09-16-2013, 03:40 PM
Yuri caught the wad of cash in one fist and gave Mudak a nod, then ducked back behind the back of the alley and darted down the street. If Custodians were coming, he'd better make himself scarce. Down the next street, he turned a corner and spotted the old sewer maintenance shaft he'd been looking for. He stuck the wad of cash in his pocket and in one smooth motion wrapped his feet around the ladder and slid from sight.
It was dark and wet down here, and stank like, well, a sewer. He drew on the power to make a small ball of fire suspended in the air. After a moment, he encased it in a ball of Air. There was a lot of methane gas down here and it probably hadn't been a good idea to make the ball of fire to begin with -- but with the power feeding the ball of flame, it did not extinguish even though trapped and cut off from the exterior. Yuri mentally patted himself on the back for his cleverness.
And speaking of clever...he pulled out the wad of cash. Mudak had given him a lot. What a sucker for having totally bought Yuri's line. With this kind of money he could get a motel room up topside, he could get some new threads, and definitely get whatever kind of drugs he wanted. Maybe even some of that new designer stuff that had started floating around...what was it called? He'd heard the high was legendary.
Yuri padded his way down the maintenance sewer. He could just split with the money...but if Mudak was so free with cash just to get Yuri into decent clothes, Yuri would be able to score much more if he continued to play along. Much more. Guy working a drug enterprise would be swimming with it. Fuck, maybe Yuri could even get that band together he'd always talked about with the burnouts he hung out with underground and generally preyed upon. He'd get ahold of some nice amps, and definitely a synthaxe drumitar. Yeah...
Fuck buying clothes, though. He wasn't about to waste good scratch on that. Yuri popped another pill and took a side tunnel. Should be right about...Yup, there it was. A large grate blocked over with concrete, probably when the foundations for the building above were put in. A lot of the time construction crews didn't bother with doing much more than leveling and building yet another level on top of Moscow, which was of course how the Underground had grown so immense to begin with.
If he was right...He drew in more of the power and sent out flows to seize the grate and pull it out from the wall. It ripped away and with a great crash fell to the tunnel floor. Then he sent flows of fire and earth into the concrete and it blew apart, sending chips of concrete and dust scattering through the tunnel. Some of it hit Yuri's face but he just wiped it away. He looked at the man-sized hole above him and was pleased.
Yuri considered how to get up to the hole he'd made. He knew you couldn't lift yourself with the power. It was like trying to pick yourself up by your own belt. Just didn't work. He could have made rungs of air and ascended that way, but it wasn't needed. All it took was a running start toward the side of the tunnel. It was rather like a half-pipe. One leap, and he kicked his feet against the tunnel wall and twisted upward. His arms found purchase on concrete floor above him, and he pulled himself through.
Yuri's ball of light trailed through behind him, illuminating what was clearly a basement of some kind. Boxes stacked high all around. He pulled one down and opened it up. Yeah, blue jeans and slacks. Perfect. Inventory waiting to be stocked, or for the old to be cleared out. Yuri was more than happy to save those boxes from a fate of being left without rack space.
Yuri found a flight of concrete steps and a door at the top that was unlocked. He opened it and turned a corner, finding himself on the main floor of a clothing store. Certainly not upscale, but not disgraceful either. Place like this probably had an alarm that might have already been triggered - maybe it was wired to the front door, but maybe not - but if anyone showed up before he left he'd just kill them and be back down through his rabbit hole. No sense in rushing when shopping for new threads.
The mannequin display up front had a nice getup. Button down red shirt and a well-cut black leather coat, black jeans with a simple silver belt clasp and black boots polished to a shine. Red on black. Yuri liked it. He tore the outfit off the mannequin and did some brief fitting...fit well enough. He found a liner in an empty wastebasket and used the bag to bundle up the clothes to keep the stench of the sewer off of them.
He fled back down the basement and through his hole, dropping back into the sewer. Now off to find a score, and to go get a room and wash up.
The next morning Yuri felt refreshed and full of energy. Course some of that was due to the bump of coke he'd given himself before leaving his motel room. Sucks he had to pay for the room, but at least he got a hot shower and a bed for the few hours he ended up sleeping. Decked out in his new threads, clean and not smelling of the Underground, he walked down the street - yeah, people were noticing him and he knew it. Bet all those bitches don't know I work out.
And there was Igor's again. Yuri opened the door. Yeah, that pizda was there this morning again behind the front counter. She took one look at Yuri and moved to alert someone in the back. He really was going to have to break her jaw sometime soon.
