+- Omni Archive (https://omni.zulenka.com)
+-- Forum: The Omniverse (https://omni.zulenka.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=4)
+--- Forum: The Tangled Green (https://omni.zulenka.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=19)
+--- Thread: Under The Cheerful Town (/showthread.php?tid=7764)
Under The Cheerful Town - Ricter - 08-07-2018
Waking up was hard on days off, mostly because you didn't want to get up, rather stay in and sleep for a couple thousand hours and hope the world just implodes or something so you didn't have to worry about going back to work. Exaggerated, but it was close enough to the truth on how Ricter felt right now as he was currently laying in his room, the door closed while the clock would show that it was well around noon and that he was in a tangled mess of pillows and blankets over his body and head. He only groaned occasionally when his internal alarm clock would tell him to get up but he would try to ignore it, waking up only too see how bright it was outside and around the room before flopping around and then finding a spot where the pillows were the coldest and laying his head on there till it eventually got warm again from his body heat.
He was only in a pare of pjs and a green shirt, seemingly having gotten some clothes to wear, or just manifested it out of nothing like he was getting more and more accustomed too by the day. It had been around 12 days since he came to this realm, and exactly the same amount of days since he walked into that porta and became one of omnis fun little play toys. Granted omni seemed like one of those guys who liked to watch rather than touch so he had no qualms with him at the moment, in fact he was starting to enjoy his life here, it was getting to become more cemented every day and the weasel was getting used to it to some degree. He still wanted to go home though, and would aim to take that chance when given the opportunity, but he was more so happy to just be alive through all the small things that have been happening.
Namely that time he fought darkspawn and ran away to safety, part of him promised he would never go there again but he kinda felt like he should, not just to practice but to also learn about that lotion and why the blight was a thing in the first place. He knew that the way to cure a blight was to fight some sleeping god thing which he had no interest in since well...it sounded pretty intimidating, but maybe if he could find a way to cure something vague like that it would warrant some form of time spent just trying to explore that place. But he wasn't dumb, and wouldn't wish to stay there for any extended period of time, especially knowing the risk's of being captured and what not so he'd stay away for the time being, maybe he could find an instructor? Those didn't come too cheep but he did have the whole week end to do stuff, so might as well find something too do.
There was also visiting all of his friends, namely Elysia, Dovan, Maurice, Luis, and even the moogle twins whom he was currently living with. Starting to get up as he was in the middle of being half asleep and awake, an annoying feeling, he would begin to look around for his hose shoes, a pare of flip flops to walk and scoot around the room in. Yawning he would go into the bathroom and take care of his daily business, brush teeth, comb hair, take a shower, use the toilet and then step out. Looking around in the pockets of his doctors coat he would try to see if he had some extra omnilium in them, like pocket change or something, he'd find a bit, but not too much. Stepping out of the room after putting on some more civilized clothes he seemed to be a lot more awake now, not groggy or reducing himself to just grunts to any form of communication.
Walking down stairs he would notice that everyone was more or less enjoying their day, Vel, a male moogle with a blue ball on his head that was still in his pjs simply watched TV. Flicking through channels and not even bothering to greet Ricter who came down as the weasel smiled. “Good morning, Vel.” He’d say as it was met with nonintellectual grunts, like a cave man was trying to speak but was too lazy to even give it much effort. Only sparking a small snicker at how lazy Vel was on the week ends, looking around his sister Vee, and the one who had a red ball on her head, wasn’t around at the moment. He could guess she was up in the attic tending to her garden maybe, or simply trying to learn more about alchemy which he grew to be very fond of and in a way was happy he was able to learn so much about it.
It was the reason why his sword was so effective at healing others, mostly poisons but still a valid improvement to its normal skills and powers. Enchanting his sword with Vel’s skills using herbs and what not, cures for virus’ and diseases, and potions to make every cut more effective than the last. For which he enjoyed improving on, if it was in defense of his friends, patients, and practically family at this point, he’ do what was needed. Walking into the kitchen area he would look around for something quick to eat, which in this case would be a banana and some toast, munching on it he would head back up stairs and see that the hatch to the attic was down, so the weasel would make his way up there. Vee would hear him coming as the steps were older and made of wood but didn’t break under the pressure he applied to them, since the two residents besides himself flew around most of the time so they never got much use.
As he walked up anyone would notice rows of plants on grated tables that took up most of the space around the attic, they went from one end to the other and most were pushed together to seem longer than they were. On each of the tables she had a potted flower bed that took up almost all the space on each table, and on closer inspection each pot had its own label to them, no instructions though, but she probably knew what she was doing to the point that watering and tending to each one was just muscle memory at this point. Above them were some hanging plants, and on the walls they had a few shelves with more herbs that were scattered there, which was where she was currently tilting her watering can over.
The moogle was similar in appearance to her brother, a gray tint to her fur while also having blue eyes, she was around 2’5 ft tall and wore a simple pare of shorts and a sleeveless shirt as she ensured her herb got watered. Above he would notice that the roof was practically a window, this place looking more like a green house than any section of a home, allowing for sun light to be let in as only the surrounding walls helped keep the place looking somewhat like a home. “Good morning Ricter, its nice to see your finally up, I was worried you were just going to sleep in on a nice day like this. How was work last night? Tiring I take it.” She would ask him as he would seem to answer back with a scratch of his head, smiling a little bit.
“Yeah, sorda, we had someone come in who was missing a liver. We don't know how but we managed to regenerate it for them. That was on top of the small out break of black mold in someones home so we had to cure that too.”
If it wasn’t clear enough already Ricter was a doctor, having gained his job a day after coming into this realm, he was quite good at his job too. Managing to save lives and even cure those who had famous illnesses and things of that nature, always looking for something else he could do to help and or solve the problems that the clinic was faced with every single day.
The turn out, at least for his personal record, was well around thirty minutes to an hour at the most, which could be scaled down if he took special attention to help make sure you were out of there quickly but he also had to go by clinic policy of triple checking and the whole ‘getting everyone’s bio’ thing was sometimes a pain when the people who just came in for a broken arm would like to leave and go back to work the same day if they just repaired it. But it was a good policy, and so he’d stick by it, in the mean time Vee would smile and nod to his previous statement, fluttering over to him as she placed down her watering can on a table.
“I’m glad you were able to help them, wow its been only two weeks almost and you’ve done so much. Are you happy you choose to stay? Most Primes are too busy wanting to try their hand at traveling around, or something like getting into trouble. N-not to say I want to keep you here, you can go places if you want, just uh I’d rather you stay safe and not get hurt, ya know?”
Her concern was valid, he didn't know any of the realms outside of this one, the weasel has heard rumors of what the other realms looked like and maybe what exotic plant life and creatures they had there. But none of that really perked his interest, if anything he liked staying in Ambrosia, it was a nice little city that accepted everyone of any affiliation. Though given the time spent here he eventually heard about certain factions, those who wanted to run entire realms or take over certain ones for their own gain.
This worried him more than anything, that they would want to come here of all places and incite some war or something horrible on the people, better yet do harm directly to people who wanted no part in their silly antics. “You worry too much about me Vee, I’m pretty hardy, its not like I can't take a punch or anything. But I’ll be careful if I have to eventually go out and do something that’s not apart of this realm, hows the herbs and plants by the way?” Taking a small look around she seemed to be harvesting a few, or was in the middle of doing so as she would smile happily at this and go to grab her basket, Ricter walked with her and watched her begin to tug at an onion and pull it strait from the soil it was inside.
“So far so good, with that moss you gave me all my herbs and plants have matured almost every other day now. Its great! Now I don’t have to wait forever to test a new potion or something I wanted to do, also means I don’t have to spend money on a plant mage for a teacher. Though I still felt some kinda allure when it comes to that, oh well.”
Not completely giving up on her idea he could guess she still wanted to try it out, maybe he’d even fund her to go and learn a thing or two, after all she was his friend and he was getting paid well enough as is so why not? Helping her collect some of her herbs and learning how to treat some plants for small things like insect bites he would wonder what kinds of potions she had in mind to make. “What were you saving up all these herbs to make? Must be a pretty big potion if your harvesting all of these.” Ricter would comment as she took out a radish and placed it into the basket.
“Well some of these are just for dinner, others are for a certain something I was cooking up, once I’m done I’ll be sure to let you try it out.” Which raised a red flag for him as he wasn't the type to just drink anything, but she would see the expression he gave and giggle, clearing up what she meant. “Don't worry silly, its nothing bad, I wouldn't drug my best friend.” Giving him a small playful nudge as they both smiled to one another.
They would spend a few minutes simply tending to plant, not really talking too much about them as Ricter surveyed her collection and would look to see just how many she had up here. Given the attic stretched as far as the house did she had enough space for around two hundred different kinds of plants and herbs, but most seemed to be of the same ‘type’, or to put it better they could only be grown in average conditions. So anything special probably wouldn’t work out in this area, carrying her basket for her as they would come down from the attic he would ask about her plants some more, thinking about something,
“Have you ever thought about making little parts of your garden different for certain plants?” He’d say in a more so odd way, but she would understand him and give her ideas back as they waked into the halls and headed down stairs, not before pulling up the trap door to the attic. So it wasn’t blocking the entire hall way.
“Oh you mean like an environmental nursery, right? I have, but again that sort of thing will cost money, so I haven’t really invested in one. The Alchemy shop has one, its fairly nice too, but I’ve always wanted to have my own, you know?”
Nodding, having anything to yourself always felt good, especially if your earned it but it seems she had expanded a nice collection over all with what ever money she had on hand so maybe she was doing well and after a year or more she could get the things she was after. Coming down stairs it would seem Vel was actually up and about now, probably having passed the point of grunting and would actually address the two as they came into the kitchen where he was and placed a basket of veggies on the counter to be cleaned.
“Afternoon, hows the farming going?” Vel would ask, the moogle seemingly drinking a bottle of orange juice with a label having his name on it. Looking at the time it was the afternoon, which only prompted Ricter to wonder what plans should he go after today, their were plenty.
“It went well!” Vee would say, his sister smiling brightly as she ran the water in the sink and began washing off some of them. “Even got a few extra mushrooms, though they might go rotten before we get a chance to eat them.” She’d mention, which was odd that a fungus could go rotten, but they were pretty special and tasted nice from the last time he had them.
But Ricter would offer a solution, “I could cook them now and give them to a friend of mine? If you don't mind Vee.” Which she wouldn’t have to think about, she always wanted to share what she grew with other people, so in this case she was more than happy to agree.
“Sure! Tell me if they like them by the way, oh wait are you heading out somewhere?” Her tone inquisitive as Vel would look over to the two of them, not saying much but Ricter would answer back.
“Mhm I am, decided that I should go visit my friends, see what they were up too. Might even do a quest or two that's on the bulletin board.” Which was a simple board outside in the middle of town for people to place their problems and concerns for a price, it was nothing too amazing but it warranted some looking into as the missions varied and plenty of groups, solo adventurers and rescue teams looked into it every day to see what was on it.
“If you are you can take my mission if you want, my boss has been wanting to find an object that summons creatures. Said it would really make business boom if he could copy its effects and have it to where people can just make their own helpers, kinda skeptical about that since it sounds like he’s trying to fire me but I’ll say he’s probably got something else in mind.”
Hearing out his story he would think that kind of thing would be hard to find, a device or object that summons creatures? Eh, didn’t seem that hard to think of, but Vel’s boss did own the enchantment shop in which Vel was just a simple clerk, so maybe having that he could sell better wares, “Sure I’ll keep an eye out for something like that, so would any kind of item like that do the job?” Ricter would ask as Vel shrugged.
“Beats me, but I guess it would, though I think he might be interested in having a monster spawner, the stuff in games that immediately pop out monsters after a certain amount of time.” His example seemed to be a bit more spot on now, but seemed a tad dangerous too, since if he would have to find a monster spawner then he’d have to fight what ever it spawned. Hopefully it spawned nice butterflies, or harmless critters than some big fat ogre or giant that could step on him and flatten the weasel like a pancake.
Still, “I’ll keep my eyes open for one if I plan on leaving the city.” He’d say while taking the mushrooms and beginning to cook them, adding a bit of seasoning and herbs as both Vel and Vee instructed him prior on how to prepare this kind of meal.
While cooking he knew just who to go too first, and who would probably enjoy what he was preparing for them a lot as well. After all she did say to stop by for tea, though he hoped it was actually tea and wouldn’t taste horrible but he held faith that it wouldn’t be that, now finished after around five or so minutes of cooking he would place it into a container and then into his bag as he looked towards Vee who was still cleaning and snipping off a leaf or two and Vel who was flying upstairs to probably get changed.
“Alright see you two later, I’ll call you if anything happens!” Ricter stated as he would walk towards the door and grab his sword off the rack that was placed on the side of the wall for easier access.
“Okee dokee, see you later Ricter!” Vee would say as her brother followed, calling out from down the hall up stairs, loud enough to still hear, “Be careful if your taking missions off the board!” Which he appreciated the concern but he knew well enough to be careful when it came to anything like that. Waving good bye though he would soon open the door and walk outside, the air was as clean as it always was, a tad humid but he got over that some days ago while the sun was bright and shinny today.
RE: Under The Cheerful Town - Ricter - 08-07-2018
Amborsia was fairly nice today, sure it wasn’t a massive city but small enough to make a community while large enough to warrant its own space and its own independence from the other tribes, settlements, and natural cities that dotted the Tangled Green. Walking along the cobble stone streets and looking around he’d notice exactly what he was looking for not too far from the house, it was actually right around the corner.
It was a man hole cover, which seemed odd that he was looking for this but he clearly had something in mind, taking a moment to adjust himself he cleaned up very well for this as well as even grabbed his favorite vanilla scented candles to maybe stifle the stench from down there. It might seem bad to burn anything down there but he was ensured by Vee that this brand of vanilla was the best he could get before he bought it so as he pried the manhole cover to the side and would look down into the dark abyss bellow he would soon climb down the latter and close the cover over top of himself.
It was just as bad as any normal sewer, everything from the walls showing age and some mold too the sloshing green river in the middle that he wouldn’t dare to walk in or near as he almost hugged the wall. Whom ever he was visiting was down here that was for sure, and as he walked along he would have an almost practiced route of which ways he needed to go too, making lefts and rights till finally he came to what seemed like a door that blocked the passage of even the sewage. The door was on either side of the walk way, making for two of them, and all the while a wall protected from going inside, they had a grate along the river section which pulled things in but didn’t pump it back out anywhere.
But this was exactly the place he needed to go too as he would knock on the door with a few hard bangs, the weasel would feel that it was made out of metal and would echo around him as Ricter was still holding his breath and nose ever since he got in here. Only daring to take maybe one or two quick huffs once his face was turning blue before going back to holding it all in, he’d probably need another shower after this. After around twenty or so seconds someone would eventually answer the door, seemingly happy to see someone on the other side that was different as they spied through a sliding peep hole.
“Huh? Who’s that on the other end? You don't look like rat-foke to me, we actually got top side visitors for once?” The voice sounded like a male and Ricter would simply say, “Yeah, I’m Ricter, Elysia’s friend. Let in please?” His English was broken since he was holding his nose, plus every word he said would mean he needed to breath in, which he hated. This only gained a laugh from the voice on the other side.
“Haha! Guess that stench isn’t something your used too yet, one second we need to go over a few things.” The silence would last for well around a minute or so, but Ricter would survive, opting to just taking deep sniffs of the candles in his bag, sighing as they were pretty amazing. Even eliminated the odors a bit too, but he didn’t light them. The weasel was wondering what was going on, even placing his ear on the door, hearing two people talk with one another, it sounded almost like a phone call of some kind, which was probably in relation to himself but he wasn’t here to cause trouble. Eventually the voice would get back to him on the other side, advising him.
“Alright you can come in, don’t cause any trouble though, ya hear?” Which gained a couple quick nods from the weasel as the door would open and he would scuttle on inside. First thing he noticed was the rat that had opened the door, he was half his size almost and standing at around three feet tall, he was wearing a type of night watchman's guard outfit. More so made of aluminum instead of metal or leather, on closer inspection it was actually made out of recycled cans but looked like whom ever crafted it folded it over a couple dozen times. It probably wouldn’t even block the blunt side of his sword but maybe an arrow or two would be stopped from it, the rat though would smile and give a small wave to the weasel as he entered and then he’d close the door as their seemed to be another watchman near by.
“Head down this path, once you reach the end you’ll be in town, be sure to enjoy your stay. Typically we don’t let people not from here to the city, but I just got the ‘OK’ to open the door for you.” The guard stated as Ricter appreciated the consideration, feeling quite special from it.
Immediately he’d feel the air less foggy and more so cleaner here, like he wasn’t still in the tunnel of a sewer at all but instead maybe a simple industrial city, still plenty of pollution but it was deluded to the point of not being noticeable if you lived in a city for a while. Taking a few deep breaths he would shiver and shake off the sensation of what his nose had to go through for the past couple minutes before just walking down the tunnel. It would seem that this tunnel was built into the main sewer system, hence the doors they had placed up, probably finding a dead end and going from there, around him he’d notice that rocks and things of that nature were compacted and kept the whole thing from collapsing all together.
It sloped downwards, leading him deeper and deeper into the earth as the air was replaced with an earth like taste, still not as bad as it could be but it made breathing a little hard till he felt small air shafts blowing in air from probably above which he’d stop and stand by one to not get light headed. It seemed whom ever built this tunnel was fairly good at mining and knew what was needed for being down here, but as he came up to a light at the end he would notice something truly amazing, nothing he’d ever expect to be under Ambrosia.
In front of him was a large cavern, around the size of four or five football stadiums put together. Above on top of what seemed like a massive dome was a large crystal, giving light to the whole area bellow as it glowed a lime green color and made everything else give a green tint bellow. Which as he looked around he’d notice that he wasn’t in some underground cavern any more.
Laid out in front of him was a sprawling town with people seemingly working and going from place to place, however the people here weren't just people of all kinds of species they were majority rats, mice, and anything bug like that seemed to not mind being under ground. Small steam stacks would rise from many of the buildings, which all were made of some metal or aluminum mix that was probably flushed down here and recycled. In fact as he looked to the left he’d notice the sewage stream from before, but now as a waterfall, being poured into a collection area, which began processing a more clear water that serviced as an underground river and flowed through the town.
Above he would see large open tunnels, dotted all along the dome as they seemed like entrances and exits to places but no would could reach them besides maybe things that flew and if you walked along the long walk ways that seemed to hug along the dome’s inner walling. But he’d find out what the large tunnels were for as the place began to rumble and shake, he’d almost trip over on himself as he caught his footing, and noticed a massive worm like monster exiting one of the holes. He would have drawn his sword and prepared for battle if not for everyone seeing this as normal as the worm flew out of the tunnel at amazing speeds, going across the top of the city and entered another one as the rumbling continued but ended as it left this area.
This place seemed so trippy, he never seen anything like this before, and as he walked forward and down the steps leading from the tunnel it would seem he would get the same treatment as well. He was taller than most of the people here, besides the man sized roaches that walked around on two of their many legs, as he came down into a rocky street many residents would point and stare at the weasel, some whispering things, others simply giving a glance and then going back to work.
He didn’t know what to think, much less did he feel like he was in danger, after all their whispers and looks didn’t give off a plotting vibe, more so treating him like an exotic animal if anything. Along this main street though he would see many food stands as well as stores, from clothing which was recycled from clothes people wore but dumped and resold, too craftsmen that melted aluminum into furniture. He’d even take a brief moment too look at a near by restaurant, seeing what they might have as the cook there would grin, “Hello there above worlder, see anything catching your eye?”
He was wearing an apron, ripped and tattered in some places and obviously too big for him so it was cut in half at the bottom. Which seemed to be a common fad as most people wore those kinds of clothes, either too big and cut to made them fit, or made just for them by a tailor probably living down here. The menu though seemed to not favor him though, grubs, meal lice, even maggets for the ‘main meals’. While the side menus seemed more docile having potato’s, mushrooms, water for drinks, and something called a ‘Calisto’, which perked his attention as he pointed. “Whats that?”
The rat would look over, stroking his whiskers before saying, “That, my friend, is the best kinda moss you can have, its actually quite popular as you can see.” Taking a brief moment to look around it seemed like a lot of people did buy it, it was cheep too and didn’t cost him much at all. In fact everything down here was very cheep, granted poor quality but what could you do when your main import is sewage, giant worms as thick as sky scrapers, and aluminum cans?
Mulling it over he would smile and say, “I’ll take it!” Sure he might not eat it but maybe Elysia would enjoy it, who knows, either way the man would soon nod and go off to his grill and begin cooking it up. Pulling the moss off a rock that seemed to grow the moss rather quickly, he’d begin to add herbs he never seen before and seasonings that were crud but worked well given he was essentially cooking moss.
Beside him he’d feel someone tug on his pants leg, making him look down as a small little boy was looking up at him, smiling as his mother was near by and would ask him a question. “I’m sorry, he just really wanted to talk too you, I hope you don't mind.” She’d say, a bit embarrassed by that’s how things are when your a parent.
“Oh? Its no problem, ma’am. Hey there little one, what did you wana ask me?” He’d bend down, even as he took a knee he was eye level with the mother and still taller than the boy who was half of her height all together. Being a cute little white mouse he would smile and soon ask, pointing.
“I um...can I touch your tail, please?” Flustered he seemed to be adorable in his delivery but as he mentioned this he would pull his tail around, it was quite large and poofy, which he had done on purpose.
Mostly because he enjoyed it being that way, and gave his fur a softer look as he would turn to his side and say, “Sure you can, just don't get lost in it haha.~” For which the mouse boy would soon give a soft cheer and jump on his tail, given the size different he could almost get lost in his fur completely.
Smiling and nuzzling the fur as he hugged it, “Its like the best pillow ever mama...can we keep him?” He’d say cutely as she would giggle and pat his little head, “Sorry but we can’t keep him, he’d not a pet after all.”
Smiling to his reaction which both Ricter and the mother could understand he would given a pouty, “Aww...but he’s way softer than my toys...” He seemed sad but he would soon feel the weasel begin patting him on the head.
“Your mothers right, besides if my visit go’s well I wouldn’t mind coming back down again. Maybe you will get to hug my tail then?” The weasel would offer which seemed to spark a smile and look of elation in his eyes.
“Really?!” The mouse said as Ricter nodded, “Yep, just be good to your mom and stay out of trouble, okay?”
The deal was made which the boy happily accepted as he was eventually pried off by his mother, “Deal! Bye Mr. Fuzzy! I hope I can hug you again soon!” He’d say as the woman would smile and hold her child's hand, taking him away as they walked along.
RE: Under The Cheerful Town - Ricter - 08-07-2018
The little event drew the eye of people waiting in line for their food, some giving an ‘Aww that was cute’, style gaze while other teens and kids wanted to try their hand at touching him as well. Making him wonder if anything with soft fur was a rare site down here, probably given a lot of the common folk tended to wear just left overs. But he began to notice just hos impoverished everything was around here, maybe he was in the slums, but from the view up above this seemed kinda the same everywhere else. But his attention would be brought back to the vendor who would call out.
“One Calisto special, nice and hot with your name on it, enjoy my friend.” He’d say with a gruff voice as Ricter happily accepted the container, not looking inside as it had a unique smell too it.
“Thanks, have a nice day.” Before he’d walk away, but not before looking into the little box eventually as he had to see what exactly it looked like while sucking up burning his nose hairs for a few seconds. What he saw was what looked like moss layered with cut up peppers and seemingly some kind of meat bellow it, it looked like actual meat instead of something like a grub or any worm based critter.
It smelt nice too, nothing too amazing but enough to warrant a taste test later on but for now he wouldn't eat and walk, instead he had an entire town to explore and unlike Amborsia which he was used too by now, this was new and exciting but he would have to contact his friend eventually. He couldn’t just come down to visit and not take her up on the offer she gave him not too long ago, it would be rude.
Sending her a text he would type out that he was here in the town now, she had given him directions to the underground city but after that she just told him that they would meet up at a spot she’d pick out for them. Very vague which made him wonder if it was alright to come down here, and if this place actually existed but as he could see it was very much a real location. Walking along he would notice that the streets were made of gravel and dirt, not too flat but not very fun to walk on, but he could see why as for a ‘bus’ rats would jump on what looked like a giant centipede, something that would probably freak out many people with bug phobia’s as its many legs wiggled around.
A few chairs had been strapped to the creatures back and a rat would be on top of its head as they seemed to be the bus driver, accepting Omnilium for a ride which looked like a minuscule amount, around 0.5 or 0.10 in conversion. The passengers would climb up along some of the legs which straitened out to make a sort of sloped ramp and as they all buckled in the ‘bus’ would ‘chitter’ and soon begin skittering along he streets.
Taking a picture as he found this to be quite amazing and pretty adaptive for the race of people down here, he would soon begin to head towards what he could guess was town hall, the second most biggest building down here.It was large but no bigger than maybe five of the houses he has seen put together. In addition most houses were made of metal, aluminum, or even mud huts, while this one seemed to be made of bricks and mortar, was even painted a nice white and brown. It was in the middle of a public square, where most people walked past with out caring to look at it, while others were just relaxing and feeding the ants crumbs. Coming up to a news paper stand he would buy a paper from the woman there, opening it up to see maybe what was the public news around here.
“The Simon family charged with disorderly conduct again, the families ties with a local mob group The Rat Pack seem to grow deeper however local law enforcement are unable to charge them for crimes…” Ricter would read out loud, this interested him a tad but also taking it for what it was worth. He didn’t think a mafia crime organization was ever needed, they operated on a fear basis most of the time and the weasel believed that money should be given to everyone rather than collected and pulled from the people to support one families wishes. Almost like a kingdom but ran by goons, so hopefully he’d get to avoid any of that non-since, after all he came down for tea and to enjoy his time with Elysia for a day or two.
Eventually though he would get a text back from Elysia, telling him. “Hi sweetie, sorry I’m working at the moment, if you don’t mind sticking around I’d love to meet up later. I’ll even chip in for a hotel for the night if you wana stay for a while, the one on the corner of Ferguson and Lamina I’d recommend. Its the best that money can buy, as I’m sure a doctor like yourself wont have any trouble affording anything down here. My house is a mess so I can’t let you stay in such a bad place. Any case I’ll call you when I’m off, should be fairly soon I hope, I wish I could have been there to introduce you to the town but alas I get busy a lot. See you soon, sweetie.” It was a long message but seemed she was using the talk to text feature, fairly high tech.
Sad he couldn’t see her sooner he would be fine with getting a hotel for the night if it seemed she would be gone for that long, guess he’d have to take a rain check on Vel’s little quest but he had about four days worth of time off. So maybe he’d spend a night here and go home in the morning, though he hadn’t planned on it, it would be fine and he’d be happy to spend some time talking with his friend. Walking down the side of the streets he would continue to gain the eye of many residents, seems he was quite new to them, which he guessed it was because he was taller than most of those around him. But it could be other reasons he wasn’t aware of, so as he used the GPS feature on his phone he would eventually figure out where this place was, which was located on a very busy corner.
This part of town looked like the high end of the settlement, people wearing nicer clothes, wearing jewelry made of real gold as if they belonged to a rich family of some kind. Around this part of town he could see a large casino right across the street from a hotel and further down the large mansion not too far away, maybe four or five blocks down. Looks like this was where people went to spend their money, and in some cases lose it, but he had no intention of gambling. He never found the act to be attractive at all, nor the thrill, if he won he won, if he lost he hated that he lost money and wasted time doing something that didn’t deserve his money.
But this was different, currency was omnilium, something that can be made and recovered over time, here a man could make himself into a millionaire if he tried hard enough. Though he could guess the casino was very much stacked against the players favor, so he wouldn't bother stopping there and would instead make his way to the fancy looking hotel on his right. It was made out of bricks, having glowing neon signs and looked fairly high class, like something you’d see in a city top side but of course sections of it looked like plated metal on the sign. While the building itself looked well kept, as if hired workers ensured that the building would stay as high quality as possible.
Walking inside as he went through the double doors, the door handle looking like the head of a generic bronze rat face. The lobby to the hotel was nice, paintings of the owners were all around, a man in a suit as well as a woman who seemed to be in a lovely black dress that made her look thin. Both being rodents but he still appreciated the pictures as well as the bubbling fountain that was in the middle, having no real defining features besides a few fish looking designs carved into it as it seemed to be made of nice marble. Walking towards the front desk a man would be there, glasses on his face as he wore a blazer and tie, a bronze colored name plate was on his chest having the name ‘Mitchael’.
