Bad Beat - Chapter 52 - Tired (Patreon)

Gabriel’s escape went surprisingly smoothly. He found the door to the back, tried the handle, and it opened without any trouble. He walked through, and as the building shook around him, with screams, crashes, and yelling coming from behind him, he moved down a short corridor before reaching another door marked as an exit to the back alley. It was open, with a small wooden block wedged underneath it to keep it from closing.

As he stepped outside, he saw an old metal shelving unit covered with cigarette butts and other debris left behind from people spending a lot of time smoking in one area.

By the time the invisibility wore off and the countdown for the cooldown began, he was at the end of the alley. Looking back, he could see beams of swirling fire blasting through the air as blasts of ice answered them, creating great clouds of steam whenever they intersected.

‘That would be… Flare Tiger… and Ice Mice?’ he tried to remember the local pyro and cryo heroes. Those two were mercenaries who usually took protection jobs, but Flare Tiger was also a wrestler in Super Wrestle Mania, while Ice Mice actually operated an ice sculpture company. ‘Why the hell are they here? Did somebody pay one of them to destroy this corner shop while the other was tasked with protecting it?’

As he rushed away, trying to keep to the shadows while waiting for the cooldown to end, he couldn’t help but frown. This was the second time he had found himself in the middle of a super fight when he hadn’t expected it.

When the cooldown ended, he looked around, stepped into a shadowy corner, and activated it.

He sprinted down the alley, heading farther away from his home.

Gabriel arrived back home after taking a circuitous route, hiding in alleys for a while before finding a place where he could change back into his civilian guise and merge into the crowds on the street.

On the way, he jumped into the first shop he saw and bought a few odds and ends, just to say he had managed to finish his shopping.

Luckily, nobody bothered him as he went up to the seventh floor, even though the building was still crawling with Electric Jackals.

Opening the door to his apartment, he summoned the items from the card and began putting them away while setting the ones for Mia aside.

He was about to open a tablet of chocolate and scarf it down to wash away the stress of finding himself in a fight when there was a knock at the door.

KNOCK KNOCK

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

KNOCK

Instantly relaxing after hearing the prearranged rhythm, he walked over and opened it to see Mia with Nate standing behind her, an odd look on his face. He had his phone in his hand and would glance at it occasionally. Mia just looked relieved.

“Are you all right? I saw that there was a fight at the corner store you go to!” she asked, instantly rushing into the room and checking him out from head to toe.

Gabriel just chuckled. “I’m good. I’m good. I was in the back when the fight happened, so I just slipped out through the emergency exit.”

“Aren’t those usually closed?” Nate asked as he followed Mia into the room, closing the door behind him.

Gabriel shook his head. “I was lucky. They had it propped open for smoking.”

“Ahh…” Nate nodded. Gabriel walked closer, the chocolate finally open and a bite taken out of it. Behind him, Mia was already diving into the stuff he had bought for her, opening a yogurt with great relish.

“What are you looking at?” he asked, glancing at the phone Nate was holding.

Nate grinned at him, presumably thinking he looked charming, and raised the phone so that Gabriel could see it comfortably. “The fight you escaped from. Apparently, Flare Tiger and Ice Mice decided to duke it out there after they got into an argument over who would accept a job they both received a request for…”

“Wow… unprofessional…”

“You tell me?” Nate replied with a shake of his head. “The transcript of their argument is already on the net.”

Hearing that, Gabriel let out a relieved sigh and took another bite of his chocolate. ‘It seems it had nothing to do with me. Just pure dumb luck…’ He looked up at the ceiling, munching on the sugary sweat. ‘Yeah. Who would believe that?’

As he wondered who had the ability to set so many people up, Mia walked over, still in the middle of cleaning out a yogurt cup. “Thanks for the run. I was in the middle of my writing when you called…”

He smiled at her as the three of them moved to the living room. “No problem, it was easy enough… Super fight notwithstanding.”

