Clave looks around briefly for a menu of sorts and then spots a tough-looking guy drinking a small greenish drink. “Whatever he’s having.” The bartender raises her eyebrow and leaves to prepare the drink. Clave watches as a few of the sprawl punks chat up a pretty city girl who’s not into them. The bartender returns, drink in hand.
“That will be—” Clave holds out a credit chip before she can finish. The bartender scans it and watches as Clave tries the drink. Clave takes a precautionary sip before he takes a bigger gulp of the greenish substance. The liquid burns on its way down but Clave fights the urge to cringe. The bartender is amused at Clave’s performance.
“You are not from around here, are you?”
“I suppose.” Clave replies.
The bartender smiles at Clave’s response. “Let me guess. You’re from Beta Earth.” Clave finishes up the rest of his drink. “Why would you guess that?” Clave slides the glass to the bartender. She catches it and refills it. “Oh, it's just the way you carry yourself I guess. Here, this one’s on me.”
Clave turns his attention back to the dance floor and continues to watch the girl dancing. “Who is that?” Clave asks. The bartender turns to look at the girl.
“Rebi? Uh … I mean that’s Roni.”
“Roni? Seriously? That’s a guy’s name.” Clave says.
The bartender laughs as she calls one of the sprawl punks over. She whispers something in his ear. He runs over to the dance floor and gets her attention. Roni looks over at Clave and then over to the bartender and nods. Clave notices the interaction.
“What’s that all about?” he asks.
“Oh, I think she likes you.” The bartender says innocently.
Clave looks away from Roni and the bartender. He focuses in on the rest of the scenery. “Sure.” Clave casually replies. He’s now sure the bartender is the type the likes to play games. Clave notices a girl who is being hassled by some sprawl punks. The bartender moves closer to Clave.
“So, you gonna save her?” Clave picks up his drink and takes a sip.
“Hadn’t planned to ... can't your big ass bouncer do that job?”A city kid at the end of the bar calls for the bartender.
“Hold on!” the bartender shouts. She then returns her attention to Clave. He is watching the city kids. None of them are standing up to the antics of the sprawl punks. “If you don’t do anything, she’s gonna be their plaything, you know.”
“Then she shouldn’t have come in here alone … the weak seeking danger.” The bartender moves in closer to Clave.
“That’s cold. She came in here with a guy but she ditched him for more excitement. I bet she'll regret that.” Clave quickly finishes the rest of his drink and turns to the bartender.
“Again, not my problem.”Clave’s communication band on his wrist beeps, an incoming message, most likely a new mission.
“It might be your problem.” The bartender whispers in Clave’s ear.
“Why is that?” Clave asks.
“Well, first, you’re drunk. And second, I bet fifty cred on you.”
Clave is confused by the comment.
“What? What do you m-mean?” Clave tries to walk away from the bar and stumbles. He looks around. He’s drunk and everyone notices. Two sprawl punks walk up to Clave.
“Where is your crew?” one of the punks says in a deep voice. Clave holds his head and tries to compose himself.
“What crew?”Clave ask as the sprawl punk grabs him by his relatively concealed battle suit. Clave quickly grabs the sprawl punk’s hand and twists it enough to break the wrist. The punk yells in agony. Clave then tries to grab him by the shoulder but he misses and stumbles past him. The sprawl punk clutches his broken wrist and runs off.
“Who the hell do you think you are?” Another sprawl punk asks. Clave tries to focus on the punk. “You listening to me? You’re in a bunch of trouble, man.” The punk says.
Clave struggles to stand on his own. The room is spinning and his balance is off. The sprawl punk swings on Clave. He sloppily dodges the punch. He then stumbles around the bar, successfully but awkwardly evading all of the punk’s punches and tackle attempts.
The sprawl punk stops to catch his breath. Clave rests on the bar counter, closes his eyes and concentrates on trying to regain his balance. After a moments rest, Clave jumps up and runs directly at the sprawl punk. The punk tries to defend against what he thinks is going to be Clave’s punch.
