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A Colorful Month

Part 8

For Taiko

By Draconicon

"So, we're in a thrift shop...why?"

"Because we want to be somewhere with a certain number of hidden treasures. Too much, and we stand out as the least valuable things in the room. Too little, and we can be tracked by the value of what we are and what we carry," the mouse said, idly pulling on the sleeve of a disco shirt. "Did people actually wear these things?"

"You're asking someone that wasn't alive for that."

"You weren't? Could have fooled me, with those colors."

"Says the mouse in a 30s suit."

"Says the mule with police colors."

"..."

"Anyway." The Man in Red shook his head, letting go of the shirt as they walked down the aisles of the second-hand store. "You have questions. Go ahead."

'Questions' was putting it mildly at this point. There were dozens of things that he wanted to know, mostly about whether there were other people worse than Theft that were out there looking for him. Having not one, not two, not three, but four Council members to deal with in one day was certainly wearing on the nerves, and he honestly wasn't sure if he could take much more of this. He was already starting to wish that he had a chance to go and let loose some of the stress that was building up.

But he was himself enough to know that he needed to take advantage of this while he still could. The Man in Red was not the worst of the Council, not by a long shot, and he would at least answer questions. And the first one was -

"Was that Nemean that 'saved' me out there?"

"Yep."

"Why?"

"Oh, just a little deal I made with him. A little 'loophole' that I'm keeping open. Granted, it's more an exception in this case, but it's still close enough to work with my abilities."

"And what is it?"

"He usually doesn't know when you're in trouble. I allowed him to know on the second Tuesday of every month, between the hours of noon and midnight, provided that he tries to find out with the intent of helping you if you are in trouble."

"...You think that's a good thing?"

"Probably not. That lion's smarter than most of you give him credit for being. That said, he's got a hate-boner for you that's stronger than his common sense, so I doubt that he'll be able to twist that too far. I did put in those safeguards for a reason, after all."

Nor nodded, trying to keep from feeling too annoyed at the idea of Nemean knowing when he was having a weak or problematic moment. The lion had been rather...aggressive of late, and he didn't want to think of what might happen if he decided to actually pursue something worse.

"And if he decides to, you know, hurt me instead of help me?"

"Then he loses the exception. Simple as."

"He knows that?"

"Yep."

"So the most he can do..."

"Is watch. He can't hurt you, but he can choose not to help you."

"...Okay. Okay, that's something I can deal with."

That meant that he might have an ally from time to time, though he doubted it was going to be that easy to deal with the lion. Nemean was, as the mouse had noted, very smart. The very idea that one of his bigger adversaries would know when he was in trouble was not comforting, but the fact that Salla had rendered a limitation on the loophole meant that the lion would have to pick a time to backstab him very, very carefully. He'd only get one shot.

Unfortunately, with Nemean, that would mean that it would be a very good shot. He sighed, rubbing his forehead.

"Alright. That solves that one. And...Theft."

"Yes? What about him?"

"What does he want?"

"Oh, everything, probably," the mouse said. He paused, picking up a book and flitting through it. The eye holes in his mask glowed for a moment, then went dark as he put it back. "I'll have to read that later."

"What - no, no, back to Theft. What do you mean, everything?"

"Oh, him? He likes to collect things. Things of value, mostly."

"And that's from his power?"

"No, that's just the way he is."

"Your power doesn't affect you?"

"I didn't say that." The mouse chuckled. "The powers that we get affect us, sure, but that's more in how our personality reacts to that kind of ability. If you were, say, a killer, and you got the power of Murder, then you'd probably start to look at it entirely differently. You might actually become a serial killer that saw it as a sort of art, something that you needed to do more creatively. Or perhaps you'd become a wanton slaughterer, someone that needed to do with numbers what you could no longer do in challenge. It depends on who you are; the power itself doesn't change you, only what your personality does with the power that you get."

"...What happened to you, then?"

"Me?" The Man in Red chuckled, shaking his head. "Oh, that's not part of the deal, Nor. We're not talking about me."

"We could."

"We could. But we're not. I said I'd answer questions. Not necessarily about me."

"...Fine. Then...Theft. What does he want from me?"

"That is the question," the mouse said, shrugging as they left the books and moved to the old electronics. "I would imagine that he's a little spoiled for choice at the moment."

"Uh-uh. I doubt there's anything of value here, other than, well, my abilities."

"That's where you're wrong."

"Really? How?"

"Ever wonder how you keep surviving everything?"

"..."

