Chapter Nine

 

Kuma was summoned from the obstacle course training grounds to find Deacon chatting with Brazio like old friends at the gate of the Academy. His uncle had bags under his eyes, but seemed in a good mood.

"Little Bear," he greeted, offering a half-hug.

"Uncle."

Kuma made a point of not standing near Deacon. Camina had needed to be sent to an above ground hospital to be fixed with more complex magics.

"You two are going on a little trip."

"We are?"

Brazio bunched up his lips. "His bosses want to see how things are progressing with the training. They want to know we're not yanking their chains. You'll head through the tunnels using one of the carts. Don’t worry, the passage is secure. Gabrielle has made some modifications to the entry points. We won't be surprised again."

"Why me?"

"They know you from the raid and you're a clan leader's son."

Kuma thought about pointing out that Yara was available, but it appeared it'd already been decided.

"Understood."

"Grab your things. You'll only be gone a day, but look sharp." Brazio held out a small bag. "Give this to Gregor. He's the head of Black Crows."

The leather bag jingled with small stones, barely any weight. Kuma returned to his quarters, putting on the dark slacks, white shirt, crimson vest, and black jacket that marked their clan. In the privacy of his room, he checked the contents of the bag, finding five ambers and two topaz. While the ambers were common everywhere, and they had extras of topaz, he hated the idea that they were giving some away.

He found Deacon at the rendezvous point, wearing the tracksuit he'd worn when he'd arrived in the Machi. They were led into a room where a half dozen electric carts waited.

Kuma thought Deacon might protest being blindfolded but he accepted the loss of sight without comment. If he thought he might be able to figure out the pathways, he would be disappointed as there were direction-confusing enchantments at certain points that Gabrielle had placed to keep people from detecting the route without sight.

The cart sped through the tunnels, illuminated by the headlamps on the front, which made the passage seem faster than it was. Kuma sat next to Deacon trying not to sink into the misfortune that had placed them back together.

"I'm real sorry about Camina," said Deacon, his muffled voice coming through the black bag on his head.

"If you were sorry you wouldn't have done it."

"I ain't used to holdin' back. You all have honor down here. You treat each other like family. But in the city, if you show weakness, you get your head taken off. I'm just not used to how you do things."

Kuma's amber annoyingly told him that Deacon was being honest.

"You could have killed her."

"I only wanted to prove myself. You know I come into your world, your Academy, and everyone only sees the outsider. We dress different, talk different, and you treat us different. The best way of proving yourself is to put someone else down. But I went too far. I see that now."

The rest of the journey was made in silence. The electric cart arrived in their hideout in Big Dave's Town. The place seemed subdued when they strolled into the open. The buzzing of the neon Devil's Lipstick sign seemed overly loud as there was no one in the streets, and Razor soldados stood on every corner with automatic weapons slung over their shoulders, giving nods of recognition as they passed.

"Always like this?"

"Usually way busier. No wonder the businesses are unhappy. They're safe from theft and customers," said Kuma.

The climb up the ramp was long and exhausting. Halfway up, Deacon pointed to a gash in the stone.

"Was this from...?"

"Yeah."

Deacon checked behind them. "Much damage to the town?"

"Not as much as you'd expect. They came through the streets, killing anyone they saw, but didn't touch the buildings. The bar at the top was a different story. Wasn't big enough for some of the larger demons, so they knocked down the walls and ceilings to get out. Were you in the city?"

He nodded. "We hunkered down in the tenth ward. Not a lot of casualties and when the fighting was over, we were able to afford some of the buildings in the second ward, take over territory that had been run by other gangs that took too big of a hit."

Outside the Goblin's Romp, a black SUV with tinted windows was waiting for them. Kuma steeled his guts and made the short walk into the open air before climbing into the back seat. His heart was racing, but he managed to keep a calm façade. Deacon knew the driver and hopped in the passenger seat. They started talking about what had been happening since he'd gone underground, leaving Kuma to stare at the fireworks exploding over the Glitterdome.

The journey was short, only one ward away to the second. The front of the building looked like a fortress. Deacon led them through a security room where their identities were confirmed by video feed before they were let into the main area.

A heavy-set man in a silk suit with greasy black hair and a mustache needing a trim greeted them with open arms upon arrival. Deep pockmarks made his cheeks gaunt. He grabbed Deacon around the neck and hugged him to his side.

