Chapter 63: 59. Early Morning Noir (II)

Emily bullied back mooks and guarded Jay with her experience as a top-level mean girl. In the meanwhile, Jay guided them across the destruction of his home.

He followed his mom’s gravity hologram from the past. His eyes glowed with high-powered magic, lighting up his face with shimmering silver-gold on the left and bright neon purple on the right.

Ignoring the cameras, Jay used his [Moonwalker] Skill for him and Emily to bounce and glide across the rubble. All while Emily held his arm like a deadly dame from Sin City.

The onlookers roared with a sudden craze. Now the CWG agents were freaked out to the max and started rolling out most if not all of their people, pushing to get past Emily’s ghosts. They chased after the Champions and started harassing the reporters.

The CWG’s egregious approach set off the local law enforcement since the reporters were legally okay while behind the perimeter. Nobody had the proper procedures for dealing with Champions. All the legalities, secrecy, and lies were tangling the authorities. It all looked bad on them as the dark sky brightened with the coming of dawn. Jay’s neighbors started to exit their homes to see what was happening outside.

Jay kept track of the commotion thanks to his high Perception. Most of his focus was on his main objective, though.

He paused at the end of the yard where his mom’s hologram-like gravity projection was yelling back. Probably speaking to Frank most likely. Jay couldn’t hear the words but could infer based on what he saw. She lingered, probably caught by surprise as the sinkhole triggered and pulled down the house.

Jay observed the fright, thrill, and madness switching around on her face before she wore an expression of determination. She made a run for it across the next street and bounded over a fence and into someone’s backyard. Even before getting chased by assassins, Mom had lived a life filled with close calls and danger, so she always stayed fit and ready to defend herself.

The writer’s life hadn’t chilled her out completely.

“I’m going to use a gravity Skill that’ll make up and down switch places, okay?” Jay informed Emily. “Just follow my lead.”

Emily’s head was turned back toward the agents chasing and cursing at the two Champions. She wore a scowl that suited her pouty lips before giving Jay a more pleasant expression as a confirmation.

Timing their steps, Jay grabbed Emily’s arm and whirled her from one side of his body to the other. He held her up with minimal wobble, completing the ballroom dance move before casting his Skill.

“[Dance Floor Relativity],” Jay said, flipping gravity as they reached the fence. He pressed on [Moonwalker] so they didn’t fall up too fast. It was interesting to see Emily's hair flutter up from the effect.

They cleared the fence easily. Then Jay returned gravity to normal. [Moonwalker] helped them reach the ground softly. He had to hold Emily closer when she wobbled, but they came out all right.

Moonwalker leveled up to 16!

Having a second person to use [Moonwalker] on was helpful for the Skill levels.

[Moonwalker, Level 16]: You can passively lower gravity’s effect on you, your gear, and what you carry. Pushing the Skill actively will enhance this effect, costing moderate mana. Leveling up increases the depth of control.

Surprisingly, holding up Emily’s arm counted as something he was carrying. Moonwalker extended all the way into Emily from there.

His 16 levels in [Moonwalker] gave Jay the sort of control that was becoming more fine-tuned. He wondered if he could use the Skill in more direct combat-oriented matters. Maybe he could take advantage of the description to lift stuff and his increased depth of control instead of always leaning on it for movement.

At least for now, [Moonwalker] helped Jay and Emily follow his mom’s past gravity hologram. Although, it did reach a point where it was simply easier for Jay to scoop Emily into his arms and [Moonwalk] them from backyard to backyard consistently.

“You’re onto something,” Jay said, ignoring Perception’s heightened touch with Emily in his arms.

“About what?” Emily asked as she readjusted her arms around his neck and leaned into him more. Her chest pressed against the side of his face.

“I’m living boyish fantasies to the max.” Jay smiled half-heartedly.

“I’m only allowing this to soften you up,” Emily said with a scowl. “I have personal reasons, Jay.”

“I think I know what they are.”

“We’ll get into it later.”

Moonwalker leveled up to 17!

Jay lowered Emily to her feet. They reached an alley where gravity hologram mom stopped to catch her breath. A camera drone zoomed over their heads and paused to video them. Jay made note of it in case it was an assassin drone, but his new [Slayer of Assassins] Title didn’t feel anything toward it.

