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12. Concert Blues
🕑 Added 2024-02-08 00:19:32 +0000 UTCThe street climbed at a steep angle, soaring up into the sky. At the top of the hill, a small park’s parking lot provided the setting for an impromptu Rainer Drift tailgate and pregame party. Cars decked out in Rainer Drift gear filled the lot, while fans stood around, chatting, eating fresh hot dogs off the grill, and drinking beer and wine coolers.
Levi stood on his tiptoes, looking around. “You see our boy anywhere?”
“No. I barely remember his face. What’s his name, anyways?” Fira asked.
“Jackof.”
“Jackof Alltrades?” Fira muttered to herself.
Levi’s jaw dropped. “How did you know?”
She frowned. “You aren’t serious.”
“Says the girl named Fire but with an a at the end,” Levi pointed out, crossing his arms.
Fira paused for a moment, then nodded, eyes widening as understanding dawned. “It’s his hero name.”
“Yeah. Who the hell gives out their government name? In this economy?” Levi said.
“What?” Fira asked, lost.
“Also, more like villain name, but you know, potato, po tah to.” He walked on, craning his neck as he went.
Down below, the echo of a voice booming over loudspeakers bounced up to them, so distorted as to be incomprehensible. A brunette girl walked out to the edge of the stage, the only part visible from this high angle, and waved to the crowd. Her spangled hotshorts jumpsuit glittered in the bright spotlights. Pyrotecnics sparked at the front of the stage, shooting sparkles into the sky.
All around them, the crowd cheered, screaming her name just like the fans in the stadium. One girl cupped her hands to her mouth and screamed something, voice lost in the echoes.
“Wait, hold on,” Fira said. “You looked him up on social media. No way he runs his account under Jackof Alltrades.”
“You’d be surprised,” Levi said, distracted, standing on his tiptoes again.
“His villain name?”
Levi glanced at her and grinned. “You got me! Nah, his real name. But don’t ask. I’m no snitch.”
Fira sighed. She shook her head.
The music started up with a roar. Between the angle and the buildings reflecting the song, it was little more than a mass of sound by the time it reached them, but the fans started jamming out anyways. One particularly excitable type bellowed, “Rainer! We love you!”
Levi startled. He whipped around and locked eyes on a man in official Rainer Drift merch from his Rainer Drift-signed logo cap to his Rainer Drift tastefully blue-teardrop-bejeweled high-top sneakers. A grin spread across his face. “There he is.”
Immediately, he about-faced and walked the other direction.
Fira squinted, then followed. “Where are you going?”
“One shouldn’t greet an old friend too abruptly. It should come across naturally, a natural scenario where I accidentally meet him. I don’t want him to know I stalked his social media,” Levi said.
“That actually sounds half reasonable. Suspiciously reasonable,” Fira said.
Rounding the corner, Levi cut a wide swathe around the back of the parking lot, then drew toward Jackof from behind. There was a subtle movement at the back of his shirt. He raised his inner hand toward Jackof’s back, while at the same time firmly gripping the man’s other shoulder.
Fira frowned. She tilted her head. What’s he doing? Is this some kind of secret money exchange code?
Singing along to his favorite song, Jackof bounced to the music, absolutely forgetting himself, the world, everything. Someone pulled up close behind him, and he moved slightly to the side, willing to let the other fan pass. Rather than passing, though, they grabbed his shoulder tightly. He jerked, going to pull away, only for something sharp and cold to tickle his back.
“Hello, Jackoff. Miss me?” an unpleasantly familiar voice whispered in his ear.
Jackof stiffened. “You’re dead.”
“What did I tell you? True villains never die,” Levi murmured, grinning like a cat.
“Fuck. The acid wasn’t enough?” Jackof grumbled to himself.
“Would you like to experience it for yourself? If you’re a true villain, I’m sure you’ll survive somehow.”
“I don’t have a healing factor. No thanks.”
“More’s the pity. It isn’t that bad, once you get used to it.”
Rainer Drift finished her first song, and the crowd went wild. A few seconds later, the opening notes of the next song played, and Jackof’s jaw ground. “What do you want?”
“To ruin your night. But while I’m doing it, I thought you might want to answer a few questions for me, too.”