She grinned and plopped down on the couch next to Nate, who was still looking at his phone and occasionally typing something. Gabriel sent a pointed look at the drone peeking out from the crack leading to his bedroom. He hoped Sparky understood the message.

Gabriel chose one of his chairs, sitting opposite Mia and Nate. They sat there in silence, with Mia and Gabriel finishing their snacks while Nate checked his phone. Finally, after a minute, he scoffed and threw the phone onto the table, where it landed face down with a clatter.

“This is unbelievable…” he groaned.

“Hmm… what is?” Mia asked, staring intently at the bottom of the yogurt cup, as if suspecting the unassuming plastic was hiding more yogurt somewhere.

Nate continued to groan. “I didn’t fucking see this.” He pointed at Gabriel. “This fucker uses his power, and I miss something like this…”

Without even looking, Mia reached over and patted him on the shoulder. “There, there… I’m sure they make a pill for that…”

Nate rolled his eyes, but Gabriel saw the fondness in them as he stared at Mia.

Gabriel spread his hands apart. “Sorry, bro. Can’t help you there…”

Nate looked away from Mia and sent Gabriel a withering glare. “I wish you could… I have lost so many good opportunities because of your power…”

“Like what?” Gabriel asked with a grin, leaning forward.

Nate opened his mouth to answer, then seemingly realized where he was and who he was sitting next to before closing it with an audible click and sending an even worse glare at Gabriel. “Opportunities. Let’s leave it at that…”

They lapsed into silence before Mia put the cup down on the table and looked at both of them. “If you guys are finished with that, I have some news.”

Gabriel motioned for her to start, and Nate leaned back on the couch.

Mia, in her goth makeup, had a particularly effective glare, warning them off any tomfoolery. “I managed to hack the servers of the shop next to the laundry, which gave me a point from where I could launch an infiltration of the nearby network.” She began to explain. “The laundry has two systems. One on top for the public and probably for the government, but there are points where it connects to a hidden network.”

“Got in?” Gabriel asked.

Mia nodded, looking proud. “You bet your ass I did.”

Nate let out a small whistle and began to slow clap.

Mia slapped him on the shoulder, but otherwise simply basked in the praise before continuing. “Sadly, it’s pretty much air-gapped. It seems they’ve learned from our previous try. I found only one computer on the hidden network connected to the public one. It seems they completely air-gapped their system.”

“So, another infiltration?” Nate muttered as he was seemingly distracted, looking into the distance.

Mia nodded again. “Afraid so…” She turned to Gabriel. “It’s your turn again, Gabriel.”

Nate also turned toward him and gave him a thumbs up. “I foresee great things in your future!” he declared.

“Any actual information about the heist?”

Nate spent a moment thinking before grinning cheekily. “I know where they keep the safe with the cash in it?”

Gabriel stared at him for a moment before shrugging. “I mean… that is somewhat useful. But I meant any interference from other supers, Jackals finding out we’re there… you know… the usual?”

Nate frowned and closed his eyes before starting to speak. “You know it’s hard to see the future when you’re actively participating.”

Mia watched from the side, anxiously looking between the two of them.

“All I know is that you will succeed in the infiltration… somehow… then escape,” Nate continued, while Mia let out a relieved breath. “The in-between is a blur of shattered images. I can see you scaling the building or even digging a tunnel. I see kung fu fights, and I can see you murdering everyone you see with a silenced gun.”

That surprised Gabriel. He didn’t think he had it in him. With the life he had chosen and how deep he had dug himself into it, he suspected that sooner or later he would reach a point where he had to make that choice, but he preferred if that time never came.

Nate nodded to himself, his eyes still closed. “Oh, that’s a big knife. And… poisoned coffee run. Brutal. Hmm… didn’t know you could phase through walls.”

“I can’t.”

“Well, in this future, you can. So go future you, I suppose?”

“So nothing useful?”

Nate opened his eyes and let out a tired, shaky breath before shaking his head. “I’m afraid not. Your power, as I said, is bullshit…”

Gabriel let out a shaky breath. At first, he thought it would be useful to have a precog with them, but any time he chose to actively participate, Nate lost all usefulness.

