Zone C -- Megacity One

[Strazio Rockwell]

“You know sometimes I think you just look for an excuse to get yourself hurt,” Colin said, “you’ve got some kind of martyrdom complex don’t you?”

“Go fuck yourself,” Strazio responded.

“Then again what kind of martyr has such a shitty temper,” Colin laughed.

--

Everything hurt, well, everything hurt except for his hand. Compared to the rest of him his hand felt fine. Which was to say that the only reason his hand felt fine was because it was currently nonexistent. Like a bloody phoenix waking up from an all-night kegger Strazio stirred. For a minute or two he sat slumped with his hand in his lap. Someone had coated his world in a layer slime. Colors were muted and the sounds traveled through water. Words rebounded off his ear drums and never made it to his brain. He was certainly aware that someone was talking to him, but that awareness never extended further than a vague sense of company. His eyes focused on the stump that was now his left hand.

“Goddamnit,” he muttered.

Gamzee, who had been standing sentinel shook his friend and asked, “you awake Strawso?”

“Where the fuck is my hand?”

“You, uh, kinda, hmmm,” Gamzee struggled to think of the proper words to use, “you turned it into a motherfuckin’ bomb, it was actually pretty sick.”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Strazio responded and fell on his back.

Memories came swimming back like starving dogs. He clenched his teeth and smacked the floor with his fist. As much as he hated to admit it, Enel was right. Bleeding to death in a safehouse was most certainly not his style. And so he forced his body to obey and stood despite every natural instinct telling him not to.

“Woah woah, calm down brother, you’ve got all kinds of nasty gashes,” Gamzee said, trying to slow down his fire-filled companion.

“I’m still breathing,” Strazio responded and made his way to the kitchen area.

He was vaguely aware Enel’s presence, but ignored him in favor of stuffing his face with the available food. He offered food to his companion and the two ate their fill. Once that was taken care of he grabbed a washcloth and wiped away as much blood as he could. Any wound that was still bleeding was treated with a quick burst of magick and though he felt far from perfect he felt much better than ten minutes ago.

“Let’s go,” he said to Gamzee, not waiting for the troll to follow.

Just before the two left he shouted across the safehouse, “Enel you pompous fuck, if you follow us I will end you.”

With that he stepped outside into the open world. Well, he stepped outside, paused, and then stuck his head back in for a second.

“Oh, and go fuck yourself.”

Moving from safehouse C to C21