April 14th, 2009
Jun. 9th, 2009 09:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sonoflongshot((Backdated to just before this.))
Aiden had been going over the details of his final project and what tracks he needed back from Percy and tracks he still had to send to the brainiac. He was bent over his desk, industriously doodling around the two scribbled lists. He barely glanced up at his cell ringing. He snagged it and looked at the number. Not a local number.
"Moshi moshi," he answered promptly after flipping his phone open.
"Do you always answer your phone that way? Just out of curiosity," said the familiar Japanese voice on the other end of the line. His eldest aunt was eternally curious about him. Mostly because of all of Longshot's children, Aiden seemed the most likely to get into the family business that did not deal with entertainment. So, his aunt was ever curious what he was doing.
"It was a number I didn't know. Narrows the list of people who would call me by a lot." Aiden smiled to himself as he started doodling what was supposed to be a puff of brimstone with a white tail coming out of it. Well, supposed to, it looked a little more like a diagram for human growth and development.
"Ah. Remember the conditions for Hana's seal?" There were sounds in the background that the teenager couldn't quite make out. It generally sounded like the soundtrack used in movies for city noises.
"Yeah. I've been waiting for directions." If his aunt was going to give him a job to do, it would certainly stop him from thinking in circles about his final project. Possibly a welcome distraction.
"Your iPod has been in the lost and found at the Post Office for awhile now, hasn't it?"
"Erm. Yeah. I should get that, huh?"
"Probably. One might think you didn't like my gift."
"Oh, never. Full of slamming beats and stuff to move with. I've just been busy."
"Well, get it soon, nephew. Jaa."
"Hai. Hai," he responded before closing his phone. He looked down at his doodles. Not much for him to do today. He thought Angel was doing something with her parents today, so he probably wouldn't see her until the evening. He had time on his hands. He sent Angel a message he was going out for a bit and would be back later. Then he gathered up his leather jacket and put on his motorcycle boots. He dropped to the floor with a soft grunt and reached under his bed. It took him a second to remember how he stashed this gear and the correct way to get it undone. Once, in hand, he put the sack over his shoulder and headed out to his bike.
The ride into Salem Center was uneventful as he headed toward the Post Office. Then he bypassed the Post Office and went down four blocks. He parked his bike outside of the florist there and went in. Aiden gave his best smile to the petite woman behind the counter and said he was here to pick up a bouquet of forget-me-nots for his Aunt Alice. He had to wait a few minutes before he was handed a tastefully done floral arrangement in a small wicker basket. He walked out of the store and around the corner before he removed the flowers and saw a small disc at the bottom. He took the disc out and replaced the flowers. He handed the basket of flowers to an old lady he passed on his way back to his bike. He settled down on his bike and pulled out something the looked like an iPod out of one of his interior jacket pockets.
The case of the fake iPod flipped open, and he put the disk in before closing it again. He put the earbuds in as he felt the tiny vibrations of the device whirring to life. His aunt's voice came through the headphones after a second. The message, as typical for her, was mostly in Japanese. Some slang words came out in perfect English.
"A good guy mission for you, kiddo. You'll need to buy two gallons of anti-freeze and some hair dye. Last thing I need is your mother giving me a hairy eyeball for something you agreed to. The Hand has got something pretty addictive they're trying to get into some dealer's hands in New York. They don't want it in Japan, but unleashing it on Americans is a-okay. Especially since the side-effects are crazed rampages. Rumor has it that it's already been tested on one of the Silver Samurai's enemies, but I can't get solid info on that. I tend to believe it. I'll give you the address in the South Bronx." As the rest of the message played out, he started his bike and headed toward the closest store that would have what he needed.
When he got there, he popped the ear buds out and opened the case. He pulled the disc out and crushed it in his hand. It kind of hurt a little, too. He would need to buy bandages for his machismo, too. He put a few pieces of the disk in his jacket pocket and threw the rest into the trash bin outside the store. He emerged less than a half-hour later with two gallons of antifreeze, spray-in temporary hair dye, bandages, and a complete change of cheap clothes. He secured the stuff to his bike and started off toward the Bronx. Half-way there, he pulled off the road at a gas station. He slipped into what was supposed to be a bathroom but was more like a cesspool that had something with tentacles living in the toilet. Aiden quickly changed his clothes, carefully sprayed his hair black, and bandaged the palm of his hand. He hoped he had not touched anything to get his hand infected. His girlfriend would be most upset if he became one-handed.
Once, he was ready, it was back out to his bike to drive the rest of the way. Before he hit the Bronx, he extended his powers to cover himself and his motorcycle. He grit his teeth a bit at the strain, but this would help him hide his bike away from the building he needed to go to. He parked three blocks away, inside an abandoned and possibly going to be demolished soon building. Aiden put his bike in the shadows and grabbed the sack from his bedroom and pulled out a tarp. He covered his bike so the shiny was definitely hidden. Then he put the antifreeze into the sack and slung it by its strap over his shoulders. Staying invisible, he jogged to the rundown apartment building his aunt had told him about. He saw some guys hanging out on the front steps. One of them leaned over and Aiden spotted a gun peaking out of his waistband.
