Carcass 1.8.2

A sharp point of metal gleamed in the faint light, aiming at Jay’s stomach with shaking accuracy. The dull thud was like a pebble against metal, the knife slipped from the person’s grasp and fell with a heavy clatter. The sound echoed in the silence of the street and Jay turned towards the figure with wide eyes.

He noticed the weapon as it skidded across the concrete, leaving faint scratches along the ground. He glanced down at the small gash in his clothes. His brain struggled to comprehend what had just happened.

“You just stabbed me.” Jay’s voice was tinged with disbelief. His mouth was slightly agape and he shook his head slowly. The would-be assailant stumbled back, a similarly stunned expression on her features. She fell to the harsh and unforgiving floor of the alleyway, crawling backward in an effort to get away from Jay.

Cold, amber eyes followed her. A heavy footstep entered the hidden place. The narrow alleyway was crammed with piles of garbage bags, overflowing with discarded food containers, ripped clothing, and broken appliances. The stench of decay and rot wafted through the air, assaulting the sense with an acrid, putrid odor. Flies buzzed around, attracted by the filth, and rats scurried to and fro, searching for scraps of food.

The insects and rodents scattered as Jay made his way further in.

“M-monster!” She cried and pointed a crooked finger at him. Jay cocked his head and let out a brief laugh.

“You just stabbed me!” His breathing became rapid and shallow, like a raging bull ready to charge. Explosions of steam shot out from his nose and mouth and his skin stretched and distorted. Muscles roiled underneath his attire and he stepped forward. His steps were heavy and deliberate, like a predatory ready to pounce on its prey.

“P-please,” she held out her hands like a feeble wall.

“Why the fuck did you just do that?!” The sudden attack had made him feel a deep gaping pit open in his gut, a fear so intense that nothing else mattered. His fragile mortality was going to be snuffed out and this new life he had was going to go with it. His mother would slowly whither away having never paid for her actions, his brother would eventually die due to his infection, and his father would haunt him and declare him a disgrace for failing to protect his family.

And then Jay remembered he was Leviathan. A mere steel knife would never break his skin or scales. Hot, volcanic rage flooded his system and he saw red. He had stared at his death and it left him shaking. That intense fear detonated in a chemical reaction, producing fury in uncontrollable amounts.

He smashed the wall to his left, leaving a hole and cracks in the structure. He barely felt a thing, like punching through paper. It did nothing to quell his temper. He let out a grunt under his breath, conscious that if he screamed, it would kill dozens nearby.

Jay hissed. “Answer me!”

The woman let out tears that streamed down her face, the foul smell of urine flooded the air. Jay wrinkled his nose and let out a scoff.

Something in the back of his told him that what he was doing was wrong. That no harm was done. Another part of him demanded that he make an example of her, string her guts on the pipes, and paint the walls with her blood.

Jay looked at the sobbing woman and he felt his internal fire instantly dowsed by a bucket of shame. The woman looked so much like his mother, wrinkles and harsh characteristics spoke of a life of hardship. His relationship with his mother was complicated, but murdering her was out of the question.

If he killed this woman he would be crossing a line he would never be able to return from. He wasn’t on some mission where he needed to be accepted into a gang for his and his family's protection. Killing this woman brought him nothing.

The teenager slowly let his partial shift fade away. The intense heat rose into the sky and Jay let a hand run through his hair. A soft sigh escaped his lips, and he felt his shoulders sag as if a weight had settled upon them.

“Why did you attack me?” His voice was calmer now, not radiating hostility and the promise of vengeance.

It took a few moments for the woman to collect herself, after another moment she slowly pointed at the bulge in his pocket. Jay reached down and pulled out the damp wad of cash. The woman’s eyes widened.

“You tried to kill me for this?” It was then that Jay really looked at the attempted murderer. Her clothes hung off a fatless frame. Bones could be seen pressing against thin skin. Ravenous eyes stared at the pile of wet bills in his hand.

