Rumors

"Damian, come with me." Jason stands menacing over Damian.

"Uh, sure thing boss." Damian quickly gets out of his hammock.

The two begin moving along the dusty broken road.

"Where are we going boss?" Damian nervously pipes up.

"The bar!" Jason gets a smug grin.

"W- I'm not old enough to drink." Damian relaxes after finding out he isn't in trouble.

"I know. There have been many tasty rumors spreading around in the bar, but any time I go in I leave drunk and unable to remember anything. Your job is to listen in and gather the intel." Jason taps his cheek as sweat drips down his face.

"Why did you pick me?" Damian looks at him curiously.

"Grant also gets drunk, Henry refuses to step foot in a bar, Natalie hates being surrounded by too many people, and Alex is more likely to get into a fight." Jason begins sweating more.

"Guess since I'm the only one, I'll get your rumors." Damian puts his hands behind his head and grins.

"You sure will." Jason scoffs and wacks Damian in the head.

The duo finds themselves outside the bar face to face with Grant.

"The mission is a go." Jason glares at Grant.

They immediately run into the bar before Damian could say anything. Once he enters he sees three empty glasses beside the pair already.

"Hey, kids aren't allowed at the bar." An older gentleman with a crazy mustache and fancy vest confronts Damian from behind the bar.

"I'm here to make sure these two don't get in trouble." Damian points to his comrades as he takes a seat.

"Oh. Since that's the case, can I get you a non-alcoholic drink?" The bartender bows in apology.

"I'll take a tea." Damian shifts his gaze as the man steps away.

At the moment the bar seems to be relatively empty, say for a man who just lost his job and a drunkard.

"Looks like I'll be waiting a while." Damian turns back around to see his tea and a bowl of peanuts.

"Sorry about not having anything else for you to snack on." The bartender gives him a friendly smile.

"That's okay, thank you." Damian looks fondly at the peanuts, it's the first time he can recall someone being nice to him in the city.

A couple of hours pass and the bar has now become busier, with people all around having their own conversations. Damian has his eyes closed, tightening his focus on hearing. Most things he's hearing are people struggling to survive in this city with them barely being able to afford anything, and family issues.

"Did Jason even actually hear any rumors?" Damian thinks to himself as he downs his tea.

"I heard there was another body found in one of the fallen cities. It was all dried up, like a mummie!" Damian sets his glass down and focuses on this conversation.

"Poor bastard, I guess he didn't hear about the danger of the black cloud." It's a pair of men who just started to drink, as they chat.

"One of my brother's friends said he saw a glimpse of a man standing within the cloud itself." He leans in and whispers to his friend.

"That sounds a bit too far-fetched. How is someone supposed to be able to levitate in that thing?" This man crosses his arms with a skeptical expression.

"I'll keep note of that." Damian turns back as their conversation ends.

"One of the rumors I heard was of a thief so skilled, by the time you notice something wrong he's gone." Damian sits on a rooftop with Natalie and Alex.

"If Jason wanted quick people, where is Henry?" Alex leans out of his testing position.

"Henry is currently investigating other rumors and possible rewards for our deeds." Damian recalls what Jason told him.

"Then what's our plan?" Natalie turns her gaze to Damian.

"We simply have to find the thief and then apprehend them. You and I will be searching for them, tightening our focus to their movements, and Alex will take them down." Damian explains their plan layout.

"How do we get the thief to act up around here?" Natalie finds the flaw in Damian's plan.

"They only strike in this section of the city, and on top of that, they happen most often on this road. We only need them to show up." Damian watches over the active street.

Three hours have passed and the trio are still sitting on the roof, board as can be.

"Should we call it a day?" Alex lays flat on the tiles.

"No, Jason entrusted us with this mission." Natalie cuts Damian off.

"It's sixteen o'clock, how long are we planning to be out for?" Alex lifts his head to look at Natalie.

"A thief only strikes when it's least expected." As soon as he finishes his words he jolts up.

Him and Natalie share a quick glance and nod, before she dashes away.

"N-Natalie!? What's going on?" Alex is startled by their sudden movements.

"We found them." Damian watches a hooded figure slowly make their escape.

"When do I charge?" Alex manipulates his stony arms to form bigger shoulders.

"When Natalie gives the signal." Damian closes his eyes focusing all around him.

A puddle next to him freezes.

"Go time." Damian nods to Alex.

Alex sprints full speed at the hooded figure, making the stone his feet land on propel him further. The figure notices him glancing back for a moment, in that time they had just reached where Natalie was hiding. She creates a line of ice across the ground to stop the figure. The figure leaps over the ice without ever seeing it.

"Shit, this isn't looking good." Damian bolts towards a pile of crates and climbs onto a rooftop as he begins pursuing the target as well.

Alex slips on the ice and falls.

"Damn it!" He watches the target flee.

"Damian's chasing him now, let's hurry around and flank him." Natalie picks Alex up.

Damian runs parallel to the target, when the figure begins to slow down Damian shifts his footing and jumps for them. The figure looks up at him suddenly, then dodges out of the way.

"You've trained your senses, have you? Not only that, but you're also grafted." Damian lands and stares down his foe.

"And you're very observant." The figure removes their hood to reveal long black hair and vibrant red feathers coming from her neck and shoulders.

"If you keep running, I'll keep chasing, and I'm sure you know I can keep up." Damian gets into an offensive position.

She twitches and her face becomes red. She swiftly takes out a vile of blood and downs it, once finished she disappears. Damian feels her presence behind him. He moves forward to dodge an oncoming attack, but she's faster. Hitting him in the neck he falls paralyzed.

"You're so cute laying all defenseless there." She bends down, looking at his face.

When she takes off his glasses his oni eye begins to twitch. She steps back in surprise as he begins to stand up.

"How are you doing that?" She watches with curiosity.

"There's a raging monster inside of me, and it doesn't like to lose." Damian's nails form into claws.

"Then I'll just have to tame that beast." She disappears.

Damian blocks her attack with his hand. She immediately moves, but every attempt to hit him fails.

"Okay, this has suddenly become annoying." Her hands turn into talons and ignite in flames.

Damian's eyes widen as she instantly closes the distance between them. He ducks under her swing, embers fly behind her movements. She trips over Damian nearly falling, but then appears above him. He kicks up towards her, but she bounces off his leg and sets it ablaze. He drops, clutching his smoldering leg.

"I can't win if I don't use more Oni power." Damian thinks to himself. "No, I will not become a monster." He reverts back to normal.

As the woman soars in to finish him off, he stands and faces the attack. A direct hit to the stomach and a burst of cinders knock Damian out.

"Y-you held back!?" The woman's face becomes red. "Why did we have to meet like this? I'm sure that special power of yours will let you live, let's meet again later." She rests his head on her lap and plays with his hair.

Before leaving she drops some ash into his wound. The hole in his gut lights up as if kindled. By the time Alex and Natalie reach him, he has no wounds.

"This mission was unsuccessful, let's go home." Natalie scans their surroundings as Alex picks up the unconscious Damian.