Aiden looked them over and decided the front door route was right out. His powers were good, but he couldn't finish this mission with accidental contact. Then there was the whole getting through the front door of the apartment that would be problematic. It would take too much time to pick locks if he had actually brought stuff to pick locks with him. So he quietly moved around the building toward the fire escape. He glanced around the garbage-strewn alley and at the fire escape. The sliding ladder would make to much noise even if he could jump up and catch the bottom rung easily. There was a dumpster close enough to use to launch himself at the bottom landing if he put the lid down.
When Aiden put the rusted lid down, he decided to do this jump quick. He pulled himself up, did three quick steps, and launched him at the first landing railing. He managed to catch it and pull himself up with the dullest of thuds. He puffed out a breath as he swung a leg over. He paused when the stuff in his sack sloshed around. The young Mojoworlder glanced around the alley before making his way up the fire escape invisibly. He checked in the windows on his way up, ignoring any people he saw. By the fourth floor, he finally had some luck. There was some mail on a kitchen table near the fire escape window. Once Aiden got a glance at the address, he had an idea where the apartment he needed on the tenth floor was. He scrambled quietly up the fire escape to the tenth floor. He shifted over to the windows on the left and ran his fingers gently around the edges of the window. He didn't feel any wires or anything outside of crumbling masonry.
He bit his lower lip as he tried to consider how to get the window open quietly. He guessed it depended on how smart these dealers were being. Or if they were assuming the cover of poverty would be enough. He tried to lift the window but found it locked. Cursing softly, he eyed the lock and the window. It was thin and crappy enough that he might be able to use a credit card to move the locking mechanism. He glanced around through the dirty window as he pulled his wallet out. He pulled out his lone credit card. The screen on this window had a massive hole in it so he snaked his arm through it and tried to slide his card through the space between the upper and lower panes of glass. Aiden winced when it didn't quite fit. Then he froze. Someone walked into the room in front him.
The Mojoworlder held his breath and hoped his powers were still working as he watched a man in a silken baseball jersey set down a big duffel bag on the coffee table. He yelled something over his shoulder before unzipping the bag. Aiden nearly let his breath out in a gasp at the sight of bricks of white stuff. He just managed to keep himself under control as the man nodded to himself and exited the room. He went straight out of the room and to the front door with the person he had yelled at. The both talked and gestured before going out the front door. Aiden waited a full minute before reaching his other hand through the hole in the screen to press on the lower pane of glass. Considering the disrepair of the building around him, it could be possible it was loose enough for a push. He didn't push too hard or he would get glass crashing. Just a bit of pressure and he got the gap between windows open enough to get his card up to move the lock. It took a few long minutes with him glancing at the front door every ten seconds.
When he got the decisive click he needed, he pulled his credit card out and put it back in his wallet. Once his wallet was in his zipped up side pocket again, he worked on raising the window quietly. He almost wanted to brush the sweat off his forehead, but he worked on getting the window open and himself through the gap. His new clothing caught a bit on the screen but he wiggled his way through and gently closed the window after grabbing his sack from where he had set it down on the fire escape. He carefully crept over to the coffee table and checked the opened duffel bag on. Bricks of white powder. He glanced around and moved into the kitchen. He grabbed a dirty knife out of the kitchen and quietly padded back. He grabbed the duffel bag and hauled it around as he looked for the bathroom. Once he found it, he dumped the white bricks into the bathtub and put the stopper in the bathtub drain. Then he bent over the tub and went to work cutting into each and every one. He held his breath until he went a little blue in the face. Then he dropped the knife in the tub and backed out to gasp in some breath.
Aiden quickly moved over to his sack and removed the two gallons of antifreeze. There was a small flutter of nervousness as he hoisted the two plastic containers. This was his first time totally going solo. On something slightly important. If he messed this up, he'd be in trouble and not stop whatever the heck that was in the bathtub from getting into the streets and harming innocent people. Also, his aunt was counting on him, which seemed to be just as important as the other thoughts. He licked his lips and went back into the bathroom. He set one of the containers down by the tub before twisting the other open. He poured out all the antifreeze onto the stabbed bricks of powder, one container after another. There was a not so nice powdery soup in the floating in there. Aiden grimaced and grabbed the empty plastic containers.
He tossed them into the tub as well and fled the bathroom. As he was getting his sack, he heard a commotion outside. He glanced toward the front door with his brow furrowed. Aiden could have sworn he had gotten in here undetected. He willed his invisibility powers on and went to the window. Glancing out of it got him a sit rep he didn't particularly find all that enjoyable. At the corner of the alley stood a man who stuck out in the neighborhood. The Mojoworlder didn't know what the Japanese man in the business suit was doing, but Aiden knew he couldn't get caught. He reached to open the window when he heard a screech and rumble of metal on metal. He got on his toes and peered down through the window to see some men coming up the fire escape. Ten stories were a bit too high for Aiden to go leaping off of, and he knew it. For once, he didn't want to end up in the Med Lab after doing something.