“I can manage on my own from here,” Emily said with a sigh. “And here I thought 12 Agility was nice.”

“It’s better than most average humans,” Jay said. “Gotta get more to make you an instant runway model.”

“I feel like a joke,” Emily said. “I should’ve stuck to the fall weather colors and gotten by as a Divine little sister. Who am I to attempt the dark bombshell look? I’m gonna be a laughing stock.”

“Don’t quit,” Jay said.

Emily froze.

“There’s always going to be people who make fun of you and look down on you when you’re different,” Jay said. “But don’t quit something when you know it's part of who you are. Own it. Rock it. And be all about it. It’ll draw the right people.”

Emily adjusted her glasses nervously.

“Damn it,” she said as her cheeks turned scarlet. “That was a good response.”

“It's born from experience.”

Emily studied him closely, which made Jay feel nervous. Thankfully, his hologram mom was ready to get going again.

“This way,” Jay said, following his mom’s past movement. Emily walked carefully after him.

A minute later, realization struck Jay.

“You don’t know what we’re following, do you?” he asked.

“Your eyes are shining brightly,” Emily said. “And you’re focused on following a lead only you can see. I can confer from there.  You’re onto something big, and I’ll be needed.”

“You’re not even questioning it,” Jay said, amazed with her.

“Conviction is a powerful Attribute,” Emily said with grave seriousness. “I have loads of faith there’s a purpose here.”

At that moment, Emily’s Death Affinity and ghostly Skills wavered around her like an aura–black, red, and haunting. The [Medium] was the other side of the coin compared to Brit, but Emily was still a person of spirits and otherworldly power.

Jay whistled, impressed.

He seriously thought her class needed people more responsible than him. Or more determined. Though, it did make Jay wonder how he’d fare as a [Medium]. At the very least, he was getting a good view of the class’s capabilities outside of simple healing. His 30 Intellect made a note to ask Emily or Brit about incantations since he’d managed to perform one out of the blue.

Emily dampened her magical showing and adjusted her glasses nervously. Every time she did that tic reminded Jay of Mike sliding his glasses up like a nerdy anime protagonist about to drop a mega exposition bomb that solved a huge secret. In Emily’s case, the glasses-adjusting gesture seemed to be her emotional reset when she got flustered.

It was cute.

Jay was about to comment when he felt someone dashing into the range of his sixth sense. Someone managed to get past the ghosts and keep up.

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“Stop right there, monsters!” An excited CWG agent appeared around the corner and brandished his pistol at Jay and Emily. “You need to come with me right now, or they’ll be hell and high water to pay!”

The man was red in the face, scared out of his wits, and not thinking with his right mind. Jay could sense all of these things and had reasons to believe Emily’s [Spooky Friends] might’ve pushed this guy too far.

“Dude, you have orders not to intervene with us,” Jay said calmly. “We’re doing work here. Just back off.”

“Shut the fuck up, or I will gun you down!”

Jay glared at the guy as his mom’s gravity hologram turned the corner the agent was blocking. Jay was going to attempt persuasion again when Emily stepped past the [Freak]. She strolled ahead with a more certain and evocative gait.

“I’m annoyed by one detail with all of this,” Emily said, flicking her hand at herself as she used a Skill wordlessly. A grayish bubble formed around her, rippling the air like waves on a grungy pond’s surface. This was obvious magic everyone could see, even if they were Systemless.

The CWG agent’s eyes grew as wide as dinner plates from the shimmering gray magic surrounding Emily. He started to squeeze the trigger at Emily’s approaching form.

“What’s got you annoyed?” Jay asked as the CWG agent lost his nerve and fired his gun. 

Jay dulled his sense of hearing to keep from getting deafened. Right in the nick of time.

Emily took three shots to the chest, which harmed her some. She grunted slightly as the bullets splashed trickles of blood on her outfit. But no more.

At the same time, the gray bubble surrounding her turned black with hints of red.

The CWG agent staggered backward, spilling way more blood than Emily. He dropped his gun as three bullet wounds appeared on his chest despite nobody having shot him.

He keeled over and flopped down. His blood pooled underneath him as he gaped horrifically at the girl of death.