Jay bit the back of his lip and tried to think. He couldn’t call the cops. They wouldn’t go this deep in The Docks. Nor would they arrest a woman that had tried to stab a wanted cowl. Jay felt completely fluxed.

“Does this count as unnecessary trouble? Fuck, Shadow Man just warned me about this.” He could his temper rising but he took a deep breath and settled his nerves.

“It’s fine, maybe he has some advice.” Jay put the cash back in his pocket and pulled out the flip phone. The device was antique but also one of the few pieces of technology Jay ever had access to. The high school he had attended provided a low-quality computer for work but the thing barely was able to start up on most days. Although he had seen enough movies to know how to operate one.

The young man fiddled with the device before pulling up a contact list. It was as Shadow Man had said, the only two options were either Madok or the robed teleporter. The reputation that preceded Madok made Jay warry of calling him for anything. The man’s amicable attitude wasn’t enough to forget rumors of him driving an entire building insane with his voice.

Rumors said that the entire building flowed with blood as those inside engaged in a terrible slaughter of one another. The office workers had been mortals but they dug into flesh with savage intensity. It was one of the defining events that cemented the parahuman’s authority.

Jay shuddered. No one knew exactly how Madok’s power worked and how to resist it. As was the case with most of the capes and cowls that remained mysterious, a shroud of uncertainty covered the man. Powers could be so unpredictable that fights between supers were rarely certain. Usually, only the wielder knew the ins and outs of what they housed.

Madok's unpredictability was likely the reason he was able to engage in such acts of violence with no heavy superhero response. At least, until Stardust had pointed Jay at him and said, "Fetch."

He clicked on Shadow Man’s number, and the phone in his hand emitted a soft ringing sound. A second passed before the man answered.

“Geeze, kid. It's barely been half an hour. I’m not really one for social calls.” He sounded bothered.

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“I, uh, might have messed up.” Jay wasn’t sure how to put it without him appearing like a stupid super.

“Huh? I’m gonna need a better explanation than that.”

“I was stabbed.”

“Cool.”

“Yeah…”

“I’m guessing this is about the stabber being a smear across the floor?” His callous disregard for human life sent a chill down Jay’s spine.

“Not exactly. I was walking back home when this homeless lady turned the corner and stabbed me. Except the knife didn’t even pierce my skin. I’ve got her cornered in an alley but I’m not sure what to do.”

Jay heard a sigh on the other end of the phone.

“Listen, kid, I'm gonna be blunt. The way I see it is you’ve got a couple options. Either you let this person go and she’ll blab about her failed attempt at killing some teenager or you bash her brains in and forget about it. No one will miss her.” Shadow Man’s voice was faint towards the end.

“I don’t want to kill her,” Jay whispered into the phone, a side glance at the woman still shaking on the floor. She mumbled something unintelligible under her breath.

“Then don’t, I’m not sure why this is bugging you so much.” Jay could hear the sound of someone speaking softly on the other side of the call, Shadow Man’s unmistakable cadence replied to it in an undecipherable reply. He gave a cough before he spoke again.

“Okay kid, I’ve got to go. Today was supposed to be a free day for me anyways. Kill the stabber, don’t kill the stabber, it doesn’t really matter that much in the end. You could always lock her down in the cells under the compound, but they aren’t really made for normal human occupation. The Drowned make their own justice, and you’re Drowned now.” He laughed.

“Cya,” the call ended and Jay felt like crushing the device in his hand.

He looked at the gaunt woman, still perplexed as to what he would do. He fidgeted with the phone and bit at his lip. He weighed his options, an internal debate raging on within him. He let out a deep sigh and turned to the would-be stabber. She flinched as his attention fell fully on her.

“You hungry? Me too, let's go.”

Her eyebrows rose up behind her hair and her eyes widened. Her ears strained as if she didn’t believe what she had heard.

“You’re not going to kill me?” She asked.

“I don’t think so. Unless you give me a reason.”

She shook her head furiously in response.

“Cool, then what are you hungry for? It's been a while since I’ve had takeout.”