“Hello s- oh! I almost didn’t notice whom I was talking too, hello sir. Would you like a room tonight?”
He seemed surprised he wasn’t looking at anyone that wasn’t a rat, maybe weasels were super rare down here, but he was happy for it, made him feel special as the Ricter smiled. “Its fine haha, and yes how much is it for each night?”
“Well its around 10 omnilium per night or 20 gold.” Cheep, at least for him, probably for others this was about a weeks worth of meals. But he’d offer the omnilium on demand, which the rat would smile and take it.
“Okay, please give us a name for the room?”
Ricter would only point to the last name on his jacket, “Casenger.” The rodent smiled and nodded, typing it into his computer before handing him a key card to his room, having the number 310.
“Thank you, I hope you have a nice stay sir.” He’d say to him as Ricter would look over the key card, it looked fairly normal, a bronze color with a golden rim, plastic and light weight it had the words “The Big Cheese” over it, more than likely the name of the hotel. Walking through the building he would get eyes from many of those around him, people in fancy dresses and tuxes or suits probably heading to the gambling hall later, he had no intention of going there but if it was apart of Elysia tour he wouldn’t mind checking it out. Walking up a winding stair-well to get to the third floor he’d take a moment to appreciate how nice this building was, very fancy, maybe a bit too much for his own tastes but not gaudy bad.
As he came to his room he would swipe the key card on the door, entering into his suite as when he walked in he noticed just how nice it was for such a low price. Their was a large bed off to the left hand side, queen sized in comparison to his own body but probably massive for the rats that used it. The bathroom was large enough to be normal for him, he could at least sit in a tub but as he looked around he saw a standing shower to the side of the door. Additionally the room had a small kitchen and finally a closet and small living space with a couch, fire place, and TV. Hell this place was better than peoples own homes in the slums, but this was pretty nice and he was kinda glad Elysia had told him to come here but he was practical in mind so he didn’t need this much space.
It might just be Elysia’s tastes, either way he would soon drop his sword on the side of the bed, flopping down and sighing as he fell on the spring mattress, the bed was soft and fluffy. The covers felt cool, which was nice in comparison to how warm it was down here, he’d snuggle into one of the pillows, nuzzling it as his poofy tail wagged, he wondered when his friend would get here but for now he’d just relax and maybe get changed out of his clothes. They kinda smelt a little bad and luckily for him there was a tub to wash everything in and dry them off near the window.
After relaxing for a good half an hour he would pull off his shirt and jacket, he kept on a long sleeve shirt under everything, it was light and made of silk while he would also toss his pants into the tub as well. Manifesting some soap he would scrub along his clothes, ridding it of the stench of the sewers he was in only an hour or so ago. Once it was done he would hang it up to dry, lighting the fire place with some flint near by to add some warmth and to maybe dry them a bit faster.
Placing the food he had gotten for Elysa into the fridge he hoped she would be hungry when she came over, but if not he could always taste it himself, especially the mushrooms since those were his second favorite type of food. A shower was needed for sure and as he jumped in and ensured his body smelt just as nice as when he left, he’d step out and toss on some clothes. Walking to his bed though he would soon go to sleep for now, or at least take a small nap, he had spent a bit walking and didn’t have much he wanted to do, it wasn’t night time or anything but above the crystal was a little dimmer in this location, probably to show a more ‘night time lime light’ feeling for those wishing to gamble.
RE: Under The Cheerful Town - Ricter - 08-07-2018
While Ricter was enjoying his nap only four blocks away a two story building would be the focus, the building had tinted windows which looked clear on one side but completely being blackened out on the other. Similar to a hotel in looks from the outside it was made out of wood and brick, including the front door which men and women would exit out of the building occasionally.
On the inside their was a front desk clerk, a large insect man wearing nothing but a simple top hat, he was a scarab beetle, having a lovely shade of blue over his body while also being about the size of an average 14 year old male. Slowly he would polish his counter as a number of ladies in dresses, all having the same uniform on would begin polishing the other tables, all different species it would seem, from curvy mantis’ to rats of various sizes and builds, and some males too.
The establishment seemed to be lively still, the ground floor was wide open, dotted with round tables with 6 chairs each, while the sides had soft cushion sofas in corners of the room where anyone could sit down. Nearly a quarter of the seats were filled, many of the customers were drinking, while eyeing a girl they liked, even bringing them to sit in their lap for a sly hand to move somewhere it didn’t belong but the ones in dresses never pulled away. Almost inviting the touch with a shy wave, or a gently slap to the mans face which only made him hunger for more.
Laughing and jubilation was loud around here, most of the customers seemed to be men with a bit of money, drinking or escorting a girl or man up stairs to the second floor which was lead by a large stair case that could fit three people going up and down it at one time. The second floor was dotted with rooms, almost fifteen in total, all of them were clumped together and would seem to be small, having just a single double sided bed, and an end table with a lamp on it. The same blacked out windows that peered down into the open streets bellow were here, a coat hanger near the entrance, and a sofa like chair in one side of the room.
The bathroom was small, could barely fit two people in it but had the basics of a toilet, a shower, a sink, and mirror. While the shower was a stand in shower with a clear glass finish but no curtain there at all, but in moving out of the rooms one particular room would have a drunken rat stumbling out of it, burping and clearly intoxicated as he wore a brown jacket and white dress shirt, his attire was in shambles, messy and unkempt, he made his way down stairs.
Waving to the beetle at the front, calling out, “See ya next week Carl!” Grinning ear to ear as the beetle would give a wave with one of his arms, “See yah, and don’t go running in the streets again ya bludgeon drunk!” His tone was friendly, almost like playfully scolding him for his previous actions as the rat waved it off. “Yeah yeah I gotcha, your sounding a lot like my ex-wife.”
The two would laugh before the rat made his way out, taking a hit from a whiskey bottle he had in his inner left hand side pocket in his jacket, his movements slow but enough to keep him steady as he made his way out of the building. Walking out of the same room soon after as she would adjust the shoulder strap on her dress a large rodent would come out, she seemed to be quite a bit bigger than the others around, being at around 4’6” inches tall. As for her weight given how her dressed seemed to spill out around her hips and her chest seemed to be sizable as well she could be well around 140 lb easily, but by no means was she overly fat as the weight seemed to hit her curves in all the right places.
Walking down after she closed the door, taking a key and locking the door she would walk towards the steps and right up to the beetle near the front door, placing the key down. “Hm? Calling it quits already? Don’t tell me tired you out that much.” Carl said to the woman who was nearly at eye level with him.
“Yes, I have an engagement with a friend of mine, he just got into town and I rather not be late for it..” She’d say back as Carl snickered, if he had a mouth he’d be smiling but his mandibles did an alright job of trying.
“Heh, never known you to be one to do work outside of the club.” Which his remark would seem to spark a frown on her features, her gray fur and cream colored nose would scrunch to this in slight disgust.
“He is much too sweet for those kinds of actions, besides he’s unlike many down here, he’s from above ground.”
“Above ground? You know The Pack wont like that, they hate anyone coming down here to do anything.” He seemed concerned, almost a little fearful which only made her scoff.
“Yes but he’s only here on business, and that business is mine, not theirs. He wont be staying long, if anything he may just wish to leave after the night is done, so your worry is of little concern Carl.” Her tone was sassy almost, but not in an aggressive way, she seemed to speak in an intellectual tone, having an almost British accent that was from an older woman.
As she flayed out her hand fan and began blowing air to her face Carl would sigh and simply say, “Just be careful, don’t want you getting into trouble from showing some one from above down here.” Which she would give a soft smile and turn around.
“I’ll be back in some few hours, feel free to hand the key off to someone else.” The beetle would take the key she left on the counter before he would call out, “Emily!” A small stature mouse girl would soon perk up and come over, seemingly another younger rat, much slimmer than the one that just left.
“Here’s a key, if you got a client better go take em’ to a room. Your going to be covering for Elysia.” For which she nodded and scampered up stairs, a look of pure innocence on her face but she would listen to her boss, not speaking though.
The woman would soon make her way out of building and down the street, the sign “The Twisted Tail Club” would blink behind her as Elysia made her way to the hotel in which Ricter was currently napping in. The woman would get whistles from a few men who she ignored, many of which seemingly fine with flirting openly along the street with her as she would walk into a small shop before heading to the hotel. The shop was nice over all, having an old English flare to it, while also being a place she came too very often.
The store smelled of fresh cigars and wine, it looked to be a gentle mans club for smoking as clouds were all around, many of those here enjoying the taste and flavor of them while sitting at round tables scattered around the shop and sipping wine. Ahead in the back of the establishment a wall behind a counter showed all the cigars, some wine bottles, which had a very high price on each, and what she was looking for, a box of orange flavored tea.
Paying the clerk with what seemed like gold pieces the man would take her box and place into into a bag, offering it to Elysia as she smiled and gave a soft nod. She’d make her way out soon after, not wishing to stay in and have her clothes smell like cigar smoke given some people didn’t enjoy that smell too much. With the promised tea in hand she would begin making her way towards the hotel again, only two blocks away.
Walking up to the clerk she would smile and gently tap the bell which the male there would smile, flustering as she would ask, “Hello there sweetie, I wanted to ask if you see someone very special come into the building? A tall weasel, maybe even wearing a doctors jacket?”
Her tone seemed more flirtatious, smiling and leaning on the counter, thanks to her size her bosom would press against it, making it seem a lot bigger than it was. The clerk would blush more to this, his eyes tracing along her body but looking down to his computer.
“Oh um yes I did, is he a client of yours Ms. Elysia?” He’d ask, which his eyes darted up to her eyes once she began speaking.
“No, just a friend of mine, may I get a key please~?” She’d ask which the male would scratch his head, typing with one hand for a second.
“Well…um normally I’m not supposed too but uh I guess I could for you.” Her soft flirting seemed to work as he would pull out a key card to Ricters room, handing it to her.
She’d accept it and place it between her cleavage, the card vanishing in her fur as she smiled and stood up strait again and stopped leaning on the counter, “Thank you honey, and don’t worry I wont tell a soul, bye bye sweetie.” With that she would give a little wave and make her way up stairs. Minutes later she was swiping her way into Ricters room, walking in silently with out actually knocking, making her way inside she would quickly find the sleeping weasel, curled up in a fluffy looking ball as his tail made for a nice blanket for him over all. She’d smile and feel her heart swell, he was adorable and honestly she wouldn’t mind laying on him, using them as a pillow, instead gentle pats on the head seemed less rude.
“So cute, makes me feel bad about waking him up.” Whispering she would scratch along his head and big ears, ruffling his hear as he began to slowly open his eyes, “Time to wake up sweetie, I’m sure the walk here wasn’t long enough to tire you out this much.” She said as he soon began to get up fully, but as he did so he seemed surprised that she was in his room as he flinched but didn’t reach for his weapon, the voice was familiar enough for him to not react in a hostile manner. He was just startled since he realized he was in a locked hotel room but she managed to get in as he spoke, “H-how did you--” She’d cut him off by pulling out a card from her chest.
“Asked a friend to give me one, I’d hope to have caught you doing something more than looking like a cute doll on the bed. Though it is very nice to see you again too, Dr. Casenger.” Drawing a pout from him as he groaned, but would start to move towards the edge of the bed she was currently standing at.
“So if I was doing something else?…” He’d seem to lead on as she would smirk and look to the side, tilting her head up and waving her fan in her face.
“Well then that would be a secret for me and you alone, so, have you enjoyed your stay so far? I’d hope so, the city is quite kind in the slums area to new comers if memory serves me right..” He would begin to get up while she was talking, taking a few steps back, she was about as tall as his chest, and a lot bigger than most rats but he would stretch and yawn as he looked down.
“Yeah the people were actually really nice, even had a kid hug my tail, oh yeah I got you something.” Walking over he would go into the fridge and pullout the dish he made as well as the thing he bought as her nose sniffed the open air and she walked over. Stomach growling as even if it wasn’t warm she could pick up the scent.
“A Calisto? Just for me? Ha, normally I’d got out to a fancy restaurant on the first date but this is a welcomed change, I haven’t had one in so long-- since I was a child in fact…but what of this though? Mushrooms?” She questioned.
Ricter would smile and place them into the microwave, heating them up as he looked back to the woman, “Mhm, made them myself, besides meat I love mushrooms! I’m sure you’ll like how I cooked them.” Or at least he hoped so.
She would stop him however before he would press the button on the microwave, adding “Wait, even though I am feeling pretty peckish I have to put on the tea, In order to get it just right it needs to brew for over an hour or so. So if to only enjoy our food with our tea, as it should be, I wished to take you on a small tour round town.”
It would seem she planned out everything, at least the tea part as she was already beginning to brew it. She’d pull the small box out of the bag it was in, lifting open the lid only to let the aroma of tea mixed with orange flavoring out as Ricter walked over, sniffing and enjoying it a lot. He’d smile as she would begin to take a tea pot and fill it with water, then finally she’d make sure that that the small herbal bag was placed in the water and the fire was on a very low simmering temperature. Once she was done she’d turn to Ricter who was going through things in his bag, bringing them over as he pulled out candles and a bottle of sake, something he had gotten from Marisa not too long ago but choose to keep and only refill any time he went to a store related to where she came from. This alone made him wonder about visiting her one day, maybe he’d be able too if he found out where she stayed at? She wore that odd golden badge thing, so she was apart of a faction, but he had yet to look it up, regardless as he came over to the table with these things Elysia would smile.
“Seems I wasn’t the only one prepared, alcohol and candles? Are you thinking your going out on a date with me?”
“Haha, it dose look like that doesn't it? I brought the candles because of the whole sewer thing, and I like having my room smelling like vanilla most of the time, helps me relax. As for the sake I got it from a friend, its great, but we can try it out once we get back.”
Elysia would agree to this, thinking it was a pretty good idea to go about trying the tea and the thing Ricter brought too, but for now since the tea was brewing she would soon be making her way to the door.
“So, did you have any places you’d like to visit sweetie? I am a very capable tour guide. Plus I know that you’d hate to be cooped up in your room for our visit, granted I can make being cooped up here quite enjoyable.” Her offer would stand as he would think about it, he knew very little about this place over all, only knowing block by block memories of where he just came from and maybe how to get back to the surface world again.
But over all the city was unknown to him, and he would be happy to explore it with her, “None that come to mind, but you know the town better than me, mind giving leading me around just the big places in town?” Smiling, he didn’t offer an answer for her half flirting nature, but she seemed almost innocent in doing it, as if It was just apart of her personality.
Still as he said yes she would grin, unlocking the door, “Very well, you may want to get some clothes on before we go, and feel free to leave the white coat, it gets quite warm down here.” Gesturing towards his shorts and shirt combo he got the idea and would actually get some stuff on now.
“Yeah.” He’d regress to saying, walking over to his pants he would pop them on and change his shirt, nice and dry thanks to the fire place but he’d be more or less ready. “Oh wait!” As she would open the door Ricter scampered over to grab his sword, he rarely thought he needed to use it but he knew full well to not leave it around, so he’d carry it on his back.
“Really now? You couldn't bring anything more inconspicuous for a weapon? Oh well…Just don’t go swinging it around ‘willy nilly’ please.” She’d complain a bit but he would shrug, unable to really do anything about it as he would walk with her to the door now.
“I mean its not that bad, besides no body really looked scared of it when I came into town.”
“That might be true but just be sure to keep it inside of its sheath, the rules can be a little different down here.” this comment made him wonder what exactly are the ‘rules’ down here, but he would leave that for a question to talk about later. Probably when they actually began walking and what not.
Opening and then locking the door behind him he would ask another question, “So how have you been Elysia? I wanted to visit sooner for the tea you offered but I got a bit busy with work.” Making small talk they would walk down the hall, towards the elevator, and head out the front door of the hotel in the mean time.
“Its been as well as it can be, I’ve been working as you can guess, as for everything else it’s…Pleasant. But try not to worry about me, how about yourself? You’ve been every interested in me but you rarely talk about yourself.”
Her remark was correct, Ricter wasn’t the type to ever worry about himself, more so worry about everyone else as he had no personal interest in himself for showing off aspects of himself, besides the ones that counted that is. But he would go along with it and maybe talk about himself for a little bit.
“I haven’t done too much, mostly dealing with some poison cases, and people who have lost limbs, simple things really. I haven’t been working too hard after what happened when the clinic was plagued with a virus, to put it simply we figured out a cure for it which made me happy no one had to die.“ He’d mention, smiling as it was partly thanks to him and he was proud of that, but at the same time it was impossible not to credit everyone else, especially Dr. Sorrel who had the idea in the first place.
RE: Under The Cheerful Town - Ricter - 08-07-2018
Elysia seemed impressed over all, she knew he was a doctor but he seemed quite good at his job, she’d remember to come to him if she wanted a check up of some kind. But she was hardly interested in the type of ‘check up’ that some men were only interested in, “My aren’t you accomplished.”
A complement was thrown as they walked through the main lobby of the hotel and out the front door, the roads not as busy as they were some few minutes ago, probably because it was well into the afternoon by now but with the lighting in this part of town it always looked like night time.
Walking with her the two would be going down the main street, the one that lead towards the mansion that was only a few blocks away, they would walk past what seemed like a bank, a few fancy looking restaurants, and finally a large casino that he noticed not too long ago when he first got here.
Aside from that the rest of the buildings were apartment like in nature, and even so they would nearly walk past the Twisted Tail, which Ricter would give a glance too but turn away from, he could tell what the establishment was at just a glance but disregarded it as just being a place to not go too.
“Looks like this is the ‘night life’ section of the city, who lives down there by the way?” He’d point as he made a small observation of the large mansion up ahead, looking over to Elysia as she spoke in a plain manner.
“The Simon family, they run everything in the city pretty much, from the casino’s, hotels, nearly everything.”
This surprised Ricter as by what she described it was like this one family owned the whole town, which given the name Simon came up again he was reminded of the paper, of the rat holding a key to the city basically as the image in the news paper showed. Maybe it was more symbolic than he first thought, “So this is more like a kingdom.”
His remark ran true in some facets but Elysia would respond quickly to it, “Yes and no, we have a mayor, but he’s paid by the family to support policies they like, politics and what not sweetie. So while we have the look of being a happy little town down here, not everyone has an opportunity to do what they want, take it from me.”
Her eyes trailed down to the ground for a second, but it was quickly corrected, so quickly that Ricter didn’t even notice it as he was looking around, enjoying the night time vibe this place gave off as well as the lights from restaurants and buildings around them.
“The Simon family has been in control for years, well around three or so now, once Ambrosia was made they had to move their waste somewhere, so this town was made after the first few leaders came into power. That mansion was literally built before city hall, the person who first came down here to craft this city was actually a prime, he made some of the residents, even set up a system to where the sewage could be processed and simple goods could be used for the better. However one day he just vanished, rumors say it was him wishing to leave it all behind, but most believe the Simon family banished the Prime and sent them to the lowest parts of the underverse.”
Her story was engaging as they walked along, keeping pace with her easily as he walked slower just so she could explain things out better, giving him a run down of what it was like being down here soon enough.
“Once he left this became our own personal underverse, people were sold into bondage, rats lost their homes and the slums which were only a small section of town became the massive majority of the town as the family and their goons began to take over. Now-a-days only those rich enough to live here have well off lives, not too mention the Simons are untouchable, pay off a few political figures and bribe the mayor and your basically a god down here. Who knows how many assassinations and other shady deals they have made in the years.”
Once she finished though he would give a small question, knowing that she must have gone through a lot he would wonder, “So where dose that put you? Your clothes seem nicer, and when I first met you I expected to smell something horrible on your body as we were n a sewer, but I smelt soap.”
“Me? I’m in between, I have a bit of a debt I have to pay, but nothing more, I have a nice apartment on the other end of town, if your staying till tomorrow I’ll show you it once I clean the place up, rather not show you how messy this old girl can be sweetie.” She’d give a giggle but her tone was somber when talking about her debt, not elaborating further but he could guess it might have something to do with her previous story.
After taking a few laps around some major city blocks, she would show him where most things were, like not so important shops that she enjoyed visiting, and maybe a clothing store if he managed to damage any of his attire. They would eventually come to the most active section of this area. “This my dear is the casino, as you can guess its quite popular.”
Which popular was an understatement, it was the most populated building in town, everyone seemed to come here, from the rich to those wishing to change that with a roll of the dice, the building was overly large and took up a few square blocks, but blocks here were only half as big as normal square blocks when it came to the size comparisons between the rats and himself. “I take it your not much of a gambler, Dr. Casenger?” Elysia would look up as Ricter looked down to her.
“Eh…not really, I hate gambling, feels like a waste of time since I know most casino’s are rigged, or they cheat. Not only that but I don’t see the allure of giving away your money to people that don’t need it. I’d rather earn it, ya know?”
“Ah, I see we have something in common then, I hated gambling for a while now, I’d never attempt it but this place has more than just that. Come along, I’ll guess you don’t want to go inside so I’ll take you else where.”
She would be wrong though, he did hate gambling but it seemed bright and colorful enough to at least take a walk around the show room floor, “Actually lets just walk around inside for a bit, I’d like to see it for myself, I mean- What kind of tourist would I be if I didn't actually visit the biggest attraction this town had to offer?”
A fair point to make which just drew a little laugh from Elysia as the two walked in, around the doors heir were no guards, mostly just a little inward street that allowed people to ‘park’ their verticals or giant bugs while a valet driver would take it to the parking lot down the street. That was actually similar to an animal pin, appropriate.
Any case as the two walked in they would be greeted by many of the lights and sounds that made the casino what it was, a gaming hall but instead of for fun it was for both fun and money. Th carpet was a mix of colors, from red to black, resembling casino chips in some area’s and everything they got to the middle of a certain show room it had a picture of a rat biting a gold coin on the floor. Above he could tell this building had two floors too it, one floor was for shops and what not while the bottom floor which they were on was strictly for gaming purposes only.
Taking a look around they had halls intersecting each area that had certain show rooms, like one room was for poker, and the other was for crabs tables. Eventually going through some of the floors Ricer would get bored of the shiny gold plating and allure of seeing rats and others simply betting their money away, guards walking around in black suits too as he noticed this place was very well guarded by the looks of things. “Wow you were right, this place is really popular.” Ricter commented as they walked along, heading for the door after the two had their fill of the surrounding area.
“Mhm, but lets go for now, I got another place to show you, then after that we should be able to come back right on time for our tea to be ready.” Tea sounded good, but he was excited for what his companion could show him next as they left out the very doors they entered after getting a brief look over the casino.
As they walked out duo would begin to pass by an ally way, which had a group of guys outside of it, talking with one another. Most were in casual clothes, from a simple shirt to a pair of sun glasses for some reason, one or two were in suits, having on fedora’s for hats, as if replicating 1920’s mobsters. All of which were rats and seemed to be enjoying a quick smoke outside of a night club that the alleyway lead too from the back door.
Passing by the group felt like when you passed by a group of guys on a street corner, loitering around and doing nothing, a tense sensation of hoping they wouldn’t talk to them while also worrying they wouldn’t want to try something. A common fear that even Ricter felt at times, just in this case he had some means of defense, and he’d be sure to protect himself and his female friend who he was taking some time to enjoy a new place in.
But, of course something would be said as one of the rats eyes glanced over and soon would call out as they were just about to pass, “Hey! E-baby, I know your not just ignoring your old friend now?” One would say to Elysia, regarding her as ‘E-baby’ was she would pause for a moment and look back to them.
“Demetri, I see you haven’t quit smoking yet, what is it?” Her tone seemed neutral but even Ricter could hear some hostility in it. The man would grin, taking a puff from his cigar before tapping any ashes to the side, blowing out strait in front of him to savor the taste of it. His eyes would trace along her frame, as if pulling away each bit of clothing one at a time before turning his attention to the weasel, noticing the sword on his back he would take another light puff as the rest of his friends would be looking their way.
“Never took you for the ‘knight in shining armor’ type, what? Looking for some prince to save you?”
His voice seemed to have a bit of an old Chicago flavor to it, something you’d hear back then but at hearing this she frowned, her face scrunching up at this comment as she was tempted to turn tail and keep walking, but she knew he would just follow, him and his little friends tended to be quite annoying when it came to that. “I’m never in need of saving, I’m just taking a nice little stroll with my friend, so if you’ll excuse me.--”
“Whats the matter? Oh wait, looks like she hasn’t told em yet boys, haha!” The group would laugh but Ricter wouldn't get the joke being made as Elysia would actually grab Ricters paw, almost pulling in a forceful manner as she seemingly wished to leave, immediately. “Don’t bother lover boy, shes damaged goods, your better off finding your tail else where!” One of Demetri’s friends would call out as they laughed some more, Elysia tugging Ricter along as he would come with in a small hurry, not wishing to hear about any of what they had in mind to say. “He’ll find out eventually, better tell him now before he wants to go to second base with ya! Haha!”
For which Ricter would scoff at, he wasn’t interested in that kind of relationship, he liked just having friends, if anything he would be happy to be there for her as just that. But all this talk only made him wonder, “Was it a relationship thing?” He’d say innocently which she would snap back to him, “No! I..I mean- I’m sorry, I shouldn't snap at you for asking that. Its- complicated, I’ll tell you another time, for now lets just keep exploring sweetie, I’d rather not let him ruin our night…”
The crowd ahead of them began to thin out now, allowing them to cross through the street and side walk. Mean while as the two began to walk into the distance Demetri would pull out a phone, calling someone. “Hey, its Demetri, tell the boys we got someone new in town, Elysia’s friend she said, tall weasel lookin’ dude. Has a big ass sword too..Hm? Alright, keep an eye on em’.” He’d hang up, looking to the rest of his boys as he took another puff, Ricter and Elysia completely unknowing of what was being planned towards them as she would walk along certain blocks and streets she seemed to know very well.
They were going into another section of town, however it was still apart of this area, as indicated by the ever looming darkness making the place stay an eternal night time. “Who was that guy back there then? He seemed like an ass, so did most of his friends too.”
“Just some goons from the Simon family, they are a pain and they enjoy testing my nerves on a regular basis. Just be sure to stay away from anyone wearing a suit and fedora like that, or better yet stay away from them in general, they can make life for you very hard as they have for me.” Giving a very direct warning the weasel was a bit surprised they were causing so much trouble down here, but this wasn’t something he could solve, it was just a part of life and unfortunately Elysia seemed to accept that.
“Okay, I’ll keep out of their hair.” He frowned, he could see life down here was hard, even for Elysia who seemed well off, but in debt of all things to what could be that mafia looking group. Maybe he did want to save her form all this but he knew that would be both hard and could be made to be impossible because he couldn't save everyone else they hurt or harmed down here. “So where are we heading?”
RE: Under The Cheerful Town - Ricter - 08-07-2018
The area seemed more so residential now, buildings looking similar to apartments and small homes, reminiscent of a typical town, but packed together like a city. “A park, I think you’ll be quite amazed by it once we get there.” She’d smile, seemingly what ever this place was would be something she was sure would blow his socks off, if he wore any.
They would walk for well around ten extra minutes, making small talk along the way as they came into a nice little park, one of the few places that had suitable plant life. However instead of tree’s and things of that nature it as full of fungus like plants, mushrooms as tall as oak tree’s and moss replacing sections of grass. She was still holding his paw, which made him wonder if she would let it go, but he didn’t mind the contact, after all every time he would tug it she would squeeze gently, unknowingly while walking along a dirt path that lead strait through the park. Maybe it was in relation to all the questions he gave to her about this area, and her own life? Or maybe she just liked the feeling of his paw pads on her hand.
“Elysia are you alright? Your holding my paw like I’m a kid walking with his mommy.” Which drew her attention as she would have pulled away but with an embarrassed gaze she would look up to him.
“Apologies, I get a bit defensive around my friends, call it motherly instincts, but just with out me being a mother. You don’t have too hold it if your uncomfortable with it, Dr. Casenger.”
“Its fine, though you can just call me Ricter you know, no need to keep calling me by my last name and a title too boot. Makes me feel way more important than I should haha.~”
Hearing that he was fine with this she seemed to enjoy that, to enjoy this, as if she longed to have a friend to come along with her on a simple walk as even Ricter spotted this too. Elysia seemed intelligent but not at all happy with life, especially down here, if she was maybe in Amborsia she would have probably a way better job and life style. In fact he still didn’t know where she worked at, nor what her job was over all, but he knew if he asked she would just deny him and say ‘it was complicated’ or something along those lines.
