A Bump in the Road. Chapter Sixteen.
A Bump in the Road
Chapter Sixteen
By Roofles
"Hey wait!" I called after the canine who was frantically trying to run away. It seemed to be harder than it should've been each head trying to go in it's own direction and because of that he kept tripping, stumbling over his own two feet. Sometimes three heads are not better than one. "Sheesh," I shook my head as he almost tripped again. "Tezca," the jaguar growled and leapt off my shoulders. "Don't kill him we only need to make sure he can't warn the others." I made sure to call after the jaguar who slide off my shoulders in a leaping bound.
The jaguar didn't reply as he jumped through the air, it looked more like he was flying, and landed on all fours on the dog's back. Two heads turned around. One fearful, the other trying to snap at his legs.
"Hey, buuuuuddy." Tezca purred with a large toothy, fanged grin. "Remember me?" One of the heads yelped loudly and tried to run fast nearly causing the large brute to fall over. "I just wanted to apologize for what happened, whoa!" Tezca withdrew an arm as a head snapped at him once more nearly catching his lower wrist. I could see Tezca nails had sprung out and had punctured the dog's hide to hold on.
With a powerful bound Tezca jumped off, kicking with both his strong sturdy hind legs and sending the canine straight into the far wall of the alley. The jaguar twirled around in the air making a full flip before landing in front of me a couple of feet. Ok, now he was just showing off.
"Happy." Tezca turned away from the fallen dog and paced over towards me, sliding around as if to rub against my legs and crawled back up my back to drape out once more like a skinned jaguar pelt. His hanging paws were still a bit bloody.
"Yes." I rolled my eyes, shook my head and headed over towards the canine. Only the middle head was knocked out while the other two were getting their bearings. The loud smacking sound like a hand against water made me assume he would've been out for the next couple of hours. Only the middle head seemed to suffer the blow. "Hey there." I said softly as if speaking to a puppy dog rather than some Seven foot three headed monster from Greek mythology.
It actually looked familiar, the breed of dog it was I mean. Like a rottweiler that was standing upright with two additional heads. Freaky. It's fur was a waxy black with darker almost red brown markings on it's face and ears. He wore a tight black multi-headed turtle neck sweater and I could make out the bandages on the middle head's throat from where Tezca had ripped it out during our last encounter. With dark blue carpenter jeans.
The large canine scrambled a bit turning around and glaring at me with two sets of eyes while looking fearful with the other two. The middle heads neck was bleeding again.
"Damn, here." I moved and he flinched trying to snap my hand off as well as trying to retreat in the same motion. "Don't move!" I snapped back and I was sure it was the deep growl of Tezca that actually stopped him from doing anything.
Undoing the bandage I rewrapped it, far tighter until I knew it'd hold and tied the end to make sure it wouldn't come undone. It was far better work than he had done for himself (or whoever had). Had to take a few medical classes, well not had to but wanted too, to get onto the force and knew it'd come in handy sooner or later. I didn't figure it'd be for a three headed dog admittedly but live 'n learn...
"How many fingers?" I asked holding two up.
The left head glared at me while the right whimper and the middle drooled a bit.
"Ok, so your heads are fine." Motioned to the two. "Middle one probably has a concussion. Should get that looked into instead of going to tell the others we're here." I frowned at this. "And if you don't your middle head will die. And Tezca here," I motioned to the jaguar who snarled. "Will do the same to the other two. So let's not do anything stupid."
The right head nodded quickly and the left just shot daggers at me. "They'll kill us if they find out." It spat, literally, at me, drool trickling down the front of its snout with a bit of blood. Long stalactites of drool falling from it's jowls. Dogs were so disgusting.
"Then don't let them." I stood up and looked over towards my left at the entrance to The Pit. There was even a sign above it. Not like they were trying to keep it that big of a secret apparently... Had to have people come to make money after all, even underground illegal societies. I assume to be illegal I haven't seen any kind of force around here police or otherwise. "Is Marco in there?" I thumbed in the direction looking down at the large three headed dog.
The left head nodded, the middle head drool and the right head shook his.
"Where?" I glared at the last head before looking at the left.