"There's such a thing as luck, Nor. I've rolled the dice before, I've talked to spirits of luck, I've made deals to make sure that I own all the luck in a given sector for a short period of time. Trust me, luck is a factor in just about everything, and you have your own sort of luck that just pours off of you. If Theft is interested in anything besides your power, that will be it."

"...It can't be that much."

"Then let him take it for a little while, and find out."

Nor doubted that it was really that bad, but at the same time, he heard the slight tone in the mouse's voice that told him that the Man in Red believed it was. He wasn't precisely happy about taking a criminal at their word, but considering his choice in allies right at the moment, he didn't know if he had a lot of choice. There weren't many out there that were willing to help him right now, and fewer still that had any sort of experience with how the Council worked.

Shaking his head, he distracted himself as they left the electronics, leaning over a typewriter. He dragged his fingers over the keys, imagining them dancing and bouncing against the metal bar, and the image was oddly pleasing. It was, at least, something that wasn't so chaotic as what he was dealing with now.

"I don't...suppose you have any idea what's going on with the Council right now?" he asked.

"Not that worried about losing your luck?"

"More just...wondering when this is going to be over."

"I don't think it'll last for much longer. The Czar is weighing everything now."

"The Czar?"

"The one in charge. Czar in Gray. He's taking all the stuff that's been said and done between my operation and LiL's, and seeing who needs to pay the other a penalty over all this mess."

"You don't sound worried."

"I'm not. Mostly because I keep a lot of free will with my operations, and LiL...not so much." The mouse chuckled. "Plus, he's pissy. He knows that he's going to lose, so he's pushing to make everyone as miserable as possible before the Czar tells him to stop. It's his way."

"And you're just...okay with this? With my whole world, with all of Novus Ager getting turned upside-down with this?"

The Man in Red paused, then sighed. As the rodent pinched the bridge of his mask, rubbing the space behind it, Nor shook his head.

"You don't care, do you?"

"Nor -"

"It doesn't really matter to you. You and the rest of the Council, you're so high and mighty now that you don't really even pay attention to what happens to those below you."

"Okay, stop right there."

"This is -"

The mouse tapped his cane, and suddenly, Nor's mouth slammed shut. He glared down his muzzle, trying to make it open again, but it wasn't like having his mouth taken away like Deception had done, nor like what had happened in the past when someone just programmed his mouth to stay shut. This was something different. He struggled to keep going, but nothing came out. Hell, his vocal cords didn't even make a grunting sound.

The masked mouse shook his head, running his fingers over the various knickknacks on the shelves while Nor stewed. He gripped at his muzzle, seeing if there was any way for him to force his mouth back open, but it didn't move. Every time that he tried to start again, his whole face shut down, just stiffening into a stern, statuesque sort of expression.

"While you're being all angry over there, perhaps I should tell you something. And this time, I hope you listen, because it is important," the mouse said. "I care. Otherwise, I wouldn't be here. I don't know how much you understand about the way that the Council operates, but all of them could have come to pay a visit while this little case is being argued in front of the Czar. They could have come by and fucked with the city, with your life, with everything. You have only dealt with the nice ones.

"I didn't bother to stop Battery because I knew that he'd be interested in the city. He'd find the way that it protects its own people to be its own kind of 'awesome', and he would find you hilarious, possibly even become a friend of yours.

"I didn't stop the Basilissa because I knew she had no malice, nor did she want to kill anyone. The biggest danger would be that she'd end up killing someone that came after you because she started liking you, and you're abrasive enough that she wouldn't actually get that close."

"Hey!" Nor blinked. "I can talk? You -"

And just as he started trying to go back to the other stuff he wanted to say, his face stopped working again. He blinked, then slapped a hand across his forehead. It was a loophole, he realized. A loophole that said that he could talk, of course, but he couldn't start insulting the mouse. Or something like that. The Man in Red chuckled, continuing.

"I let Deception in...partially because she didn't seem like she'd do much, but also because we both know that there's someone here that could take care of her."

"She almost broke everything."

"Almost isn't doing it. And it's better that it was her instead of someone that could reach through all the timelines."

"...There...there's someone like that?"

"Yes, and I'm still fixing my ship from that encounter, thank you very much. You're welcome."

Nor didn't want to think about someone that could reach through more of the world than the mysterious tiger could affect. Someone that could do something that he couldn't reverse, couldn't fix, was someone that he never, ever, ever wanted to see visiting Novus Ager. That was a power that would break things, and there were too many things that were barely holding together as it was to allow that.

He hadn't thought that the Man in Red had actually been doing anything to help him or the others in the city. He thought that the mouse had been just hanging out, doing nothing, watching the show. If he had held off someone like that...

The Man in Red looked back at him again. The mouse shook his head.

"You aren't listening to me."