Yuri threw up a hand and beckoned her to wait. "Don't get yourself in a wad there, your boss and I are good,"
he said. He sat at a table. "Please bring me some blimi with jam and sausages, and black coffee. And let your boss know I'm here."
It was dark and wet down here, and stank like, well, a sewer. He drew on the power to make a small ball of fire suspended in the air. After a moment, he encased it in a ball of Air. There was a lot of methane gas down here and it probably hadn't been a good idea to make the ball of fire to begin with -- but with the power feeding the ball of flame, it did not extinguish even though trapped and cut off from the exterior. Yuri mentally patted himself on the back for his cleverness.
And speaking of clever...he pulled out the wad of cash. Mudak had given him a lot. What a sucker for having totally bought Yuri's line. With this kind of money he could get a motel room up topside, he could get some new threads, and definitely get whatever kind of drugs he wanted. Maybe even some of that new designer stuff that had started floating around...what was it called? He'd heard the high was legendary.
Yuri padded his way down the maintenance sewer. He could just split with the money...but if Mudak was so free with cash just to get Yuri into decent clothes, Yuri would be able to score much more if he continued to play along. Much more. Guy working a drug enterprise would be swimming with it. Fuck, maybe Yuri could even get that band together he'd always talked about with the burnouts he hung out with underground and generally preyed upon. He'd get ahold of some nice amps, and definitely a synthaxe drumitar. Yeah...
Fuck buying clothes, though. He wasn't about to waste good scratch on that. Yuri popped another pill and took a side tunnel. Should be right about...Yup, there it was. A large grate blocked over with concrete, probably when the foundations for the building above were put in. A lot of the time construction crews didn't bother with doing much more than leveling and building yet another level on top of Moscow, which was of course how the Underground had grown so immense to begin with.
If he was right...He drew in more of the power and sent out flows to seize the grate and pull it out from the wall. It ripped away and with a great crash fell to the tunnel floor. Then he sent flows of fire and earth into the concrete and it blew apart, sending chips of concrete and dust scattering through the tunnel. Some of it hit Yuri's face but he just wiped it away. He looked at the man-sized hole above him and was pleased.
Yuri considered how to get up to the hole he'd made. He knew you couldn't lift yourself with the power. It was like trying to pick yourself up by your own belt. Just didn't work. He could have made rungs of air and ascended that way, but it wasn't needed. All it took was a running start toward the side of the tunnel. It was rather like a half-pipe. One leap, and he kicked his feet against the tunnel wall and twisted upward. His arms found purchase on concrete floor above him, and he pulled himself through.
Yuri's ball of light trailed through behind him, illuminating what was clearly a basement of some kind. Boxes stacked high all around. He pulled one down and opened it up. Yeah, blue jeans and slacks. Perfect. Inventory waiting to be stocked, or for the old to be cleared out. Yuri was more than happy to save those boxes from a fate of being left without rack space.
Yuri found a flight of concrete steps and a door at the top that was unlocked. He opened it and turned a corner, finding himself on the main floor of a clothing store. Certainly not upscale, but not disgraceful either. Place like this probably had an alarm that might have already been triggered - maybe it was wired to the front door, but maybe not - but if anyone showed up before he left he'd just kill them and be back down through his rabbit hole. No sense in rushing when shopping for new threads.
The mannequin display up front had a nice getup. Button down red shirt and a well-cut black leather coat, black jeans with a simple silver belt clasp and black boots polished to a shine. Red on black. Yuri liked it. He tore the outfit off the mannequin and did some brief fitting...fit well enough. He found a liner in an empty wastebasket and used the bag to bundle up the clothes to keep the stench of the sewer off of them.
He fled back down the basement and through his hole, dropping back into the sewer. Now off to find a score, and to go get a room and wash up.
The next morning Yuri felt refreshed and full of energy. Course some of that was due to the bump of coke he'd given himself before leaving his motel room. Sucks he had to pay for the room, but at least he got a hot shower and a bed for the few hours he ended up sleeping. Decked out in his new threads, clean and not smelling of the Underground, he walked down the street - yeah, people were noticing him and he knew it. Bet all those bitches don't know I work out.
And there was Igor's again. Yuri opened the door. Yeah, that pizda was there this morning again behind the front counter. She took one look at Yuri and moved to alert someone in the back. He really was going to have to break her jaw sometime soon.
Yuri threw up a hand and beckoned her to wait. "Don't get yourself in a wad there, your boss and I are good,"
he said. He sat at a table. "Please bring me some blimi with jam and sausages, and black coffee. And let your boss know I'm here."