"Go to hell." The left one snarled.
"Upper floor, in the executive suite!" The right said raising the right arm with him as if begging for mercy.
"Randy!" The left whined loudly the ears on his head dropping. "This is why we can't have nice things."
"I don't want to die!" The right whimpered unable to take his eyes off the jaguar pelt. "Look what they did to Martin!"
"Think what they will do to us when they find oooout!" The left whined and then the two heads began arguing with themselves if we were or "they" were more dangerous. I wanted to ask a few more questions but every time my mouth opening they'd only get louder with their squabble.
Tezca shared the same look I did as we both just rolled our eyes and headed inside. There was more important things to do than council some low self esteem three headed dog monster.
Heading into the side room, down the stairs and down the cement walk way entrance I found myself once more in The Pit.
A chain linked fence domed over the central ring that was nothing more than dirt floor with two entrances. It looked like a gladiators ring than something you'd see on TV, four pillars jutting up out of the ground as if they were suppose to be the ring's post. Nothing was between them and you were free to come and go. Seats rose up around the ring with a small walk way in between circling around like a traffic circle with the entrance lanes meeting up with it. Everything was made out of some sandy stone that left a dirty powdery substance on the ground. And the whole place was packed full. Just like it had been before.
Either Marco was far more popular than I thought or these were the final or something. Either way whatever was going on had the crowd enraptured with the fight. The place stunk, a sharp smell I hardly really noticed before (I blame Tezca now for it). A mix between an old gym locker room, a petting zoo and a waste disposal site. The last one was coming from the ring.
The crowd roared and I saw some kind of green liquid spew onto the chain link fence from inside. It began to eat away and corrode it until there was nothing but a large dripping hole left. Acid. Lovely. The fence seemed to have similar damage all over it with just as many shoddy patchwork jobs done to keep the whole thing from collapsing in on itself.
I looked around but the roaring crowd was a bit distracting as well as a cry tore through the air from the ring.
"Looks like they are pitting humans against monsters." Tezca said looking into the ring as I began walking around it as if looking for my seat, trying to blend in. Not a human wearing a jaguar skin. I'm a jaguar wearing a human skin, nothing to look at here people.
"Humans? You sure?" I wanted to look but help off on it, slowly looking over and cheering as some frog looking thing attacked the man again. I wasn't here to sight see.
"Yes. From the looks of it he's skilled too." The jungle cat growled low and deep watching as the man jumped back slashing out with some kind of guardless sword. The blade cut across the toad man's face and more of that acid spilled out as if it were it's blood.
Large pus bubbles formed on the toads back before bursting and spewing the whole ring behind him with that green liquid. It smelt foul and everything it touch began to burn, bubbling and hissing as it ate away at the very stone walls. Like some kind of radioactive waste.
"A hunter?" I asked looking away and continuing to look for some kind of higher class seat that could still watch the ring.
One thing I noticed in this place, there wasn't many or any type of electrical devices. The torches were sticks, oil and fire. The lamps had fire flies inside (the street lamps I mean) and even this place had strange large bowls of coal and ash burning on the walls to provide light. No one seemed to be bothered by the lack of light and everything was cast into large shadows as the crowd jumped up and down cheering as the frog man was stabbed once more. It was strange seeing so many people without cell phones, camcorders or anything else electronic on their person. The only real light was coming from the ring, I wasn't sure how as I didn't see any kind of light source. The pillars themselves seemed to be emitting light, reflecting it off the powdery substance as if it were snow and making the whole ring appear to be glowing softly with a faint yellowish white light.
Tezca growled in reply and I was sure the man in the ring was some captured hunter. No wonder why people came out in mass today. Must've been some kind of festival to see your hated enemy being played with for your amusement. Like a cat would with a mouse before killing it. This place got better and better...
"Up there." I heard Tezca say, following his eyes I could make out a large box shaped structure jutting out from the wall. It was balanced on heavy black bars and the wood looked far newer than it probably was. The thing that caught my eye was the lights coming from it, unlike those of the bowl torches around us it was the familiar artificial glow of electricity. A welcoming change from the dank darkness of this place.