‘At least that means, hopefully, that the rest of the precogs are affected the same way…’ he mused. Then he shook his head and refocused on the discussion. “So that means you two are going to do overwatch again, while I’ll be the one risking my neck?”

Nate nodded confidently, while Mia was a bit more hesitant.

“Is there a way we could get one more person for the operation?” she asked. “Maybe hire a merc or something?”

Gabriel looked over, while Nate looked thoughtful before once again staring into nothing. As both Gabriel and Mia knew what this meant, they just waited patiently as Nate went through his usual ritual.

Finally, after five minutes, his body relaxed and he opened his eyes, rapidly blinking as if readjusting to the light. “I looked into hiring all available mercs in the area.”

“And?” Mia asked anxiously.

Nate grinned and turned toward Gabriel. “Good news, Gabriel-sama, you get laid at least a few times.”

Mia punched him in the shoulder.

“Ugh.”

“Don’t be an ass, Nate.”

“Fine, fine…” Nate sighed. “The bad news is that while they help us complete the job, the moment they realize what the Jackals are working on there, they immediately either betray us or try to sell the info.”

“Everybody?”

“Pretty much. I even tried with a few out-of-towners. Nada.” Nate shook his head. “What a time to be alive when you can’t even trust a mercenary…”

Mia frowned. “I… could go with you,” she offered hesitantly. “I can do the hacking on location and watch your back. Nate can provide overwatch.”

“Absolutely not!” Nate declared, putting his hands up in an X-shape.

Mia scowled, turned toward him, and put her hands on her hips. “Do you really think you can tell me what to do?”

Nate returned the intense look with one of his own. “Out of the two of us, who can see the future? I may not see Mr. Hotstuff over there, but I can see yours. You’re not going.”

Mia and Nate stared at each other, while Gabriel watched awkwardly from the sidelines. Finally, after an entire minute of silence, he cleared his throat. Both Nate and Mia jumped a little before looking away from each other and staring at Gabriel.

“Let’s leave the team comp for later. How about a date? Do we have a good window for the operation?” he asked.

Mia let out a huff but in the end acquiesced to Gabriel’s unspoken request to delay Nate’s execution. “They’re on a rotation. I need one more week to see if it repeats.”

“So at least two weeks?”

“Two weeks?” Nate also hummed along. “I can work with that…”

Mia nodded. “Two weeks at the earliest. It depends on what pattern I can find.”

Gabriel thought about it. Two weeks. That would allow him to potentially deal with the Bombshell issue while also upgrading his kit, maybe even gaining a new power. Most of the stuff they had ordered, well, Sparky had ordered, was on its way. They would only need to collect it.

After a few moments of thought, he nodded at his… friends? Mia was definitely a friend. Nate? Maybe… He would wait a little longer before declaring him one.

“Alright, then until then, we should keep a low profile. Go to work and all that jazz,” he declared. “It would probably be smart if we stopped meeting until then. Less chance of the Jackals getting too curious…”

The other two nodded, then spent the next fifteen minutes hashing out some details before leaving him alone in his apartment. Gabriel sat down on his couch and hoped Nate survived what was coming for him…

“Do they actually like each other, or is Nate a masochist?” he asked out loud.

One lone drone emerged from behind the couch and projected a screen in front of him.

[Based on the search results on his phone, he is not a masochist.]

[This unit, however, holds the opinion that Nate is too obsessed with ‘goth baddies’.]

“Let me guess, there wasn’t anything else on his phone?” Gabriel asked.

[Nothing.]

[This unit has a theory: Nate, per his own words, can simulate possible futures.]

[It is possible that instead of looking up sensitive information, he just simulates looking it up.]

[Result: clean search history.]

[addendum: clean of incriminating information.]

[too many pictures of goth women.]

[Would this unit look good in goth makeup?]

“I mean… you will never know if you don’t try…” Gabriel answered tiredly.

‘What even is my life?’