01-01-2018, 11:49 PM
The guy with the bat grinned, slapping Hijiri on the back jovially, as though they were old friends who had known each other for years, “Yeah, I'm telling you, King, this guy showing up is the best thing that's ever happened to the gang. We can really make it big with a Prime on our side!”
The fat man snorted contemptuously, shaking his head from side-to-side. This was Bernie King, AKA 'the Slum King', as he called himself. His kingdom consisted of these three ramshackle tenement blocks, the courtyard that stretched between them, and absolutely nothing else. Bernie had short, balding brown hair, thick stubble all across his chins, and bags under his eyes. He wore a pair of old, torn tracksuit bottoms the colour of mustard, a sweat-stained, off-white vest, and a pair of light brown slippers that looked about to fall apart... and finally, on the top of his head, sat a massive, golden crown... made entirely of plastic.
Despite clearly not being what anyone in their right mind would call 'well-off', Bernie had somehow managed to get all the way to 'morbidly obese', whilst everyone around him was struggling not to starve to death. The Battle Rabbit had no idea how the Slum King could have convinced his gang members to skip meals themselves whilst providing for him – given his vast bulk, there was no way he could possibly be working himself, that was for sure – but it made him wary of this seemingly pathetic man, thinking at first that he must be a particularly cunning, devious sort...
Then again, Hijiri's new best friend here had been won over completely the instant the Rabbit had given him that item after having finished summoning it from Omnilium... though it had been nothing more than a single bacon sandwich. Apparently it must have been a pretty good one, since the malnourished thug had literally wept in joy whilst eating it.
“Don't be ridiculous.” the Slum King looked at the newcomer as though he were something a dog had just shat out on his floor, “Plenty of gangs have a Prime member... the really big ones even have multiple Primes. There's absolutely no way we'd ever gain power just by accepting a Prime... even if we could trust one, which we sure as hell can't!”
He turned suddenly, his eyes snapping from his subordinate to the Battle Rabbit, “And you! Just who the hell are you supposed to be? You think just 'cause you got enough Omnilium to summon one measly sandwich, that's gonna be enough to buy your way into our gang? We might be poor, but we're not that desperate!”
Spittle flew from the middle-aged man's mouth as he snarled and growled at Hijiri from where he sat on his moth-eaten, ragged, old armchair; the only piece of furniture in this entire ten-foot-by-ten-foot room... the King's personal abode was no larger or smaller than any other 'apartment' in this block, though he did at least have the advantage of not having to share it with his entire extended family, unlike some of the residents the Rabbit had witnessed on his way up here, to the very last room on the highest floor of the central building.
“More than that.” he stated simply, and though he kept to more-or-less the same hoarse tone he had been using thus far whilst disguised, he also injected a touch of smugness into his voice as well... the way he imagined a new Prime might feel upon discovering these astounding powers of creation which Omni was willing to bestow upon their kind. “I can do much more.”
Bernie simply grunted, though, and waved one hand dismissively. Disbelieving... or perhaps hoping that Hijiri was exaggerating his powers... his reserves of Omnilium. It was obvious that a Prime would be a threat to his control of the gang. Still, it wasn't exactly a struggle to determine the Slum King's vice.
Holding a hand out palm-down this time, the two Secondaries watched as an orb of rainbow light descended lazily from the hand, stretching out to the sides as it fell. Even having landed, it continued to swell outwards, until it eventually stretched from one side of the room to the other; a vaguely rectangular bubble ten-foot-wide and a few feet long.
It took several minutes of focus to complete the summoning, during which time Bernie glared venomously at the Battle Rabbit, but said nothing. Despite his complaints and unwilling attitude, he was still no more impressive a figure in the eyes of anyone outside these tenements than any of the rest of these starving masses... in all likelihood, their leader had no more experience interacting with Primes than any of his minions, and so would be curious to see .
When the light faded at last, Hijiri was pleased to notice the look of surprise – almost shock – that crossed the obese man's face for a moment, before he twisted his visage back into a scowl.
“What kinda dumbass d'you think I am? It's obviously poisoned!” at Bernie's words, Hijiri exchanged disbelieving glances with his supporter... though the trade was rather one-sided, given that the Rabbit's eyes remained hidden in shadow by his hood and his lower face was coated in gauze.
“No poison.” he shook his head... trying to think of a way to phrase his offer in a way that somehow sounded terse and brief, whilst still getting across his point. Acting like an antisocial loner wasn't hard... but acting like an antisocial loner whilst trying to ingratiate yourself into a group of complete strangers... was a bit more of a challenge.