My eyes narrowed taking a few moments to figure out where to go before heading down another open passageway similar to the one I had used to come in. It lead towards another set of stairs that headed up into another small room with some other guy blocking the entrance. I was more annoyed than surprised to see him. There wasn't many options in this place.
All the opening above ring level seemed to lead to other entrances and I hadn't seen a bathroom since I came in. All there was in this place was the ring in the middle, seats and an executive suite for the fancy guests. Why the hell was Marco in there then?
"Cause he's one of the pit fighters?" Tezca voiced my own thoughts.
"Damn" I cursed as I moved back over to look into the ring. There were the same two entrances leading into it. One of them led to a locker room and then some kind of office. An employee only area. It must be the same area you used to get to the executive suite. Fun, fun, fun... This couldn't be so simple as having a door with a sign on it saying "Executive Suite Entrance, come this way Isaac."
So I watched the fight a bit waiting for a chance to go down.
The hunter was a punk kid looking as if he just got out of High School and was going into his college days. He was skilled but inexperienced in real combat. It was clear he knew what he was doing but his reflexes weren't honed and he kept making simple mistakes and getting burned for it. Literally. No wonder why they had been able to capture this inexperience kid.
He had first and second degree burns all over his body. Half his face was missing, his shoulder still had large blisters on it and his left arm hung nearly lifeless at his side. He was quick on his feet and even as injured as he was made a valiant stand. The thing was no matter how much damage he inflicted on the toad the frogman only seemed to regenerate and get back up.
Watching closer I could see why. It was either the toad's skin was far more...rubbery than it looked or the sword the hunter was using was as sharp as a butter knife. His strikes were quick, strong and forced the toad back but his skin didn't break. Instead those pus bubbles on his body ruptured and spraying the defensive liquid all over the place. The ring was beginning to look more like a swamp than some gladiator pit. It even looked like some algae was growing in the acid pools with moss around it.
"Swamp lurkers," Tezca said lazily looking down over me some more like a cat would resting u high on a shelf overlooking the room. He felt heavier than normal as if the jungle cat was in his normal form and lazing on me, making my knees bend a bit. "Also known as Kappa or a Moche. Most are harmless but all are able of creating powerful toxins in their body. This is just taken to another level." Tezca looked down with an empty expression as another pool of acid spewed onto the ground. We both shivered in disgust.
"Is it safe to go down there?" I watched as that sword connected with the side of the much slower toads face and the large creature spun around several times before balancing itself.
"The gas the acid releases is poisonous to humans." Tezca said and was watching the human closely. I watched him as well and though it looked like his body was sagging a bit he kept fighting despite his obvious injuries, his movements were becoming sluggish.
"Do you think...?" I asked narrowing my eyes to try and get a better look.
"Enchanted. Without a doubt. Whoever attacked the shop must also be around here." Tezca said in a low deep voice. "I do not like this one bit."
"Neither do I. Let's find Marco and get out of here." I looked over the gate and into the ring trying to find a spot I could slip into and onto the ground without landing in any of those swampy green pools. Tezca growled in annoyance wishing to be anywhere but here. "Will I be safe from the poison or do I need to worry about that."
"Just hold your breath and you'll be fine." Tezca said flatly still grumbling low under his breath like an annoyed sleeping cat that was being poked with a stick. "I will take care of the rest."
"Simple 'n clean. We jump down through the hole," I motioned over with my head slightly at one of the large openings that had been melted by the acid. "And we quickly go through one of the exits."
"Sounds like a dumbass idea to me."
"Do you have any better ones?" Tezca didn't reply so I headed over.
Even before I managed to move into the hole there was a loud voice behind me that shouted, "There he is!" The left head of the tri-headed dog snapped glaring at me and pointing. I looked back to see him and several other security guards with him. They all had the same uniform. Tight black sweaters with dark blue jeans. They looked like a bunch of bouncers than security. Each was larger than the next.
"Sorry!" The right head shouted as I jumped up through the opening of the cage and fell down inside.
There was a strong smog that washed over me and even before I had entered the ring I was holding my breath. It made my skin crawl and eyes water to the point I had to close them, it stung so bad. It burned my nostrils and even without breathing I found myself becoming light headed.
