(Happy Deepavali Everyone)
[Owen POV]
"What's going on?" Michael asked as he saw my change of expression.
"I need you to close your senses, like I told you to," I whispered.
Right now, Micheal was at an awkward stage where he was still training. If he was noticed by a strong opponent, he might not make it. Even I was sharing my senses with Shiryu to avoid this.
A tall, wild-eyed African-American man suddenly staggered into the empty parking lot we were using as our home base today.
The staff tried to chase him away, but he yelled hysterically, continuing to warn everyone.
"The tiger! The tiger's coming! Run if you want to live!"
Payne, the director, sighed at the sight. "Crazy druggies again? How many times has it been this month?"
"Is this normal around here?" I asked, watching the man intently.
"It was on the news a couple of times," Chbosky said. "I think there's a new drug on the market that makes people go crazy."
"Get him out of here!" The staff scolded each other, but no one dared to get near.
"Why aren't they catching him?" Michael asked.
"Well, the last time, a druggie bit off the nose of the guy who tried to help him. I'm just calling the cops." Payne muttered.
Sarah approached me, concern etched across her face. "Owen. You should leave it alone."
"Hmm… I don't think I will." I replied and walked toward the man casually.
Michael hurried after me, cursing under his breath. "Damn it."
Sarah was flabbergasted and muttered with annoyance, "Hey! Your nose is going to get bitten off!"
The staff tried to block me, but I ducked under an arm easily with my short height and came face-to-face with the man.
"Hey! Kid! Run! Run away! Hurry!" The man breathed heavily.
My nose was assaulted by the smell of blood, shit—and oddly—milk.
Hmm? Don't tell me. My eyes fell on the voodoo doll clutched in his hand.
"Hey man, what's your name?" I asked casually.
"There's no time! Run!" he said hysterically. Michael stepped in, holding him back and trying to calm him.
"Whoa—whoa—buddy. Let's take a second to breathe, alright?"
"You guys don't understand!" His voice broke. "He's going to kill my niece!"
There's lingering enchantment around him… Confusion?
Legends about tigers flickered in my mind.
In Southeast Asia, they say stepping on a tiger's shadow marks you, opening you to possession by its spirit—madness, erratic strength, or worse.
In African syncretism, "big cat spirits" appear as avatars of hunters or warriors. Being chased by a tiger might symbolize pursuit by a guardian—or a curse.
An ethereal roar rumbled from afar. The man heard it too. His face went pale, and he tried to run again.
"Michael, stop him," I ordered.
Michael grabbed his arm, restraining him.
"Get off me!" the man screamed.
"Don't struggle, man. We're trying to help you—" Michael was losing patience.
"Hey, isn't your niece hungry?" I cut in abruptly.
He froze. "My niece… she hasn't had anything since last night."
"Why don't I give her some milk? She must be starving. We'll rent a room, board up the door so the tiger can't get in. How about that?" I said casually.
Under the weight of the confusion charm, he accepted my words.
"We… we should do that. We can lock the tiger out."
"Great. Maybe you can take a bath too while you're at it. There's a motel nearby," Michael added, wrinkling his nose at the smell.
"I'll get some milk for your niece," I said.
Payne pulled me aside, disbelief in his eyes. "Are you sure about this? He's crazy."
"Maybe. But I promised to help people if I can. So I'm going to help him," I replied before leaving.
Payne just sighed and Sarah looked at me with a complicated expression.
"There's a van following us," I told Michael. "Be careful."
"Alright. I will." He replied whisperingly. I dropped off my black ring on the road. When the van passed it, the ring stuck itself underneath the van.
At the motel, the owner luckily didn't see us. The man went to bathe, still clutching the voodoo doll.
As he undressed, a deep gash ran across his skin.
Michael's eyes widened. "Wait. Is there really a tiger?" He asked.
"Must be. Wash everything off—your body and your niece's too." I told the man.
"Niece? That's a doll." Michael looked at me like I was crazy.