In retrospect, he perhaps ought to have chosen to act less like some sort of 'edgy' teenager and more... well... intelligent. He had been aiming for something both distinctly different from his actual personality and which would fit with the image his new outfit projected. Really, it would have made more sense to just have created himself a less gloomy outfit and went with another personality-type... even if acting all bubbly and cheerful sounded like a serious pain in the ass, it would have been the much better behavioural pattern for making 'friends'.
“I can feed you all, King.” he didn't explicitly state that he wouldn't have any need of poison if he wanted to kill the gang leader... an unfit secondary against even a comparatively weak Prime was simply no contest. Bernie's narrowed eyes darted from one side of his room to the other, roaming across the banquet Hijiri had set out before him, the dozens of dishes spread across a wide, white tablecloth.
“Oh? You can feed everyone here as much as this, can you?” his tone was sceptical, but beneath that was something else, another note that Hijiri had come across before, back when he lived on Earth. In that life he had been both a military commander and a businessman. Even if this latter role had been mostly just a cover for the first, he had still had to interact with others in similar positions, and thus had come across men and women like Bernie aplenty. They were the sorts who took pleasure in thinking themselves above their employees, as if being wealthier somehow gave them more rights than other people.
Bernie didn't want him to be able to succeed in making infinite amounts of food, partly as that would leave him with little idea as to Hijiri's limitations – having not met any new Primes himself, all he would have to go by was hearsay and rumour, especially since none of them in this place seemed even close to well-off enough to be able to spare the Omnilium for a Dataverse Device, so the King wouldn't even have that resource to make use of – but also because he wanted to be better off than the others. If they weren't going to be starving any longer under Hijiri's watch, he might accept that, but only if it was clear to everyone that he was still being treated better than them.
“Ah... no. I can give you this much, Slum King. The others must get less.” the Rabbit tried to put a hint of awkwardness into his hoarse voice, as though he was embarrassed to admit this... though in actuality Bernie King's selfishness made not the slightest iota of difference to his intentions; these people were starving. Even the bacon sandwich he had given his new ally here might have been pushing it, never mind a whole buffet for every meal. They'd just make themselves seriously ill if they tried to scarf down that much food whilst suffering the effects of malnourishment.
This seemed to please the Slum King, though, as his face suddenly took on a smug expression, “Oh? Well... that's so unfortunate, but I suppose it'll just have to do. In return for serving as our chef, we'll give you a place to stay and the protection of our gang... how does that sound, Prime?”
“No.” Hijiri rasped in reply, shaking his head, “I can make more than food. Weapons... with enough Omnilium, even buildings.”
Bernie hesitated, no doubt realising what the Battle Rabbit was suggesting. Weapons could be hidden, yes, but buildings? Of course not... and he had intentionally said 'with enough Omnilium', to give the obese ganglord the impression that he didn't currently have the ability to summon one already. It really was amazing how quickly Primes acquired more Omnilium... he had only been here a scant few weeks, yet already he had acquired enough to purchase multiple houses if he so desired. It was no wonder people said that Primes had a much easier time increasing their strength in the Omniverse than Secondaries... Omnilium was truly an astounding resource, and the rate at which Primes amassed it (even when they weren't robbing casinos of everything that wasn't nailed down) was prodigious.
“You want us to fight the other gangs? Don't be absurd. You've clearly got no idea what you're on about. That's madness, we'd be slaughtered.” it hadn't taken long for the Slum King to get back to glaring at Hijiri... but the Rabbit wasn't feeling like putting this off, and he certainly didn't intend to go to work as a simple chef. The whole point of this exercise was to determine whether or not Coruscant's gangs had to be eliminated... not Coruscant's poor people.
He shrugged nonchalantly, “I'll make food and arms. If you don't want more territory, that's up to you.”
He turned to leave, not entirely sure whether or not the gang leader would stop him. His ally cast one last nervous look across at their leader, before following. Bernie made no argument... he didn't seem particularly happy, but at the same time, he wasn't actually objecting to the idea of weapons production. Hopefully, his greed would get the better of him and by the time Hijiri had finished summoning weapons for everyone worth arming in the three buildings, the King would have come around to the idea of expanding his power base.
"Wait."
Hijiri glanced back over his shoulder. Was he about to be ordered not to create any weapons at all? If so then he might need to consider going behind the gang leader's back to do it anyway, or else potentially even leaving this one altogether in favour of another which would be more open to his aims.
"What's your name, Prime?" oh yes, of course. That was rather an important detail, he supposed.
"'Hoarse'." he said, hoarsely. "Where I'm from, they called me 'Hoarse'."
