30. Surveillance (Patreon)

Levi wandered the streets, Fira at his side. She kept a certain distance from him, unwilling to draw too close, but if he noticed, he made no indication. He put his hands behind his head, simply watching the world around him.

“What are we doing today?” Fira asked.

“I don’t know. Like I said, I’m not on your-brother duty today. Two reasons.” Levi lifted two fingers. “One, I still think the Apostles are our best bet. After that stunt with the stadium, and the fight in Central Square to distract the supers from the Gate, they’re going to lay low and keep quiet. If they don’t, they’re going to get destroyed by the supers. We’ve gotta give them a few days to cool down before we make contact again.”

“Right. I didn’t see anything abnormal with the Gate, either,” Fira murmured.

“Oh, you didn’t? Good. I was wondering. Doesn’t mean they didn’t do something to aggravate it, but it could mean they had a certain friendly precog predict an Outbreak.” Levi looked at his hand, surprised to find a finger up, then nodded to himself. “Right. Two. Two, I have other things to handle today. Things. And stuff. In fact, things that might draw out your brother!”

“Really?” Fira asked.

“No, not really. Hey, you want to run an errand for me? One that actually has to do with your brother?” Levi asked, reaching into his pocket.

Fira gave him an uncertain look. Hesitantly, she held her hand out.

He handed her a greasy scrap of paper. “Here. Go to this address. You don’t have to do anything, just hang out and mean mug a little bit.”

Fira frowned at the paper, then at Levi. “Are you asking me to harass someone?”

“Yeah, but it’s Jack Of All Trades, so it’s for a good cause. Or, well. Your brother’s cause, anyways.”

Fira nodded. She clenched her hand around the address. “I’ll do it.”

Levi gave her an approving thumbs up. “It’s not technically illegal, either! As long as you don’t admit harassing intent, anyways. Oh, I wouldn’t squeeze the paper, by the way. It’s got pocket pizza on it.”

Fira jerked her hand away, catching the paper by a corner. “It has…what on it?”

“Pocket pizza. You know. You take a slice of pizza, put it in your pocket…” Levi reached into the pocket and pulled out a slice of pizza. “No?”

“No! No. That’s disgusting. Is that yesterday’s pizza? Did you refrigerate it? Wait, are those yesterday’s pants—” Fira waved her hands, shaking her head, her face squinched up. “Never mind. I don’t want to know.”

“A wise decision.” Levi clapped her on the shoulder, taking a bite of the pizza with his other hand. “I’ll see you at lunch. There’s a kebab shop downtown I haven’t been to in forever. The kebabs’ll knock your socks off.”

“I take it I’m buying?”

He grinned. “Hard to say. Hard to say. Kill it out there, kiddo. I’ll see you later.” With a final wave over his shoulder, Levi sauntered off, snacking on the pizza.

Fira watched him go for a moment, then, snorting under her breath, walked in the opposite direction.

Lost in his slice of pizza, Levi paid the passersby no intention as he wandered along, no apparent destination in mind. He turned idly down an alley, humming under his breath.

The further he walked down the alley, the slower he walked, until he drew almost to a halt. His brows furrowed, and the humming stopped. He looked around, confused.

Metal clattered. Cloth whooshed, and boots thumped against asphalt. A blade pressed against his throat. A gravelly female voice demanded, “Freeze, if you value your life.”

“There you are. I was starting to think you’d gotten lost. Listen, my friend, you can’t phrase it like that. I’ve never wanted to dance more in my life.”

Behind him, White Fang hesitated. “How did you know?”

“That you were coming? Honestly, I’ve been waiting for the jump since yesterday. I got tired of the anticipation and came down here to get you to bite. Thank you, by the way. Great timing. I was worried you might be one of those who doesn’t show up until dark, but luckily, you’re not that stupid,” Levi informed her.

“One of…those?”

“You know. The dark revenger supers.”

Silence.

Levi cleared his throat. “Ahhh! Oh no! What a surprise! What is this mysterious person going to do to the weak, innocent me?”

“Shut up! You know what you’ve done!”

“I don’t.”

“…”

“I do! I do! What did I do? Whatever it was, I did it!”

“Let’s start over. I—”

Levi glanced over his shoulder. “Do you want to go back into the fire escape and jump on me from behind again?”

“I—no.”

“Oh. Okay. Then from the top, kind of. What do you want?”

“I…er…” White Fang cleared her throat, putting on the gravelly voice again. “I saw you. At the killer’s meeting. Then again, at the Apostles. You’re like me, aren’t you? You serve a higher purpose.”

“My own self-satisfaction from taking down those I perceive to be evil?” Levi wondered.

“Shut up! A higher purpose! You’re also after those who abuse their power, aren’t you?”

Levi nodded eagerly. “Yep! That’s me!”

“Like you, I also hunger to see those who abuse power behind bars. I believe we can cooperate with one another. My current target is Stoneheart. I believe he’s the one who called the killers to that restaurant. He’s Ice Queen’s fiancée, so it’s almost certain that he’s the one who seeks revenge for her death.”

A fat manilla folder, full of papers, thumped against Levi’s shoulder. He took it. “What is with you people and reading? Damn.”

“If he sought to put her killer behind bars, I would turn a blind eye. But hiring murderers? Paying the mob for a contract kill? Supers’ hands must remain clean,” White Claw said, with conviction.

Levi snorted. He shook his head. “Has anyone ever told you you’re too pure for this world?”

“Shut up! Are you going to help me, or not?” White Claw demanded.

“I like you, so yeah. Also, I was planning to k…put this man behind bars sooner or later, so thanks. I just didn’t have a name.” Levi tapped the dossier with the back of his hand, grinning.

“In return, what did you see at the Gate? What did the Apostles do?”

Levi shook his head. “Nothing, but I saw something far worse. Have you heard of Blasterman?”

“Blasterman? Yes. He’s one of the Gate’s guardians,” White Fang said.

Mournfully, Levi sighed. “One of the civilians attempted to warn the guards of impending danger…maybe a server or passerby who overheard the meeting, I don’t know. With my own two eyes, I watched Blasterman blast that man in two with his eye beams. There wasn’t anything left of his upper body. Gone, completely vaporized.”

“Blasterman…what?” White Fang murmured, concerned.

“Killed civilians, right in front of me!”

“And no one did anything?”

Levi shrugged. “Not a single twitch.”

Thoughtful, White Fang stared at the floor. She shook her head. “This…I’ll have to research it. If what you say is true, then Blasterman needs to spend the rest of his days in a small, dark room, and I’ll do everything I can to make it happen.”

“Good luck. I’ll go sit somewhere quiet and do a lot of reading,” Levi said, shaking the packet.

No response. He reached to his neck. Feeling no blade, he turned.

The alley stood empty. A rat skittered from one dumpster to the next.

Levi snorted. “Typical.”