But his eyes nearly popped when the water destroyed the talisman, and a crying 13-month-old baby appeared in the man's arms almost magically.
I took her gently from the man and fed her some milk. She was weak, rashes covering her skin, her cries faint from exhaustion.
"There's a baby… What the fuck…" Michael cursed, blinking like he couldn't trust his eyes.
"What's her name?" I asked softly. "And yours?"
The man's voice cracked as the water calmed him. "Curtis. Curtis Broadus. She's Angela." Tears welled. "No one believed me, man!"
I examined the baby and found a mark on the sole of her left foot. "She needs to go to the hospital. She has a high fever and is severely dehydrated."
"What's that mark?" Michael asked, unsettled. Even he felt the ominous energy emanating from the mark.
"Curtis, you did an incredible job protecting her. Now, get in Michael's car and drive. Don't stop until you're far from this town. Go to the hospital at the next one.
Curtis's eyes were wild. "What is that mark?"
I looked at him seriously. "It's a tribute mark. Someone put it on your niece so she could be food for the tiger. You need to run until it expires. That's the only way you'll save her."
I took out an empty piece of talisman paper, wrote some masking runes and covered the mark with it.
I tied it around the baby's feet before wrapping her up in the blanket and gave her back to Curtis who was wearing Micheal's clothes.
I took out an empty talisman paper, wrote some masking runes, and covered the mark. I tied it around the baby's foot, wrapped her in a blanket, and handed her back to Curtis, who was wearing Micheal's clothes.
"Go now. This will buy you some time. Once you're far enough, the paper will turn black and you can go to the hospital at ease. But if it turns white or red, run as far as you can—"
The paper suddenly turned dark red. Curtis shivered and flopped to the floor, whispering, "He's here."
Heavy footsteps shook the walls outside. Car roofs in front of the motel caved in as if something enormous had stomped them.
"Through the window. Go, go!" I told them.
"What are you going to do?" Curtis asked as he stood and clutched his sleeping niece.
"I'm going to buy you time. Go now!" I yelled.
"You should come with us—" Curtis began.
Micheal pushed him. "He's the strongest one here. We should leave and not get in his way."
Curtis peeked through the window and swallowed. "We're on the second floor—"
Micheal smirked, wrapped his arms around Curtis's waist, and jumped. Curtis yelled, but he didn't fall.
"Huh?" He opened his eyes and saw Micheal walking down the vertical building wall as if it were a park path.
"What the fuck? Are you Spider-Man!?" Curtis blurted.
"Don't disturb my concentration. I'm not used to this yet," Micheal said, sweating. They reached the ground safely and ran for Micheal's car.
I licked my lips and smirked as I was left alone. The tiger was closing in.
Obsidian had been eavesdropping on the van. I knew the men inside were from the Supernatural Response Unit. They were watching Micheal to see if he had any supernatural ability.
"They didn't help even though a baby's life is in danger," I muttered, eyes flashing dangerously. I pulled needles soaked in poison.
"Or were they the ones who planned this?" I added.
I sent an order to Obsidian. She slithered under the van, grew her size into the monster size and then hurled the vehicle toward the approaching thing.
"What the fuck?!" the men inside cursed as they were launched through the air.
They flew straight at a giant, five-meter-tall panther—an ancient beast with pure black fur, two tails, and sabertooth fangs.
The tiger turned and swatted the van aside. I used the moment the tiger looked away to climb out of the motel room and throw multiple needles at its eyes.
The van smashed apart. The two SRU men spat blood as they hit the ground. I jumped to the rooftop and watched the confrontation.
The tiger roared. Its eyes bled from the poison. It thought the two men had attacked it.
"Fuck you!" one of the older men yelled, spitting blood. "I'll show you not to mess with the SRU!"
Rummaging through debris, he found a bow and arrow.
"Demonic energy?" I muttered as a dark aura swirled around the arrowhead.
He loosed the shot. The force nearly knocked him off his feet. The arrow reached the tiger, which swatted it away with ease.
"So… weak," I muttered.
