“Oh no, a knife. You must feel like a real big boy now. Ha ha ha,” laughed a man with shaggy teal hair over his eyes. “Come on, hero. Make my day.”
Under a single flickering ceiling light stood two men, one on each side of a damaged kitchen island. Both of them cut up and bruised, every time one of them moved, the other followed. When the shaggy man kicked aside a fallen pan, the other man moved away, as if it were toxic to his skin. When the injured man kicked back broken glass, the shaggy man took it with stride. He didn’t seem to mind getting any more cuts than he already had. He didn’t care about the blood that already stained most of his scarred gray shirt and blue jeans. Yet despite it all, he did care about his mostly untouched head, which hid a cut above his right eye and covered a bruise on his left cheek.
While the shaggy man appeared to be in decent condition, the other man wasn’t. Backed into a corner, three fingers bent backwards, more blood spilling from him than the other, half of his shirt missing and a pulsing black eye; in his hand held his last resort and his last stand. In the next second the man screamed and charge at the shaggy man who waited for this moment the entire time. Fluid in his movements, a stone pillar rose up from the ground and into the stomach of the injured man. Knocking the air out of him, the shaggy one then caught the knife in midflight, laughed and stabbed it into the attacker’s neck three times before allowing the pillar of earth to disintegrated and fall. Immediately afterwards, a door opened up. More lights came on.
“For fucks sakes, Yao, could you make any more damn noise?” screeched a nerdy looking newman woman of green hair.
“How much did you say this man was worth again?” the shaggy man ignored her.
Coming inside, a blood stained katana in hand; she took the time to look around the place and kicked at the dying body below. Locking eyes with the shaggy man, she started,
“What happened to the oh so great and mighty Yaotl Xol? You’re looking like a piece of shit right now.”
The man chuckled in response and spread his arms wide. “Hey,” he replied with a smile. “I look pretty damn great for a man who just recently took on five guys on his own.”
“Please,” waved away the woman. “You act like that’s some sort of accomplishment.”
He pointed two fingers at her. The man’s smile grew even larger as he said, “Look, bitch. Next time you put on makeup, don’t smear it all over your face. I’m a guy and even I know not to do that.”
“You’re just mad that I came out looking hell of a lot better than you ever will.”
“Oh,” said Yaotl, both hands over his heart. With a faked sadden expression, he finished, “My bleeding heart.” Afterwards he turned around, knelt down, opened up a small refrigerator and casually tossed a white and cream can towards the woman, asking, “I take it that you killed the misses, Leeann?”
The newmen opened up her can and replied, “Could have putten up more of a fight, but yeah.”
“A toast then,” said the man, raising his can.
“With shitty beer?”
“You know it. Not my fault the guy was such a light weight. Isn’t that right you sad piece of shit?” he babied the body.
Watching the human, the woman leaned on the counter and laughed. “What a world,” she smiled.
Afterwards, the man mimicked her actions and responded, “Hey, it could be worse. We could be usin’ their bed too.”
“Nohoho,” laughed the woman. “You wouldn’t want to use that bed.”
As the woman awkwardly laughed it off, the man walked around until he stood next to her. “Come on, I’m sure it’s still in usable condition. Could maybe still last us a few more nights, if we used our imaginations,” the man finished, tapping his head.
The woman rolled her eyes and glanced around again. “Didn’t he have some sort of rare pistol or something?”
The man shrugged and closed his eyes. “Yeah, but I threw it out the window.” Afterwards he opened them back up and continued, “But hey look, it’s one of those new T-57s.”
“What about it?” asked the newmen with disinterest.
“Wanna steal it?”
“Why would we want to steal it? We already have the Lecithin.”
“Oh you know. Comfy seats, enough storage to hold a fuck ton of beer, built in tv, underside storage for our weapons and loot. You know, Leanna, the good things.”
“I’ll think about it,” smile Leanna as the man wrapped an arm around her and said,
“Come here.”
After that a moment of silence, sipping away one after the other, they watched the small white ship of blue glow soar across the twilight sky. Once gone and a can dry, Leanna leaned against Yaotl and disintegrated her can, asking,
“So, where are the glasses I bought you?”
“About that…” trailed Yaotl’s voice.
Yaotl didn’t look at he said it. Seeing this the newman pinched her nose and gave a deep sigh. “Do you know how hard it is for us to purchase something like that? It’s not easy you know.”
The man shrugged and said, “Hey, they just broke. What do you want me to do about it?”
“I want you to-”
“Nah, I’m just messing with you,” interrupted Yaotl. After that, a hand reached into a pocket, took out a navy blue plastic case and laid it on the counter. Once there, they then opened the case up and placed the square spectacles within over teal shaggy hair where once there, caused the man to look towards his right and give the woman a giant smile.
“I fucking hate you. I hope you know that, you asshole,” punched Leanna.
“Yeah, yeah,” Yaotl replied, hugging Leanna tighter than before. “I hate you too, with all my damn heart.”
