Oriphiel

I never expected this to happen, but... after listening to all of this Disco, i'm actually starting to really like it. I must be going insane. Here's a fun song by Tapps, a Hi-NRG/Synth Pop trio from Canada!

Chapter Fifteen



Ricardo popped a piece of chewing gum into his mouth, leaning against the wall beside him with crossed arms. "Where'd you learn to do that?" he asked John, who was slowly but silently picking the lock to the door of the apartment with the fortuitous window. John smiled, and without taking his eyes off of his work replied "I'm a criminal. It's what I do." Ricardo laughed, saying "Oh, come on. Hell, i'm a criminal and I don't know how to do that shit." "Allow me to rephrase that; i'm a good criminal," replied John. Ricardo rolled his eyes and jokingly punched John's arm, saying "Fuck you, man." Just then, the lock clicked open, and John carefully opened the door. The Red Sleeves cautiously walked inside the apartment, and luckily for them it seemed as though nobody was home. John immediately made his way towards a window on the far side of the apartment. As he did so, Jackson started opening doors, saying "You do your spying thing. I've gotta take a leak," as he searched for the bathroom. Unfortunately for the Red Sleeves, this was the same apartment that Jason, the assassin, had been using to spy on Luke from afar. Of course, after hearing them unlock the door, he quickly ducked into a hiding space; he knew that it couldn't be Stan opening the door, since he had seen him entering Luke's apartment complex with the Boss. After scanning the scene and seeing who the intruders were, he decided that he could take them. Stepping out of his cover, he punched John in the throat and kicked him hard in the chest, sending him falling to the floor. Ricardo grabbed a vase off of the kitchen counter and threw it at Jason, who dodged it with ease. Jason then pulled out a silenced pistol from his shoulder holster and fired a shot at Ricardo, who jumped over the counter and took cover. Right as the fight had started, Jackson had opened the door to the apartment's closet in his search for the bathroom, and when Jason started to attack he quickly grabbed a baseball bat that had been stashed inside. Just as Jason was turning to shoot him, Jackson threw the baseball bat while rushing forward and closing the distance between him and his attacker. The skilled assassin shifted to the side and fired a few shots, however the bat hit his shoulder, causing him to miss. Jackson tackled him, and the two fell backwards into a nearby table. He then reached for Jason's gun, just barely managing to knock it out of the assassin's grip before he could shoot Jackson in the head. Ricardo ran out from behind his cover to join the fight, however, as he drew near, Jason kicked him in the groin. "Fuck!" yelled Ricardo as he struggled to stay on his feet. Jason continued grappling with Jackson, before striking him in the nose with his palm, and pushing him away.

John stood up, rubbing his neck and struggling to regain his breath and balance. Jason looked around for his pistol, and eventually spotted it nearby on the floor. Ricardo also saw the gun, and refused to let the assassin reach it; he stumbled forward just as the assassin was dashing towards it, and tried to keep him at bay. Though he was in no shape to stop Jason, who elbowed him in the jaw, Ricardo still managed to kick the pistol backwards, into the kitchen. Jason threw Ricardo to the side and continued after the gun, only to be tackled from behind by John, sending them both crashing forward into a mess of pots, dishes, and silverware. Jason slammed John's head into a cabinet under the sink, however it wasn't enough to incapacitate him; just as the assassin reached his pistol, John picked up a frying pan and swung it at him, hitting him hard in the side of his head. After one more swing, the assassin was down for good. John let the pan fall from his grip, and fell back to the ground in a heap of relief. Ricardo stumbled into the kitchen and looked down at the defeated assassin. "Nice," he said with a smile. "Pan fried asshole." John looked at him incredulously, saying "That's the worst joke I've heard all day, and I've heard some pretty shitty ones." "Hey," replied Ricardo as he helped John up, "you try coming up with a pun on the spot, after being kicked in the balls." "Hey, guys," said Jackson, pressing a hand to his bleeding nose, "you both alright?" As he and Ricardo began to converse, John noticed a pair of binoculars on the ground near the window, and used them to look into Luke's apartment. Just as he had suspected, there was something important going down; inside the room was a large amount of Blue Shirts, including their leader (who John recognized, as he had seen him once before while providing muscle for the Red Sleeves' leader during a meeting between the two). Because the Blue Shirts had arrived before him, and because the assassin had further stalled him, John witnessed the meeting as it was coming to a close. While he obviously couldn't hear what was being said, and he had no idea how much he'd missed, he still saw something that told him all he needed to know; before leaving the apartment, the leader of the Blue Shirts shook hands with one of the aliens and was handed one of their rifles, smiling all the while.