Front door it was. He turned and headed that direction. His steps got quicker when he heard angry voices in the hallway outside. Rather than fling the door open, he reached over and flipped every other lock. His reward was cussing on the other side of the door. As Aiden peeked through the peep hole, he saw two men twice as wide as him arguing about who locked the door and who left the keys on the kitchen counter. Eventually they both got mad enough that they were just going to break the door down. Aiden ran his hand through his oddly stiff black hair and checked over his shoulder. The metal clomp of feet on the rickety fire escape was getting louder.
The two men backed up together and counted to one. Then two. Right as they were about to get to three and throwing themselves at the door, the door came crashing down at them with Aiden on top of it. He scaled up the door as it hit the far wall. The Mojoworlder ignored the grunts of pain and surprise as he reached up to grab a pipe that ran along the top of the wall. The two men weren't alone as a guy in a white t-shirt and submachine gun rushed him. Rather than stop to gawk and remember he needed to concentrate to hold his invisibility powers on, Aiden grabbed the pipe and swung his legs up to step on and over his attacker. He added extra kick to his step off to send the guy sprawling on top of the door with the two men trying to get out from under it. When Aiden landed, his feet slipped a bit on the tile floor, but he kept moving because the men behind him wouldn't stay down for long. Nor would the men coming down the hall to his left with their guns out.
Aiden crouched as bullets his plaster above his head and ran for the corner. He raced down the short, dark hallway. There was the thud of feet approaching. He could see a sliver of light coming from the corner of the hall where the wall and a pipe running down separated. He grabbed the pipe and used his momentum to swing himself around to bring his knees into a thug's gut. The Mojoworlder followed the man into the wall and bounced off to go running down the hall. A stack of boxes blocked half of the hall so he bounced off the wall just above it to keep going. His hand trailed behind him to knock the boxes over to buy him a couple seconds to get to the stairs. He slid into the stairwell and looked down. He was an open and dead duck if he went down that way. He grabbed the railing and glanced around. He shoved himself away to run toward an apartment door across the landing. He stepped on a cast-iron radiator on the landing to push himself higher. He grabbed another pipe sticking out of the wall to help him get his legs up and swing through the transom window above the door.
Glass shattered and followed his bath inside. He woke the couple who owned the apartment who were lying in bed. He gave an apologetic wave as he ran by them and to the door leading out to their balcony. He was starting to wonder if this apartment building was made out of pipes and concrete when he spotted the top of decorative pipes leading down the balcony to the balcony below. He grabbed the pipes and threw himself over the edge to slide down to the balcony below. He landed easily and ran through a half-opened door and through someone else's apartment. Someone who might have been in the shower from the brief sound of things as he ran through the apartment. He let himself out rather than put whoever the occupant was into danger. He ran out the front door and down the hall to turn the corner and find the people who had been chasing him on the floor above were coming down the stairs now. Rather than take a chance with the stairwell again, Aiden shoved himself down a long hallway with a missing window at the end. He felt someone right on his heels. He bit his lower lip for some sort of idea when he saw a rope hanging outside the window. Aiden put on more speed and dove for the rope.
As he got a hold of the rope and swung out, the Mojoworlder had the barest of chances to check over his shoulder. He saw the long-haired man who had been right behind him dive to grab him and miss. Since Aiden was out of hand, the man tried to grab the rope that was swinging out with Aiden. The former blond winced as the man missed the rope by inches and plummeted down the side of the building to land with a glass-shattering, roof-denting crash on a car parked below. Though there was little time for gawking as Aiden was arcing back to the building with the rope still in his hands. A comrade of the downed thug was leaning out the window to stare down at his busted car in shock. Aiden's feet touched the side of the building, and he ran along the side while holding the rope. He kicked the window-leaning thug in the head as he went by the window. He kept running until he could swing out and around the corner. He loosened his grip on the rope to slide down the rope a bit. It burned his hands a little, but he got him low enough to land on a balcony on this side of the building.
He hissed a bit and shook his hands before starting off again. If he stayed in one place too long, he could be found out. Part of him was aware that if he turned invisible, he would have an easier time getting away. However, the part of him hardwired for the thrill of it was overriding everything. It was better for him to get chased than someone innocent getting in the cross hairs. Aiden must have spent too much time wincing at his hands because when he emerged from the filthy yet empty apartment, there were more thugs coming down the stairs after him. He was starting to wonder how many of them were in the building. He was starting to get thankful there had only been one burst of gunfire as he raced down a hallway to an open window. He got to the window and looked out.