However, Clave attacks the punk with a powerful head-butt. The punk drops unconscious and Clave falls on top of him. Everyone in the bar stares at the spectacle. The bartender smiles. “Good job, stranger. Want another drink? On me.”
Clave stumbles to his feet. He centers himself and looks around. The room isn’t moving as much. Clave has successfully composed himself for the moment.“Sorry if I killed that guy.” Clave says. The bartender lets out a laugh.
“You’re pretty good. Let me guess … a hunter in training right?”
“Bounty hunter? No. Y-you can just call me ... call me Little Death.” Clave says. He is still tipsy and really doesn’t know what he is talking about. Clave can hear one person clapping slowly. Clave looks around its Roni.
“Little Death? Seriously?” Roni says with a grin. “Maybe I should call you little skill … or how about little talent?”
“How about you go back to your dance party before you get hurt, little girl.” Clave says
“By who? You? The guy with the two left feet.” Roni says as she approaches Clave.
“I watched that whole fight and you were terrible. Drunk or not, I could have danced circles around you. With your lack of coordination, I’m willing to bet you’re one of the worst bounty hunters out there.”
Clave leans on a nearby chair to stabilize himself. She sounds like another annoying, criticizing woman I know. Clave thinks.
“I’m not a bounty hunter.” he replies.
“Of course not. They wouldn’t take a scrub like you.” Roni replies as she walks up to the chair and kicks it from under Clave. He falls and hits the ground hard. Patrons of the bar erupt in laugher.
“I saw you scanning this bar earlier, acting as though you were above everyone in here. We have ways of dealing with people like you.” Roni says. Clave gathers himself while he is on the floor.
“Come on. Show me what you’ve got. That is unless you’re against fighting girls.” Roni says as she walks closer to Clave. If she only knew who trained me. Clave thinks. He does a leg sweep. Roni dodges it. Clave uses a nearby chair to prop himself up. Once stable, he kicks the chair at Roni. It slides along the ground fast in her direction. With her arms crossed, she stops the chair with her foot using little effort. Clave focuses in on Roni.
“I’m an equal opportunist.”
“Glad to hear.” she replies. Her confidence is appealing to Clave, it's not always a mark of a good fighter but it is a good start. Roni charges Clave, her movement is familiar. That’s how I move, except she moves much more naturally … and she has something else. Clave thinks as he analyzes her charge.
The revelation of her skill is apparent and has sobered him up a little. He wastes no time in swinging on Roni, who dodges all his punches easily. What the hell? Clave is perplexed. He can’t land any of his punches. Roni is dancing circles around him. What’s worse is, she is at close distance and Clave is a master at close quarter combat drunk or not.
Roni hasn’t thrown one punch but she has retained control the whole time. She weaves in and around Clave. The spectators watch as Clave is made a fool out of.
She toys with him as if he is a bad dance partner. Roni backs up and leaves him slightly disoriented. She yawns disappointedly at Clave.
“Seriously, I thought bounty hunters were supposed to be better than this.” Clave shakes his fist with frustration.
“I’m not a bounty hunter!” The bartender is glued to the performance. Another city kid comes up and asks for a drink.
“Buzz off! Can’t you see? Rebi is on toni
ght!” Clave overhears the bartender.
“Rebi? Why do they call you Roni? That’s a boy’s name.” Roni is irritated his remark.
“Shut up!” she as charges Clave. This time Clave tries to grab her by the shoulder but he is still slightly drunk. So he misjudges and ends up grabbing Roni’s left breast. The bartender covers her mouth and opens her eyes with shock.
She then lets out a high-pitched squeal. She laughs so hard tears are flow out of her eyes. Clave and Roni, both shocked, stare at each other for a moment. “Uh—” Clave pauses.
The situation is awkward, even for him. Roni spins out of the way. She grabs Clave’s arm and tries to toss him to the ground. Clave adapts to Roni’s move and learns how to spin with her in order to avoid falling or having his arm twisted and broken.
Roni releases his arm and tries to trip Clave using push and spin combinations. Clave quickly adapts to her moves, and he manages to avoid all of her trip attempts. Roni backs away from Clave. “I guess you don’t suck as much as I thought.” Clave stands up.
