Chapter 29: Cleanup

Given everything that had happened, Rick expected to hear about it on the news, but instead there was nothing. Even when he headed in to work the next day, there was nothing whatsoever on the news about it, online or on local television. Had it been covered up somehow? Or did things like this happen regularly and they simply never made their way to the public news?

When he arrived, he discovered that the House of the Cosmic Fist had its sidewalk covered in broken glass and beer bottles. Right now his coworker Danny was working on cleaning it up and gave him a civil nod. They didn't have intersecting shifts much, but Danny was alright. Single and handsome in a fatherly-looking late-30-something sort of way, so he got a lot of the female clients in the same age bracket.

"We had a mess with some drunks," Danny said. "Most likely Jimmy will send you out here to help."

"Guess I'll take my chances first, but you're probably right."

"Just be glad I already got the vomit cleaned up."

Stepping over the broken glass, Rick walked into the gym. It wasn't in great shape either, dirty towels lying around and equipment not put away. Probably because Danny was busy cleaning the sidewalk and their boss was obviously not going to do any work. Jimmy sat in his usual place, paging through a magazine.

"Rick." He gave a grunt by way of greeting. "We're gonna need you outside."

"Okay, I'll head out in a bit. I just wanted to ask... was there any news about a fight last night?"

"Nope. Only reason I know anything happened is that Henry tried to call to get time off." Jimmy looked up at him, eyes revealing nothing. "A lot of stuff like that happens, kid, even in a place the size of Branton. Hell, if you get out into the country, there are lucrim duels and the police just look the other way. Relax and do your job."

Rick nodded and headed out, though it wasn't that simple for him. In addition to potential problems so serious they'd involved a hitman, Mike and his cronies were still out there. If they were willing to pay money for a shot at fighting him in the Underground, they were committed to this. He thought - or at least hoped - that they wouldn't try to target people close to him for a vendetta like this. But it was obvious that he was going to see them again.

As he picked up bottles and cans outside, Rick considered his path forward. Without expensive training options, there was no way he could simply jump in power and be equal to the Birthrighters. Hell, their parents could probably just hand them Lucores stronger than he was.

That left either recruiting more allies, or finding some other path. Rick went inside to get a broom to help sweep up the broken glass and found himself looking over the messy gym. Usually he didn't think about how small and dingy the place was, yet now he found it pressing on him.

Right now, if he was honest with himself, he belonged here. For all his skill and determination, he was exactly the sort of person Birthrighters expected to work at a little place like this. No matter how hard he worked there, he wasn't going to change who he was.

Mike didn't train at places like this. Emily definitely didn't. Lisa was only there for personal reasons and could have done better. Was this what he wanted to do with his life? He didn't want to end up like Danny, getting older and still working a job like this. The idea of being like Jimmy was even worse - his boss might own the company, but he had little ambition and spent his days sitting in a gym dealing with shitty customers.

What did he actually want, though? He'd spent much of his life reacting, whether it was to his parents, Melissa's condition, or the aura leeches. Just building a decent life for himself and his sister had been his goal for a long time, but it wasn't enough.

Being champion of the Underground had no real appeal. Goals like relationships and children might be nice, but they couldn't drive him. He couldn't afford to go back to school and try to reinvent himself. Rick kept thinking about it as they finished cleaning up, but didn't feel any closer to answers.

Just as he was heading back in, his phone rang. To his surprise, it was Tom, so he picked up quickly. "Hey, man, what's up?"

"Rick, sorry about before." Tom sounded tired but otherwise fine. "I had no idea things would turn out to be that dangerous."

"I'm not going to pretend I'm happy about it, but I understand it was beyond your control. But what exactly was going on?"

"I'm still trying to figure that out, to be honest. Everything about the Underground is strange lately. You might want to keep your distance for a little while until things settle down."

"Thanks for the warning, but you've gotta give me more than that."

"When I talked to Alger, I tried to really push him for answers. He's definitely unhappy... I don't think I've ever seen him like this." Tom paused for a long moment, then sighed. "As far as I can tell, there's a special tournament coming up. Alger and some of the biggest patrons of the Underground will be each fielding teams with dif-"

"Yeah, I... had an idea that might be happening."

"You did? Well, anyway, Alger wants me to be his welterweight. I think - and I'm reading between the lines here - that one of his rivals wanted to take me out. Not kill me, just disable me enough that I wouldn't be able to compete effectively in the event."

Though it was far from the most important aspect of the situation, Rick felt a twinge of bitterness when Tom mentioned his power class. He and Tom had started fighting in the Underground at about the same time, but Tom was considered a welterweight while Rick was a featherweight? But since there was nothing to gain from bitterness, he kept his tone light. "How fast are you going to recover? That leg looked pretty bad."

"Alger is pulling out the stops to get it healed, so I should be fine. Honestly, he's taking this way too seriously." Tom gave a low laugh. "I take that back. Given that his mysterious rival actually hired someone to break my legs and shoot me, maybe he's not taking it seriously enough."