“So is everything going to be okay with you, Elysia? I didn’t know you had it so hard down here, honestly I’d rather you stay maybe above ground, you know. In a place that isn’t so rough.”
“Sweet of you to say, most men wouldn’t bother to ask about how I’m feeling, guess that just means your very different, not that I couldn’t tell that already. Regardless its not that, its something more really, but your right, I’d long to leave here but I don’t want too leave behind so many others who are hurting just as much as me.” Looking up at the mushroom caps she would see spores falling around them, they were harmless and wouldn’t even make them sneeze, the plants were placed here just for that reason as she seemed to look around as if in remembrance of some events.
Silence would linger between the two of them as the weasel knew better than to pry, she would tell him at her own pace what was the matter, and honestly he didn’t mind if she told him else where as every so often someone would walk by them. She seemed reluctant to talk about any part of herself right now so he’d make a small suggestion, as if picking up on the vibes she were giving, “Lets head back to the hotel, I think we’ve walked around enough for tonight, don’t you think?”
She would look up at him, wondering why he wanted to cut the tour short, but it didn’t take a genius to know that she was in some small distress, and now she began to realize it. “S-sorry, I didn’t mean to make this all about me, I loathe that rat and that group so much, wish we never crossed paths with him.” They would stop moving, her grip tightened as he would turn to her and pull her towards a bench to sit down on. A blue tented lamp post would hang over them, only adding to the almost mystical flare of spores falling all around them in blue glowing orbs the size of marbles.
Both of them would take a seat, resting their feet from traveling around for the past forty-five or so minutes as Ricter would try to start talking first. “You know, where I’m from originally I lived with my sister in a little cabin. She wasn’t really my sister, in a way, but we felt like family and we used to do a lot together, go exploring, talk when we felt sad or lonely, or just sit by the fire and just watch the glow and heat of it radiate around the room. Its okay if you don’t want to tell me whats up but as I’d tell my sister, ‘your better off getting it out now before its found out later. Could lead to a lot of unwanted shenanigans.’” He’d say as he quoted himself, smirking a bit as she would smile as well, her attitude seemingly returning as her eyes looked back to his own.
“Your sister was a lucky girl to have you around, but I’ll tell you another time. I’d rather not in such a public setting, maybe something more private when I have the time off work. Did you plan on staying till tomorrow?” She hoped he would, after all he didn’t have much to do and she knew that but the woman didn’t want to take up all of his time.
“Uh sure I can stay as long as need be, oh right! Is the tea almost ready?” Which drew a bright smile on her face, “In fact I’d love it if you did, sweetie. Thanks for keeping a lady company, as for the tea your right on time, if we walk back now we’ll be able to catch it before it begins boiling down.”
“Great! I still can’t help but thinks this is some kind of date though.” Which even Ricter would laugh as he got up, adding, “Not that I wouldn’t mind it, your really sweet, Elysia.” His own little complement would be thrown her way as she would get off the bench, placing her hands on her hips, giving a little ruffled up shimmy.
“Oh really now, Mr. Casenger? You should know I can be quite the hand-full, but if your lucky I’d be more than happy to show you if it comes to that, if you spark my fancy that is.~.” Teasing, she would giggle and begin walking with him now, sniffing the air as they walked by Ricter would point out something as they began leaving the park.
“I smell fresh water, is this place near the docs or something?”
“Yes in fact it is, nice nose you got there, all thus fungus needs a lot of water to grow, so in addition to the water treatment plant these mushrooms help filer out the negative parts in the water, if we went further in you’d have noticed the small docking ports. We don’t really have boats though, for obvious reasons.”
Understanding this Ricter and Elysia would make their way back towards the hotel, cutting past alleyways and blocks to get there as they would make a quick route back to the building. But just before Elysia would go up stairs with him she would stop at the railing to the stair case. “Oh no, I nearly forgot to pick up the sugar I needed, Ricter can you be a dear and go to the store across the street. They have a sweet tasting sugar, it will have the label ‘Sugar Cane Mint’ on it, here’s the money for it. I’ll see you up stairs, I need to make sure the tea didn’t over boil.”
At her request and as she gave him some money from apparently her bra as she didn’t have any purse on her, he would nod and head back out again, allowing her to go up to his room alone while he’d make his way to the store in question. The block didn’t have many store fronts, at least here, none that were open right now, besides one store which seemed to be quite small and looked like a general goods store, almost similar to a ‘mom and pop’ store you’d see in some small towns.
Walking to the door it would ring a chime above, announcing his entrance into the store after he crossed the street to get here, what he would find is nice even rows of merchandise to buy, mostly food products and things like that. It was small as mentioned before, so similar to a gas station rather than some big convenience store, but big enough over all to give the feeling that your able to find what your looking for if its common enough.
For people their was only the main clerk at the front counter, and a male seemingly going over some of the wares, however he seemed a bit disgruntled. Cursing to himself as he walked around, the male seemed to be a rodent as most residents were, the man near the front however was a type of mantis, doing a bit of inventory with the items behind him. As Ricter walked in he would go into one of the isles, looking around for the sugar Elysia needed but he couldn’t help but notice that the rodent was currently walking towards the store owner. Ranting about something as he looked over, mulling over the items but mostly looking at the discussion.
“Hey! What the hell, wheres the fucking smokes?” The rodent would say as the clerk seemed shocked by his sudden aggressive comments.
“I um- I believe we should have some in stock sir.”
“No the hell you don’t’, you don’t got the good ones, Brezario’s! How the hell do you run out of those?!”
“I’m…sorry but its a v-very popular brand and-..”
“Shut up, you see this shit?” He’d pull out a box of cigarettes, grabbed from a random shelf in the store. He pointed too it, crushing the box and throwing it at the mantis’ face as they flinched and would looked the box and then him. “Why don’t you supply the good stuff rather than garbage like this?!”
The mantis wouldn’t say much, stuttering to himself as the rodent would snap his fingers in front of the bugs face, “Pay attention, you see this is the type of shit that gets The Pack after your ass, so here’s how its going to go. I’ll take ten of these garbage ass boxes and I’ll make sure they wont hear anything about this. You hear?” The rodent gave his proposition as the mantis would seem to give a worried expression, however he’d shake his head.
“I’m sorry sir but I can’t just give out anythi-”
Being cut off again soon the rodent would pull out what looked like a pistol, pointing it strait at his face as the insect raised his arms, backing up, “I told you to shut up! Now see what your making me do? Guess I’ll just have to finish the job before the pack dose.” Which as he looked him dead in the eyes, having a full on coy smile on his face. He looked like he was actually about to fire at him, this seemed more like a robbery than anything else but little did he notice the weasel was directly behind him which the mantis looked up towards Ricter. His eyes being postured upwards only made the rat wonder what he was looking at as he growled but felt like something was behind him, turning quickly.
When the rodent turned to face the weasel a quick swipe was made for the arm he was holding his gun with, using his blade he cut cleanly through the rats wrist. Lopping off his entire hand but Ricter was generous, instead of letting him have the pain of his hand being cut off he healed the wound instantly, leaving it as a stump as the shock was still there once he noticed his hand followed the gun.
“The..hell?..M-my hand! My fucking hand! You bastard!” He’d yell as Ricter pointed the sword at his nose, which sparked fear in the rats face as he held his stump. The weasel held no interest in what he was saying, more so he wasn’t afraid to kill someone, that phase of judging himself if it was right or not to take a life had been gone for a bit, and more so when faced with people like this rat. But glancing to the clerk as he still held his hands up, shaking as if he was fearing for his life as well he would pull his sword back and speak up finally.
“Get out of here, say another word and I’ll cut off your other hand..”His threat seemed to be genuine as he prepared to swing again if need be and the rat didn’t need any more incentive to leave after that, running out of the store as he left his hand in the corner of the room with his gun there as well. Looking back to the clerk though he would set the sugar down on the counter, smiling as he asked, “I’d like to buy this please.”As if nothing happened only a few seconds ago, the man, still spooked of course, would simply push the sugar towards the weasel.
“T-take it, its on the house. But…you really shouldn’t have done that, you’ll get into more trouble than you know.” He would mention as Ricter frowned but would accept the offer, paying still as he left some coins on the counter, something for all the trouble he had caused but it was probably more so to himself in this case. He knew what he did was right, but was it ‘right’ was the question. “Thank you, have a nice night.” Ricters response seemed neutral, but he clearly heard what insect man said as he picked up the sugar and began to head for the door.
“Thank you, sir. Please be safe.” The mantis would say back to him, scared for the weasel, but also grateful to not have been shot this night as he left out of the store. The bell ringing gently overhead as he went back into the main street again, the rodent was long gone, probably freaking out that his hand was now gone and instead of a shower of blood he had basically a fully healed stump in its place. One thing was for sure he was now a bit interested in who ‘The Pack’ was, and given he let him go he’d probably have to worry about some retaliation, but Ricter wanted to enjoy the rest of the evening with his friend and would save the questions till they were at least enjoying some food and tea together.
RE: Under The Cheerful Town - Ricter - 08-07-2018
Back inside the building and taking the elevator to his room he swiped the card on his room door and walked in, smiling at the smell that waved around the room. It smelt very nice, almost delicious which he could only guess it was the tea as Elysia was already beginning to pour it, however she was missing the sugar still which was a small box of sugar cubes to place into drinks, about 50 or so of them, which was a lot but she’d probably be taking it back home with her.
Waking in she would perk up and see him with the box in hand, pouring tea into cups while also having warmed up the food he brought with him, she’d guess he was a little hungry himself after all they had done for the day so he split the food with him. Taking some of his mushrooms but also giving him some of her Calisto.
“Welcome back, I see you managed to find it, might as well come sit with me and enjoy your tea. It came out perfectly by the way.”
Gesturing he would smile and walk in after closing the door, eventually the two would sit down as he placed three sugars into his cup while she added two and tested the flavor of the liquid. Nodding to herself she would begin to drink, all the while Ricter would do the same, the tea had the flavor of oranges but a sweet herbal flavor to it that he could tell came from flower petals being soaked into the herbs.
“Its really good, the best tea I’ve had in a while actually. Thank you so much.”
“Oh no need for thanks, sweetie. I did promise I’d offer it to you and Elysia always fulfills her obligations.”
Taking a fork she would begin eating the platter of mushrooms and little cooked meat chunks. “Mmm, I see your just as good a cook as I’d imagine you’d be, I should be thanking you for not having to pick up food for our little meet and greet.” She’d grin, looking back up to him as the woman liked what he made and at the same time he’d try out the cut in half food she gave him. He expected it to taste horrible but in fact it was fairly nice, it tasted like spicy chicken with a breaded top layer.
Enjoying it way more than he thought he would but he hoped she wouldn’t get offended, “This Calisto thing is really nice, I kinda expected it to taste kinda bad honestly..” He’d admit as she giggled.
“Its fine sweetie, I can understand your feelings towards it what looks like mystery meat caked in moss. Eat up, if you’d like you can take some of mine while we make small talk.”
“Thanks but its fine, I’m not too hungry, so how was work? If you don’t mind me asking.” Ricter asked, which she would look to the side for a second before her eyes trailed back on his, sipping from her cup again.
“It was well, slightly busy..” Her response was quick, as if trying to get off the subject, Ricter didn’t know where she worked at all, he had wanted to ask but she gave simple responses or even just hurried it along like it was none of his business so he wouldn’t pry into it. After all she was his friend, he didn’t want to make her uncomfortable so he’d drop that bit of information as his mind went back to the little scuffle he just had, he did have some questions he wanted answered.
“So about this family, I read in a news paper they were tied to some mafia or something. Is that true or is it just propaganda?”
“As true as you think it is, the group called The Rat Pack has always been under control by the Simon Family, its just they distance themselves so much that its hard to trace them. However you can only find so many ways to lead people off your trail, money and power gets you most of that, but every so often someone bursts your safe zone. Which happens rather often now a days.”
“So its common knowledge, just no one dose anything about it.”
“Yes, and no one wants to do anything about it, rather they end up dead, or worse their entire family gets tortured and killed.”
She’d pause and look down at her cup for a moment, Ricter noticed this but didn’t say anything, not before she’d look back up and add some more to her comments.
“The Family, or The Simons in particular consist of only three or so people. Its believed they all have a stake in the fortune, however you already met one. Demetrius Simon, little brother of Agustin Simon, and their father whom is bed ridden at the moment. Rumors have it that the two brothers want to take over when their dad kicks the bucket, which has the old man rattled, so he kicked his sons out of the house and has the place on lock-down.”
Quirking a brow Ricter would give another question to this, “So where do they stay now?”
“Well Demetri stays on he streets, he has a nice house not too far from here near the docks, however he is the type to do things himself, paranoid of only those closest few friends in his personal circle. All the while Agustin runs the casino, he’s a bit more cowardly, opting for people to protect him and wasting money any chance he gets. The two have their differences but still just as shitty as the other, the father lives in the mansion you saw, guarded to the teeth with guns, but you wont have to worry about seeing them.”
Listening to her explanations he began to grow a bit worried, seemed like this crime family was fracturing off into parts, if anything he could see just how this could end up turning into a war down here eventually. “Are you worried about them breaking into a gang war?”
“Everyone is, at least those blissful enough to care, but there’s nothing that can be done. Most are just waiting for the day it happens, while others are more worried about living their small lives to the fullest.”
Still eating and drinking silence would follow after the questions were given, both nearly done but Ricter still had one more question to give. Mostly in relation to the headline he was shown on the paper.
“Do you know about any illegal activity they were up too?”
“My aren’t you the little detective, if I didn’t know you better I’d have thought you were some hard boiled cop wanting to rid the world of crime. I hear they may have some drug smuggling rings, no one knows where but a good guess would be where their main forms of business are located.”
Ricter wouldn’t be able to ask any more questions before Elysia seemed to finish both her meal and tea, same for himself as she poured herself a smaller cup this time but leaned back in her eat. “Aaah~, I needed that, though I wanted to go to a restaurant with you I guess this will do. So, were you planing on sight seeing some more tomorrow? If so I could recommend maybe the carnival, though at least wait for me so I can go with you.”
Her offer would stand as he would think about it, he knew very little about this place over all, only knowing block by block memories of where he just came from and maybe how to get back to the surface world again. But over all the city was unknown to him, and he would be happy to explore it some more with her.
“Mhm, I think I wana go back to that mushroom forest, maybe even use the spores to grow something like that top side, as for the carnival I’d love to go to one with you.” Smiling, he didn’t offer an answer for her half flirting nature, but she seemed almost innocent in doing it, as if It was just apart of her personality. Still as she sipped some more tea and he’d do the same she’d point out something.
“Very well, however I do have work in the morning, I’ll be gone till noon, but we can do things after that. If anything you can go exploring by yourself and if you see anything else you’d like to do we can do it together. I hope you don’t mind me spending the night here, its getting rather late, and although I trust that with a sword you can do a lot I doubt it will do much to bullets.”
Which would draw a smirk from the weasel, but he wouldn’t reveal anything, just giving a nod, “Of course you can stay, I don’t mind sharing the bed at all.” Being polite they were both adults, he had nothing to worry about when it came to sleeping next to a woman. Besides he felt it was more or less normal, especially when he’s done the same with both Vel and Vee on separate occasions, though he was treated more like a fluffy pillow when it came to that.
But after drinking a bit more the two would set to clean up, however Elysia would make her way into the bathroom to get changed, she didn’t bring any clothes with her so he wondered exactly what she would put on if she was in fact taking a shower. He hoped she wasn’t just going to bed in what could be her undergarments, as for him he simply had taken off mostly everything besides a green shirt and his blue jogging shorts that he kept on under his clothes.
Having already taken a shower already he didn’t need one, but as she would exit some few minutes later she seemed to be in something she kept underneath. Watching, Ricter looked towards her direction while sitting cross-legged in the bed, his eyes scanning over her body briefly as he made out her visage. She wore what seemed like a frilly black bra, with a girdle around her midsection, bellow she had on long leggings that went up past her hips and over her panties. Which was see through enough to notice that the panties matched the bra, which only made the weasel fluster and look away once she caught his eye contact.
“Oh don’t be so shy, you can look, unless its the first time you’ve ever seen a woman naked. Though, I hope you don’t mind, if so I can place back on my dress again.”
“N-no its okay, I’d rather you be comfortable.”
“Really? Well then guess no point in giving off a show.-”
She’d soon pull at the laces around her girdle, letting them pull out before finally she’d sigh as her belly would spring forward. The rat was a bit heavy set, or as the kids would say ‘thicc’, but nothing massive, if anything she had a healthy amount of weight for her size over all as she placed the girdle down near her clothes and walked over. “Aaah~ Feels good to not have to worry about showing off, though it was cute seeing your reaction.”
The woman obviously teasing him as he pouted, she would boop his pink nose with her paw as he was still flustered but less so as the candles still burned on the table. Giving light when the two had clicked the lamps. It would have made for a very romantic atmosphere, the smell of vanilla all around, while Ricter would scoot over and let her into the bed. However instead of anything naughty happening he was happy to just get some rest, but as he would lay towards her but with enough space there was a gap, in the middle of the night he felt her move towards him and lay her head in his fur. Snuggling close in her sleep as she had the most content smile on her face, at first he would blush a bit to this contact but of course he didn’t pull away,
Ricter was indeed surprised, but he’d eventually give in and hug her back, little did he know that for her this was a welcomed change that she rarely got, to embrace someone else that she actually cared about. Not only this but in a manner that she was so used too being for other reasons, which the weasel proved repeatedly that he wasn’t interested in. Snugging now he’d place his large poofy tail around his rodent friend and let her be fully embraced before heading back to sleep again. The pair would sleep through out the night, the candles and fire place burning out eventually as thanks to the lighting down in this city only the alarm of a clock either internal or not would wake them up.
RE: Under The Cheerful Town - Ricter - 08-07-2018
Eventually Ricter would feel his body wishing to wake up, and that would be pretty much all he’d feel as he grabbed at a pillow and felt he was currently snuggling it right now. Slowly his eyes would open to find that Elysia was gone, which made him wonder how she manged to escape his grasp but he could guess that she had managed to slip from him in the morning and probably head off to work, as she did mention prior that she really needed to take the morning shift during their little time eating and drinking tea.
Looking around she didn’t leave a note, or some kinda love letter type thing about ‘seeing him later’, no instead she left a text on his phone as he picked it up off the night stand. “Went to work sweetie, thanks for being my blanket last night, as I said before I’ll be off around noon. Text me if you find something you wanted to do besides the carnival.”
The mustelid wouldn’t text back, really he was more so wanting to eat something now that he noticed that it was only nine in the morning at the moment. Climbing out of bed he would make his way to the floor and look around, he did wonder what he could grab to eat, maybe something from that store he visited last night? Though they didn’t really have warm foods available, so he’d take his chances to maybe look for something on his personal exploration of the city.
Quickly he’d throw on some additional clothes, some pants and his long sleeve shirt under his normal shirt. He knew it could get warm down here but it could also get very cold given how last night turned out, it was frigid when the fire place ran out of heat, and it seemed the building didn’t have a proper ventilation system for pushing in heat. So once he finished his daily duties, brush teeth, bathroom, wash up again, he’d make his way out of the hotel to maybe give the town a nice comb over and see what was around.
It was still night outside, or ‘night’ given from his hotel window he could see the other side of town and the green tinted shading of light that encompassed the more so poor portions of town. The streets were busy, large insects scuttling along on multiple legs that carried everyone, re-imaging car’s and what not which was pretty interesting since they made for a good replacement. They can climb walls, don’t need much to eat besides dirt and grubs, and were cleaner too, a great alternative for something that could live down here happily.
Ricter had no clue where he wanted to head in town, all he knew was that he wanted to do at least something fun or interesting to maybe do with Elysia later on. Food was the main priority but every small store he passed and fancy restaurant made him want to turn away, snack bars weren't really snacks, more like bug meals. Plus restaurants were possible places to go too later on with Elysia later so he’d settle for vegetable based things, a baked potato, carrots, and even a real candy bar.
It was amazing how much you missed candy when all around you were brands such as ‘Bug-nuggets’ and ‘Rolly-Pollies’, one being something popular among insects of course, the other? That was a box of those bugs you payed with on the side walk as a kid that rolled into a ball to try and get away, and people ate these like popcorn.
But a chocolate ‘twix’ bar was the best he could find, and he found around thee of them so all three were now in his bag as he smiled and walked along. Chocolate for breakfast wasn’t new to him, especially when working in a hospital on important surgeries, when he couldn’t use his sword for everything he was still quite capable as a doctor. Still required to learn the ways of fixing the body with out magic.
The carnival sounded nice, a stray thought came to mind now that he had some kind of food in his fuzzy belly, and by what he could guess it was near the docks, having forgot to ask about it to Elysia. Walking around on the streets he would notice that many of the people were further away, how? In a manner of just not coming down the same street as he was on, some crossing over, as if fear was striking them. It made him wonder if the weasel was intimidating, a vast change from how he was treated when he got here as he wanted to get information from someone.
Still, his eyes would begin to train around him, examining whom was near by though Ricter did notice someone was following him. Making hard turns down streets, walking slowly then speeding up again before moving at an average pace, his new friend continued to keep up in lock step. Appearance wise by what he could make out they seemed like a typical rat resident that was about half his size, he couldn’t tell if he had a weapon or not nor could he tell if he was completely alone. Wearing a black suit with a white dress shirt he could guess where they were from, but wouldn't think too hard about it.
Especially as he made his way towards the docks, unphased by the rodents pursuit which seemed to end right as he began to go through the mushroom park that lead into that area. He had been following for well around half a mile or so, even aiming to be a little sneaky about it as they kept in eye shot but even Ricter wouldn't be able to tell where they went off too now as the foliage was too deep and lush.
Looking ahead spores began to fall around him once again now that he was deep into the mushroom park. Someone began walking up and a few people from the tree’s near by as well, normally Ricter would be defensive in tense situations where he was possibly outnumbered, like this was an elaborate trap and he just walked into it. But he recognized one as his pursuer, and some of his pals coming out of the foliage of fungus and mold.
Their faces had a dark blue hue to it, all thanks to the look of the park around them, which even Ricters body had the same hue to it, but this looked more menacing, more like they had some kind of alternative motive. “Hey, no need to get all antsy buddy, we just wana talk with ya.” One would speak up, all rodents besides one who had a noticeable disfigurement, one he recognized above all the others.
“About?”
“Well a friend of mine says you did something to him, and you see we don't tend to enjoy seeing our friends being hurt. Especially for-” They would be cut off, a rodent with a hand missing would growl and yell out. “That’s the fucking bastard! He cut off my hand!” He knew it would bite him in the ass somehow.
“I’m only here to visit a friend, I’m not interested in stepping on any toes.” A bit too late for that but it was a modest attempt at diplomacy.
“You know, I’d be inclined to believe you, but..” He’d pause before pulling out what seemed like a gun, a machine pistol but so did those around him, his friend all seemed to be packing some kind of weapon, mostly pistols while one had a rifle.
Taking a soft puff of his still burning cigar it was nearly out and he would flinch as he burnt his finger on the tip but he’d flick it away after blowing out a cloud of smoke. The blue spores danced off the weapons, they would point them towards the weasel as Ricter would raise his hands up, after all he didn’t want to get shot, but found it might happen anyways.
“Come on! Lets just ice em’ already, he’s asking for it!” The rat he dismembered seemed quite pissed off that he took his hand from him, at least he made it painless but maybe appreciating that part of their encounter wouldn’t help him out much. While another would laugh, smiling as he aimed his rifle at the back of Ricters head. “Could use the practice.” Which made a few of them smile.
“No, we got something special in mind, get to walking Weasel. We’ll tell you when to stop.” The leader of the group would call out to the group, ensuring they listened as they all agreed, even the one handed rat who was trembling with rage would growl before nodding in defeat. From a distance the weasel could see some of them had itchy fingers, he knew if they really wanted too they wouldn’t mind trying to kill him, but he cooperated for now.
“Alright.” Ricter would say in response, all the while the head rat would try to calm down his boys. Smirking, “Smart man, and shut it all of you, give him some time to think about his life choices before we end it.” Drawing a frown from him as he said this he’d listen to their directions. Seems his little surprise was the same fate regardless, a shame he had to fight some more but if he had too he wouldn’t allow himself to be killed by gangsters.
He’d walk forward, down and along the path however he would be told to make a left, which lead in the opposite direction of where the hotel was and more toward where the park got deeper. He’d follow it but he knew by this point that something was happening right now, to his left and right he had two guys, walking with him, to his rear two more including the head rat.
Ahead of them was an underground lake, breaking past all the tree’s they were on a more secluded part of the docking ports and not even the sound of shipments being moved around mixed in with any other noise. The water was nice and a deep purple color, probably because of the night time lights but also that bio-luminescent flora was underneath the water.
As they got closer he would kick a rock with a bit more force than normal as once It fell into the water he saw that it would roll along the bottom before vanishing into the murky depths, it was deep. “Stop.” Stated the leader, perfectly confident in the situation as the rats around him moving away, Ricter knew what was going on at this point.
He wasn’t leaving, at least not in the way that they were going to let him leave, seems they wanted a more effective exit. Looking back another command would be given to the mustelid, “Alright turn around..” He’d do just that.
“Sorry but this is where we part ways, should have just walked the other way but I know you hero types love shoving your nose where it doesn't belong. Don’t worry though, when you find your other buddies who tried to mess with us in that dead realm place, or whatever, tell em that the Rat Pack killed you and who knows? Could make some new ghost friends.” Laughing the group smirked smugly, looking at the weasel who was calculating his next move.
Just as they were about to draw their guns Ricter would grab the handle of his sword and pull it from its leather sheath, his motions were quick yet practiced as he pulled a foot back and a foot forward. As his sword would be pulled out fully they were just getting their weapons into position, right then he would sweep his sword into his right hand and reverse his hold, the blade being pointed towards the water.
This was his Iron Mountain stance, something he learned back where he was from originally, it allowed him the best possible defense while seeing whom was around him as he shuffled his feet to get closer, all of which they were still scrambling to let off the first volley of shots.
That is when they all opened fire, a hail of bullets would be shot at his general direction, white and yellow lights from the flashes contrasted against the blue spores that dropped around them still. Of course they knew no secondary could survive this much gun fire but as they fired they would see and hear the deflection of hits and bullets by the weasel, his blade swinging around rapidly and quickly to knock away many of the bullets that would have hit him but were cut or pushed aside.
Bullet casings would fall around them as they fired repeatedly, shooting more and more till finally one after another a loud ‘Click’ sound would ring out, around them, each one of having depleted their guns completely.
“S-shit!” One would say as once the dust cleared Ricter was still standing, barely even a scratch on him, and he was already dashing towards one of the rats on his left hand side. As they were reaching around to grab an extra magazine from his pocket the weasel would swipe along his left arm, leaving a deep gash and making them hiss in pain before another was given, swiping along the rats chest as the size diffidence only made the cut that much deeper.
Knocking them down with the force of his swing the rat would fall to the ground, bleeding from his wounds, Ricter adjusted and moved towards the two who were popping out the magazine from their guns.
Falling to the ground the magazines bounced off the shore line, but he was already there, using his weapon he would place his paw on the face of the blade, directing it strait for his chest as he shoved and stabbed through another rodent. Splattering some blood as it entered them by an inch or so, but after another shove it would run them through, his sword exiting past the other side, kicking him off his blade once the length was half way inside of him.
However just as he did so one of the rats had managed to reload their weapon, pointing it towards them he would get off a shot that impacted his chest, but in the adrenaline filled fight he was having he barely felt it. Smashing his foot into the side of his next targets hand the weapon would shift and then be knocked from it. It would fall to the floor, rattling on the ground while the look of shock seemed to be plastered over his face once the shine of the sword would come sweeping across his face, not hitting his neck as it left a deep gash.
Slashing his nose and one of his eyes but the weasel followed up again and slashed his cheek to his ear, the gash being so large that it damaged part of his skull as the rat lazily stood in place after briefly screaming, falling to the ground soon after. The last one was in fact the one he cut the hand off of last time, his weapon took time given he had one hand but was fully loaded eventually, being pointed at the weasel as he was just about to move towards the rodent. Firing three shots quickly Ricter didn’t have time to deflect them, however as the rodent expected the bullets to actually impact they would hit then flick off his body which surprised him, similar to the other bullet that rattled around in his shirt.
