"Well, I don't like causing permanent injury, then I can't injure them more!" Mo exclaimed.
((Got room for another?))
A young boy stumbled through a dark alley. He was out of breath and clutching his bleeding arm. He splashed through a puddle as he ran down the alley. Then his attackers splashed their ways through the puddle as well. It sloped all over their olive green boots. The boy ran and ran until he finally tripped in a fork in the alleys. He winced in pain as he looked up at his attackers as they drew closer.
"There he is.. Thats the Harrison boy, one said stepping into the light. He was wearing a mask with piercing red goggles on top of the olive uniform. He was their leader.
"Records show this boy was adopted." Another said, but Danny wasn't worried about them knowing everything about him or how, he was worried about the guns they were carrying that were gleaming black in the dim back alley light.
"His blood isn't the same as the parents, he continued. The other scoffed,
"Then he's no used to us, and he's seen enough, the leader said leveling his gun to point at Danny.
"Mo, Donny's?" Bin said, a little perturbed that his stomach was still feeling hunger pangs.
"Ah! I almost forgot!" she said, turning to head towards the local Donny's, but stopping to face the others, "You guys comin? Old man Bigsby is usually too stoned to charge us any money."
Tyler finished his sample plate. The meat felt good in his stomach even if the taste wasn't the best. Grabbing the the trash for the Conly's, Tyler headed out to the alley garbage cans.
[ QUOTE ]
"There he is.. Thats the Harrison boy, one said stepping into the light. He was wearing a mask with piercing red goggles on top of the olive uniform. He was their leader.
"Records show this boy was adopted." Another said, but Danny wasn't worried about them knowing everything about him or how, he was worried about the guns they were carrying that were gleaming black in the dim back alley light.
"His blood isn't the same as the parents, he continued. The other scoffed,
"Then he's no use to us, and he's seen enough, the leader said leveling his gun to point at Danny.
[/ QUOTE ]
Tyler usaully didn't get involved too much in Edge politics but this boy was being run down by a gang. Tyler hated gangs. Tyler hated gangs more then starving. Tyler hated gangs more then Tyler hated anything.
Grabbing the trash can Tyler chucked it and the apparent gang leader. Tyler smiled as the can wrapped itself around the gang leader. One less ganger on the streets of the edge. Tyler grabbed the second can and hucked it at the other gang member who was in the light. Tyler winced as the can flew over the gangers head and a car alarm sounded in the background. Oh well, one less ganger car on the streets of the Edge.
"Mess with the boy and I'll find your families, and make them wish they woulda aborted you when they had the chance!!" Tyler yelled at the remaining gang members. Just to emphasize his point Tyler stepped into the light, or rather pulled a street lamp down to shine on his massive frame.
"I'm outta here!" the solider said dropping his gun and rushing off down the alley. The Leader got stuggled to his feet and followed with cries of agony.
Danny looked up at his savior, but from what happened he couldn't tell if his problems were ending or just beginning.
"Thank you" he managed to choke up through his quivers of fear. He pushed through the pain to stand and when he did coughed up some blood. He gripped his blood covered sleeve and winced.
Sasha didn't seem to be paying attention to either Mo or Bin, but was focused on the alleyway beside the shop that Tyler had dissappeared into. Her head cocked she appeared to be listening, her ears perked all the way forward.
She started, and seemed to fade from view as she sprinted to the alleyway. She watched Tyler take care of the men, and walked to the boy, placing a clawed hand on his bloody arm, she asked... "What's yourrr name, kid?"
-@Wenchette
----
[Insert long list of alts and only ONE level 50 after alll this time]
There was an odd shimmer and Amilia was kneeling by Danny. Her normally smiling face looked at the fleeing soldiers and a very merciless gleam flickered across her eyes.
Several yards away, the leader of the squad slowed down, confidant that no one had followed him.
"Damn, we're going to have to send another squad to take care of the kid later."
There was a low growl of an animal, the type his hindbrain instantly labeled preadator and close! Stiffening, he looked over his shoulder to see three mountain lions in the alley behind him. He barly had time to cryout before they were on him.