Bernie just stared at him in silence for a few seconds after this announcement, then sighed, before saying drily, "I can't imagine why."
The fat man snorted contemptuously, shaking his head from side-to-side. This was Bernie King, AKA 'the Slum King', as he called himself. His kingdom consisted of these three ramshackle tenement blocks, the courtyard that stretched between them, and absolutely nothing else. Bernie had short, balding brown hair, thick stubble all across his chins, and bags under his eyes. He wore a pair of old, torn tracksuit bottoms the colour of mustard, a sweat-stained, off-white vest, and a pair of light brown slippers that looked about to fall apart... and finally, on the top of his head, sat a massive, golden crown... made entirely of plastic.
Despite clearly not being what anyone in their right mind would call 'well-off', Bernie had somehow managed to get all the way to 'morbidly obese', whilst everyone around him was struggling not to starve to death. The Battle Rabbit had no idea how the Slum King could have convinced his gang members to skip meals themselves whilst providing for him – given his vast bulk, there was no way he could possibly be working himself, that was for sure – but it made him wary of this seemingly pathetic man, thinking at first that he must be a particularly cunning, devious sort...
Then again, Hijiri's new best friend here had been won over completely the instant the Rabbit had given him that item after having finished summoning it from Omnilium... though it had been nothing more than a single bacon sandwich. Apparently it must have been a pretty good one, since the malnourished thug had literally wept in joy whilst eating it.
“Don't be ridiculous.” the Slum King looked at the newcomer as though he were something a dog had just shat out on his floor, “Plenty of gangs have a Prime member... the really big ones even have multiple Primes. There's absolutely no way we'd ever gain power just by accepting a Prime... even if we could trust one, which we sure as hell can't!”
He turned suddenly, his eyes snapping from his subordinate to the Battle Rabbit, “And you! Just who the hell are you supposed to be? You think just 'cause you got enough Omnilium to summon one measly sandwich, that's gonna be enough to buy your way into our gang? We might be poor, but we're not that desperate!”
Spittle flew from the middle-aged man's mouth as he snarled and growled at Hijiri from where he sat on his moth-eaten, ragged, old armchair; the only piece of furniture in this entire ten-foot-by-ten-foot room... the King's personal abode was no larger or smaller than any other 'apartment' in this block, though he did at least have the advantage of not having to share it with his entire extended family, unlike some of the residents the Rabbit had witnessed on his way up here, to the very last room on the highest floor of the central building.
“More than that.” he stated simply, and though he kept to more-or-less the same hoarse tone he had been using thus far whilst disguised, he also injected a touch of smugness into his voice as well... the way he imagined a new Prime might feel upon discovering these astounding powers of creation which Omni was willing to bestow upon their kind. “I can do much more.”
Bernie simply grunted, though, and waved one hand dismissively. Disbelieving... or perhaps hoping that Hijiri was exaggerating his powers... his reserves of Omnilium. It was obvious that a Prime would be a threat to his control of the gang. Still, it wasn't exactly a struggle to determine the Slum King's vice.
Holding a hand out palm-down this time, the two Secondaries watched as an orb of rainbow light descended lazily from the hand, stretching out to the sides as it fell. Even having landed, it continued to swell outwards, until it eventually stretched from one side of the room to the other; a vaguely rectangular bubble ten-foot-wide and a few feet long.
It took several minutes of focus to complete the summoning, during which time Bernie glared venomously at the Battle Rabbit, but said nothing. Despite his complaints and unwilling attitude, he was still no more impressive a figure in the eyes of anyone outside these tenements than any of the rest of these starving masses... in all likelihood, their leader had no more experience interacting with Primes than any of his minions, and so would be curious to see .
When the light faded at last, Hijiri was pleased to notice the look of surprise – almost shock – that crossed the obese man's face for a moment, before he twisted his visage back into a scowl.
“What kinda dumbass d'you think I am? It's obviously poisoned!” at Bernie's words, Hijiri exchanged disbelieving glances with his supporter... though the trade was rather one-sided, given that the Rabbit's eyes remained hidden in shadow by his hood and his lower face was coated in gauze.
“No poison.” he shook his head... trying to think of a way to phrase his offer in a way that somehow sounded terse and brief, whilst still getting across his point. Acting like an antisocial loner wasn't hard... but acting like an antisocial loner whilst trying to ingratiate yourself into a group of complete strangers... was a bit more of a challenge.
In retrospect, he perhaps ought to have chosen to act less like some sort of 'edgy' teenager and more... well... intelligent. He had been aiming for something both distinctly different from his actual personality and which would fit with the image his new outfit projected. Really, it would have made more sense to just have created himself a less gloomy outfit and went with another personality-type... even if acting all bubbly and cheerful sounded like a serious pain in the ass, it would have been the much better behavioural pattern for making 'friends'.