The weasel was panting lightly, looking him square in the eyes as he growled, patting the spots that impacted his chest but not feeling much, maybe a bee sting of pain but nothing massive. “You fucking bastard!” The rat would repeat as he started shooting at him again, this time instead of deflecting everything he tested this, running forward as he got hit multiple times across different parts of his body, most barely puncturing while others giving minor bruises, he was beginning to run away now.
He had no time to be shuffling along to defend himself, as his stance needed a grounded foot work in order to be effective. So as he got closer to him Ricter would jump on his back while taking shots to is chest and arms, stabbing at his gun hand and causing him to topple and fall while pinning it to the ground. Straddling him while the rodent laid on his belly beginning to wail in pain as his other hand was now punctured, his gun was in arms reach but he couldn’t pull his hand out from the sword that was not keeping it down fully.
“Y-you bitch! Your..y-you’re a fucking Prime aren’t you?!..Augghah! I k..knew it, you think your immortal huh?! You think you can control us because were s-secondaries? Well fuck you! The Rat Pack was made just to- guuuagh! Get ride of assholes like you.” He’d laugh loudly, glancing up towards the weasel, smiling even while panting and coping with the pain, Ricter was silent, listening to him as he spoke would could be his last words.
“Y-you’ve heard of it haven’t you? The under-verse, where Primes and secondaries who get banished go when they get a bit too annoying for the realms. That’s where you’ll be going for sure, the family wont take kindly to this, not one bit, so sit there on your high horse while you can, once your down there they will torture you till the ends of days! You hear me?! Till th-”
Ricter cut him off, both in a literal form and sentence wise as yanking his sword from his hand he would drag it across the back of his neck. He knew exactly where to cut to make his death as painless as possible but at the same time his empty eyes only showed the reflection of the blue spores that dropped over head. Lifeless, as if the vitality had been yanked from him in a clean motion, a fate he hoped to never face but knew it was possible.
Getting up his sword would be wiped down using a cloth he manifested, sheathing it as he looked around, silence, as if people knowingly avoided this place. The rodent had ran into the tree line, barely getting a couple meters before being pinned down, bodies dotted the beach of the pier near by, in addition he knew gun fire would attract someone soon.
He didn’t want to kill them, but when getting threatened and shot at he felt the only other option was to silence them completely. How was he going to explain this to Elysia? ‘Oh sorry, I got in trouble with your towns mafia, I might need to leave before I cause any more trouble.’ Yeah that didn’t seem like it would go well, if anything he was just wishing that this whole thing never even happened in the first place but now he was here to stay. Which was funny because it had only been a day in a half and six gangsters were now dead.
Sighing, Ricter would take a moment to inspect himself, he was just shot multiple times after all, so in a way he was surprised he wasn't dead, or better yet in need of healing himself. He held parts of his body, opening up his now Swiss cheese decorated shirt, he took around 11 or so bullets but barely any penetrated his body. The weasel was never this durable before he got into this universe, not even back at home was he capable of living through being shot.
Sure they still hurt like hell and even now he was shaking bullets out of his shirt but after a small inspection he had bruises and maybe two or three small punctures as he groaned, flicking the pommel of his weapon with a finger, healed and back in business in a matter of seconds. But right now he had more things to worry about than the obvious holes in his attire.
Gathering each of the bodies he would place them beside one another near the lake, placing them face up, hands over their chest, almost as if paying respect as Ricter himself wasn’t a god fearing person. He knew gods existed but never believed he’d gain the ire of one of them, but in this instance he would simply push each one into the water gently, allowing the water to take their bodies, doing each one the same way.
But before he would do so to the rat with no hands he would go through his clothes and fish out his phone, seeing that he had a number of contacts on it, but an important one seemed to have the name of ‘Boss’. Looking over text messages he would realize that he was being talked about, labeling him as “The Weasel” and that he was given orders by Agustin to be taken out. The last text given from this ‘Boss’ stated, “Perfect, see you at the casino party tonight.”
Seems these parties happened everyday, and this guy he killed was a friend to the big boss man, oh well. Might as well roll with the information he got, but now he felt like he should talk to Elysia about everything, she knew a lot and part of him wondered if she was in the gang at one point. Yet he didn’t know where she worked, nor what she did or where she was right now, but maybe this rat did.
Scanning through the numbers he found nothing, scanning the photos he found mostly pictures of his friends, them hanging out. Even pictures of a dark underground area with lots of crates and three guys posing for a picture. Odd but not important, instead though he did see something else, a woman next to him, sitting on another mans lap wearing the exact dress as what Elysia had on.
“Its a uniform?” Befuddled by this he just thought she was a well kept woman who enjoyed a certain style of attire, however there was more than one picture on here in relation to this place. Looking them over his face little up in a soft fluster as he closed his eyes, scrolling through multiple photos of acts he wouldn’t dare speak of. With creatures and genders of a wide verity, this was probably something his family wouldn’t want to see so he would do the man a favor.
Chucking the phone into the water after getting the number of the big boss man Ricter had an idea of where to look now, he doubted he could walk around normally with out some disguise though something simple like a cloak would work. Pressing the rodents body into the water, the rat with no hand began to sink into the waves, probably to be found much later but luckily the evidence of his deeds would not be found. “Sorry, but you were kinda a dick..”
Allowing them to float down into the depths as it was far too dark to see, once this was done he took off his shirt and jeans, littered with holes and tossed them in as well, replacing them would take only a minute or so before he’d take a final look around the docking ports. “What did I get myself into?…” He’d murmur, sighing before he’d make his way out, the previous gun fire having drawn some concerned people near by, but mostly workers, however by the time they made it there the weasel was already gone.
RE: Under The Cheerful Town - Ricter - 08-07-2018
The Twisted Tail seemed as joy filled as it was yesterday, Elysia had come in not too long ago, walking around in her dress as she mingled with a few of the girls around her, she wore a smile but it was fake, always keeping in mind that she should keep a pleasant visage for her potential clients.
“Elysia!” Carl called out from the front desk, typically this meant she had a room ready, which as she walked over he would give her a key.
“You know the room, got a client already up there for you, payed a nice bit extra too. Make sure you give him a good time, might just have a recurring customer.” He’d mention which she would quirk a brow towards.
“What did he pay for?” She’d ask, wondering what she had in store as Carl spoke plainly.
“Enough to pay off your clients for the day, which is why I said keep him satisfied.” This shocked her a bit, no one ever payed that much, unless they were apart of the family, that or someone from the rich part of town, most didn’t get paid that much even if they worked for The Rat Pack, and unless someone really liked her then she had no clue who this could be.
Elysia knew not to ask if they knew who it was, he would have told her already, giving a small nod. “Alright, guess I’ll get to work.” Nodding, he would let her go off up stairs, making a hard right she headed down the hall with a number of rooms. The key had a number on it, while each door was plain but had a number above it with a removable plate, her key was at the far end of the hall, number fourteen.
As she would come to the door, turned the knob, and looked inside to find her client the woman noticed a cloaked figure, sitting on the bed silently while giving no hints too what they looked like underneath. Her eyes would scan over them for a moment before looking down and then closing and locking the door behind her.
“Good morning sir, I hope your well, did you have something in mind before we begin?” Elysia posture seemed more submissive, like a servant, hands together in front of her, one paw over the other. Her eyes looking down but then up at the dark opening of the cloak that represented a head, the person there would give a head shake, indicating no.
“Okay, if you don’t mind me asking, you paid quite a sum just for me, was there something special you had in mind? Or were you one of those boys with a lot of extra stamina.” She’d say, a bit of sass but a respectable amount for not knowing who she was talking too.
However the figure spoke, “I mean, a little of both really.” His voice was familiar, almost shockingly so as Elysia’s eyes would fly open, as if before she could say another word Ricter’s big round ears and fluffy face popped out of the cloak as he smiled towards her innocently. Like she would be happy to see him.
Her face lit up in a blush, as if thinking that he had done this on purpose for another reason but as she would look the womans eyes darted to the window, “You…didn’t have to do this, I..I didn’t expect you to..” She’d stammer, this was new for her, normally she kept a keen of mind but now she was babbling a bit.
“If you wanted to fuck me you could have just asked to last night, Ricter!” A hard slap was delivered to his face, not hard enough to budge him but enough to feel the sting as she put all of her might into it. Only making her rub her own hand, why did that hurt her more than himself?
“Ow..What are you made of?” She remarked under her breath, getting frustrated by this surprise as he barely budged, rubbing his own cheek as the weasel looked at her. Elysia looked back, a look of confusion on his face from being hit but cutely enough he would just stare back and diminish her anger infused hostility.
“Its not that, is it? Let me guess, followed me to work, is that how you found out?” The woman was smart, she never even gave a hint about where she worked much less showed him this place before, and she knew the weasel wasn’t a perv like so many other men so she had to ask how did he find out.
“No, I didn't follow you, actually its a bit more complicated than that, is it okay if we can talk about that later? I wanted to ask why didn’t you just tell me you worked here? How did you even end up here? You seem like such a smart woman, and no I wont look down on you for doing what you need to do to survive, but I honestly never took you for turning tricks just to make a quick dollar.”
Sitting down in a chair as she was no longer angry, just the shock was too much for her to cope with right away. However she felt it was plenty time to tell him now that he knew, it was better this way. She was still confused on how he found out but at the promise of being told later, the two had plenty of time to talk. “Alright, fine Mr. Snoopy, I’ll tell you, but your explaining yourself right after I’m done. Give me your phone, if were talking better to make this ruse full proof. Carl will come by pretty soon to make sure everything's fine.”
She’d hold out her hand to him expectantly, Ricter mentally questioned why but fished out his phone and gave it to her with out a fuss. She would begin typing on the screen, looking for something before cranking up the volume to max and pressing the play button.
What would play was the most raunchy sounding moaning mixed with other lewd noises you could imagine, the type of stuff that made you freak out if it was coming from your computer in a public area. It even drew some blushes from Ricter as she was essentially playing a high volume flick on his phone, she’d then place it on a stool the middle of the room as the sound would echo around them.
He’d get what she was doing, making it sound like they were doing something, but a the same time “Is this necessary?..”
“Yes, indeed it is, now you might as well get comfortable. We have little less than an hour or so.”
Taking off the cloak fully, tossing it to the side as she would sit down again, the sound was loud but she was close enough that it didn’t matter. Heck, even now with the phone pointed out towards the door girls who were coming up to their rooms or out of their rooms would pass by the door, listening and flustering by what they thought was Elysia and her client having a good time together.
Even Carl who was about to walk up the steps to check on his girls would perk up to the noise and give a knowing look, turning around while mumbling to himself, “Looks like she got someone to put her through the ringer and back, hey you all get back to work, if you want a piece of em better flaunt your goods when he’s done with Elysia.” His voice called out to the three or so girls who were listening in, all giving bows and went back to work now right after their boss left.
But, while all the commotion outside settled the woman would begin talking, “Back when I was a young girl, just turning 22 my father, a local fungus farmer, hit some hard times after a blight had hit the crops. He couldn’t supply food and had very little money to get more seeds or equipment so he took what little money we had and tried gambling, a past time that’s always failed him before. As you can guess it didn’t end well, he lost it all and drove himself into full on dept with the The Family, they don’t take kindly to not having their money, so as an alternative he sold his only daughter to a brothel to pay off his debit.”
Eyes foggy with the prospect of tears, held back by her own will power not to cry she had to take a moment to pause. Not for dramatic affect, but because it was her life and she rarely ever got to explain it to anyone willing to listen, especially not in this room.
“But it was so large no matter how many clients I had I’d never pay it off, because he kept taking out loan after loan, till finally the last I’d see of him was a photo of a bag over his head sitting in a chair, with a bucket of water over his feet. After he was gone I had the privilege of taking on his debt for him, and so here I am, working for something my father placed on me because he couldn’t find any other alternatives. I hated him, I hated him for 3 years, but I never once thought about wishing him dead, even after my first time was taking by a stranger who I hadn’t even gained the common practice of knowing their name. I still cared.”
She was crying, normally she seemed so strong willed yet now she was breaking down, and even Ricter couldn’t help but move his arm around her and pull her into a hug against him. He could hear soft sobbing, not making too much noise against the wet stain that was his shirt but also he could feel her arms wrapping around his midsection.
This was definitely needed this, to talk to someone, a friend, yet now he could see why that news paper was so prevalent, this family or whom ever they were was a problem and they now wanted him dead. Which as she began to blow into a small napkin she would correct her appearance a tad.
“Sorry, I shouldn’t be soaking your shirt in my tears..” She’d apologize but he would wave it off, stroking a tear from his own eye as well, he wasn’t an empath but he was one of the biggest softies when it came to sad things, so seeing someone cry sparked him to do it as well.
“Its alright, besides a wet shirt means little for what lead too it, but what is your debt? I’m sure I can pay it.” He’d say, trying to offer hope but she would shake her head, smiling as she gently ran a hand down the side of his face.
“Your too sweet, but its far too much for you to pay for, the rest of the girls are in the same position, some falling on hard times only to sell their bodies to the highest bidder. While others having been sold by their own parents, people they loved and trusted just to cover their losses, its a sick practice but its my life and its sad to say I’ve grown to accept it.”
Her eyes had dulled, foggy from the tears but also from her admitting that this was hopeless, but Ricter couldn’t accept that, his own eyes held the prospect of hope, they almost always did. Which seemed to make her smile every time she looked at him.
“Now what was it that you wanted to tell me? I told you my half, better keep your part of the deal.” She poked his chest as he frowned and looked down before saying, “I..got it from a guys phone, it seems that the gang members here don’t take kindly to me chopping off their hands. But yes they tried to kill me.” He’d say with some resentment as her eyes seemed to open in shock at the mention of this.
“They…tried to kill you? But your alive, and- don’t tell me you-.” She seemed shocked, but not appalled by this, as if he did her a favor, and given his comments before to her he probably did.
“Yeah, a few of them are in that lake around the docks, they escorted me there after holding me at gun point. I didn’t let them live after that.” Once this was explained she would both smile and give a worried gaze.
“Heh…Always knew you were special, didn’t expect Demetri to be right about the whole knight in shining armor thing. So whats the plan?”
“Huh?” Ricter gave a puzzled gaze as Elysia smirked.
“Knowing you I’m fairly sure your not going to just take everything lightly, and you don't look like your willing to leave. So, whats the plan? Going to try tearing down a whole criminal organization by yourself then? Or are you just going by sheer luck.”
Smirking, the weasel was easy to read, but he would at least say, “Well I did plan on asking what you maybe knew about them over all, if you don’t mind me trying to upset the balance here.” He couldn't do it alone that was for sure, however he had a feeling with Elysia’s current smile she was more than happy to aid him.
“Well then lets get started.”
The two would soon begin their preparation for what would be and operation for which she would dub “Operation: Rat Pack is now underway! Now, I’d say we have three targets for which to strike them from. You know all three already from our little Q & A last night I take it?”
“Mhm, the mansion, the docks, and the casino, right?”
“Yes, however we should make a plan to take down each of them. Or at the least the docking ports and the casino, cutting off the sons power and operations would easily put the entire family in hot water with the cops.”
“You guys have cops down here?” Ricter seemed a little surprised by it since he hadn’t seen any police since he’s come down here.
“Yes, but they are paid off to ignore everything the gangs do, at least most of them, they were the ones in those aluminum platted armors you might have seen when entering into town.”
With this cleared up though he would shut up and begin to listen to her suggestions, formulating what could be the best approach to attacking. “Your best bet is the casino first, its a large complex, takes up a couple of blocks of space. Though your main goal would be finding Agustin, he stays in the VIP section of his own casino a lot. Tends to enjoy the more ‘exotic’ female parties if you know what I mean, if you can get past security or even trigger the fire alarms you can get there while clearing out the building.”
“How will get in though? I’m sure they know who I am now and probably want me dead now.”
Taking a moment the rat woman would look out the window, luckily the casino was so big she could see it from even here, thinking of an entrance before pointing at something through the tinted window. “See the roof? It is well guarded but given you escaped an execution squad with out a mark I’m sure you can do it. Find a door that leads down into the building, the camera room should be close too it as well.”
Watching her gesture and seeing the roof he could tell a number of goons were roaming on top of it, yeah that would be a hard way of doing it, but much better than walking in through the front door.
“As for Agustin?” The weasel asked expectantly.
“Kill the bastard, torture him, hell even hand him over to his brother. I could care less about his life for what him and his family has done to so many. After you find him though your next goal should be the docking ports.”
Taking out her own phone, she would give a small lay out of the docks, since a casino plan would be a bit out of her reach to bring up on the fly with just a map app. “They don’t have boats, but they transport goods all around town via aquatic creatures using the river systems. Demetri basically owns all the trade in town, and so he stays only a little ways away from his precious port. If you cause a ruckus down there you will probably get him to come out. Or if you come baring his brother I’m sure he will cut some kinda deal.”
Looking at the picture of the ports he would commit it to memory while also seeing her text the picture of them to his phone, still making lewd sounds of course. “What ever you do after both go up in smoke best to sit back and enjoy the firs works, once their underground schemes are out in the public they will have no way of recovery.”
Elysia had the biggest grin on her face, and by the sound of it she had this plan well thought out, even if it was just on the fly, he liked it. “This seems like a big job you know, well above what I can maybe do by myself.” Of course he would admit this, after all he was probably faced with well around 2000 plus men between the two groups, and much more fire power than a guy with a sword could take on his own.
“That is were your wrong sweetie, you have me, and a number of friends in high places. Even the girls here are willing to help out, just know we have your back, now, what say we start tonight?”
Ricter did want to hang out tonight, but he didn’t expect them hanging out to be fighting some kind of mafia. But he would nod in agreement, he was too much of a nice person to really say no to this, especially when it could give some hope to a town in turmoil. “Sounds good.”
“Perfect! I’ll try to keep in touch, lets make this a date to remember.” A giggle escaping her as he never thought a date would be this full of excitement but maybe he should get out more.
“Elysia, one more questions, what if we fail? What will happen to you all?”
A somber sensation rolled over her face, smirking but also saying in a tone that showed some remorse for the answer. “Well, then my mother, my friends, anyone I knew would be killed, many of the girls here included. Just as a warning to set the example, but were already living in a state of being dead, and were sick of it. Ricter, I don't expect you to do everything but I think I have enough faith in you that we could do this. Which I’ve held in no man ever.”
This made his heart skip, not for adoration, or for him liking her in some romantic way. He could feel that she was telling the truth, that she actually believed in him, and being the first male to have some of her trust felt like an honor that wouldn’t be soiled.
“Okay, lets make it a date to remember.” A smile appearing on his own face, confident this was doable as Elysia grinned back. Silently agreeing with him now before walking towards his phone, slowly turning down the volume on it. Stripping down she would seemingly begin taking off her clothes down to her bra, panties and clear stocking, but obviously it was for another reason.
“Feel free to head out soon, I still need to stay, however with you buying up all my clients I think Carl will give me most of the day off. We’ll convene a better plan over the phone, good luck out there and stay low.”
Placing the cloak over his body and covered up again he would silently walk to the door, smiling softly, “I’ll…talk to you on the phone later, yeah?” He’d say, his tone more casual now, but full of longing, as if she felt the need to reach out and grab him.
“Yeah.” She said back as after a moment or two of silence the weasel bent down to give her a hug, one that she would happily accept. “Your a cuddly one, you know a hug would have been better to give when I wasn't half naked.”
Drawing an embarrassed blush over his cream and white colored cheeks, “y-yeah I just realized that..” Shuddering he simply would make his way out of the room now as Elysia hopped into the bed, having splashed water on her face.
Right away he noticed what seemed like three girls and Carl who were all around the door, caught red handed trying to listen in but not hearing much. Emily who was a young mouse but just old enough to be legally here, an older rat who seemed to be on the taller side, quite skinny, and a lurantis.
All collectively huddled near the door as they blushed once he came out, “Um…may I help you?” Ricter would say in a gruff tone, mostly to mask his normal cheerful sounding voice.
“Oh nothing, policy says I have to check in and make sure my girls are all okay. By the sounds of it you really made her scream.” The bug man would say as he slipped a hand on the door, looking inside. He would see Elysia panting loudly, covering some parts of herself in blankets as she had taken off all of her clothes but she gave the look of an exhausted woman who just had a nice time.
All the while Carl would smirk, or at least his mandibles would give off the look of a smirk before closing the door, his eyes going back to Ricters form under the cloak. “Seems like I’ll need more girls with a customer like yourself, I brought you some of my newer ones. Have your pick of them if your not satisfied yet, I’ll even throw in a discount, just talk to me down stairs when your done.”
Happy with the results the ruse seemed to work very well, Elysia’s acting was top notch, though he felt all embarrassed for all the naughty after tones this resembled but he the act would be sustained for now. Giving a bow to the departing insect man before looking to the three girls who were picked just for him, of which he had no interest in taking but in a way he wanted to know more about the girls who were in the same bind as Elysia.
When Carl was gone the Taller woman would smile, speaking up first while giving a small bow to the weasel, “Pleasure to meet you, I’m Hyde, if you see what you like I’d be more than happy for you to be my next client. Especially after the show you seemed to give Elysia.” Completely failing at flirting as Ricter’s stare screamed the words ‘begone thot’, luckily they couldn’t see his eyes.
However her friend would chime in, the mantis pokemon smirking and flaunting in her dress as she spoke, a lot more flamboyant than her friend. “Blah he doesn’t want some skinny old hag, maybe you’d like something more exotic? You don’t need to worry, I wont bite off anything when were done, but I can be feisty too on command~”
Again, begone thots was the phrase of the day, and so far the weasel was unimpressed but could tell they were trying. However his attention went down to the small mouse girl, of which he would lean down and ask her, “You look quite young to be here, what is your name?”
His voice still as gruff as ever, he was new to the whole disguising himself thing but he was doing well with it so far. She was around 2’4”, very tiny, which the girl would blush and fiddle with her dress, she seemed shy and had a gray and white fur pattern, but she would answer him.
“I’m..Emily…Emily Mayflower..um..I’m what ever a-age you want me to be, s-sir..” She’d say in a timid tone that was practiced yet not used to saying, she was small for her age, and he could feel his heart breaking at hearing this. Why was she here? Why was any of these girls here? It made him get annoyed, but he kept his composure.
“Have you taken clients before?”
Her answer was slow but she eventually would muster the will to speak again, “Y-yes, only a..a few.” Timidly she would look down, not daring to look into his eyes till eventually she did glance up. He was so close she could make out the bright blue yes under the hood and his fuzzy face, which made the girl look up with amazement, as if she was expecting something else.
“I see, well, I’ll consider your offers for another time. I’m sure your boss doesn’t want you heckling a well paying client too much.” He’d say back to the two, which they gave a worried giggle and soon a curtsy before scampering off, arguing about who he’d choose. However as the little one would walk away she would turn into one of the rooms, glancing back at Ricter with a soft smile on her face before closing it.
A Whisper would interrupt Ricters trance as Elysia cracked the door slightly, speaking to him. “Innocent, isn’t she? Her mother was on drugs and so she sold her child to get extra cash, shes been here only a four days and has only scratched the surface of what they will make her do. You know it only took me a week before I was given clients that wanted to do more than just touch and look.”
Her tone just as heavy as you could imagine, even while delivered in a whisper he only knew that this plan seemed like the bet saving grace. But the weasel would have some more motivation if he wasn't convinced already while walking toward the stairs, someone else was coming up them.
He’d see a large hulking man, so big in fact that the stairs creaked loudly under his weight, and his size took up most of the space on each step. His face was that of a pig man, resembling boils and dotted with moles and spots of age, his breath was deep as he scaled the steps one at a time.
Ugly wasn’t close to even explaining his looks, and normally Ricter didn’t consider beauty a thing but the man didn’t take care of himself at all, even as he got up to the last step he could see the crack of his ass, trying to adjust his pants before pulling his hand up and sniffing it, he wanted to vomit. But he stood there and watched him.
The client would make his way down the hall, looking to Ricter as he gave a hearty grin and wink his way, “Hope you don’t mind me having my turn hekehak.” He’d choke on his own saliva as he licked his lips, as if salivating at the thought of some feast he was going to have. He smelled horrid too, like garlic fermenting in shit, it was gross and Ricter would say nothing as under his cloak he was holding his breath with his paw around his pink nose.
As the man passed him the weasel looked back, watching as he stopped to take a small breather before finally taking a right turn and opening a door and closing it behind himself, he stepped into little Mayflowers room.
RE: Under The Cheerful Town - Ricter - 08-07-2018
It was then that Ricters eyes went from sorrowful hope, to ignited unfiltered rage. It took a lot to piss the weasel off, heck he was one of the most fun loving people you could meet, but this? No, even now he wanted to go in there, to stop this, but that wouldn’t solve anything. The root of the problem was clear, and he would attack it with everything he had as he exited The Twisted Tail, the concept of leaving was after he was finished.
All this made him question what was he trying to cure here? A question he asked himself every day when it came to new illnesses that plagued those who cam into the clink in which he worked. How could he fix it? What should he do to mitigate the spread, and how to maybe go about ensuring it wouldn’t become a reacquiring problem for his patient.
Funny enough all these questions worked well for his day to day life, even now he was contemplating things, approaches to solve this question. How to cure a town strife with corruption from an illness that was so deeply rooted it needed to be forcefully removed? Well one way was to cut it out from the stem, then allow the body to filter out any traces of the disease.
Now with this in mind he stayed with the plan given to him, take out the two heads and the group will dissolve on its own thanks to public backlash and generalized opinions. All that was left was doing the deep which was on his list now, heading for maybe a quick look at what he could be facing up close. A party he for sure wasn’t invited to come to but he would accept the invitation anyways.
If what he was told was true then they owned everything, and a casino seemed just like a cliche place for money, and or lucrative deals. The part seemed like the logical plan of action to which he could just go into from maybe the back entrance, which should be guarded. Taking a walk around the block while wearing his cloak it would be easy to inspect the area just by scouting it out.
He’d notice that the front door was more or less open, no one guarding it right now but on the roof of the building some noises could be heard, probably guards there. The back entrance was guarded by some men playing poker in an alley way that couldn’t be used, from the left and right sides of the building they were pretty much on the main roads.
The building took up over three by four city blocks of space, one of the biggest buildings in town, and probably having the most money flow in the town too. It took up nearly a quarter of this districts area. The restaurants and commercial parts taking up another quarter and the residential sections taking up the last 50% of the district with the large mansion taking up 10% of that.
However the entire district was only a small fraction of the town over all, everyone else seemed to live in poverty, or what he would consider poverty when you didn’t even have a brick or wooden house to live in. Most shacks were tattered and run down, and even the food carts were in need of repair where he passed by the market on entering into town. But with the dimensions of the building scouted out he would use a note pad and write it all down, aiming to find the best way to crash the place
Ricter found it amusing that he came here just wanting to have tea with his friend, now he was trying to tear down some criminal organization who had full control over a city. He’d already probably going to be found out soon once those guys he killed doesn’t show up to the party, but his idea is just to finish what was started, he believed that the people here didn’t need this kind of punishment for something that was probably the gangs fault.
Thinking back to what he just saw only a few minutes ago he was letting his own anger beginning to spark again, he obviously trying to stay calm but his nature just made him want to correct horrible acts like this so he was fully aware that this could go south but doing nothing and leaving felt even worse.
Normally he’d do everything else besides the ‘kill them all’ method, but he didn’t know if that was possible, especially after what he just saw as he stayed near the alleyways between some apartments, writing out his full game plan before he’d go about doing it in the next two hours or so. In the mean time he would wait, watching how the guards moved about, and or just stood still before he’d go about with his plan now, there was too much area to cover but he did find a blind spot.
It was around 10:00 or so, still morning time but with how the lighting worked it was always dark in this side of the town, he would get a call from Elysia around this time, the weasel picked up as he said he would.
“I see your still alive, laying low I take it?”
“As much as possible, I did a bit of scouting of the building, found a gap in security, did you have something planned?”
Elysia smirked as she seemingly was walking out of The Twisted Tail, having three girls accompanying her as Ricter was across the street from the casino, pretending to be a beggar and even getting a coin or two as he noticed her rounding the corner to the front entrance.
“Yes in fact I did, remember when I said he enjoyed certain exotic parties? Well I was thinking about giving him one, buy you some time to get to the camera room before he would do his half hour check ins. You’ll need to be quick about it, he is a ghastly paranoid man, who enjoys eating onion rings a lot.”