Amilia smiled grimly before turning a lighter smile to the boy. "There now dear, no one will be coming after you now. Are you ok love?"
Pinnacle
Heroes
When in danger, or in doubt; Run in circles, scream and shout.
Sasha jumped a bit as Amilia appeared next to her, but kept her eyes and attention on the boy, trying to scent out his injuries, where, how much blood, etc.
-@Wenchette
----
[Insert long list of alts and only ONE level 50 after alll this time]
Bin sighed at the recent development, "So hungry."
"Ah pin it, if we wait til later this evenin' he'll probably be so plastered he'll think he's working in a french restaurant again," Mo shrugged, walking over to the victimized kid.
"Man, it seems like there are more and more gangs here everyday," she said, watching the pursuers run off and 'disappear'.
As if on cue, a large SUV-limo pulled up to the small group, its tires screeching. From the driver's seat came a tall person of dubious gender who ran around back and opened the door. Out stepped an elderly man in what could only be described as the cleanest and most well kept suit any of them had ever seen. On his fingers were solid gold rings that made the pickpocket instincts of everyone in the group go off. And together with his mustache that covered his mouth and wiggled when he talked, no one honestly believed he was here for a casual drive.
"Ladies and gentlemen," he said, "I bid you good day. My name is Thaddeus T. Schroeder XXII, and I am an advocate of urban renewal."
"Yeah so what? We get enough 'urban renewal' with those Family goons coming in and making this hellhole even more of a...hellhole! Are you going to buy us out? Offer us money to make us leave and let the Family do their dirty work? Well I got news for ya: I was born an' raised here! It's my home!" Mo said, going off on her usual tirade that usually got her into trouble with whoever she was yelling at.
"Oh heavens no! My interests are purely humanitarian," Thaddeus laughed, "I won't say this isn't selfish, I am in this for the publicity of dealing with the family and turning this neighborhood into a place its residents can be proud of."
"Still skeptical," Bin added.
"Yeah, how d'we know you won't just screw us over?" Mo demanded.
"I didn't expect you would trust me. Allow me to cut to the chase. What I am here for is to find people unaffiliated with the Outcasts or the Family to deal with them both. I have information that can aid you in the..."
"Whoah whoah wait a minute. You want US to wage WAR on the Family?! Haven't the Heroes been doin' that since before we were BORN?! What makes you think we would fair any better?" Mo yelled.
"You misunderstand. The gangs and citizens of The Edge have been fighting a war all along. I am merely here as...an organizer of sorts. I have been watching all of you for quite some time. You all have abilities that make you unique. I simply wish to unite you all under one banner to take back your home from those who are taking it from you," Thaddeus explained.
"Fine, but I still don't know how we can trust you. We've been screwed over by old rich guys before. It's why The Edge doesn't have a public school anymore," Mo calmed down a bit.
"Of course. Mel?" Thaddeus turned to his androgynous assistant, who nodded and handed him a file, which he handed to Mo.
"I know you'll trust me because, by giving you this file, I'm trusting you," he explained, "In that file is an assembly of data that would link me to the Family. If it became public I would lose my reputation, my fortune, and most likely mine and my family's lives. It's all forged of course, so the damage done would only affect me before everyone realizes it and my family's name is cleared."
"You'd put your FAMILY'S lives on the line for a tiny patch of real estate??" Mo stammered.
"Ah, well, you see, I hate my family. They're crooked, evil, and tried to put me in a nursing home before I bought the place and turned it into a health spa for the elderly," Thaddeus seemed to grin under his bushy mustache, "So do you accept?"
"I dunno, what do you guys think?" Mo said, turning to the others.
"Ssssoundsss supicioussss," Shannon hissed, having remained in silent watch mode this whole time. His forked tongue flicked from his mouth. He remained watching the man, his snake eyes staring into the man.