The demonic energy in that arrow was no stronger than a low-level spirit warrior's attack—useful only with precision, like striking the eye or the soft spots.
The man had a bit of strength—maybe foundation realm level two—but he has no techniques at all.
"Damn it! It's too strong!" the older one snapped, tossing his bow aside.
'No it is not!' I retorted inwardly.
"Duck!" the geeky one shouted. He grabbed a grenade and threw it.
The tiger batted the grenade back, again. The two men yelled and ducked for cover behind a car.
The grenade detonated against a wall, blowing a hole through it.
I rubbed my forehead. "What the hell is this—comedy?"
The older man grinned through the blood. "You're good. You must be Alpha-category. This is my defeat today, but I will—"
"Lewis, stop monologuing and run!" the geeky one snapped.
"Don't tell me what to do, Paul!" Lewis shouted.
Paul snatched a bicycle and they fled, the tiger roaring as it chased.
"Is this the SRU?" I muttered, shaking my head. "No wonder they need more talent."
I picked up the demonic arrowhead.
The bow was crafted from wood struck by lightning—ideal weapon in a fight against demonic beings—but a wrong step to be paired with a demonic arrowhead.
It was poorly synchronized. The two energies clashed off with each other. I snapped off the arrowhead as the shaft was usable since it was made with the same wooden material.
"Obsidian, spit out the C4 and my special dagger," I told my snake.
My snake gagged a few times then puked out a block of C4, dripping with her saliva. She also disgorged my dagger made of tempered steel.
I fitted the dagger with a fishing line to the wooden shaft.
I smeared poison into the homemade dagger and leapt to the motel roof to get a clear shot. Down the road the tiger had flipped cars and injured some innocent drivers.
"This stops now," I said, centering my energy on the weapon.
They were getting farther. I took a breath and aimed for the tiger's vulnerable parts.
"Tang Clan Adapted Technique—Flying Poisonous Dagger."
The makeshift arrow thwanged from the bow and flew straight for the tiger's rear. It sensed danger, but the shot was too fast for it to react.
The bow and the technique released a low golden-core strike. I'd also aimed for the soft spot and missed the anus.
However I hadn't missed everything.
The dagger sliced into the tiger's balls.
The tiger froze, then let out an earth-shattering roar that shattered windows across the street. Then, with a plaintive mew, it shed a tear, turned and fled.
The two SRU men slumped, relieved as the tiger let them go.
Before they could recover, the cops—Payne's call—arrived and arrested them. Witnesses had seen only the men near the wreckage.
The comedy duo couldn't talk their way out of this.
I walked back to the set as if nothing had happened. People were curious after hearing the commotion, so it was easy to slip into the crowd.
Obsidian—now the size of an eel—slithered back to my hand and turned into a ring again.
Slithering to the scene, she had stored the tiger's balls inside her stomach without anyone noticing.
It was lucky that the dagger cut the skin clean through otherwise it would've been poisoned by now.
Obsidian retrieved the arrow too, and I stored every spoils of war with her.
"Hey, Michael left to bring that dude to the hospital. Can you give me a ride home?" I asked Sarah.
She nodded and said, "Sure. You've been to my place, I kinda want to see yours too."
"Well, don't be expecting a personal tour. I'm quite tired, so I just want to go to sleep now." I yawned.
…
As we passed through the iron gate to get into the Montecito apartment building, the people at the pool greeted me cheerfully.
"Owen!"
Sarah was taken aback when she saw the kids hanging around casually at the place.
We were having a cookout—meat, seafood, tacos—laid out on the table next to the pool.
Elena approached me quickly and said, "Welcome home. How was work?"
"It's fine. Something interesting did happen though. I'll tell you later," I replied to Elena before introducing Sarah to her.
"This is my scene partner."
"Sarah. My name is Sarah." She quickly shook Elena's hand.
"Elena. I know who you are, Sarah. I watched a lot of your commercials."
"Aww. Thank you. You must be Owen's girlfriend, am I right?" Sarah said abruptly.
