Aetheral Space

"That one," muttered Den-S to Lands, nodding towards the young woman he'd spotted at the market earlier that day.

She clearly didn't belong - the leather jacket she was wearing was made of genuine leather, for one, rather than the imitation shit common down in this section of Taldan. Her skirt was way too clean to have spent much time in the Pit, too.

That wasn't even going into her features: curly blonde hair and vivid red eyes, with a scattering of pale freckles. Definitely not from around there.

"That one?" grunted Lands, watching with him from the alley as the young woman walked down the street. Lands was someone who could have been handsome if he was born anywhere else in the universe - a lifetime of malnutrition and unsafe labour had turned him into what could only be described as a greasy skeleton. A farball bat, scavenged from a junkyard, poked out from underneath his too-big shirt.

"That's what I said, bro," hissed Den-S. Rather than making him thin, the Pit had made him small, and he had to look up at Lands to even be eye-level with his chest. "I mean, look at her! She's definitely Toptown - prolly doing some, like, tourism shit, y'know?"

"That's fucked up," grumbled Lands. "This ain't a show."

"Right? Right!" Den-S snapped his fingers. "People like that - like, they got to be taught a lesson and shit, you know?"

Lands nodded stiffly. "Ya. Taught a lesson."

Den-S grinned. Lands really was the best. He listened to whatever Den-S said, and was strong to boot. A little while ago he'd thought Settick was the best, but Settick had stood him up to go pick up girls, so now that guy was the worst.

"So," said Den-S, keeping his eyes on the girl - she was asking some old hag for directions. "I got an idea. A good idea, you know? You know I've got the good ideas. Good stuff."

Lands grinned too, using a sharp fingernail to pick some meat out of his teeth. He nodded. "Hell yeah, hell yeah. Sing me it."

"So," said Den-S, using wild gesticulations to punctuate his points. "This girl's ob-rich, right? Obviously. I said so, didn't I? You heard me."

"Ob-rich, yeah. I hear you."

Den-S glanced towards the girl. She was still hanging out, she was still around. Nice, nice. He could lay out his stratagatem without worrying about her getting away.

"So," he said. "Here's the plan, yeah? Rich girl like that - she gotta have rich parents. Obvious, right? Yeah. So we grab the girl, tie her up someplace."

"Then we kill her!" nodded Lands, pounding his fist into his palm. "Take her wallet."

Den-S smacked him upside the head. "No, stinkbug! We ransom her! We give her rich mommy and her rich daddy a call and then we say 'Oh, is this Mister Moneybags? We got your little shit so give us a billion credits!' And then they do it!"

Lands cocked his head. "And then we kill her?"

"No!" Den-S snapped. Then he thought about it a little more. "Well, maybe. If she pisses us off, you know?"

Lands nodded. "Yeah. Okay. We grabbing her, then?"

Den-S stepped out of the mouth of the alley, cleared his throat, and slicked back his ginger hair. He had to put on the charm. He'd always been the charming one in this neighborhood - once, as a kid, he'd even managed to go begging in Toptown and nearly got a hundred credits before earning a beating from security.

"Hey there!" he called out, waving a hand in a friendly gesture as he made his way across the street. "You lost there, lady?"

She jumped - she'd been facing the other way - and turned to face him. She blinked rapidly, but smiled like a beam of sunshine all the same. She really was a cutie.

"Oh, yeah, I think so!" she said. "I must have gotten turned around a little."

"Happens to the best of us," said Den-S, fancying up his accent a little so as to not scare her off. "Need some directions?"

The girl clapped her hands together, still smiling. "Oh, that would be great! I'm trying to get back to Gull Elevator Station - I got separated from my friend a little while ago, and we promised to meet back up there."

A friend? There could be a second paycheck in Den-S' future if he played his cards right.

"Well," he said, taking a step back and pointing down the street. "To get to Gull from here, you take three lefts from this street and - and, uh…" He made a show of struggling with the directions, thumping a frustrated fist against the side of his head. "Damn it," he muttered. "I know this."

He'd put out the bait, and now he just had to wait for the bite. This was Den-S' favourite part of the gig. It felt like he was a hunter in a forest, tricking his prey into destroying itself. Like some warrior shit.

"It's no problem," said the girl, looking down at him - looking down on him, probably, too. "I'm sure I'll find my way back eventually."

Den-S shook his head. "Sorry," he said. "But I just can't leave a pretty girl like you alone in a place like this. This ain't exactly a good part of town, you know?"

The girl's face turned flush. "Pretty…?" she mumbled. "I don't know about that…"

"Trust me, lady," Den-S winked. "I knows it when I sees it."

