Chapter 03.4: 430 Wendig Courts

Susa stood outside the door of apartment C-31. It was on the third floor and the only one with lights on. She could smell the Chocolate and drugs from here that instantly made her regret telling that damn pig about her number one fixer spot. Once she got the signal, Susa knocked on the door thrice like all the other coco addicts before her. The jazzy-salsa music from the inside went quiet as her favourite supplier, Titus Armstrong, greeted her.

Tainted came in three breeds, like Chocolate: dark, milk, and vanilla. Titus was often mistaken for a Native because of the flawless whiteness of his skin. Often enough, Titus' hairstyle gave away what race he was. It was obsidian black and in tight braids. The sides of his hair were cut in a bald fade, with the braids only being on the top. Forty-two hours had passed since she last saw Titus, but Susa had wholly forgotten how his eyes looked. They were Tainted's signature red but were noticeably dimmer and duller. His eyes were always a soft spot for her, especially with how they glowed briefly when they reunited, as they did when Titus spoke, "Sue! Hey guys, told you she was going to swing by!"

Opening the door, she instantly recognized the faces of the four goons around the kitchen table: Alice, Audre, Amiri, and Colson. Each represented the four kinds of Chocolate convenient for addicts like herself. Alice had rich dark skin and lips plumper than ripe cherries. She was fiddling with a deconstructed Blunderbuss. Audre matched the complexion of Titus with her untraditional straight black hair that spilt over her back. She glared at Susa between glances at her computer screen while furiously typing on her laptop. Amiri shared Mariyah's milk chocolate complexion with an overly dramatic face that screamed of plastic surgery. He was tinkering with his radio, lowly playing jalsa music. Colson was a unique case of being a coco addict and human. Supposedly when a human feeds exclusively from one Tainted and meets several other conditions (such as a rigorous diet, cardio training, etc.), they start to gain qualities dependent on who they feed on. Alice and Colson were a thing despite how they publicly acted like they weren't. Col had darkly tanned skin with a soft feminine face that was adorable due to his austere demeanour. Colson sitting on the opposite end of the table with all his attention on the television.

Susa felt right at home as she stood on her tiptoes to give Titus a lick across his face to make his smile more prominent and to spite Audre, "Lucky guess, so what are you nerds doing?" She stepped inside and closed/locked the door behind her. Sue got everyone's attention when she purposely locked the door and gestured to the back of the apartment. Everyone only took her warning seriously when Titus mimicked her. There was mumbling when she finally made her way to the group as Titus had his back to her. Susa spoke in a tone that was just barely above a whisper, "Listen, there are--"

The only warning she received was the flickering Purple Flames off the walls when Titus swung his right arm back to have his fingers graze her forehead. The pain was nothing for a Pest since getting body tattoos was a prerequisite, and all it took was her shutting her eyes for it to subside. Susa knew enough about Purple Flame to understand that the burning of her flesh was just in her head.

This was not her first time having Titus' Purple Flame used on her, which made the sight of his face hurt her even more. Everything she had said and done in the last twenty-four hours replayed rapidly before herself. Titus wore an expression of confusion and betrayal.

Titus' eyes were a soft shade of magenta with a far-off look on his face. It was not the only use of his Corrupted Purple Flame, but like any use of it, the price was that her immediate demise was now set. While Titus watched it all in a matter of seconds, tears began to form in his eyes, his mouth agape. Susa reached out to wipe away his tears just as his eyes dimmed back to their natural shade, "Everett...."

"Goddamnit! Don't call me that!" Titus slapped her hand away with Audre casting her a smug grin while she squeezed him on his shoulder. He continued speaking, his eyes locked on hers, "Listen, Sue, I did not know Logan was that unhinged. I am sorry that Leanne is no longer with us, too. That is the only reason I am not pissed at you for--" His crew did not even have time to throw looks her way as Titus was interrupted by knocking on the door. Susa instantly recognized the impatient voice of Max, "This is the M.H.P.D; open up!"

Titus was unperturbed, unlike the four Tainted behind him, "Sue! I saw your death! Whatever you do, don't take a step closer to the door until it opens, then leave immediately to the patrol car." Without another word to her, Titus turned away to address the worrying murmurs of his friends, "Listen up! Thanks to Sue here, I have a plan."

...

