The White Feather- A story of infinite worlds

The Mystery Man

Thomas loved the fights, but he hated the mornings after them. The severe headaches from concussions were impossible to bear. The swollen body made it even worse. But this morning, he was more concerned about how he got back to his room? And even more, who was the man in the overcoat?

He looked around the room for any answers, and when he was sure that there were no answers there, he decided to fetch some water. His phone rang when he was about to open the fridge.

“Yeah.” He said.

“Where are you? I’ve been trying to reach you all night.” Amanda screamed in both relaxation and anger.

“Don’t scream. I’m in my room.” Thomas said and took a bottle from the fridge.

“Okay, I’m coming. And lis…” Amanda was saying but Thomas hanged up the phone.

“f*****g b***h. Who does she think she is, my mom?” Thomas said. A smile came out of nowhere on his lips.

“Alert! The mission is scheduled for today.” The watch beeped.

“Oh no! Is it Wednesday already?” Thomas said in despair.

After about ten minutes, the doorbell rang and Amanda came in.

“Christ! You look like shit.” Amanda said.

“Yeah, try taking on twenty trained men alone and we’ll see what happens then.” Thomas hissed.

“Well, nobody forced you to do it. You were the one who was so proud and full of yourself.” Amanda teased.

“Yeah whatever.” Thomas said carelessly.

“So why didn’t you answer my calls? You were the one who told me to call you.” Amanda asked.

“Yeah well I didn’t take into account the fact that when you're in a fierce gunfight, you don’t remember that you have a phone to answer.” Thomas said.

“And how did you get here after that?”

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?!”

“Nope. I was kinda hoping you could tell me.” Thomas said hesitantly.

“When I got there, you were gone without a trace. I asked the manager on my way here and he refused to tell me anything. And that’s strange.” Amanda said in a chilly voice.

“You know anyone who wears a long overcoat and a cowboy hat?” Thomas asked.

“I can’t say I do.” Amanda said after thinking for a few seconds.

“Great. You should go now.” Thomas said, shaking his head to get over the headache.

“Going somewhere?” Amanda asked.

“Yeah. I have an important lead.” Thomas said, taking an aspirin pill.

“Shouldn’t you wait until you're well? I mean, you look miserable.” Amanda said.

“Uh, yeah, about that. Mind your own business.” Thomas said plainly. He was in no mood for courtesy right now. His body was doubling up with pain and he had to follow the only promising lead he had in this condition.

Amanda was shook. She was a good person, but not a pushover. So she left without a word. Thomas wanted to stop her, but decided otherwise.

Thomas took a good look at his pistol magazine and double checked to confirm that it was full. Then he summoned Zeus and told him to spawn a bulletproof vest. Next, he stuffed some magazines behind his belt and placed a butterfly knife in his right pocket, just in case. It was time for rock n’ roll.

After half an hour, Thomas was standing outside the coffee house, searching for his backup. He was neatly dressed in a white shirt with an unbuttoned royal blue suit, matched by black pants and brown shoes. After all those years in this service, Thomas had forgotten how to dress casually, but his charisma evened the level. After about seven minutes of waiting, someone tapped on his shoulder. Now a normal person who just had a fierce gunfight the previous day would reflexively pull out his gun. Thomas also had Goosebumps and his heart rate crossed 100bpm, but he turned casually, only to find three men dressed in almost the same fashion as Thomas.

“Can I help you?” Thomas asked.

“Actually, you need our help.” The man smiled.

“You're the backup?” Thomas said, relieved.

All three of them nodded in affirmation.

“Yeah, lose the professional robe. Right now, you work for an insurance company, not for assassins. Not that insurance has any value in this damned city.” Thomas said, a little pissed.

The men looked down in embarrassment and followed Thomas into the coffee shop. Thomas sat on a table which was placed in a dark corner, with the intention of attracting as less attention as possible. He took one of the men with him and instructed the other two to sit on the table closest to the door, in case the target attempts to flee.

“Zeus, hack the CCTV and show me everything about each person that enters this shop.” He whispered.

He then ordered two coffees and two burgers. The other two ordered similarly. Right then, a man wearing a golden watch entered the café. He was dressed like a total goon and wore purple shades.

“Zeus?” Thomas said.

“Name- Heather reign, works at Madhav’s weed shop. Owns assets worth one and a half million dollars. Wife name…” Thomas read the information on the watch screen.

“That’s not him.” Thomas said.

After about half an hour, while Thomas was sipping on his coffee and staring at the café door, he casually moved his line of sight to look at other shops through the glass wall, he saw a tall man, wearing a long overcoat and a cowboy hat. He was wearing a purple mask and black shades. He was watching Thomas and as soon as Thomas looked at him, he started walking away towards the crowd, still looking at Thomas.

As soon as Thomas got up to follow him, his partner whispered.

“Look, that could be our man.” He said.

Thomas looked at the door and saw a short man walking in. He looked like a crime boss in every way. Tattoos all over the face and hands. And judging by his appearance, he looked like the psychopath described by Chandra. Four bodyguards accompanied him, and to Thomas’ surprise, each one of them had the exact same face and identical clothes. Two of them stopped at the entrance and the other two accompanied the potential boss to his seat. Unfortunately, the table was occupied by two youngsters, who were smoking and laughing like crazies. The bodyguards told them to empty the table while their boss lit a cigar.

