Clink. Clink. Clink. Clink. Repetitions of the bench press went up, then down, then up again with very little delay between the motions. Rapid breathing accompanied the movement. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. Speaking of Exhale, a knock came at the door of the gym, which currently housed but one man hard at work. The mafia leader known to the public as “Purge” lifted the weight up one last time, then set it to rest in place. He sat up, wiping the sweat from his brow using a nearby moist towelette with disinfectant.
”Enter,” he said rather plainly, grabbing his nearby water bottle and chugging down the precious liquid.
The door opened with a slow, meek push, revealing another parahuman, one of only two people in the entire organization to have seen Purge without his mask on: Exhale. The gas based villain slowly approached, taking note of the weights. “995 pounds?” he asked, clearly impressed. “If you’re not careful, you’ll be breaking a world record soon.”
”I have no interest in advertising myself,” Purge responded.
”It is merely to maintain as healthy a body as I can.”“Of course, of course,” Exhale nodded, wringing his hands together. “But I did not invite myself to your recreation room in order to commit to small talk.”
”I imagine you did not.” Purge stood up and began to clean his gear with a fresh wet wipe, disinfecting the entire rig.
”What is your report?”“Expansion is going smoothly. Better than expected, even. A number of properties were simply abandoned by the Community members stationed there as soon as I showed my pretty face.” Exhale sounded proud of himself.
”Wise course of action. Then have we completely absorbed the district?” He had moved on to sterilizing the barbell itself, and wiping down the weights even though they were never touched at any point.
“There is but one hold out property, admittedly. I’m certain that I could have cleared the whole place in no time, however they requested a parlay with you, and your instructions were
very clear on that matter…”
”Very well then,” Purge interjected, standing up straight and approaching the adjoining shower connected to his gym.
”I will depart immediately after I have made myself presentable. Be at the ready to accompany me in case this is a ploy, and let Benito know as well.”“Shouldn’t he stay here to manage business affairs in your absence?” Exhale tilted his head slightly. He did not like sharing the company of Benito. “And what if we’re attacked while we’re out? His new powers would be instrumental in defending our assets.”
Purged waved off Exhale’s concerns, turning on the hot water of his shower and dropping his workout pants, showing no shame.
“The likelihood is low, whereas if we show up to parlay in force, it will further discourage foul play. Apart from that, I trust my men to defend our base. They would not be in my organization otherwise.”Exhale frowned, feeling defeated but knowing not to argue the point any further. “Understood. I’ll let him know and we’ll… Get the car ready.”
”Thank you, Linas.”
A black Sedan rolled up to the curb of a rather unassuming laundromat in one of the more seedy parts of town in the early morning. Though its posted hours of operation stated that it was supposed to open at 6:00 a.m., the building remained locked with all the lights out. A few figures could be seen inside, but remained motionless. Inside the car were three men, each dressed quite well, and each wearing a mask.
Exhale, of course, wore his standard lab coat and gas mask. It was entirely superficial, but it kept up the act that he was a tinker who made gases, rather than a blaster who made gases from his mouth. Purge sat in the back seat, his black suit and white featureless porcelain mask as normal. Already he was applying a healthy dose of disinfectant to the inside door handle. The third man, the one at the wheel, wore a mask that held a deep night time sky blue on the left side, which gradually faded toward the right until there was only white.
”Exhale, Vanish, let us parlay.” The mafia boss opened his door and got out, followed closely by the other two parahumans.
Exhale reached for the door handle first, but found that it was locked. Squinting his eyes, he saw the people inside but they did not move to let the trio in. With a grumble he knocked, but they still did not move.
”Do not waste your energy, Exhale. If our hosts will not be courteous to us, then we shall let ourselves in. Vanish, if you will please.””Consider it done, boss.” The newly named Vanish stepped forward, placing his hand on the door, which completely, well, vanished from sight. With a small flourish he gave a bow, allowing Purge and Exhale to enter first. As soon as he crossed the threshold himself, the door snapped back into place as though it had never been missing to begin with.