Smirking a bit he liked this, though he really didn’t want to involve the girls he knew they were every bit as banking on him as he was for them. Watching, they would walk into the casino no problem, easily allowed into the back of the casino as a tall lighting bug would stop them for a moment, asking.
“Hold it, you know you can’t be walking anywhere you like.”
Elysia’s response came quick, glancing back to the insect man with a smirk on her face, “I know but I thought it as given knowing your boss wants his entertainment.”
This somewhat made him pause, thinking about it for a bit as she was correct but he didn't get the update that he ordered in this sort of thing. However them visiting was so common that he didn't think to just call up his boss who would just get annoyed that he stopped them.
“Fine, get going.”
Unlocking the door that lead to the back room she gave a soft nod and began walking inside, smug almost but she knew how to get around here with out any problems. Walking int the back room area the rest was a cake walk. But not before sending Ricter a text.
Pulling out his phone again he would get the message, reading it to himself, “I’m near the back room area, I'll try to swipe his phone, leave him in the dark.” With Agustins phone gone it would make it so he couldn't see what was going on, or at the very least he would be a lot slower about checking in.
So he would spring into action as he got up, using a near by fire escape he would begin to climb to the roof of the building. He knew the patterns from the heads that moved around up top on the casino, however he was sneaky and his robe was nice and dark in color, making it easy to keep himself from being seen as he scaled the steps and slipped onto the roof over all.
Looking around he would see what was up here, some vents, air ventilation, power cords that lead to some minor lights in some areas while also an electrical box as well. He could even see the water container room which was a small little section on what felt like a massive roof top as he was currently two stories up from the ground floor, he wouldn't make a move though till he eventually saw how many people were up here.
He’d make out at a glance maybe twenty or so men, most either walking around, sitting on an air vent, or just playing cards near the table in the middle.
“Hey you hear some girls from the Twisted Tail just came in, guess the boss is having another party today.” One of the guards would say drawing the attention of another near by who smiled.
“Sounds like fun, hey he wont mind it if we stop by? Plenty sure he can’t handle all of them by himself.” Which only made them knowingly smile to one another before a small group of them at the table would get up and go down towards a door on the far end. At least eliminating half a dozen.
“Thanks Elysia, I owe you..” Ricter would whisper to himself, quite a few more guards were still in the way making this pretty hard to sneak through but he knew he could take out a few along the way.
Once he got a clear spot to move too he would take it, ducking behind a spot before waiting for someone to come by, which using his sheathed blade he would smack them with it causing the rodent to fall into his arms.
He wasn’t a cold blooded murder but he would be sure to make this part as silent as possible as he leaned the knocked out rat against the vent, looking for the door down to the casino which seemed on the other side of the building.
Slowly he would move and weave his way closer and closer to where he needed to go too, it would take some time, but he had plenty to afford going the long way rather than guns blazing. However along the way he would knock out and or disable a couple that passed a bit too close to him, from simple take downs, to actually cutting tendons and sections on their bodies so even after they wok up they wouldn’t be able to move, however he’d heal the cuts for sure.
After ten or so minutes of movement he cut down most of those on the roof that were in his way, he knew he would have to fight them later since his plan involved something pretty loud after he got inside but that was for later. The door ahead slopped down into the building, probably having a stair case behind it but was guarded by to guys simply chit chatting, they held rifles, and though he knew he could take them he didn’t want to cause noise at all right now.
Unfortunately he couldn’t be very silent about this one so as he would climb up along the tip of the slopped section of the building, he would soon hold his sword out in front of him and drop down between them. With his weapon facing out and him facing the two of them he would jab it forward, smacking one with the face of his sword across the head while the other would get hit by the cross guard, also across the face and banging their heads into the side of the building.
Easily knocking them out as he would catch them both while in free fall, stumbling a bit but eventually he would pull them down to the side and place their guns in a hidden spot, that way when they woke up the two probably wouldn’t find their weapons. With the guards gone he would open up the door quickly and step inside as he closed it, just as he thought their was a stair case with a number of doors down bellow, this seemed to lead into an empty hallway. Creeping down the steps he would see that at the end of the hall was an elevator and to the left of him was the security room and the right was a lounge like room.
Right then he would feel a buzz in his pocket, he was getting another text message and pulled out his phone to check it. “Fuck, Riley is here, forgot he comes by sometimes.” It would say, from Elysia of course, which made him quirk a brow and type back.
“Who’s Riley?”
Another buzz and he would get the message, “You’ll know when you see him, just try not to get blown up please.” Well that was comforting, shaking his head Ricter simply continued with the mission.
Peeking into the lounge he would notice that someone was currently looking over a snack machine to see what treats they wanted, from delicious sounding candy bars like ‘Milky-Grubs’ to ‘foot-by-the-worm’ which was literally a thick wiggling worm in a wrapper. They seemed to be the only person in there and was completely distracted by the choices there, humming to himself as Ricter began sneaking in and was about to grab the man but his reflection in the machines glass showed who was behind them.
Startled they turned around, right as Ricter grabbed them by the collar and rammed his knee into his face, socking them on the top of the head using his elbow right after as they dropped like a rock. But he’d catch them, just like all the others, carrying them to a closet to ensure they wouldn’t be found and closing the door gently. Before he’d leave he’d take a small look at the vending machine, nearly heaving as he covered his mouth, yeah Ricter would pass on those kinds of snacks.
Besides, he has another twix bar in his bag but would enjoy that later on. Now walking to the hall way again he knew the security room might have a lot of people in it, or at least what he was after, he needed information and the best place to get that at was in here. The door was closed however so he couldn't see inside, so his best bet was to try the direct approach, pulling out his sword finally he would come to the side of the room. His paw reaching out to try and open the door with a twist of a knob.
The door would slowly open up as he peeked inside, he noticed around two guys, looking at all the security camera’s in the building, and a third just behind the door as they got up and noticed the door had opened slightly and went to close it.
“Fucking old ass building, doors never stay closed around here..” He’d say in a muffled groan as he approached. However Ricter would soon fling open the door, slamming it into the rats face as a beetle would get up from his chair at the sound and noise, looking over to see a weasel rushing in, slashing down across his body diagonally before cleaving upwards to separate three of his arms in one swing.
His cuts were clean and they spilled out green colored blood from his hard exterior body, however as he shoved the beetle into the other whom was sitting down he would stab his blade strait through him to shove into the one that was now pinned under his friend and had a sword through his stomach. Twisting the blade he would pull it out, attention going to the one he knocked over as they recoiled and began to scramble to leave the office, surely they had a weapon but in this case they thought it was better to get the hell out of here.
As he opened the door Ricter’s weapon would go sailing through the air and stab at his arm as they screamed and fell down. He was getting to be a little loud now and with the weasel coming over to his side he would silence them with a swift cut to his throat, he would bleed out slowly, choking however the pain was dulled thanks to Ricters medical treatments.
The room was now cleared and he wouldn’t bother cleaning up now as he looked at the computer screens, watching what was happening, he could see that every table was more or less fixed. Buttons on the bottoms of roulette tables to make them stop on a timer, while card tables were stacked against those who were playing as some of the players were from the casino’s staff. All around this whole thing looked shady, but the most shady part was what seemed to be under it, down bellow the casino people were moving what seemed like blocks of some kinda substance around, while also having some sort of chemical lab.
Similar to the alchemy labs he’s used before to craft healing potions this seemed more so for some kind of drug, he couldn’t quite tell right away but It seemed to be a drug, a very easy to mass produce drug given they were making it by the crate full. However his eyes went strait to the back suite area of the casino’s camera’s, a place where there seemed to be around fifteen or so people just relaxing and enjoying themselves, even had a cake as this must be the party he was missing.
The boss was there too with what looked like two or three girls by his side, one being Elysia, he was a rat of course, but larger, nearly as tall as himself, not only this but he wore an all white suit, a black tie to offset the color pattern, with black and white shoes. He couldn’t hear anything but he seemed to be talking to those around him, looking around the room as he smiled and gave a girl a quick smooch and grabbing places he shouldn’t be grabbing.
Seemed he was living the high life, but he was here to ruin that, taking note of where to go to actually go to both the casino and the floor bellow it he would look around and grab a spare flash drive. Popping it into one of the computers he’d actually download the footage, or what he could of it, it always paid to have a back up just in case. Once it was done he would put it into his inner coat pocket, making his way out of the room, walking towards the elevator but stopped as he noticed there were two hall ways going to the left and right along the wall the elevator preoccupied.
Part of him knew these halls went to both the exit to the main casino floor form a door labeled ‘staff’, and the other went down some steps and towards where they had all the casino chips and money. The elevator in front of him went to this floor of course and the bottom floor but still behind staff related area’s, the entrance to the underground section was at another elevator that was some distance away, but he’d have to make the trip while going through the casino. He knew he wouldn’t be able to sneak any more and mentally prepared himself for a fight, breathing in and out softly before he’d take the door to the left which lead out into the casino floor.
If he was going to fight a casino full of goons he was at least going to get all the civilians out, and he had an idea of how. He wished he could text or even call Elysia to tell her that he was about to do something, but he knew full well that she was too busy at the moment to pick up her phone. So he would thumb his finger along the latch that was the fire alarm, the wiring lead upwards to the roof, probably connected to that fuse box and the water tank room.
Giving it a few moments of thought Ricter held the fire alarm’s latch before pulling the handle down, causing lights to go off around the casino floor, he could see through a foggy glass window. Eventually the sprinkler system would go off, even if their was no fire around. Showering everything in water, even the people who began to clamor together and make their way for the exists.
Watching, everyone began to walk out one by one, even while he was waiting for them to clear out he watched the camera’s and noted that Agustins party was now ruined, everyone scampering about to get to their stations as he looked around for his phone. Elysia would be making her exit with the rest of her girls, looking at the cameras while her fur and dress began to get soggy with the water showering her body, smiling to them.
With Elysia now out of the casino he didn’t have to worry about collateral damage here, surely he might get in some trouble for doing what he was planning on doing in here so maybe a better disguise would make this better? Manifesting a mask, it looked like a traditional Japanese mask that he saw when eating with Marisa at that resistant, looking similar to an animal face but stylized as it looked like a fox. In addition a different colored cloak was made, brown in color and worked kinda like a hoodie that zipped up and ensuring that his body was almost completely covered.
Strait down to gloves for his hands and shoes for his feet, normally something he rarely wore, but he wished to not be known. It wouldn’t take long before everyone that wasn’t some dunk fool at the bar was probably well over gone in the span of three or so minutes. Just as wet now though as his body felt soggy he would take off his clothes as the water was finally stopping, confusion on the ground floor was normal it seemed, and as he switched into the dryer set of clothes which he manifested.
Leaving the camera room as everyone was beginning to move around he went back to the left hallway door, the one that lead to the casino floor. Ricter would prepare to open the door as he could tell a few guys were heading for it right now. Probably to check on the camera’s and the team that was now dead, waiting he would watch them through the glass, getting very close before he’d burst out ahead, his sword at the ready and his heart racing.
RE: Under The Cheerful Town - Ricter - 08-07-2018
On entering the main floor room from the second floor he would bum-rush his way past an unsuspecting guard, knocking them flat on their rear as Ricter stomped his foot against their chest, posturing as he scanned where he was inside of the casino. There were three rats around him, one on the ground and two at his sides. He would make a swiping horizontal sweep in front of himself. His sword was large and would be considered a great-sword thanks to the length, but not as big as some other weapons as it was balanced for its size making it both quick but also heavy. Regardless, it was plenty enough to reach the two as his quick heavy slash would nearly lop off one of their heads while lashing the other across the face.
The impact alone was enough to kill the other though the spilling of blood only added to the matter. Pulling back his weapon he would lift it up and stabbed down into the rodent fishing for his pistol, shoving his blade strait through his chest as he growled, ensuring they wouldn’t get back up with a stab through the heart. The rodents expression twisted from pain to a blissful deadpan encompassing his body and face fully, pulling out of him the weasel would examine the rest of the facility now.
He was on the second floor of course, near by was a railing with almost everything having that ‘royal’ red coloration for carpets and also gold encasing every section that it could. Over the railing was the main floor, a number of tables for poker and other games were down there, similar to any other casino while the top sections had mostly shops and things of that nature. As he hoped the entire building had been evacuated in order to find out what was going on, most civilians were either gone or behind a metal curtain as each of the shops were locked up, at least the ones that seemed important enough to lock up. Further in there was a lot more, he knew the path to take, so running along the top most section of the casino he aimed to head for the room Elysia was in not too long ago. The stealthy approach was gone.
“What the hell is going on!” A voice would call out over a radio, the radio was currently held by a female insect, looking similar to a firefly. Quickly the bugs hands would hit keys on a computer screen as they seemed to be in another security point, which was common with large buildings like this.
“Mr. Agustin it seems we have someone still inside, they might be the cause of the fare alarms being triggered. Looks like someone completely covered, wearing a mask.” Her tone as analytical as possible, speaking back over the radio connection to her supposed boss.
The rat dressed in all white would be grabbing a suit case off a table and walking towards an elevator, three of his personal guards heading there with him as he growled. “God damn it, I knew something was up, I’m heading to the safe room. Call Riley, the guys on the roof, get everyone down here now! I want him dead, understood?!”
Soon the elevator would ping, he’d walk in and hang up before even getting her response, walking in it would head downwards, all the while Ricter was still a ways away from reaching there but closing the distance every second.
Speaking of which Ricter was now enjoying the feeling of being pinned down by gun fire, choosing to hide behind a pair of casino chip kiosks. Bullets pelting off it and blazing past his face as at least five rodents with rifles were aiming at him right now, all having taken up a few defensive positions around them. “Why couldn’t I just have tea? You didn’t come down here to save a town from mobsters, Ricter...” Talking to himself, he’d groan as a bullet would ‘pat’ his shoulder, bouncing off as he flinched, still stung like the dickens but only left a bruise.
“Ow..” This was something he was still getting used too, probably because no normal person should be able to take gun fire like this and not be hurt maybe it was thanks to Lanor? Or maybe his body was just becoming a lot harder to damage from training, granted what training has he done lately? The donuts for lunch and cream soda to wash it down kind of ‘training’, the best kind.
Regardless he’d get used too it, he just knew not to be too reckless. So as he began to hear them coordinate their reloads at poor times, the weasel would take the window of time they gave him to come out. Running forward he would avoid a few bullets coming his way just from them missing as a few others would impact the face of his blade as he held it around his head, protecting his more vital parts, he’d get nicked in the legs, arms, and a few in the chest before bounding a flipped over table two rats were hiding behind.
Drop kicking one in the chest which caused them to get sent to the ground he’d stab at the other with his sword in the same motion, normally he wasn’t one to use other weapons besides his own sword but this seemed more effective as he picked up the rifle one had dropped and would fire at the rat. He had no control over the weapon at all, rattling and scattering bullets everywhere. However they had much more of an impact than when hitting him as he managed to hit the one that was flat on his back while another who was trying to run to get a better spot to gain cover would get shot multiple times and fall to the ground.
Throwing it to the floor he didn’t like the feel of a firearm at all, so much recoil, plus it was arguably his first time shooting an automatic weapon of that caliber and he’d rather stick to his sword which had way more control. With two left he would begin chasing them down, but the sound of more coming from the hall he had exited after him of more possible dangers on the horizon.
Seems there were much more heading his way now that they knew where he was at, so in order to lose them and gain some ground as well he looked over the side of the balcony, a pretty long drop but nothing that would maim him. Suddenly the mustelid jumped off the second floor to the ground floor, landing on a poker table that caused the chips to jump and bounce around his body once ht landed on it. The table had a big dent in it now, caved in slightly while the chips fell around him and covered him a tad before getting up, groaning and rolling off while rubbing his ass since he landed butt first.
Cutting himself with his sword he’d mitigate the damage he had taken so far, getting up soon after Ricter looked around, the bottom floor was a wide open stretch of tables, sectioned off by halls that lead to other rooms as well as other gambling locations. Right now he seemed to be in the tables room, full of places where people could play cards of any kind they might desire, for him though he was more so trying to remember where he could go from here.
He needed to pass by the slot machines room as well as the middle stage area, then there was a service room section that lead strait too the back VIP room on the second floor. Maybe it was a bad idea to have dropped down but he didn’t feel like getting shot at any more as he began running through the room. The rats would start to adjust, getting closer to him as Ricter could tell they were starting to get in a position, he could take maybe a couple clips of gun fire from these guys but too many and he’d probably be dead.
Noticing an exit to the left he could hear people running down the steps as he headed strait for it. Grabbing what seemed like a poker table he would grunt, beginning to push the heavy table towards the door, if he didn’t have to fight someone he wouldn't, so as he pushed the table into place behind the door he would pant softly as they banged on the door. The group of rodents wishing to get through but weren’t nearly strong enough to shove the table out of the way in one go, or at least two at a time but this was only a temporary fix.
Even a few shots were fired at the knob but it wouldn't do much, thinking It was stuck from Ricter holding it, however he’d take some time to rest and relax, this was draining on him and he wasn’t even at the elevator yet. Plenty of energy used and he hadn't even got to the next room, mostly avoiding or dispatching small groups of enemies, he’d eventually grow tired if he wished to fight waves and waves of these guys so he’d make his way down the hall to the next room.
But just as he walked in through the sliding doors he would notice something thrown at him from the left hand side, a grenade, his eyes and attention shot open as he was in mid sprint but Ricter would jump behind a row of slot machines. The sound of ‘beeps’ and colorful sounding ‘boops’ would ring out right as it went off.
The explosion was a concussive one, but thanks to the machines it wouldn’t hit him, if anything the glass was more dangerous as he raised his paws over his ears and closed out the sound, pushing some of the machines away from the blast zone.
”Haha! Nearly got ya son.” A thick Scottish accent would call out as he glanced over the side, standing on top of a rack of slot machines a large rat that seemed to be quite fat and was wearing a type of kilt. Checkered in pattern, while he himself was welding what seemed like a strap with a number of grenades and even a Celtic shield and sword.
“What the fudge?…” Ricter murmured to himself but loud enough to hear the man smiled and spoke up, adjusting his beret. You could practically hear the bagpipes in the background as he began speaking.
“Good day laddie! The names O’Riley, and I see your also a sword enthusiast. Same here! Now stop your bloody hiding and come fight with me!” Oh, so this who Elysia was warning him about, alright, how about no?
Ricter was already sneaking towards the other end of the room, he didn’t have time for this, and more so he didn't want to fight this guy, however him sneaking away was met with another grenade landing near his feet, causing him to dive for more cover, rolling as the explosion that followed caused the slots to spin, unfortunately no jackpot this time.
“Alright, fine..” He’d grumble as he raised his weapon, standing out in the open as he climbed on the other side of the slot machines, They were spaced to occupy rats, making every row fairly close, almost claustrophobic, but above he had plenty of space.
Holding his weapon with both hands O’Riley would grin, “That’s the spirit laddie! Come get some!” He would make the first attack, slashing towards Ricters left arm but the weasel would parry it, the two beginning to fight across the two sides of the slot machines. He was a lot stronger than some of these rats, so much so he even budged a bit from that hit, making his own attack he would stab at them, aiming for his inner thigh but he would block it with his shield, gaining a loud laugh from him, his sword stabbing into the wood and not penetrating it at all.
“Is that all you got? Pathetic! You hit as hard as my great nana!” He seemed very cocky, and even more made Ricter annoyed because he wasn’t in the mood to be both taunted and to be fighting as Simon was escaping. Pulling his sword back he would begin to move along the top of the slot machines, as if he was running away, but Riley would keep pace, swinging again towards the weasels legs but he’d jump and swipe towards his head, but it would only bounce off the top of his shield as he raised it over his ears.
The clashing of steel was rapid and repeated as he blocked his attacks somewhat well while keeping in motion, however his shield was a pain to deal with. A solid way to keep him from injuring them as he noticed the end of the slot machines coming up soon, the weasel did have a plan in mind, so when the rat would go for an over had swing towards him he would jump forward into it, placing his hands on Lanors bladed section to block it all together by raising it above his head.
However he’d ram his body into him which sent them forward off the slot machines and onto the stage in the middle of the room, the two would tumble, rolling along the wooden stage before Ricter would managed to roll away from Riley. Not wishing to get too close to then as the rat began swinging around wildly. He seemed to be somewhat skilled but obviously not used to something more unorthodox. He had something in mind but it went against what he’d normally do as he placed his paw on his sword and watched them get up, having a few seconds he would place what seemed like a glowing paw print on his chest, negating some of the pain he was in while focusing on him.
Getting up the large rat would perk up as he noticed Ricter had gotten away and now had some glowing thing on his body, “Got that magic stuff huh? Well that's no fun, well not too worry I got my own magic too.” He’d smirk as he reached around, grabbing what seemed like a water skin. Drinking from it Ricter would let him, not knowing what it could be but he would soon sigh as he patted his large belly, “Delicious! Nothing like the nectar of the gods to really kick things up!”
Ricters eyes gave an unamusemed look, he was even holding his ears closed because the rat was so loud, and now he was drunk and loud, this fight was making him hate life right now. “Hey! Don’t shut me out!” Riley complained but Ricter would sigh and get prepared to fight again, mostly because he didn’t have the time to talk with him. However he’d let him come to him as the drunken rat would make much harder swings, strong and forceful enough to even knock him a couple inches back, he’d stay on the defensive for now. Using his blade to knock away the attacks however as he began to get a bit faster he knew he’d have to do this soon.
Sweeping his sword at Riley's legs he managed to get off a strike on him, a mild cut but still something but he didn't flinch, if anything the rat would just follow up by smacking him in the face with his shield, making him shuffle back a bit and hold his now bleeding nose. He would simply laugh, as if the cut didn't bother or hinder him at all, similar to his now bleeding nose as he wiped away the soft trickle of rd that exited one of his nostrils.
Going into it again this time Ricter would seemingly attack more reckless, taking attempts at strikes that only left him either bruised or taking small cuts when he didn't need to but finally he would have him where he wanted him. Pressing his shoulder against him almost like a tackle, the rat didn't budge much, instead as he struggled and clashed his sword against his shield Riley had a perfect opportunity to attack back.
As he would finally take the bait and throw a stab his way, driving it forward, the man smiled “Gotcha!” Rileys’ sword would shove strait into Ricters side, breaking through his fur as he leaned in fully before pulling back, taking a knee and holding the stab wound as he groaned and seemed to bleed all over his paw and cloak, the disguise having held up fairly well in all this. He was injured and the rat seemed to grin, taking another swig of his drink.
“A bit reckless there aren’t ya laddie?” He’d say as Ricter wouldn’t feel as much pain as he might from this, actually he’d stand up as he held the wound, talking normally.
“Yeah same for you for not wearing a grenade pouch.” He pointed with his sword, which the man’s eyes looked down, noticing that a pin for one of his grenades had been triggered and pulled. Panicking he would try to pull it off by he had barely less than a second later before a large explosion occurred, the chain reaction of other grenades going off only made the impact stronger as Ricter was tossed back. Shrapnel and wood shards being sent everywhere as the building even rumbled a bit from the blast that he caused, the dust making him choke as the machines around them whirled and maybe one or two would hit a few triple cherries, spilling out coins.
Coughing he would get up, but not before healing himself again, he had gotten stabbed with shards of wood, and the pain was beginning to come back slowly now as he pulled them out. Treating himself he would soon pick himself up off the carpet and look on stage, nothing was left of the Scottishman as he got up on the stage, his shield was broken completely, only parts of the iron was even in tact, while his sword was broken in half. He knew full well Simon probably had gotten away by now but he would at least take some time to honor the man, bringing his weapons to the center of the explosion he would stab them into the stage and lean the shield against it.
At the same time he would go to omni’s version of youtube and play some Scottish bagpipe music, having a moment of silence for him, sure he didn’t have to do this sort of thing but it was at least honorable to appreciate their wish to fight him. Besides he doubted anyone would want to commemorate the man, for this kind of thing, but he would take less than a minute or so to do this as he heard more rats and bugs closing in. So after turning off the music he would give him a small bow and begin running off, making his way through rows of slot machines before reaching the other end of the building, finding the staffs room as he’d kick it open.
The elevator was close by, at least by what he could remember, but he had to get to the second floor, by his memory there was an emergency stair well that he could go up, but it was in the back area. Where everyone processed chips and earning from people, luckily when he ran in he noticed that everyone was gone, if anything all that was here was chips, money, and a few computers and desks to count out everything. Sure Ricter wasn’t a thief but he knew someone who could use this and would take at least a bag full of currency as he made his way to yet another door after grabbing what he could, up some steps and towards a golden elevator after sneaking past a patrol who was still looking for him he’d rapidly press the button on there, hoping it would hurry up.
A few seconds would pass before the doors opened only to show what seemed like a group of rats exiting into the main floor, looking around and seeing nothing once the doors opened for them. “Alright fan out, he’s around here somewhere!” The leader would say as they marched out and began running around. As they all left Ricter would drop down from the ceiling, hanging onto a chandler, he was surprised it didn’t just fall due to his weight, luckily all those donuts weren't making him too fat.
“Going down…I’m going to really take a break after this, I’m exhausted..” For good reason, running around and fighting only worked to fatigue him. But he ha a few moments of respite now, even sitting down and waited for the elevator to go to the bottom floor. Wondering if he’d have a number of guns pointed at his face as soon as he left out of the elevator but he hoped not. As the number changed from 2, 1, then B, he would get up and have his sword at the ready, waiting for the doors to open. Ready for what ever they had to give him as he frowned, knowing it would be pretty heinous, and as the doors would open he would tense his body and be met with what looked like a large empty room.
Well, not empty, inside this large room looked like it was at the bottom of a mine shaft, the room was full of rocks and boulders, which consisted of the walls and had even some equipment to mine out the cave was present. It was well lit, lights tracing along the walls and ceiling as rows of crates dotted the inside of the room, probably hundreds by the looks of it. However as he stepped out he could see that the people who were here had left in a hurry, most of what he could see was just crates and an exit on the other end, leading to a massive tunnel with a light sparking from it.
Walking down a ramp he would look over papers on a table near by, notes related to the ‘supply’, and what it was. “20 crates of Melfungus come in three days ago?” He’d say out loud as he flipped through another page, looking over some other supply orders of this stuff, by the looks of it someone was transporting this Melfungus to them and they transported it out after probably changing it as he walked up to a crate. Using his sword he would crack one open, looking inside as the wood ripped and splintered, he’d notice that inside was a bunch of packing peanuts but as he fished around inside he would pull out a plastic wrapped bundle of powder.
He wasn’t the type to actually test random drugs, especially ones he knew could be bad and or illegal, but he had Lanor, he could cure himself. However now that he had evidence, and also as much as he could get now as he would pick another time to test out this drug himself. But before he’d leave, realizing that Simon had vanished and probably escaped he opted to just leave for now, no point in staying to do any more fighting when he caused enough damage here. The weasel would make his way towards the elevator now, why he was doing this now danced on a blurry line between revenge and justice, he just hoped he was doing the correct thing now.
When he walked back towards the steps he heard something loud beginning to make the cave rumble as well, he was even losing his footing as before long he fell to the floor from the shaking. Eventually from the tunnel a large worm would begin burrowing towards him, making Ricter panic as he hoped it wouldn't encompass the tunnel fully and basically crush him. But it stopped only a few feet from the first row of boxes, Ricter would hide, not expecting it to do much if it knew to stop right away. Watching carefully, the weasel would soon see the worms head gape open like a mouth, causing him to shiver in slight disgust by this but eventually something would come out of it.
“Right on time, alright lets move all the merchandise out, chop chop people!” Agustin called out from inside of the worm as he pointed, a number of rodents and bugs would exit out of the worms mouth and begin moving crates into the creatures body. Seemed they were cleaning shop, aiming to grab all they could before leaving with what all they made since their casino was compromised.
Thinking for a second he had about twenty guys, if not more, causing a fight now would be bad plus he could very well just cause that big worm to either crush him or run away. Looking around he didn't see much he could use, only a ventilation system seemed to power air into the cave so people could breath, but what if he could change that a bit? He had planned on testing the effects of this drug later on but maybe it would be better to test it now?
