Canon Fodder

CHAPTER 272 BANGKOK

“Who are you?” I asked, my eyes wide. The blonde woman was wearing a gown that sparkled like diamonds. 

“Who are you?!” She yelled. Fear in her voice I didn’t see this going anywhere. Huddled together on a fire escape the traffic below us was convoluted. Horns blaring I didn’t know where the hell we were or honestly who I was. 

“There they are!” A voice yelled from above. The woman and I looked up to see a man leaning over the roof. He pulled a handgun out and pointed it down at us. 

“Let’s go!” The woman and I said as one. She began running down the fire escape as bullets were fired down at us. More men showed up and began firing as I followed behind her. The gunfire ceased as one of the men jumped down and began chasing after us. 

We got to the ladder at the bottom. Pulling hard at it the strange woman couldn’t get it to drop down. I grabbed on and with a simple push it dropped down. “Thanks,” she mumbled as she began moving down the rungs. I followed as the first bad guy got to the landing just above us. Moving down as fast as I could, more gunfire sounded from above. Cursing, I jumped the 15 feet down. Landing easily I wasn’t sure what the hell was going on as men yelled at us from down the alley. 

“Come on,” I said, grabbing her hand. Pulling her along she yelped but didn’t fight me. 

“Why am I wearing a ball gown?!” She yelled, her legs struggling to move in the dress. She grabbed the side of the long bottom and ripped it apart so she had a wider stride. 

“No fucking idea,” I said. “I’m more worried about these guys,” I said pointing at more men coming at us from this end of the alley as well. Kicking in a door with ease the woman followed me as we pushed through packed together tables of a diner. Patrons cursed at us but I pushed through, uncaring as men began to yell behind us.

“Where are we going?!” She yelled as we ran out the door. One of the men that had ran in the alley came up to us pointing a weapon. My body acted on instinct, moving to the side as he fired a bullet I pushed the weapon away as I kicked his feet out from under him. His body twisting his head landed hard against the concrete sidewalk. 

“No clue!” I yelled back. “Just run!” I said unsure how I had moved so fast. She didn’t need to be told twice. A large crowd of people ahead we ran into them. Pushing our way through as men continued to chase after us. 

The woman’s high heel shoe broke and she tripped. Without hesitating I picked her up and threw her on my back. She didn’t complain as she latched on in a piggyback ride. I moved us through the crowd but then noticed men breathing heavily in front of us. Twisting to the side I ran into the street. My powerful legs jumped up to the roof of a car easily. It was moving slowly in the traffic so I jumped to the roof of another. 

“Keep going!” The woman yelled from my back. I nodded and continued jumping from roof to roof until I was on the other side of the street. More horns blared as the men tried to cross but I kept running. Unsure how I was so strong I made my stride longer and ran on the balls of my feet, gaining speed. 

Another crowd ahead I jumped to the roof of a parked car and began running along a line of them until we were passed the large group. Moving to the sidewalk again the woman whispered, “That way.” Pointing I followed her lead. Jumping around people to cars to kicking over men on scooters I followed her directions until she ordered, “In there.” Nodding, I kicked the door in and we found ourselves in a closed business. 

Dust on blanket covered objects she slid off my back as I breathed in and out. “How the hell did you move so fast?” She asked. 

“I’m as lost as you, lady. I don’t even remember who I am,” I said. Looking her up and down she was quite a beautiful woman. Her gown showed no cleavage but her eyes sparkled as if she was excited by all this. “Do you?”

“I…think so?” She asked. Her eyelids closed together hard as if she was thinking. “Mary, maybe?” She asked. 

I tried to think back as well. Trying to remember anything about who I was. “I’m um William?” I asked. 

“Okay, nice to meet you Will,” she said. “Thanks for…whatever you did back there.”

“Uh yeah, I’m not sure how I did all that either,” I said. “What’s the last thing you remember?” 

“Nothing,” she said after a moment. “I know we are…somewhere. And quirks are a thing.”

“Right, quirks,” I said. “Maybe I have a strong body because of a quirk I have.” 

“That makes sense,” she said, nodding. “Do I have one?” 

“You could. How do you use it?” I asked. 

