5. Dinner and a Show

Climbing out from the forest, Levi led Fira out onto another quiet backstreet and immediately took off down the road. Fira glanced left and right, then snuck out of the forest, ducking her head a little as she followed him.

Levi glanced back. “Don’t do that.”

“Don’t do what?” Fira asked.

He nodded at her. “Act like you’re hiding. The first rule of hiding is to pretend like you aren’t hiding. If you walk around acting like you’re hiding, people will take note of you. If you walk around like you’re just going for a quick bite of dinner, no one will pay attention.”

“Has that worked out for you?” Fira asked skeptically.

“So far,” Levi replied.

Fira pursed her lips, not completely convinced, but straightened up anyways, rolling her shoulders back.

Levi glanced at her. “Better. And here.” He passed her a baseball cap. “For the cameras.”

She gave the hat a look, then fixed it on her head, pulling the brim low. “Good?”

“Good enough.”

As they took turn after turn, the streets grew wider, and more people walked alongside them. With one last turn, they came out onto the main street. People bustled by, jostling shoulders with one another on the too-narrow sidewalks. Cars rushed by, growling and gushing exhaust into the air. A few people flew, whether on wings, jetpacks, or some other strange power. Mixed in among the ordinary citizens, a vaguely humanoid tar pile lurched along the gutter, leaving a trail of tar after it, and a lady with ice crystals in her skin and hair walked primly, exuding an icy cloud in the air around her.

Fira flinched. She ducked her head.

“Come on, don’t be like that. Where are you from, that you don’t have supers chilling in the streets?” Levi asked, shaking his head at her.

“They aren’t—” Fira cut a look at Levi.

“Aren’t what? Alpha’s? No. Even Alpha can’t be assed to dominate literally every idiot with powers in Central City. I mean, who doesn’t have powers in Central?” Levi asked, shaking his head.

Fira frowned. Straightening with some effort, she looked at Levi. “Why does Central City have so many supers?”

“It’s the location of the original Outbreak,” Levi said.

“Outbreak?”

He stopped dead, killing the flow of traffic, and stared at her. “Are you serious?”

Angry pedestrians pushed by, glaring at them. Fira glanced around, nervous with so many eyes on her. She tugged at the brim of her hat. “No? Yes?”

Levi sighed. Shaking his head dramatically, he walked on, and Fira relaxed slightly, relieved.

“The Outbreak. The original wave of strange powers and monsters that entered our world, fifty years ago. It occurred right here, in the center of the old city that Central City was built on top of. You don’t know about that?” Levi asked, hands on his hips.

“Oh. Yeah. That,” Fira said. “I know about those.”

“Right…” Levi cocked an eyebrow at her. “Where are you from? I don’t remember.”

“I didn’t say.”

“Well, do you want to?”

Fira hesitated again. She bit her lip.

“If you won’t say it, why don’t I guess? You’re from an Exclusion Zone, aren’t you?” Levi said, pointing at her.

She stiffened.

“Oh. Why didn’t you say that?” He walked on.

Fira blinked. “You… you don’t care?”

“Should I?”

“Some… some people think if they get too close to people from Exclusion Zones, they’ll end up attacked by monsters,” Fira mumbled.

“Alright, cool. And then the billion supers wasting their time fucking around in Central City can finally do their jobs and mash some monsters,” Levi said, giving her a thumbs up.

Fira stood a little taller. “That actually makes a little sense.”

“I always make sense.”

Fira gave him a look.

“What?”

She stretched, looking around. “If Central City is the location of an Outbreak, how come it isn’t an Exclusion Zone?”

“Outbreaks don’t necessarily cause Exclusion Zones. I mean, typically, yeah, since the monsters don’t stop coming once they start. But, you know.” Levi pointed up. “We have an Alpha.”

Fira followed his gaze. A handsome man smiled brilliantly from a nearby billboard. Peace at any cost was spelled out in big, bold letters beside his face.

“And Alpha has a big army of supers, who mostly do bullshit like ability hunting, but sometimes they actually do their job and, I don’t know, stop crime and kill monsters.” Levi shrugged. “Central City attracts supers who want to be Alpha’s dogs, and even when it doesn’t, plenty of supers get born and made here every day.”

She looked at Levi. “So, do you have powers?”

Levi startled. He put his hands up. “Whoa, whoa. You’re not gonna wine and dine me first? Just straight down to business?” A smile crawled across his face. “Nice, nice. I like a decisive woman.”

“I have seen you naked.”

“But you haven’t seen what matters.”

She cocked a brow.

“Right…?”

“Powers?” she prompted, matter-of-fact.

Levi shrugged. “A healing factor. That’s it.”

“Isn’t it dangerous to admit that?”

“Nah. Alpha stopped hunting healers ages ago. Diminishing returns and all that.” Levi turned. He pointed. “Right up here!”

Behind a façade of dark wood and marble, people in fine clothing sat at nice tables with white tablecloths and took small bites of small food. They lifted wine glasses and took little sips of expensive wines.

Fira blinked. “There?”

“You’re paying, right?” Levi said, grinning.

“I can’t afford that kind of place,” Fira said.

Levi’s face fell. His finger dropped.

Beside the fine dining establishment, a cheap kebab shop opened its doors, offering juicy meat at low prices. Charcoal smoke wafted out of the door, the inside choked with fumes. A man with green skin and leaves for hair turned kebabs behind the counter. At the sight of Levi, he raised his hand in greeting and smiled, his shiny seed-dark eyes glittering.

Fira nodded. “I can afford that.”

“Let’s go!” He jumped ahead and held open the door for Fira.

Ignoring his antics, Fira strode inside.

Levi looked behind him. His eyes locked on two figures in the crowd for just a moment, making eye contact.

He turned away. The door shut behind him.

--

“Did he notice us?”

“No way. We’re completely hidden. Your skill is active, right?”

“But he looked right at us!”

“So what? If he gets in the way, kill him. As long as we secure the girl, our job here is done.”

“Right. Get the girl, go home, don’t bother Alpha.”

“Precisely. Eyes on the prize.”