“Fuck off.”
The blade bit into his back.
Jackof jumped, flinching away. “Holy shit! What the hell are you doing?”
“What? You told me to fuck off. I was fucking off.”
“In the middle of a crowd, dude? In the middle of a crowd, you were going to—”
Levi squinted at him. As if it was obvious, he said, “Yeah?”
“Fucking hell, I forgot why I killed you. You deserve to die and stay dead. You’re a fucking lunatic. You belong in an insane asylum.” He went on, using more than a few choice words, his whole face reddening from anger.
Levi clicked his tongue and flicked his hair like a valley girl. “Yeah, I know, but like, can you answer a few questions, or something? Jeez, men these days. They just don’t listen!”
Sweat dripped down Jackof’s back. He shook, half from rage, half from fear.
Levi squeezed his shoulder. “And stop sweating. You’re making my palm damp.”
“What do you want?” Jackof managed, through gritted teeth.
“Dry palms.”
A vein throbbed in Jackof’s forehead. His teeth audibly ground. “I mean, your questions.”
“Ooooh, you should’ve said that the first time. Right. So. There’s this kid. Missing. I was wondering if you knew where he was?”
“Lots of kids are missing. I’m going to need a little more than that.”
“He’s fifteen, er,” Levi looked over his shoulder at Fira. “Red-headed…?”
“Brunet.”
“Brunet. Medium height.”
“Pretty short, actually.”
“Brunet, short, reasonably attractive.” He glanced over his shoulder again.
Fira nodded. “Scar on his lip, right here.” She drew a line from the left edge of her nose toward the center line of her lips.
“Lip scar. Fifteen. I already said that. Oh, and he’s Awakened. He’s probably hiding it, but someone might have noticed. Ran away about two weeks ago, went absolutely off the rails a few days back. Ringing any bells?”
Jackof shook his head. “Not off the top of my head. I’d need to ask around, get back to you.”
“Excellent, excellent. You know how to contact me.”
“Maury shut down the network when you died… went dark,” Jackof amended, face twisting as though he’d bit a sour lemon.
Levi stilled. “Really?”
“Really. We all mourned the loss of her services. Dimmed the celebrations over your death.”
“Huh.” Levi blinked a few times, then shrugged. “Weird. Well. She’s running it for me exclusively, I guess. You remember how to call?”
“Yeah, I remember. Five-five-five and then whoever you’re trying to call. It’s easy. Just like the fake number in all the TV shows.”
“Good man.”
“Not that I’m going to call you.”
The blade pushed into his back again.
Jackof twisted away, arcing his back away from Levi, only his shoulders touching the other man. “Hey hey hey! Chill it! Look. You can threaten me here, but the second I walk away, that’s that. Go around. Kill every informant in the city if you want. Won’t get you anywhere. You know I’m the best, and that’s why you’re here. So. Go on. Put that stupid poker away, and hand me a few benjamins.”
With an expression as if he’d bit a sour lemon, Levi twisted his knife-holding hand and extracted a few bills from his pocket. Making sure they crinkled, he shoved them into Jackof’s back pocket. “There. Consider it a down payment.”
“We all know you won’t pay up,” Jackof grumbled, reaching back and taking the bills. He checked them over, then nodded to himself, satisfied.
“Maury will cover the bill.”
“And thank god for that.”
Abruptly, the music cut off. Levi and Jackof both looked up, staring down at the concert below. For a few beats, Rainer Drift continued to dance, but then she stopped, realizing the speakers had all gone silent. She frowned and spoke into her glittery pink mic, but nothing came out. Tap, tap, and still no sound. She held it up, looking up at the tech booth.
“Hello? Can everyone hear me?”
Fira ran up. She grabbed Levi’s shoulder. “That’s—”
Levi jumped. Jackof yelped, twisting away again.
“Whoa, whoa, don’t startle me like that. I almost stabbed our friend here,” Levi said.
“Seriously, fucking hell,” Jackof muttered.
Fira waved her hands, forcing them into silence. “That’s Ethan! That’s my brother!”
Levi and Jackof both stared at her. A moment passed. They exchanged a glance. With a sigh, Levi sheathed his blade and held out his hand. “Refund.”
