Pumpking

Issue 16

"Uh..."

"Oh, that probably does sound a little abrupt. It's just..." he reached out and brushed a finger over my hair. "You have such beautiful red hair."

That was the second time someone had said that to me today. With almost the exact same gesture. Was there a pickup-artist book I needed to be aware of?

"I have to go... I've got a long way to walk. Uhm, good luck, saving the world and stuff."

"Right. That was too direct, wasn't it?" He was following me. Oh god, the most well-known hero in the world was following me down a street.

"I don't... I don't want to be rude, but a little."

"It's just, normally when I ask for directions, women don't..."

I glanced at him, wondering if I was wearing a good perfume. Or my hair was doing something. I grabbed a chunk and brought it over my shoulder to look.

"I didn't mean to make you self-conscious."

"You did."

"No, not on purpose, I..." He floated next to me, feet not even touching the ground, using his hands like he was an awkward child trying to explain.

"It's fine. Go off and fight the bad guy. I'm just walking here."

"Oh, I'm just going to meet a friend. Look I wasn't trying to imply anything; but when I see a pretty girl walking alone at this time of night, covered in dirt and bruises, I mean..."

Oh god, I was an idiot, of course any good Samaritan would think something terrible had happened to me. Here I was, thinking he was hitting on me and he was just trying to start a conversation. God. I was just so focused on my own perspective I wasn't considering what a nice guy would see.

"I'm sorry. I didn't think. Of course, I'm a total mess and it really is sweet of you. But I don't know if there's anything you can do," I shook my head.

"Why don't you tell me about it, then?" He gestured toward the edge of a garden feature nearby and landed.

I shook my head, "You have much more important things to do than talk to a random stranger about her problems."

"Even the tiniest drop of water can flood the dam. Please, humour me," he touched my elbow lightly and I relented. Man, this was going to make Chou spontaneously combust. What the hell was I doing, letting a hero like this convince me it was okay to whine? Didn't he have a horde of insects to fight off, or a thousand signs of the apocalypse to stop? How did he get time to waste talking to the common people like me?

He sat down and motioned for me to follow suit. I sat down and opened my mouth and it just started pouring out. I didn't want to waste his time- he was a busy guy, so it was better if I didn't take too long.

"Well this morning a friend of mine died. And this guy who claims he's a member of the Pantheon asked me to investigate it and I said no, like any sane person would, and then the hotel I work at got blown up, but he saved me- which I guess I didn't thank him for; but I know nothing about him except he's an arrogant prick and for all I know he's some psycho murderer and I'm his next target and he kidnapped me from there and took me to the Hatori- but there was a naked women with cherries all ov--- god this is ridiculous!" I paused pulling my knees to my chest and resting my chin on them, "But what bothers me the most is that he said 'outside eyes.' Isn't that the weirdest part of it all? Like he has inside eyes or that he thinks I can see something he can't. And he's perceptive, but—I mean, is there a Phantom division of the Pantheon? I've never heard of it. It doesn't seem legitimate, and who in the Pantheon has a badge with three blue bars on it? I mean; he's got to be a fake."

"Ah," Daystar shifted slightly, "I wasn't quite expecting something like that."

"I'm sorry. I know; I probably look like I've been attacked in a dark alley."

"Why are you apologising for this?"

"Because... you don't need to... I mean, it's not like you have the sort of time to worry about little things like these."

"Maybe you aren't in the middle of a giant asteroid collision, but I don't think that makes these issues 'little'. It is the little problems, unchecked, that cause disasters like the Rainbow Snake incident," He touched my shoulder gently and rubbed it comfortingly, "But I can dispel some of you confusion. There is a Phantom division of the Pantheon, and you are describing very accurately Phantom himself; the division head. He's a little unconventional, but very good at what he does. As for who has three blue bars on their badge; the badges only go to three. I suppose mine might have four, but everyone around me has three bars. They form the core unit. I don't know what case Phantom is working on at the moment; but are you sure it's safe for you to be... alone like this?"

I laughed, leaning into his touch without thinking about it. What a champion guy he was; how could any gossip column say anything bad about him? He was like the complete opposite of Whisper; all manipulating and sleazy. I know why Americans called him their 'knight in shining armour' he really was too perfect. To my surprise he wrapped an arm around my shoulders. He smelled strongly of cologne; I'd smelled something similar earlier; I really wanted to know what brand it was, "I don't know. I mean, Whisper seemed to think I was the target at the hotel; but that doesn't make much sense. Why would I be targeted? And why does he need outside eyes to look at the case? I don't even have a high-school diploma, what does he think I can do?"

"Sometimes a fresh perspective gives us all the insight we need to solve a mystery."

"Then why couldn't he have been like you? Just normal instead of some arrogant prick? He went so far as to imply I was some sort of cheap whore if I said yes to his offer of employment. Who does that?"

"Mmhm. But enough about the Phantom- what is your intention?"

"My intention?"

"What do you want to do about all this?"

I looked down at my shoes, considering his words, "I don't know. I don't want to die; and it bothers me that Tony was murdered; he was a nice guy. Not the sort of person I can see having enemies that wanted to kill him. Plus how did they even kill him? Tony was invulnerable." I remembered Tony telling me a story about getting hit by a falling building. How all his clothing was ruined, but he just stood up and dusted off. Anything that can kill him after that, I was starting to see Daystar's point. Anything that could do that to an invulernable man, and I was running around in the dead of the night, alone?

"Mhhm. " He nodded, listening to my rant.

"So what on earth could I do if I pissed someone with that sort of power off? I know Whisper was talking about plasmoid thermal combustion—the same sort of power I have, but I don't know anyone else that has my problem."

"You have powers?"

I nodded, "I'm registered; orange card. But it's with my handbag back at the Helios. Whisper said someone would go and pick it up; but if they take it now I have no way of getting home."

"I don't think it's safe for you to go home while Combustion is targeting you," The second he spoke a pained expression filtered across his face. Like he realised that he had spoken too soon, said too much.

"Combustion?"

"Please forget I said that. I can't talk about it.."

Of course he couldn't. But that just pissed me off. "Don't you think if my life is in danger, I should be better informed? You can't ask me to stop someone if you don't tell me what you want me to do"

He winced, "I only know the footnotes about it. This really is something that Phantom is pursuing."

"I don't know if I want to be helped by him."

"We don't always get to choose who helps us," He had a wistful voice of experience there.

I pressed my palms over my eyes and exhaled loudly, "So what you're saying is; suck it up?"

"Phantom is a good man. One of the best. But he doesn't always understand diplomacy or tact. Why not take him with a grain of salt?"

Or a bag of rocksalt.