Chapter 7

Near a week had passed since the forming of their fledgling company. They had yet to decide on what to call themselves but they all knew that they had made the right decision on sticking together. Darius’ prediction on the city's water problem had been spot on, more so actually. A month of no water was looking more and more like an optimistic estimate. With the number of demolished building, each with hundreds of exposed water pipes and not to mention the broken fire hydrants. Even with all the city’s plumbers and public utility worker going at it around the clock, the water wouldn’t be pumping to the whole city for at least two to three months.   “Okay! This one's ready!” Trevor said out as he tapped his hand on the top of a portable water cooler.   “Got it!” A younger man said to him and wheeled it out of the tent they were standing in.   Darius watched as the man left and then turned back to the cooler he was filling. The man was the same person that Darius had eaten with the night he met Trevor. He came to learn that his name was Todd Lasiter. He was Mary’s twin brother. Darius had not really been surprised that they were siblings as he had already suspected it, but the fact that they were twins did. When Charity had heard about it she was dumbfounded as they were not Metahumans. Almost ninety-five percent of all twins ended up being Meta’s. Most simply had some sort of weak telepathy, but others often had abilities that complimented each other.   Even though Charity was a Meta nerd, meeting a rare anomaly like Mary piqued her interest. After they talked for some time they seemed to have hit it off and became pretty good friends. Darius was glad she was feeling more comfortable around the group. She was practically all alone here in this city so anything that made her feel like she belonged was a good thing to him. Darius willed the water to stop pouring from his hand and motioned to Trevor to ‘purify’ it as they got to calling their process.   “Is that the last one?” Trevor asked as he walked over to him and held his hand over the cooler.   “Yeah, for now.” Darius said as Trevor finished up.   “Want to take a break?” Trevor asked.   “You read my mind!” Darius replied and stretched a bit.   They both walked out of the tent and motioned to Mary and Todd that they were on break. They nodded and got back to filling other people’s empty water jugs. The line to the tent stretched to the entrance to the park, and it probably went out even further but they didn’t feel like going to check. They walked down to the pond and took a breather. Word had spread pretty quickly that clean and drinkable water was available and for sale. They had priced their water at 10 ounces of food per gallon. They then turned around and started trading food for people's portable coolers to help store more even more water. They then started trading for other things such as batteries and clothes and that was the birth of the Caster Park Trading Post.   “What a week…” Darius said as he looked out over the pond.   “Yeah, didn’t think we would be this successful.” Trevor said as they watched a duck swim by.   “So what is our next move?” Trevor asked him.   “Beats me…” Darius said looking over to him.   They stood in silence for a while and looked around. Darius picked up a rock and tried to skip it across the pond but failed miserably.   “I think we should start accepting money.” Trevor said.   “What? Why?” Darius asked looking at him.   “I don’t know… Because no one else is?” He said shrugging his shoulders.   “That's because its just paper now.” Darius said to him.   “I don’t know man. I mean people know about us. If they hear we accept cash then won’t that mean to them that it still has some worth?” He said.   “I don’t think that us taking money will be enough to jump-start the cities economy.” Darius told him.   “Maybe, maybe not. But what if the government isn’t gone? What if they bounce back? Even if people think it's worthless now, that means they will be more willing to part with it.” Trevor said.   “... I don’t know.” Darius said.   “One hundred dollars per Gallon of water.” Trevor said.   “One hundred!?” Darius asked in shock.   “People will be throwing money at us right now. If money turns out not to be worthless…” Trevor said looking at him.   “... And if it is then we would be giving away thousands of gallons of water for free.” Darius said.   “Not like it's really a loss. Costs us nothing to make.” He said back.   Darius thought about it. What Trevor was saying made a lot of sense. But it was still a gamble that completely relied on if the government was still functional and if the banks would also eventually reopen. But ultimately this wasn’t just his decision to make.   “We should put it to a vote with the rest of the group.” Darius said.   Trevor nodded and they looked back out to the lake. After a few minutes, they both heard rapidly approaching footsteps and turned around. Todd was running towards them with a look on his face that could only be construed as trouble.   “G-Guys...Haaaa….Big problem! At the tent!” He said taking deep breaths.   “What is it? Are people fighting again?” Trevor asked.   “No… It's the UHA! Their here and they want us to shut down.” He said.   “What?” Darius asked confused.   “Charity, Sir, and Mary are chewing them out right now, but you guys need to come back!” Todd told them.   They both nodded and began to run back. As they neared the tent they could see three people wearing suits. A tall blond woman wearing a gray suit and sunglasses turned her head to look at them. A scar was on the side of her neck. The other two were both men. One looked to be in his late forties. His hair was jet black and combed back, his pencil styled mustache made him look as if he jumped right out of the 1940’s. He was smiling and trying to talk to Sir who was having none of it, Charity was to both of his sides and backing him up. The second man was much younger and with dirty blonde hair. He had an unlit cigarette in his hand and looking around nervously.   “What the hell is going on!” Darius said out at the got near.   “Ah! Darius, Trevor… These people say they are from the UHA and that they shut down our ‘Operation’.” The elderly man known as Sir said.   He was a 62-year-old man, his thin silver hair waved in the wind. His real name was William Henry but everyone called him Sir as he a War Vet and a sort of air about him that demanded respect.   “Why do you want us to shut down? What for?” Darius asked walking up to the man.   The tall woman took a step towards Darius but was stopped by the dapper man.   “No need to get hostile here folks! We are simply asking you all to stop this illegal business of yours.” The man said.   “Illegal business? What are you talking about? We’re trading goods!” Darius said.   “Is that so? Do you have a permit to do this in a park owned by the city?” The man asked.   “Wh-No…” Darius said.   “Was that a no I just heard?” The man asked sarcastically.   “Yeah, that was a no.” The other man beside him said.   “Cut the crap! Like anyone could get a permit with the city the way it is right now!” Charity said to them.   “That may be so but we will have to confiscate all of this until you get this cleared up.” The man said.   “The fuck!? You don’t have that right!” Darius said.   “Yeah the UHA can’t take people’s personal property!” Charity reaffirmed.   “...Listen… I don’t want to do this. I really don’t! You guys seem like a nice and fine group of people. How about this… If you tell us who it is that has been supplying you this water, we may be able to look the other way for you guys.” The man said.   “Wha… Huh?” Darius asked.   “You want us to rat out our supplier?” Trevor asked.   “Yeah! The UHA doesn't want unregulated water out on the streets! What if it's poisoned? The blame would fall on you guys then! I’m just trying to protect you fellas.” The man said with a smile.   “Can we see your badges?” Sir asked.   Darius looked at him wondering why he had asked that but within seconds it clicked in his mind.   “Are you people trying to scam us?” Darius asked narrowing his eyes.   The man with the slicked hair licked his lips and reached into his pocket and to everyone's surprise, pulled out a UHA Badge. Darius looked at it and frowned, he had thought he had caught a bunch of assholes trying to screw them over but it looked like they were just a bunch of dicks trying to screw them over.   “Let me see that.” Charity said taking the badge and inspecting it.   “So as you can see. We are operating in your best interests here.” The man said glancing at Charity.   “Listen, We have already had reports of people selling bad water and are just trying to-” The man started only for his badge to get thrown in his face.   “Fuck off!” Charity yelled at him.   Darius, Trevor, Sir, Todd, and Mary stared at her with wide eyes. The man licked his lips and bent down and picked up his badge and laughed a bit.   “Aha… Woman… You are really getting on my bad side.” He said.   “They are not with the UHA. That's a fake badge.” She said to them.   “How do you know?” Darius asked as he glared at the man and his cohorts.   “The UHA changed the coloring of their logo about a year ago. It's a light blue now. That logo on his badge is still green.” She said.   