The Baron then took a cigar from a nearby container, lighting it up and inhaling deeply. He puffed out a large cloud of smoke in front of our faces as we began to cough heavily. He then took out his watch and peered at it.
"We have a bit longer until we arrive at your new destination, do you have any questions or any concerns?"
I looked around the limo, there were the general commodities of alcohol, cigars, even snacks. I then looked behind me to see what was in the trunk, a bunch of black leather briefcases with letterings on the handle filled the small trunk, I then looked back at the Baron as he tilted his head in my direction.
"Are we going to get any equipment or special gifts while entering into the world?"
The Baron quickly snapped his finger afterward as he pointed to me.
"I was going to do that when we were a bit closer to our destination, but we can handle that now. Take out two of the suitcases that are embroidered with the letter 'S'."
I did as he asked as I placed the two briefcases on the car floor in between us.
"Each of you take one and open it up."
Claire and I looked at one another as we followed his directions. Inside the case was a white dress shirt, a black suit jacket, black dress pants, black tie, and also socks and dress shoes, which were also black to no one's surprise.
"These suits are made out of a very special fabric that will repair itself over time so you don't have to worry about it getting damaged while in this land. Not only that, but the fabric will also regenerate any non-lethal wounds to the wearer. You may ask why a suit out of all things, and for that, I have this answer for you. In this new world, you are a nobody, no one knows of your existence. If you are to prevent the end of the world, your first job is to get authority in one way or another. These suits will give you a professional look and are blessed by yours truly."
We both looked at him curiously as Claire then spoke up.
"I'm guessing that we will also have to do some dirty work to prevent the end of this world, not everything out there is all peaceful or else you wouldn't need us, do we get any weapons?"
The baron laughed as he waved Claire off.
"Of course child, I'm not going to send you off defenseless, however! I have more than just weapons for you all."
He pulled out a small deck of cards as he began to shuffle them.
"In this world, there are espers, or the more common term for them is psychics. A man who can manipulate the physics of the world to his advantage with only just his mind. You both will have a power that will serve as a baseline for your strength as an esper."
The Baron then pulled out two cards, dealing one to me and then to Claire. He motioned with his hands at the cards.
"See your fate, discover the power that is within yourself."
I flipped over the card, a black and white print of a flame was on the card with the etchings writing out a word: Pyrokinesis.
The baron clapped bombastically and gave a hearty laugh.
"Ahh, pyrokinesis, one that is common amongst espers, but I will not deny it's strength."
He then turned to Claire, from my view I couldn't see what the card said as she flipped it over, but The Baron seemed to become even more excited.
"Incredible! Fate has greatly blessed you, Claire! Chorokinesis! The ability to manipulate space, phenomenal. Anyways, Faust, go in the back and pull out all of the briefcases that contain the letter W."
I checked the trunk as I began pulling out half a dozen suitcases, placing them on the floor of the limousine as I began to open them one by one, a plethora of weapons were revealed to us: Pistols, submachine guns, sawed-off shotguns, shortswords, tri-edge daggers, karambit knives. I noticed that all these weapons were smaller in size, most likely to have a more concealed carry.
The weapons made both of us very tense, as I saw Claire a bit frightened as she was remembering the bad memory we experienced together. Seeing her shake, I moved in a bit close to give a side hug to comfort her. She returned the gesture as we both took a couple of moments and a few deep breaths to acknowledge the situation we were going to enter.
"We're more mature than before Claire, we can handle this, alright?"
She gave a slight nod and released from the hug.
"If this is what we have to do then I guess there's no way to deny or try and get out of it."
I gave a nod as I caressed her hair to give her a bit more comfort before the Baron gave a loud, artificial cough before speaking.
"Feel free to take two weapons of your choice, I suggest a firearm and a melee weapon, a quiet kill can sometimes save you a lot of trouble."