“You wish you were at my level.” Clave says with a drunken smirk.
“After all this you still have the nerve to talk shit!” Clave grins. He knows he’s getting under her skin.
“Been going easy on you. What can I say?” Clave replies casually.
“Grab her boob again! I wanna see some action!” The bartender yells. lave and Roni look at the bartender and simultaneously shout, “Shut up!” The bartender touches her chin.
“Ohh, the lovers are in sync. How cute.” The bartender says with a laugh. Roni stamps her foot.
“That’s it, I’m done playing!” Roni dashes at Clave and he prepares to defend himself. But instead of attacking, Roni grabs hold of Clave’s arm and looks into his eyes. Clave is confused. Who is this girl? He thinks. Roni begins to slowly feel Clave’s arm.
“What the hell are you doing?” Clave asks. Roni smiles as she viciously rips the com system from the arm section of his suit. She backs away and holds it up. The bartender laughs.
“Oh shit, no way!” Roni smiles as she dangles the costly piece of circuitry.
“A little trophy,” she says.
“Damn, that’s expensive! You said you where done playing.” Clave shouts. Roni dances around.
“I lied. Besides how else am I going to meet you again? Your contact info has to be imbedded somewhere in here, right? You should give it to a girl you like,” she says seductively, as she runs out of the bar.
“Wait!” Clave shouts and runs after her. He follows Roni outside and around the back of the bar. Roni runs into a dark, trash-riddled field. Clave briefly surveys the area. The field looks like it was used as a dumping place for old scraps of metal—cars, pipes, beams. After a short search, Clave spots Roni. She is standing by a huge bonfire. She is surrounded by are about fifty sprawl punks. Clave lets out a sigh.
“Great.” He approaches Roni. The others remain silent and watch Clave. He holds out his hand to Roni.
“Make it easy on yourself.” Roni laughs.
“Nothing is easy. That’s why we are here. Look around.” Clave looks at all the sprawl kids.
“They came here to learn my dance moves.” Roni says.
“Good for them.” Clave says.
“You could stand to learn a thing or two from me. You have a little potential. How would you like to join us?” Roni asks.
“No thanks. I'm more of a solo guy.” Clave replies.
“I see ... Have you ever heard of parkour?” she asks.
“No.” Clave replies in a disinterested manner. Her games are growing tiresome to him. Roni points toward the top of a hill to where a guy stands holding a flag.
“If you beat me up there. I’ll give you back your com system and you can go.” Clave crosses his arms.
“And if I don’t?”
“You come train with me. You could benefit to learn a little dance and parkour.” Roni says.
“Dance?” Clave can’t believe she would think he would like to learn such a thing.
“Dance. I think you’ll like it—and in which case. I get to keep your info.” Roni holds up his ripped-out com system piece. Clave shakes his head.
“You really want my number, don’t you?” Roni sets her eyes on the flag at the top of the hill. She crouches low to the ground and enters a starting position.
“Get ready, go!” She dashes off and the sprawl punks cheer her on. Clave takes off after her. He tries his best to navigate through the junkyard while keeping his eyes on Roni. She moves much more naturally, much more efficiently than Clave. That’s what she has! Rhythm. Clave admires Roni as she nimbly and gracefully runs through the hazardous junkyard. Roni reaches the flag first and Clave arrives just behind her.
“That sobered me up a bit,” he says while catching his breath. Roni turns to him.
“These guys live in a rough world. Being nimble and able to escape from anything helps them survive. Some of my trainees have become so valued that they’ve been scouted by the Forsaken Clan on Beta Earth.”Clave takes a good look at Roni. She is young yet she still commands the respect of all these people.
“Your trainees? Don’t you have a home or do you hang out with them all day?” Clave looks around briefly. Everyone is watching Roni and Clave speak.
“I had a home once.” Roni replies with hint of sorrow in her voice. “But when my mom, dad and baby brother died last year. I vowed to get revenge.”