So, moving towards one of the vents next to the machine Ricter opened up the container area where they had oxygen tanks and would pick an empty one before cutting open the wrapped up substance and putting it into the tank. Closing it and then connecting it too the ventilation system again, waiting while keeping his sword stabbed through his foot and into the ground. He would need to document this as he could see small blue spores beginning to drift down from the vents above, all the while he would use a note pad to list off things, like how the spores looked familiar.
After around two minutes people would begin to stop working, halting completely as even Simon was confused as to why everyone had stopped working till he stepped out of the worm and stood still. Their eyes dialed, staring blankly into space while their bodies seemed unresponsive, Ricter would even test one of them by sneaking close and grabbing one of the rats but they didn't even bother to do anything.
In fact the rat he grabbed was grinning, blissful almost as he reached in the open air but grabbed at nothing. Like an infant wishing to play with a parent. What ever drug this was seemed to afflict the mind more so than the body, he didn't see any visual changes, nor mutations, all he could tell was that they were high out of their minds. Soon they would all begin moving around on a whim, some sitting and playing in the dirt, others would try to nibble on a tool they had in hand.
This was either really cute or just really creepy, regardless it seemed very scary, a drug this powerful shouldn't have been made at all much less be mass produced in such a high amount, and this was just one bag of it spread inside an enclosed space. Imagine if this stuff got to everyone in this underground town? Who knows the amount of control someone would have as he walked over to one rat and tried to speak with them.
“Hello? Are you alright?” Taking out his pen flash light he would lash it in both his eyes, no response, however they did speak somewhat.
“You got so big uncle Randy, why did you eat all of those potatoes? You know they aren’t good for your health.” They would say with a soft smile, eyes lulling as the rat would give him a hug, thinking he was uncle Randy or whom ever.
“Uh..okay then..” Yep, this stuff was very dangerous, especially since he was wearing all brown and a mask right now, so unless this Randy person was a weirdo he new full well that this stuff was bad.
After about a minute or so of prying off the rat from him he would walk over to Agustin, whom was currently fiddling with his tie. On approach he would perk up, saying “Dad? You came back! Your walking around too that’s great.”
He was a father now? Okay what was going on? Thinking for a second he would go and ask him questions, “Agustin, do you know who I am?”
“Mhm” He nodded in an exaggerated manner, “Your my pa-pa, did you want me to get you some more tea pa-pa?” Tea did sound nice but he would shake his head. Now came the next question.
“How many fingers am I holding up.” He would show him three fingers, and he would answer.
“Blah your so silly dad, it three of course.”
So they had some minor cognizance while afflicted, interesting, but why was he viewed as a family member of his? Similar to the other rat who clung to him not too long ago. It was puzzling but while he was untouched by the spores, only because he was curing himself of it using Lanor, the weasel still wondered how this drug operated.
“Agustin, give me your suitcase.” He would point, the one that was near by but still in the worms mouth, which he would perk up and nod again, smiling as he ran over in a childish manner before bringing it to him. Seemed he listened to his commands.
Finding a lock on the case he was going to ask him what the combination was but he told him anyways, “The lock is uh 47923221.” Which he put in and soon the briefcase would open and show a number of documents. It seemed even complex numbers by memory were not out of his mental capabilities while drugged.
Reviewing them he noticed just how important this was, it was a mind altering drug that made those who weren't afflicted be viewed as a trusted guardian or parental figure by the person intoxicated by it. It was made using herbs and some magical dust infused together with chemicals to make this concoction. In addition it degraded the mind, reverting someone to a more ten year old mindset.
With so much evidence on hand he would easily be going away for years because of this and now that he had all the information he pulled out his phone and contacted Elysia.
“Elysia, I got him, hes a bit drugged right now but it seems like you were right about the underground section. He was making drugs down here, shipping them out via the giant worms, to whom I have no clue.”
“Giant worms? But that's how Demetri ships things out to other parts of the underground, you wouldn’t think that they were working together?” The woman said, concerned but happy to hear he was still alive.
“Maybe, only one way to really find out, I’m going to be heading down a tunnel. Call the cops and tell them to go through the casino to the back staff room and down the elevator, they will find all they need as soon as they get off.”
“Alright, when your done lets meet up at the hotel, I took the liberty of getting you a new room under my own name, even moved all your things too it. I’ll text you the number later.”
Nodding to himself Ricter gave his brief good byes before soon reaching out to grab Agustin by his paw. “Come along Agustin, you’ve been a bad boy so you’ll need to stay in the time out corner.”
“Awww! But dad...I don’t wana go to time out.”
“If you stay in time out and don't complain I’ll get you some ice-cream, okay?”
“Alright dad..” The rat pouted, walking with the weasel as he’d cuff him to the railing and also cuff the suit case to the same railing directly next to him. All while being right in front of the elevator, ensuring that when the guards did come they would at least know who to grab first. Now that this was done and Agustin was taken care of Ricter would walk back towards the large worm whom seemed to be all but dazed as well, so instead of traveling using the worm Ricter just made his way along the tunnel it made.
Still plenty of room to walk along the side, which took well around twenty minutes before he made it to the other end of the tunnel, finding that from the twist and turns and sloping he was back in town but on another side of town. In fact he was near the water treatment plant, which was just bellow him at about four stories up. He was on the dome shaped outer walling of dirt and stone, looking down at the town as this was one of the worm holes he noticed on coming into this place.
Interesting, so Agustin was using the worms to transport his product around, now the question was where was it heading too? That was probably in the shipment logs as well but skimmed over, luckily he had taken some of that information with him as after taking a deep breath he would jump down into the clean water bellow. Hitting the waves with a loud crash his body would soon come up to the surface, not even bothered that he dropped from so high up while inhaling air deeply.
Ahead of him was the docks, however he had no intention of going there just yet, tried and exhausted Ricter planned on meeting up with Elysia as planned. Maybe even getting some time to sleep since he had no wish to actually be going on a marathon of fighting, plus they needed to plan things out better now that they had something to go by. Maybe figure out whom else could be tied to this outside of just the family given these worms traveled much further than just near or around Ambrosia.
Four hours would pass, the local guards and authorities in town would soon be at the casino, of course with their investigation underway they would find something but part of him wondered if this was enough. If the police here would be enough to possibly take down the rich tycoon even after they found the drugs, and the evidence, and it all tied to him, yet he felt like he had more work to do, to make sure those he and his family hurt were avenged.
Many of the gang members were being arrested, even some he had wounded got taken in to medical treatment, being laid on the backs of massive beetles and carried off. Or in some cases carried away in wooden carts, surely casino owners public image would be degraded but by what he could see The Simon family had control over this town, and even after this he probably could recover from it, they held power, and maybe that power was in relation to his drug ring that he built.
RE: Under The Cheerful Town - Ricter - 08-07-2018
Back at the hotel Ricter and Elysia seemed to be enjoying some tea again, this time while in further discussion of what to do next as they just got back from their little mission. By the look of the news it went well, but both had the vibe that they could possibly do more to end this whole organization. Even if it was just the two of them, there was nothing they couldn't do as both seemed to have their own goals in mind.
“So, you couldn't have told me you were a prime sooner? I would have sworn you were a secondary by first glance but sure enough no secondary could survive what you have been through. At least not one that hasn't been here for well over a couple years.” In the middle of a conversation about a few things she would just point this out.
Elysia questioned this only because she was surprised but was fine with it, yet Ricter only scratched one of his fuzzy ears, thinking for a moment before just answering back. “I didn't think it would be important, but seems like its the biggest thing when it comes to everyone and how they feel about you.”
“Well of course it is, you don't really get a free pass on death when your a secondary, or made from a Prime, it must be a liberating sensation to not have to worry about death. Or at least the consequences of it.” Which drew some shakes of the head from Ricter while he sipped some more tea, enjoying and relaxing himself after what felt like a constant non-stop bout of fighting with a shit ton of people for well over half an hour.
“Doesn’t stop the pain of it though, luckily I have some skill in doing that. But lets talk about something else, what shall we do now that Agustin is out of the picture? What do you think will happen next?” The weasel would question, of course not knowing how things rolled down here he could very well get away with it all but he had a feeling he wouldn't, not with video tape evidence, physical evidence, and even a testimony or two could lead him behind bars.
Elysia would place down her cup, she was no longer wearing her uniform, in fact she was wearing a nice sundress, white in color, with blue streaks of vine like designs that crawled around her hips and the hem of her dress. “I would say we wait but I don't enjoy allowing them to recuperate, as for what they will do it honestly depends on who’s working for him. His henchmen will look for work else where, and as for his brother, he might very well try to bail him out of prison. Might cost him a pretty penny but he surely will aim to get him out.”
Thinking for a second she knew this place better than himself, she was cunning and at the same time probably had this cooked up for years, plans on how to get out of this mess she was in. But no one to follow up on them. Until now that is, “I have a friend who works at the docks shipping exports, he’s on the ‘up and up’, I will send him a message to maybe get the plans for the docks for us to look through. After that we can make a solid plan of actions, for what to do next.”
Nodding Ricter had not reason not to trust her, so he would, allowing her to contact her friend now to get some more information. The streets were in a small uproar about the casino tycoons falling out, news papers printing head lines about what was found and how this for sure would be linked to the entire family however dead ends were coming up quickly for investigators for getting Demetri and is father as well, seems they were just as good at being elusive as Ricter was but it was unclear if Demetri or anyone knew this was his doing.
“Um...how is Emily?”
The question came as a small surprise, but it would draw a smile from Elysia who sent out her last text message to someone. “Shes...doing as well as anyone can in her situation, I’ve been making sure shes been okay. But really we all know how it ends up becoming in the end.”
“Hm...” Mulled silence emanated from the weasel as he looked ot the side, however Elysia simply smirked and reached over the small table, patting the side of his hand.
“Your worried you might not be able to save her, aren’t you?”
“Of course I am, I mean...I want to do this for both you and her, but I still don't know if I’m capable of it. All that fighting and I was nearly out of steam by the end of it, I only got away thanks to some last minute thinking.”
“Ricter your not alone, I can’t really got full lock and load to aid you in killing goons, but I want to help as best I can. Besides, I’d rather you not take care of everything for me. I refuse to be some damsel in distress.” Strong willed as always but enough to have compassion, she was right, Elsyia was very helpful for what she could do for him, and he wasn’t alone, he just felt like this was a lot to take.
“Sorry, guess its supid iof me to complain, I did offer to help after all.”
“No your fine, when I was forced into my situation I cursed to the high heavens every single day, I’d resist, kicking and biting till eventually I felt broken. Used, like a tissue, and just as torn as one when it gets damp with tears. Especially my own. I-”
She paused, which gave a window for Ricter to counter, pulling his paw over hers now as he smiled warmly, he seemed to be quite chipper now, feeling better about the whole thing. “When this is over Elysia, I want you and everyone to come to the surface, to Ambrosia.”
She quirked her brows up, the thought of going up there was always attractive, but she as tied down here thanks to the mafia families and her dept. Before she could even asnwer him he would add to the deal, as if trying to make it sound like it was not his own idea.
“I mean, there is a house not too far outside of where I live in town, with some of the money I picked up I’m sure you could get the deed for it. Or I can just think up you a place to stay, I keep forgetting I can do stuff like that.”
Smirking she just giggled, laughing but taking her hand back eventually, “Real charmer, I’ll have to think about that, however it would be a nice change of scenery from the never ending night time that was this town. Maybe I could even see the sun sun rise and set for once with out worrying about leaving such a view.”
Probably as good an answer as he would get, but this did revitalize his wish to be victorious in this whole thing. But there was plenty that could stop him, and even Elysia could very well die in her quest to see the light. He would make sure that didn’t happen.
It might have been around another twenty or so minutes of waiting but the two would begin planning out once more after their informant had gotten them what seemed like hard copy blue prints of the entire lay out of the docks. The area was large but no where near as large as the casino. It spanned along the waters shore line and took up around half a mile in length from one end of the docks to the other.
Most of it was actually part of the carnival, which ran all year long, they had simple rides, nothing complex but did one better and had a centipede roller coaster that was quite popular and spanned over half the docks over all. Which seemed like a ticket into the ports since a high barbed gate covered most of the facility and it was armed to the teeth with guards armed everywhere, no one tends to go in unless its for bushiness and only if Demetri says so.
“Speaking of Demetri where would he be in this place?” Ricter asked his rodent companion.
“Good question, typically he is inside the main processing building, the one near the back however its the most guarded place of all. Even I haven’t seen what was inside, at least not from an up close point of view, by what the map shows your better off trying to get close via the roller coaster and jumping down from it. But um..it is a four story drop so I hope your really good at tucking and rolling, Sweetie.”
“You really enjoy putting me in dangerous situations don't you?” Complaining a bit as he pouted to her casual mention of dropping from what was a very high distance, luckily that wasn't much for him, if at all it would just give him a light fracture that he could repair if he landed strait on his legs.
“This is just as dangerous for me as it is for you, just you will be doing most of the violence side of things, I will stick to what I do best and getting you information where I can. Besides if your looking for some kind of reward for all this your welcome to take me as your trophy.” The woman would flaunt which would only draw a fluster from the weasel, sure he was well over the age of being an adult but his lack of a romantic back ground only made him as bashful as a preteen when it came to suggestions like that. Besides, he knew she was joking, but he couldn’t help it.
“N-no, I think tea and cake is fine.” He would say as she would smirk and even giggle at his reaction. Finding it both amusing to tease the weasel and also cute to some degree.
“If I didn't know any better I’d say you were just an innocent little boy trapped inside a mans body, just one more thing to love. Now, lets get back to the task shall we? I’d say after we enjoy the carnival and you get off you go past- this side of the gate, and enter in through this other section of the gate. Once there you will want to go past the shipping crates and into the building, from that point I can’t help you much but if you can catch Demetri and what he has been up too I think you will be in the clear.”
Her explanation was sound, and simple, but he wondered about something else. “What if he isn't there right now? Or if hes at home, we should go about doing this when he can be completely taken surprise by the plan.” Which was true, yet she would think of something for that as well.
“Simple, today is actually delivery day, I need to double check with my informant if he is actually coming in to check on things but my guess is he will be now that his brother is locked up. That rat isn’t the skeptical type but after a massive bust like that he probably is thinking more about his business being hit next than something like relaxing at home watching cartoons.”
But Ricter had a rebuttal to that, “Sure, but that would make him a lot more alert.”
“Yes, will that be a problem for you?”
“Nope, so long as I know what I’m dealing with ahead of time I think I can handle it.”
“Ah, there's that confidence I like so much, I’ll keep in contact over a head set. I’m sure that will be easy for you to make so I don't have to buy one myself, once your in just make sure you find him and catch him. Any evidence you find should help as well depending on what Demetri is up too, aside from that we should get ready to get going.”
Finally finished planning Ricter would look towards his sword which was in the corner of the room, making him think for a second about what they were going to be doing now that they had this final target. He knew that what they were looking for was in the brothers property and probably just as well guarded as the casino was now that his brother was caught, and he cut ties with him.
Only time would tell and with him changing clothes again he would plan for them to go about doing this tonight, for now he would let it settle for a bit, they had attacked the casino this morning after all. If they had attacked right away Demetri might be prepared, and hours had passed for them so some rest was in store, no need to rush this sorda thing.
But just as he was getting up from his seat Elysia would ask the weasel something, making him pause, “Ricter, I joke with you and we are friends, yes. But why are you doing all this? Whats your reason to helping me so much, that you would risk losing everything just to free me. I know its not what a man typically wants, I can see it in how you act, is it something else?”
For which the mustelid was taken aback by the sudden question, and why she gave it in such a manner, he had some time to answer of course but he had to mull it over. “That is a good question.” He said as if even he didn't know the answer to it but after a bit of time his eyes directed back to Elysia, who was fishing for his true motives.
“I've always wanted to fix things, even when back in my own world I was treated more like a big brother, someone who protects his little sister and fixes her problems if she caused any. I paid small prices for her, and some large ones, but in the end everything came out okay, because I knew what it took to more or less ‘cure’ it. Now as a doctor I tend to think of all my problems as illnesses, even friends problems as illnesses, but this? This is a disease that's choking everyone down here, so many people harmed by just three others. I cant say I wasn't moved by your story too, and Emily.”
He paused, looking at the steam rise from a tea pot that had long since been taken off a burner, but stayed nice and warm, his eyes narrowed for a second before going back to Elysia. “I do this because deep down I wana find a cure for everything, that's been my goal for so long, to stop the strain of parasites, diseases and sickness. In both forms of the medical field and in life, I've felt really powerless for a long time, but I have some power here. I'm tougher, and faster here, and with the prospect of infinite growth it feels like I can accomplish anything.”
Drawing some smiles from Elysia he kept speaking, “I don't want to be selfish, I have the ability to do something with the power that omni has given me, I know there are others, whom have way more power than me and might have plans that would be the downfall of good people. But why would I help? Well if I didn’t who would? How many selfish Primes might just graze over your plights and the problems down here just for a good time. Your my friend Elysia, and I have something most other people don’t, I- might feel apprehensive about my own skills sometimes but its only because I’ve never been the hero type.”
“In the end, all I can do fake it, maybe end up winging it till I come out on top? Who knows really haha, but if you have confidence in me, I’ll do my best as always, especially now that more than my life is on the line.” Finished with his little speech Elysia would get up from her seat, Ricter was about to do the same but was topped by the woman and given a small punch to his shoulder, he flinched, but it didn’t hurt.
“Your such a Marry Sue.” She laughed as Ricter frowned, poking her with an index finger to her side.
“Hey! I’m not a Marry Sue! I got plenty of other things to worry about, especially outside of this!” Of course Elysia was only teasing the weasel but his reaction seemed genuine, so did his little speech as she did ask him why and he gave his answer. A level of trust being formed from it and eventually the two would just stare at one another and smirk before the man would get up, understanding.
“Lets get started.”
RE: Under The Cheerful Town - Ricter - 08-07-2018
Walking along the air was fairly nice around this part of town, lights and concession stands dotted each side of the pair that strolled down the dirt path. A large sign passing behind them with the words “High Top Carnival” written in red paint that was illustrated by a black boarder. The duo seemed to walk in holding hands, going up to the booth that sold tickets and placing in some change to be offered two tickets and also a small key card, drawing a smile across the clerks face.
“Enjoy your stay!” The man behind the both would say.
“Thanks sweetie, I’ll see you again later.” Elysia seemed to take the items for herself before offering one to her cloaked partner, which Ricter was happy to take but he really wished he was here to enjoy the soft smell of funnel cake and cotton candy rather than to go on some kind of mission. But maybe he could enjoy it afterwards as he tucked the ticket into his pocket.
“This is the carnival? And they have actual carnival food? I’m amazed!” Ricter spoke with a smile, tempted to go and eat some thing now that they had some time to actually do something besides just plan. Wearing her same white sun dress the woman wanted nothing more than to get a bite to eat. So funnel cake was more than likely on the menu.
Sitting down once the vender handed them a nice warm funnel cake and a scoop of ice cream, Elysia would pass him a key card while they ate. “Here, to help you get inside.” Sliding it along while faking that she was just eating some of her friends funnel cake Ricter slipped it into his sleeve and then into his pocket when he found the time to do so. Not knowing if they were begin watched but he wanted to be extra careful, just in case.
“Thanks, by the way this funnel cake is great, I wish I had more time to enjoy the carnival with you.” Which was a shame, but maybe after, if this place would still be up and running after they were done. On close inspection he did notice that some of the employee’s were wearing the same garb as some of the gangsters he had dealt with just in a brown color rather than a black and white attire.
The influence of the groups were wide and over encompassing, it made him wonder how such a group could manage to take over every facet of a city, but it was doable when you had the power of a prime on your side. But a falling out seemed to have happened by what he was told, probably someone jealous of said power or wanting to take over for themselves. But was what they were doing the correct course of action?
Sure they could eliminate the debts of the girls, and even better free those who were under the oppressive control of a group, but that didn’t make it right in the end did it? Would it cause a chain reaction that was unmistakable as being horrible for the local economy, or would the now free people be able to take care of themselves?
All valid questions but none he could answer right now, wishing only to fix the problems he could see in-front of himself. Enjoying the delicious taste of funnel cakes and ice-cream when he finished Ricter looked to his friend who was just finishing up, asking. “Should we go ride the centipede?” As ready as he will ever be there was no point in dragging this on forever.
“Oh? So soon? Very well.” Finishing she was surprised they were going through with this already, but better now than waiting forever. Getting up they would toss the foam sheets of paper that held their food from touching the probably very germ filled table, into the trash. Walking around only to see the sights, which Ricter was more than happy to see before finally coming to the largest attraction here that was neither a fun house nor some kind of magic show for kids. A funny concept given where he was right now.
The ride ahead of them had a sizable line, around fifty or so people waiting ages ranging from 5 to maybe late 30’s or so. Past that the ride seemed to look around in a big winding circle around the edges of the water and further along towards the docks which weren't that far away but only a road seemed to lead towards there and it was easily shown to be very protected.
Along the track of the coaster it seem to be made out of a simple pipe, nothing extremely safe looking but given that as the ride came back around it was a large over sized centipede, something that would make some mothers scream, which was understandable given it was as big as a typical string of roller coaster cars. Once it came to a stop its many legs would stay still and the people who were on the coaster would begin to come off of it, unbuckling from chairs that were strapped against the bug and made so it wouldn’t shake too much or come off no matter how the insect moved.
The rides manager would seem to fee the large bug some food, grubs of course, which the creature chittered and should get ready for the next dozen or so rodents to climb on and get prepped for the next run around the rails. A red light would flash before a green light popped up, the insect soon moving slowly at first up a hill before sloping back down, legs smoothly climbing up and down along the railings as Ricter watched and marveled at how they adapted to life down here.
Everything form rides, vehicles, and things of that nature, all naturalized to the point of being good for everyone, barely any pollution even if they lived bellow a sewer. However the guns were not from here, like they were imported, which gave him some idea as to why maybe everyone of these goons seemed to be armed with a pistol or rifle. An annoying situation, but luckily he could actually take this type of situation by the horns and not have to worry unless he got shot someplace he would never recover from.
Waiting their turn he knew that they wanted to be in the back of the ride, in addition he also knew that when he got the chance he would have to jump off at a certain point where the ride wasn’t at a high peak. Ricter had multiple chances to do this, but only one if he wished to jump off, after all once he was past the first layer of defenses the weasel would have to make his way into the complex with out raising too many alarms.
With how many goons were in the carnival it can only be guessed that they would bee-line strait for him if he caused an uproar. So finally when their turn came they walked strait to the back of the ride, both buckling in beside one another as the ride would begin to start once the green light was flashed. At first this felt no different than a ride you would go on for an amusement park, almost practiced mechanical motions were smoother over all. Nothing like he had experienced before as he gave a happy yell once the ride sloped up then sloped back down, the mustelid was actually enjoying himself till he saw a bend coming and he knew that was his small window.
“Good luck, Ricter.” Elysia said to him as he unbuckled himself, taking some time to do so as it was made so people couldn’t get out easily, as most rides should. He gave a nod back to her, saying nothing before adjusting the ear piece he had logged into one of the ears on his head, his gaze would follow along the moving mushroom tree’s bellow as he gulped. It was lot higher up than he first thought, and this time he didn’t have any water to break his fall, that is he couldn’t use the water to break his fall as the ripples and splash would be too loud. Too risky to attempt.
Once the ride took a dive down again he timed himself and jumped off, falling for a good two seconds before eventually landing on top of one of the large mushroom caps and bouncing off before hitting the ground with a hard thud. With his fall broken by the mushroom he groaned when getting up, perfectly fine, maybe a bruise or two but he didn’t feel so bad, in fact he was just peachy.
Picking himself up off the ground he cracked his neck and stretched his body out now, looking around he seemed to be near the waters edge, around ten or so meters away. He was in a deep foliage area however a path seemed to be not too far away, one that was quite active, but no matter him just falling from the sky seemed to spark nothing given it was still dark out in this area, the forever darkness was a greater cloak than what he had on.
Forming a mask again he placed it on his face, strapping it on as it was the same as the one he had before, then he would begin sneaking towards what he could tell was the main docking ports. Moving forward he paused once he saw the gate come into view, it was right around the west side of the entrance, but the gate was barbed at the top and had camera’s sloping up and down along the edges.
He didn’t really want to catch the eye of a camera and if he tried cutting his way in it would probably lead to him getting found out, luckily he was flexible enough to maybe slip past even a gash in the gate. Pulling out his sword from the leather sheath he began charging it, in time with the a camera rolling from one side to the other, Ricter dashed out of the tree line. His blade having a sharp glint to it as he made a slash against the chain link fence and left a large vertical gash, making it rattle slightly but by the time the camera came back a round and a guard walked near by he was already inside.
The gash being fixed just from Ricter using omnilium to craft it back again before slipping behind a crate to find some cover and not be seen. Climbing over it wasn’t an option, even if he could take being cut up by barbs, but being seen was not a good plan of action when he was now inside of the shipping complex. The shipping crates dotted everywhere in a pattern, making rows while bugs of various sizes would begin moving them to something in the water, a type of water spider that could carry it with out worry of them sinking into the waves.
From where he could tell, the weasel could see that this place was busy, goons with guns in almost every corner while workers had on yellow hard hats, taking shipping crates to sections of the pier and moving ones that came back in. From here he could also peek over another crate and see that they were heading into tunnels that lead out of the city and towards what he could guess was the suppliers Demetri had.
In the back though a large building with lights and multiple levels of floors was the only main building here, sure their were small buildings where people relaxed in and or talked inside, but the large structure in the back was obviously more important. So he would head in that direction, weaving between boxes and even moving into one of them while they were open, wishing to see what was inside of one of these before it was moved to the water.
Inside the shipping container he found smaller wooden crates, all of which closed by metal locks and nails, but unable to stop him form opening it with a few bashes from his sword handle. Tossing the lock to his side he raised the lid, looking inside and seeing number of packing peanuts, shuffling his hands inside of the crate he felt something hard and metallic. Grabbing it and with a hard yank he pulled out what looked like an RPG launcher.
“Holy shit..” He commented, was this real? It looked real, and on further inspection he noticed that it had no numbers, nor did it have any marks except the name ‘Red Roses’. Who ever this red roses person was seemed to be the main supplier after seeing each of the rockets had the same name on them. Cracking open another he found the same thing, guns with the same name on them in red lettering, from pistols to grenades which he would at least take one of, those were easier to use than any thing he needed to aim.
Once he felt like he had gotten enough of a look at all this he took pictures, silently taking a recording of everything he was seeing right now. Maybe this was enough to get Demetri but he felt like the shipping lists would help make incriminating him even more effective, placing the lids down and as soon as he got the chance he woulds slip out of the container. Next stop was actually infuriating the building, but that was harder than one would guess, everything was checked on entering into the facility, not too mention half the building was where they store the smaller and probably more sensitive crates and boxes.
Maybe explosives? So far he had manged to call that they were working with guns here but maybe something else in addition to just shipping out peoples mail or what ever else they wanted. He could only figure it out once he got to the main desk or computer and got the list of what was coming in and out of here, and then he would go strait for Demetri.
Keeping his weapon sheathed Ricter formulated a plan of action, one that he knew he could probably get away with while also fishing out the people inside of the building. Watching for any movement he noticed that how they transported most objects around here, most were lifted up using strong insects, namely ants and the like. They were large, as big as a person in some cases, and would easily pick up each o the boxes that were pushed into their direction, taking it from the storage section of the building before finally setting it near the docks to be loaded onto the massive pond spider.
The whole ‘assembly line’ almost worked by itself, only needing small directions from the handlers but he could see times where the ants would mess up, maybe going into a wall by mistake or simply not going directly the way that was needed. They seemed to use whistles to actually communicate with them, low tuned to probably make simple calls, but it was blown softly every few seconds by one person as the ant was pulled towards the shore with the allure of the whistle.
So now he had a target, however there were plenty of the around, the ones with whistles. But he picked one off to the side, alone and taking a quick smoke break, going after them since they should be the easiest to take down if he could get the drop on them. Which he planned on doing, sneaking around the north side but not so close to the building that he would get spotted, slipping to his back side as he looked around, tapping his cigarette into the gravel rocks below.
Suddenly a paw was pulled over his mouth and his body was yanked back, pulled into the space between the crates, placing him in a choke hold he began to struggle. The rat unable to breath thanks to the smoke plus not being able to take in air anyways thanks to his hold, ensuring that after a few seconds he would soon pass out and he dropped him on the ground, dragging them into a near by shipping container and closing the doors too it once he was inside.
“Smoking is bad for your lungs.”
