Contra's Story

Where the hell was-oh shit.

Rayan had what could be referred to as a seventh sense for shit about to hit the fan. The guy he was supposed to meet hadn't showed up yet, so he figured he was waiting upstairs. It was literally never these people were late. He just hoped he wouldn't have to pay for the lost time himself. No sooner had he clomped a combat boot down on the upper decks when a congregation formed not too far off, and ooooh was it hostile.

He recognized two of the group. Local troublemakers. It seemed they had taken up with some other ruffians and were now bothering a he could not believe his eyes. Pointed ears. Blue skin. Rayan didn't give a shit but he knew a lot of folks around here did.

Trying to be nonchalant in his flashy leather jacket, Rayan slid through the crowd. A white cat followed him with her eyes from where she perched in the shadows, atop the head of a statue of a dragon. Rayan arrived just in time as another had caught on to what was going on, and had pretty much the same idea.

"This ain't your turf, scrub," Rayan growled down the neck of Dumbass Number One, cracking his knuckles.

The dumbass grunt held his head in pain briefly as he was taken aback from the blow. As he stumbled back he found himself backed against another gentleman, growling down his neck. The grunt was quick to turn around defensively to see what was giving off such an ominous aura as the other male told the others to back off with a threat. But since he was a dumbass...

"Hah! You think you guys can just get yaself involved in our business? You don't know who you're messing with!" He spat with bawled fists, ready to fight the two men.

However the smarter one of the group recognised these two. They both had a reputation, especially amongst the group he followed under. His brow furrowed in annoyance, knowing they could not win this battle.
Grabbing holding the the cocky grunt's shirt, he tugged him back. "Shut your uneducated mouth and think for once. These guys... We're aren't prepared for this kind of fight."

"The fuck do you mean?! I'm always ready!" The other two men who were more alien than human sighed as they could sense the smarter one's annoyance and see his patience slowly slipping away.

"Let's go." He replied bluntly, glaring at the idiot before ushering the two aliens two drag him away. But this guy. Was far too persistent.

"I'll show you who you're dealing with!!" He exclaimed, completely ignoring his orders and charged straight for Rayan with a knife on hand. At this point the others were both shocked and lost hope on the man.

Before the aliens could step in to help, he stopped them with an out stretched arm. "He's not worth it." And with that said, he turned around and left, heading back to find their leader. The other two following behind as the idiot grunt was left blinded by his own rage.

Riska was alarmed at this point still. Ready to put up a fight. She knew she couldn't use her voice here as it would hinder a lot more people than wanted. However despite the two gentlemen here to, potentially help her. She couldn't trust them. They might be part of another organisation with similar intentions. She just could not tell. This made her skittish as he crimson eyes darted around from person to person. She felt exposed without her helmet. Perhaps wanting freedom to explore outside her home was a bad idea after all.

Kaden was suddenly focused, his unnaturally blue eyes honed in on the thug charging towards Rayan with a knife. Almost immediately he withdrew his handgun from his holster and raised his arm as his fingers tightened around the grip. To others, it would be an immediate, almost reflexively quick action, but to Kaden the whole thing might as well have been in slow motion.

So many variables were taken into account. The speed and arc of his arm raise, the angle of his aim, the exact position of the hostile's individual body parts as well as the speed of his movement... Where his knife was, where his knife was going to be in the exact amount of time it would take Kaden to squeeze the trigger and send a bullet flying towards it faster than the eye could perceive. The slightest breeze and how it could push an in-flight projectile a minute and inconsequential distance. It all played out in his head before he had time to blink, then it played out in reality.

He aimed, then pulled the trigger almost as fast as one could think, the bullet blasting out with unnatural precision with the goal of hitting the thug's knife and knocking it right out of his hand. Of course, nothing was ever completely guaranteed... But Kaden had probably already taken that into account.

Rayan folded his arms as the lesser thugs made their departure- but was admittedly taken by surprise as one of them drew a knife at him. Small time shit, but in a crowd like this? The white cat hopped down from the dragon head on to the back of an oversized blue crystal unicorn.

He didn't catch the other guy draw and fire his gun, but Rayan did drop to the ground and shoot out a solid kick at the guy, with enough force to break a kneecap. The Fuck?!

The gun fire made Riska instinctively cover her ears, as everything began to unfold before her. Things were happening so quickly; her attention mainly on the grunt as she watched him with the knife. Not for long though as it was somehow shot from his hand, causing the man to lose a finger in the process. Blood. Then a loud cry of agony as the dumbass was now falling to the ground, unfortunately towards Riska herself.

In a bit of a hasty panic she quickly shot a punch, connecting with the guy's jaw to avoid him falling anywhere near her. This guy was a human punching bag at this point, flung in multiple directions from attacks at different angles.

Riska took a step back as the grunt groaned and yelped in pain, attempting to hold his now broken kneecap and bleeding hand. Her eyes darted towards the other two gentlemen. Not entirely sure what should be said? "Sorry." Was all she managed to say at that moment. Feeling like all this trouble was due to herself. It was quite frustrating. Freedom being restricted due to cases like these. She's was beginning to understand her peoples customs a bit better now.