No fire escape, but some sort of decorative ladder structure that went toward the roof. Down was too rife with people going on with their lives. He grabbed a rung of the metal bars and started climbing up. He heard some shouts that he was heading to the roof. Aiden glanced down in time to see someone stick his torso out to fire at him. The shots missed as Aiden swung himself into a small recess. He puffed out a breath before looking up and down. He would be safe from the shots if he stayed in this recess to the top. So, he crab-walked his way up the building with more urgency since the other gang members were probably close to getting to the roof.
At the top, he grabbed the edge of the roof and hoisted himself up. Just in time for his pursuers to come out of the door to the roof. Aiden was just getting his feet under him as one in a red bandanna spotted him and shouted the black-haired guy was over there. Rather than wait to get shot, he turned toward a wooden shed to get some cover. He spotted another rooftop not far away and put on some speed. It wasn't too far of a jump to get to the next rooftop, so Aiden hit the ground running to keep going. He kept moving forward despite the three successive thumps of his pursuers landing after him. He hopped up a step to a higher part of the roof and kept moving toward the edge of the roof. Aiden had nothing in mind but to just jump.
When he stepped up to the ledge, he found another building nearby, but the roof was a story lower. If he stayed put the Mojoworlder was a dead man, so he leapt for the next roof. His arms pinwheeled slightly in the air before he set himself up to land. He hit the rooftop with a roll right up to his feet. He headed straight for a pipe leading up a connected roof. As he scrambled up the pipe, shots pinged off the metal beneath his feet. Though he did hear a bodily thump and a scream as one of his pursuers did not land well.
Aiden pulled himself up the pop and shot across the roof to jump over the edge back down to another connected rooftop. He noticed a small trapdoor propped open at his eye-level with a weathered dowel. Rather than take a chance with more open rooftop, Aiden headed right for it. He hoisted himself up and then jumped through the opening. His hand knocked the stick out to shut the trapdoor as he went down into the building. The Mojoworlder landed next to the railing to stairs going down. He hopped over the side of the railing to land on the stairs and miss the open space down the center of the stairs. He kept hopping the railings to get down faster. Until he spotted a jacketed gang member coming up the stairs. He was starting to wonder how many of these guys he was trying to get away from.
Thankfully, this one wasn't carrying a gun. Though he did take a swing at Aiden as he rushed him. The Mojoworlder dodge to the side and helped his attacker's own momentum carry him over the top of the railing. There was a scream, a couple metal pings, and then Aiden stopped paying attention as a man in a number 12 football jersey was coming at him. Aiden grabbed the railing to swing himself out and around the guy instead of through. He landed on the other side of his attacker and kept going. He managed to jump from one flight of stairs to another a couple more times before a small squad of goons were coming up the stairs at him. Aiden swore these guys were like rabbits!
Instead of trying to go down and around the guys that outnumbered him, he ran for an apartment door. He threw his shoulder against it and smashed it open. There was a tiny bit of relief that it was a an abandoned apartment. He was getting tired of intruding on random people. He ran through the apartment and out onto its dingy balcony. Aiden jumped over the railing of the balcony and sailed down to a rooftop below. He checked over his shoulder when he landed to see if anyone was was following or if they were going to start shooting again. A few muscular guys took the leap and followed him. He ran toward a ledge with a decorative metal trellis cutting it in half. He grabbed the edge of the trellis to swing himself out and around. He kept moving because if he stopped, one of those guys following him might get a brain.
His legs pumped as hard as he could make them. He spotted another roof he could get to if he jumped off the portion of the roof he was already on jutting out. He put his head down and pushed it. Aiden knew he needed every last ounce of what he had to jump ten feet out and two stories down without hurting himself. His foot hit the edge of the roof with a solidity that made the Mojoworlder grin. He threw every muscle he had into that jump and tried not to yell too loud as he sailed through the air.
Aiden hit the gravelly roof and rolled. He checked up momentarily to assure himself that, yes, he did make it. Then he was on his feet and moving across the roof. He was certain his pursuers wouldn't follow him, but that distance wouldn't stop them from trying to shoot him if they had guns. By the time some bullets buried themselves in the gravel behind him, Aiden was leaping down to a lower level of the building's roof. He went down again to a concrete structure before dangling and dropping down to the street. Rather than stroll and let anybody searching for him find him, he ran around a corner and disappeared from sight.
He slowed down to a jog but kept moving forward. He needed to get to his bike and out of the Bronx. Though he did pull his phone out of one of his zippered pants pockets and sent a text message by touch to his aunt's disposable number that his iPod was fine. He snapped the phone shut and put it back in his pocket. Aiden went visible when he was by his bike. He quickly pulled the tarp off his bike and folded it up. He got his helmet and leather jacket on. The grin on his face was going to be stuck there for awhile, he had a feeling. The rush of the mission and completing it successfully was going to stick around. He might celebrate later. Probably after Angel has him wash the hair dye out.
Aiden settled on his bike and pushed his powers one last time to cover himself and his bike. He could feel the strain from covering such a large combined mass, but he just needed to make it out of New York and back to Westchester. He should also get himself changed back into his clothes and get these destroyed. Though completely getting back into a regular school life with his final project looming was going to be hard.
