[b]A COLLAB POST BETWEEN [i]Matteo DiAngelo[/i] and [i]Malcolm MacTavish[/i][/b]


The streets were uncharacteristically full of chatter and buzz on their way downtown, the sun beaitng down on them, the humidity wrapping around them like a heavy blanket, or so it seemed after their day. Matteo and Malcolm were heading down the street after leaving Malcolm's house. They had had a baseball game earlier that day so both were famished. Sure, a stand can help you play the game but it was still hell standing around in a field in the heat. Matteo pushed his hair out of his face and let out a playful whine.

"I'm so hungry... Where the hell is there to eat for..." he dug into his pockets and grabbed a handful of change and a couple of bills, "Five dollars and eighty-seven cents.".

"No worries man I can cover you this time around. Groping around his own wallet for any money, figuring he might have made an empty promise. Thankful though, he found two 20 dollar bills. Pulling them out showing Matteo with a half-hearted smile. "Well, we can't go anywhere fancy, and we'll probably have to buy items on the cheaper end but hey, it's something. I hear that Chinese restaurant close by has pretty good prices." Searching for the name of it in his mind, Malcolm suddenly hears it in wave of noise all around them. The name kept popping up. Malcolm stopped abruptly; now intently tuning in on the chatter.

"Golden Peking was just robbed." 

"Someone at the Golden Peking was just shot."

"I heard the Kaisers where there"

"Dude I saw a girl appear outta a ball of light." 

The last comment caught Malcolm's attention. He shot around, turning to Matteo. "I think we should go there but not for food. Everyone's talking about something crazy going down." Affirming his suspicions Malcolm heard faint sirens of police cars.  

Matteo cocked an eyebrow at his friend and and smirked ever so slightly at the urgency in his voice. Of course this buzz wasn't for nothing, but he didn't think Malcolm of all people would be the one wanting to get them involved with it. 

"I mean if you insist, but I still think we should see if we can get food. You can't eat mysteries and intrigue, you know." He knew the way there though, so he picked up the pace some and started to lead the way, weaving through the crowd as he did. The gossip was hard to ignore, and the general concensus seemed to be that the Golden Peking was a place to avoid. Rules be damned, Matteo supposed. If it meant something interesting happening in this town and they were going to get involved then he would bust through any barrier to get there, even if that was a mob of people gossiping like high school girls.

The Golden Peking was coming into sight, and it had seen better days for sure. Matteo slowed himself down slightly and felt something amiss in the area. He stopped for a second and turned to Malcolm, looking up just a bit to match his friends eyes.

"If things this weird have actually been happening, do you think we should get our shadows out? Just in case."

Taking a breath of the thick, dry air Malcolm contemplates the question, "Well I was thinking we can see other peoples shadows, meaning they can see ours. We can show them to the world but that might be a beacon to well," Malcolm takes a beat to try to think of the right word "unfavorable people. I say we only whip them out if we see other people's shadows out, or if we see them doing other types of weird shenanigans. For all we know other people's shadow's might be able to hide or be the size of an ant or something." 

Malcolm was starting to get giddy which is dissimilar to his typical behavior. He's much more laid back and relaxed, only getting passionate about superheroes, music and baseball really. This sudden and very real prospect of other people having abilities excites him to no end.  Unbeknownst to Malcolm his subconscious has plastered a smile onto his face. 

This is all stripped away when they get closer to Golden Peking. Without needing much inspecting Malcolm notices the dead bodies litter in front of the restaurant. Never having seen a dead body (let alone multiple) the image of them were seared permanently into Malcolm's memories. "Oh shit."

All that talk about people possibly seeing their "shadows" was getting to him. Would they finally get to engage in more than a fleeting moment with someone with a similar power to theirs? It was exciting to say the least, but the childlike excitement was thrown off at the sight out front of the Golden Peking. He'd seen some grisly sights before but this one was just odd, how had it happened? He tried to shake it from his mind and simply continue on their destination. Hopefully this was everything they had hoped for. He saw a girl exit the restaurant and decided that maybe entering wasn't the best idea, but if they wanted answers then they'd have to get them somehow. He threw open the door and looked around at the almost empty venue, realizing it might be a little tactless to just walk in here after what was apparently a murder.

"Pardon me? Is there anyway anyone could tell me something about what ever the hell happened out there?" Yup, tactless.