Tezca formed once more around my head creating a jaguar mask over my face and the pressure of the outside world lessened. I was able to see through his own eyes and his lungs supplied me with fresh air as I regained my senses as if he were some kind of scuba mask. Paws formed over the top of my hands and feet and we moved nearly on all four as we darted through the swampy terrain, avoiding every patch.
I heard a loud thump from behind and saw one of the goons, some kind of weird combination between bird, lion and snake, fall down onto the ground. He stood and was about to roar before gagging himself, holding his throat and clawing at the wall trying to get back up. The poor bastard had wings but either forgot about them or didn't know they were used for flying.
It was far more simple than I thought it would be. Darting through the patches of swampy terrain. By the end of it I was just going on for the ride as Tezca moved with that agile grace, controlled power and animal instinct to avoid even the acid that was raining down from above as another swift blow to the toad released it.
Tezca jumped up, hit the side wall, pushed off towards the other, landed in the entrance and with another strong bound found safety in the cover of the exit. He slowed down a bit and I could feel his chest rising and falling as he looked back, sharp eyed to make sure we weren't being followed. It was unnerving feeling that chest rise and fall over my own, I could nearly feel his tongue roll in his muzzle and the longer we were like this the harder it was becoming for me to tell what was me and what was him.
The jaguar paced forward lifting a hand up and broke the chain fence. We headed inside and I found that we were on all four and even though I tried I couldn't move as if trapped.
My heart was pounding, my eyes wide and I found myself swallowing nervously. It wasn't me but Tezca who swallowed and I flinched as if I'd end up the same fate as Barney had.
"Where too next?" Tezca asked as we entered the locker room. Cement floor, benches and lockers filled the room. The side of it looked like a rather (overly large) shower with tiled walls and floor, everything looked far newer than the arena behind us. The crowd roared again but it was a distant sound now as Tezca paced inside looking from one side to the other, ears flicking to see if we were to have any other unexpected quests.
That was the least of my concern.
Tezca hadn't turned back and I still found myself...trapped inside as if I were in some kind of warm leather sleeping bag that was far too tight. I could see, hear and feel everything he did. Every breath he took filled my lungs and the sound of his heart drummed in my chest. So this was what it was like?
I found myself just closing my eyes, ignoring the outside world. Was Marco going through this? Trapped inside that wolf? Did it own him, claim and bound him the same way. And Tezca warning came back to me about him. Was my brother truly lost? Wasn't there nothing I could do?
"Isaac." Tezca said my name again only now was I fully able to register it.
He had moved off of me, I found myself on all fours with the large cat standing directly above me. I shook me head and shoved him off of me. Tezca moved back and sat next to me, lifting up a paw before stopping. He withdrew it.
"Are you alright? You did not get hurt did you? The poison was not able to reach your lungs." I didn't respond and if feeling obligated to Tezca went on. "I regulated your blood flow, purged any toxins from your system and was able to keep it from being absorbed through your flesh. You should be perfectly fine." Tezca voice wavered and he continued to eye me as if not trusting his own words.
I had to take a seat. It felt strange not having that strength around me. Powerful, healthy body of Tezca made my own feel...meek. Helpless, an infant in comparison. Not even. An ant before a giant. That was the difference between us. It would be easy, before. To accept that offer he had given me. And a part of me felt tempted by it once more.
"Isaac." Tezca voice was soft, nothing more than a soft meow.
"Is there nothing we can do for Marco?" I looked over at the cat, feeling myself breathing heavily as I got used to my own lungs again. Like I hadn't used them in ages or just breaching the surface of the sea after reaching the bottom. Even my own muscles felt weak without his strength.
"I do not know." Tezca said. A paw reached up and was placed on my shoulder. "It is not your fault."
I held my tongue, knowing otherwise and took a few moments to collect myself.
Tezca moved as if to drape himself over me but I stopped him, standing up. "Let's just stay. Us. For now." I said not even looking at the cat who I had stopped mid movement.
"As you wish." Tezca said and tailed behind me as I made my way through the locker room.