"I am."

"Not now. About the other stuff."

"What other stuff?"

"About trusting people."

"...There's nobody in my life that's not trustworthy. Except maybe you."

"Nor. I'm not going to waste my time lying to you about things. If I tell you that there's something that you have to be worried about, then there's a reason for it. I'm giving you something that I don't have to. Breaking the rules of criminality there, I have to admit, but there you go."

"There's nobody around that hasn't earned my trust."

"Nobody?"

"...Nobody."

"There's someone. Someone that's changing you, Nor. You're twitchy. You don't want to be here. You want to leave. I can see it in your face. You can't look me in the eye half the time, and you keep looking at the doors, the windows, everything. You're afraid."

"I'm not."

"You're afraid, and you're stressed. You're bunched up, tense. Your adrenaline's running high."

"Stop it."

"I'm saying what I see. Whatever's happening, you're getting addicted to something, and that's going to be a problem."

"If I'm addicted to anything, it's your fault."

"And we're back to this," the mouse muttered.

"You're goddamn right we're back to this. You think that this has been a safe life for me? Do you think this is what I wanted?"

"I think that you didn't think twice before coming with me to the other world, but go on."

"I am a hero. It's my job to help people. You manipulated me into coming along."

"On a technicality, I suppose you're right. I did play off your need to rescue others, and I made it very clear that you would be doing yourself and the people in the other world a disservice if you didn't come. But I never took away your ability to say no. I never forced it, just pointed out the things that you didn't want to think about."

"Yes. I'm sure that's what you do to everyone." Nor snorted, shaking his head. "This all happened because I helped you. Well, I'm done with that. As soon as this whole case is over, I'm done with all of you."

"...Something tells me that there's one of us that isn't done with you."

"Yeah? Who?"

"It's down to two different options. But...we'll see what happens." The mouse sighed, adjusting his gloves. "At any rate, I imagine that you want me to leave. Fine. I wish you luck with dealing with the Marquis. He's - one moment - five blocks away, currently, and sniffing you out. You might want to find a subtle way home."

"..."

"A thank-you would not go amiss."

"Hmmph. Thanks."

"You're welcome."

By the time that Nor turned around, there was no more mouse behind him. Instead, there was some long, lanky sort of dachshund wrapped in a disco shirt marching out of the store. He blinked for a moment, looking around for the red-suited mouse, but there was nobody to be seen.

How...

It wasn't important. He needed to get out of here before Theft got there, and that was all there was to it. If he didn't find a way to get free before the Marquis found him, then the mouse was right about one thing. This was going to get a whole lot worse.

He went around the corner, allowing himself to down-shift into Denith. The little change was easily done, and by the time that he did it, he had also grabbed a couple of clothes to wear home. No point in wearing the Nor costume all the way back, after all...

A brown-furred mule stepped out onto the sidewalk, wearing second-hand jeans and a sparkly vest-shirt that showed off his pecs a little more than he expected. He rubbed the back of his head, feeling woefully out of date, but at least he didn't look so much like the hero that the Marquis had already met.

However, as he turned the corner, he saw someone else rounding the bend at the next intersection. It was a lion with a steel mask and braided mane, someone soaked to the skin and looking pissed off beyond all reason. It was Nemean.

Denith remained as natural as possible as he walked down the street, trying to pretend that the masked lion wasn't making a beeline for him, that he wasn't being glared at the whole time. Something was off, though, something that didn't make sense. Nemean was plowing through the crowd as usual, but there was something different about it, more brutal, more -

He isn't going untouched...

Denith's eyes wanted to jump right out of his sockets at the realization, but he knew better than to show it on his face. He kept his expression as neutral as possible, knowing that he was still being watched, but the shock reverberated through his head.

Theft took his telekinesis. He can't just shove people out of the way as they get close anymore.

He'd thought that the magpie was just bragging. He'd thought that Nemean would have a good shot at taking Theft down, teaching him a lesson. Instead, it seemed that the lesson had been reversed. Considering the sheer power that the lion had in the city, that was horrifying. If Nemean couldn't stand up to one of the Council members, who could?

Finally, there was no more avoiding the lion. A grip that was stronger than stone shoved him back against one of the buildings, and Denith grunted as he was pinned in place. The masked lion leaned in.

"You know Nor."

"...Yeah...yeah, I do," he gasped.

"Then give him this message. He's still in trouble. And he owes Nemean a favor."

"..."

"You will tell him."

"Y-yes...I will..."

"Good."

And with that, the conversation was over. Denith landed on his hooves, and Nemean walked away. The lion had a car pick him up at the end of the block, and the rather haughty feline looked particularly angry as he was driven away.