"Yeah, it's messed up. You still fighting?"

"Definitely. I'll miss some training, but I should be stronger after the recovery. Anyway, I just wanted to thank you for helping and urge you to stay away for a bit. But next time you come to the Underground, let me at least buy you a drink in thanks, okay?"

"Sure, man. See you later." Rick hung up, beginning to scowl. He didn't want anything bad to happen to Tom, but he was irritated that someone who had been roughly on his level was now patronizing him. Given his situation, he wouldn't refuse the offer, but it still rubbed him the wrong way.

Rick stopped thinking about those issues for a while as he helped one of his usual clients and two walk-ins. He found himself actually wishing that Granny Whitney was back, though, much as that thought scared him. She could have told him who sent the hitman and how much of a threat he should expect. Most likely she wouldn't have helped, but information was better than nothing.

Henry came in, looking too tired to talk, and just focused on his work. They worked together for a while, focused on their thoughts, and eventually Rick's shift ended. When he started getting ready to go, however, Henry stopped him.

"Hey man, can you actually wait a bit for me? I have a thing we should do after work."

"What?" Rick raised an eyebrow. "You're going to have to give me more information than that."

"Overdrawing on the demonic bond last night... it sucked big time, man. I need to get another one, and I want you to come with me." Henry managed to grin. "And maybe you could use one too, huh? You're leaving lucrim on the table without it."

"I'll pass, and I don't know how much extra time I have today."

"Hey, wait, don't be like that. Look... this would be a big favor for me. Second bonds can be more difficult, so I might not be in a good condition to get home afterward. I'm just a bit nervous about it, and I'd feel better with you along. Come on, can you do that for a buddy?"

Sighing, Rick nodded slowly. "Alright. I guess it's just an hour before your shift ends, so I can wait."

Since he was stuck at the gym for a while, Rick headed to the aura machines and did a workout of his own. After coming into contact with so many powerful opponents, he certainly saw room for improvement. Especially that hitman... he hadn't been overwhelming, but he had certainly been professional. There was as much of a gap between his lucrima portfolio and Rick's as between Rick and average people who just collected lucrim from work.

When Rick finished all he could productively attempt that day, he sat back in the machine and waited for a bit. Henry was working with his last client, a young woman in leggings and a tight top. While Henry wasn't enough of a dick to "correct her form" unnecessarily, he definitely got an eyeful when she wasn't looking. Rick sighed and meditated until they were done.

"Yo, Rick! Thanks for waiting." Henry called to him, prompting him to get up. Rick decided that he didn't mind the extra time waiting, since he had a lot of personal training he needed to do anyway.

"Ready to go?"

"Almost." Henry looked out the front windows, watching his client's hips as she walked to her car. "Unf. I wouldn't mind doing some pairbond training with her, if you know what I mean."

Rick knew it was innuendo and decided that he didn't care. "You can't pairbond via one night stands. That would royally screw up your lucrima."

"You wound me, man!" Henry drew himself up, pretending to be offended. "Just because I want to get my dick wet doesn't mean I'm looking for just anything. If it's somebody like her, I don't mind getting married and all that. Hell, that sounds pretty good."

Jimmy snorted from his position by the counter. "It only sounds good from that side, kid. Most of what you'd want ends after the honeymoon."

"Maybe for you, old man, but I'm serious about this. Do you know how effective pairbond training can be? I'm not even talking about with someone stronger than you, though I wouldn't mind that. The growth numbers can be fantastic."

"You have no idea, kid." Jimmy looked up wearily and shook his head.

Rick glanced between them, actually a bit curious. Based on how Jimmy occasionally complained about his ex-wife, he suspected there was a history there, but he'd never gotten the full story. Pairbond training wasn't something that particularly interested him, but he decided to speak up to find out more. "You're saying there are disadvantages, boss?"

"Hell yes, there are disadvantages. When things don't work out and the pairbond gets severed, what are you gonna do then? You stand to lose more than you gained, believe me. And that's assuming the damn courts don't force some kind of lucrim alimony. Take it from someone who fucked it up once: it's not worth it."

Henry laughed. "Okay, okay, you don't have to bare your heart or anything. Agree to disagree."

Jimmy grunted and went back to his magazine.

"Alright, Rick, you wanna go?" Henry turned to him and jerked a thumb toward the door. "This should be fun, but we've gotta hurry before the demon office closes."

"Yeah, alright." Rick fell into line beside him. "How long will this take?"

"Oh, just 15 minutes or so. It's way easier than you'd think. Honestly, man, you should consider getting one while we're there. There's no way you're going to get as much power fast, at least not for people like us."

The way Henry was pushing for it, Rick had to wonder if he had an ulterior motive. There was no chance Rick would actually get a demonic bond, but he'd agreed to go with his friend, so he'd follow through. It would be his first time in a place like that, so it might be interesting.

Time for a business meeting with some demons.