He made it a point to take the whistle though after giving his little snarky comment, though it was almost innocent in its delivery. Examining the instrument their were 4 oles in it and one for a mouth to blow air into, from what he could tell the first hole was pick up, the second was go, the third was put down, and the last was stop. Those that played it played it in a soft manner, but what if he blew into it really really hard? Sure he was going by the luck that maybe it would do something but every aspect of life had a luck aspect to it.
“Ricter, did you make it inside?”
A feminine voice would say, ringing softly inside of the weasels ear piece. He was in a fairly silent spot but all the work and shuffling of rocks made it so any sounds he made would be drowned out, or could be an ally rather than an enemy when it was from the perspective of one of the workers.
“In the shipping yard? Yeah, the building is another thing entirely, seems they are peddling weapons around here, but also pushing it to other locations as well. I need to find the log slips, but for now I need a bit of chaos before I can enter the building.”
“Did you need some help?” Elysia sounded worried, but she would relax a bit after Ricters next response.
“Nope, got it covered I think, if you hear shooting or explosions, don't worry too much, I should survive.”
“Just don't be too reckless cow boy, I’d rather you come back in one piece, not in pieces.”
Smiling he could hear that she really cared for his well being, though he still felt she had dumped him in this situation. However the reason he stayed was exactly for her, and the people around here, but he didn’t need a moral boost right now, what he did need is for everyone to scatter from their positions. Putting the whistle up to his mouth he would hold down all the other holes except the one that he guessed was to make the ants ‘go’.
Blowing hard into the instrument, not making much of a sound at all but as he did this, holding the note for a long time, the ants seemed to respond instantly. They wouldn't head for him, in fact they would begin to scuttle around quickly, pushing past rats who tried to control them while also just trampling a few too. Dropping boxes while also climbing over crates and knocking things over.
Now Ricter wasn’t the best at playing a flute, and this was more like a normal whistle but he would attempt to play a song on it, shifting fuzzy fingers against holes and alternating keys, causing the ants to seemingly go crazy as they beagn throwing and tossing boxes, moving around and raming into walls before even attacking some of the rodents near by. He liked this thing, the ants were like his personal army to cause discord and chaos around the docking ports which quickly rodnets and human sized bugs alike would begin rushing from the building to go and see what was happening.
Trying to cull the ants in some way if at all possible, but the weasel kept playing, slowly making his way towards the building again, but this time ensuring that the turmoil would continue so long as he wished to do so. Yet they were beginning to calm them, the sound from his own whistle could barley keep up with what they were now all doing in coordination with their own instruments.
He did find his window though, with so many guards trying to calm them down now he could enter through a side door and quickly bolted for it, slipping inside as thankfully it wasn’t locked or anything and once he made it in he noticed he was in a sort of office like section of the building now. Cubicals were everywhere but not many people were around at all, if anything he just noticed a number of computers and a still warm cup of coffee next to a desk.
Walking over to one of them he wouldn’t touch the computer but looked in the file cabinets and sifted through some of the contents of each folder, what he found was almost as surprising as what he found outside. These reports listed the movement of drugs, money, guns, and even more so contacts of dozens of people who ordered these things from other verses in exchange for something else.
Taking pictures of some of the lists he tried to get as much information as he could before sending it up to Elysia, texting her in picture attachments as after a few seconds she would give the words. “Holy crap, I didn’t expect it to be this big!”
Avoiding a lewd joke or two that he could make from her choice of words he stayed on task, “Seems they were dealing with others all around the greens and also in other verses, probably trading for what they had in exchange for what they can get from them. You did say Primes never came down here right? If so then I can only guess their supplier is a Prime, or has one under them.”
Drawing some time for her to read the contents more carefully he placed the folder into a bag he had, stepping out of the cubical as he could hear the commotion outside calming down. “Yes, but the fact that our town was used for something like this? I never knew they branched out so far, those monsters, who knows how many peoples lives they have ruined all for the sake of profit.”
Her tone was emotional but more so filled with anger than any other feeling, however Ricter tried to calm her down, not wanting her to over react, “Elysia its okay, we’ll make them pay, if not in life but in some way. I’m going to look for Demetri now, I have enough evidence but I think this is better off if we take him in personally.” Elysia couldn’t agree more to what Ricter just said and just gave a soft growl.
“Make sure you smack him around a few dozen times, better yet shove a boot so far up his tail he’ll taste it.” Feisty, but for good reason, still given what he was up against she might get her wish and more. So in slipping form the offices he would have to make his way up some steps, guessing his office was probably on the third floor of this building but as he walked he found it strange that no one was inside of here.
At least by what he could tell, surely not everyone ran outside to check what was going on, still, no resistance what so ever as he scaled one flight of stairs, then another. However on the second floor he could see that this floor was packed with people. Which scared him at first however it seemed like a large number of walking insects, mostly beetles, roaches, and an anthro-red ant. All of which walking around, one even groaning and talking with another with a cup of coffee.
RE: Under The Cheerful Town - Ricter - 08-07-2018
“Fucking retards, don't know why we even use ants for every damn thing.” A roach would say.
“Whats wrong with ants? They work harder than any of the rats would ever want to do by themselves, cheep to catch. Plus its not like Demetri is paying for their wages.”
The red ant said as a rodent would sip his coffee, pouting to what they mentioned about his species, “But those things are so hard to control with dog whistles, why don't you go down there and fix what ever is going on if your species is so great at working hard.”
A small argument was forming and Ricter had little time for this kind of thing, part of him wondered if he should sneak past them but he felt it was probably best to just fight his way to the top this time. With part of his cover blown already, at least he felt that way since he passed by a camera or two but no alarms had sounded, maybe they still guessed that it was all just a mistake made by the rats down stairs.
Looking around from where he was there was still a distance to go through to get to the stair case that was down the hall from him, mostly to get to the third floor but also to get to Demetri who was more than likely up there. Slipping from the stair case he noticed that the voices were now sitting in one spot, all around a table, simply lounging around with on another and talking to one another still.
The table had a number of weapons, news papers, food, and cups, dotting sections of it while they were slightly turned away from him but enough to where he could sneak up on them but not move past them to get to the stair case. Not with out looking really dumb. On the count of three Ricter sprung out from behind the section of the stairs that was walled, coming around the corner and moving strait behind one of the guys who were sitting down.
Interlocking his arms around the rodents head he would lift them up as the other two sprung up out of their chairs, grabbing guns and pointing it at Ricter and his hostage. Choking them but Ricter didn’t seem to fear their guns, in fact after taking so many shots before, even in vital area’s, he knew he could take a few as the trio not currently in a hed lock would keep their guns trained on him.
“Who the hell are you?!” One would say but Ricter said nothing.
“Shit, just let him go, your out gunnned man.” The ant would comment as Ricter would soon feel the rodent go limp, perfect. Soon tossing his body down the bugs would begin to unload into Ricter. Which he didn’t make it a point to evade much, in fact he took a few hits in parts of his body that he didn’t think of protecting. But jumping over the table he would bring his fist to the ants face. Slamming into them multiple times before nearly breaking its hard outer exoskeleton.
Standing up he would make a low kick towards the roach next to him, causing them to stagger and fall as his leg nearly snapped form the force but Ricter followed this by dropping his own body weight into his elbow and slamming it down on his face. Causing a loud ‘snapping’ noise form the impact before getting up again. Ricter had taken about a clip in a half of bullets and seemed to be still moving, little did they know he was just taking it all at face value.
No tricks that needed to be used, nothing magic related or by skill, it was just his body was like a sponge for what ever they could throw at him as the beetle was the only one that was left. He was backing away, calling out on his radio as Ricter walked forward, “W-we got someone in the building! He’s a-” Just before he could finish his sentence the weasel rammed is forearm into the beetles face as they threw a punch his way too, barley budging if at all before grabbing the gun that was still on the table and shooting three times into the bugs chest. Causing them to crumble as they screamed but began writhing on the ground.
Over the radio the sound of movement could be heard, and even inside of the building he could hear people beginning to come up the steps now. He had ot be quick about this and reaching on the table again he would grab few grenades and begn rushing for the next floor. The stairs were near by and once he would get to them Ricter began unpinning multiple grenades and just tossing them on the steps, his plan was to simply blow them to pieces, making it hard for them to get up here.
Of couse after sprinting up tghem as a large explosion would ring inside of the building, causing even the wall connecting the steps to be blow into and causing splinters and wood as well as brick to collapse and leave the previous stair way completely missing now. He was at the third floor and now he could see a hall leading down towards a double door entrance, probably exactly what he was after, but no guards at all. Making him feel skeptical, if not just fully cautious about the whole thing.
Step after silent step would keep him going forward, towards the office slowly before he would come up too the doors, not bothering to sneak past a camera that could see him fully before he opened the doors briefly. They swung inside dramatically and although he expected to see some squad or two trying to gun him down, he saw nothing, instead he saw what seemed like a rodent sitting at a desk, looking up towards the masked weasel before grinning.
He recognized his face, it was Demetri and even if he was covered in a mask Demetri recognized him, easily from just the height and how he carried himself. Having watched him this entire time via the camera’s but did nothing to stop him from coming here, why?
“So the knight finally made it here huh? Took you long enough, I was afraid you wouldn’t show up. Come to kill me?” He asked, his tone more snarky thank his brothers, however he was more cunning it seemed, smarter about how to run his business and ensure that he kept tabs on everyone, hew as more careful than Agustin but not enough that he wouldn't be having this meeting with him right now.
“No, I’m here to turn you in, your operation is over Demetri, come quietly.”
“Ha! That's rich, so your the justice before vengeance type of person then?”
“No, I was told to throw in a few unmentionable things after I took you in, most not very pleasant.”
“Ouch, is it Elysia? That woman never did like me, hell, never took a liking to anyone, besides maybe you.” So he did know, but how much did he know? If he knew about the plan, and even about what happened to his brother then for sure he could guess what was coming next. But it seemed like this all was planned in his book, which made him a bit antsy, scared that he would try to harm her in some kind of way as he got up form his chair, coming around to the other side before sitting on his desk and looking at Ricter.
“What? Surprised I knew? I’m not like my stupid little brother, I keep tabs on everything, he just keeps tabs on what he owns. Anyways I’m not here to gloat about what I know, I’m here to thank you actually,.”
“For what?” The stoat retorted.
“For getting rid of my brother, sure he was a good trading partner but he was such a loud moth, now that he’s gone I can start owning all the drug rings in town. But honestly I think I have a deal for you, how about you work for me? Your a prime I take it, with your ability to make virtually anything I wont need sellers any more, hell I wont need to even hire new people. I could literally take this city in a day if I had the power a prime dose.”
“I think you know my answer to that..” The weasels eyes narrowed, a soft growl was muffled from the mask but it was slightly rocking his frame he would even suggest using him to cause more abuse in such an already torn location.
“Well that's easy, I got ways of making you agree.” Just as he thought he would try something he noticed something being pulled out, causing Ricter to tense and even reach for his sword. But he would be cut off by Demetri who had his pistol trained on him.
“Hold it, I’d rather you not make this harder on yourself. Or Elysia for that matter, she could very well die if you manage to do the wrong move.”
A voice would call out over the ear piece, panicked and growling it seemed fearful but there was no mistaking it was Elysia. “Ricter! They got me, don't give him what he wants!“ She was cut off again as it seemed she was struggling but a loud smack sound, as if someone had impacted a persons body with a fist shut her up quickly.
In the rats hand he had a gun, high caliber but nothing too strong, just a pistol. Still he would grin as Ricter growled, leverage was gone now and easily enough they were in a massive pickle. Even the sound of more men beginning to climb up the steps behind him was getting louder. “Now what was that answer again? Because I have no problem killing you and that woman you seem to like so much, I don't get why you picked a whore to cling too. Was it because she gave was good in bed?”
He smirked, mocking, “Or maybe she could really get dirty if you paid her enough, oh don't worry I know, after I slapped that debt on her old man and had to kill them off she tried to hide it but she gave a soft little cry when I deflowered her. It was so marvelous, the virgins are always the best. But even after I had some more fun, hell even four times a week, money was no object for me to spend.”
Grinning ear to ear as Ricters eyes started to become aflame with rage as the mask came off now, “The best part was breaking the bitch down, showing her was boss, making them my pet then forcing them to beg for it. That’s what you gotta do in my line of work, put your foot down on them and they will obey, they just need some time to realize their place in the food chain!”
Just then as he was talking four rodents came in, all aiming rifles at Ricter, the robes hoodie would fall down now. “So why not? If you want you can fuck her every day, I’ll even throw in that other little runt, whats her name? Emily! Yeah, though I think I’ll have a turn first, after that your fine to have a go. So I’m guessing that's a yes then?” At this point the weasel was furious, however his face only showed it in his eyes as he took a deep breath.
He needed to calm down, other wise he would make a mistake and end up getting Elysia killed, or worse, ensuring that Demetri won completely, however both of them knew the ricks of what was this mission. To end all this oppression, this crime, and hate, to free people from being pawns in a big board game. But he didn’t know what to do, and even now as he pulled his hand away from his sword he would unstrap it from his back and then drop it on the floor in front of himself, surrendering, all to the rodents delight.
Lowering his gun with a smirk on his face, Demetri would just begin laughing as Ricter spoke up. “Whats so funny.”
“Whats so funny? You! Your fucking hilarious, it was so easy manipulating you two that I’m almost shocked it worked out. Oh well, welcome to the club partner, we’ll make so much of a killing together that all you will think about is how much tail and money you can make.”
Getting up he would only stand a few feet away from Ricter, but he still had a gun at the ready, and his boys ready to fire too, “Now keep your hands up, partners never truly trust each other when it comes to this kind of business, but so long as you do what we tell ya your girl wont be killed. Understood? If you need a bit of encouragement we can always drug you up with my brothers stuff, pretty potent stuff as you might know.
Ricter wouldn’t respond right away, but asked, “Arms up?”
“Yeah dumb ass, I didn’t say arms down.”
“Alright.” His tone seemed causal as he lifted his hands up from his side, however as he placed his paws in the air a ring seemed to shine off his finger. It was no ring anyone would normally notice but the glint form it was unmistakable. He pulled the pin of the grenade while it was still connected to his belt, only a mad man would have done such a tactic but for him he thought he might as well test the limits.
In less than three seconds an explosion would rock the office floor, outward force would hit him like a truck while all those near and around him would be blown back as well. But while it felt like he got rammed into by a car going around 15 or so mph, the rats around him weren't so lucky. The force knocked him on his ass for sure but everywhere else around him seemed to shatter as glass and books fell down, and even some of the floor splinted from the explosion.
Groaning as he rolled around on the floor he felt like shit right now, even patting where he had the grenade at felt sore and part of his fur was matted in singe marks and a damp feeling of blood. Not a lot but enough to warrant that this was a stupid choice, that is till he saw everything else as he grabbed his sword and began to pick himself up, using it light a crutch.
The office was demolished, or at least as much as it could be as plaster fell from the ceiling and papers were scattered everywhere around him. On the ground he noticed two bodies, one managed and even having his arm blown off while another was missing parts of his face and even caused the doctor to flinch and look away. In the door way one of the rats got blasted back into the hall, the force seemed to have fractured most of his bones, he was barely alive by the time he noticed him, and was long gone for most medical professionals.
Additionally another had hit the desk, his body twisted by the concussion and seemed to be breathing still, probably in shock as he didn’t scream, only breathing rapidly and deeply. He was heavily injured, and probably needed just as much medical attention as a critical level patient, but this wasn’t his job to care about them as he looked over to Demetri now.
The rodents small stature and frame seemed to had sent him flying into his own desk, on seeing him he had a large section of wood spearing his shoulder. In addition he was currently bleeding from said wound and also from the broken leg he had as well, choking but also still alive to some degree. Managing to still have held onto his gun as he looked at Ricter, cursing under his breath.
“You bitch! I’ll kill her! I’ll kill everyone you fucking know and love! I’ll make sure you get banished to the underverse and let your ass be cooked alive by demons as they have you for a god damn after noon brunch you piece of shit!” He would say, his tone obviously stuttering, full of both wood and of course his lungs were starting to fill with blood now. Ricter ignored him, lifting up his hand as his own heart was racing, he was willing to kill himself for the sake of ending Demetri, but even as he moved towards the rat he raised his gun and aimed it at the weasels head. A flash would leave his pistol.
Ricters head flew back as his eyes dilated, he was shot, but the bullet landed square in his forehead, causing him to stumble back with his head pushed back, staring at the ceiling. This was a shot that would normally kill someone, but he wasn’t normal, instead he would just stagger in place, posturing himself, then standing normal as the bullet had completely smashed itself against his head. However instead of penetrating and splattering his brain across the room, it was dented as if it hit something harder than what it could puncture.
Once he stood strait the bullet would fall down, leaving only a light bruise under his fur but nothing that he really could feel, he might have a light migraine in the morning but the look in his eyes just showed that he feared nothing. “How...how!?” Demetri questioned, awe struck he survived much less was seemingly took no damage what so ever form the shot at least from a glance.
Soon gun fire would be ablaze, but only from Demetri, he was cornered and the other four rats were more or less dead, even the one awaiting orders from his boss while holding Elysia wondered what was going on. Unloading his clip into the weasel he fired 12 shots, all of which impacting him head on, none in the same spot as he walked forward. All leaving superficial wounds, some minor bleeding, but nothing that would stop him out right as he scooted back along his desk.
“What are you made of!” He yelled, which Ricter gave just a simple answer.
“Nothing that you can hope to ever have.”
Taking up his sword he would soon shove it strait into Demetri’s chest, puncturing his lungs, spine, and ribs. Normally this would cause him to die, as anything stabbing through all that mass would lead to such a result, but Ricter was healing the rat. Even pulling out the large chunk of wood in his body even after he shot him a dozen or so times. But he wasn’t fully forgiving and just as he would pull his sowrd out of him and the rat was about to get up, confused as to why hew as still alive, Ricter smirked.
“You healed me? What the hell...Why?”
“I have something else in mind.” A glint would appear in his eyes as Demetri staggered back, stumbling onto his desk and turning, trying to reach across his desk to the other side, possibly reaching for something but he would be stopped. The weasel grabbing his tail firmly and keeping him pinned and bent over the table.
“What are you going to do to me?! Let me go you shit head!”
“Normally I’d be gentle or at least a give a pain killer, but for you? Nah.” Arching his sword he pointed it directly at him from behind, due to its posture it was aimed towards the rats rear.
RE: Under The Cheerful Town - Ricter - 08-07-2018
To not expose what the weasel would do in full graphic detail, men would begin to head up the steps using crates and the ants to help them get over the gap, they wondered what was happening to their boss, after all his screams were pretty loud. All in sheer surprise and pain, the many rodents feared for what could have been their boss being mutilated or violated in some manner by torture or other means. The screams and crying lasted for well around two or so minutes, and once it began to fade the weasel would be done, carrying the rodent in a fire man style carry.
“Elysia? Are you okay?...Elysia?..” Worry spread through his body as he just managed to make another ear piece after the last one got broken into pieces from the explosion.
Not too far away as Elysia was held inside of a room with a rat with a gun he seemed to look out the window, noticing the massive explosions coming from the docks main building, still trying to get a hold of his boss. “Boss! Whats going on! Boss!” But while he had his back turned a slightly bruised Elysia would begin to get her barrings, tied up but gently cutting at the ropes of her bindings with a dagger she kept in her pantyhose.
After a few soft cuts she managed to get free and before the man could even react he found a knife lodged into his neck, choking on his own lungs and blood as the woman panted, holding her side but propping herself up against the window’s little ledge. Watching him bleed out and die but glancing up she could only grin while panting from the small beating she took. She had long since gotten free around the time he contacted her but knew full well he would be okay, at last to some degree.
“Not too worry huh? Maybe you were right, though next time maybe you shouldn’t blow up a room your obviously in?”
“You heard that..?”
“Of course I did you crazy weasel! And the one before it, you scared me half to death! I thought you had died!”
“I mean, uh I would have died, I did unpin a grenade on my own belt.” He laughed, which only drew a growl from Elysia, that calmed down once she felt that he would be alright for the most part.
“Guess that means when I slap you I shouldn’t worry about your well being.”
“H-hey, I didn’t say that.”
Ricter frowned, but obviously knew that she was just joking right now. However the conversation would have to be placed on hold now, especially when he was just in the middle of leaving and had to make a quick exit. Looking around for a place he could get out from he knew he could jump out of a window but which one? Plus once all the screaming had stopped a number of rodents and bugs began to march up towards his location, coming towards the closed doors of the office only to find nothing when they finally opened it.
Ricter having jumped form the third story window that was already blasted out thanks to the grenade he had set off and soon would land on the ground. He wasn’t invincible but his healing factor and durability were what gave the appearance of such, making his fall more or less null for causing any pain to his body, the weasel ran with Demetri completely passed out on his shoulder, it was easy to carry him given his size.
Eventually disappearing into the darkness while everyone scrambled to go and figure out what was going on. The police arrived not too long after this, with such a large explosion and a small tip from an anonymous caller it had to be investigated. Hours later the docks were soon taken control of by the authorities, they would find that Demetri was tied up right at their door step, a folder with all the information he had found in the file cabinets was right next to him and even better so were some of the pictures of guns and ammunition. All placed on a usb drive.
They had all the information they needed now, and with Elysia and Ricter meeting up back at the hotel most if not all of the goons involved were being rounded up. This shaped up to be one of the biggest busts in history. At least for this town, to find out so much in one day left those who were paid off in a troubling spot, and those who were on the right side of the law throwing out accusations and subpoenas like candy.
The town was in a state of chaos, and investigations would probably take a while but luckily for Elysia and Ricter they had finished what they had planned so far, last was finally the father, and his estate. But for sure they wouldn’t be planning anything right now, the two deserved a good nights sleep, this time they would sleep some place else.
“You’ve looked better..”
Ricter would say as Elysia finally managed to come to the meeting place with him, near the hotel but not inside of it, holding her side still she would smirk but give him a middle finger as he smiled back. “Should I take that as a complement or just snark from a doctor who hasn’t treated me yet.”
Fair point to make, though as they met in the ally he would pull his sword out and gently cut her hand when she reached to him, nicking it but not letting any pain enter her body from it. Instead her wounds could begin to heal as she was both confused but happy that it worked. He never showed her how his sword worked, only told her, so in a way she marveled at the sensation and look of it all.
“Wow, I thought you were only joking when you said your weapon could do this, but I feel right as rain.” She would glance down to her side, no more blood, in fact the matted section was just that, a wet red mess that didn’t bleed any more. With her inspection done she looked back to Ricter who changed out of his tattered robes and tossed it all into a trash can that was currently being used by some bums to stay somewhat warm. Giving them some more fuel as one gave a grin and a “Thanks!” as the pair made their way down the alley.
“So what now? Pretty sure going back to the hotel is out of the question, at least inside of it, seems that the remnants of Demitri and Agustin’s goons are looking for us. That or have scattered thanks to all the police looking for them.”
A good question, however Elysia would think for a bit as she made a left down the alley, heading away form the general area thatw as the hotel now. “Well there is the Simon estate, we cold very well strike it now, however I think I need some time to rest. Being bludgeoned with a gun isn’t very good for your brain. Even if the damage was healed.”
Ricter couldn’t agree more to this, however it just felt like they were rushing it and this wasn't good for her at all. If anything he hoped that once the smoke cleared that this constant war with everyone attacking everyone or the police against those paid off by the mafia would end. However now they needed a place to stay for the night, today had been a long day, and even he was mentally exhausted by all the effort he put into dismantling operations of crime and violence.
“Yeah, its late, you should probably lay down, get some rest.”
“Hm? You sound like your trying to get rid of me. Your better off sleeping as well, I don't know how many times you can use that fancy sword of yours but I wouldn't push it, and a banishment circle will probably by pass that. Come, I know where you can stay that no one will find us.”
Trusting her he would give a soft nod and begin walking along with her now, they would travel along the not so main roads, going through streets that were questionable but no one would bother them. In fact not many people were out on the streets as police began to come down each street rounding up maia related goons. Indicated by ringing a loud bell while riding a large ant, for ights they used the blue glow of a mushroom and the red glow of another mushroom that was placed on top of the ants head, indicating a serine and lights.
Ricter and Elysia avoided talking to the cops right now, after all they had done some bad things, killed some people, sure for the sake of good but what was ‘good’ in this situation? It was hard to say, but they had to find a place to rest for a while, even the energy from his weapon was wavering, and his own body was exhausted after getting hit so many times with bullets, a grenade, and so on.
Eventually they had came to The Twisted Tail, coming in quickly the place was empty, or at least as empty as can be as Ricter followed Elysia behind him while Carl was cleaning some glasses. Perking up as he noticed Elysia, his tone was slightly worried but at the same time inquisitive and questioning why she was here.
“Elysia? What are you doing? You don't have work for the night.”
“Carl mind if I take up one of the rooms? For the night that is, I...have a client here who would really want to-” Elysia would try to explain but Carl would look over to the weasel and seemingly get it for a second, looking back to her as he added. “Sure, here's the key.”
He would pull it out, offering it to her as she would be surprised, but take it, he didn’t ask for any money? Nor did he even ask anything else about whats going on outside, and why most of the mafia goons had cleared out of his establishment. Turning around and pulling down another bottle he would take a swig from it, sighing as the beetle would look back to the duo, gently waving them away, shooing them up stairs with a gesture.
“Well? Get going, but your done when the morning comes around, can’t have you halting business. Not that it matters given most my customers are being locked up.” He commented as Elysia slightly smiled, Carl had been neutral with her, both apologetic in some instances but also a business man, one that dabbled in things he shouldn’t. Even now he knew what was coming and maybe he was next once the investigators looked into his establishment, but he wasn’t broken up about it.
If anything he seemed happy, and odd thing given how he was a bug man and could barley give expression but his actions spoke louder. So the two would soon make their way up stairs, hearing nothing from the doors around them, “Normally this place is packed at night, but not even the girls are here tonight.” Elysia spoke softly, but eventually she would come to her room, walking to the door and unlocking it.
The two would walk inside, closing it behind them as both Ricter and the woman next to him would mull over what they might have done, right or wrong she could feel herself slipping from the shackles around her neck. Making her mind up farther quickly, no matter what they would find out the back lash of their decisions in the end. “Lets...get some sleep.” Ricter mentioned, snapping her out of a small daze which she perked up and nodded towards.
Their choice in where to sleep seemed to be perfect as that night the hotel was searched, both by the mafia and the police, looking for something, anything, but in the end they found nothing. Unknowing that they were only a few blocks away, sleeping in a brothel, a place of so much privacy that it was almost genius. The brothels beds sucked, but it was the safest place to stay when recovering, plus no one knew they were here besides Carl as well, and though Ricter trusted Elysia, he didn’t know if he could trust the man even if Elysia seemed fine with him.
RE: Under The Cheerful Town - Ricter - 08-07-2018
Known, or unknown of what the two have been up too, and what they had in store as the morning would begin to creep in. Ricter gently snored while Elysia was curled up slightly right next to him, it was almost cute in a way but the knock on the door would soon wake him up. Groggy and rubbing his eyes he would stretch as Elysia would shuffle around and look around too, sighing softly as her own wounds had healed over the night, which Ricter took special care in helping treat.
Walking to the door in a shirt and his underwear he would soon open it, revealing whom ever was on the other side as being yet another rodent, however he had a spotted coloration, white with black spots in certain places, while Elysia would come over to him. “Ezkiel? What are you-?”
“I’m here because Mr. Simon wants to see you both personally, feel free to place some clothes on before you do. I can ensure you that he wishes only to talk to you both, nothing heinous will befall you two.” He would say, wearing a nicely dressed suit, but but it was different than the goons around town he’s already faced. But his invitation made him feel skeptical, Simon would just invite them over? I mean Demetri tried that in a round about way, but that didn’t work out for him, so was this just a genuine invitation?
“How can we trust you?” Skeptical as always, Ricter had enough mobsters for a while, but if he wanted to get strait to the point then now was the time.
“Well that's simple, what do you have to lose? By your gusto you’ve managed to apprehend his two sons, a troublesome duo, in addition you survived what I can guess was hundreds of their henchmen. Given what has happened Mr. Simon would like to talk to you both so that he may discuss a few small things, of which he will cover on your meeting. Now if your still worried you may bring weapons, we have been ordered not too cause you harm, only escort.”