"Deacon, you slimy cunt, it's good to see your pale ass again. I hope you behaved yourself. Ol' Deacon here can be a bit prickly." The exchange seemed like the equivalent to grabbing an unwilling dog, mussing with their fur, and presenting them to a guest. "You must be Kuma Santos."

Kuma bent deeply at the waist and then extended his hand. "I am. May the shadows keep you safe."

"Gregor Anderson if you didn't already know," he said as he kept his arm around Deacon's neck, shaking him slightly. Deacon looked uncomfortable but said nothing. "You hear that, Deacon? I like that greeting. May the shadows keep you safe. We need something like that. Maybe it should be, listen to me or I'll pull your fucking guts out, or something like that."

He pushed Deacon away. The fellow trainee straightened his jacket and tried to keep a neutral face, but Kuma could see his simmering anger.

Gregor led them into a formal conference room with a big mahogany table at the center. He poured himself a coffee from a machine on the wall, gesturing towards it as he was sipping from the cup.

"There's water in the fridge down there, or whiskey if that's your thing, but you don't look the type," said Gregor as he took a seat.

Kuma took one a few seats away, leaving a space for Deacon between them. Gregor stared at them as if he were deciding which steak to eat, the twenty-eight-ounce sirloin or the fifteen-ounce fillet.

"Lemme see it," he said, holding out his hand.

Deacon knocked the hair away from his ear, revealing the twin stones set into his tragus.

"Topaz and amber. The topaz is the strength one, right? Show me something, Deacon. Make me proud."

Deacon rose from the table and checked around the room. He found a crowbar leaning in the corner. Kuma had a pretty good idea why it'd been there. Deacon presented the crowbar on his flat palms, bowed slightly, and then strained with effort as he bent the metal bar into a U shape.

"Outstanding," said Gregor, clapping his hands. "Not only is our Deacon upgraded, but he's learned respect. Something I would never have thought possible. It's like teaching a hyena to eat at a table like a real human." He winked at Kuma. "Maybe this arrangement is having benefits I didn't anticipate, though you could have dressed better, Deacon. Look how sharp Kuma is. So, how's the training?"

Deacon returned to his seat. His lips were squeezed white and Kuma sensed boiling emotions inside with the amber.

"Good. There's a lot we don't know, but Instructor Kaz has tailored our training to our skill sets." He looked up, even though it was clear that eye contact with Gregor was painful. "Maybe in the future we can send younger students so they can learn the full component of skills. Or incorporate some training like Razor's into our new recruits."

Gregor smoothed his greasy mustache and stared at Deacon with dead eyes.

"What did I say about thinking, Deacon? Not too much, or you'll get yourself in trouble." He winked at Kuma, showing off how he could beat his dog. "But it's a good thought. I'll consider it. What about you, Kuma? What kind of stones do you have?"

Under normal circumstances, Kuma wouldn't have divulged the information, but after the duel at Shade's End and his time training with Deacon, there was no reason to keep it hidden.

"Amber and emerald."

"Emerald," said Gregor as if he were tasting the word. "That's the one that makes you heavy?"

"Or light."

"Care to give a demonstration?"

Kuma inclined his head. "Of course." He stepped behind the big chair and cycling to Light, leapt onto the back, balancing on the wobbly seat as if he were a feather. Kuma pulled the curved blades from his inside pockets, twirled them around his hands while he stayed balanced, and then shoved them back into their sheaths. He dropped to the ground, cycling back to Heavy, which made his landing thud loudly.

"That was a cooler trick, Deacon. You need to work on your showmanship. You good with those knives?"

"Not as good as many others like my uncle, but getting better," said Kuma.

"So you have something else for me?"

Kuma reached into his pocket, producing the small leather bag. He slid it to Gregor, who peeked in, pulled out an amber, and held it up to the light.

"It won't make me dizzy, will it?"

"Eventually," said Kuma.

"How bad was it for you?"

"My attunement was longer and more brutal than most. But in the end, I managed."

"They said mine was average," said Deacon. "The topaz was much easier than the amber."

