The Mercury Palace

Chapter 10: Rising Tensions

-Aiden- ⚕️

     I crouched uncomfortably in my spot. Grabbing at the walkie-talkie clipped on my belt proved to be quite a task when paired with not falling out of a tree.

     "I'm in position," I reported quietly, my voice coming out slightly muffled due to the mask Cody had given me. It was just a simple black fabric mask that covered my nose and mouth, but it was going to be necessary if the police showed up. I'd rather not be identified. I steadied myself by leaning slightly on the tree's trunk.

     "Roger that," came the immediate reply.

     Several other brief comments of confirmation came through the line before it went dead.

     A few moments of tense silence.

     "Alright," Cody's voice came in clearly, but quietly. "It's a go. Masky, Hoodie, go in through the back. Toby and Kate, make sure you block off the front. Saturn, Rouge, you guys got the rest of the escape routes; with a little luck you won't have to do anything. I'll say on the line. Move in."

     I waited anxiously, counting the seconds down in my mind. Steadying my bow, I started noticing the first signs of conflict coming from inside of the abandoned-looking warehouse just barely in my sight.

     "Kate, Toby, they're heading your way." Masky's voice startled me, almost making me lose balance before settling back again.

      "Yep," came Toby's short reply, sounding flat over the walkie.

      Sounds of gunfire reached my ears. So, they were bold enough to try fighting back.

     We'll see how long that lasts, I thought bitterly. I almost felt sorry for the poor fools; but they should have seen it coming. It's what they get for snooping in places they weren't welcome to. For getting too close to information that they weren't allowed.

     As I predicted, the sound of gunfire slowly diminished, leaving a lone gun firing. Hoodie.

     "Saturn and Rouge, a couple coming your way."

     "Roger that," Rouge replied. I could barely make out her figure in a tree near mine.

     Despite the warning, the first person to come into my vision startled me. My body reacted purely on instinct, reacting while my mind was still hesitating. My arrow hit the ground right in front of the guy. He instinctively froze for a second, giving one of the other's just enough time to get to him before he took off again.

      Hoodie gave me a thumbs-up as he stepped back from the guy. I shot him a salute in return before refocusing my attention on the ground as he ran off. It wasn't long before another person ran by, having escaped the onslaught.

      I tensed, readying my bow. Before I could shoot, though, Rouge caught my attention. She tilted her head down, gesturing at the figure. I waved my hand vaguely toward the person, they're all yours. She nodded to acknowledge my acknowledgment and focused her eyes on the lone figure.

      I looked away as she pounced on the poor soul. By the time I looked back again Rouge was climbing back into her tree, her clothes now spattered with fresh blood.

      It was a good ten more minutes before we got contact again.

      "Everyone meet up inside, I think we got all of them," Masky's voice emanated from my walkie. After various statements of affirmations Rouge and I hopped down and made our way inside the warehouse.

      The inside looked like something out of a horror movie. Bodies lay strewn across the floor, blood all over everything.

      I felt my eyes grow wide as I took in the scene. The overwhelming metallic smell of blood filled the air.

     "Um..." I could feel Rouge's eyes on me.

     "Over here!" Toby's voice cut through the silence.

     "Coming!" We slowly made our way to the back of the building. Toby ran over to us.

     "We got 'em all." My eyes jumped to his arm. Or more specifically, the slowly growing dark stain on his sleeve.

     "Toby-"

     "You guys have to get out of there." Cody's voice cut me off. "Someone called the cops."

      "Got it," Rouge answered.

     I swore under my breath and grabbed Toby's arm. He instinctively flinched, but calmed when he realized what I was doing.

     "Oh, hey! I got shot."

      "Yeah." I hated how nonchalant he was about this, but I guess not being able to feel the pain was a major contributor to that.

     "What?!" Kate rushed over from the other side of the building.

      "It's just a graze," I mumbled to myself as I ripped a strip of fabric from the sleeve of my shirt. "I don't have time to do anything fancy, I'll heal it when we get back, but for now..." I wrapped the wound tightly.

      "Come on! We have to go, Masky and Hoodie are waiting for us outside." Kate rushed us out the door.

. . .

     "Sit still!" I hissed. We were back at Cody's place. As soon as we'd got back, I'd sat Toby down in a chair and went to work on his wound.

      "You do realize that's physically impossible for me, right?"

      "Just shut up and sit still." I carefully unwrapped the gash. Healing it took a little more time and energy than I had first anticipated, but within five minutes you could hardly tell it had been there in the first place.

      "There, now try not to go around and get shot again," I said, standing back up.

     Cody stared at us for a second. "How did you do that?!"

      "I wish I knew, kid. I wish I knew."