From the locker room we reached the office. The same one with cubicles pushed against one side, offices against the other. Woman sat in both the cubicles and in the offices working as secretaries, book keepers, managers and overall all the work that actually took thought to accomplish. Leave the guys to do the grunt work and let the woman control everything else. At least I knew who wore the pants in this place.
The snake haired woman looked up, doing her long acrylic nails. She had a head set on and was busy talking in it. "Just a moment," she said tapping the button on the desk phone to silence it. "Can I help you?" She spun around in her chair looking at me. I made sure to look away but not to be impolite just as if to look around her office.
Ugly troll dolls had been set up, pictures of various men (looking as if they were cut out of catalogs) were posted around and there was a jar of candies that had molded into a single block.
"Yes. I have an appointment with Marco." I said professionally. "My brother." I added on. Family matters always were big no matter who or where you were. People are far more willing to overlook and treat such matters far better than they would otherwise.
"Let me check." She said pulling out a book and beginning to flip through it. I could see dates, times and numbers on it. I knew otherwise I wouldn't actually have my name written inside so I took a different turn.
"He was right." I said a bit loudly making her look up. "Your far more beautiful in person." Tezca groaned behind me, rolling his eyes.
She patted her eyes, long fake lashes on each one. "Did Marco really say that?"
It was easy enough to tell she was infatuated with him. "Oh yeah! He talks about you all the time." She giggled, a rather disturbing sight and not cute at all.
Each snake hissed a giggling sound, the hair fanning out around her old, aging features. She wore too much make up that cracked and smudged as she smiled as if it had been applied a few days ago and instead of being taken off was just reapplied over and over again making her lips look far fuller than they actually were, her cheeks too white and the mascara around her eyes be a few inches too thick as if she had giant black and blue bags instead of make up over her eyes.
"I mean if you let me through, I'm sure he'd be so thankful. I'll even tell him how helpful you've been." The tactic worked far better with interns and lower level employees that wanted to get raises and increase their standing in the company. It worked here as well.
The notebook snapped shut and she stood up a bit. With a boney slightly green finger she pointed down the hall towards one of the office doors. "Tell Marco I'm free after work!" She hissed after me as I already began moving down. "I get off in two hundred years!" She said before sitting back down, taking one of those pictures off the wall and petting over it.
Two hundred years? Maybe she meant two hundred hours as in military time. I was about to ask Tezca but the jaguar had kept his distance from me carefully watching around us as we moved. I didn't. And just moved over towards the door.
I looked inside but only saw a desk, chair and a couch with a filing cabinet next to the wall and a plant in the corner. Another window was on the far wall. Opening the door, I had to take a moment for my mind to register.
The room was in fact a small hallway with the couch, cabinet, desk, plant and everything still in the room but spread out. It looked like a waiting room for a mall lawyer office. The room had appeared to be a small box shape but was more of a rectangle now. There was a large throw rug on the floor and everything looked old, shoddy and run down. Even the carpet was that dull brown.
I moved over towards the fall wall. There wasn't a window in the wall but a door. I moved over slowly, carefully and keeping myself lower to the ground. I inched my way over. It felt like a few minutes had passed and still I wasn't on the other side of the room. Even walking, jogging or running didn't help.
"Tezca," I stopped. Standing back up and looking at the jaguar who had sat down and watched to show. An amused look was on his face.
He gave a single nod. "The room is enchanted. You can try to go to the other side all day and make no progress. But no, please," he waved a paw at me to motion for me to continue. "Keep at it. I'm sure you'll manage in your lifetime."
"Hah, har ha." I glared back. "Can you handle it."
Tezca nodded, stood up and just walked forward past me.
The space before him pulled as if someone had wrapped a large piece of saran wrap in the middle of the room. Tezca lifted up a paw and pushed against it, nails sprung forth and in a clean swipe tore it apart. Then another swipe and another layer ripped and once more. Until there was nothing but shreds before him. He inspected his paw, looking over the nails before sheathing them once more. There was a smug look on his face as he looked back at me.
"Shut up. Just shut your face." I grumbled walking past and moving over to the wall. The room appeared to be normal size now as it had looked before.
The window in the door served well to peek through.