“So does that mean you’ll pay for the fuel again?” asked the newmen, circling a finger on the man chest.
“Woman, I just filled the dang thing. What have you been doing with it? Racing with your other nerd friends again?”
“Yao, that was two weeks ago. I’m talking about now.”
“You know what, fine. I’ll pay for the tank refill again. But on the condition that you take me with you next time.”
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Another successful job. I’m telling ya, Phineas. We keep this up, we’ll have enough meseta to waste for a life time. Generations even. Give me some of that would ya?” asked a well shaven man in a suit. As requested, a man of slicked back teal hair slid a bag across a regal brown table while they sat down on equally eloquent wooden chairs. “Ah, that’s the stuff. I’m telling ya Phineas, with this money, my little girl is going to be a star. A star, I tell ya. She’ll be going to the best schools, go to the best teachers, she’s going to make me so proud.”
As the man talked, Phineas took out a black brief case and started to count the contents within it. As soon as the man finished, Phineas paused, shifted his eyes towards him and said in an indifferent tone of voice, “Glad, you have your priorities straight at least.”
“What’da ya mean by that, huh? You know me. I’m, Jarow the mastermind. I always got a plan,” said the man, pounding his chest.
“Are you using your wife and kid to their fullest potential?”
“Well yeah,” said Jarow with a wave of his hand. “Of course. Why?”
“Spouses, children, they’re nothing more than investments. Tools used to help people further themselves in life and are kept together by this nonsense called love so they can take care of you in old age. If you’re not using them to their fullest potential, why bother keep them at all?”
“Phineas, listen to yourself,” said the man, leaning forward. “What would your ma and pop say hearing you say all that kablesh you’re spouting?”
Phineas leaned backwards, placed an object on the table and frowned. “Good ol’ ma died a long time ago; burning building. And pops? Never had one.”
“Everyone has a pa, Phin.”
“Nope, never had one, never will. But if I did, he’s probably still moping over the loss of those dear to him. And me, well, I have the displeasure to look just like him. Not a single trait from my mother.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” the man replied, leaning backwards in deep thought. “Well you’re going to do your Ma right, yeah? Start a family, be a good Pa?”
“Nope, don’t want to waste my time taking care of some unforsaken little runt. Wouldn’t do me any good anyways, he’d just be a failure. I mean seriously, what man can get the job done as efficiently and quickly as I can?” Phineas slammed a hand on the table. “That’s right, nobody,” he shouted with an evil grin.
“Sheesh,” the man giggled. “And then I wonder why women turn up dead when they get involved with you.”
“Relationships are expendable, Jarow. We both know this. I get what I need and I move on, simple as that. They should know better by now.”
“Yeah, women. You whisper sweet nothings into their ears and they think you’re going to settle down with them for the rest of their life. And don’t get me started with the ones you throw money at, hahaha! But seriously, no son?”
“I told you already,” said Phineas as he placed a pistol on the table. “I have all the tools I need. I don’t need another one.”
Just then a door slammed open and a well-built man to hurry inside. Closing the doo behind him, the man looked and cried, “Phineas, I just got word from the shop. They said they couldn’t fix the Lecithin. They didn’t have the parts.”
Without anything touching it, the pistol on the table fired a round that barely missed the man’s head.
“I’m sorry, there was something in my ear,” said Phineas, slowly turning in his chair. “What was that again?”
“They’re still working on it, sir.”
“Working on what?” Phineas asked with a lifted brow.
“The Lecithin will be repaired soon.”
“How soon?”
“In a week.”
“I’ll be picking it up by then. You may go now.”
After that the man bowed his head and said, “Yes, sir,” before shutting the door and running.
“Man, Phineas, we got the money. Why don’t you get yourself a better ship?”
“A better ship means nothing when you can still outperform everyone in the one you already have. You can get yourself another ship but I don’t need one.”
“Speaking of your ship, what kind of password is Leanna anyways?”
“Don’t know. If I had a dad, maybe he could have told me, because it certainly isn’t my mother’s name.”
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Carol, mission completed; all hostiles have been eliminated and Jarow Migul has successfully been detained,” said Yoshi with a finger against his ear.
“Damn, Yoshi. You’re relentless,” a man in a grey uniform said behind him.
“Yeah, who knew ARKs would turn him into a war machine?” said a similarly dressed man while taking off his helmet. “No armor, no helmet, just a gun and the shirt on his back.”
Yoshi smiled weakly and lifted his hands. “Guys relax,” he responded. “It wasn’t that impressive.”
“I wish ARKs would get involved with civilian matters more often,” a woman added. “Think of how much easier our lives would have been if they did?”
“Technically speaking, you don’t,” Yoshi frowned. “Also, i’m not supposed to do these kinds of things. I shouldn’t even be here right now.”