“It’s supposed to just happen,” she said looking at her hands. “Fuck! What happened to us?” 

“We need to stop asking that,” I said, rolling my eyes. “I’m guessing you’re like my wife or something.”

“Wife?” She asked, confused. “You’re a little young to be my husband.” I frowned at her. Moving to a window I looked at my reflection. I had unruly black hair, a chiseled jaw, and was about 20 years younger than I expected. 

“Why am I so young?” I asked. “I should be older.” 

“You should?” She asked, stepping up as she looked at her reflection too. “Why am I blonde?” 

“Why am in a suit?” I asked, looking down to my body. Feeling around I went into my pockets. Digging around I found a stack of money I didn’t recognize. “What the hell.” 

“That’s the Thai Baht,” Mary said, grabbing the stack of money. “It’s used in Thailand.” 

“Okay yeah, I think I’ve seen a movie about that place,” I said looking out the window. “Isn’t it supposed to be mostly like farmland?” 

“This is Bangkok,” she said in amazement. 

“How can you tell?” 

“I don’t know, I just know,” she said. 

“Fuck, we were Hangovered,” I said as a memory came to me. 

“What?” She asked, confused. 

“Hangovered, in Bangkok…the second one,” I said. “How do you not know this? A group of guys go to Bangkok and lose their memories. Then they spend the whole movie trying to figure out what happened.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she said.

“Seriously? It was kind of a good movie,” I said. She shrugged and tried to find something on her person, but her gown had no pockets. Frowning I dug through more of my pockets but there was nothing. 

“What should we do?” She asked nervously. 

“Honestly we should try to grab one of those guys that were chasing us,” I said. 

“They have guns,” she said. 

“I don’t know, I feel pretty strong,” I said, flexing my muscles. As I did the sleeve of my jacket ripped from the simple flex. “Fuck,” I said taking the jacket off. 

“Dang, you are strong,” she said, her eyes wide as I revealed the white shirt underneath. The white shirt was ripped as well. Unbuttoning it I found I was wearing a muscle shirt underneath. My muscles were way bigger than I felt they should be. Lifting up my shirt I revealed six-pack abs. 

“Maybe you are my husband,” Mary said, stepping up. Touching my abs I chuckled. Looking up at her we locked eyes for a moment. Some tension between us she turned away as she blushed. I smiled wide and threw the jacket at her. 

“Wear this,” I said. “Little less conspicuous than your ball gown.” She nodded while putting it on. The wide black jacket wrapped around her shoulders she was still blushing. Then her face turned to the right. 

“Hey,” she said, digging into the pocket of the jacket. “A keycard.” She pulled out a small keycard that read, ‘Skyview Hotel.’ “A clue.” 

“Great job there, Velma,” I said. “Let’s get a cab and have them take us.” I looked out the large glass window to see more than a few. “Can you speak Taiwanese?” 

“It’s Thai,” she corrected. “And no.”

“Fuck, think they’ll know English?” 

“You know English?” Mary asked. 

“We are speaking English,” I said slowly. 

“No, we are speaking Japanese,” she said angrily. 

“No we aren’t,” I said quickly. 

“Yes, we most certainly are,” she said.

“How is your name Mary if we aren’t speaking English?” I asked. 

She frowned. “I don’t know. It sounded right, but now I’m not sure.” She had a worried look on her face. I decided to stop questioning her. 

“Fuck, my mind is all messed up,” I said. “Speaking languages I don’t even know.”

“Well let’s go,” she said, grabbing the money. We walked out and she hailed one of the less murderer looking taxis. 

“Where to?” The man asked in perfect English. 

“Skyview hotel,” I said. He nodded and headed into traffic.  

“I’m surprised he knew Japanese,” Mary said. 

“No, we spoke English,” I said.

“You most certainly did not, I know some English,” she said. 

“Whatever,” I said growing worried why my mind was playing tricks on me. “Let’s just get there and figure it out.” She quieted and we sat back in the seat. Traffic all around us I had no idea what was going on. Where we were, who I was, nothing. I was getting worried that I could be stuck this way. 

“It’s okay,” Mary said, putting her hand on my bouncing knee. I looked up into her eyes. 

“You think?” I asked, chewing on my lip. 