“I can feed you all, King.” he didn't explicitly state that he wouldn't have any need of poison if he wanted to kill the gang leader... an unfit secondary against even a comparatively weak Prime was simply no contest. Bernie's narrowed eyes darted from one side of his room to the other, roaming across the banquet Hijiri had set out before him, the dozens of dishes spread across a wide, white tablecloth.
“Oh? You can feed everyone here as much as this, can you?” his tone was sceptical, but beneath that was something else, another note that Hijiri had come across before, back when he lived on Earth. In that life he had been both a military commander and a businessman. Even if this latter role had been mostly just a cover for the first, he had still had to interact with others in similar positions, and thus had come across men and women like Bernie aplenty. They were the sorts who took pleasure in thinking themselves above their employees, as if being wealthier somehow gave them more rights than other people.
Bernie didn't want him to be able to succeed in making infinite amounts of food, partly as that would leave him with little idea as to Hijiri's limitations – having not met any new Primes himself, all he would have to go by was hearsay and rumour, especially since none of them in this place seemed even close to well-off enough to be able to spare the Omnilium for a Dataverse Device, so the King wouldn't even have that resource to make use of – but also because he wanted to be better off than the others. If they weren't going to be starving any longer under Hijiri's watch, he might accept that, but only if it was clear to everyone that he was still being treated better than them.
“Ah... no. I can give you this much, Slum King. The others must get less.” the Rabbit tried to put a hint of awkwardness into his hoarse voice, as though he was embarrassed to admit this... though in actuality Bernie King's selfishness made not the slightest iota of difference to his intentions; these people were starving. Even the bacon sandwich he had given his new ally here might have been pushing it, never mind a whole buffet for every meal. They'd just make themselves seriously ill if they tried to scarf down that much food whilst suffering the effects of malnourishment.
This seemed to please the Slum King, though, as his face suddenly took on a smug expression, “Oh? Well... that's so unfortunate, but I suppose it'll just have to do. In return for serving as our chef, we'll give you a place to stay and the protection of our gang... how does that sound, Prime?”
“No.” Hijiri rasped in reply, shaking his head, “I can make more than food. Weapons... with enough Omnilium, even buildings.”
Bernie hesitated, no doubt realising what the Battle Rabbit was suggesting. Weapons could be hidden, yes, but buildings? Of course not... and he had intentionally said 'with enough Omnilium', to give the obese ganglord the impression that he didn't currently have the ability to summon one already. It really was amazing how quickly Primes acquired more Omnilium... he had only been here a scant few weeks, yet already he had acquired enough to purchase multiple houses if he so desired. It was no wonder people said that Primes had a much easier time increasing their strength in the Omniverse than Secondaries... Omnilium was truly an astounding resource, and the rate at which Primes amassed it (even when they weren't robbing casinos of everything that wasn't nailed down) was prodigious.
“You want us to fight the other gangs? Don't be absurd. You've clearly got no idea what you're on about. That's madness, we'd be slaughtered.” it hadn't taken long for the Slum King to get back to glaring at Hijiri... but the Rabbit wasn't feeling like putting this off, and he certainly didn't intend to go to work as a simple chef. The whole point of this exercise was to determine whether or not Coruscant's gangs had to be eliminated... not Coruscant's poor people.
He shrugged nonchalantly, “I'll make food and arms. If you don't want more territory, that's up to you.”
He turned to leave, not entirely sure whether or not the gang leader would stop him. His ally cast one last nervous look across at their leader, before following. Bernie made no argument... he didn't seem particularly happy, but at the same time, he wasn't actually objecting to the idea of weapons production. Hopefully, his greed would get the better of him and by the time Hijiri had finished summoning weapons for everyone worth arming in the three buildings, the King would have come around to the idea of expanding his power base.
"Wait."
Hijiri glanced back over his shoulder. Was he about to be ordered not to create any weapons at all? If so then he might need to consider going behind the gang leader's back to do it anyway, or else potentially even leaving this one altogether in favour of another which would be more open to his aims.
"What's your name, Prime?" oh yes, of course. That was rather an important detail, he supposed.
"'Hoarse'." he said, hoarsely. "Where I'm from, they called me 'Hoarse'."
Bernie just stared at him in silence for a few seconds after this announcement, then sighed, before saying drily, "I can't imagine why."
![[Image: Hijiri_Name_Sig.png]](https://image.ibb.co/k1H7Hd/Hijiri_Name_Sig.png)