First he felt the cold and some wetness, then Jun registered hands rummaging through his pockets.
Jun's eyes snapped open and he pushed himself off the ground with enough force that he launched himself several feet off the ground, scaring his would be robber who staggered backwards and fell to their feet, wondering if a Super being had just been ticked off.
Jun scanned his surroundings.
It was the same alley where he was chasing the teen. Only, there were two vagrants in a corner who hugged themselves in the cold night air, hidden under piles of empty cardboard paper. Several barrels had open flames were people warmed themselves openly or placed skewered meat to roast, a crowd was gathered around one of these make-shift stalls. The alley had transformed, its living element emerging like a nocturnal ecosystem.
The pick pocket had picked herself up and turned to flee. Jun saw this and a wave of frustration hit him. He realized how stupid and careless he had been. Using his powers without practice, without understanding. This world, this new era wasn't going to give him a luxury of figuring out his powers before obstacles would present themselves. Destur's face flashed through his mind;
He was powerful, but I killed him because he underestimated me, because he didn't take me seriously.
Jun's hand stretched out, coordinating his ability; it gripped the leg of his pick-pocket and Jun was happy to perceive it grip his entire thigh as well. He approached the young girl.
"How long was I here?" he asked.
The girl was terrified, realizing she had indeed ticked off a super being, she began to lose hope of ever surviving this encounter. Her eyes darted about her, looking for something or someone that could save her from the situation.
Jun pats his pockets then swears in frustration.
"My phone and wallet. Now!" he demands furiously.
Her eyes go wide and she tries to fall to her feet, but the grip on her thigh prevents her from fully lowering herself, causing her to hobble at a silly angle.
"P-Please, n-no n-n-no. I just got here a few minutes ago." She fumbles in her pockets and empties the contents on the ground, "I got nothing from you. I swear!" she was crying now.
Jun felt his heart immediately grow softer seeing her cry. He felt bad having to do this, yet he felt worse realizing he may not be able to call Rin through his phone.
Rin.
"You're lying!" he lifted his hand, he could feel her weight in his hands. He felt his ability envelop her completely and as he lifted his hands, she rose sharply into the air, stopping about a meter and a half off the ground. She shrieked in fear; the vagrants around them somehow disappeared – shuffling under trash or moving out of sight, watching, unseen, the developing situation.
Jun had pushed his ability like never before. He felt like he could squeeze further, there was more to give. Perhaps he wasn't as weak as he believed.
Someone scampered out of the shadows and ran up to them. Jun noticed it was a younger girl, thanks to the many firelights, he could see a resemblance between the newcomer and his pickpocket.
"Don't hurt Shu'er!" the younger girl knelt before Jun, causing him to jump back. "Please don't hurt my sister! Please mister super man!"
Jun couldn't help but smile.
In the firelights where dark shadows were cast over his face, the pickpocket noticed this 'smile' and immediately panicked. "Mei Mei run from here! Don't let him take you away! Get out of here now Mei Mei!" She began thrashing about, trying her best to struggle free of her invisible retraints.
"Um… sir?" the little one, Mei Mei took a deep breath and said the words that shocked Jun the most. "Sir, If you let my sister go, you can have me instead."
As understanding of the situation dawned on him, disgust rattled Jun's mind and his hold on Shu'er lessened considerably, enough that she was able to break free, fall, and rush to Mei Mei. Shu'er tried to drag her sister away, but Mei Mei believed the super being had agreed to her request and she feared what would happen if she now tried to renege on the contract.
"Get behind me sis, I won't let him have you!" declared Shu'er, standing between Jun and Mei Mei.
"And do what!" shouted Mei Mei suddenly, she suddenly started to smack Shu'er in the back of the head and wherever her hands could reach, "see what you've done. What do you want now, for him to get angry and come and wipe everyone out." These words caused Shu'er to calm down, realizing that the person she had angered may have the power to easily end all their lives with a gesture. "You remember what Gavik did to those poor girls! Because of you, I now have to go with this person!" she screamed, tears filling her eyes for the first time.
"Wait!" Jun shouted, hoping to get a handle of the situation. "You mentioned Gavik and some girls. Did any of those girls live in that apartment building?" he hoped maybe some news of Rin could come out of this weird situation.
Go with who person though? He wondered.
The girls calmed down. For the first time, he could really get a look at them. Shu'er looked to be in her late teens or early twenties. Big brown eyes, a small nose yet she seemed slim with sunken cheeks and eyes, a trait not shared by Mei Mei who seemed slightly healthier. Their black hair was braided behind them, hidden under several layers of thick clothing.
Shu'er pushed Mei Mei further behind herself. She eyed Jun for a moment.
"We don't know anything about–
"Shut up Shu'er!" shouted Mei Mei. "You always do this, getting us into more trouble than we need. I TOLD you not to pick his pocket. I warned you about it. The way he fell was strange. I said leave it alone."
"Yeah but Xia only got a phone and a wallet from him. I hoped we could get some cash as well."