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Aiden had been going over the details of his final project and what tracks he needed back from Percy and tracks he still had to send to the brainiac. He was bent over his desk, industriously doodling around the two scribbled lists. He barely glanced up at his cell ringing. He snagged it and looked at the number. Not a local number.
"Moshi moshi," he answered promptly after flipping his phone open.
"Do you always answer your phone that way? Just out of curiosity," said the familiar Japanese voice on the other end of the line. His eldest aunt was eternally curious about him. Mostly because of all of Longshot's children, Aiden seemed the most likely to get into the family business that did not deal with entertainment. So, his aunt was ever curious what he was doing.
"It was a number I didn't know. Narrows the list of people who would call me by a lot." Aiden smiled to himself as he started doodling what was supposed to be a puff of brimstone with a white tail coming out of it. Well, supposed to, it looked a little more like a diagram for human growth and development.
"Ah. Remember the conditions for Hana's seal?" There were sounds in the background that the teenager couldn't quite make out. It generally sounded like the soundtrack used in movies for city noises.
"Yeah. I've been waiting for directions." If his aunt was going to give him a job to do, it would certainly stop him from thinking in circles about his final project. Possibly a welcome distraction.
"Your iPod has been in the lost and found at the Post Office for awhile now, hasn't it?"
"Erm. Yeah. I should get that, huh?"
"Probably. One might think you didn't like my gift."
"Oh, never. Full of slamming beats and stuff to move with. I've just been busy."
"Well, get it soon, nephew. Jaa."
"Hai. Hai," he responded before closing his phone. He looked down at his doodles. Not much for him to do today. He thought Angel was doing something with her parents today, so he probably wouldn't see her until the evening. He had time on his hands. He sent Angel a message he was going out for a bit and would be back later. Then he gathered up his leather jacket and put on his motorcycle boots. He dropped to the floor with a soft grunt and reached under his bed. It took him a second to remember how he stashed this gear and the correct way to get it undone. Once, in hand, he put the sack over his shoulder and headed out to his bike.
The ride into Salem Center was uneventful as he headed toward the Post Office. Then he bypassed the Post Office and went down four blocks. He parked his bike outside of the florist there and went in. Aiden gave his best smile to the petite woman behind the counter and said he was here to pick up a bouquet of forget-me-nots for his Aunt Alice. He had to wait a few minutes before he was handed a tastefully done floral arrangement in a small wicker basket. He walked out of the store and around the corner before he removed the flowers and saw a small disc at the bottom. He took the disc out and replaced the flowers. He handed the basket of flowers to an old lady he passed on his way back to his bike. He settled down on his bike and pulled out something the looked like an iPod out of one of his interior jacket pockets.
The case of the fake iPod flipped open, and he put the disk in before closing it again. He put the earbuds in as he felt the tiny vibrations of the device whirring to life. His aunt's voice came through the headphones after a second. The message, as typical for her, was mostly in Japanese. Some slang words came out in perfect English.
"A good guy mission for you, kiddo. You'll need to buy two gallons of anti-freeze and some hair dye. Last thing I need is your mother giving me a hairy eyeball for something you agreed to. The Hand has got something pretty addictive they're trying to get into some dealer's hands in New York. They don't want it in Japan, but unleashing it on Americans is a-okay. Especially since the side-effects are crazed rampages. Rumor has it that it's already been tested on one of the Silver Samurai's enemies, but I can't get solid info on that. I tend to believe it. I'll give you the address in the South Bronx." As the rest of the message played out, he started his bike and headed toward the closest store that would have what he needed.
When he got there, he popped the ear buds out and opened the case. He pulled the disc out and crushed it in his hand. It kind of hurt a little, too. He would need to buy bandages for his machismo, too. He put a few pieces of the disk in his jacket pocket and threw the rest into the trash bin outside the store. He emerged less than a half-hour later with two gallons of antifreeze, spray-in temporary hair dye, bandages, and a complete change of cheap clothes. He secured the stuff to his bike and started off toward the Bronx. Half-way there, he pulled off the road at a gas station. He slipped into what was supposed to be a bathroom but was more like a cesspool that had something with tentacles living in the toilet. Aiden quickly changed his clothes, carefully sprayed his hair black, and bandaged the palm of his hand. He hoped he had not touched anything to get his hand infected. His girlfriend would be most upset if he became one-handed.
Once, he was ready, it was back out to his bike to drive the rest of the way. Before he hit the Bronx, he extended his powers to cover himself and his motorcycle. He grit his teeth a bit at the strain, but this would help him hide his bike away from the building he needed to go to. He parked three blocks away, inside an abandoned and possibly going to be demolished soon building. Aiden put his bike in the shadows and grabbed the sack from his bedroom and pulled out a tarp. He covered his bike so the shiny was definitely hidden. Then he put the antifreeze into the sack and slung it by its strap over his shoulders. Staying invisible, he jogged to the rundown apartment building his aunt had told him about. He saw some guys hanging out on the front steps. One of them leaned over and Aiden spotted a gun peaking out of his waistband.