The pair eventually found a small Chinese food truck. They sat on the soaked wooden bench and dug into their food. The woman spoke a little between bites, stuffing her face with noodles and chicken.

Jay ate at a more sedate pace, his body felt full and he wondered if what he ate as Leviathan transferred over to his human body. He looked at the pounds of muscle he had put on in less than a day and concluded that something like that must have happened.

“My name is Mary,” she offered after a moment.

Jay scratched the side of his face.

“I want to tell you my name but if I do then I’d have to kill you.”

She snorted and let out a choking laugh. Jay couldn’t help the small smile that tugged at his lips.

“Sorry, I’ve kinda always wanted to say that.”

She waved him off.

“It’s fine. I understand. I remember being your age.”

She paused for a moment.

“Why am I here?” Her hands fell into her lap, and her plastic fork stabbed into the takeout box. It appeared the food had put a bit of life back into her bones, making her less terrified of Jay.

“Don’t want to kill you. Plus I was hungry. Double plus, I wanted someone to talk to.” He shrugged and stuffed a dumpling in his mouth.

“Been a crazy few days and I don’t really have any true friends to tell them about it. The people I can talk to wouldn’t understand. Felt myself going a bit mad talking to myself. Lo and behold someone stabs me on my way back to my house. My unwilling victim is now forced to listen to me moan about how hard my life is.” Jay snickered and he could tell Mary was softly laughing.

“So I’m alive because you wanted, what? A friend?”

“When you put it like that it makes me feel like a creep.” Jay picked at the food in his box. “You’re alive because I don’t want to be the kind of person that kills just because they can. You have no idea how badly I wanted to make you a smear across the floor. Violence for violence is the rule of the beasts and all that. I’m not sure who said that.”

“I’m pretty sure that was said as a joke back when I was a teenager.” She barely contained the chuckle that spilled out of her. Jay frowned.

“Crap, well it seemed wise at the time.”

“No, no, it is. Sometimes the most impactful things come from the weirdest of places.”

“Who said that?” He asked.

“Me, I used to tell that to my daughter. Used to tell her that whenever she called me weird for putting ketchup on my steak. She always would sigh when I said it.” Mary’s gaze drifted away.

“Ketchup on steak is weird.” The teenager replied.

“Yeah, it is. What I’d do for some ketchup though. It must have been years since I’ve seen it anywhere.”

“I thought you just need tomatoes?”

“Sorta, but you try raising produce here. Likely for someone to come along and tear it down out of spite.” She sounded bitter and she spit on the ground, muttering a curse.

“Where’s your daughter now?”

“I thought we were here to talk about you?”

“The more I know you the less likely I decide to kill you," Jay admitted with intense eyes. Mary shivered and looked away.

“She’s dead. Killed during the first beast wave.” She seemed reluctant to speak further. Jay nodded and let the matter rest.

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be, not your fault. I wasn’t the only one to lose people.” She appeared nonchalant but Jay could sense the tensing of her muscles and the clenching of her fits. Jay had little experience with dealing with the emotions of others. He tried to divert the conversation.

“Why did you stab me?”

Mary wiped at her eyes before giving Jay a funny look.

“You ever been so hungry that you’d do anything for a meal?”

Jay hesitantly nodded. He remembered the days when his mother would leave him and his brother alone for days at a time. When she had been going up and down the city coast looking for his father’s body to wash ashore.

“Then you’ll understand why I tried to kill you.”

They drifted back into a strange silence.

“You don’t have to stay here,” Jay stated. Mary ran her fingers through her long frayed black hair. It was matted in places, and a strange residue appeared to have dried in the tangled mess. It flaked off in black flecks.

“This city? I’m afraid I do. Hard to move anywhere else. Need money and connections for that.”

“Ah, no. I meant here, with me. I’m not holding you hostage.”

“Oh. It’s okay. Feel like I owe you. Tried to rob you and then you bought me dinner. I’m still a bit frazzled, to be honest. Can’t believe I tried to kill a kid.” Her voice quivered a bit and she looked away.

“Have you killed before?”