"A fucking wonder," said Gregor, shaking his head. "All the power the mages have except condensed down to this little stone. Right under our feet this whole time and none of that fancy Hall bullshit to get in the way. It gives me great pleasure to know that they're getting knocked down a peg or two, not only because of the stones, but their weakened magic. Of course, I'd like some of the fancier stones. Amber is good and all, and these topaz will be a boon, but we need more of the others. What's the strongest stone you think?"

"Some think it's the sapphire, while others believe the black diamond might be strongest."

"Black diamond? I ain't heard of it."

"It's very rare, only a few have been found and none by Razor. The user can turn their skin to what amounts to impregnable steel."

"Like a fucking tank."

"Almost, but it's not perfect. My uncle beat one in a duel last year. Cooked her alive with his opal."

Gregor finished his coffee, setting the cup down with a rattle. "My understanding is you beat a sapphire in a duel."

"I did."

"So the stones aren't enough."

"It takes training to use them. Even an amber can beat a sapphire if their opponent doesn't know how to use their stone."

"Did your opponent?"

The memory of Pandora brought warmth to his middle. "She was good. Really good. But I'd been training against our sapphires, and I knew how to counter her, and when an opportunity was presented, I took it and won."

Gregor leaned over. "But you didn’t kill her. Why was that?"

It was a question he'd been asked dozens of times since, and he had a practiced answer.

"I owed her a debt. She stopped a rival clan from killing me. This was before she became a Drops."

Gregor drummed his fingers on the table as he considered the explanation.

"If it were me, I would have cut her throat. Never leave an enemy alive." He wagged his eyebrows towards the ceiling. "You know how we got this place?"

"I know it was after the Invasion."

"Used to be owned by the Joker Sixes. Big gang, lots of money and power. Had local commissioners in their pocket, bribes to the cops, that sort of thing. But the invasion hit them hard, and they were weak and scattered. While the demo crews were tearing down the old Glitterdome, we moved in like a scythe cutting down wheat. We hit them hard and fast and left no one alive."

Kuma nodded respectfully, but said nothing while Gregor stared at him.

"If we're going to ally with Razor in the Undercity, eventually we're going to take down the Drops. They're your biggest rivals and the ones nipping at your heels. I hope when the time comes you'll cut that bitch's throat and every other Drops that gets in the way. No man, woman, or child standing."

The thought of killing children made him sick, but it wasn't his place to offer disagreement.

"No one left standing."

"Good," said Gregor, his jaw pulsing. "I don't do half measures."

The head of the Black Crows grabbed the bag of stones and moved towards the door.

"I'm gonna put this away until I've decided who to give them to. When I get back, the three of us are gonna head into third. There's a nice club there where we can have a good time, no questions asked," said Gregor with a wink.

The heavy-set leader of the Black Crows left the room. Kuma watched through the window as he headed down a set of stairs.

"He's interesting," said Kuma with an eyebrow raised.

"Don't. Just don't," replied Deacon with rage in his eyes.

Kuma moved to the refrigerator to grab a bottle of water when the sound of gunfire from below had him rushing out the door along with Deacon. They were joined by a dozen men and women with guns rushing down to the lower level, as Gregor came stumbling up, sweat dripping off his nose as he fired downward.

"They're in the fucking storage rooms! Kill 'em!"

Without a gun, Kuma wasn't about to rush into the basement and get caught up in friendly fire. He stood at the top as the Black Crows spread out, firing at unseen assailants. Return fire pinged across the heavy machinery, but it seemed much less than what the Black Crows were laying down, suggesting that they wouldn't last long outnumbered.

Behind them, Gregor was screaming into his phone, bringing other members from rooms deeper in the facility. He looked like he was about to have a heart attack by the way his cheeks were bright crimson.

Kuma happened to glance back down the stairs the moment he saw the line of Black Crows firing their weapons get flung backwards as if an invisible hand had punched them.

"A sapphire," said Deacon breathlessly. He ran back into the room, grabbing the crowbar and bending it back as Kuma pulled out his curved blades.

He crept down, reaching halfway when a figure in all-black with a mask blurred past the bottom of the stairs. The staccato crunch of batons hitting bones was followed by screams of agony. There was more than one waku in the basement. Kuma leapt down with Light behind a big metal box where multiple gang members were either unconscious or moaning, tuning his amber to a low level and scouting the wide space.