"Luke," said the Boss as he stood in the apartment's splintered door frame, a war party of Blue Shirts behind him. This was before the Red Sleeves had reached their vantage point. Luke was sitting on his couch (which had been moved to face the door) next to Qez, who seemed to be holding an alien weapon not unlike the one that Tyl had used earlier. In Luke's lap was a bag of chips. As soon as the Boss appeared in the doorway, Qez had lifted up her weapon. "Another friend?" she asked Luke. "Yeah," he replied, a confused expression on his face as he was expecting more assassins to arrive, but not the Boss himself. Qez's gun started to hum as if it was charging up for a shot. "Wait," said Luke. Qez shrugged, and the humming ceased. "Thank you for not shooting me," said the Boss in a calm voice. "My men tried to persuade me to let them deal with this matter themselves, that it was too dangerous for me to handle in person. They don't know me as well as you do, Luke. They'll never be able to understand why, despite our animosity towards each other, you'll never be able to take my life." Luke glared at the Boss, who smiled and stepped further into the room. Qez's gun stayed fixed on him, and he glanced at her, asking "I'm assuming that she's one of your friends from out of town?" Before either of them could answer, Heyt stepped out of the guest bedroom, holding an alien rifle. "You're correct," he said. The Blue Shirts behind the Boss were understandably worried, however none of them dared to say a word. "Is there something you wished to discuss with us?" he continued. The Boss scanned him up and down, and glanced at Qez once more. Though he was still calm, he seemed somewhat taken aback after taking a good look at them. "You really aren't just gangsters with fancy tech, are you?" he asked, gripping his shotgun tightly. "I am affiliated with no criminal organizations, and as far as I know, neither are any of my compatriots. However," Heyt said, lifting up his rifle, "our tech is indeed quite 'fancy', as i'm sure a demonstration would prove..."

The Blue Shirts behind the Boss became tense, and the ones that held firearms quickly lifted them towards Heyt. Both Luke and the Boss assured their allies to calm down, and the conversation continued. "There's no need for a demonstration. Perhaps later," said the Boss. "Now," he continued, "early this morning, Luke mentioned that he had met a group of newcomers to this city who were all very skilled with technology, and that they might be willing to lend me these skills of theirs. At first, I dismissed his words as being empty, but now I find myself intrigued by the offer. That is, if the offer still stands." At this point, more of the aliens had left the guest bedroom, each one holding a weapon. Heyt shot Retix a glance, before looking back at the Boss. "How many men do you command?" he asked. The Boss smiled, and replied "Quite a few. We own this whole section of the city, and the day is fast approaching when we shall seize control of the entirety. It's rare for us to ever be defeated or lose ground to other gangs, although," he shot a glance at Luke before continuing, "it does happen from time to time." Valk looked at the others, and said "This might be exactly what we've been hoping for." "Yes," replied Heyt, "and it might also be the very thing that dooms us." "We don't have a choice," replied Retix as she nursed her headache. After a moment, Heyt looked at the Boss and said "We need allies to find resources for us, as many as possible. And it would seem that you are quite envious of our technology. We can make you weapons... guns that require no ammunition, and depending on how you set them, they can also be used in a variety of combat situations. Is this an amicable arrangement?" The Boss smiled and said "I may be interested in your guns, but I haven't seen for myself what they're truly capable of. For all I know, they're not really worth the trouble. Perhaps you would be willing to give that demonstration you mentioned earlier?" Qez, without any hesitation, pulled the trigger on her rifle, and it began to hum. The aliens quickly moved out of the way, and Qez fired a concussive blast that knocked all of the Blue Shirts to the ground. As they looked up at her, she flipped a toggle on her rifle, setting it to destroy organic life, and said "That was a non-lethal shot. Of course, when it's set to it's lethal default, it can fire without any cautionary delay. Would you like to see?" The Boss smiled at her as he got back to his feet, saying "I think I'll test that function out on my own." Looking at Heyt, he asked "Do the lethal shots pierce through armor?" Heyt nodded, saying "The default is set to damage only organic tissue, but you can also set it to vaporize everything in front of you, if that is your preference." "Well," said the Boss, "it would seem that these weapons are definitely worth acquiring, if further testing proves the rest of the functions of these guns to be as promising as your friend's demonstration of the non-lethal mode. And that being the case, I think that we could certainly do business with each other." "Good," said Heyt. "We'll give you one rifle, and you can decide after testing it whether or not you want more. I suspect that you will. If so, we have our own projects to take care of, but we will craft as many weapons as possible for you with whatever free time we have. As long as you focus your attention on gathering our resources, that is." "We'll uphold our part of the deal, and you shall soon have whatever it is that you're looking for," said the Boss, smiling. He then stretched out his hand towards Heyt, who looked down at it with a slight expression of disgust. "Do we have a deal?" asked the Boss. Heyt knew the gesture that the Boss was making, and eventually forced himself to shake his hand. The Boss laughed, saying "Good."