Four of a Kind

Immediate Transition

Red started sweating profusely. He woke up and started having this small spasm inside of him. I could tell because he didn’t even realize I was shouting at him right near his ear asking him what’s wrong.

He squeezed the couch so hard that when he let go of it, there wasn’t any sign that the couch was gonna go back to it’s former shape.

“What did you do to me!?” he asked angrily with his knees on the floor shaking and vibrating.

And then it stopped.

He blinked a few times looking at the ground and then up at me.

“I…feel fine now.” He said.

I had to concur. All that sweating and shaking seemed to disappear and was now replaced with warm ups he was doing as if he was getting ready for a workout.

“Hey stop it! You’re gonna get exposed if you keep making noise like that.”

“No Reeves you don’t get it. I don’t know what you put in me but it’s making me feel better. They weren’t drugs were they?”

“No…” they were the vials I told you about. Come to think of it… I never asked what the after or side effects were. So you better be careful.”

I stepped on a landmine.

“I should be careful!? You’re the one who put this stuff inside me without asking. And you’re asking me to be careful!? f**k you.” He said and pushed me.

I flew

And that’s how I blacked out.

When I came to Andrew and Red were at my bedside. Not my deathbed.

My eyes were blurred a bit but when they cleared Red started giving me a glass of coffee.

“Reeves, I’m so sorry. That stuff really works I never knew it was that effective.”

“It was only effective for you. If they were injected in someone else, they’d probably be burning with a fever trying to kill the foreign pathogens.” I told him getting up and sipped my coffee. It was bad.

“How’s the coffee?” Andrew asked walking over to me cheerfully.“I made it the way Marcus from Milk tea makes it.”

I gave him a unenthusiastic nod to get him to stop asking me about the coffee. Cause he still cant tell coffee apart from milk tea.

“These vials are dangerous Reeves where’d you get them. I assume that’s what you’re gonna tell me.” Red said holding the second and only one left in the box. Funny I assumed there’d be three.

“Does anyone mind filling me in what happened before I came? He-he cause I woke up extra early to let Reeve test my new coffee out before I start making it like this and now I see this… mess.” He said motioning to the ball where Red pushed me into. Just like in the cartoons I could see a faint silhouette of my body after Red shoved me.

I got up with a groan.

“Don’t waste no more time Reeves. I want you to tell me what your plan is and what you intend to do today.” Red told me.

Andrew was looking back and forth at me and Red trying to wonder what the heck we were on about. I closed my eyes and went into deep thought. I planned to rob the Akai and all the data I can find on Red. So that we can help him get back home. I knew that this was a bit of a stretch to what someone like me would normally do but I think this was my calling to step out of my “comfort zone” and try to be more initiative and practice what I preach. I decided to fill Andrew in on the plan since he would get to go with us. And just like Red, he’s got nothing to lose. He was a foster kid that’s been bounced around a couple of times and making a break for it won’t raise any suspicions on his guardians.

I started talking. I first told Andrew everything. I told him from top to bottom leaving nothing out. From the time we snuck in to rescue Red to how I wound up in bed from Red pushing me unconscious.

I had to pause a few times to answer his “what!?” questions and let Red chime in to help me out. But Red was just as wide-eyed as Andrew was when I told him what their purpose fully was.

“Bullshit. I’m not buying it.” Both Andrew and Red said in unison when I told them that we were gonna go back to raid The Akai.

“What do you even plan to find there?” Red asked.

I shook my head. “I don’t know but what I do know is that I can prove it to you 100% what I’m telling you both is legit if you just ditch school and follow me to The Akai.” I said looking at Andrew.

“But I can’t leave the country. What if they disown me? I got a lot to lose.” Andrew said sweating.

“Look who you’re talking to. I’ve got everything to lose but yet I chose to step out my comfort zone to help Red. There’s a whole secret evil society Andy. And we can bring it down just like that.” I said snapping my finger imitating Thanos.

“Why? just call the cops. You have these..super vials. You can show them proof.” Andrew said inspecting the red vial.