“Zeus?” Thomas said as his heartbeat fastened. He wanted to follow the stranger into the crowd but instead decided to give priority to the mission.

“I’m sorry sir, I referred the database three times but no match was found for any of the five suspects.” Zeus said.

“Yeah, that’s because that’s not his real face. Smart, but not too smart.” Thomas smiled.

The talking at the boss’ table was quickly turning into an argument. So when the youngsters started cursing, the bodyguard took a hold of one of them’s hair, grabbed his glass of coffee, and stuffed it down his throat, keeping it there until the kid choked on it and ultimately died. The other one would have met the same fate if he hadn’t broken into a run. No one in the entire shop took a notice as this was everyday business.

The boss sat on the chair and ordered two cappuccinos. He sipped from one glass and put the other on the adjacent seat as a tribute or something. This was Thomas’ confirmation.

He looked at the agents sitting near the door and nodded. Now he just had to wait for the perfect moment. His partners were nervous, shaking their legs and knocking on the table. But Thomas just sat there coolly, like a rock in the ocean. He was smoking and thinking. Something didn’t add up. It can’t be this easy. This isn’t right. And then he realized the fact he was overlooking.

“Call it off. We aren’t doing it here.” Thomas said to his partner.

“What?! Why?” he asked in amazement.

“Think about it. Each one of the people who have entered this shop after us are his employees. Some work at the weed company, some at the bomb center and elsewhere. And probably the people sitting here before also work for him. We are sitting in the middle of a giant booby-trap. He may be crazy, but he’s not a fool.” Thomas said, as casually as it was possible in the situation.

“Why can’t we just summon agents to appear out of thin air and kill him?” the agent said.

“Yeah, and the whole world comes to know about time travel. What are you, f*****g stupid?” Thomas said, irritated.

“What’s the plan then?” he asked.

“We follow him and plant a stealth bomb under his car.” Thomas said, staring at the mastermind who was sipping his coffee, pretending to be unaware of what’s going on.

“I have to admit. He’s got to have some balls to present himself as bait to catch his assassins.” Thomas thought and smiled. The agents were frightened by his smile and thought that the decades of service had finally taken its toll on him.

After about an hour of vibing and remembering the golden days, the villain finally got up to leave. Thomas signaled his ‘doorkeepers’ to follow the man. As soon as the man walked inside the lift, Thomas asked for the bill and dashed out of the door, followed by his partner. When they reached the mall’s parking lot, he asked his partner to contact his friends.

“They’re not responding, sir.” He said after trying numerous times.

“f**k! They got em’.” Thomas shouted and started running for the exit.

“Track their last known locations, fast!” Thomas said as soon as he reached the exit.

“They are still moving!” the agent replied.

“What?! Where?” Thomas asked.

“They just passed that alley.” agent said, pointing at the alley in front of the mall.

Thomas didn’t ask anything else. He took out his pistol and flashed into the alley. The alley was dark and filled with garbage. Thomas almost stepped on a cat hiding behind a pile of newspapers.

“Right turn from here.” The agent shouted, trying to keep up.

“How much distance?” Thomas asked.

“Roughly two hundred meters and closing in.”  

“We got them. Don’t stop now.” Thomas said, trying to boost his partner’s confidence.

“Left turn here.”

Just as Thomas was turning, he collided with Amanda and fell face first on the ground. He was taken over by shock due to the collision and looked around in bafflement.

“Thomas? What are you doing here?” Amanda shouted.

But Thomas didn’t have time for bullshit. So he got up on his feet as quickly as he could and dashed towards the main road. On reaching the road, he saw the devil incarnate, sitting on the top of his Humvee (armored car with machine gun) and holding the machine gun mounted in front of his seat. He also saw his two men kneeling on the ground, with one end of a rope tied to their backs, and the other end to the rear of the vehicle.

“They picked the wrong side, and now they essentially have to deal with the punishment. Ain’t that right, Mister White?” the psychopath said and chuckled in a frightening tone.

Thomas took an aim at him but suddenly his partner pounced on him.

“Look out, sniper!” he screamed and a gunshot was heard.

Thomas quickly moved behind cover and took a look at his partner. He was dead. The bullet made its way from the back of his head and out of the eye.

“Sorry for the inconvenience. So as I was saying, they tried to kill me, and so they’ll pay dearly for it. I’ll drag them around the city until the flesh is separated from the bones, then I’ll personally make their body porous.” The man on the car said and the sound of engine roaring was heard immediately after it.

Thomas was dying to do something but he only had the power to manipulate time, not fate. But then again, the world is full of surprises, dosen't matter if it is a parallel one. Thomas heard two gunshots, followed by a shout.

“What the f**k?! Oi, get that bastard!” the villain was screaming.

Thomas looked through a gap to discover the same man who saved him the previous day, running into a dark alley, followed by seven heavily armed goons. He then looked at the car and saw that both of his agents were dead, shot in the head.

“Well, at least they won’t feel any pain.” Thomas said and let out a cold sigh. He continued to stare at the alley, hoping to see the mystery man again.

“He’ll be alright. Come with me, I have a safe house nearby. This place not safe, at all.” Amanda said.

Thomas was startled and almost shot Amanda in the head. But then he looked into her eyes and to his own amazement, he believed her. Is he going weak? Nah, that’s impossible. Or is it?