"Maybe we should have given her a bit more time?" Mariyah followed the sentence with a nervous laugh while C-67+, who refused to give Maxwell his name, groaned in response, "And what? Give Titus and his crew more time to escape or even get some Blunderbusses?" C-67 gave Stone a nudge to step aside before knocking hard on the door enough to wake anyone sleeping in the complex.

C-67 was a Tainted woman who made it apparent that she preferred being addressed with masculine pronouns. Max did not understand his reasoning, nor did he question it. It went at odds with his sizable chest, or perhaps it was the protective '+' Officer padding he wore or his beautifully angular face. The extra padding in the helmet, shoulders, and knees complimented the tomboy aesthetic he was going for, along with the spoopy designs of skeleton and raven claws on his M.H.P.D uniform. Stone could still make out his face beside the longer-than-usual green-tinted vizor, which hid his slim, red eyes. He wore lines of red paint under his eyes and cheeks. It took Kami knocking thrice more to wear out Maxwell's patience. To both of the women's surprise, Stone banished his Dragoon Blundershot.

"Stone, what the hell are you doing?" Kammy raised his hands while watching him with a raised bow. Mari looked indecisive between trying to stop him and keeping her distance. Max hardly missed a beat angling his gun downwards and right at the door's locks. Gunpowder, splinters, hot metal, and screams surround Max. There was no fear of saving someone's life this time to block out the pain from the kickback of his Dragoon nor gunpowder frying his clothes and arm like thick bacon. It was the adrenaline boost he needed to kick the door off the security lock. The sight he saw was one he expected after what had just happened.

Susa was the only person in the room who did not meet his expectations by being just a mere inches away from the gaping hole his gun caused on the floor. Casually she stepped around Max, Mariyah and C-67, a foreign sadness in her voice as she walked away, "I am going back. Maybe try to arrest a nonhuman this time, please?"

No one attempted to stop her after her snide but accurate remark. Everyone else had the reaction that Stone wanted after shooting the locks and kicking down a door. Three Tainted and one odd human were kneeling on the ground with their hands clearly visible. Titus was the only one standing with his hands visible but on his sides. Whatever ploy this was, Maxwell not having any of it. He was the first to step inside, whispering to his support, "Behind me, do not drop your guard."

"Yes, sir!" Mariyah and C-67 said in unison. Mariyah sounded worried, with her eyes glued to Maxwell's ember-kissed arm. To Max's surprise, Titus spoke first, without a trace of an accent, "We surrender, Officers, and will not resist. All I have is one request."

"Make it quick. I am the worst at negotiating." The glance that Titus shot Stone made him uneasy. It was almost as if he saw the events of 520 Stine Drive play out in his head. Kam scoffed at them both, "We don't negotiate with criminals. How about this? You get on your knees, and we might give you a good word on your trial."

Titus smiled warmly at their words while moving around to the back of his crew. Max immediately trained his sights on the vanilla-skinned Tainted, "Hey! Don't move!"

He stopped, but not before holding a hand in front of him. What Max saw next was eerily familiar to him. A mystic purple flame with black embers sparked forth from the palms of Titus. The sight made him lower his pistol to stare at it. Each lick of Flame moved from side to side as if dancing and even the embers swirled in unnatural circles. Purple Flames hovered above his hand as his palm visibly tanned. Max only remembered bits and pieces of what he learned about the Purple Flame from his time in the Academy. Users of it were masters of deception and could bend others' perceptions of reality. Stone's classes left him unprepared for what Titus said. Manic, magenta eyes staring at the fire, "Maxwell, Mariyah, and Kamaiyah, I think it is in your best interest to hear me out. After all, Kamiyah would prefer not to see any females in this room get hurt. Mariyah, despite knowing you have the advantage, does not want to fight. And Officer Stone... Well... Against Black Flames users, I am useless. I know a losing fight when I see it, so my demand is simple. I want my crew imprisoned at Muruya Nonhuman Police Department instead of the M.H.P.D. They were all forced into being my accessories, and if you send them to the M.H.P.D, they will die. I do not care what happens to me."

His words left only silence and unanswered questions in the air. None of the Officers had anything to retort. Still, only another vanilla-skinned Tainted with straight black hair dared to speak. Audre spoke through gritted teeth, "Liar! I wasn't forced into anything! That filthy human and his Brick lapdogs can burn!"

