3. I Believe in Burial (Patreon)

Welcome to Central City! Come for the enormous statue of Alpha with its concerningly exaggerated bulge, stay for the back-alley doctors hacking you to pieces for your organs! No trip to Central City is complete without losing at least one organ. Ten out of ten recommend losing an organ on your trip to Central City!

There’s a reason I’m not paid to write travel guides.

Oof. Big oof.

Yeah. That little ordeal was uh, you know. Not very fun. But remember, kids. There’s no such thing as immortality. Not a single immortal in Central City. Especially not me.

Remember that. It’s very important.

It’s probably the only reason I’m alive.

--

The barrel’s lid burst open. Levi leaped out, gasping for breath, his whole body screaming in pain. Acid dripped down his naked form, taking his skin, and the outer layer of muscle, with it. Walking was agony. Breathing, thinking, all agony.

He tripped, falling to the ground. Searing, burning pain lit up everywhere his skin touched earth. A whimper escaped his lips, the aborted remains of a desperately stifled scream. His whole body curled up, tensing against the pain, only to freeze and tense in place as even moving sent jabs of pain through his body.

This one isn’t lasting long, huh.

“Fucking… acid!” he snarled, between thin gasps of air.

Fire seared through his vision. A woman descended from the sky and killed her flames, her eyes wild, her hair a mess. Raw red marks stood out on her wrists where she’d recently escaped from cuffs.

Levi laughed. “Oh. Hey. Got away, huh.”

The woman whirled. She stared at him, startled. Flame sparked in her palm as she pointed her hand at him.

Delirious from pain, he giggled. “You know what? Please. This one’s… this one’s not lasting long, anyways.”

Fire burst from her palm.

[Lives: -1]

[Lives remaining: -52784 ]

With a gasp, Levi opened his eyes. He looked down at himself, patting himself down. Everything in place. Skin, check. Organs, check. He climbed to his feet and looked around, taking in the alley.

Blue barrels stacked up against the wall, all lined up together. Just behind him, one laid tipped onto its side, the top lying to the side, acid eating away at the asphalt underneath. Indescribable filth scummed the edges of the dead-end alley, a kind of reddish-brown-slime mixture that he looked away from quickly, lest something…recognizable emerge from it. Behind him, a reinforced metal door hung from heavy hinges, the brick wall and the door alike dented and cracked, but still holding on.

A pair of absolutely ruined jeans laid half-mixed in the slime. Grimacing, he fished them out. “Guess this’ll do.”

Sharp clattering sounded from down the alleyway. One leg in the jeans, Levi froze.

The fire woman from earlier stared back at him, her eyes equally wide. “Who are you?”

“Uh, an innocent passerby. Just, uh, looking for some jeans,” he said, quickly tugging them the rest of the way up.

She looked away. “Gross.”

“Thanks, you too.” The jeans squelched as he did the buttons, fabric simultaneously rough and slimy on his skin, and he made a face. “Gross.”

“How did you get past me?” she asked, lifting a flaming hand once more.

“I dunno. You seemed pretty busy with that…” Levi glanced at what she was fiddling with. “Er, dumpster. I just walked by.”

“Naked?”

He rolled his eyes. “It’s my hobby. You know, streaking.”

Her nose wrinkled in disgust. “Filth.”

“I get that a lot.” He wandered over closer to her. “I don’t suppose there’s any shoes or shirts in that mess?”

The fire in her hand flared. She backed away. “Stay away from me.”

Levi put his hands up and stopped where he stood. “Come on. Please. I’m having a real shit day. Can you not roast me? I just want to get out of here alive.”

“So do I.” Her eyes hardened. She lifted her hand.

He took a step back, eyeing the flame in her hand. “Oh, come on. Please. Do I look like one of Alpha’s dogs? I’m just an ordinary guy, trying to get by. I’m no skill hunter or enforcer. I’m just a dude.”

“I wasn’t as unconscious as I was pretending to be when Jet Engine kidnapped me. You seemed pretty friendly with him.”

“Did I? Did I. I seem to recall him ruining my shirt, kidnapping me, then causing my scooter to get impounded, which caused me to be late to my delivery, which got me sniped for my organs.” He paused. “Figuratively.”

“Sounds rough.” Her eyes remained wary. The flame didn’t dim.

Frustrated, he gestured at his new jeans. “Do you think Alpha would employ a guy who just admitted to flashing for fun?”

“Streaking. Flashing is different.”

Levi paused. He nodded. “True. I don’t have a trenchcoat.”

She slowly lowered her hand. The fire extinguished. “You really aren’t with Alpha?”