Damn, he was good at this. The girl was like putty in the palm of his hands. In another life, Den-S was sure he could have been a psychometrist, or a psychotic. Whichever the one that messed with people's heads was.

"Tell you what," smirked Den-S, sidling closer conspiratorially. "I'm not so good with giving directions - like you saw, heh - but I'm sure my feets know how to get to Gull Station. How's about I just takes you there? It's not far, and it's safer than you going all alone, you know?"

The girl seemed reluctant, but after a moment or two she nodded. "Okay," she said quietly. "Okay, I think that sounds like a good idea."

"Nice one," he shot her a thumbs-up. "Follow me and I'll get ya out of here, yeah?"

He began leading her down the street, glancing towards the alleyway to make sure Lands had gotten himself out of sight. The plan was to lead her onto a secluded spot a little later on, and then Lands could sneak up behind her and knock her the fuck out with that bat of his.

For now, though, he had to keep her distracted.

"My name's Den-S," he said, turning back to her as they walked - in the exact opposite direction from Gull Station. "What's yours?"

"Marie," she smiled pleasantly. "It's nice to meet you, Dennis."

He stuffed down annoyance. "It's, uh, Den-S. D-E-N dash S. It's, like, my street name, you know?"

"Oh," Marie giggled. "Sorry."

"So, uh," said Den-S as they turned the corner - approaching the burnt-out factory where it would be best to ambush her. "You said you're looking for your friend, right? What are they like? I can put the word out, see if anyone's seen her."

She shook her head. "That's alright, Dennis. My friend can look after himself. It's kind of his thing."

A jolt of caution crawled up Den-S' spine. Was her friend security? Was this Marie girl some kind of VIP or something? The ransom could end up being more trouble than it was worth if that was the case.

Testing the waters, Den-S asked: "What do you, uh … what do you mean by that? He a cop?"

Marie put a finger to her lips, considering the question. "Hm … kinda? Not around here, though. Don't worry," she said, laughing at Den-S' cautious expression. "He won't throw you in jail just for talking to me. He's serious, sure, but in a cute way. Like a dog, you know?"

Den-S grinned again, but this time it was much more strained. This chick was annoying. He'd be glad to get a gag in her mouth and shut her up.

They stopped in front of the burnt-out factory. Marie looked up at the wreck of a building, hands clasped behind her back.

"What's this?" she said, cocking her head. "This building doesn't look so good."

"We just need to stop here for a minute," Den-S lied. "I know I said I knew the way, but I'm a little not one-hundred percent, you know? I called a pal of mine to help us out. We can wait for him inside."

"Oh. When'd you call him?" Marie asked, confused. "I thought we were talking the whole time."

"I sent him a message," Den-S smoothly covered over the inconsistency. "He'll be here in a minute. We should sit down inside and wait for him."

Marie bit her lip. "Is it safe?"

"Course it is!" Den-S grinned cheekily, gave her another thumbs-up. "Don't worry - I'll be with you the whole time!"

"Well, I guess…"

"Come on! It's getting cold out here!"

Den-S made a show of rubbing his arms as he marched into the factory - and a second later, Marie followed after him. Of course she did: Den-S knew that rich girls like these were always followers. Probably one of her rich girl friends had lied and said she hung out in the Pit, and Marie had wanted to do the same thing. Too much money rotted the brain like that.

Well, she'd get a show, alright. If she wanted to experience the Pit's unique features, he and Lands would be only too happy to oblige. A bat to the head and a bundle of rope, coming right up.

Den-S pulled up a half-melted hunk of metal and sat down on it, stretching his joints with a satisfying series of clicks. He looked up at Marie - she was clearly nervous now, with one hand holding onto her arm. It was like she'd grown a sense of self-preservation in the last few seconds.

"What are you waiting for?" Den-S grinned. "Take a load off. No point sitting around waiting for him to get here, you know?"

She glanced away, took a step back. "I...I think I know my way back from here. Thanks for showing me around, but I gotta go."

Den-S shot her as intimidating a glare as he could muster. "Hey," he snapped. "I invited you to sit down. It's rude as shit to ignore that. Siddown."

Marie paled, but nodded. It seemed she was finally realizing walking around the worst part of town like she had been wasn't the smartest idea. She stiffly sat down on another hunk of metal, eyes fixed firmly on the exit.

Well, that was fine. Lands knew where the back entrance was.

As Marie looked towards the front door, as if trying to muster up the courage to run for it, Lands' lanky form emerged from the shadows behind her, metal farball bat in hand. Den-S had to suppress a laugh as the dumb girl didn't even notice her future captor sneaking up behind her, raising the metal bat over his head, higher and higher -

Wait. That was a little too high. Damnit, he was supposed to be knocking her out, not smashing her head in!

