing all that impressive really. I am not sure if the specs were good or not, but the case was old a bit scuffed up.
The final spot in the flat was the bathroom, which was the only other room and it was right next to the computer. Currently, the door was closed, but I could smell the soap and fragrances of strawberries within. I suppose now I know where she gets the smell from.
We sat there in silence for a bit as I simply enjoyed her presence. Now that we were out of that club I had calmed down a bit. The cats had killed my libido a bit.
“So what did you want to show me?” I asked.
Ichigo seemed out of it at this point, just smiling and halfway cuddling up next to me. Her head lolled a little trying to keep itself up, “Oh, that I am a little tired, I will show you tomorrow.”
“Do you want to go to bed?”
She rubbed her finger against me, “No, this is fine.”
I wasn’t particularly complaining and plopped my hand on head rubbing it. This was nice. I glanced over and the weirdo cats had curled up and gone back to sleep. Well, it is no wonder, it is late. I tapped my helmet two in the morning? Where did the time go? I tilted away from Ichigo so that I would not roll over onto her. My eyes drooped as I dozed off.
~~~
A loud banging sound rose from the door. We both jumped a little. Ichigo squinted at the door with her flushed face before, wobbling her way over.
She opened it, sounding a bit angry, “Do you-”
Ichigo didn’t get to finish when an arm grabbed in and people broke into the room. I shook my head since everything was a little blurred and blinked a few times to make sure that this was actually happening or not. It certainly was. This was a bit surreal. I mean a robbery or kidnapping happening right in front of me. Whatever these guys were planning it was not good.
“What the fuck do you think you are doing?!” I yelled at them.
The guys froze as I stood up. I was not waiting for an explanation, from Ichigo’s screams this was clearly something wrong. I charged at them and all eight guys took off running with Ichigo despite her struggling. The last guy slammed the door and something dropped onto the floor, it exploded right in front of me. Everything went white and I screamed, clutching my face. Fuck! My eyes. The antennae were throbbing and a screaming silence filled my head. Staggering I slumped against the door waiting for the ringing in my head to go away. After a few deep breathes and squinting I could see somewhat again. A sulfurous stench filled the air. Was that a flashbang grenade?
I opened the door and they were long gone now. I could detect the strong scent of Ichigo and rushed on all sixes following it. It led me winding around the stairs down to the base level. Through the window, a van sped off out of the back alleyway. It was a black van without windows. I scurried along after them, getting to the street, they had turned left. My wings spread and I took flight, making sure to stay a bit out of sight. I didn’t want to get flashed again, I would definitely lose them.
“Overseer I need help! Reporting a kidnapping, Ichigo, they took Ichigo!” I called out over the com system.
Strangely though there was no reply. Concerned, I started scrolling through the overlay and realized that it was getting weird. It was flickering and shorting out. The lights on my wings went out. It is that weird bug with the system again. Now is not the time for this! The suit was still mostly working, I could still follow them and if it got any worse, I could always eject. Hopefully, it won’t come to that though.
Thoughts of running to get help rose, but I don’t have time for that. If they get away, then I won’t be able to sniff them out. I could see the van going with the traffic, it wasn’t even speeding. This was actually rather smart of them. If I had been a few seconds later I never would have even seen it to know what to look for. It is hard to find a tree in the forest after all.
I wasn’t sure if they had seen me or not, most likely had though. The chase brought us to the warehouse district. The van went along, turning down different side streets as I followed peering from the rooftops. They came to a stop at one of the smaller storage buildings. A large sixteen was written on the front of the roll-up doors. The door cranked up and the van went inside before it went back down. I flew to the roof and looked around all the sides. There was another gate at the back end. I sat there for a long moment, making sure that they were not going to go out another entrance or something.
There wasn’t anything up here just gravel and stuff. Though there was a small vent, I could not fit into it. I circled around the edge looking over the walls for a window or something, nothing. There were only two entrances. Actually, there were four. There were two normal doors, one on each side next to the roll up. What to do? The suit coms were still fucked. It seemed that the systems were getting worse. I will have to give Chief a piece of my mind after this.
