Super Blogger

8. ANALYSIS AND ANXIETIES

Satisfaction. That was all I could feel.

I trooped towards the exit, staring at my phone, hoping the cops here on the ground floor wouldn't notice me. "Should I pick up, or should I not pick up?"

I had this good gut feeling after my successful crime fighting. It gave me hope that I wasn't jinxed. However, I wasn't so chatty anymore after realizing the only person I was eager to chat with had abandoned me. Before I could decide, the call rang out.

I'll call him back when I get home. I concluded.

"A friend you haven't spoken to for almost a year now calls and you casually decline? Have you no decency?" said Blitz.

If only he had a mute button. "Would you quit nagging and find out if I got caught on camera while changing back?"

I walked through the busted doors and saw my Lambo pull up just across the street. Walking down the desolate red carpet, I endured the cold night breeze for a moment.

When I was close, a valet in a white suit stepped out, barely containing a grin. Heaven knew where he had taken it. He courteously handed me the key and I shot a quick thanks before ducking inside.

My eyes swept the car as the doors slid shut before I relaxed into the driver's seat. Suddenly my stomach made a mighty growl.

Wincing, I turned my head to face the pizza. Suspicion crept within me. "Is it poisoned? Has it been drugged?"

"You were in a blind spot," Blitz reported. "And there's no alteration in the pizza's composition since you left it. Although I must warn you, it might not be hot."

Hot? My eyes twitched. "Buddy, my stomach is eating itself up. I'm sure it could care a bit less if whatever food that entered wasn't 'hot'."

With that, I stuffed sweet cheesy slices into my mouth. I moaned in delight before munching them quickly.

Before I knew it, the box was empty. I sighed in satisfaction. Then questions started popping up in my head. How could 43 cameras not detect Zen? Where were the security guards during the crime? How did Zen and co manage to sneak inside?

"Zen Hong," Blitz began. "A Chinese fugitive and head of the second largest gang in New Chronos. Which happens to be a rival gang to the Bleeding-Bones, run by Alain Archer. Zen's gang gained its current rep after allegedly recruiting hundreds of displaced individuals and anonymously purchasing a huge arsenal of arms from Archer's gang just to rival it later on. He's reported to have a mental condition which apparently fuels his motives but doesn't compromise his leadership capacity.

About tonight; turns out he had a man on the inside who recommended seat fillers that were all members of the Hybrid Cloak gang and of course as their leader, he also passed as a seat filler. He wore a professionally fabricated human mask on entry to look different but right before the show went live, he followed the Mayor behind the curtains, and... tonight happened. Also, it seems security had been lured outside the building by staged gunshots. All of which I confirmed through extensive CCTV and satellite footage as well as vast web information. Unfortunately, I couldn't detect Zen's ploy in time."

I smiled with satisfaction. "What will I do without you Blitz?"

"Answering literally, you'd be-"

"Stop! It's rhetorical." I hung my head up. Trying not to think of that uncomfortable instance. Why'd I even ask such?

"What's on the news?" I mumbled, eager to find a distraction to escape into.

I unlocked my phone and launched the NCN app. NC-DESK was live. My screen showed a miniature-sized Elise Sally at the edge of a chopper with a mic up to her mouth. Tufts of dark hair blew against her olive skinned face.