Den-S shot as pointed a warning glance at Lands as he could without alerting Marie, but it was no use. Lands was already into it, his teeth bared in a feral grin.

The bat came down.

And it shattered into fragments of metal as soon as it hit Marie's skull. The girl didn't even flinch.

Marie blinked - from seeing Den-S' suddenly shocked expression and hearing the sound of the bat breaking. It wasn't from anything like pain. Befuddled, she turned around and looked at Lands standing behind her - he was still clutching the broken-off handle of the bat, eyes disbelieving.

"Oh!" she said, realizing what was going on. "You hit me with that?"

She reached out towards Lands with one hand, two fingers bared like the pincer of a crab. Things unfolded as if it were a nightmare. Den-S, instinct warning him of some terrible danger, opened his mouth to scream a warning. Lands thrust the broken end of the handle towards Marie to try and get her that way, but she casually moved her head out of the way and it brushed through her golden hair. Her two fingers reached Lands' neck, and were pushed together with what looked like only slight force.

There was a crack.

Lands fell to the floor, his neck clearly broken like a twig, tongue flopping out of his mouth like some beached eel. The bat handle rolled across the floor, out of sight. Marie cleaned her reddened fingers on the hem of her skirt with a quiet 'ew'.

Den-S stood there, mouth gaping, mind trapped in a cold war between fight or flight. If he fought, he would lose. If he fled, she would catch him. His body understood the doom it was facing naturally, and so he found himself unable to do anything but stand there, shivering intensely.

"Hold on a sec," muttered Marie, still brushing off her fingers. "Argh, this is really gross…by the way, do you know Aldan Petrio?"

He didn't say anything - he couldn't, even if he'd wanted to. He took a step backwards, so he could try to run at least, but when Marie's calm red eyes glanced at him he found that he couldn't muster up the effort. It would be like jumping off a cliff - his body wouldn't allow him to knowingly destroy it.

After a few attempts, he forced out: "P-Please…" The word was unwieldy in his mouth, like he was trying to force a brick out of his throat.

Marie turned back to him, ignoring Lands' corpse as she put her hands on her hips. "Come on, little boy. I know Petrio's gang recruits from around these parts. Do you know him or don't you?"

A tiny door to survival opened in Den-S' head. "N-No," he choked out, eyes fixed on Lands' carcass. "I don't."

She bit her lip, and the look in her eyes slammed that door to survival right back shut. "I really hope you're lying to me there, Dennis. If you don't know Aldan Petrio, I'll have to go find someone else who does. And I can't have you blabbing about me, so I'll have to make you stop living first. Oh, well."

Marie took a step towards him, and Den-S fell back onto his butt as if she'd pushed him over. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" he cried. "I was lying, I lied, sorry, sorry, I know him, I do!"

The girl who now seemed like the grim reaper reached a hand out towards Den-S, and he stared at it in silent terror. It was a small, seemingly delicate hand, but he knew now that she could crush his head in her palm if she wanted to.

It came closer. Den-S' heart assumed a calm, cold beat - the regularity of a certain death.

She grabbed him by the arm and helped him up to his feet, grinning. He grinned back, too, stupidly happy to be alive even for a second longer.

"Well, that's all you had to say!" she smiled, patting him on the back gently. "But…"

Crunch.

Den-S felt unsteady on his feet, and he had to grab onto Marie's shoulder for support. Her eyes were half-lidded, with a predatory calm, like a cat looking at a mouse. Confused, he looked down at the source of the sound.

Marie's left foot was on top of his - and his foot was looking a lot flatter than it had a second ago. Some red liquid was gently oozing out of his shoe, soaking into his socks.

"Wha…?" he said, his left foot rapidly beginning to feel very hot.

"Sorry," said Marie, genuinely looking it as she smiled sadly. "But I can't have you running away."

And then the pain started.

Den-S collapsed back to the ground, clutching what was left of his foot, screaming and gibbering incoherently as if trying to force the pain out of his body through his mouth. If he touched his foot, he knew it would hurt like nothing else ever in his life, but he couldn't just leave it alone but he couldn't touch it either he he he he he -

Marie looked up - and even in his agony, Den-S had enough good sense to follow her gaze.

A figure appeared in the factory entrance. Silhouetted by the Taldan nightlights, the figure wore a scruffy dark long-coat and a pulled-low grey beanie. If those were the only things the figure had on then, they could easily be mistaken for one of the homeless vagrants that were a regular sight in the Pit.

But they weren't.

The figure also had a moonlight-pale sword strapped to their hip.

"Special Officer Hazzard," the figure said in a smooth, clear voice. "I trust you've apprehended the one we need."

"Sure have." Marie smiled sweetly at the new arrival. "Took you long enough, Atoy."