“Alright, what’s the big idea not answering when we came, eh?” Exhale angrily asked, taking a threatening step forward.
”Manners,” Vanish chided, causing Exhale to break his stride and slump in frustration.
”You do not speak for the boss.”Purge casually strolled forward, adjusting his tie. Four individuals stood in the back, shrouded in darkness, still refusing to budge even an inch. How ill mannered these Community folk were.
”I have come as requested for your parlay. We may now begin negotiations. You will find that, so long as matters remain civil, I am a fair and reasonable man to deal with.”Still no answer. Still no movement. Something wasn’t right here.
”Exhale. Vanish. Prepare yourselves.” Purge placed a hand in his pocket, drawing out a small rock, and casually tossed it to the nearest of the men. The rock bounced off the man’s chest, and he rocked back and forth as though on a pole or a pendulum.
”Mannequins?” Vanish asked, cautiously approaching until he was close enough to confirm his theory.
“Take cover!” Exhale called out. Everyone dove down behind the service counter just as several rounds of automatic fire ripped through the glass walls, signalling assault rifles that had to number at least four.
Purge felt his hair stand on end, he was getting antsy. On the floor… They made him get
on the floor! Do you know how many different strains of bacteria
are on the floor?! Microbes, pathogens, viruses, insects, threats beyond counting, the enemy converged on every side! This was
unacceptable. The pounding of bullets hitting wood, metal, and drywall was as a minor humming compared to the pulsing adrenaline screaming for Purge to escape the germs.
”Exhale.” One word, one name, but it wasn’t an addressment. It was a command, one which Exhale picked up on instantly. Still huddled on the floor, he pulled out a small canister and tossed it over their cover.
“Scatter!” Yelled one of the assailants, the gunfire pausing. A large cloud of dense black smoke quickly spread out from the broken canister and Purge stood up, unable to stay down any longer.
A large wall of black amorphous smoke stood before him, impeding all vision. It was only normal smoke, albeit it highly condensed, and thus not terribly dangerous unless inhaled in large amounts. Of course, the shooters didn’t know that. Taking a deep breath, he steeled himself for the hardest damn decision he’d have to make that day. Purged willingly walked into the cloud of smoke.
Exhale turned back to Vanish. “Looks like we’re taking all the fun, unless you want black lung disease.” With that, he rushed into the black cloud, readying another canister.
”Please.” The new parahuman followed closely behind, hands outstretched. His hands carved out a safe path for his face, making a tunnel not unlike a vacuum where the smoke simply refused to fill, only to reappear behind him. All three emerged on the other side.
Four armed men, and a fifth nearby apparently calling the shots, had backed up a decent way. As soon as Purged stepped out of the smoke, the enemy leader laughed at him. “You’ve got a death wish just walking out in the open like that! From what I hear you’re faking the cape identity! Fire men!”
Bullets rang out once more, and the sound of metal echoing off metal filled the streets. “What the?!” Purge chuckled in response to the gunman’s surprise. True, it wasn’t every day you saw someone using a whole washing machine as a shield, yet here he was advancing forward with the huge appliance in tow blocking 95% of his body.
“Don’t underestimate the boss,” Exhale spoke with a creepy reverb through his gas mask, canister in hand.
”He doesn’t need to waste his power on the likes of you.” Vanish broke through the smoke barrier, prompting the attackers to train their guns on him and Exhale. If they couldn’t shoot Purge, they would shoot who they could.
The gas master opened another canister before the triggers were pulled, releasing a large condensed green gas, concealing his exact positioning. The bullets that rained down upon Vanish simply disappeared just before impact, only to continue their trajectory once he passed through the space the bullets occupied.
“Gah!” came the cry of pain from the green smoke. Exhale was hit. It didn’t matter too much. The gunmen had chewed through all their ammunition, and Purge was close enough to take advantage.