The man glared at her and then laughed and began clapping. The tall woman rolled her eyes and the other man put his hands in his pockets.   “Your good! You got me! I’m not with the UHA… But I do work for similarly powerful people.” He said.   “Get out of here.” Darius said to him.   “Afraid we can’t do that till we get the information I was sent here to get.” The man said as he reached into his pocket.   Everyone took a step back, including the people gathered around them that had come to get water and trade. The man pulled out a stick of gum and unwrapped it and placed it in his mouth.   “You want to know where we got the water from?” Trevor asked.   “That's all we want to know.” The man said.   “And what will you do with the person that sells us the water?” Darius asked.   “I think it’s better to not say that in public.” The man said smiling.   “I think we're done here!” Sir said as he put his hand on the man's shoulder and began to push him away.   The man looked at him, gave a short laugh and then grabbed his arm and pulled Sir towards himself. The man leaned his head back and then brought it forward with all his might and headbutted Sir in his left eye. Sir’s head snapped back in shock as he fell backward. Trevor caught him and gently laid him down as best he could. Darius blinked in shock and then looked at the man.   “Sorry about that! But I don’t like people touching the suit.” He said as he brushed his shoulder, ignoring the blood running down his own face.   “You mother fucker!” Darius said as he balled his fist and swung at him with all his might.   The man again leaned his head forward which caused Darius’ swing to go wider then he wanted. Darius’ arm went over his head as he bent down even more and as soon as he realized he had missed completely, he felt the man's fist slam into his stomach right below his ribs. As if he was in a vacuum, the air felt like it was sucked from his lungs as the blow caused his diaphragm to spasm. Darius instinctively grabbed for his chest as he tried to breath. He fell to his knees and was about to double over till the man grabbed Darius by his hair and forced him to stand again.   “Now then… I’ll ask you again nicely. What is the name of your supplier?” He asked.   “...His… *Cough* His name is Hugh.” Darius said.   “What's his full name and where can we find him?” The man asked with a smile.   “... Its… Aha… Hugh G. Rection and he lives in my pants you piece of shit!” Darius said smiling and spat in his face.   The man closed his eyes and wiped his face with his other hand. He looked at Darius for a few seconds and began laughing. He let go of his hair and began clapping. Darius fell to his knees and held his stomach. Darius began to look up then felt the bottom of the man's shoe smash into his face which made him fall backwards onto the ground.   “Trish. Would you mind knocking on Mr. Hugh’s door?” He asked and the woman took a few steps forward towards Darius.   She cracked her knuckles and just as she was bending down towards Darius, a gallon of water hit her in the face. It practically exploded on contact and she stumbled back with a clear look of pain on her face. The group that had been gathered around them had backed away even further as it became clear that this fight was really about to break out. The ratty man with the dirty blonde hair pulled a knife and turned towards Mary as she had been to one to throw the filled water container.   “Stop… Stop!” The dapper man yelled out and looked at Darius and his group.   Everyone stopped and looked at him.   “Really Tony? A knife?” The dapper man asked as he turned to his ratty friend.   “What? She-” The ratty man said before being shushed by the man.   “Give it to me.” He said holding out his hand.   The ratty man hesitated but then handed him the knife.   “You know my rule with violence against women.” He said to him.   “Uh… Yes, boss.” The man said.   “Good. You never use weapons on women! That could leave scars… You beat them with your fists!” He said to him and flipped the knife at him, cutting him deeply on his cheek.   The man clasped his face and tried to suppress a scream of pain. Darius looked up at the man. He seemed insane, hurting his own people like this. It was clear he had no regard for life at all. Darius scrambled to his feet. Blood flowed from his left nostril as he stood between the man and Mary.   “I don’t know who the fuck you think you are but-” Darius said as the man held out his hand to him.   “The name is Daniel! Dan to my friends!” He said smiling as if he had not spent the last minute or so kicking his ass.   “Fuck you!” Darius said as it was the only response he could think of.   “Don’t be like that! Look I think we may have got off on the wrong foot here. I meant to kick you with this one!” Dan said as he planted his foot into Darius’ stomach and forced it back as hard as he could.   Darius’ hand that was still holding his stomach was sandwiched between him and the sole of the man’s shoe. The rough and hard material ripped skin away from his knuckles. Darius could feel bile raise up through his throat and exit his mouth as his feet left the ground. His back hit hard as he landed next to Sir who was starting to sit up himself. Todd got in front of his sister and was trying to push both of Charity’s bodies behind him as well but she was putting up quite the struggle. She spat insult after insult at the three intruders, clearly wanting to fight one of the three herself.   “You pissant little bitch! I’ll fuck your shit up so hard you’ll be pissing blood for a week.” She yelled surprising both Todd and Mary.   Sir got back up to his feet and wiped away the blood from an open cut right below his eye. In spite of his age, Sir seemed like he was built like a tank. An old, pudgy and balding tank, but a tank nonetheless. A simple surprise headbutt wasn’t enough to keep him down. Trevor kneeled over Darius to check to make sure he was alright but Darius motioned to him that he was fine. Trevor then stood up next to Sir and looked at them.   “Boss?” The ratty man with the blonde hair asked he looked around.   Daniel looked around at the crowd. It was apparent some of the people were itching to jump in and fight them as well. The dapper man sighed and motioned to the blond man to go ahead. The man smiled and looked around and began snapping his fingers. A tinted wall began to raise around them all. Darius got to one knee and looked around. He could see a couple of people on the outside touch it and then start hitting the barrier. The woman reached into her pockets and produced what looked like brass knuckles and slipped them onto her fingers. Sir grabbed Darius’ shoulder and pulled him up to his feet.   “No matter how much pain it causes, you should never kneel before people like them.” He said to him.   “Y-Yeah.” Darius said as he had a hard time breathing.   “Listen, this has been fun! But I really do have better things to do then to kill a bunch of fools.” Dan said to them.   “Just give up your source of the water you're selling and you may walk away with all your fingers.” He added.   “Your...Haaa… You're crazy! Look at all these people! They have all seen your faces! There is no way-” Darius yelled before being cut off as the tall woman began to rush at him.   She closed the distance pretty quickly and swung her fist at his face. It was only by pure luck that Darius' flinched backward and avoided her fist. She took another step forward and threw a left hook. He could see the metal of her weapon suddenly turn a neon green. Darius held up his hand to try and catch her fist but as her blow made contact with his palm he could feel as if any resistance he could have made vanish. Her fist continued as if his hand wasn’t there and in the split second this all took, the back of his own hand slammed into his own face and knocked him to the ground. Darius’ hand went numb and his head swam. Every time he blinked it felt as if he had his eyes closed for hours.   He watched as Sir and Trevor tried to fight the Dapper Man. But he seemed to dance around as they threw punches, it was as if he could read where they were aiming and jump out of the way in time. He would say it was comical looking, but he absolutely wanted one of those punches to land. He looked up to see the blonde woman standing over him as she raised her hand and the metal of the copper knuckles began to glow green again. As soon as she began to bring her hand down, Charity jumped on her back. The neon glow vanished and she stumbled away.   Charity wasn’t someone Darius would call short as she was only maybe one or two inches shorter than himself. But compared to the blond woman, she looked like a child riding piggyback. The woman had to be almost seven feet tall. Charity’s second body quickly tackled her legs and she fell like a tree. He watched as Charity moved like a spider monkey and crawled on top of her. Darius began to try and get up as vision blurred a bit, causing him to rapidly blink his eyes. He watched as Charity not only held the woman's arms down with one of her bodies but then she began to punch her in the face repeatedly. He stared at the sight in awe until he realized that the woman was staring up at her with an annoyed expression. Her face may be getting pulverized but it didn’t seem like it was hurting her much. Darius blinked and looked over at the blond man coming up behind her.   “C-Charity!” Darius yelled out.   She turned both her heads and looked at him. He motioned to her other side but the man ran up and kicked her in the shoulder, knocking her off the blond woman. Darius finally managed to get to his feet and ran towards the man as he was getting ready to kick Charity’s other body that was actively pinning the woman down. Darius balled his skinned fist and swung with all his might at the man's already bloodied face. Sadly the man’s foot met solidly with Charity’s face before Darius’ fist met with his. Her body went limp and her other body covered her face and began to let out unintelligible screams of pain. As Darius’ fist impacted the man's piece of shit face, Darius’ vision flickered and he staggered back. The man that Darius had punched teetered on his feet but managed to stay up. Darius had landed a blow on his already cut cheek causing it to start gushing blood again. The man glared and cursed as he turned his attention to Darius. He took only a few steps before a glass bottle hit him in the chest. The man let out a cry of pain and looked up to see who did it only to see that his barriers were gone. The now angry mob of people were starting to close in.   “Tony? Why are there angry people walking towards us?” The Dapper Man asked.   “I-I don’t know!” He said as he snapped his fingers but no more clear, tinted walls formed.   “Damnit... “ The man hissed under his breath.   Both Trevor and Sir were exhausted from trying to hit the man but neither could touch him. The blond woman got to her feet and rubbed the blood from her mouth and began to walk towards Charity’s unconscious body.   “Trish! Now is not the time! Make a path!” Daniel yelled at her.   She glared back at him and then looked back down at Charity. She let out a frustrated breath and then reached behind her back and pulled out a small rod. She flicked it and it extended into a baton. It had the same copper color as her metal knuckles. It began to glow like a mini lightsaber as she moved back toward the other two men. She waved it around and people moved out of the way not knowing what would happen if it hit them. After they cleared the large group they made their way to the edge of the park where another woman was waiting. In a blink, a large black orb surrounded them and then shrank to nothingness. They were gone.   Darius managed to stay on his feet even though how exhausted he felt. He could feel the warm trickle of blood falling from his nose and his forehead. He looked around and gave a bloody smile to the crowd. If it wasn’t for them they all would be a broken heap of bones. He looked over at Charity and saw how one of her bodies where now cradling the other just as she had before when one of them had lost consciousness. Even though she was operating with half her mind she still knew to instinctively protect her other self. Darius walked over to her and kneeled down.   “Hey? How are you feeling?” He asked.   She looked up at him with somewhat vacant eyes. Her expression was one he had seen many times driving the late night shift. It was as if she was drunk or drugged. Darius raised one of his hands over her face and splashed some water. As it entered her mouth it acted as a bit of a smelling salt of sorts and she began to jolt awake. He watched the intelligence come back to her eyes and breathed a sigh of relief.   “Ahuu… F-Fucker! Don’t put your w-water in my mouth.” She both said in unison.   “Sorry… It works though… How are you feeling?” He asked.   “I hurt… But at least I feel better than you look…” She said as she sat up.   “W-Where is that bitch?” She asked as she started looking around.   “They left… Those see-through walls vanished and everyone else began to rush them.” Darius said.   “Really?” She asked as she began checking both of her selves for any wounds.   “Yeah, Someone else was waiting for them and teleported them away or something.” Darius said as he wiped his wet hand on his shirt and raised his other to swipe his messed up hair back.   Charity’s eyes widened and she bit her lip.   “D-Darius… “She said and pointed to his hand.   “What?” He asked as he pulled his hand down and looked at it.   The base of his thumb was swollen and turning purple. It was bent outwards at a strange angle. Darius gritted his teeth. This had been the hand that he tried and failed to catch that blond mute woman’s punch.   “Darius…” Charity said and motioned him to turn his hand around.   He looked at her not wanting to do as she said but then did anyway. He breathed out in disgust and felt lucky that he didn’t vomit. Two small bones were protruding from the back of his hand.   “Hooo...Oh shit…” He said as he looked away from it.   His hand had been rendered numb from the woman’s punch and he still didn’t have much feeling in it to his luck. Thinking about it now, this was also to hand that he had used to punch the bastard that had kicked Charity. Thinking about it further he may have balled his thumb into his fist. He decided to willfully forget about that and say that his thumb totally broke from the woman's punch instead. He glanced at his hand once more and noticed that his skinned knuckles from when the Dapper Man kicked him in the stomach were now gone.   “You two okay over there?” Sir asked out.   “Darius’ hand is hurt!” Charity yelled back as she helped herself up to her feet.   “Well, get back over here then!” He said out as they walked towards the tent.   Darius got to his feet and despite not needing any help, Charity got on both sides of him and placed her hand on his shoulder and lead him there. Mary and Todd were trying to tell people that they will resume trading in an hour or so and the crowd began to disperse somewhat annoyed.   “What the heck was that all about?!” Darius could hear Mary ask as she entered the tent.   “Some thugs tried to rob us.” Todd said to her as if she wasn’t there.   “They weren't just thugs…” Sir said.   As the entire group made it way in Charity forced Darius to sit down and Sir walked over to him to look at his hand.   “How bad it is?" Darius asked through gritted teeth as feeling began to return to his hand in hot waves.   “I’m not trained medically but I would say pretty bad. We need to get you to a hospital. The bones in your hand will need to be reset.” Sir said to him.   “Dammit… Just what I need. Sitting in a waiting room for 24 hours waiting to be seen…” He said under his breath.   “Check Charity, she got kicked in the face.” Darius said and Sir turned to her.   “I’m fine! It just hurts some… I still got all my teeth!” She said waving Sir away.   “Anyone else hurt?” Darius asked.   “Going to have a black eye for a while but I’m alright.” Sir said.   “I couldn’t even touch that asshole.” Trevor said.   “Mary and I are fine.” Todd said.   “What were you doing while we were fighting Todd?” Trevor asked annoyed as he looked at him.   “I was trying to protect my sister! It’s not my fault they didn't go for her after she threw that water bottle.” He said back.   “I can take care of myself!” Mary said.   “Stop! Your yelling is making my hand hurt even more!” Darius said with a sigh.   “We can’t start fighting each other. Nice aim by the way!” Darius said looking over to Mary who smiled back.   “What did you mean that they weren't just thugs?” He asked looking towards Sir.   “Well, I’ve been living in this city for close to 50 years now. Most people know it as home to the UHA Headquarters but Carver also has a huge gang problem.” He said.   “Gang? Why would anyone be in a gang where the Heroes Association are at their strongest?” Charity asked.   “It’s because it’s hard to get into the UHA normally. Lots of Metas move here hoping to make it big, only to get turned down. Then the gangs snatch up the more vulnerable ones. It was a huge problem back in the 80’s” Sir explained.   “Okay… So they were with some gang?” Darius asked.   “Probably. Couldn’t tell ya which one but I heard stories of gangs impersonating UHA members to get what they want.” He said.   “By the way, how did you know that was a fake badge?” Sir asked Charity.   “Oh, Well-” She started.   “She’s a huge nerd.” Darius said.   “... Do you want me to break your other hand?” She asked looking at him.   “Well, however you realized it. Good job!” He said.   “But if we didn’t call them out they might have just left.” Todd said.   “Nah, If we didn’t notice and believed them…” Sir said tilting his head towards Darius.   “Then we would have told them that Trevor and I created to water… “ Darius said with a sigh.   “So what? They just wanted us to stop.” Todd said.   “No, they both would have been told to come with them or worse.” Sir said.   “What? They would have killed them?” Mary asked.   “Listen, even though I’m calling them a gang. They are more like a Mafia.” Sir said.   “What’s the difference?” Darius asked.   “Not much. Other then one has roots in Italy.” Sir said.   “So more like the Mob?” Todd asked.   “Dammit, son! It doesn't matter!” Sir said getting a bit annoyed at the arguing over terms.   “They are from a criminal organization. And I’m sure they are now making some sort of move to get more power in the city.” He added   “Okay. Why bother with us?” Trevor asked.   “Because other than UHA handing out rations… We may be the second biggest supplier of water and food in the city right now.” Darius said.   “What the hell? So… Are we like, some sort of target now?” Todd asked.   “Not completely… They don’t know yet that we make the water. They still think there might be someone else.” Sir said.   “We need to go to the UHA.” Mary said.   Everyone looked at her and stayed silent for a small while. The UHA had their own problems they were dealing with. They had their doubts that they would care about them. They may even tell them to stop what they were doing. Darius didn’t want to admit that they needed their help. However...   “You're right… We are in over our heads.” Darius said sighing.   “So, should we go now or?” Trevor asked.   “The sooner the better… I doubt they would come back so soon but we might as well get this over with.” Darius said to them all.   “Who's going?” Todd asked.   “I will.” Darius said.   “Your hurt!” Sir reminded him.   “They might have some healers.” Darius said.   “I’ll go too.” Trevor said.   “Me too!” Charity said.   “Then can I come?” Mary asked.   “Why do you want to go?” Todd asked her.   “I don’t know… I want to meet some Heroes?” She said shrugging her shoulders.   “Sure… Sir and Todd… Do you think you can hold down the fort?” Darius asked.   “Sure, I think we have some baseball bats in the misc trade pile. Might be able to get some other people in the park to help.” Sir said.   “What if they come back?” Todd asked.   “One of my bodies will stay here.” Charity said.   “Come again now?” Darius asked.   “That way I will know what going on here.” She said.   "You can do that?” Trevor asked.   “Yeah?... “ She said giving them a ‘are you stupid’ look.   “Okay… okay…” Darius said shaking his head as he was still having a hard time grasping her ability.   “Let's wrap my hand up and get moving.” Darius said.   Mary carefully began wrapping Darius’ hand in whatever clean cloth they could find as They others were talking about how to guard the Trading Post.   “There… Is it too tight?” She asked.   “No, it’s fine.” Darius said to her trying to smile through the throbs of pain.   He looked down at his hand. It was a pretty neat dressing. His thumb was nestled tight to his palm so it wouldn’t shake too much when he moved his hand. His knuckles and his fingers were still free, so it didn’t feel too restrictive. He would need to get someone to look at his hand when he got to the UHA so that it wouldn’t get infected. His eyes looked at his knuckles once again. The skin was smooth and unbroken, albeit bloody from when he punched that ratty asshole.   “There are not enough people here to guard everything.” Todd said placing his hands on his hips clearly wanting Mary to stay with them.   “It will be fine.” Sir said to him.   Darius and Mary walked over to the group.   “We won’t be gone long.” Darius said to him.   “That still doesn't matter! All it takes is one guy to realize no one is watching a part of the tent!” He said back to him.   “You have three people. You can manage.’ Mary said to him.   “It’s more like 2 and a half.” Todd said motioning to Charity.   “What is that supposed to mean?” She asked.   “Nothing. Only half of you will be here.” Todd said to her.   “Oh!... Okay then.” She said accepting that explanation.   “He has a point… When one of Charity is knocked out it like she's drunk or something.” Trevor said.   “I’ll be fine! If all I have to do is watch a side of a tent then there will be no problems.” She said.   “See! It’s fine! Besides we will only be gone for an hour or so… We will be back like that!” Darius said as he raised his good hand and snapped his fingers.   A brownish, ghostly wall erupted up from the ground, below a table to their right. The table flipped over and spilled the contents of two coolers onto the ground. Everyone jumped to the side and a few let out a good yell.   “What the fuck!?” Todd let out.   “Jesus!” Trevor shouted.   The group looked at the barrier and realized it was from that Ratty Man. They began to look around frantically and got ready for another fight but when nothing else happened they just stood there confused. Sir walked over to the wall and knocked on it. It was a strange sensation. The wall was not a solid construct but felt more like a repulsion. It was as if he was holding a magnet and it was being pushed by another of a like charge.   “Whats going on?” Charity asked.   “I think I know…” Darius said as he looked at the wall and snapped his fingers again.   The wall vanished, Sir took a step back and looked at him.   “I think I stole that guy’s power when I punched him.” Darius told them.   