The exchange seemed to be over, the thug a broken and bloody mess almost as soon as soon as he had tried to attack. Now there were other problems to deal with, and Kaden looked around at commotion they had caused in the crowd behind them. There were quite a few people wondering what had just happened and a few more whose shocked screams would no doubt bring even more trouble from the local law or anyone who fancied themselves a hunter.

Kaden's gun was quickly holstered and he covered it with his cloak. The smart thing to do now would be to disappear into the crowd and take the next shuttle off world, but the thought of doing so seemed ignominious. While the other figure who came to the blue woman's aid seemed able to handle his or herself, the woman herself seemed far more vulnerable. Could she fight? Certainly, but if Kaden and Rayan hadn't shown up to aid her who knows what would have happened?

"We need to leave now."

Kaden's harsh whisper was meant to shock them into action, while not being overheard by those nearby. He urged them both to follow with a hand gesture, then turned and began to maneuver himself through the crowd and away from the situation.

A woman cried out in unnecessary anguish as someone in the crowd elbowed her aside in the fray, on which note all hell broke loose. Rayan scrambled up to their feet cursing about blood on their new leather. They shook the ringing from the gunshot out of their ear and gave a nod to Riska. They didn't have time for Rayan to properly shirk off a thank you as the crowd really started to churn.

Rayan stuck a cold hand out for Riska to grab before starting after Kaden.

Scream of a woman brought Riska back to reality. As if all the sounds, sights and smells around her weren't on pause anymore. Adrenaline kicking in as she looked to Kaden, urging them to leave, he began maneuvering through the crowd. An outstretched hand caught her attention from the corner of her eye as she turned to Rayan and gripped his hand tightly like a lifeline without hesitation. She didn't have a choice right now. And she had to admit, he was quite pretty; yet handsome at the same time? Would it be rude to assume he was a he? Well, she'd surely be corrected later, not that gender bothered her. The other gentleman had more masculine features; he had the look to him that showed he could handle himself well and had possibly been through some shit. An attractive male as well. But these were thoughts she'd possibly consider when she didn't feel like he life was being threatened despite the situation probably not being as bad as she thought.

Brow furrowed, crimson orbs alert and darting around cautiously as she followed the two through the crowds. She didn't look back. She just wanted to get the hell out of here. And apologise as well as thank the two properly later.

Where should they go? Kaden was leading, but he had no real destination in mind. He hadn't been on Port Kanderdam more than a few hours and had no idea where they could safely take shelter. The local law enforcement office? Even if the Philosopher King miraculously stayed blind to the fact Kaden was in such a place, he would bet a finger that either the biker or the blue woman had some sort of criminal charge on them. Perhaps a small, sleazy bar? Almost certainly connected to criminal gangs, but perhaps they could find one that wasn't connected to the thugs they just had a run-in with.

It was risky, but it would give them a place to lay low long enough to think of a better solution if no-one in it would turn them in for cash, and such places tended to have shoddy and broken surveillance equipment. In fact...

Kaden led them into a quiet street, around a corner from any prying eyes. He then turned to Rayan, his eyes reading. "We need to find a place to lay low for a while. Something tells me you might know of a place?"

Rayan nodded once and popped the leather collar of his jacket up, "Yeah I know a spot. Turf, so it's cool." He peered around the corner to check to see if they were being followed. So far so good. He didn't notice the glimmer of white as it assembled into the form of a cat high on a building edge above, nor did he notice the cat disappear once their destination was set.

"S'Called Saphira's Speakeasy, it's right up on Besteden," This time Rayan flashed Riska a grin, "You'll slip under the radar fersure."

Riska had no idea where the two were leading her, and the more off road it felt, the more on edge she became. Her red hues darting from Rayan to Kaden, constantly looking back and forth, at all directions. Riska still felt exposed and couldn't shake the anxious feeling that someone was about to jump them at any moment. The idea of trusting complete strangers was something that never came to mind before venturing to this place.

The female thought she saw a glimmer of white; squinting for a moment until the male she held onto spoke. Her lips pursed together, bottom lip tucking in slightly as she was a bit taken aback by the man's confidence shown by that grin. He knew what he was doing. They both seemed to, and Riska couldn't help but envy that. She simply gave him an attempted confident nod in return as they finally arrived at what she hoped to be a safe place to catch her breath from the previous events.

"Can you lead us there? I don't know enough about this place," Kaden asked while peering around cautiously. He was still a little on edge, but perhaps it was best to be. He could tell that Riska was too, though he couldn't get quite as good a read on Rayan to tell either way. Still, the adrenaline would help their reaction time and a little fear would keep them alive.

Should they set off, Kaden would follow them and maintain a position at the rear. It was the most dangerous position, but with Rayan needing to lead from the front it was also the best for him to take. "Hopefully no-one cares enough about that thug to come after us," he said to the two of them, his attempt at reassurance. "And plus, his allies didn't seem to want to attack us with just themselves there. If they do come after us again, I don't think it will be yet."