“How is that gonna prove a whole society exists? For all we know it could just mean that we’ve been cooking some really bad dope and once the bad guys found us they’ll silence us.” I rebutted.

This was it. We needed to do this and now was the time. We were gonna raid the bar and take whatever we can from the old lady. We had to do it now.

I jumped out of the car first and not a micro-second later Red followed suite. Andy was looking from side to side wondering if his friends went crazy. This wasn’t what he expected when he swung by early to let his friend test his new coffee I supposed.

I guess the pressure got to him. He got out and followed us but not silently as we could hear his constant nagging telling us how we were “going against morales” and that taking advantage of a old lady was wrong. We went round the back this time since there were a a huge crowd lining up in the front entrance. I wonder if there was a blowout sale happening. I couldn’t care less I was sweating more than Red did when I injected that vial in him.

I turned towards Red when we got to the back door. There weren't any bodyguards. I zipped open my bag and motioned Red to reach out his arm so that I could inject the vial in him. I gave him a minute to let him sweat it out to turn back into superman. I looked at Andrew. I was really glad he was here. I told him I was and pulled out a Glock for him to use.

“Where did you get this? He said looking as if I handed him a newborn baby. He held it with two arms. I know how much he loves guns and he was a great shot with them. I looked at him with awe at how glad he was to get one.

“Wow…this is… wait no! I cant shoot anyone! This is wrong! I can’t kill anyone Reeves!” Andy said getting serious.

“You won’t have to. Just point it at anyone trying to attack us. Meanwhile Red will break open anything you think might be useful and stuff it into this pillowcase alrite?” I said pulling out a pillow case and ruffling it to expand it.

“Ready?” I asked.

Red looked like he was done with his ordeal to attain temporary new powers. The vial said 15 minutes so I guess it might be enough. Andy looked like he was starting with his own ordeal or something the way he was sweating more than Red.

There was nothing for it. I busted through the door being the “Initiative bastard I am right after Red opened it. I just realized how stupid it was since I had no form of defense on me.

“Reeves!” Red shouted and grabbed me back lightly as he could and pushed me behind him. Andy was behind me and the race was on.

The backroom was dark. No one seemed to notice that three guys broke in. they were more focused on going below the bar than they were on who were trying to get inside the bar.

“What’s below this floor?” Red asked calmly trying to hide behind a shelf. There was no door to the backroom so we could see all these people in the corridor lining up to get below.

“I don’t know. But aren't here for that. Let’s sneak to the old lady’s room and steal whatever we need.”

It was a stupid plan. I wanted to bail. But that wont make me any better than the majority of people who wont succeed since they quit while their ahead. Not me.

Me and Red busted inside the room expecting a fight but there wasn’t anyone. Except for this kid in glasses with long hair. I could’ve mistaken him for a girl.

He looked at us but didn’t react and seemed confused. I assumed immediately that he belonged here and the way we acted and appeared was definitely coming out in spades.

“Hi” He started. My name is Maqius.

“I don’t give a f**k” I told Maqius. And as if on cue, Red cracked his knuckles. I admit that that wasn’t the most intimidating way to give off a strong impression of us. We weren’t very organized. But we were robbing an old lady of her special vials and what other stuff we could find so I guess it didnt cross my mind.

“Who are you? And what do you want?” Red asked slowly with each word drawing him closer to the new guy. I didn’t want to risk anything happening to my ticket out. So I stepped in between them before it became a fight…well more of a slaughter seeing that Red can do anything now.

“Tell your muscle to back off before I cut him down to pieces.” He spat, drawing a blade he unsheathed from his pocket.

“Yeah, will do.” I said and grabbed Red’s arm and tried to pull his body away as well as his glare from Glasses.

“What are you doing? Stick to the plan we’re supposed to steal those vials.” I said and went inside the room that the old lady led me into yesterday. Thankfully there was no one in sight.

