It felt like eons before Anika could rest easy watching as the train rolled up to an even more desolate station just on the other side of the city. She knew this would be the safest place from the Alliance for now. Despite this she still felt a chill run down her spine as she emerged from the train car, double checking her reflection in the window before heading onto the dock. The old woman from before seemed to straighten suspiciously, hobbling out behind Anika. This wouldn’t be the first time Anika suspected a normal individual of being another shape shifter and surely it wouldn’t be the last.

Making ground on the grimy staircase, Anika made her way up towards Tokyoto’s notoriously quiet neighborhood Javvi. Unlike other areas of the city, Javvi was a cove of older folks living out the last of their days in the only relative peace they could find. This part of the city was only just warming up to refugees and likewise much of the newer ideals and technology. In this case it wasn’t Anika’s fault for being wary of an elderly woman that happened upon such a newer piece of tech. Either way she needed to get out of sight.

By now the rain had slowed to a drizzle and puddles reflected the lights from storefronts and streetlights above. Anika rounded a corner onto an empty narrow street where muggy apartment buildings introduced hanging wires that threatened to get caught on Anika’s clothes any second. A burst of air had her reeling for a few seconds, making it easy for a hand to grasp onto her jacket and pull her into an adjacent alley.

“We’ve finally got him boys.”

Anika was tempted to curse under her breath when she heard the familiar voice speak close to her face. She thanked herself for using such a generic disguise.

“So little man, what brings you to Javvi? Not your cup of tea I presume.”

A different voice spoke further away and to her misfortune, Anika’s eyes failed to register how many bodies surrounded her in the darkness. Night vision was unfortunately not her specialty.

“He just asked you a question asshole!”

A wave of wind traveled across Anika’s features as she felt a fist sidle on the wall beside her face.

“Just on my way to see my father, I’m sure I’m not the man you’re looking for.” Her voice sounded slightly higher than typical man’s but surely it was good enough to fool these idiots.

“Right...where does your father live you say?”

She could feel the smiles around her dripping with venom as she responded.

“Just a few blocks down...look I don’t have anything on me I’m just a normal guy-”

“Bullshit! You think we didn’t see your face on the CCTV earlier?”

Anika was sure there were four guys surrounding her, three of them having spoken. In order to win this fight she’d need to perform a deafening blow that could stun all of them. Security or Alliance, she at least knew they were no ordinary gang. Likewise she chose a blow to the knees. Swinging her leg out Anika registered hitting five knees before leaving the rest to guesswork, sprinting out of the briefly compact circle. The yells were made only after she’d reached the end of the alley.

Using the same tactics as before, she made for the street diagonal to their position yet her trajectory was interrupted when she felt a hand grasp onto her neck. The pull gave her whiplash as the thug held a knife to her neck.

“Move and I’ll fucking slit your throat.”

Grasping onto the mans arms, Anika tried and failed to break herself from the hulk’s hold. She thought she was done when the footsteps grew closer to their position at the mouth of the alley but just before she saw the thugs emerge, a series of gut throttling sounds silenced them.

The hold on her neck loosened just enough that Anika could whip the knife back on the hulk. However before she could do much else she heard a shooting sound reach out behind her and land itself on the hulk’s face. A claw twisted his features like dough and Anika took the moment to run.

But she was frozen in place.

Her limbs contracted as she felt a hand place itself on her shoulder blade. Anika just knew this person had been cosplaying as the older woman before. How, she didn’t know but she did know this situation was just as dire, if not more than the one before.

“Been looking for you for a long time Black Mamba.”

The voice was male but and almost sounded familiar, like drips of honey entering a long abandoned cave. Anika was concerned on how long this person had followed her, known who she was for Christ’s sake.

“Look I don’t want no trouble, just thought I’d help you out there.”

The person seemed to attempt moving to face her but thought better of it.

“So unfreeze me and leave me be.”

Anika felt her voice grow course with scratchiness as she began feeling the disguise wearing off. It might have a mere two minutes of effect at this point.

“I will. Let me tell you something first though.” Leaning closer to her ear, she almost shivered at the person’s breath touching her sensitive skin. “This cannot come without pay. In the future when all hope is lost and friends turn against foe there will be a hope for new alliance. That is when your presence is needed among us, for both your fate and ours. That is our offer to extend your deadline.”

“W-who are you?”

She could feel their smile before sensing an emptiness deep in the caverns of her heart. Suddenly feeling her limbs regain mobility, Anika whipped around to find an empty street with the bodies of the thugs laying still below the pattering rain. The person had slipped away and Anika didn’t hesitate leaving the scene herself.

While she had fibbed visiting her father, Anika did truly sleep in Javvi.

Scaling buildings and passing across long since useless power lines, she found her enclave just below the stars. Her home was no more than a tent fixed on on top of a flight of fire escape stairs but it was her home. Inside she had just enough room for a sleeping pad, a backpack of her belongings and a makeshift nightstand that held trinkets she’d find from her days “working”. It wasn’t much but it was hers.

Stripping off her wet clothes she saw her hard muscled body finishing its shift back into her own soft curves and toned limbs. Letting herself relax on the cot, she pulled her raggedy blanket over her body and snagged her ChePhone from her backpack, scrolling though newsfeeds of the day before letting herself fall asleep.

Yet another successful day for the Black Mamba.