and thought dark thoughts.
I spotted Rumor on the roof across the street, with a single Cheese Steak, bag of chips, pickle and a soda. He had gotten in and out without my noticing. I was impressed.
“The second reason,” he said, in a whisper, around a mouthful of pickle, “is what you have in your pocket.”
I tapped Enkidu’s hand. “This?”
“Yes.”
“ Mine! ” I said, grabbing it closer to my body. I did realize how silly I was being and I didn’t care. I could reign in my Arm possessiveness if I tried, but now, I had other things to reign in, such as pain, as my innards rearranged themselves.
“It smells of Chimera, as do your wounds.”
Sudden runnels of sweat dripped down my back under the torn sheets bandaging my non-existent tits. Rumor’s observation unnerved me. He sensed too much. At my sudden mood shift, he flew – okay, leapt – to a building farther away, still with the Cheese Steak in his hand. He settled at the edge of my metasense range, and ate. Now we were too far apart to talk. I thought as I ate. I had gone predator at him, annoyed at the acuity of his observations. I hadn’t gone very predator, but even what little predator I showed was too much for him.
Boy , were Crows touchy! Now I knew why none of the rest of us Major Transforms knew jack shit about them: they were all terrified of us. Terrified of normals, too, I bet.
All of a sudden, I knew I needed to continue talking to Rumor. I closed my eyes and meditated, the way I did before an exercise session. I visualized myself not as a predator, but luxuriating in a warm bath, letting my body almost float…
After Rumor finished his lunch, he came back to whispering distance. “I apologize,” he said. “I don’t know what I said to upset you, but I apologize for saying it.”
“Crows watch, don’t they?”
“Some Crows watch the Arms.”
I stood and left the diner, still munching down one last Cheese Steak. “The Chimera paw in my pocket upsets you. You don’t know why I have it there, do you?”
“It implies you defeated a Chimera. Your wounds imply a fight with a Chimera. Yet,” he paused, “why bother with a trophy from a mindless beast? My apologies if you collect such things, madam Arm.”
“It wasn’t a mindless beast, Rumor,” I said, with a snarl. Predator indeed, but I didn’t aim my ire at Rumor. Rage at Enkidu filled me, for the two hundred and thirty second time since the fight ended. Rumor didn’t flee.
“How do you know this?”
“It talked in complete and occasionally intelligent sentences. It wanted revenge for something my teacher and I did to him several months ago. I think there is a distinct possibility it hunted me down…”
Rumor vanished.
Something walked close to me, hidden from view. Something immensely powerful. I ducked into an alley, backpedaled into the back doorway of an old German restaurant, and brought out both my knives. I refused to be defeated without a fight!
“I still mean you no harm,” Rumor said. He was the immensely powerful thing that approached? His power didn’t come from normal juice, but something else, like tamed Monster juice or a derivative. He had been holding back, just like I had been holding back on my predator effect.
“Come no closer,” I said. Demanded. With malice aforethought. As the predator.
“I must see the hand,” Rumor said. “I pledge to harm it in no way and will return it to you within a few seconds.”
The Crow, terrified of me before, was no longer terrified. No, I didn’t read him right. He acted as he needed to while terrified nearly beyond his wits. As he acted, he revealed the trick Officer Canon had used against me, only better: Rumor now hid from my visible sight and my metasense. He stood close enough to me to be practically breathing down my neck.
“What’s it worth to you?” I said.
“I saved your life. Doesn’t that
I spotted Rumor on the roof across the street, with a single Cheese Steak, bag of chips, pickle and a soda. He had gotten in and out without my noticing. I was impressed.
“The second reason,” he said, in a whisper, around a mouthful of pickle, “is what you have in your pocket.”
I tapped Enkidu’s hand. “This?”
“Yes.”
“ Mine! ” I said, grabbing it closer to my body. I did realize how silly I was being and I didn’t care. I could reign in my Arm possessiveness if I tried, but now, I had other things to reign in, such as pain, as my innards rearranged themselves.
“It smells of Chimera, as do your wounds.”
Sudden runnels of sweat dripped down my back under the torn sheets bandaging my non-existent tits. Rumor’s observation unnerved me. He sensed too much. At my sudden mood shift, he flew – okay, leapt – to a building farther away, still with the Cheese Steak in his hand. He settled at the edge of my metasense range, and ate. Now we were too far apart to talk. I thought as I ate. I had gone predator at him, annoyed at the acuity of his observations. I hadn’t gone very predator, but even what little predator I showed was too much for him.
Boy , were Crows touchy! Now I knew why none of the rest of us Major Transforms knew jack shit about them: they were all terrified of us. Terrified of normals, too, I bet.
All of a sudden, I knew I needed to continue talking to Rumor. I closed my eyes and meditated, the way I did before an exercise session. I visualized myself not as a predator, but luxuriating in a warm bath, letting my body almost float…
After Rumor finished his lunch, he came back to whispering distance. “I apologize,” he said. “I don’t know what I said to upset you, but I apologize for saying it.”
“Crows watch, don’t they?”
“Some Crows watch the Arms.”
I stood and left the diner, still munching down one last Cheese Steak. “The Chimera paw in my pocket upsets you. You don’t know why I have it there, do you?”
“It implies you defeated a Chimera. Your wounds imply a fight with a Chimera. Yet,” he paused, “why bother with a trophy from a mindless beast? My apologies if you collect such things, madam Arm.”
“It wasn’t a mindless beast, Rumor,” I said, with a snarl. Predator indeed, but I didn’t aim my ire at Rumor. Rage at Enkidu filled me, for the two hundred and thirty second time since the fight ended. Rumor didn’t flee.
“How do you know this?”
“It talked in complete and occasionally intelligent sentences. It wanted revenge for something my teacher and I did to him several months ago. I think there is a distinct possibility it hunted me down…”
Rumor vanished.
Something walked close to me, hidden from view. Something immensely powerful. I ducked into an alley, backpedaled into the back doorway of an old German restaurant, and brought out both my knives. I refused to be defeated without a fight!
“I still mean you no harm,” Rumor said. He was the immensely powerful thing that approached? His power didn’t come from normal juice, but something else, like tamed Monster juice or a derivative. He had been holding back, just like I had been holding back on my predator effect.
“Come no closer,” I said. Demanded. With malice aforethought. As the predator.
“I must see the hand,” Rumor said. “I pledge to harm it in no way and will return it to you within a few seconds.”
The Crow, terrified of me before, was no longer terrified. No, I didn’t read him right. He acted as he needed to while terrified nearly beyond his wits. As he acted, he revealed the trick Officer Canon had used against me, only better: Rumor now hid from my visible sight and my metasense. He stood close enough to me to be practically breathing down my neck.
“What’s it worth to you?” I said.
“I saved your life. Doesn’t that
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