Drake watched as the team disappeared in a blink of an eye. He chuckled and stated, “Seems like I’m not the only one here that knows about teleportation tiles.” He still didn’t believe in the “Magic” everyone said they used. Even though he saw them use it and even explain it. He’d still didn’t believe in the whole magic issue. He raised his arm and a hologram appeared from his watch’s face. He pressed a few images and the picture of a phone with three blinking dots under it appeared from the watch. The image lasted a few seconds before two worlds: “Voice Only” appeared in the hologram.
“Thank you for calling Bad Luck. My name is Jinx, how can I help you?” the woman asked. She sounded like she was annoyed that she had to answer. Drake took a deep breath and sighed. He knew what was coming and he just wanted to get it over with.
“Hey Jinx,” Drake said. There was a long pause before Jinx responded.
“You heartless bastard!” Jinx yelled before she continued, “you disappear for what seems like a month and now you decide to call me!”
“Yeah, about that,” Drake sighed.
“Not to mention the client you were hired by has been up my ass asking when the Scorpion Bee eggs are coming. We’ve already missed the deadline and he’s super pissed!” Jinx stated.
“Sorry about that, something came up and was,” Drake said before he added, “Teleported to another job.”
“Where? I can’t find you on my map,” Jinx said.
“I’m currently not on,” Drake said before he added, “the planet anymore. It’s a long story. Look, I just need some supplies. The usual, plus a few extra”
“Of course,” Jinx said annoyed before she walked away. As she gathered the items she was heard in the background saying, “you never call just to talk. It’s always about supplies and new jobs. Never hey Jinx, let’s hang out. No, I’m just a merchant and nothing else.” There was a loud thud before she asked, “What else did you need?”
“I need three more Raptures, ten more Inferno Ammo for both my revolvers and sniper, Seven Wire Bullets, five Cannonball Bullets, eight Atomic Bombs four regular and four citrus flavor, eight I-Flies, and six Hornets,” Drake said. There was no sound from the other end for several seconds before another thud came from the other end.
“Geez, the hell you doing?” Jinx said before she added, “fighting in a small war?”
“Something like that,” Drake said. He took a deep breath and sighed. He knew what was coming next, but he needed the extra boost so he said, “Also need three Columbia.”
“No,” Jinx quickly stated before she added, “I’m not going to be the one who puts you back on that wagon! Not after all the progress you’ve done. You really want to get addicted to that shit again?”
“Trust me Jinx, I’ll be fine. It’s all in moderation right? So I’ll just take them only when necessary,” Drake said. He didn’t have the heart to tell her he’d been taking them for a few months already. He knew how much she’d help him with the addiction, but with everything that’s been happening. He needed them.
“No, I’m not giving them to you,” Jinx said again.
“Aren’t you supposed to do what the customer says?” Drake questioned.
“For any customer who walks into my shop, I’ll gladly give them what they want,” Jinx said before she added, “But you’re a different story. I can’t, in good conscience give you this drug.”
“You got some good morals for a black market merchant,” Drake said.
“Coming from a Bounty Hunter that has standards and issues with killing anyone under the age of fifteen,” Jinx said. Drake rubbed his eyes and sighed.
“Jinx, just give me the Columbia. I promise I’ll be fine,” Drake said.
“No,” Jinx stated again.
“Damn it Jinx! Either give it to me or I’ll go to Chloe to get it,” Drake threatened. There was a few seconds of silence. It dragged on for several seconds.
“Will that be all?” Jinx asked as she sounded like she said it through gritted teeth.
“Yeah, that will be it,” Drake said. A large square appeared from his clock face. He pressed his thumb on the square and a white light scanned his thumb. After several seconds the words “thank you” appeared before a circle appeared and spun for several seconds. A female voice announced from his watch, “Transaction complete. New items in inventory. Inventory space left: 2 Megabytes.”
“Thanks Jinx,” Drake said.
“Whatever,” Jinx said.
“Oh, by the way, have you seen any shady people around town. Like someone in a black rob?” Drake asked.
“Everyone in this town looks shady,” Jinx said before she added, “However, there was these three guys saying the government have been looking for new recruits for a special mission. Paying them a hell of alot of Credits.”