Both were shocked but Ricter wondered how she knew him and how they found him as well, he didn’t believe that Carl would sell them out but given how much attention they probably drew together it was easy to tell they were public enemy number one when it came to the mafia. However his invitation was interesting, maybe they could talk but he would take him up on the offer to taking his weapon. Even Elysia would nod and look to Ricter.
“You think this is alright?”
“I mean, they know now, I wouldn't bother making a complicated plan when they are right outside of our room door sweetie.” She was right, though they did have to get changed before they would go and get to talk with the person who could have started all this. Maybe it was in no fault of his own, but he felt like he should be somewhat responsible if he formed this criminal organization himself.
Placing on clothes while the two kept the door open Ezkiel would wait for them to finish as shoes were slipped on, tops were buttoned up, and identifiable weapons were brought along as well. Walking out of the room no one was in the hall except for the white haired speckled rodent, leading them along as Elysia began to talk to him.
“How did you find us?”
“Oh its quite easy, you were not at home, and the hotel was obviously a poor choice, so why not come to your place of work? This was the only door that was locked.” He remarked in a smug manner as he walked along, hands behind his back in a pompous show of possible superior intelligence as she would frown and say.
Moving down the hall and soon the steps the place was still empty, however Carl wasn’t around at all, near the door two men dressed in suits, one being an actual human and another was mantis, they would open the doors as they came down the steps slowly. “Stilll as smug as ever, still running errands for Simon I see.”
“I’m sorry Elysia, I wish I could have helped you more in the past but you know this was better for me.”
“What? Being an errand boy? You were my friend before, and did nothing when I was placed in here. Now after three years you pop up saying we should go meet your boss? I swear, if this is some trap I’m killing you first.”
Elysia was growling, almost furious as they came to the front doors, walking out to what seemed like ort with four guys. They didn’t have weapons, and clearly seemed ready for the duo. Which given how close the estate was they wouldn’t actually need transportation, it was in walking distance, “Elysia please, if it wasn’t for me he would have send people to kill you, I had to convince him other wise.!”
“Heh, so you think this makes up for it? Honestly I’d rather go down fighting than to accept help form someone I trusted. But instead you ignored everything in the end.”
“Elysia..” Ezkiel would say softly but she ignored him.
“Don’t bother, I’ll thank you when I’m finally free and away from you.”
The two seemed to have had a history together, in a way Ricter was surprised, but he would let them talk and finish their conversation as they spoken openly and loudly with out care for who was listening. Which they had a small audience of the group who were currently escorting them, all having a simple plain faced expression, except maybe one just raising a brow to their back and forth.
It was a short walk and the two began to grow silent, not saying anything to one another as he wanted to know more about their relationship, but he resorted to just asking later, not wishing to impose as he wondered just how deeply she had integrated herself into this life she was forced into. When they finally came up to the large home they would stop at the front gates, Ezkiel would walk to the intercom on the gate and speak up. “Its me, I’m here with them now.”
After a few seconds the gate would buzz and soon open up automatically, allowing them to walk in as Ricters eyes noticed a gate guard in a booth, probably the one who let them in bu they were positioned behind a wall. The estate was massive, a four story building with around half the size of a professional foot ball field, maybe slightly smaller but the building was fairly nice looking.
The architecture was amazing, sections made of barbel and carved into intricate designs and shapes that embroiled statues in the front lawn and a fountain as well. Not only this but the columns that held up the outside of the mansion would also spiral upwards in their own deigns, it was something he would take a picture of thanks to how beautiful it was over all. But Elysia was only reminded that she was going into the belly of the beast, which Ricter would also realize once they stepped inside.
The building looked like something out of scarface, a large fountain in the middle lobby area with winding stair case that lead up to a room on the third floor. There was plenty of people walking around, seemingly doing work or just cleaning, maids of all types, butlers and most seemed to just be simple workers to fix the large stain glass windows. Gesturing, Ezkiel would point towards the door that lead upstairs.
“Feel free to go up to his room, he’ll be waiting with you there, no one else is there besides him.”
Odd, but it seemed like this meeting would just be between Ricter, Elysia, and Mr. Simon. But wordlessly Elysia would already be marching her way up the steps, seemingly already annoyed by her previous conversation with ‘an old friend’, but Ricter was quick to move with her, he didn’t want her to try to do something that might make this meeting one hundred present worse.
The doors were large, and they could both easily walk through them if they wished, but Elysia seemed to push her hand against the large door, it would swing open slowly and dramatically. Seemingly all but ready to fight. Mean while Ricter seemed confused, but going with the flow, his posture was relaxed but ready to go at a moments notice, he didn’t hold much emotion here. But his emotions were tied to Elysia, only thanks to knowing what she had been through.
The room they walked into was dark, not dark enough t not see but enough that the curtains only barely showed the slight bit of light on the outside. Only a lamp seemed to make the room all but completely dark, but plenty of shadows danced when the two entered and closed the doors behind themselves. It was a bed room, every part of the room having furniture that looked like it costed more than the clothes clothes, weapons, and trinkets the two had on combined.
On the right was a nightstand, a dresser, and a door leading to a closet. On the left he saw a large bed, draped in curtains around it but a section was open to see the face that was laying down on the pillow. Next too it was something Ricter knew about quite well, an IV machine, used for circulating water inside of someone to ensure they stayed hydrated, in addition to this their was a heart beat ripple machine.
The soft beeping was the only sound in the room, it was even louder than the record player that seemed to be spinning but the needle was no longer scratching along the top of the record. Allowing it to slowly spin as Ricter and Elysia walked in, looking around for a few moments but were soon drawn to the bed, someone was alive in here after all, and what he could guess it was whom wanted to see the two of them.
Walking over to the side of the bed Ricter would see an older looking rat, gray colored fur as well as hair that wore a checkered white and gray. The man was laying under some blankets, asleep but would open his eyes after a few seconds, looking over to Elysia as well as Ricter, not saying anything but gazing over their looks,,m examining them before a few words were given.
“I’m guessing this is not what you were expecting for a ‘final boss’ I take it.”
His voice was weak, but not enough to sound super old, like how he looked, in fact it had a lot of energy to it, enough that it didn’t match his withered old frame. The doctor in Ricter wished to figure out what was wrong with the old man, but at the same time he wondered why they were called here, just to talk? Maybe, the man posed very little threat, but did they maybe think he could heal him somehow?
“Your the father? Your Simon?” Ricter questions as he nodded.
“Yes I am, I know a lot about you but seems like you’ve only grazed the surface of who I am. Dr. Casenger.”
“I guess your right, but I never expected you to be in such a condition, if anything I expected some big show down here and a shower of bullets.” The weasel had watched too many TV shows and gone through too much to think this was all just a conversation between adults.
“That would make for a good show, but this seems more logical. After all you manged to get my sons captured by police and foil what ever they were planning, plus with an immunity to bullets I’d say starting a fight would just be begging for you to destroy my mansion.”
“For what they caused they deserved it, honestly I never thought I would ever see the man who fathered such monsters. Why did you bring us here?” Elysia was sharp and to the point.
“I guess my children have been up to no good.” His tone was full of snark, which made the woman snap at him.
“Up to no good? They ruined the lives of hundreds of people! They killed anyone that wasn’t with them! You think this is some kind of joke!? Huh?!”
Yelling the man barely flinched, if anything he would just sit up, looking to the two of them, it was here that he could see the mans arms, thin and skinny, like his body was being drained of life, or had been. How old was he? Demetri and Agustin looked around maybe their mid 20’s and acted just like it. But their father looked so old, in fact by his body he was beginning to narrow down what was happening to him.
“If you think I could stop them feel free to give me some advice on the matter, after all they wanted me dead too.”
“Of course they would, they were psycho’s, only cared about themselves and what ever they controlled. Why would you bring them in? Raise them?” The woman questioned, which he would frown, looking at her silly question from a perspective that he would toss back at her.
“The same reason why you’d want to take care of and protect Emily.”
This shocked her, shutting up the woman as she looked back to him but eventually stopped speaking as she had nothing else to say. She wanted to kill him, yes, but she never though it was this complicated. That his own sons wanted to kill him as well. However she still held some blame on him, no matter how involved he was or not, she could still understand what he meant.
“Mr. Simon.” Ricter asked, causing the old man to perk up, looking to the weasel as he gave a small grunt in response, the stout giving his question right after. “What happened? What caused all this, by what I hear this place used to be somewhat nice. But I can't tell what lead up to these events that left it in such a bad state of affairs.”
“Well its a long story, but we have plenty of time. When a Prime known as Guu formed what was Ambrosia they had a problem, mostly with access water due to all the storms. So another prime by the name of Ferguson tunneled down, using the sewer system in combination with the help of large worms to build the beginning of this town. Taking the water from above ground to help power the town down here, we expanded and eventually I became one of his first few secondaries that he created.”
Relaxing he would shift and point to a seat near by, as if they should sit for this but Ricter stood and Elysia would accept the offer, still skeptical but wishing to hear him out.
“Eventually this place became an underground hub for so many different creatures, similar to Ambrosia, however its underground nature only helped corrupt officials to come into power. I was one of them. I used money to extort power, intimidation to get my way, and eventually I adopted my sons, taking them under my wing. However my way of control was through business and power, sure I broke a few knee’s and maybe had to kidnap a few folks but I never went to the point of dabbling in public executions.”
Looking back on his life he would think about all the good and bad he’s done, like a ruler he had to pick what was right and wrong for those around him. “I tried to keep all my guys in check, no one went out of line but plenty tried. Every time I was a little too nice I had to make an example of someone, so it wouldn’t happen again, and all the while I realized that my sons learned the exact opposite of what I wanted them to learn.” His eyes were directed back to Ricter now, asking him something.
“Let me ask you a question, when you have control of an entire populations people, but you want to keep them safe. How do you keep control over them? Do you use covert means to get what you’d like? Will you be a king that is feared but respected, or would you be soft? Inciting that those who think they are stronger to want to usurp you?”
It was a rhetorical question but he had a point, what would he do? He was a nice person and in a way he would probably be soft, kind, and understanding to the people he was in charge of. But that only showed weakness to other rulers or people who wanted to take his position. Kindness was mistaken for weakness a lot, and sometimes it was better to be cruel instead of trying to incorporate a plan that helped everyone. If only to preserve the integrity of what was built as a system and the town or country as a whole.
“Of course the answer is to help everyone, you can live in a situation where you can make life better for all the people who your rule over.” Elysia chimed in, but Ricter thought differently, however Simon would give his point of view on the subject soon after she spoke.
“Well that go’s to my next point, the Prime I mentioned wanted to run things kindly, however a group began plotting against him, they found his policies weak, causing trouble where they could to make him look bad. Basically killing and harming others to ensure that their point of view was shown to be sound and just. They were terrorists and the people slowly began to side with another politician that said that he was weak and spineless because they attacked at random, unable to stop them. This politician was hired by the very terrorists and began to ramp up in political power.”
“Eventually it got to the point that his party had gained control of the towns laws, but what rules did they put in place? To sap the economy and if anyone disobeyed they would be killed. Ferguson hated this, but wished only to help people, so I took it in my own hands to possibly correct this. On night we planned on jumping the group on their way along the north side of the city, which turned into a massive shoot out between my guys and his. In the aftermath we manged to kill the politician, cover it up, and keep control over the town. But my sons? They were almost an exact replica of them.”
Hearing this Elysia would nod “I remember reading about this as a kid, everyone knew it was from the gun fight, but with everyone paid off it wasn’t investigated, plus with how the group acted they were more of a pain in the ass than something good. That night almost everyone of them were assassinated.”
Simon nodded, “Yes your right about that, that night we systematically killed everyone of them. From family, to women and children who got indoctrinated into this hateful mindset. It was the night I realized that sometimes being good wont get you anywhere, especially when my sons thought I was some kind of monster for acting this way and eventually became what they truly hated. Through greed and power.”
“Eventually as years passed one day I was coming back form a meeting with Ferguson, a radical had set off a large explosion in the building and we got separated, last I saw of him he was sinking into a void, someone had pulled him into the underverse using a banishment circle. In addition they killed themselves, ensuring that we would never find out who they worked for or why they did it in the first place, its been 8 years and I still haven’t see him.”
RE: Under The Cheerful Town - Ricter - 08-07-2018
Ricter would take some time to mull over the information given, reviewing his story for face value. He seemed like a complex man, one that didn’t want to hurt others but did so when necessary, as if it were something he both resented and took pride in. To promote fear and prosperity at the same time, it was something he was not used too at all, but happy to have such a view point on things like this. Which is why he would ask.
“So after they had been killed or at least what people think was banishment since he vanished with out a trace, the city was taken control by your family I’m guessing?”
“Yes your correct, however it wasn’t in fact me that took things over, yes I used what he left behind for myself, however I was stricken with an illness, cursed by someone who held a grudge. I was left as you see here, and after two assassination attempts made by my own sons I had enough and shunned them, leaving them to their own devices. I honestly wished I could have stopped them but they held so much power once the separated from me, taking most of mine with them.”
Now it was all made clear, so it was just a large triangle of corruption, which all lead to the prime who crafted this city to be banished, a horrible fate, and given they never came back in all these years they might be gone, or worse. “That's all I have for stories, hope you got your question answered.” The man stated as he looked towards the two then at the machine in his arm, sighing before Elysia spoke up, having something to say.
“Yous till could have tried, had your men do something, if anything this doesn't change the fact that I still want you dead!” She yelled, still furious over her past transgressions that were made on her. But Ricter would place a hand on her shoulder.
“He is dying, Elysia. He has an illness similar to cancer, which is massively far along now, its so integrated I doubt I could even heal him and he might have maybe a few days, to a few months left before he dies. The fact that you’ve held on this long is remarkable Mr. Simon.”
“Thanks, I’ve been waiting for half a decade for a doctor to give it to me strait, just means that I’ll be gone soon enough. But knowing the justice system they have down here, they wont kill me, they will probably banish me for sure.”
The rodent would say with a heavy heart, which Elysia would scoff, however she lightened up, the fact that he was dying, plus all that has happened? She couldn’t truly blame him, but she needed something to yell at, she needed something to full on blame and attack since she couldn’t do that to either of his sons any more. They would get their justice in the end, but him? He seemed innocent yet guilty for some crimes. Had he paid his debts? It was hard to say, but he seemed scared, worried almost.
“No matter, I will die soon, only this damn machine is really keeping me together, if I get banished it will only mean I get to enjoy a bit of torment before I pass away. Or they might just have some cure to the curse and force me to be some slave, so comes the reason why I brought you both here.”
He paused, causing them both to question him with their eyes, wondering what he was going to say next. “Since I doubt you can heal me, not that I would ask that of you given what my family has done to you and your friend, I would like to ask that you end my life.”
“What?” Ricter was startled by his wish, having never really taken the life of someone who was willing to die, not counting someone he might have punished or tortured. However Elysia seemed to sneer at this, reaching under her dress she would pull out a dagger, pointing it at him as she was merely inches away from his face as he didn't flinch, looking to her and waiting.
“I’ve been waiting for this for years...” She seemed hesitant though, this was part of her ultimate revenge, locking up his two sons, while the one son that violated her got his just deserts from Ricter, finding out that he had gotten castrated by him. Now he could murder the father, who seemed to not be in relation to them, only by affiliation of a name. A name she grew to despise but she was shaking, trembling from her own feelings and sensations as she stepped back, frowning.
Lifting her up her hand as she dropped her dagger, before winding it back and giving him a solid punch to the face, enough to even cause him to spit out a small bit of blood to the side as he rubbed his face. “Nice right hook, but that wont do the job.” Which made Elysia’s blood boil, but she began to storm away from him, stepping out of the room to cool down as she slammed the door behind herself.
She had so much anger, it wasn’t surprising that her reactions were violence, but for him he would look at him. “Are you sure? I don't know how death works in this realm but I can only guess its as lasting as it should be for secondaries.” Ricter said, which the man would adjust his jaw, saying.
“Pretty sure given I’ve been dying in this body for so long, banishment? No, jail? Wouldn’t be my first time, but I’m pretty sure they will torture me there, death seems like the easy way out.. There's not much this old rat can do, so why bother?” He seemed defeated, regretting everything about what has happened and also his own body and living standards that were well over what a poor person could enjoy. He could see it in his eyes, and as he drew his sword the weasel frowned, looking at him.
“You don't want to die, do you?”
“Damn, I’m that easy to tell? I used to have the best poker faces back then. No point in lying now, yeah, I don't want to die, but there's no way this life would be worth living. Not like I can just start over and live a different life, there's no such thing for people like me.”
“I can't say what you’ve done will ever be corrected, but there are ways to do so.” Shuffling his paw in his bag he would pull out what seemed like a ruby stone. It was the soul stone that was left behind after Luis was brought back to life. Fumbling it between his fingers he knew of a way he could maybe live a way different life, but it would require a lot from both himself and Simon.
“I have a deal for you.”
“A deal? Heh! That's a first, normally I’m the one making deals, alright then, whats the deal?”
“If you want to live you can live through me, I don't mean possession, I have something that can ensnare souls, willing souls. Given my power as a Prime I could even make you a body from it, however you’ll only work for the goals I set. For the people I want to help, that's my deal.”
His eyes sparked open, stunned by what he told him but soon after mulling it over for a few seconds he grinned, smiling at the Prime in front of him. “Sounds like slavery, but I know your kind, your a lot like Ferguson you know? Bright yet all too naive. You know what, sure, a kid like you could use a different perspective on life. Got any more stipulations besides me being a ‘good guy’ or is that it?”
“Somewhat, I know I can't do everything alone, I’ll probably get into a lot more fights and battles. Or need advice on a subject, all that I ask is that you lend a hand when I ask for it. Alright?”
“Well, If I’m gona get sucked up into some kinda crystal I want at least a house in it, I’m sure you magical types can make some sorda dimension inside of an object” It was doable, though that was for Vel to do, as for himself he didn’t have the experience to really make something like that but he would think about trying it out later on. For now though he nodded in agreement.
“Anything else?” The stout asked.
“Hm, free house, I get to essentially live forever, and you said you can make me a body? Just as long as you don't fuck up my good looks it sounds like a better deal than what I have to look forward too.”
The two would look at one another for a bit, one smiling as the other smirked slightly, Ricter never took the soul of someone before. Having been told about the soul crystal from a friend and given it as the left overs from another adventure he had he wondered if this would work. If this was ethical, and that he would essentially have the advice of a large crime boss at any time, but he seemed willing and so maybe this would just be the first of many who wished to reform themselves.
Raising his weapon he would angle it and point it towards Simons chest, adding. “I’ll make it painless.” Which the man closed his eyes and laid back in his bed, still smiling.
“Make it look like I died of a heart attack, would be better for the news papers.”
An odd request but he nodded, soon plunging the blade strait through the rats open chest, he flinched. However he felt nothing, in fact he was smiling a bit as he felt his mind fade into darkness, leaving his now lifeless form before being pulled towards the gem that was in the weasels hand. He would wake up inside of it, a prism like trapping but void of anything as the crystal outside of it seemed more like a window rather than anything like a prison.
He was dead, but the blood and mess from the wound was gone, completely healed to stage it as he died of mostly natural causes, if not for the fact that he was a doctor no one could really stage this any better unless they were skilled in such activities. Elysia was still outside, unaware of what had happened but calming down, sighing while sitting on the steps and watching the maids and workers walk around to clean parts of the home all together. Only barely able to hear the machine in Simons room giving a long beep sound, flat-lining.
Looking down at the ruby in his hand he would inspect it, it was foggy but he could feel a presence there, the soul of Simon was now in his possession. What he did with it was up too him but he knew if the man truly wanted redemption then he would wish it more than anything, and this was a chance for it. “Planning on telling your girl friend about this?” The rat would say, echoing in Ricters mind and talking to him since they were in physical contact.
“Doubt I’ll need too, besides, Simon is dead.”
“Wise words boy, but your right. Feel free to leave when you like, I told my guys what I had planned, if anything they will guess I’m gone. Also, tell Elysia I’m sorry about what happened to her, and the rest of the girls in that brothel.”
As Elysia would soon come into the room, opening the doors and walking in Ricter would place the gem into his pocket, sheathing his sword. Looking back at her she noticed the flat-line on the screen, the rat which was on the bed seemingly motionless and gone.
“He’s..dead?..” She questioned, looking to Ricter as he had never done this before but glancing to the gem in his pocket, then back to Elysia.
“Yeah he’s dead, he told me to tell you sorry before he died. That he didn’t want you to be pulled into the situation that you were in, as well as the other girls as well.”
Abbreviating, Ricter knew his word would have way more than an impact than the man could ever have in regards to telling Elysia how he felt. So he choose to tell her in the end, that way she could have some form of self reflection, which she did once she saw the blank stare on the rats face and the line that traced along the machines screen. What was ahead of her now was all up to Elysia, she was free now, but felt like it was bitter sweet.
She had given up so much in her life, so much for what was a sensation that could bring someone to tears, but she didn't’ cry. Not this time, just felt a sweet release of pressure over her shoulders. “If it means anything, I didn’t think he was so bad, his sons deserve whats coming to him, but him? He had good points of view, a bit extreme but I can see his side of the facts.”
Which would make Simon smile, unseen but Ricter could feel that this made the man feel like he should pass on to the afterlife with how happy he was to hear someone appreciated his work. Silence would encompass them for a while, the stout walking towards Elysia and patting her shoulder, it had been a long three days, and an interesting way to spend his days off.
Ricter would maybe spend some time to give the crime boss something to accommodate himself as little did he know he would need the mans help. Maybe in a small way, but he could use the mans criminal wisdom in the future. Looking down to Elysia she would unplug the machine, tired of hearing the line ringing noise that indicated someones heart had stopped. Meanwhile Ricter took his finger off the gem stone.
“Guess its done, huh? What do you think will happen to everyone now that its over?”
The question was a good one but Ricter wouldn't consult Simon on this, instead he would answer himself, “I think we will just have to see. Lets go, I think we’ve done enough damage.” As the two would head towards the door, pulling the blankets onto the body he would close Simons eye lids and stop himself. He took a moment to think about what he did, though he knew the body was long gone, the truth would stay with him forever and although he trusted Simon to some degree, he would find out if he could truly trust him soon enough. Picking to keep the gem with him for now.
Looking to the record player Ricter walked towards it while Elysia was standing near the door, waiting for him to finish what ever he was doing. Running a finger over the record he would then reach up and place the needle down on top of it, allowing a soft jazz musical number to begin playing.
“I actually like jazz.” He would murmur to himself before turning away, meeting Elysia near the door. When the pair left the record would continue too play, the soft blues sax echoing in the empty room, a nice send off to what Simon was leaving behind, money power, and a life he couldn’t even enjoy any more. All for a promise from an overzealous doctor.
RE: Under The Cheerful Town - Ricter - 08-07-2018
The following days seemed short, with the body of Desmond Simon found dead in his room investigators chalked it up as a heart attack. His two sons were charged with multiple counts of murder, both being sentenced to banishment for their crimes, while life never really changed much for the residents of the town, it was slowly becoming better, poverty rates steadily increased as money began to flow into businesses instead of casino’s and weapons.
Investigators found many of the drugs and guns, and also gang members as some were tried and jailed. Eventually life would become better for all those down there, but one thing was for sure, The Twisted Tail was no longer in business. Carl having found a nice job selling booze, Ezekiel would do some time for his transgressions but nothing serious. Now, as for the girls? They all choose to go back to their regular lives, before the brothel, before being consumed with debt.
Above, nothing seemed to change at all, the water from the many rains storms still funneled down into the sewers and underground town while also ensuring the place wouldn’t flood with water. No one that lived in Ambrosia was effected by the changes made down bellow, but it did change life for a few new residents that had come to the town to make a new life for themselves.
A week later Ricter was back to his normal job at the clinic, curing small illnesses to even complicated ones, though he didn’t have too many patients to finish off today. However one did request him personally as he wondered who it was, walking down the hall to a curtained section before pulling the blinds back and noticing whom was sitting on the chair. Coughing into her hand, Emily would seemingly look up at him and smile brightly, happy to see the weasel but sneezing soon after.
Elysia was petting the top of her head as she looked to Ricter, grinning, “Nice to see you again, doctor.”
“Like wise, let me guess, Emily contracted a cold?”
“Mhm, shes not used to all the rain yet, I told her not to play outside when its pouring but she wouldn’t listen. Stubborn as always.” She stated as Emily would pout, adding in an almost childish manner.
“Hey! I just wanted to feel how it was to be in the rain, I didn’t know I would get sick from it.” The mouse retorted, but only drew more smiles from the two as Elysia seemed to be her acting mother. Treating her just like one as the two had moved up here together with a few of the girls as well, all taking up houses or residential buildings in town.
Searching around the cabinets Ricter would pull out some cough medicine, he knew to actually use medicine to let her body naturally heal this rather than insta-fix it with his sword, her body needed heal on its own. Taking it to her she would stick her tongue out, remarking, “Ugh! Why can’t you just stab me with your sword and heal me, Mr. Casenger?”
“Your body need to adapt to your cold, I could heal you that way but it wont be good for you if you come back a day latter and have another cold.” Even though his sword could halt it for a while longer than just a day, but he wouldn’t mention that as she pushed the medicine away, puckering her lips so she couldn't swallow it. Mean while Elysia was enjoying the conversation they were having, chiming in with her own little remarks.
“You know what, I think I have the perfect pet name for you, Mr. Casenger.” She pointed out randomly.
“Pet name?”
“I’m taking a liking to the name ‘hamham’, how dose that sound?” The woman suggested, causing Emily to giggle, making her smile as Ricter just wondered what she was talking about by naming him that.
“W-what? That doesn't even make sense.”
“Sure it dose, have you ever watched a show called hamtaro? You look just like one of the hamsters in it!”
Emily only laughed a bit more, enjoying the back and forth as she found it funny calling the weasel a hamster of some kind. “A hamster? I’m a weasel Elysia...Weasels prey on rodents, and hares.” Throwing a few facts her way she just deflected it.
“Aww but the name fits so well, I think it’s great!”
“Please don't.” He sighed, but just as Emily was laughing her tail off he would soon force her to drink down the medicine, she would give a muffled protest after sticking the spoon into her mouth and pulling it back out. But she would swallow and give a loud “Blah! It tastes horrible, I hate it!”
With the medicine delivered he handed the bottle to Elysia to give to her later, “Two spoons a day till the cold goes away.” A simple medication which Elysia would take and nod. “Thanks, hamham. For everything. I never really got the chance to really repay you for all you did for us down there, there's not much I can really offer either. But if you ever need help, just call, I’ll do what I can.”
“Its fine Elysia, you should live out your life, Emily needs you-”
“Uh no I don't.” The rodent would say as Ricter rolled his eyes.
“Anyways, Emily needs you, and you have plenty of time now to enjoy the rest of your life here. Last thing I need is for you to get hurt coming along on one of my missions.” The stout retorted.
But Elysia would shake her head, picking up her purse as she was about to head out, “If I do at least I know one doctor who would be able to patch me up on the spot, I’ll see you for tea later, yes?”
Smiling a bit he nodded to her, which Emily would hop out of her seat and look up towards him. “See you later hamham! Hah.” She joked, skipping out of the room while Ricter and Elysia shared a small moment to look at one another. Eventually tugging him down by his jacket and giving them a soft kiss on the lips. Making the poor innocent weasel fluster brightly after she broke the kiss and let him stand up strait again, causing her to smirk gleefully to his reaction.
“Still just a boy in a mans body, I’ll see you soon then sweetie.” With that she would no sooner leave him to his slightly stunned gaze, and a soft tingle on his lips, tracing along his bottom lip gently while a voice would call out. All with-in Ricters mind, “If I were you I’d have asked for a bit of cake in addition to my tea.” It was Simon, snickering happily to his own joke as the weasel pouted to his innuendo.
“Shut up.” Walking out to watch them go down the hall, the two belonged together, to be happy. So he was more than glad he was able to do that for them.
“Besides, I think this outcome is just as sweet as any reward I could have gotten.”
Grinning ear to ear his eyes pulled away from them as he went back to work, in a way nothing changed for him, but for others, it was a chance at a new life. However there was something Ricter wished to know about something. "Simon? What do you know about the Red Roses?"
Silence would follow, but he could almost hear the rodent smiling to himself as he spoke, "What don't I know about them." It would seem he had a lot more in the future to deal with, and judging from all of what has happened here, he knew plenty more fights would follow.