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I didn’t even want to think about what they were doing to Ichigo in there. As I was forming a plan to break through the roof, the door below me opened up and one of the men stood down there. He appeared to be watching the place. So then he was the early warning guard then. I edged down the building directly above him, trying to keep the sound down. He didn’t look up once, well not until it was far too late. My hands grabbed onto him, pulling him up into a full Nelson. Bottom righty stuffed his mouth so he couldn’t scream and the last arm tightened around his neck until he stopped struggling.
I pulled him and lay him on the roof. I rifled through his pockets. There wasn’t anything in them though. I checked the other side and there was a guard out there was well. I should probably take him out as well, but if I mess up, then they will all know. I already have a way in. I let him be and went to the back, gliding down to the ground. Crouching I opened the door just a little and peered in.
The interior was well lit. There were at the least two segments of the building and as such different rooms. This room had boxes near the corner, but overall was rather small. I crept along, keeping to the wall. There was not a door to the next room, which opened up into what appeared to be the main section. The van was parked over to the far side of the building. My eyes scanned along, there were three people by the van. They kept glancing over towards a walled off section that was probably something along the lines of an office along the wall near the middle of the building.
“How long until we make the transfer?”
“Once we are sure that we were not followed we will make the drop. I am sure the client will be pleased.”
“I can’t believe fucking Mecha Fairy was there too.”
“We will deal with her later, she is on the list too you know.”
“She is weak to light and sound right?”
“Yeah, you saw how that flashbang dropped her like a fly that is why when we take her down, we are going to have a bit of help.”
“Still, it is pretty ballsy to go after a Super. Why didn’t we just take her down earlier?”
“Not when you have a Super waiting to tear their mind apart. We didn’t come prepared for that sort of confrontation. A couple flashbangs will slow her down for a bit, but she is still a strength Super. It is best to let the super freaks fight one another.”
These guys looked a little weird, reminded me a bit of like some sort of shady agents from a tv show. They all had black suits and sunglasses. Definitely not normal, whatever this was about. Why would they be after Ichigo though? Clearly, they were surprised that I was at Ichigo’s house, so I was not the blame for this. But I am on that list too? Who would want to kidnap me? How do they know about my weaknesses? They are working with a super, but from the sounds of it, then none of them have powers. Is it one of the gangs that I fucked with? Can’t be Mad Dogs, Glitter Kitten is more direct and as far I know they don’t have a mental type super. I suppose I will have to figure it out later.
I am not going to be able to sneak my way through this. The room was too lit. I would have to do this fast and hard to take them by surprise. I peered at the boxes sitting next to me. I moved one, lifting it up and saw a cord running along the wall. I traced it and found the power box. Ah, well shit I should have thought of this to start. I sat there for a moment, formulating this new found knowledge into a new plan. Ok, sounds good.
I flipped the breakers, plunging the building into darkness. Unlike them, I could see just fine. I watched them fumbling around as I slunk up.
“Dammit, what the hell happened to the lights, go check the breaker. Yell if you see anything,” said one of them.
My prey separated a little and the lone man became my first target. The first went very quickly. I came from behind, strangling him and covering his mouth so the best he could muster were muffled complaints. Once the struggling had stopped I lay him down and proceeded to the next. The other two were right next to each other and so I did them at the same time. I had four arms after all. Their complaints died away and I slumped them to the side. Good thing these are just civis. I don’t know what the hell I would do if there were a super here. I take that back, I would fight them obviously.
The van was empty. I figured that it would be, but I had to make sure. The door to the office opened and light glared in from the doorway. So they still had power in there. That was good and bad, it meant that they weren’t tipped off until now about the rest of the place, however now I couldn’t sneak on in there. I crept as quietly as I could, however, the stupid suit came back online fully, lighting up my wings like a Christmas tree.