The entire pool turned quiet and looked toward us. Elena blushed a bit and said, "What? No, I'm not his girlfriend."
I suddenly grabbed Elena by the waist and pulled her close to me. "Don't kid around, El. You're my girl, aren't you?"
Her face became beet red, and the entire group stared at Elena with excitement.
Sarah was taken aback by my boldness and quickly changed the topic. "How about that barbecue? That smells really great."
Elena snapped out of her embarrassment and quickly said, "Come on in. I'll make you a plate."
We ate dinner at the lounge area—Elena, Sarah, and I together.
"Um, have you lived here for a long time?" She was curious to see why we were so close with each other.
"It's been a month and a half." Elena replied while I devoured the meat. She giggled at my table manners and wiped my dirty lips with a napkin.
"Hah–" Sarah accidentally let out a sound, her face filled with disbelief and jealousy.
I already knew she was interested in me since I made her laugh a couple of times.
I guess now seeing I was acting lovey dovey with my alleged 'girlfriend' finally sealed the deal.
Sarah pretended to look around, although the light in her eyes had gone out.
"Are you going to keep living here?" She asked. "Didn't you get a lot of money from your movie.
"Why should I leave the building I owned?" I asked her back.
She was confused at first then realized it. "Oh, you're Richie Rich from it. (1994 movie reference)"
"I have some backend. The movie's a big swing afterall."
Sarah understood it although she was a little jealous. She wanted to get her big break too.
I gave her a copy of the Phantom Troupe novel I wrote. It was supposed to enter the book market on Saturday, so I have some copies.
Sarah was actually enjoying herself at the party. We had music, we watched a movie together, and some played in the pool.
"You know, I've been to a couple Hollywood parties, but most of the time– an old man tried to touch my butt, spill alcohol on me, or I was trapped into an endless movie lecture about some classic that came out multiple decades ago. This is like a breath of fresh air."
"You should come to the next one too." Elena invited her to come again.
"Maybe I will." Sarah was really considering it. "I'll bring my swimsuit next time."
"We're having another party on Friday. That one with guests." Elena added.
I looked at Elena with disbelief, but I didn't discourage her. It was good for her to make some friends her age. And it's also good for Sarah too since she's still new in California and the only people she met were backstabbing actresses and sleazy executives."
Djalu approached me while we were watching Johnny Mnemonic– A Keanu Reeves movie, bringing the house phone with him.
"Hello?" I picked up the phone since it was for me.
" Owen, I'm at the hospital right now. Curtis is fine." Micheal whispered.
We didn't say anything about the baby in case someone was listening.
"I paid his medical bills and brought him home. Guess who he's related to?"
"How should I know?" I shrugged, not really interested.
"Man, it's Snoop Dog!" Micheal said excitedly.
I was still confused, but then I remembered him.
"Oh. That's great. Tell Snoop to pay back the medical bill."
Micheal was stunned for a while before he sighed and said, "Alright. I need to go now. Don't watch Johnny Mnemonic without me!"
"Too late!" I exposed teasingly, which made Micheal grunts in frustration.
The next few days went quite smoothly. Micheal made sure Curtis wouldn't tell anyone about our involvement, so the matter ends right there for now.
The baby was still at the hospital, but she was recovering fine. The mark was now gone.
"Curtis told me the only person who met with Angela before it happened was a big name rapper. He might be the one to make her the tribute." Micheal told me.
I sighed and advised him, "You might feel it's unfair and want some justice, but right now. We're still too weak. It's better to build up our strength first before jumping into someone else's fight."
He was flabbergasted and said, "But you did it all the time?"
"Yeah, cause I can handle myself. I'm responsible for you guys, so I'm not going to put you in danger before you can actually fend for yourself."
Micheal was silent for a while before he smiled shyly. "Aww. Thanks Owen."
He reached his hand to pat me, but I swatted it away.
"Stop it. That's creeping me out."
After some time passed, it was finally Monday again, and the time for the studio pitches had arrived.
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