ɪɴ ᴀɴᴏᴛʜᴇʀ ᴜɴɪᴠᴇʀꜱᴇ (ᴡᴇ ᴡᴏᴜʟᴅ ʙᴇ ᴛᴏɢᴇᴛʜᴇʀ)

CHAPTER TWO

The stranger's striking red eyes narrowed as he hesitantly took the bag from you. It was hard to see behind the hair covering his face, but you noticed the skin around his eyes seemed dry and irritated. It was obvious he had been scratching at it, as well.

You were looking at him for too long, and once you realized it, you shuffled backward. A glance at the person to his side revealed a middle-aged woman slightly taller than you with straight black hair and bangs cut across her forehead. Her outfit led you to believe she worked some sort of office job, very put together in contrast to the man's grungy, all-black look.

The two of them were an odd duo but pretty ordinary otherwise.

So why did it feel like you had a pit in your stomach when you looked at them?

It took you a moment to notice the expression on the woman's face, wide-eyed like she'd seen a ghost. She could only take a single shaky step towards you before the man moved in front of her, forcing your focus to return to him. You had to admit, he had a bit of an unsettling energy around him, characteristic of a villain. But you had picked up his receipt, and the list appeared long enough to cover everything he was carrying.

"Thanks," he mumbled in such a gravelly tone that you could barely recognize it as a word. He turned and walked away, but the woman stayed frozen for a moment until her eyes flickered over to her companion. Her eyebrows pressed together, and she reluctantly followed.

You couldn't pull your eyes away as you watched them make their way down the block and around the corner. Something was urging you to go after them, like a tether wrapped around your torso, tugging you forward. Intuition was such a fickle thing, and, after leading you astray enough times, you found it hard to trust.

You were about to turn on your heel and walk back to the station when you noticed a couple of bottles of water and a bag of chips still scattered on the ground. Picking them up, you trotted after the duo in hopes of catching them in time to return the forgotten items, but, when you peered around the corner, they were gone. The sidewalk was almost entirely empty, save for an older man who seemed to be fiddling with his smart phone.

With a heavy sigh, you walked back to the convenience store and left the belongings with the cashier in case the two came back for them. As you began your trek back to the station, you were going to send another report through your communicator before noticing the screen's display. You frowned.

'Server Error'

Quickly, you made a call to your agency using your cellphone, feeling you may have better luck that way. Your fingers were crossed as you waited to be directed to the automated message that would filter calls to their appropriate responders. There was a moment of silence and then a flat hum was all you could hear.

Your eyebrows pinched together.

Something was wrong.

Assuming the worst, you cancelled your plans to check in with the officers at the station and instead made a b-line for the agency. The only reason the phone line wouldn't work would be due to outside interference. You could remember it happening once before when there was a group of villains attacking the building. It wasn't outrageous to suspect that Dai Uchuu could have headed in that direction and initiated an assault on your colleagues.

Your legs were starting to ache from all the running you were doing, and you were sure they were relieved when you finally skidded to a halt in front of your agency—

Well, what should have been your agency.

Instead, you found yourself looking up at an old warehouse that seemed like it could collapse any second. You were certain you were at the right address. You knew this part of the city like the back of your hand.