“A couple of times. No one really cares about this part of town. Police don’t patrol here and capes never willingly leave Central unless there's a cowl to fight. Gangs would rather watch us kill each other than help. Gotta learn to defend yourself.” She wiped her eyes clean and gave a half-hearted laugh.

“So which one are you? Cape or cowl? I’m leaning toward the latter. No one just casually calls up someone and asks for advice on whether or not to kill someone.”

“I remember it differently. Probably asked the worst person too.” Jay said, chewing on a large bite of his food.

“But yeah, I guess you could classify me as a cowl. Though I don’t feel like one. I’m surprised you don’t recognize me. I was just on the news.”

“Obviously not if you aren’t okay with killing witnesses. Must not be that important if I haven’t heard of you,” she smirked.

“I’m sure not all cowls are bad,” Jay rebutted. He hoped it was true. Mary tapped the bottom of her chin and looked at the sparse wispy clouds in the sky.

“Back before the beast waves, my daughter used to have a book of all the bigshot supers. She would pour countless hours memorizing their names and powers. Her favorite was a cowl named Blue Light. Woman could shoot blasts of energy out of her hands that could melt metal to slag. More often than not she’d use it to break into bank vaults in high-class communities. Guess what she did with the money?”

Jay raised an eyebrow.

“I don’t know? Spent it on a yacht?”

Mary snorted.

“No, she spent it by hiring construction crews to fix up the town where she grew up. Set up schools, parks, and public services for those that needed it. She did it all under an alias so no one realized it was Blue Light until it all surfaced after her death. My daughter would tell me that actions mattered more than a shiny suit and good PR.”

“She was still a cowl though. You just insinuated that all cowls kill?” Jay felt a bit confused about what Mary was trying to tell him.

“Look, what I’m trying to say is that even though some people may be doing bad things, you never know what they’re doing those things for. As long as they’re doing it for the greater good, then it will even itself out in the end,” Mary spoke with the casual ease of someone who had thought a lot about this topic.

“So you think it's okay for supers to kill?”

“Depends.”

Jay let out a deep rumbling laugh that turned into a childish giggle. He felt his lungs heaving for air and he gasped for breath.

“It depends? That’s your answer?” He let out another hiccuping giggle.

“Shit, I’m no philosopher.” Mary shrugged and the image felt so absurd to the teenager that he started laughing again.

“Don’t know what’s so funny,” she rolled her brown eyes. Jay took a few moments to respond.

“I’m glad you tried to stab me, Mary,” Jay said between fits of giggles and snorts. Mary frowned and rubbed the side of her dirt-covered face.

“Uh-huh, me too I guess.”

Jay reached into his pocket and pulled out the wad of cash. He counted out a portion and placed it into the lap of Mary. She gave a sideways glance at Jay.

“I’m not sleeping with you.”

“Huh?” Jay frowned deeply and his face twisted, his nose wrinkled and his upper lip curled. He leaned away from Mary.

“Ew, no. You're as old as my mom. That money is for a phone, and maybe enough for you to rent an apartment or something.”

Mary looked down at the cash in her lap, her lips pressed against each other in a thin line.

“Why are you doing this?”

“Not really sure. I haven’t felt this free or talked to someone like this in years. You seem like a good person and…I have trouble forming connections with people. I didn’t have that problem with you.” Jay lowered his gaze and looked at the sparse bits of grass breaking through the cracked concrete.

Jay wasn’t used to the ease he felt when chatting with Mary. Talking to others had been hard even before his father’s death. When his brother was infected he became even more reclusive. Before he’d known it, Jay had been a specter in his class. He’d never interact with anyone and they’d pretend he wasn’t there, except when they wanted cheap entertainment in the form of brutal bullying. The fly on the wall, that’s what he was.

Though their conversation had been brief, he felt like Mary was one of the first people to see him. One of the very few that saw the fly on the wall and didn’t flick it away.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to look at the smiling woman.

“What’s your number? I’ll make sure to add it when I get a phone.”

Jay grimaced and wrinkled his nose.

“Please take a shower first. I can still smell your pee.”