Chapter 71 - Getting out

Looking up, Damian finally took his hand off his forehead, and removed the creepy white mask he'd been wearing to once again reveal his handsome face, although marked by exhaustion now. 

He sighed tiredly. "I'd like to teach you the basics so you can help restore my energy, but… we should really get out of here first." He stuck out his hand at her. "Help me up," he ordered. 

Alita complied, and Damian was soon back on his feet, if a little wobbly. He quickly stored the mask back in Nox Aeternum's storage space, and then absorbed the sword as well. 

He gave his body a quick inspection, but was happy to note that any damage to his clothes had already been restored by the regenerative material it was from, and that his blood had simply slid right off. He still needed a shower, but that could wait… a little while, at least. 

Meanwhile, Alita put her still-non-functioning CyberStrap back on, and hid her gun in one of the large pockets of the stylish cargo pants Damian had given her. 

When they were done, they made their way out of the apartment. Damian looked carefully out of the hole-that-was-once-a-door, and was pleased to notice the empty hallway. 

Behind him, Alita snorted. "Hmpf, I wouldn't be surprised if the entire building has emptied out already. Myst fights don't happen often, but when they do, they usually bring down the whole damn building around them. Nobody wants to be around when the cops decide to make an example of someone." 

"Makes sense," Damian chuckled before quickly making his way to the stairwell, with Alita in tow. "If we hadn't focused on physical fighting and used more myst, the destruction might have easily spread to the rest of the building." 

"Right…" Alita muttered, narrowing her eyes suspiciously. "Why didn't you use myst? And what did you do at the end there?" 

They made their way down the dilapidated stairs as Damian shrugged with a small, tired smile. "I didn't use any myst because I was trying to remember one of the many obscure techniques my mother taught me, and using other techniques would have made it that much harder." 

"Okay, but wh—" 

"I'll tell you later, alright?" Damian interrupted her wth a sigh, but his tone brooked no opposition. "I'm really fucking tired, and I still need to focus on keeping upright." 

Suddenly, they started hearing police sirens, as well as some loud chopping, and Damian rolled his eyes. "And it seems I might have to actually use some more myst to safely get out of here, too." 

Alita pouted, but nodded her understanding. 

Finally reaching the door that led back out into the alley, Damian first asked Nova if the coast was clear. 

"I accessed some street cameras, Damian," she answered quickly and precisely. "There are crowds on either entrance to the alley, but no one inside it." 

"Figured as much…" Damian grumbled to himself. Even if the people inside the building had fled, there was no way that two reported myst battles in the same area, wouldn't draw a crowd of disaster tourists. Now, they were waiting for the police, and hoping to catch a glimpse of what myst wielders dared fight out in the open like this. 

After all, technically, such a thing was strongly prohibited. Of course, the only ones actually forced to obey any laws were those unable to bribe the Expanse police, and what myst wielder didn't have plenty of money?' 

That said, there was still a limit. You didn't want to go so far as to get the actual government involved as it was much harder to bribe an aetherborn, especially after forcing them to come down from their pretty towers and into the slums. 

Breaking a law like this one twice in the same place within the span of a day, was almost guaranteed to get some of the Glowrate officials involved. Thus, the people wanted to see who dared risk the wrath of their oppressors… 

Damian gestured at Alita. "Come here, let me lean on you. I'm going to have to wreath us in shadows, and I'll likely have some trouble keeping upright," he growled in an exhausted tone. 

Nodding, Alita did as he asked. "We need to hurry," she told him in a hushed tone, eyes angled up towards the sky. "That chopping sound comes from a hovercopter, meaning a Glowrat is on the way. When they get here, they'll definitely lock the place down." 

Damian smiled as shadows began to weave themselves around the two of them. "Don't worry, Alita… You underestimate the power of our shadows." 

Soon, they'd melted into the alley's shadows, while quickly making their way to the left. It took only a few seconds for them to notice the crowd of people gathered at the street in front of them, but all the crowd saw were some wriggling shadows, if that. 

Fortunately, eternally waking as this city may be, there were also plenty of shadows. 

They appeared to be just in time, as just when they stepped out of the alley, and melded into the shadows of the street instead, all hell broke loose. 

Squad cars surrounded the crowd, coming to a stop with screeching tires. Groups of twenty men each streamed out of the cars, and immediately started barking orders at the crowd. 

After having been bribed by Rustborn the first time, they now had to really show how tough and incorruptible they were, especially when supervised by one of their Aetherborn superiors. 

Speaking of Aetherborn, a large, sleek, metal machine flew over the Expanse, coming to a stop just above the building Damian had just left. A number of ducted jet fans kept it in the air, allowing it to fly and hover with extreme versatility. Damian glanced over at it calmly, where he noticed a gruff man standing in a side opening. 

'I can't beat him,' he instantly realized solemnly. His mother had made absolutely sure Damian knew how to judge the strength of an opponent, and he could feel the power fluctuations from here. 

Suddenly, the man looked straight at the two of them from up in the air, causing Alita to gulp. Damian remained calm and looked straight back, absolutely confident in the power of his shadows, at least from this distance. It was possible the man felt something, but he definitely couldn't see them. 

Fortunately, Damian's confidence proved correct when the man turned to look back at the building below. The hovercopter set itself down on the roof for a hopefully fruitless investigation, while Alita and Damian made off into the distance…