Setting
It was loud. Incredibly loud. At least, it sounded so, from outside the new building which was being used at the moment. I wanted to go in there so badly right now. Apparently, a new guy had stepped in. Some guy with a fancy name; they say he looks just like a twig, twice as breakable. I hid a small grin at that. Really, they just don't get it, do they?
I'd caught a glimpse of him earlier, trying to enter the building.
"I'm here for my fight tonight."
"Your tiny ass?"
"Faster than your lard ass. Shut up and move."
"Fuck you, fairy. You aint fightin' ..."
And then he teleported right in, in a puff of smoke. I had to stop myself from smiling. I stopped when I'd caught the bouncer glaring at me. Didn't want myself to lose control, not at this time.
Wonder what happened to that girl, I mused. The petite boxer girl -the Champion of Musspell, as everyone knew her- who usually came in around this time was gone. I didn't think she'd drop out after I'd seen her tackle a bear-sized man to the ground in like, 5 seconds flat.
And there she was, storming in like she owned the place. She sort of did, actually. I snuck in after her to watch the fight, placing several notes in the bouncer's hand, keeping my head down. I lost track of where she went and made my way, keeping low, straight for the edge of the ring, to get up close.
'Illusion' and 'Payn' were fighting it out, a long and painful brawl. Well, you couldn't really classify it as a fight. It was more like a game between a cat and a mouse, except the mouse was better. I watched carefully, recording and predicting every action and reaction. It was interesting. I could handle watching this kind of play fight, at least, before someone died. There's a difference between watching people kill others in real life, with intent and purpose, and watching a small meaningless fight in a crowded room.
"Food... okay. But your treat. To make it up to me." She glared, but there wasn't any real venom in it.
Before they could leave, another man approached. He was tall, well built, and unassuming. But his perfectly-styled blonde hair said he took a certain pride in his appearance. The polar opposite of Dante's careless good looks. I'm popular tonight, considering I didn't even knock anyone out.
"Adara Vitalos, right? The name's Hugh Baselard. I know you're busy, so I'll cut to the chase- I have a business proposition for you. I think you'll find that it's tailored to your, erm, "talents" to a t," the man said. This conversation was getting tedious already; Adara just wanted to hit something.
But. Baselard was offering a job ... and a job meant money. Can never have enough of that. She thought longingly of the punching bag back at her apartment, but it might be worth it to see what he had to say. He held out a hand for her to shake. Interesting. Not many people in Muspell bothered with niceties these days.
She gripped his hand, hating that she had to look up so far to meet Baselard's eyes. "I don't have the patience to stand around here any longer. Dante here just offered to treat me to dinner. I'm sure he won't mind one more." She eyed Dante, daring him to contradict her.
I managed to escape the bottleneck, leaving the room slightly earlier than everyone else. But as soon as I stepped out, someone pushed me from behind, a sudden movement that made me barrel roll across the ground. Someone's drink spilled onto my back. I sprang back up, a string of curses rolling off my tongue. However, it had to be cut short, because some idiot kicked this random guy out, sending him slamming into me and causing the both of us to fall back onto the ground.
"Where'sm' money, you sunuhvabetch?" the other man slurred. He was huge, just a bit smaller than Payn himself. He looked more like a blob of fats, though, bouncing towards the unlucky guy in front of me. Oh no. I swear, I could feel that fragile strand of patience and calmness tightening, deep down in my gut.
I shoved the other guy off, kicking him in the ass. "I'll deal with you later. What the fuck is your problem, you overused cunt?" I directed the question at Mr Bloboffat (that's his name from now on). He held a bottle of what smelled like beer. Really strong beer. He was alone, but somehow he still managed to block the entire exit. The noise coming from inside the building grew louder; people were getting impatient.
Bloboffat laughed, his jowls giggling. I resisted the urge to stick a knife in him. Calm down, I thought to myself.
No fucking chance, my other self growled. (NO don't damn it!) I could feel the energy sparking from behind my eyes, like a shock of electricity.
"Shaddup ye liddel bietch," he mumbled. He threw the bottle. I dodged. In that same instant, my instincts kicked in and... I let go.
BZZZT.
The sensation of feeling the wave of energy passing through something, leaving your body, gives you chills. Goosebumps. It's icy cold and bites your nerves like dry ice. But the effect it had on my eyes was refreshing, to say the least. It probably wasn't the same for Bloboffat, though.
He fell to the ground like a rock, spasming and drooling. Sparks of energy flew off him. His skin gave off steam and I could smell the faint scent of burnt flesh. I leaned back against the wall and watched as people streamed out, trying to calm my nerves.
You don't have much of a tolerance level when you're a psychopath. Occupational hazard.
He decided to head towards the arena a good start as any maybe there would be some local skill there the fights were over but many people often stuck around. Soon after wading through the alleys he knew so well he was at the entrance. The bouncer was turning people away but when he saw the local gang leader he let him pass shadow following close behind. He weaved through the crowd before stopping at climbing to a small stair case to get a view of the crowd.
Looking out on the crowd he saw a group forming and saw Adara standing over the fallen man. He thought she looked familiar then he remember seeing her in the fights. Then he proceed to scan the crowd.
"Let's test the waters a bit..." Hugh pondered, cracking his knuckles.
He casually spun out of Dante's hold, surveying the immediate perimeter. Though it appeared that the big boss had fallen to a rather nasty groin-punch, one of his cohorts was attempting to get the drop on her from behind. Though not near as trained as Adara's most recent victim, this one was concealing a knife, poised to plunge it into Adara's unsuspecting back.
Hugh briskly walked in the direction of Adara, abruptly abouting face just as he passed the assailant. Catching him off-guard, Hugh was able to land a resounding haymaker to the mans jaw. The crowd roared at this new development, completely drowning out the dissaproving groan from the mystery attacker.
Upon decking the mobster, Hugh took his position at Adara's 6 o'clock, facing opposite of her.
"I'm guessing that these weren't the only two thugs," Hugh observed, "Looks like we'll be working together sooner than we thought."
After he weaved through the crowd leaning against the wall next to her. He was a good 2 inches shorter than her and seemed very intimidating next to her or anyone for that matter. "Good evening Miss, I am Zeban Hawk." He said in a low voice looking around but not making eye contact. "I'll make this brief I require some assistance on a job if your interested we can discuss the details over dinner." He said calmly. He looked over to see shadow emerge from the sea of feet as the dog sat next to where Zeb was standing his ears perked and eyes alert. Then Zeban now feeling safe turned his gaze back to Scarlett leaving Shadow to alert him of any trouble.
Opening his eyes he watched as the black and white dog scampered off into the crowd. "Follow me if your interested" He said slight smirk, Before setting off into the crowd. He weaved through the crowd heading toward the exit.He looked ahead to catch a glimpse of black and white about 300 yards ahead weaving through the crowd.
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