Crimson X

Chapter 21: Azrael

“How can I help you?” A clerk with a southern drawl hesitantly questioned a person standing in front of a counter.

A person flipped a thin piece of paper in between their fingers and placed it on the desk. They silently gazed at the clerk behind the shadows their hat was casting on their face. The man hesitantly took the paper and read it over. He looked at the person and walked into the back of the store before coming out with a large box.

“You’re the customer that ordered this?” He questioned. “You best have the cash for it.”

The person took out some wads of cash in their trench coat’s pocket and handed it to the man. Without waiting for the man to count the money they picked up the rather large box and made their way outside into an alleyway.

They looked back and forth before heading into a nearby building, a fast food restaurant in fact. The person ignored the odd looks form the people before heading into a restroom. Quickly, they locked the door behind them and made sure that the bathroom was empty by glancing underneath the stalls for any feet. Seeing as it was empty, the person took off the hat, scarf, trench coat and sunglasses.

Sweat ran down their face from the rather warm outfit that they were dressed in. Sighing, they moved their hair so it wasn’t tucked into the shirt that they were wearing underneath. It was a crimson hair, that’s roots were beginning to show a brownish color. The girl sighed; she’d have to get more dye soon.

The girl stood on top of the tank of a toilet and moved the tiled ceiling to the side and retrieved a duffle bag that was hidden. Hopping down back to the floor, she unzipped it and pulled out a blond wig and hoodie. She put the hoodie on as well as the blond wig. The girl glanced down at her watch and cursed slightly as she crammed in her previous attire as well as the items that were in the box. Looking at the box she quickly flattened it and also forced it into her duffle bag that was already threatening to explode.

The girl quickly unlocked the door and walked out of the fast food restaurant as fast as possible, her hoodie was up so it shielded her face. She did not want to be spotted, that’s for sure. Though, in a town like Gotham, people would pass it off as a person who just got in league with the wrong sort of people and weren’t to be trifled with.

The girl casually walked along the busy streets of Gotham. It was during the day, so people were everywhere. If someone to spot her and think of her as being suspicious, they would quickly lose her in the hustling crowd. The only way one would be able to track her down is if they were on the rough tops with some sort of scope. That or they would have to have impeccable vision.

Her speed increased a paranoia began to set in. She walked into an apartment building and shot up the stair. No one was on her way there, which she mentally gave a sigh of relief. Once she was a few stories up, she took out some keys and unlocked a door, just before walking in.

The girl gently placed a duffle bag onto the couch and removed the hood from her head. Once she ran a finger through her fake hair to untangle it, she opened the duffle bag and looked at the items carefully.

A sort of goggles was the first to be placed into her hands. By feeling the thinness of it, she could tell there were wires underneath the black surface. Her hands held the item up into the light. The see through part was in red, just as she specified. The girl put the goggles on and felt around before pressing a button. The girl gasped as she looked around her room. Everything was perfect and she could see wonderfully. She looked outside and there were people walking around. She could see their very skeletons. A little rectangle appeared next to some of the people as it indicated a heart rate. How this technology existed she had no idea. All she knew was that it cost most of her life’s savings and all of the money that Bruce insisted on giving her for helping campaign against Arkham City.