The next to speak was a male with a face that only teenagers and fuckboys could love. Amiri speaking between laughs with his thick Tainted accent, "Well, this was not the plan, but listen, Boss, you don't have to care about yourself. That is what we are here for, dumbass. Fuck the police!"

The dark-skinned woman with the lips of a pornstar and the strange human looked at each other before speaking in unison, "Right! Titus, don't bend to these government dogs!"

Kamiyah was livid. He hocks a loogie on Everett's carpet floor before cracking his knuckles. A sharp tooth grins on her lips while she approaches Titus and his narrow-gaze gang, "And those are the confessions? You know what?! It is not your ignorant goons or the nerve to think you know anything about me that pissed me off. It is the fact that you stand there thinking that for even a second, we give a damn about the words of some murderous, thieving prophet wannabe! Now on the damn ground. All of you."

The facade crumbled with just one motion, Titus holding out a flat palm in her direction and exclaiming, "Fine, but remember that everyone's blood and oil are on your hands, C-67." Kamiyah and Mariyah could hardly utter the word, 'Wait'.

Titus swiped his Purple Flame-engulfed hand over the back of each of his crew's heads. A pillar of Flame erupted from their heads while their howls shook the room's walls. Understandably, this paralyzed the Tainted Officers and confused Max on why he would just take out his own members like that. This left most of his crew on their hands and knees shaking while Colson appeared to have taken the sudden 'attack' the worst. The other Tainted screams died off rather quickly, but he continued. At the same time, he attempted to pat off invisible spreading flames.

Mariyah immediately tried to rocket skate over to him with her White Flame-powered boots. In a burst of sparkling fire, Mariyah closed the distance with precise and practised movement that took Stone off guard. Her dazzling rescue attempt was halted by a shoulder charge from Amiri that sent her flying backwards into the kitchen. Kamiyah got the worst end of the stick as the two Tainted females, Audre and Alice, double-teamed her. Their movements were unnaturally faster yet twitchy like mishandled puppets. Snapping from the ground and bum-rushing without any regard for their lives.

C-67 going on the defence, barely dodging the punches and clothesline attempts of the females. Weaving out of Audre's straight arm attack that left a hole in the wall, yet unphased by the self-damage. Alice got in a good hook that cracked the green vizor of Kami's helmet and sent his head back from the blow. There was an awkwardness of a self-taught boxer competing with someone more seasoned in padded clothes. This rendered the flurry of punches from Alice useless. Ali, however, seized every opportunity to throw wild uppercuts and haymakers when they landed, dazing the hesitant negative Officer. Only getting aggressive as they started to take advantage of Kamiyah's haphazard transversal of the living room couch.

Whenever Mariyah tried to throw Aimri off to get over to Colson, Amiri was right back up. Stone found himself impressed with both of them. At first, Mari restrained herself by returning the favour earlier and tossing Ai into the kitchen over the counter. He had grace over Mariyah's prowess as Amiri recovered in a stunning display of strength by kicking himself off the fridge. Flying himself with enough force to dent the door, and sent the fuckboy barreling right into Dear's side. This successfully skates the Officer away from the still-screaming man with impressive lungs.

Retorting with yet another throw, unrestrained, into the back wall with such force that Amiri's body left an impression. Once the Officer reached Colson, gentle White Flames engulfing palms patted his head and calmed Cole down; yet another scream confused the Tainted woman who seemed befuddled at Titus' and Maxwell's standoff. This gave Aimri a massive upper hand despite forecasting his attack with a blood-curdling shout and stumbling from off the wall. The double hammer fist to the top of the helmet made Mariyah buckle as a crack was heard. Amiri was just about to deliver another blow before an explosion of White Flame stunned him. Mari did a flame-charged 360 sweep spin, grabbing the stunned Ai midway through. Dear letting off her own battle cry as she used the rest of her momentum to fling Ai with all her might to the ceiling. This settled their little bout, along with Amiri falling to the ground on his hands and knees. Aimri collapsed as the concerned plus Officer's White Flame began to work its magick.