"From someone Xia already picked clean!?" Mei Mei rolled her eyes at her sister.
Jun turned to Mei Mei to address her, he had gleaned that she was the smarter of the two.
"You saw what happened to me?" he asked.
"Hm. Yeah," Mei Mei chuckled, "It was kinda funny the way you slipped. You hit your head pretty bad."
"You know who robbed me?"
Mei Mei looked away then nodded. "Xia took your wallet and phone. I watched her search you and find nothing else. I don't know where she goes though." Mei Mei shrugged, however, Jun caught the puzzled look Shu'er gave and looked back to Mei Mei, who smacked then her own face.
"Fine." She harrumphed. "You can find her in the sewer systems."
"Sewers?"
"Yeah, look around you. It's getting dangerous up here"
Jun couldn't disagree.
In just a few days many parts of the city turned into warzones. If the sewers offered a measure of safety… … Rin could be there! He hoped.
"Also," added Mei Mei, "I don't know about the people Gavik took. We didn't live here initially. I don't know who, but someone kept burning down our old neighborhood. So we fled and came here."
Hmmm. I hoped they could give me a clue about Rin. Well, if not them, then I'll find someone who lives here originally. Wait what!?
"Burning?" Jun asked. "Like,-."
"Like, literally burning it down." Mei Mei cut him off, "Some super with fire powers we assume. He or she, set fire to EVERYTHING." She finished with a sigh.
Jun sighed. "Look, someone I'm looking for is missing. She lived in that building," he pointed at the half collapsed building behind them. "I came here to find her. It'll be great if I get my phone back, but that's not as important honestly. And," he continued, "Since you don't really know anything,…" he groaned as he said, "Just go."
Shu'er perked up. She was already reaching for Mei Mei, ready to slip away.
"What's her name?" Mei Mei's question drew puzzled looks from both of them, "the girl, what's her name?"
"Rin. Yang Rin." He answered.
Mei Mei closed her eyes and thought for a moment before saying something that shocked both Jun and Shu'er. "Sorry. I don't know anyone like that. But we could search for her for you."
"You can?"
"We can!?"
Straining her words, Mei Mei said, "Yes, sister, we can indeed help this super power guy to find his lost woman. Wouldn't that be great, to help this super powered being?"
Mei Mei stared blankly at her sister who stared back at her questioningly. Even Jun had quickly caught on, but it seemed Shu'er was still slow on the uptake.
Jun chuckled into his hands as he rubbed his eyes. He felt like Shu'er had suffered enough.
"She means, if you help me, I'll also help you guys too." Jun offered. Mei Mei's face lowered in embarrassment, while Shu'er's face brightened as she finally got it.
Shu'er was about to exclaim in jubilation when Mei Mei silenced her, "Don't get too happy." She reached out an empty palm to Shu'er. "Your phone."
"Oh!" Shu'er brought out her phone saying, "that's right, we should get his phone number."
Mei Mei said nothing and handed it over to Jun. "Password is" she rolled her eyes, leaned closer and gestured for Jun to do same, whispering it in his ear as her cheek reddened. "all Caps." She added embarrassed.
Jun couldn't help but snigger as he tested out the password. Immediately he was overwhelmed with the intense girly theme, a background image with far too many emojis and even the font was overly exaggerated.
"What's happening?"
"How else would we be able to reach him?"
"But… my phone." Shu'er said sadly. Mei Mei shrugged.
Jun remembered Rin's number; dialed it and got the same message. He put the phone away.
"We'll search for Yang Rin. Anything we get, I'll let you know."
"Thanks."
Shu'er grumbled quietly to herself, "could 'a used your phone though." Mei Mei dragged her sister away, disappearing around a corner.
The street dwellers, noticing there was no bloodshed, began to reappear. Sheets of paper moved revealing hurdled couples or groups and movement in the shadows betrayed those who had blended with the shadows. The ambient noise seemed to even get louder.
Jun turned to look at the skewered meat being sold.
He had skipped lunch and now deeply regretted it. However, when he looked closer at the meat being sold, he did a double take.
He walked to the seller. The few people who had seen him use an ability made way for him.
"Sir- Oh, sorry, maam. Where did you get that-that?" he pointed to the thing roasting over the open flame. Despite what he saw, the spices and flavoring watered his mouth, yet.
"This?"
He nodded.
"Oh, you must be new here. It's a rat."
Jun stared at the large corpse. A few people, realizing he wasn't here to make trouble placed their orders and the seller quickly cut portions off the whole carcass, rolling them up in newspaper before handing them over to the buyers.
"That's a rat?" Jun asked incredulously.
"That's how they get now after the Umbra event. No one talks about 'em, its all about the supers."
Jun really wanted to taste this meat. She claimed it was a rat, but, the size of the carcass was easily bigger than a housecat, yet still smaller than a dog. By any rights, this was far too large to be called a rat.
Animals are mutating as well. He realized.