Kuma barely sensed the figure approach in time. He'd fought other waku dozens of times during training at the Academy, but none of it prepared him for the speed and power of his opponent. The black-clad figure struck like a cobra with the strength of an elephant. After two narrow blocks, he leapt backwards with Lightness to avoid getting his skull crushed in. The figure looked like he was going to continue his attack until gunfire sprayed across the ceiling, forcing him to retreat.

The basement level was surprisingly open, with high ceilings, and was filled with heavy machinery. He saw two others with automatics slung over their shoulders, one of them moving as if they'd been hit, and a third following behind with her hands up. Kuma could tell it was a woman by the slender hips and a familiarity that was unmistakable. When he reached for a fallen automatic weapon, she knocked it away with a sapphire Push.

The four invaders disappeared around the corner as Deacon appeared at his side with his crowbar. Gregor came halfway down the steps with a pistol in his fist, shouting, "They stole my fucking property! Get it back! Kill those motherfuckers and get it back!"

The head of the Black Crows threw the pistol towards Kuma. He caught it and shoved it into his back waistband. Then he ran to where they'd fled, slowing at the corners in case they were waiting with their weapons. Deacon was right behind with a rifle he'd scooped up along the way. After checking to make sure it was clear, he ran down the hallway towards a massive hole in the wall that had been ripped out.

"Shadows below."

He followed the sounds of the injured gunman, hurrying but at the same time being cautious. They followed through holes in walls, smashed open at some previous time, until they reached the streets.

They had a good head start. Deacon ran ahead, using his topaz to move faster, while Kuma was able to boost his speed using cycled Lightness. They ran under the ring road, catching sight of a dangling rope being yanked up the side of an apartment building in the second.

"Fuck, we can't follow that," said Deacon, looking up.

Kuma spotted a couple of windowsills spaced close enough and put his blades away. "I can."

He made himself Light, leaping up and catching the sill. He cycled Heavy briefly as he stood and then back to Light for the next jump. In a matter of a few seconds, he'd scaled the side of the building and landed on the roof.

With his amber, he spotted lines of blood leading away from the edge. He was reaching for his blades when he heard footsteps and looked up to see Duro’s round face and his twin batons moving at him in a blur. There would be no one to save him now. Kuma barely got his weapons up in time. Two blocks. Three blocks. He couldn't keep it up forever.

Kuma leapt to the top of a metal HVAC system with Lightness as Duro sped after him. Reaching back into his waistband, he started to pull the pistol out. Duro was flying through the air with batons ready to smash his face. The pistol was going to be a hair late.

Right before the batons came down, an invisible hand Pushed him off the HVAC and the edge of the building. He fired just wide of Duro's chest. Kuma saw the masked form of Pandora standing to the side with her hand out as he flew over the edge. Kuma fell from the roof, using Lightness to land gently, then cycled Heavy to compensate.

Duro looked over the edge of the apartment building and then disappeared. Deacon had been starting to climb the wall, but leapt back down when Kuma landed.

"Who the fuck was that?" asked Deacon.

A torrent of answers raged in Kuma's head. "That was Duro Hernandez. The warleader of Drops."

"I can't believe you leapt off that building. Even after seeing you do it before, I thought you were dead."

"Yeah, I thought I was dead too."

But he wasn't because of Pandora. There was no other explanation. She'd saved him by pushing him off the edge. But had she done it to save Duro, or for him?

The sounds of distant sirens had Deacon nodding his head back the other direction.

"We should go."

Kuma checked up the building once more and considered following once again, but decided he'd pushed his luck enough. The idea that the Drops had hit their allies complicated things. While it wasn't a direct violation of the peace agreement, it was sure to cause waves within both leadership teams. The case for hitting the Drops would grow even stronger, and might not be avoidable given Gregor's anger.

As they jogged back the way they'd come, Deacon asked, "How'd he move that fast? I didn't think you could do that with a topaz."

"Duro might have been the best scrapper in the Undercity before the stones, and now with them, he's a singular force. He uses them in ways few others can."

"Could your uncle beat him?"

"Probably, but no matter the outcome, it'd be a hellacious fight."

"I'd like to be there for that."

Kuma nodded, even as he wasn't so sure he agreed. If those two were fighting, then the whole Undercity would be at war.