“Can you keep me updated; I fear they’ve done something to acquire more knowledge. You know how greedy the government can get when knowledge is involved,” Drake said.
“Will do,” Jinx said. However, before the call ended, she asked, “You still have it don’t you?” it was Drake's turn to stay quiet for a few seconds.
“Yeah, it’s already gotten me in trouble,” Drake joked.
“Just be careful, ok. I’ve seen what that things done to you. Letting it delve deeper into your psyche might cause you to get more lost inside of it,” Jinx said.
“No worries, I’ll be fine,” Drake said before he pressed the hologram and the call ended. He went through his new inventory and saw all his requested items in there. Even the Columbia which he felt a little bit bad he made her put it in there, but knew it was essential for his mission.
Drake turned to the emperor and said, “Alright, I’m all set. You can use the teleporter in the floor to send me where I’m needed. I’ve fought alongside Seth so if I may suggest that. He’s a well skilled fighter. Also I need you to send the other these.” Drake’s watch glowed and metal flies flew from his watch.
“These are I-Flies. They’ll imbed a communication device into our companion’s ears. This way we’re all linked and can communicate with one another,” Drake explained. He was still worried about who his world sent. However, he was unaware of what horrors that lay before him and the others.
----
On top of a building, a man overlooked this new world he and his companions had been teleported to. He scoffed at how low-tech this new world was. He was unsure how someplace like this was considered a world.
“So, how long are you planning on waiting?” a woman asked as she walked up to him. She was slender and stood five foot ten. She had on a white dress with a black trim. She flicked some of her short purple hair from her face as a forked tongue flickered from her mouth. She had a large snake tattoo that went from her right ankle, upper he leg and disappeared into her dress. It reappeared on her left shoulder and wrapped around her left arm as the mouth of the snake was open, ready to devour her hand.
“Didn’t you say we had to wait for our targets,” young man stated. He was a six foot two young man with short brown hair. He wore a white tank top and bleached blue jeans. He lay on his back on the roof with his arms under his head. He yawned and added, “Maybe they got lost. This would work for me because it would give me more time to nap.”
The woman rolled her eyes just before a third man walked over to the young man and kicked him in the ribs. It wasn’t a hard kick, but enough to get the young man’s attention. The third man looked to be about thirty and had short blond hair. He looked to be the same height as the young man. He had on black jeans with dog tags in each pant loop. He had a red hoodie that was unzipped and showed his green shirt underneath. The young man looked up before pushing the man in the red hoodie’s brown work boot away.
“You did enough sleeping on the way here. Now get your lazy ass up,” the man in the red hoodie ordered.
A fourth man was leaning against the wall near the door to the building. He had been silent all the way here and just observed his companions arguing. He wore all black and white: black coat that covered his white shirt underneath, black pants and black boots. On his face was a pure white mask that looked to be made out of steel. The mask had black tinted eye holes that hid his eyes.
A group of bats flew around the building as an elderly man sat in what looked like a wicker chair. A glass table sat to his side as he slowly picked up his cup of steaming red tea and sipped at it. He watched the events unfold around him as a smile formed on his face. He wore a black tuxedo with a red tie. On the table was a black top hat and hanging from the table was a cane with a metal grip that looked like a bats head.
Another man, about the age of twenty was sitting with his legs dangling off the edge of the building’s roof. He wore a light purple striped shirt and tan pants. He smiled as he looked at the sword sitting next to him. It had white bandages wrapped around its handle and parts of the blade. I can’t wait to show you off brother. The man thought as his smile grew to a Chester cat grin
A little girl about the age of 12 twirled around on the roof top humming a sweet melody before she stopped and skipped towards the man and woman. She smiled warmly as she asked, “Will big brother be here?” she wore a blue and white dress and a blood red bow was in her hair that was up into a ponytail.
The man looked to the little girl before he looked back out into the city and said, “I believe so, but we’ll need to find him first. He’s trapped inside a hard cased cell. He’ll need our help getting him out.” The little girl squeed before she went back to twirling on top of the building’s rooftop. A smile formed on the man’s face as the woman leaned against his right shoulder. The hockey mask latched to the left side of his pants swayed in the wind.