Aiden looked them over and decided the front door route was right out. His powers were good, but he couldn't finish this mission with accidental contact. Then there was the whole getting through the front door of the apartment that would be problematic. It would take too much time to pick locks if he had actually brought stuff to pick locks with him. So he quietly moved around the building toward the fire escape. He glanced around the garbage-strewn alley and at the fire escape. The sliding ladder would make to much noise even if he could jump up and catch the bottom rung easily. There was a dumpster close enough to use to launch himself at the bottom landing if he put the lid down.
When Aiden put the rusted lid down, he decided to do this jump quick. He pulled himself up, did three quick steps, and launched him at the first landing railing. He managed to catch it and pull himself up with the dullest of thuds. He puffed out a breath as he swung a leg over. He paused when the stuff in his sack sloshed around. The young Mojoworlder glanced around the alley before making his way up the fire escape invisibly. He checked in the windows on his way up, ignoring any people he saw. By the fourth floor, he finally had some luck. There was some mail on a kitchen table near the fire escape window. Once Aiden got a glance at the address, he had an idea where the apartment he needed on the tenth floor was. He scrambled quietly up the fire escape to the tenth floor. He shifted over to the windows on the left and ran his fingers gently around the edges of the window. He didn't feel any wires or anything outside of crumbling masonry.
He bit his lower lip as he tried to consider how to get the window open quietly. He guessed it depended on how smart these dealers were being. Or if they were assuming the cover of poverty would be enough. He tried to lift the window but found it locked. Cursing softly, he eyed the lock and the window. It was thin and crappy enough that he might be able to use a credit card to move the locking mechanism. He glanced around through the dirty window as he pulled his wallet out. He pulled out his lone credit card. The screen on this window had a massive hole in it so he snaked his arm through it and tried to slide his card through the space between the upper and lower panes of glass. Aiden winced when it didn't quite fit. Then he froze. Someone walked into the room in front him.
The Mojoworlder held his breath and hoped his powers were still working as he watched a man in a silken baseball jersey set down a big duffel bag on the coffee table. He yelled something over his shoulder before unzipping the bag. Aiden nearly let his breath out in a gasp at the sight of bricks of white stuff. He just managed to keep himself under control as the man nodded to himself and exited the room. He went straight out of the room and to the front door with the person he had yelled at. The both talked and gestured before going out the front door. Aiden waited a full minute before reaching his other hand through the hole in the screen to press on the lower pane of glass. Considering the disrepair of the building around him, it could be possible it was loose enough for a push. He didn't push too hard or he would get glass crashing. Just a bit of pressure and he got the gap between windows open enough to get his card up to move the lock. It took a few long minutes with him glancing at the front door every ten seconds.
When he got the decisive click he needed, he pulled his credit card out and put it back in his wallet. Once his wallet was in his zipped up side pocket again, he worked on raising the window quietly. He almost wanted to brush the sweat off his forehead, but he worked on getting the window open and himself through the gap. His new clothing caught a bit on the screen but he wiggled his way through and gently closed the window after grabbing his sack from where he had set it down on the fire escape. He carefully crept over to the coffee table and checked the opened duffel bag on. Bricks of white powder. He glanced around and moved into the kitchen. He grabbed a dirty knife out of the kitchen and quietly padded back. He grabbed the duffel bag and hauled it around as he looked for the bathroom. Once he found it, he dumped the white bricks into the bathtub and put the stopper in the bathtub drain. Then he bent over the tub and went to work cutting into each and every one. He held his breath until he went a little blue in the face. Then he dropped the knife in the tub and backed out to gasp in some breath.
Aiden quickly moved over to his sack and removed the two gallons of antifreeze. There was a small flutter of nervousness as he hoisted the two plastic containers. This was his first time totally going solo. On something slightly important. If he messed this up, he'd be in trouble and not stop whatever the heck that was in the bathtub from getting into the streets and harming innocent people. Also, his aunt was counting on him, which seemed to be just as important as the other thoughts. He licked his lips and went back into the bathroom. He set one of the containers down by the tub before twisting the other open. He poured out all the antifreeze onto the stabbed bricks of powder, one container after another. There was a not so nice powdery soup in the floating in there. Aiden grimaced and grabbed the empty plastic containers.
He tossed them into the tub as well and fled the bathroom. As he was getting his sack, he heard a commotion outside. He glanced toward the front door with his brow furrowed. Aiden could have sworn he had gotten in here undetected. He willed his invisibility powers on and went to the window. Glancing out of it got him a sit rep he didn't particularly find all that enjoyable. At the corner of the alley stood a man who stuck out in the neighborhood. The Mojoworlder didn't know what the Japanese man in the business suit was doing, but Aiden knew he couldn't get caught. He reached to open the window when he heard a screech and rumble of metal on metal. He got on his toes and peered down through the window to see some men coming up the fire escape. Ten stories were a bit too high for Aiden to go leaping off of, and he knew it. For once, he didn't want to end up in the Med Lab after doing something.