The Mafia boss rushed in with alarming speed. Before the men knew what to do, he was already upon them. The closest was disarmed in an instant and clubbed with the rifle, knocked unconscious with one blow. The second tried to back up as he fumbled with the magazine, but was simply unable to fight back as a powerful fist struck him in the solar plexus, down for the count.
The third had only just gotten his new magazine loaded and looked up to see a white porcelain face up close and personal in a devastating headbutt. Three for three one hit knock outs, but one thug remained and he already had his rifle trained on Purge.
“Don’t move, or you die where you stand!” He stated firmly. After seeing what his enemy was capable of, he didn’t want to take any chances. Before he could pull the trigger, the man suddenly dropped down into a big hole that wasn’t there before! Vanish sat nearby, hand on the ground.
”Do hurry yourself, Exhale, and sedate the poor man. I cannot reverse my power while he’s still armed inside this hole.”Exhale limped forward, clutching his left shoulder in pain. Blood seeped outward from the wound, staining his white lab coat. He breathed out a gas which sterilized the injury, then applied a lighter to cauterize it, wincing in pain.
”Sometime today, please.”“Fuck off, I’m coming.”
Purge opted to ignore the bickering of his two lieutenants in favor of focusing on the fifth and final man. A white fellow with short blond hair and reaching for his handgun, a simple 9mm glock. He trembled, clearly terrified.
“Don’t move, I’ll shoot!”
Oh Peter. Peter Peter Peter.” Purge advanced unflinchingly, shaking his head and pulling off his left glove.
”I am so disappointed. Did you think I wouldn’t recognize you? You may have been one of the street men, but you are still part of my family. That’s what the organization is, you know. A family. Why?”“You don’t know anything about family!” Peter spat back. “Father wants you all dead. He owns this city and you’ve all been fucking with him. He says, he says this is discipline!”
Peter waved the gun threateningly. Purge just grabbed it gently by the barrel and guided it to his own forehead.
“Are you stupid or something?! I’ll shoot, I’m serious!”
“I know you will, Peter. Just like I trained you to. Go ahead. Prove to me which family you truly hold dear.” The mafia leader’s voice did not waver once. There was no nervous tick, no insecurity, no fear, not even a hint of anger. He spoke as though it were another business exchange.
Click. “Huh?” Peter pulled the trigger, the mechanism worked as intended, yet the bullet did not fire.
”What a pity.” Purge snatched the gun from Peter’s hands and popped open the chamber, claiming the bullet and tossing the rest of the gun aside. He held the bullet up for Peter to see.
”I can see you are confused, so please humor me with your attention for but a minute as I explain to you. You see, there are a few basic components to any bullet, all of which must be present to function. There is, of course, the bullet itself, the metal bit on the tip that goes flying into your target. It gets propelled by the gunpowder, which is ignited by the primer when your gun’s firing pin strikes it. I can see you do not understand why I am explaining this to you. The reason, my dear, sweet Peter-“ Purge ran his hand down alongside Peter’s cheek.
”Is because this bullet here? Is missing the vital gunpowder needed to create the explosive propulsion. It is a dud, if you will.”“But… but how could you know?”
”Simply because I removed it myself. I needed to test your loyalty after all, and you failed.”Peter squinted, trying to think of when the boss could have emptied the gunpowder from his bullets. He had his pistol on him all day and all night. Furthermore, did Purge already question his loyalty before this very moment? Well, it’s not like any of that truly mattered. Not anymore.
“I suppose you’re going to kill me now,” he muttered, looking at the ground.
”Still such a disappointment. No, not at all. Peter, I’ve already killed you. The same power you doubted ever existed, which I used to destroy your powder, will cause a slow, agonizing death. You’ll be feeling it any moment I should think.”Peter’s eyes opened wide as realization set in. He felt… wrong. His skin was getting more itchy all over. His stomach, oh the nausea. The sensation was small, but he could feel it growing. What was this?
Purge wiped his hand off with disinfectant, then spoke as simply as a man discussing the weather.
”You made me get on the floor.”