“Someone killed them?” Clave asks. Roni clenches her fists.
“Some bastard blew up a Civic building killing tons of people. My family was.” Roni bites her lip and her eyes glaze but no tears fall. Clave turns his head to hide his shock from Roni. They both wait in silence. Eventually, Clave turns to leave.
“Hey, don’t you want your com system?” Roni asks. Clave turns back to Roni.
“Use it to tell me when our first training session is.”
“You serious?” Roni asks with a smile. Clave looks over his shoulder as he walks away.
“And my name is ... Clave.”
“I didn’t expect you would let me keep it. This might just be the start of a new friendship.” Roni looks at the com system piece. “See you later, Clave.”
Chapter 25
Warning
Time: Evening.
Location: Akari’s Base.
Akari enters Clave’s room and turns on the lights. Clave cringes, still hung over. “Ugh … leave them off,” he says. Akari ignores him.
“I just got done reading your latest mission specs.” Clave sits up. He squints as he tries to focus on Akari. The room lights amplify his discomfort.
“Yeah? What's up?”
“I think you should pass on this one.” Akari says. Clave struggles to look at Akari. He wasn’t to see if she is serious or not.
“Why?” Clave asks.
“Vin is dangerous. He’s not an ordinary mark.” Akari replies. Clave smiles weakly.
“That might be more of a reason to take him on.” Akari slams her fist on the desk near Clave’s bed. Clave holds his head in pain.
“This isn’t a game boy. There are no do-over's!” Akari says.
“Akari, I was under the impression that my job was to take impossible missions.” Clave pulls his covers over his head. Akari sighs leaves the room and shuts the door. She leans against Clave’s door and looks up.
“I did start this. I knew his life would be like this,” she says softly. Akari drifts into her memory. A twenty-two-year-old man sweats profusely while panting hard. His arms are bruised. He holds a beat-up broadsword.
Akari stands across from him. She throws a hand full of rocks at him. The man desperately tries to deflect the rocks using his sword. However, the task is too much for him.
He fails at the cost of sustaining further injury.“Come on you oaf! Remember what I taught you.” Akari shouts. A very young Clave sits and watches the training from a distance. Clave glances up at the purple sky and rubs his small hand in the red
dirt. He leaves his imprint in the ground next to him. Akari hurls three more rocks at the man.
He deflects one but is hit by the other two. One strikes his arm hard. He cringes with pain and falls to his knees. Akari shakes her head and sighs. “What is your problem, Sol?” Sol looks dejected.
“This is impossible!” he yells.
“I can do it.” Akari calmly says.
“That’s because you’re a freak.” Sol replies. The remark angers Akari and she throws all the stones she is holding in her hand at Sol. Sol jumps to his feet and swipes the stones out of the way using his sword. The stones scatter in a wave away from Sol. Some are directed at Akari, who easily swipes them away barehanded.
Other stones fly toward Clave, who is gazing at the sky. Akari looks over to Clave. “Boy! Look out!” she shouts. Clave turns his gaze from the sky and looks down to see stones flying in his direction. He jumps to his feet and stares at the stones. They seem to be moving in slow motion toward him. Clave instinctively dodges the stones, evading each and every one no matter the size.
Akari keeps her locked eyes on the boy. She watches in amazement as he clears the last stone without a scratch. He then looks at Akari blankly. This indicates to her that he was never worried about the outcome. Akari turns to Sol. “Training is over for today. You better practice on your own time. Next week, I’ll be using guns.”
Sol is covered in red dirt and blood. He walks down a dusty road, head hung in defeat. Akari turns to Clave. “Let’s go, boy.” Clave runs up to Akari and follows her. She looks at the top of Clave’s head as they walk. She thinks of the vow she made to his mother Rena. I promised Rena that I would protect and raise this boy to live a peaceful life. But with his ability ... is peace really in his future?
Clave looks up at Akari and smiles.
Chapter 26
Close Encounters
Time: One week later.
Location: Monorail headed toward downtown District 11.
Beta Earth: Between Worlds 2.0 Edition Page 8