I pulled the secret switch and found her secret stash of it when the bookshelf in the room swung a 180 and showed me her entire collection. Red was dropping his jaw in awe reading the labels off the colorful vials. Whereas I was trying to wonder what could be inside the room where those vials Red was examining was kept. I told Red about my newfound curiosity and told him to stick close to the wall while I pull the switch.

Assuming from the reaction Red showed with his face it was shocking. I shouted at Red to back off from the shelf while I pull the switch to slip in as fast as I could. I pulled the switch and made a break for it.

And just like that, with my flexibility I got in.

“Redy? Where are you?” I asked casually knowing that no one will find me. It definitely dropped the amount of adrenal hormones rushing through me for the time being. Then I remembered Andrew. Who knew where that rat could’ve bolted. I knew he didn’t have one violent bone in his body. But he made up for it with undying loyalty or so he says. For all I know all that went out the window the moment he bolted.

“Right here.” Red replied from not so far.

I went towards his voice and found him once again inspecting vials. This time they were much more darker than the ones the lady showed me and I took a closer look at them. The room was cool and dark and was packed with nothing more than shelves full of vials and vials. The only source of lighting was from the dangling lamp that mysteriously kept swinging back and forth. Red was struggling to read with the poor illumination plus the extra care he had to put in holding those vials for fear of breaking it and leaving evidence so I took out my phone and turned on the flashlight. I read the vials again.

There were many things to read which I could do at my leisure after I finished stealing the lot of them and get away that is. But one text that stood out was written in a larger font with red. It said “PERMANENT.”

That didn’t sound good but I pulled out the pillow case and stuffed those which I thought could be useful for later in sticky situations. We stole a little of each vial from their respective colors shelves. Afterwards we went to the “tools” section. This was a little easier to see than the vials since they had nothing to read. They were… guns and swords of all sorts, katanas or whatever you name it they had it.

“This is…surreal.” Red said holding a giant blade in his hands carefully still fearing he might break it. “You can seriously hurt someone with this.”

“Forget hurt you can kill.” I replied. Staring in awe at a really wicked looking spear. It was a black spear with double curved blades so they looked like oval shaped but the had a clear gap in the middle which could obviously be where a spike could protrude.

There was a button near the grip handle. I clicked it and I was right. It did protrude a spike out and the oval blades grew further apart. But that wasn’t just it. It started glowing. I panicked and clicked the button again and it went back to how it was.

Red was still examining the giant blade. I made my choice that this was what I was going to take.

“Mine has this logo near the handle that’s glowing.” Red said walking towards me with that big heavy blade. Although it was big I have to admit it looked great with him.

“You see?” he said showing me a logo of a eye with two rings around it. I looked at mines and saw that near the handle other than the button there also was a glowing logo same as his. I guess they only light up once we hold them or something.

There was something intriguing about the logo that I couldn’t put my finger on. it was just so…something that was urging me to do something. So I swiped my thumb against it and just like that. The whole spear shrank down to the handle. Actually, dissolve might have been a proper term judging by how they turned smaller.

“What the-how did you do that?” Red asked surprised.

I swiped the logo again. It didn’t do anything. Thinking logically I swiped it twice in opposite directions and it turned back to how it was.

“Whoa…” Red exclaimed. “I betcha that was invented for convenience for the user. Looking at how it turns into a portable handle.” He said while copying what I did with his blade.

This was really good. We turned our weapons into carry mode and put them in the pillow case along with the vials. Then we snooped around some more. Red went on snooping around the guns and I went to the corners of the small room looking to see if there was anything else other than the vials and tools to steal.

There was a small one column locker. They were the type of locker that could easily be broken into if you just pulled on the handle hard enough and hard enough was what I did. i opened one of the five lockers and found mail. Opened one and read it.

It was dated a week back which meant that this locker was used to archive. And with the dim light and the weak flashlight that barely functioned. I slipped the letter and many others that seemed “grand” which I assume to be important into my pillow case.

I walked back to find Red to tell him that I was time to leave when I met him again.

Maqius, holding my friend Red at knife point.