Levi shook his head. “Trust me. I hate him as much as… no. More than the next guy.”

“Then… will you help me?”

He gave her a look. “You just threatened to kill me.”

“You’re the only person I can ask. You already know about… about my powers, and my situation. You’re going to help me.”

An engine roared overhead, not far from the alleyway they stood in. The woman flinched, ducking down.

Levi saluted, walking past her. “Well, good luck with that! I’ve got things to do, places to be, you know how it is!”

A hand latched onto his shoulder. The woman cupped fire in her other hand, her gaze deadly. “If you won’t help me willingly, then I’ll have to do this by force. Take me somewhere safe, and fast.”

Levi put his hands up, but his tone remained as sarcastic as ever. “You’re in Central City. Good luck.”

“There’s something I need to do. I can’t leave until I complete it.”

“Cool.”

Her face wrinkled. “Take me somewhere safe, or die.”

Levi nodded. “Right. There it is. Well, in that case, you leave me no choice. Come on. I know just the place.”

The engine buzzed by. The woman ducked again. Her eyes narrowed. “Quickly.”

“My scooter just got impounded, my phone got melted in acid, and I’m broke as fuck. Nothing is happening quickly right now,” Levi replied, leading her out of the alley. He glanced left and right at the crossroads, then cut a right.

“I wouldn’t ask you if I had the option of asking anyone else,” she replied with a snarl.

“I wouldn’t ask me even if I was the only person left. Levi, by the way.”

She hesitated. “Call me Fira.”

“Hero name?” he asked.

“…Yes.”

“Typical. Levi is short for Leviathan, by the way. Leviathan Smith. My government name. Me being all open and honest, and you giving me this Fira bullshit, smh.”

“Did you just say ‘smh’ aloud?”

Levi looked at her over his shoulder. “You remember what I said about not asking me for help?”

“I’m certainly thinking about it now,” Fira muttered.

“So, uh, first time in Central City?”

A spark lit next to Levi’s ear. “Shut up.”

“Message received.” Levi shut his mouth.

Jet Engine buzzed by another two times before they finally left him behind, cutting a jagged path through the narrow streets.

At last, they came upon a lush, thick forest. The outer trees broke through the asphalt, biting directly into the street. Bits of asphalt and steel could be seen, twisted and mangled in the trees’ trunks. Undergrowth grew thick between the trees, scraggly vines and snarled bushes mingling in the fallen leaves. Mushrooms grew in shelves from the lower parts of the trees and circled here and there in the leaf litter, the leaves jostling for dominance with actual litter.

Levi headed directly into it, winding his way through the trees with practiced ease.

Fira followed him, bracing herself on a tree as she clambered over layers of roots. She frowned up at the massive trunks. “Is this a park?”

“Huh? No. Or, I guess it is now, but it wasn’t at first.” Levi grabbed a vine and pulled himself up with it, clambering higher into the overgrowth. “Three years ago, some super called, uh, TerraForm, I think, challenged Alpha. She tore up the city pretty good. Could grow trees and shit. After Alpha absorbed her powers, he got all attached to the trees she’d grown and decided to leave them be.”

He turned a corner and gasped. “Yes!”

“What?” Fira asked, peeking around the next tree.

“My stash is still here. Hold on. Let me get something less gross on.” He pulled at his found jeans, ready to remove them.

Fira flinched back. “Have at it.”

Cloth rustled. Levi stepped out from behind the corner, fully dressed in a sun-faded t-shirt and jeans. He gave her a thumbs up. “We’re good to go. Come on.”

“Where are we going?”

“Somewhere safe.”

Fira rolled her eyes. “Thank you. I meant specifically.”

Levi shook his head at her. He turned to the sky. “First she threatens me, then she demands to know specifics, sheesh.”

“Can you not refer to me in third person when I’m standing right here?”

“The unreasonable demands just don’t stop!” Levi shook his fist at the sky. Lowering his head, he gestured her on. “Come on. We’re almost there.”

Deeper into the forest. Bits and chunks of buildings hung over them, suspended in the twining branches and vines. Rusting beams hung horizontally in the canopy, while chunks of concrete slowly crumbled in the roots of trees. An entire strip mall hung ten feet up, supported by stunted trees, glass shattered, walls crumbling, roof caved in and replaced by the trees’ boughs.

Levi clambered up a vine-covered hill, holding the vines with his hands and hauling himself up the sheer slope. Behind him, Fira gave the vines an uncertain look, then took hold, pulling herself hand-over-hand up to the hilltop.

“Here we are!” Levi said, gesturing.

Fira stared. “Are you serious?”