“I’m sure,” she said leaning into me a little. I sighed, leaning back I put my arm over her shoulder. She didn’t fight it, moving into me more she rested her head on my chest. I could smell lilacs from her perfume as she relaxed into me more. The sounds of traffic dimmed a little as I pulled her closer. It almost felt natural to have her leaning into me. 

Her breathing quieted and it wasn’t long until she was asleep. I wanted to join her, but in an unfamiliar place I wasn’t sure how safe it was. Letting her rest I stroked her hair as my eyes scanned everywhere. 

—

We got to a more luxurious part of town. The traffic was just as bad but we eventually got to the hotel. “Time to go,” I whispered. Mary jerked awake. Looking around she noticed me and sighed a little. 

“How long was I out?” 

“A half hour,” I said. “Come on, pay the man.” She nodded and pulled some money from the inner pocket. I stepped out of the cab and opened her door. She smiled up at me, taking my hand as we walked up the steps to the hotel. The place was rather busy. Many tourists, they wore a range of Hawaiian shirts to suits and ties. We walked up to a receptionist and slammed the keycard on the counter. 

“We seem to have forgotten our room number, can you tell us which room is ours?” Mary asked. 

“Of course,” the young girl said. Swiping the card she typed into her computer. “Mr. and Mrs. Ishio, correct?” The receptionist asked. 

“Uh yes,” Mary said. “Which room is ours exactly?” 

“Room 801,” she said, handing the keycard back. 

“Thank you,” Mary said, taking it. We eyed one another and headed off to the elevator. 

“Told you we were married,” I said with a wide smile. 

“Maybe you’re right,” she said. “Maybe this is our honeymoon.”

“Honeymoon? In Bangkok?” 

“It can be a very beautiful city,” she said. 

“Been here a lot?” 

“I think so. This place feels familiar,” she admitted as we got into the elevator. 

“If you say so,” I said. “What the hell were we doing out in the slums? Shouldn’t we be like fucking all the time in our room?” 

Mary blushed deeply. “God you’re crass. I can’t believe I married a guy like you.” 

“I’m sure my body makes up for whatever deficiencies my personality has,” I said with a laugh. 

“I bet,” she said as the door dinged. Getting off the elevator we followed signs until we were at room 801. Walking into the room, it was much larger than I expected. A suite, there was a small kitchen to the side and a sitting room. Mary and I walked in and began searching the place. Mary headed to a room but I noticed another room opposite. Walking in I found men’s clothes splayed on the bed. 

Digging through a suitcase I found a passport and more IDs. All the IDs had my face on them, but different names. 

“Shin Togota,” I said as I walked into the main sitting room. “Or Weston Watanabe?”

“What?” Mary asked from the other bedroom. 

“One of those 2 is my real name,” I said. “I think it’s Weston. That sounds right.” I read the name over and over. “Where the hell did Watanabe come from though,” I mumbled. 

“I think I’m a hero,” Mary said, coming out of her room. She presented me a card that said, ‘Hero License.’ Next to it was a picture of her with long black hair and the name Midnight.

“Midnight? But you’re blonde,” I said. She grabbed her hair and pulled it down to reveal she was actually wearing a wig. “What the hell?” 

“I think we might be like super hero spies or something,” she said quickly. I looked through the wallet more until I found my own Hero License. 

“I have a Provisional Hero License,” I said. “What the hell does Provisional mean?” 

“Temporary,” she said. “Maybe you’re like an outside contractor or something.”

“Who knows, still doesn’t explain what we are doing here,” I said, throwing the IDs to the coffee table. “I’m either a 16 year old kid, or a 24 year old man.”

“You look more 24,” she said sitting down next to me on the couch. 

“Thanks,” I said, my hands going to my head. “What now, Midnight?” 

“I don’t know,” she said, yawning. “I feel better after my nap. But I keep getting so tired.” I yawned as well. 

“Fuck,” I said shaking my head as I tried to stay awake. “So sleepy all of a sudden.” 

Midnight nodded. “Let’s just go to bed, husband,” she said tiredly. I nodded, grabbing her hand we walked into her room. Laying down on the bed she cuddled up to me and before I knew it I was out.