Jay figured the man had suffered from Emily's [Echo of Karama] Skill. Jay could be wrong, though. There was no knowing what exactly since Emily kept it to herself. It was more powerful and effective to say Skills aloud, but sometimes that wasn’t always viable. But Jay's sense of situational gravity made him believe he was right.

That would've been a powerful Skill to have in the Toyreveler Dungeon. How strong was the [Medium] Class?

Emily kept on walking, moving past the downed agent as she reached out with one hand.

“You've made a terrible blunder, and death has called your number,” she said, her voice echoing like a scary phantom. “Now I’ll have your health as plunder, Feast of Flowing Life.”

Emily snatched at the air above the dying man, making a red amorphous substance appear from seemingly nowhere. It was as big as a watermelon and wavered around like a blob. It could be the man’s actual life force–his Health–made corporeal and visible.

Emily held it up to her open mouth and slurped the health blob loudly and quickly. It disappeared behind her black-painted lips. A red light pulsated under her skin.

The man died as Emily’s wounds healed. Bullets fell out of her chest, evicted from her flesh. The bent and bloody ammunition clinked around high-heeled boots attached to legs that kept on strutting forward.

You’ve ended a misfortunate encounter with a mentally ill agent!

Jay blinked at the System notification. “Emily, I don’t think that guy was an assassin.”

He was most likely some off-his-rockers guy and shouldn’t have been assigned this job.

“Don’t care,” Emily said. “He shot me.”

“I know what that’s like,” Jay muttered.

“There were a lot of bad and violent deaths to people are age in this neighborhood,” Emily added, sounding annoyed. “And all these mooks are starting to ignore my friends, too.”

That was a concern.

“And I’m your supporting dame with no cigarettes, Jay,” Emily finished.

“Oh, crap, I forgot.” If Jay could glare at 30 Intellect, he would. The Attribute mentally shrugged. There were more pressing concerns than cigarettes.

Emily’s grievances deserved to be aired out, but it was pretty screwed up that an agent had died. Then again, the man had pointed a gun when he shouldn’t have. And it was clear to Jay that Emily was very okay with killing people when they crossed the line with her.

The [Omen Bearer of the Apocalypse] Title was probably a big fan of Emily’s.

And Jay had Called her, after all, and that came with the good and bad. The Champions were a group of the most extreme and capable teenagers of Central Florida. Plus Frank. That didn’t make them a very nice group inherently.

So, Jay muttered an apology to the dead agent and lit a cigarette for Emily as promised. She took a few drafts as they returned to his hologram mom’s trail.

Emily passed the cigarette back to him.

“You don’t mind the indirect kiss?” Jay asked.

“Sharing cigarettes with someone is part of getting to know them,” Emily replied.

Interesting answer. Jay wasn’t going to argue against it. He puffed, puffed, and passed. He didn’t think too much about her angle or the taste of her mouth.

Then they came to a stop where grown hologram men had wrestled his hologram mom down, replacing the teen assassins. They had her at first, but his mom slipped away somehow–through Chance most likely. She stole a pistol and shot a few dead before getting punched, kicked, and wrestled down even harder.

“I can see the past events that had transpired with my mom,” Jay explained. “And it’s brutal.”

Emily nodded in uncomfortable acknowledgment. She may be cold and deadly, but she still felt for Jay’s plight.

“She killed a few men, though,” Jay said.

“I can tell.” Emily finished the cigarette before snuffing it under the toe of her boot.

Jay sparked up another for her without having to be asked.

“There’s a spirit lingering with strong emotions here,” Emily continued, puffing great clouds of smoke that swirled around her swimming school of ghostly friends. “This is where I’m needed. Something might come of it.”

“The junkyard didn’t produce much?” Jay asked.

“The other assassin spirits didn’t know much more than a grunt,” Emily said. “And Commander Steele fled from me before I could interview him.”

Jay hesitated at hearing Steele’s name. Anger, sorrow, and uncertainty passed through him. He pushed all that down.

“You think this spirit can be a guy closer to the top?” Jay asked.

“We’ll find out.” Emily left the cigarette in the corner of her mouth. A crooked smile spread across her black-painted lips.

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