Inside were several people. A small man I instantly recognized as to be Big Bennie one of the central mob bosses of the town. And as usual he was in a classy, far too expensive Italian tux as if he was TRYING to look like a mobster. Another man jumped out at me, a furry feline. None other than the black cat Varric. His outfit was different, the robe he wore fitted him far better and didn't poof out at the bottom. It was loose and looked more like a large trench coat than a robe. Underneath he had fitting black pants and shirt with strange dark green runes inscribed into it.
There was a woman behind the desk, looking out the window over the crowd. Her black hair was done up in a neat bun on her head, twin chopsticks holding it in place. She wore a pink silk kimono with white flowers falling down it to collect at the bottom. Her leg was exposed from a slight opening in the left side of it showing an opal skin leg. And as she turned around I could see she had sharp almost feline face but was stunningly beautiful of Korean descent. A model would look bland and ordinary next to her. And the way her hips curved in that dress...
Tezca growled very softly and it allowed me to see the other key player inside. Marco. My brother was standing there, resting against the wall with his arms folded across his chest, looking down and appeared to be nothing more than a bodyguard as the rest chatted. Across from him were two even larger goons than Marco, presumably Big Bennie's guards. He had a slight complex and only ever higher the biggest, dumbest, ugliest of goons.
"And I told you!" Big Bennie, a small Five foot man, said towards the woman. "We aren't paying."
She lifted up the long open sleeved kimono to cover her mouth and laughed, a soft sound I couldn't even hear behind the door. "My dear, the terms of our agreement were already placed. It is only traditional to offer a bonus when everything has gone well."
Big Bennie glared at her. He wasn't an intimidating man but I knew he made sure to compensate for this by going overboard and just about any and everything. His reputation alone made him a scary man. And he liked that.
"It is traditional?" He nearly spat the word before calming down still glaring daggers at her. His face was that of a poker players, a suave businessman and showed no disdain with the problem with this offer. "To pay extra," he spoke slowly as if speaking to a child. She did not look amused by the tone. "When the job has gone well? Our agreement was written down." His voice becoming harsh. "It hasn't even been done yet and you are asking for more?"
"Maybe in your culture, boy." She said and when she smiled a cold shiver ran down my spine. I swallowed loudly hiding a bit more behind the door and just listening. I almost saw her eyes drift over to look at me. "It is seen as a rather large insult in others to deny such a...gift of good will."
"You can take your gift and shove it up your," but his voice was cut off. And there was a gurgling sound.
Everything broke loose the next second. Goons charging here and there as Big Bennie wavering, staggering backwards and collapsing with a large wound in his chest.
One of the goons pulled out his gun but even before he could point it at her his wrist was broken, arm twisted the bone jutting up from the top and hoisted up and over Marco's shoulder before being thrown across the room. The other goon had stopped in mid drawn. His face was contorted in fear as his whole body shook unable to move.
Varric held up some strange carved dragon headed staff and the man couldn't move a muscle, just staring into those red eyes at the end of it. The goons mouth began to foam and he choked on his vomit before his legs finally gave out and he went limp, lifeless.
The other goon was crying out at his arm, just looking in shocked horror at it.
In a flash he was silenced, a tail sticking out of his chest where his heart would've been. The long fox tail withdrew slowly, sliding back and away before slipping underneath the female's kimono.
"Such a pity things couldn't have gone better." She said with a slow shake of her head. A single strand of black hair fell into her face and this seemed to annoy her more than the three dead bodies in the room. She made a great show fixing the misplaced strand. "Varric, be a dear and clean up these bodies."
"I don't take orders from you, Yue Ling." the cat snapped back in a far harsher deeper tone than I heard from him before. "I am a Gatekeeper. Not your nave." Varric said using the wrong word again.
"You mean slave, dear." She correct. "And your an Ex-Gatekeeper." Her voice was sly and the words stung true making the cat turn his staff on her. She laughed, a loud sound showing far to many teeth in her mouth. "No need for such violence."
At Varric's movements Marco had stepped in from of the woman blocking her with his own body.
"Besides," she practically purred looking over at the door. And with a snap of her fingers it flung open. "We have another guest."