The Baron snickered a bit sadistically at his sentence, I didn't want to trust any of his advice, but we had no other choice and it was pointless not to follow the obvious which he stated. I ended up grabbing a desert eagle and a few clips as I set it to the side of me. Next, I decided to pick a karambit knife, unsheathing it for a moment, the knife had a very nice silver polish to it. I resheathed it as I placed it right next to the desert eagle.
Glancing towards Claire I noticed her look at her card again before picking up a tanto shortsword and a UZI submachine gun. Looking back at the briefcases they came with the respected holsters that'd require to safely equip them. The Baron motioned to the suits that were still within the cases.
"I recommend you begin changing and finding a comfortable place for you to holster all of your weapons."
I shot a gaze at Claire and then the Baron as he gave an exasperated sigh.
"I get it, you don't want me to peek, I'll obstruct my view for you two to change in peace."
He took one of the briefcases as he closed it and held it in front of his face. I glanced at Claire and motioned for her to change first. As to be expected it wasn't the easiest to change in a limousine but after some slow and tedious unclothing, she was able to fully change into the given attire. She sat back down a little flustered from undressing in front of me as she then motioned to my clothes.
"It's your turn, Faust, don't take too long, don't want this guy waiting for us for too long."
I gave a nod as I began to swap into another suit, hitting my head a few times on the car's roof and elbowing the door a few times, I was finally able to change. Sitting back down we tried to find spots to place our weapons. I ended up placing my handgun in one of the upper coat pockets that were on the inside and placed a clip to hold my knife a little above my right pocket. My smaller choice of weapons paid off as I saw Claire struggle to find a spot to place her Tanto. In the end, she had a bandolier that looped around her left shoulder as the blade was concealed towards her backside. This came with one sacrifice, she had to fully unbutton her suit coat. Glancing at this I thought it was a better idea to let it loosely hang as well to prevent any snagging or complications when trying to draw my weapons.
The Baron gave a light nudge as he waved it off.
"Don't worry about the public seeing a bandolier, it won't draw that much suspicion. Only if you bring out these weapons in public or begin flashing them. To be honest, almost everybody has weapons in this world on them, it's just a silent rule though not to reveal them."
He checked his wristwatch as he clasped his hands tightly.
"Our time is almost up, but before then I'd like to each give you a drink to commemorate your unusual opportunity to work for me."
He took out two shot glasses as he brought out two separate drinks. One was a fiery whiskey that he poured into one of the glasses, brown particles flowed in the liquid as he handed the shot to me. As for Claire, he poured a maroon-colored liquor, the color was mesmerizing as it had this marble pattern within the liquid itself.
"Cheers to both of you, I hope this is neither of your first drinks!"
He gave a cheery laugh as he finished the last of his wine. Claire and I looked at one another, knowing that neither of us was seasoned drinkers, we gave a forced smile to one another to ease up the tensions.
"Even if this situation is not what we had planned, we at least have one another to help work through it. Cheers Claire."
She gave a light smile and had a little bit of a blush on her cheeks.
"As long as we are together there is no reason to be afraid of what is to come."
We clinked our glasses together before downing the shots in one swallow. The fiery taste of the drink began to make my hands feel hot, as I looked towards the palms I began to see some embers rise from them. I began to concentrate and close my eyes. I began to visualize the heat coming from my palms as I imagined it slowly fading away. My hands became cooler as I opened my eyes and the embers were no longer there.
Looking over to Claire I noticed that she had no test of concentration with her powers, in fact, she was already testing them. She had the power to make objects float completely still in mid-air. I suppose her first skill was a form of spacial stasis.
The alarm rang on the Baron's watch as he opened a window for us to view. A bright clustered city was right outside our window. Neon lights resonated with all the buildings in different hues of blue, purple, and pink. Normal-looking humans walked on the sidewalks and a few could be seen with cybernetic attachments, predominantly around their eyes and hands. Holograms could be seen on the rooftops of buildings as loud advertisers flashed holographic tablets of flyers. At an angle, we saw levitating cars in lines with floating traffic lights to guide the drivers. The Baron opened the door for us.
"Our time is up, I wish you good luck on this wonderful journey of yours."