Of course, when and if they eventually did, it would be a much more difficult fight to deal with.

The city was busy enough with tourists and people going about their business that not many noticed the odd trio. Foreigners overloaded with shopping bags heading to and fro, cars zipping up and along, taxis honking, every now and then a blacked out limo. Rayan paused outside of a building with floor to ceiling glass, sapphire blue, unable to be seen through. He jerked his head at the others and ducked inside.

Riska almost forgot to take notice of where she was going one they reached Besteden Boulevard. She stared at the sights around her in awe. Amazed by so many people bustling about; all the new and strange smells. She felt an odd feeling in her stomach, was this excitement? The fact they were trying to find somewhere safe to settle down almost slipped her mind until they reached a magnificent glass building, sapphire blue in colour. Riska found it beautiful. To others it might be the norm, but to someone who used to dwell in the mountains, this was a lot to take it.

Her eyes darted back to Rayan as he signaled them to enter the building. Riska gave him a nod and followed closely behind, look back to make sure Kaden was following too and no one else.

Kaden kept quiet as he followed the two, his concentration instead on the possibility of an ambush. It was unlikely, but there was still a chance - and Kaden needed to make sure he was ready. On top of that he had little to say to either Rayan or Riska. He had gotten involved because of a sense of duty, but other than their predicament he knew nothing about either of them. It was probably safer if none of them talked about themselves - especially for them.

When they finally stopped at the sapphire building, he took one last look around and then followed the two of them inside.

The thirteenth hour struck, and the spirit of chaos stepped out into the crowded street. Discord wore the mask of an older man with slick grey hair and a sharp goatee. He crookened the polka dotted tie that hung from his mismatched tweed jacket and tippity-tapped the sidewalk with his decorative cane. A mischievous glint sparkled in his yellow slitted eyes, but it was tempered with a dastardly cunning that could cut glass.

“It’s been pretty boring here recently. How about we… shake things up a bit…”

Discord kicked a pebble with his shiny leather shoe. It flew into the crowd, bounced off a big-wig executive’s briefcase, and rolled into traffic. A car hit the pebble, ricocheting it into a windshield. Though it caused no damage to the glass, the driver was distracted for the split second required for him to rear end another vehicle in front of him. The other driver, in a panic, swerved into a light pole.

The light pole teetered, rusty bolts finally giving way in the collision, and fell like a metallic tree across the intersection. Cars skid and dodged the fallen pole, smashing into other vehicles. Drivers shouted obscenities and horns blared. A few jumped from their cars and strutted about each other like featherless roosters aching for a fight.

“Ahh…” Discord inhaled deeply through his nose. “That’s more like it. A paltry appetizer, though. There’s far more work that needs doing.”

Contra watched the chaos unfold from the rooftop. The white cat raised itself to a crouch and darted along the edge of the roof, hopping too far a distance over to the next building and settled on the cornerstone. Mid hop the white cat fizzled into stardust, to those paying close enough attention as below someone swerved into a light pole.

The white cat assembled itself in a high sit and watched as the pole fell with drama. It tangled the intersection in further chaos while Contra searched about for the cause of all of this. Contra's tail flicked. Someone rear-ended someone- but why? How? Traffic was moving so smoothly as it had a tendency to do where people were spending money. It seemed like sabotage. The white cat scanned the crowd for someone that was off.

Discord strutted down the street and hummed a merry tune. He pulled a coin out of his suit jacket, flicked it once, and tossed it behind him where it was found by some passerby. It was not an ordinary coin though - far from it - but a rare collector’s item pulled from space-time out of a bygone era. No doubt it would fetch a hefty price to the right person and make someone a small fortune, but Discord had no idea if it would make it that far. For all he knew, it would wind up being spent in a vending machine or wind up behind someone’s couch cushion for the next twenty years.

But that was half the fun in his book.

He stopped in front of a clothing store and admired the line of men’s jackets on display. Discord stood so that it appeared his hazy reflection would be wearing one of the pieces, and he smirked.

“Not bad, not bad. It could use a little more color… Maybe some non-euclidean angles.”

“I don’t know…” His reflection replied. “It’s a little tight around the waist.”

“Hey, are you saying I’m fat?!”

“Of course not.” Mirror-Discord rolled his eyes. “Just that we should probably lay off the chocolate milkshakes for a bit. Try a new gimmick.”

“Well what would you suggest? The ambient magic here isn’t high enough for too radical conjuration. I have to work with what I have for now.”

“Puh-lease. We’re in a written medium! The possibilities are only limited to what can be described on a page, just as long as we don’t tweak too many noses with our shenanigans. We need to do something new… something we didn’t do back home… but what?”

“Hmm…” Discord stroked his goatee.

Meanwhile, a small crowd had gathered around the lunatic that was seemingly arguing with a mannequin. The morbidly curious watched with disturbed fascination while those with more sense gave him a wide berth.