Shiruta, Kahndaq - Wednesday Afternoon
It was a thirty one hour flight to Kahndaq. They changed flights twice, once in Paris and then again in Algiers.
Because there is no direct flight to Kahndaq from the states or Europe. Most of the world is utterly terrified of the country. Mostly due to the ruler, Black Adam. More a godking than a president.
The psychopath with the powers of Captain Marvel who ruled over the country entirely. He executed criminals in the city square every Wednesday and people cheered.
But they were there for the reasons why this place was mentioned by Intergang. How it was connected to Gotham and the weapons there. Like Charlie, Renee was curious.
That was why she was over three thousand miles from home. That was why she was there in the middle of a city that looked nothing like how Charlie made it sound. Vibrant and full of people who seemed to be more friendly that Renee felt comfortable with.
It took hours of working their way up and down the bustling streets to find a hotel with any rooms available. And even then they could only get the one room. Charlie insisted that Renee get the shower first while he made some phone calls.
By the time the sound of the water stopped he was complaining into the handset, "No, I can barely hear you, Tot..."
"Who--?"
Great, she took a shower and he was busy getting information without her. She could kill him sometimes, she really could.
Charlie held up one finger to hold her off while he continued his conversation.
"Oh, great. What name did you put it under? ... That's very funny. ... What, her? Pretty well, really. ... I'd have to say there's a lot of untapped potential there. ... No, no, I'll remember. Thanks again, Tot."
Charlie hung up the phone with a click and turned to glance over at Renee, with an apologetic shrug.
Slipping on her shirt, Renee gave him A Look. "So, who was that?"
He followed suit, pulling on his own coat and settling his ever-present baseball cap on his head. "A friend of mine. He thinks he's tracked down the Ridge-Ferrick connection here in the city. A little place in the temple district."
Charlie just frowned in disapproval at the pack of cigarette's in Renee's pocket before turning toward the door. "Let's go check it out."
She ignored it, lighting up as they left the room.
It wasn't like she needed one right now. Just doing it to annoy him, really. It was fun to do that to him for a change.
As they made their way down the street, Charlie filled Renee in. "Aristotle Rodor, 'my friends call me Tot' is my contact on this one. I've known him for years, and labeling him a genius is just understatement. He shipped me a container of supplies, which should be in the harbor district sometime later this week. I'll give you the location and keys in case you need something."
Good to know they weren't doing this thing blind or anything.
She tried not to roll her eyes. "You were talking about me."
"Well, sure," Charlie offered off-handedly as he paused at one of the market stalls lining the street. "It's not like I'm keeping our relationship a secret, Renee. Tot just wanted to know how things were going with you, that's all."
"And how is it going?" She asked, wondering if she'd get a straight answer on this one.
"You still have no idea who you are, but other than that I'd say things are going pretty well." He turned to the man at the stall and said something in the local language as he handed over some cash. He was rewarded with a small paper-wrapped package.
Charlie extended the paper toward Renee. "Fig?"
She glanced down at the bag once before giving him a dry look. "You keep saying that, but I have no idea what it means."
Charlie sighed theatrically. "It means, you know, 'fig'," he waved the paper-wrapped fruit. "An oblong pear-shaped fruit of the genus ficus--"
"That bit about me not knowing who I am, smart ass," Renee snapped, snuffing out her cigarette angrily.
The grin on Charlie's face almost certainly lets Renee know what he's about to say next. "That's the question, now, isn't it?"
"You're a real jerk, you know that, right?"
"I'm pretty sure," Charlie chuckled, "that it's been commented on before."
As they walked, Renee was almost sure her mind was playing tricks on her.
Almost.
It was harder here, she didn't know the city well enough. Whatever Charlie was blathering on about, she wasn't paying much attention anymore.
Charlie paused and glanced over at Renee.
"That's your cue. Now you're supposed to say something biting and sarcastic like 'you think?'. Or maybe something reverse-sexist, something about men never asking for directions?" He blinked, frowning.
"What is it?"
"You laugh at me and I'll kill you, but..." She looked back. "I think we're being followed."
"Oh," Charlie said mildly. "Him. Yeah, he's been on us since we left the hotel." He waved down the street, "C'mon. It's this way... at least I think so."
She was going to end this trip with a dead body on her hands, swear to god...
"You didn't think maybe this was information worth sharing with me?" She hissed, fists clenched tight.
"Well, I didn't want you to worry," he responded in a tone that tried to suggest that this was a perfectly normal thought. "Now, can you tell which way is east? No, wait, I figured it out. And, yep, there's our building."
Oh, she was going to kill him slowly. "Who is it? Who is following us, then?!"
"My guess would be Abbot," Charlie tossed over his shoulder as he walked into an alleyway beside the building.
Renee followed his gaze. "The wolfman, great..."
Charlie shrugged unconcernedly as he stepped from the alley with his mask in place. "Shall we?" he waved at the door.
"Are you crazy?!" Renee pointed to her head to emphasize it. "Is that what your problem is?"
"There's no such thing as crazy, Renee," Charlie said chidingly as he approached the door. "Just behavior which society has deemed unacceptable."
"Speaking of which..." She glanced back again. "Isn't Intergang take a huge chance setting up in Black Adam's territory? He's executing lawbreakers in the streets. Seems awful risky to me."
"Dangerous only if he's not in on it." Charlie knelt down to examine the lock on the door for a moment, running a hand delicately across its surface. Then he stood up, stepped back, and kicked the door down.
"There's a lovely thought," Renee muttered, looking out for their wolf friend.
Before the smell hit her.
Blood had a coppery scent that you never really forgot. Especially now. Renee could count five bodies from her spot behind Charlie and could sure as hell smell the blood coating the damn room.
"Abbot," Charlie snarled suddenly.
His eyes swept across the room, noting everything. The average adult human has a gallon and a half of blood. At least eight gallons were spattered across the walls and floor.
"You son of a bitch."
"What do you think?" Renee asked, looking over the scene with a clinical detachment.
"I think," Charlie said coldly, "that someone didn't want these guys talking to us."
"Yeah." She shook her head, walking in the room. "That's what I think too. If we're going to look around, we better do it fast."
The cop in her screamed not to touch the evidence, but she ignored it.
"What are we looking for, anyway?"
Charlie dropped to one knee and carefully picked up a blood-soaked piece of cloth. "You'll know it when you find it."
"That your way of saying 'I don't know'?" She asked, being careful not to disturb the bodies too much.
"Yeah," Charlie admitted. "But my way sounds more poetic."
"Huh." There was a small pile of rat poison boxes near the bodies. Renee picked one up, mindful not to smudge the blood splatter. They were all empty. "Must've had one hell of a rat problem."
She turned toward Charlie. "Anything?"
"No, nothing," Charlie said in disgust. "Abbot did a thorough job." He turned to the door, "Let's get out of here."
"No argument from me--"
//"FREEZE!//
As soon as they hit the door, a brighter light than normal hit them. Not to mention the shock of the sheer number of police outside.
//"You are under arrest by the authority of his eminence and grace Black Adam! Hands up-- or we'll execute you foreign dissidents here and now."//
Renee went still more at the guns than the language she didn't understand. "Charlie..."
Charlie's hands rose, and he knew Renee was smart enough to follow his lead. "Hmm?"
She followed suit. "...tell me it's not Wednesday."
[[OOC: Preplayed with the wonderful iseewhatyoumean, NFI, NFB! OOC is love]]