As he finished a door opened up allowing a group of mercenaries to walk inside. Grey in helmet, slacks and jacket, the only thing the stood out among all of them were the yellow and green patches they wore on their right shoulders and leading the group, a blond haired woman, who when reaching Yoshi, took off her helmet, smiled and said in a friendly manner,
“Regardless, I’m glad you agreed to come here, Yosh. Your friend too,” she said, nodding her head towards Sia, who stood beside Yoshi. “It’s nice to see that there was at least one of you who remembered your roots.”
“Yeah, well I didn’t think you would take your father’s place in leading the mercenary group either, but here we are. You know you didn’t have too.”
“These are my people, Yoshi. I belong here. I’m sure my father would have wanted you here as well.”
Yoshi turned around and looked away. On the verge of tears, he didn’t want to show the daughter of his former leader the sadden expression he had on his face. So in an effort to hide it, he walked towards the next room and opened its door. Like the room he stood in, the room also seemed to be red in theme, with a white stripe running along the floor. Lights turned on, he then realize how much the darkness had covered everything inside, revealing a ship on a raised platform, facing towards a damaged and sealed garage door.
“You sure there’s no one in this room as well?” Yoshi asked as his eyes swept the area.
“Readings says no, but you can look inside if you want. In the meantime…” said Carol before turning around. “Shows over boys and girls, bag the bodies and let’s go home. Be sure to thank Yoshi for keeping all your asses bullet free when you’re all done. Come on, let’s move it.”
On that, everyone in the room gave a cheer and did as instructed. While they did, the ones assigned to Yoshi chattered with the others about how he had shown no expression while killing the opposition off and how he killed most of them in two stage shots, slit throats and broken necks. Hearing this, Yoshi shivered in discomfort and hugged himself. He didn’t like being talked about as if he were some kind of super soldier. To him, he was just another man blessed with better equipment.
Looking into the other room, Yoshi summoned a thermos out of thin air and started to unscrew the cap and as he did, Sia walked up from behind and said in a joking manner,
“I hope you plan to share some of that coffee.”
Yoshi turned around with bright eyes and smiled. “Lucky for you, I always keep an extra cup on me.” After that, he snapped his fingers and made a plain white mug appear out of thin air. Once given a freshly filled mug, Sia took a sip and said,
“They sure seem to taken a liking to you. Know any of them?”
Yoshi took a glance at the people behind him and looked back at Sia. “Nah,” he said, shaking his head. “All of them are new to me. They also failed to notice that you did most of the work.”
“Flattery will get you nowhere, Bitol,” Sia sang.
Yoshi took a sip of his own and smiled back. “Hey, I’m just stating the truth.” After that he looked down at himself and then at his sleeves. “How do you think we’ll explain the damages when we get home?”
“We’ll just say that we forgot our line shields down on Lillipa or something.”
Yoshi placed down his cup and thermos. Hand now freed, he then took out a monomate, flipped off the cap and placed a cloth over it. After flipping it over, he reached over and said, “Guess you forgot what it’s like not use a line shield?”
Taking Sia’s arm, he then dabbed at her exposed arm, causing her to panic and response, “Yoshi, you don’t have to.”
“Don’t worry, it’ll just take a second.”
“It’s alright. It’s just a few scratches, that’s all.”
“You even got hurt on your shoulder?”
“You can stop now.”
“Hey,” Yoshi replied, pointing the rag at her. “Better safe than sorry,”
Hearing that, Sia snatched the cloth out of Yoshi’s hand and patted at his face.
“Sia- oh come on, it’s just a bruise,” grinned Yoshi.
“Nope,” Sia grinned back.
“Sia.”
“Don’t want to hear it.”
“I-.”
“No no, I don’t want to hear it from the guy who took a bullet to the chest.”
“I had a plate to stop it.”
“Better safe than sorry,” she mocked.
“You two seem pretty friendly with each other. I’m almost jealous,” Carol remarked, support her chin with the top of her wrist. “So, how long have you two known each other?”
“Well…” Sia began before Yoshi jumped to cover her mouth and reply, blushing fiercely, “For a good while now.” Sia dropped her arms and frowned at Yoshi. Carol in the meantime giggled and replied,
“Is that so?”
“Oh, speaking of which,” continued Yoshi, trying to change the subject. “Do you know what’s inside the other room?”
Carol waved a finger. “Oh no,” she replied. “You’re not getting out of this one.”
“It’s a Lecithin. I haven’t seen one in years.”
“Don’t change the subject,” Carol stomped.
“It was made before the time the T-57 came out, Terenanova if you didn’t know, and was first manufactured ten years before the T-57’s creation.”
“Yoshi!”
“Man,” Yoshi smiled. “They really knew how to keep it in good condition.”
I know people use a remodel ticket to "magically" change their room in the game but I just can't imagine that's how it really happens. xD The Emergency Code thing is debatable. I can see that being a real thing, but I'm not sure if they would actually "declare" it out loud like that. Is the Diga thing a reference to PSU? (OMG crossover!
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Note: If a girl you don't even know turns you down and runs away, don't chase her and grab her. That might give the wrong impression. xD
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