Denith rubbed his neck, shivering. That had been a bit of a Peter-Parker/Spider-Man moment, hadn't it?

But if Theft took his powers, that means that someone else has the telekinetic ability now...and that...mmmph...

Nemean's power had never been that strong offensively, unless you got in range. His range only extended about a foot outside his body, so it was more useful to the lion defensively rather than offensively. That said, it meant that Theft would have some version of the power, and likely be able to use it to protect himself. Nor wouldn't be able to just boot the magpie over the horizon if it came down to a fight anymore.

Goddammit...

Knowing that he needed to put some distance between him and Theft, he started walking. Time to find a train station.

He boarded the nearest monorail and started riding it wherever it would take him. He didn't plan anything out, didn't pick out a route, just hopped on one and started riding. The way that everything had been going, he felt that planning things out was a quick way to be predicted and followed. Better to be a little random, and hope that the city might help him a bit, rather than just throwing himself to the mercies of someone else maybe getting out-thought.

As he leaned forward, he couldn't help but feel a little sorry for himself. This wasn't his fault. No matter how much LiL tried to throw this back at him, no matter how much the Man in Red tried to dodge his own culpability in this, Nor knew that this wasn't his fault. When you did something bad, someone had to be there to stop you. If it meant that you didn't get what you wanted, maybe you shouldn't have been trying to do something bad in the first place.

Yet, at the same time, he remembered what Murder had said, and the comparison that had been drawn between what he did in Novus Ager versus what this had ended up being. He tried to put that down to being wrong, that she didn't understand, but...

But at the same time, he knew for a fact that all the villains that were arrested seldom had to pay much in the way of consequences. The prison system wasn't just a rotating door, it was something that spun at mach 10 and spat them back out almost before they went in. Nobody was ever really hurt from it, and even the dangerous criminals, like Nemean, were often not that deadly with what they did to those that earned their ire.

LiL, on the other hand, had been far more dangerous. He had been risking the lives of many. He had been manipulating people behind the scenes for months. And when he had finally been stopped, he'd actually been stopped. The mouse had made sure to inform him of that, and Murder had confirmed it. The Dane had been kicked out of the other world, and had been forbidden back.

Unlike in Novus Ager, a loss out there was genuinely final. One couldn't just go back to doing what they did.

And...I did that. He admitted that much. I did that. The mouse might have come up with the idea, might have made the plan, but I was the one that did it.

Which...admittedly, explained why LiL would be after him, but why the others?

...Right. Because I'm not one of them, and I beat one of them.

That would explain a lot. Deception had been bored as could be, but the possibility of someone that could have beaten a Council member had drawn her here. Thankfully, she was more interested in the city than in him, but that still meant that she was around, doing things that made the rest of reality stand on edge. Even now, he was half-sure that he could feel the city trembling in case she came back.

The others had been...well, dramatic, but not so bad, in hindsight. Battery had saved his ass on their second encounter, and seeing him at Pride had almost humanized him in some ways. Murder had taken him away so that they didn't have to worry about anything in Novus Ager during their conversation, and while she'd been painful, she hadn't done something to hurt him intentionally.

But it was still horrifying to imagine others coming here. He was on edge, and with the Marquis in Green still at large, he had no idea when the new guy was going to strike, or what he'd do. If the Man in Red was right and the magpie came for his luck...

Oh gods...

He rubbed his forehead, trying not to freak out the way that he wanted to, but it was really hard. He needed to get somewhere and not think for a while. Choin would be getting back from his appointment soon, he knew. That would be good, getting lost in the bear's arms, getting the panda to hold him for a while. He might even cry, if he got too comfortable.

He'd understand...right? He wouldn't ask questions...

No, Choin would ask questions. The panda was getting more and more protective of him, and while that was sweet, he knew that was a bad thing when there were supers like this around. What if Choin decided to try and stop it himself? What if Theft followed him home and tried something there?

Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck...

Paralyzed by indecision, Nor barely noticed the monorail coming to a halt. Passengers started spilling out, new ones started walking in...And a green-garbed bird sat down at his side. He saw the talon-coverings, felt the water spillage at his side, and he winced.

"I smell a familiar value on you," the magpie said, shaking his head from side to side and sending water splattering around. "And I think that we both know what that means."

"I don't have a clue," Denith lied.

"You don't, hmm? Then perhaps -"

The magpie snapped at something around his head. For a moment, Denith forgot who the magpie was, but then the memory came back. He groaned under his breath as the bird chuckled, clicking his beak a few times.

"Yes, I thought it was you."

"How did you know?"