Front door it was. He turned and headed that direction. His steps got quicker when he heard angry voices in the hallway outside. Rather than fling the door open, he reached over and flipped every other lock. His reward was cussing on the other side of the door. As Aiden peeked through the peep hole, he saw two men twice as wide as him arguing about who locked the door and who left the keys on the kitchen counter. Eventually they both got mad enough that they were just going to break the door down. Aiden ran his hand through his oddly stiff black hair and checked over his shoulder. The metal clomp of feet on the rickety fire escape was getting louder.
The two men backed up together and counted to one. Then two. Right as they were about to get to three and throwing themselves at the door, the door came crashing down at them with Aiden on top of it. He scaled up the door as it hit the far wall. The Mojoworlder ignored the grunts of pain and surprise as he reached up to grab a pipe that ran along the top of the wall. The two men weren't alone as a guy in a white t-shirt and submachine gun rushed him. Rather than stop to gawk and remember he needed to concentrate to hold his invisibility powers on, Aiden grabbed the pipe and swung his legs up to step on and over his attacker. He added extra kick to his step off to send the guy sprawling on top of the door with the two men trying to get out from under it. When Aiden landed, his feet slipped a bit on the tile floor, but he kept moving because the men behind him wouldn't stay down for long. Nor would the men coming down the hall to his left with their guns out.
Aiden crouched as bullets his plaster above his head and ran for the corner. He raced down the short, dark hallway. There was the thud of feet approaching. He could see a sliver of light coming from the corner of the hall where the wall and a pipe running down separated. He grabbed the pipe and used his momentum to swing himself around to bring his knees into a thug's gut. The Mojoworlder followed the man into the wall and bounced off to go running down the hall. A stack of boxes blocked half of the hall so he bounced off the wall just above it to keep going. His hand trailed behind him to knock the boxes over to buy him a couple seconds to get to the stairs. He slid into the stairwell and looked down. He was an open and dead duck if he went down that way. He grabbed the railing and glanced around. He shoved himself away to run toward an apartment door across the landing. He stepped on a cast-iron radiator on the landing to push himself higher. He grabbed another pipe sticking out of the wall to help him get his legs up and swing through the transom window above the door.
Glass shattered and followed his bath inside. He woke the couple who owned the apartment who were lying in bed. He gave an apologetic wave as he ran by them and to the door leading out to their balcony. He was starting to wonder if this apartment building was made out of pipes and concrete when he spotted the top of decorative pipes leading down the balcony to the balcony below. He grabbed the pipes and threw himself over the edge to slide down to the balcony below. He landed easily and ran through a half-opened door and through someone else's apartment. Someone who might have been in the shower from the brief sound of things as he ran through the apartment. He let himself out rather than put whoever the occupant was into danger. He ran out the front door and down the hall to turn the corner and find the people who had been chasing him on the floor above were coming down the stairs now. Rather than take a chance with the stairwell again, Aiden shoved himself down a long hallway with a missing window at the end. He felt someone right on his heels. He bit his lower lip for some sort of idea when he saw a rope hanging outside the window. Aiden put on more speed and dove for the rope.
As he got a hold of the rope and swung out, the Mojoworlder had the barest of chances to check over his shoulder. He saw the long-haired man who had been right behind him dive to grab him and miss. Since Aiden was out of hand, the man tried to grab the rope that was swinging out with Aiden. The former blond winced as the man missed the rope by inches and plummeted down the side of the building to land with a glass-shattering, roof-denting crash on a car parked below. Though there was little time for gawking as Aiden was arcing back to the building with the rope still in his hands. A comrade of the downed thug was leaning out the window to stare down at his busted car in shock. Aiden's feet touched the side of the building, and he ran along the side while holding the rope. He kicked the window-leaning thug in the head as he went by the window. He kept running until he could swing out and around the corner. He loosened his grip on the rope to slide down the rope a bit. It burned his hands a little, but he got him low enough to land on a balcony on this side of the building.
He hissed a bit and shook his hands before starting off again. If he stayed in one place too long, he could be found out. Part of him was aware that if he turned invisible, he would have an easier time getting away. However, the part of him hardwired for the thrill of it was overriding everything. It was better for him to get chased than someone innocent getting in the cross hairs. Aiden must have spent too much time wincing at his hands because when he emerged from the filthy yet empty apartment, there were more thugs coming down the stairs after him. He was starting to wonder how many of them were in the building. He was starting to get thankful there had only been one burst of gunfire as he raced down a hallway to an open window. He got to the window and looked out.
No fire escape, but some sort of decorative ladder structure that went toward the roof. Down was too rife with people going on with their lives. He grabbed a rung of the metal bars and started climbing up. He heard some shouts that he was heading to the roof. Aiden glanced down in time to see someone stick his torso out to fire at him. The shots missed as Aiden swung himself into a small recess. He puffed out a breath before looking up and down. He would be safe from the shots if he stayed in this recess to the top. So, he crab-walked his way up the building with more urgency since the other gang members were probably close to getting to the roof.