The guy yelled, “Shit! We got company!”
He slammed the door shut only for me to bulldoze through it and smash him into the wall. I stared at his crumpled form and the blood, glistening in the lights. Oh fuck, my gauging of strength was way off. It must be the booze, normally I would be able to hold back a lot more and control it better. He is in some rough shape.
I looked around the room to find two remaining men. Ichigo had been stripped a little and I stopped. She was held up in between us and the guy had a knife to her throat. Her head was bleeding a little, one of these bastards must have hit her. She just dangled there limply, unconscious.
“Alright, that is enough of that! Take off the suit and get on your knees or I will slit her throat,” said the bald man, pressing the blade to her throat.
I hesitated. This was my secret identity here, it could easily ruin my life if it got out. I bit my lip. I contemplated using the tasers in my arms, but he might jerk his arms and cut her open. Wait, he would totally freak out for like a moment or two after seeing me, that would be the time to strike. I put my hands up and the seals on the suit opened, gusting steam out. I slid out and just as I thought, he took a step back distracted. I lunged, but he ducked under my punch. I had to aim a little high to not hit Ichigo. The knife stabbed into my chest, or rather tried to, it bounced off and cut Ichigo.
As the red filled my eyes, bottom righty lurched and crushed the man’s head like a grapefruit. He fell back, letting go of Ichigo and I swung around punching into the man who was rushing at me with a taser. I didn’t hold back, I was too angry and my fist went through his chest. He didn’t manage to scream, he just let out this sickly wheezing sound as the life escaped his torn lungs. I staggered pulling my arm free.
My fingers dripped with blood… it looked so tasty. My tongue squirmed in my mouth and bit down on it to reign myself in. I just took their lives and here I am thinking about such things. No.
But it smells so good. Just a taste.
‘No.’
You already killed them, it would be a waste.
‘No, Sub.’
Ichigo sat up, rubbing her head, “Thanks for the rescue there… though, did you have to kill them?”
“I, I didn’t mean to.”
“Well it is fine, I guess. Ah, you missed one,” she said, pointing at the doorway.
I turned to find a frightened man turning to run. Ah, the guard from the front. I moved before I even realized what I was doing. My claws dug into his back and he reeled away. He managed to get to the van and slam the door shut. He tried to turn it on, but before he could my fist punched through the windshield and I dragged him out. He struggled as I held him there.
“Well, you came this far, you should clean this up. Kill him so we can get rid of the bodies,” said Ichigo idly.
I turned blankly, looking at her, “What? Ichigo… kill him?”
She nodded, “Mhmm, do you want to go to jail and get your brain turned to mush or something?”
“Jail? What are you talking about?”
“He is the only one left you know. Gotta get rid of the witnesses or else this will come back to get you or rather us I should say.”
“Killing people is wrong, we are going to turn this guy in.”
Ichigo stared at me and then just rubbed her face, “You just murdered seven people and are trying to talk ethics to me?
“Seven?! I only killed two.”
Ichigo kicked the man lying to her side, “They are not breathing, you know. Kinda hard with crushed windpipes. Honestly, it is easier this way, I wasn’t expecting you to kill them with how wishy-washy you had been all night.”
I bent over listening to the man’s chest… he was dead. That can’t be, then I used too much power. Was it the suit? I don’t remember even doing it that hard. “It was self-defense.”
“Oh yeah, because lethal force was totally necessary against guys with a couple knives and tasers.
“They were going to kill you.”
“Yes, but you are a Super. You are held to higher standards. They will not take that excuse.”
“Why wouldn’t they?”
“Are you stupid? Do you have any idea of who these people are?”
“No?”
“These people are human traffickers.”
“Why did they come after you then and why is this bad to send him to jail?”
“There are rumors about Star Agency, dark rumors and after seeing this, well they are true. There is a reason Idols go missing from time to time and usually at the peak of their prime.”
“Well, then we could use this guy as a witness to help bring them down.”