"You had the same high-value feeling as you did on the street...I remembered you remembering me over and over and over again." The magpie chuckled. "It's certainly going to be a pain to try and get around that. No point in stealing information from you, much as it would benefit me to keep certain secrets. Buuuuuut, I think there's something else I can profit from. I think that luck of yours would stand me in good stead."

"You won't get anyone to pay for that," Denith muttered, still staring at the ground.

"Oh, I think I will. You, for example."

"..."

"I think you'll find yourself missing it very much, very fast."

"You're bluffing."

"Let's find out, shall we?"

The magpie reached out, and Nor felt something go. It was like a moment of vertigo, when the world slipped down, up, and around, and where he didn't know up from down. He almost collapsed in his seat, and he would have, if it wasn't for a sudden stray turn of the train.

"Whoa!"

The mule fell to the ground, rolled sideways, and banged his ribs off a standing pole. As he tried to get to his feet, his hooves found a puddle on the floor, and he slipped again, falling flat on his back.

From the side of the train, the magpie chuckled. The Marquis in Green slowly folded one leg over the other, cocking his head to the side.

"And that's just the start. My, my, my...just how dependent on luck are you, hmm?"

"Shut up."

"Oh, I don't think I will. You have all kinds of things that you could do to get that luck back. I think I'll be gloating about this for a while."

The thing was, he could all too easily imagine that. The magpie had the sort of personality that all but guaranteed that kind of gloating, that kind of sneering, that kind of utter need to be right and point out all the things someone else was doing wrong. He wanted to believe that he would be fine without his luck, but if this was the start, he was almost terrified to see just what he was going to experience on the way home.

#

The train ride was less than lethal, thankfully, though he fell over twice more with sudden stops that always happened just when he thought that he was done needing to brace himself. The stop itself had positioned itself half a mile from his and Choin's apartment, and he groaned under his breath as he realized that he was going to be going through one of the markets in the city famous for its pickpockets. Theft followed behind him as they both got off the train -

"Nnnngh!"

Only for the doors of the monorail to close right on the mule's tail. He gritted his teeth, pulling it back as the doors opened again, Theft humming to himself.

"Hmm, hmm."

"You're an ass," Denith muttered.

"Actually, you are. I'm just a magpie."

"Ugh. I swear, you're the worst."

"Hmmm, some of the Council would agree with you."

Denith told himself that he just had to deal with this until the end of the case that the Czar was hearing. Once that was done, he might actually get his luck back without having to deal with paying off the magpie. That would be the ideal solution, and one that he was desperately hoping for. He doubted that he'd be able to handle much while he was without his luck if this was how he was going to be functioning.

He took the stairs far more delicately than usual, going one step at a time and putting both hooves on each step before continuing down to the next one. He felt like an old man making his way down, but it saved him from tumbling when a step disappeared from under him. It left him only falling down by a foot or so rather than tumbling all the way down.

It wasn't just that he was getting bad-luck shifts, either. There was something like a feeling of the city abandoning him, leaving him to his fate as he walked along. Nobody else was dealing with the same bullshit that he was, which made him wonder if the Marquis had stolen something more than just his luck.

"Hey, heads-up!"

The mule turned, only to see a pie flying right for his face. He normally would have had the reflexes to catch it before it hit his head, but instead, he fumbled and stumbled, bumped the pie-tin from below -

Squelch.

Getting a cream pie to the face was a new experience for the mule, and one that he didn't particularly want to repeat. While the Marquis laughed behind him, Denith wiped his face clean and kept moving on.

"Oh, watch out there," the magpie said.

Denith turned to flip the bird the bird, only for a truck to go swinging by. It slammed into his arm, sending him spinning around. In fact, he spun all the way across the sidewalk, over the curb, up a telephone pole, and into a flag before he finally came to a halt, fully cocooned in said flag and unable to drag himself free.

The whole of the pedestrian population ended up laughing after that. The Marquis chuckled from the other side of the street, wiggling his fingers at Nor and winking knowingly. The lack of luck was definitely hitting him worse than he thought.

If this is the start, how much worse is this going to get? If I'm getting this humiliated just walking home, what happens if I get into a fight?

He really, really, really didn't want to know the answer to that. He just wanted to get back before Choin started asking questions. With his luck - or lack thereof - he wouldn't be able to think of good answers, and the already shaky situation between the two of them would start getting worse.

The End

Summary: Nor gets a few answers as to how much longer he'll have to suffer this, and then has a new encounter with the magpie.

Tags: No Sex, Mouse, Salla, Novus Ager, Mule, Nor, Lion, Magpie, Series, Superpowers, Theft, Comedy, Drama,