They looked at him some more until Sir walked up to him and slapped him on the shoulder.   “Aha! Attaboy!” He said with a laugh.   “Dude!” Trevor said out with a half smile on his face.   “Yeah… Fuck…” Darius said.   “What? This is great!” Charity said to him.   “Not until the guy realizes his power is gone and that his walls disappeared right when I punched him!” Darius said.   “Well then! All the more reason to hurry on to the UHA.” Sir said and gave him slap on the shoulder.   “Right, Let's go.” Darius said and motioned for the rest to follow.   “Wait… Can’t you make some walls to protect the tent now?” Todd asked.   Darius turned and looked at him. He thought for a second and then nodded his head in agreement. Everyone walked outside and to the back of the tents. Darius looked at them and sighed a bit. He motioned then to stand back.   “I’m not too sure how to do this yet… so… “ He said showing them off a little more.   They all took a few more steps back and when Darius was sure enough that they would be okay, he turned back towards the tents.   “Okay… Don’t fuck up…” He said to himself and no one else.   He raised his hand and looked at the ground right before the tent wall. He took a deep breath and snapped his fingers. A clear, brown barrier raised in the exact spot he wanted. His eyes went wide and looked back to the group who were celebrating as well. Darius smiled and looked back. His smile faded when he realized that the wall only covered about one fourth the side of the tent. He remembered the man creating much longer walls when he had done it.   “Huh…” He said to himself and looked at the spot next to the wall and snapped his fingers again.   Another wall rose up next to the other. Darius walked over and looked at it. It was the same height and thickness, It was even the same length. He smiled knowing that he could at least make multiple walls and they didn’t seem to be any weaker for it. Darius walked around the tent and covered three sides leaving only the front unprotected.   “Alright! That should make it easier!” He said a bit proud of himself.   “How do we know it will last when you're gone?” Todd asked.   “I guess we will find that out.” Darius said back to him.   “Okay, we are burning daylight!” Charity said and walked a little bit forward.   Darius looked towards her, then to the rest. Mary and Trevor walked over to them and then they all waved back as they made their way towards the entrance of the park.   “Charity? How are you doing?” Mary asked as they walked through the park gates and onto the sidewalk.   “Hm? Oh I fine, why?” She asked.   “I don’t know. How far away can you be from your other self?” Mary asked her, Darius and Trevor looked at her, wanting to know as well.   “....... As far as I want to be.” She said to them.   “What was with that pause?” Darius asked.   “Hm? Oh, Well… Wait…” She said as she fell silent.   “Well, I’m busy helping out at the tent so…” She said trailing off.   They waited for her to talk again as they turned to take another street. Mary had to stop and run over to her and grab her hand as she kept going straight.   “What wrong?” She asked as she led her back to Darius and Trevor.   “Nothing. Sorry, This is sort of like surfing the net while watching T.V. at the same time. Aware of both but I can only really give attention to one at a time.” She said.   “Don’t worry. I’ll hold your hand so you don’t fall behind.” Mary said to her.   “Thanks!” Charity said and smiled at her.   “So how is everything back there?” Darius asked.   “.... Good… Just cleaning up to get ready to reopen.” She said.   “Are the walls still there?” Trevor asked.   “........................ Yeah!” She said after a long pause.   Charity constantly gave them updates as they walked. After passing the shopping district that was vacant except for a few people looking for at the buildings. They figured they were trying to find the best way to break in but decided not to get involved. As they made their way to the steps of the UHA they stopped.   “Alright… So, we tell them we run the Caster Park Trading Post and that the Mob is after us.” Darius said to them.   “Do we tell them how you guys make the water?” Mary asked.   “Thank you too!” Charity said smiling.   They looked at her and then she looked at them a bit embarrassed.   “Sorry, crossed a wire there.” She said to them.   “Anyway no… They may want to keep us then. And I don’t really feel like becoming the Associations water tap.” Darius said.   “Alright. Ready?” Darius asked.   Everyone nodded their heads and walked up the stairs, slowly as Mary had to help Charity. They then walked up to the doors, nodded their heads again and walked in.