Ichigo spat on the floor, “Naive, they have connections, lot and lots of connections with powerful people. Just about everybody is in on this shit you know. We turn them in and it is us who will go missing.”
“How do you even know this?”
Ichigo just let out a sigh, “Vesper, I read people’s minds. Now listen to me or we are both fucked on this. Kill him and we will dispose of the evidence. I don’t care if you eat bodies or if we do something else, but we need to get rid of them. Once we are done with that then we will get cleaned up and act like none of this ever happened.”
“Eat them?! I would never.”
“Sub sure does.”
I gulped, “You can hear Sub?”
“Yes.”
“Wait, then you-”
“Yes. Your thoughts are rather active, I find it rather amusing,” Ichigo smiled.
I screamed, holding the sides of my face “Oh god!? Then you know-”
“Everything.”
“I am sorry! I take it all back they were idle fantasies!”
“Well, I suppose if I was a wasp woman I would have such fantasies as well. At any rate, we are getting distracted here. Kill him and let’s get to work.”
“Do you know who is behind all this?”
“Yes.”
“Are you going to tell me?”
“No.”
“What, why not?”
“It will complicate things. You are a bad actor and will give it away when you see them.”
“I still find it hard to believe you are a mind reader.”
“And I find it strange that you are actually a wasp creature. I will have to look you over in more detail later on.”
Oh right, I am not in my suit. Oh, I am not in my suit. Then, then she sees me. “Why aren’t you screaming?”
Ichigo just shrugged, “I have known for a while now. Though I had not seen it myself.”
She snapped her fingers a few times, “Evidence now, evidence we have to dispose of it.”
“I won’t eat them.”
“Ok, but it was your idea, to begin with. I don’t care, get creative.”
I thought it over. If I wanted to hide a body, then where would I put it? Ah, where do people go missing all the time? The sewer. If I recall then there is a manhole right outside too. I looked over at Ichigo who nodded. I guess she really does read my mind. I looked the man in the eyes, he was terrified. Well, I mean we had been contemplating his murder this whole time right in front of him so it was understandable. I wanted to feel bad, but oddly enough I didn’t. There might be something wrong with me. He deserved to die, no decent person makes their living off of kidnapping people.
I had decided, it would be quick. My hands squeezed his head until it burst with a grotesque crack. Well, I guess I am never eating watermelon again. I didn’t enjoy that, I didn’t hate it either though. I flopped him down and went about collecting the others. I carried them over dropping them into the sewer below. The van had to go too. I crumpled it up and tore it apart until it would fit down in there too. Now that everything was down there I looked over at Ichigo.
“What? I am not going down there. I don’t want to get any weird mutations or die.”
“Oh true. Alright, I will be back.”
I climbed down, lifting up the pile of bodies and carried them along. Luckily, most of this area had been treated during our excursion so it was currently not radioactive as hell. There was still a little bit of residual. I took a side passage and found what I was looking for. A nest of rats that had been missed. The guards reared up hissing at me and I dropped everything there in front of them. I never thought this sort of thing would ever happen to me. Idly I watched them drag off the corpses and their happy squeals rose. Well, I guess it is an appropriate end for scum.
I wiped my hands and walked back.
Ichigo sat waiting and backed away a little when I emerged, “Ugh, you stink.”
“I was in a sewer so…”
“I know, I know. I cleaned up the blood while you were gone. Ok, so there is a bathroom in there make sure to clean yourself up and then we can go.”
I found it, idly I scrubbed the carapace looking myself in the mirror. The face of a killer, eh? Well, not like it is the first time. I really do look like a villain. I could get away with the eye patch look too since the top eye is screwed. No, I am not a villain. I have not killed innocent people, only criminals who deserve worse than death. I yawned, tired, so tired. That would be expected, it is like four in the morning. Though this isn’t physically tired, this is mentally tired.
I walked back out and put on my suit, “Ready?”
“Ready.”