At the top, he grabbed the edge of the roof and hoisted himself up. Just in time for his pursuers to come out of the door to the roof. Aiden was just getting his feet under him as one in a red bandanna spotted him and shouted the black-haired guy was over there. Rather than wait to get shot, he turned toward a wooden shed to get some cover. He spotted another rooftop not far away and put on some speed. It wasn't too far of a jump to get to the next rooftop, so Aiden hit the ground running to keep going. He kept moving forward despite the three successive thumps of his pursuers landing after him. He hopped up a step to a higher part of the roof and kept moving toward the edge of the roof. Aiden had nothing in mind but to just jump.
When he stepped up to the ledge, he found another building nearby, but the roof was a story lower. If he stayed put the Mojoworlder was a dead man, so he leapt for the next roof. His arms pinwheeled slightly in the air before he set himself up to land. He hit the rooftop with a roll right up to his feet. He headed straight for a pipe leading up a connected roof. As he scrambled up the pipe, shots pinged off the metal beneath his feet. Though he did hear a bodily thump and a scream as one of his pursuers did not land well.
Aiden pulled himself up the pop and shot across the roof to jump over the edge back down to another connected rooftop. He noticed a small trapdoor propped open at his eye-level with a weathered dowel. Rather than take a chance with more open rooftop, Aiden headed right for it. He hoisted himself up and then jumped through the opening. His hand knocked the stick out to shut the trapdoor as he went down into the building. The Mojoworlder landed next to the railing to stairs going down. He hopped over the side of the railing to land on the stairs and miss the open space down the center of the stairs. He kept hopping the railings to get down faster. Until he spotted a jacketed gang member coming up the stairs. He was starting to wonder how many of these guys he was trying to get away from.
Thankfully, this one wasn't carrying a gun. Though he did take a swing at Aiden as he rushed him. The Mojoworlder dodge to the side and helped his attacker's own momentum carry him over the top of the railing. There was a scream, a couple metal pings, and then Aiden stopped paying attention as a man in a number 12 football jersey was coming at him. Aiden grabbed the railing to swing himself out and around the guy instead of through. He landed on the other side of his attacker and kept going. He managed to jump from one flight of stairs to another a couple more times before a small squad of goons were coming up the stairs at him. Aiden swore these guys were like rabbits!
Instead of trying to go down and around the guys that outnumbered him, he ran for an apartment door. He threw his shoulder against it and smashed it open. There was a tiny bit of relief that it was a an abandoned apartment. He was getting tired of intruding on random people. He ran through the apartment and out onto its dingy balcony. Aiden jumped over the railing of the balcony and sailed down to a rooftop below. He checked over his shoulder when he landed to see if anyone was was following or if they were going to start shooting again. A few muscular guys took the leap and followed him. He ran toward a ledge with a decorative metal trellis cutting it in half. He grabbed the edge of the trellis to swing himself out and around. He kept moving because if he stopped, one of those guys following him might get a brain.
His legs pumped as hard as he could make them. He spotted another roof he could get to if he jumped off the portion of the roof he was already on jutting out. He put his head down and pushed it. Aiden knew he needed every last ounce of what he had to jump ten feet out and two stories down without hurting himself. His foot hit the edge of the roof with a solidity that made the Mojoworlder grin. He threw every muscle he had into that jump and tried not to yell too loud as he sailed through the air.
Aiden hit the gravelly roof and rolled. He checked up momentarily to assure himself that, yes, he did make it. Then he was on his feet and moving across the roof. He was certain his pursuers wouldn't follow him, but that distance wouldn't stop them from trying to shoot him if they had guns. By the time some bullets buried themselves in the gravel behind him, Aiden was leaping down to a lower level of the building's roof. He went down again to a concrete structure before dangling and dropping down to the street. Rather than stroll and let anybody searching for him find him, he ran around a corner and disappeared from sight.
He slowed down to a jog but kept moving forward. He needed to get to his bike and out of the Bronx. Though he did pull his phone out of one of his zippered pants pockets and sent a text message by touch to his aunt's disposable number that his iPod was fine. He snapped the phone shut and put it back in his pocket. Aiden went visible when he was by his bike. He quickly pulled the tarp off his bike and folded it up. He got his helmet and leather jacket on. The grin on his face was going to be stuck there for awhile, he had a feeling. The rush of the mission and completing it successfully was going to stick around. He might celebrate later. Probably after Angel has him wash the hair dye out.
Aiden settled on his bike and pushed his powers one last time to cover himself and his bike. He could feel the strain from covering such a large combined mass, but he just needed to make it out of New York and back to Westchester. He should also get himself changed back into his clothes and get these destroyed. Though completely getting back into a regular school life with his final project looming was going to be hard.
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