Meanwhile, against Kamiyah's superior defence, Alice and Audre took advantage of his reluctance to fight back by cracking their hands fruitlessly against his heavily padded armour or the surroundings. Every punch sends pink or blue sparks on impact to represent their flame-coloured. Each passing blow only got more intense as the spark seemed to turn into bursts of flames as the smell of burnt, Tainted flesh and screams filled the air. Something about their worthless self-harm sapped all the fight from Kam, which was rewarded with a devastating uppercut. Stone noticed this between glances, but Titus held most of his attention. Falling over the couch and splitting the living table in twine as a double dose of kicks was given to wash down his shame.

Titus simply stood there as if frozen in time with an outstretched hand. The expression on his slightly agape face was hard to get a beat on, but the tears rolling down his eyes said it all. Whatever he was seeing held no importance to Max. Stone trained his sights on the outstretched hand, intending to clip him to make him release whatever hold he had over his goons. Several moments of hesitation and the squeeze of one trigger were a testament to the speed of nonhumans.

What caused his delay was the face of Audre as she slid into the path of his gun. Her full, nude lips in a scowl while she reeled her arm backwards as Max switched his sights from Titus' hand to the centre of 'Dre skull. After seeing the strength of these Tainted, Maxwell doubted he would remain uninjured from a single blow from her. It was either Stone or her. The rain of black, crude, heated oil over Maxwell decided the winner as the single gunshot brought everyone's eyes towards what had just happened.

Instead of the headless corpse of a Tainted woman, Stone was greeted with a different sight. Audre was on the ground with crimson eyes broad and blood-streaked oil dashed across her frame. 'Dre was a few beats behind at what Max was gawking at with shaking hands.

Titus had somehow managed to push Audre out of gunfire range at the price of his own forearm. Officer Stone notices the intricate wire and metal work over false skin that revealed Everett's right hand was automail. Maxwell put his Dragoon Blundershot into its holster to approach the man he thought was trying to stop the spilling of his oil. 'Dre screams died sharply and abruptly with Titus groaning out one word, slathering his body with copious amounts of oil, "Maxwell...."

"Ugh, please stop; that is so gross--"

"You are lucky. If I had the power to blow away my problems with my Flame... The lives I would have been able to save... How does being blessed with power feel, Officer Stone?" Titus' glare seeped with poisonous jealousy that Maxwell could not even begin to possibly understand. From Stone's perspective, he could only do what he did because he had a gun. Stone marked this up to either Everett's Purple Flame or the massive amount of blood lost. He continued his mad rambling while Max steadily approached him even when he raised an ebony palm in his direction, "What?! Do you think I don't even deserve a response? Well then, let me hear your howls instead, dog!"

That was all the warning Max got when his vision was bathed in Purple Flames. He felt the flames devour his flesh and roast his muscles to a char-crusted crisp, but Max continued his death march toward Titus. Purple Flame effects were amplified ten times because Titus chose to burn his blood alongside his flesh. Nothing that happened to Maxwell, nor anyone else caught in the swathe of Flame, was real.

The visions nor pain that hits one's brain due to Purple Flame felt indistinguishable from reality. Everyone saw something different, from Mariyah being crushed by the pressure of expectations from her upbringing or Colson's brain frying from the countless glaze of humans he met daily. Audre simply saw Everett being consumed by his own corrupted flames finally. Kamiyah was taken back to the innumerable beatings from her childhood but now by burning whips. Aimri and Alice were unconscious or barely out of the way, respectively. Stone hallucinations took on the shape of demonic creatures.

Unknown to Max, or worst yet essentially forgotten, what made him extraordinary was not the hours he put into the gym nor the gun given to him. Max was special thanks to his demons that always walked alongside him. The first appears thanks to his drug-abusing, insecure father. Countless insults, moments of powerlessness to help his mother, and shattered bottles darken his soul. It took the form of an impossibly long-limbed creature with stitched orifices and skinned flesh. A mummified woman with a glassy unreadable expression took the hideous shape of its right hand that attempted to slow Stone. Many more joined on his march from the Academy and during the long, stress-induced working nights where Max could no longer keep count. They also took twisted demonic shapes, such as a bulbous head that moved with the limbs growing from its mouth to a shapeless mass of eyes to represent the abovementioned issues. None of this impeded nor distracted him. The pain was nothing.

Stone flesh and muscles felt like it was crumbling to ash, but nothing stopped his approach to Titus. All it took was one grasp on the Flame sprouting wrist and tucking the functioning arm behind Everett's back.