Sasha frowned at Thaddeus' words, but held her hand out for the file. She'd had some training in various things at the lab, force-fed learning to make her into an infiltration tool for intelligent and well-connected people. And then assassinate them, once she had forged doccuments of whatever specific kind her owners wanted left as proof of misdealings.
She just wanted to see what kinds of papers they were, and how well forged. Of course, her training had not been thorough, but it was better than the average. She waited for the documents, if there was someone better suited among them to see if these would be convincing... well... she didn't want to take their chance.
-@Wenchette
----
[Insert long list of alts and only ONE level 50 after alll this time]
"F'in rich gangbangers trying to kill f'in poorer gangbangers." Tyler spat out. "That's all you are. Just another gangbanger rapeing the Edge. Kid, I dont know your name but if I find out your in a gang and I stopped a gang hit.... let's just say it won't pretty."
"As for the rest of you all, go find that rock you climbed out from under and climb back in. You all make sick, running around with your pathetic group of friends. Calling yourselfs protecters of the Edge. You all should be conered and shot. Half this cities heroes are corrupted, half the villains insane, and I'm stuck in the only place where neither will go. Now if you will excuse me, I need to go put a sub shop out of business." Tyler said with a smile as he walked toward the rich old man.
The androgynous person saw Tyler make a move towards his employer and stepped up to him, laying a hand on his shoulder.
Suddenly, the person's body began to change and, in mere seconds, looking like the spitting image of Tyler. The only difference was he was backwards. Anything on Tyler that was worn on the right side of his body was on the person's left and so on.
"Do not approach my Master," the person said in Tyler's voice.
"Mel, that's enough," Thaddeus signaled to his assistant to let go.
When Sasha opened the file, she would find official documentation, a DVD labeled 'Video Evidence', and numerous forged documents with familiar Family signatures and Thaddeus' as well.
"Not gangbangers," Bin said to Tyler, "We're Musicians."
"Yeah, I don't like gangs any more than you do," Mo said, "But this guy sounds like he's offerin' to get RID of the gangs rather than just forming another one."
Sasha looked through the file and was impressed... she nodded.
"Those'rrre rrrreal enough t'fool 'em for a while... long enough 'ta get this guy in serrrious trrrrouble."
She looked at Tyler... glaring and hissed quietly.
"How darrre you. You've been trrrying to get into th' Serrrpents forrrr how long now? And you haven't any clue as to what they arrre!!" here she added a growl to her words... "Keep eachotherrr SAFE, we do! Prrrotected when th' worrrld's out ta get you, brrrring you down. This man has just given us the key to his safety... those doccuments arrre as rrreal as it gets, and -will- fool them forrr a time."
She calmed down a bit, and said more softly, "Now... I -think- we can trrrust it... the paperrrs will be in ourrr hands, afterrr all... What d'y'all think?"
-@Wenchette
----
[Insert long list of alts and only ONE level 50 after alll this time]
Shannon put a reassuring hand on Sasha's shoulder. He stared at the others, his tongue flicked out irritably. His eyes bore deep into the rich man. "Trussst isssn't sssomething that isss found or earned easssily in the Edge," he hissed.
"Oh believe me, I know," the old man chuckled, "I grew up here."
Mo and Bin were shocked, as for the others...
Amilia raised an eyebrow. Sure, there were always 'sucsess stories' of people like themselves who managed to 'leave their past behind and become respectible citizens', the streetwalker thought the whole thing was utter bunk by those who were ashamed of where they grew up.
If 'Mr. Thaddeus T. Schroeder XXII', a name Amilia was half-way certain he hadn't been born with, was telling the truth, he was just another case as far as she was concerned. She absently stoked the boy's hair, her near hunched position over him striking Sasha as the same one a mother cat would take over her kittens.
"So," Amilia asked with slow deliberation, "What, exactly, is it you're offering us? Because I am very certain that you aren't going to be down here fighting your little war yourself."
Pinnacle
Heroes
When in danger, or in doubt; Run in circles, scream and shout.
"Information! I provide you with the locations and times when and where striking the Family and Outcasts would be most beneficial, and you follow through. Of course, I don't expect you to work for free. Any contraband you find is yours to do with as you please," Thaddeus replied, "And when the job is a little more...complicated...than usual, I'll even provide certain 'tools'. Of course, it will all be declared 'stolen' so as to alleviate any suspicion."
Tyler was angry. He could easily try to kill everyone in the alleyway. He might even walk away from it. More then likely he would be in a hospital nursing sprains or worse he would be sent back to the zig.
"I don't like it. I don't like that your freak touched me. I dont like that kitty hissed at me. I don't like your suit. I just dont like it." Tyler said.
Tyler didn't move from his spot, maybe it would be worht something to hear this man out.
Sasha rubbed her cheek against Shannon's hand, reassuring herself by touching him back.
"I do not know that we should trrrust you, misterrr. Who herrre hasn't hearrred some big ideas, prrromises, vows of help to clean our home? Yeah, th' paperrrs arrre good... but how do you expect us to trrrust you?" here she stopped to chuckle a bit, "I'm sure you did not expect this to be easy..."
-@Wenchette
----
[Insert long list of alts and only ONE level 50 after alll this time]
"Tonight at the old Beaslix Apartment building, Antonio of the Outcasts and Jimmy Croix of the Family will be holding a meeting. The Family will be exchanging weapons for an agreement of non-interference by the Outcasts. If someone was to, say, dress like an Outcast or Family, bust into the meeting, and attack the other side, the already tense atmosphere would shatter, and any semblance of trust present would dissolve. Even better, if Antonio and Croix are found dead, neither side would ever trust the other and you would have the advantage of chaos working for you. In addition if you stole the weapons being traded, it would not only give you an edge in the coming conflict, but would further dissuade trust as each side would blame the other for taking the weapons," Thaddeus explain, then he noticed a familiar look on Tyler's face. The look of bravado and over confidence so common amongst youth growing up on The Edge. He saw many a thug give the same look and consider his allies to be less than garbage. In gang warfare and in business, the look was the same. The only difference was the distribution of weight in the person's body.
"I guess it's worth addressing that none of you should be underestimating one another. I chose you all for a reason, and I expect there will be others once you 'establish your rep.' You have little reason to trust me or each other beyond individual friendships, but you have no reason not to either. After all, if you walk away now, the chance of failure for the group goes up. You can trust me or you can not, but I think a few crates worth of automatic weapons should offer enough incentive for this job at the very least. After all, you can sell them to some militant nation through my ties and make a handsome bit of change."
Frankie remained silent through the entire exchange. The old man's offer, the others' rebuttals, Tyler's tantrums and posturing... all were regarded with the same neutral stare. His mind, however, was taking it all in.
The plan had merit. Jonah had proposed driving a wedge between the Family and the Outcasts as well, though an opportunity like this one hadn't yet presented itself.
At this point 'trust' wasn't necessary to Frankie. If the old man was telling the truth then they'd have a chance to take down some Family and Outcasts. If he wasn't then it was most likely an ambush and they'd have to take down whoever this guy had working for him. Either way they were eliminating competition, and that was what Frankie's job was really all about.
Danny was frightened, but these people, threatening him or not, did just save his life. He didn't have anything, no money no food, but he knew on the street alone he was easy prey for Skulls, Hellions, or the monsters in the sewers. He scampered over to the group of misfits and grabbed a hold of Tyler's hand hiding behind him shyly.
Sasha considered his words... it was true he wasn't offering any solid gurantees, nor any promises of quick or bloodless victory. All he was offering was information, and arms.
"It might be worrrth it. He's not offerrrin' us anything like a gurrrrantee... he's just oferrrrin help to do what we all want ta' do anyhow..." here she stopped and looked around at the motley group, wondering what they would do.
-@Wenchette
----
[Insert long list of alts and only ONE level 50 after alll this time]
Sasha laughed.
"An' he still has all his fingerrrs? Lucky guy..."
-@Wenchette
----
[Insert long list of alts and only ONE level 50 after alll this time]