11-09-2017, 08:16 PM
Coruscant, Tier 3. Two hours later.
Breakfast had been nice. It was quiet, even with the twins present. Two tired, even at ten AM. Stein was content with the quiet, and everyone ate their fill. Even Mrs. Davenport showed up, but she was just as quiet. She seemed to be more than a little exhausted – which Stein found weird. Don’t old people automatically become morning types? He thought so.
It was back to work now. He had used the elevator ride down for a few stretching exercises, to get the juices flowing and whatnot. Sleeping in a cozy bed was all well and good, but hammered till unconsciousness and sprawled out on the floor was another matter entirely. He felt more sore than when riddled with bullets. Well… almost.
Ding! As the door opens, Stein is immediately met with a few rather rough looking ‘gentlemen.’ He tensed, readying for the assault… but they just walked in, turned and pressed a button for Tier 5. It was not till he walked out and looked over his shoulder did he see the three were each readying an assortment of sci-fi looking firearms. Clearly something was going down. With a quick jolt, he was sliding back into the elevator before the doors closed.
“Wrong floor!” He chirped with a chuckle. He tried to sound nervous… but he lacked acting skills. It just sounded awkward. That was fine. Awkward worked. “So, uh... you guys going… hunting?” He said, feigning ignorance. They wielded assault rifles and pistols, not what he would associate with hunting at all.
One of the men smirked, while the other two peered at each other nervously. The more burly man spoke. “Yea, what’s it to you, bub?” He had a voice like gravel scraped across a chalkboard under the tire of a diesel engine.
“I was just curious… I’ve never been this low! I’m usually just hanging around the first Tier, they have all the best restaurants…” This spiked another group look. That is exactly what Stein wanted… to them he sounded like a lost tourist, easy picking. With the slightest nod of one of the shorter men, he felt the barrel of a gun against his back. “H-hey now! What’re you doing?” Damn that was cringe worthy.
“Shuddup and hand over your valuables!” The smaller of the three was eager, his voice was a few pitches too high even for his size.
“What my companion means to say… is if you want to make it back to your cozy penthouse… empty your pockets…” The gravel grinds again. It was almost irritating the way that rough baritone rang around the tight compartment.
Stein’s hands reach into his pockets as demanded and out comes that little Bluetooth webcam – already recording to his phone. “I’ll take that!” The middle man chimed, reaching over Stein’s shoulder. Stein’s hand jerks forward, jamming the clip of the camera between the elevator’s doors. “The fuck you d-“ Stein’s foot followed and with a strong kick he lept back into the man behind him, mid-man into shorty for a unison of grunts.
“Wise guy, aye?” Stein took it back… THAT was cringe worthy. The larger man pointed the barrel of his gun at Stein. There was a moment of fear in his eyes.
It too was a ruse. “Please don’t shoot me Mr. Badguy! I’m just a – zoink!” Stein plugged the barrel with his finger. He really wedged it in there too. “Haha! Now I’ve gotcha!” The look of annoyance on biggy Mombasa was priceless. Instead of just firing, which would have been smart, he takes a hand off the gun and takes a jab right at Stein’s face.
That shiver ran up his spine and almost before he was punching, Stein was tilting his head. Mid-guy yelped before taking a bite of a knuckle sandwich he did not order. “Swing and a miss!” Biggy was a little startled. “You going for round two?”
“Fuck you, hero!” A line Stein has heard many times before. That crawling sensation returned, much more violent than before. He saw the finger tightening on the trigger and with an audible pop he retracts his finger, the other hand grabbing the top of the gun and shifting the aim as he shifted the other direction.
His ears rang, the sounds of shouts filled the elevator and before he realized fully what had happened, he realized his hand was numb and stinging at the same time. The top of the gun apparently got very hot, and he had not considered that. Being the first to recover, he saw a rather horrifying scene before him; mid-guy was now down one arm, and shorty was slumped to the ground, wide eyed and unresponsive.
That is NOT a semi-automatic, it’s a god damn hand cannon! “Holy shit! What did you do?”
Biggy was stunned. Clearly this is not what he intended. The weapon dropped to the ground and his hands rose to his head. Wide eyed, he stepped back to the other corner. “Dini’ell… Shit, fuck, shit!” His voice rose to a normal octave. It had been faked… a persona to frighten people, no doubt. “Look what you did!” He shouted, glaring at Stein.
“What I did? That was all you! Who fires a damn cannon in an elevator! Sweet maceral on a stick, where did you even get something like that?!” As a follow up, Stein quickly picked up the discarded weapons. Mid-guy’s screams mixed with the symphony of yelling back and forth. With the weapon in hand, Biggy wedged himself as far as he could in the corner. “Stop, I’m not going to shoot, I’m the good guy.”
This is not what I wanted. Apparently not everyone down here was as weak as the first couple of guys. Just like the brawler when he arrived, there were powerhouses. Stein quickly dismantled the gun, yanking bits till he found out how to unlock them. He took what he assumed was the clip, it looked like some sort of energy weapon. He then tossed the bulk of the gun to the ground.
The clattering of metal against metal broke a newborn silence. It had been there only for a second, it almost felt like the drop of the gun is what brought it. Mid-guy had stopped screaming. When Stein turned his gaze onto the man, he stared off into space, blood pooling from his mouth and the empty shoulder.
Ding! The door opened. Stein quickly caught the camera before it could hit the ground, then left the scene behind. His breath was rapid, his heart racing. He could hear Biggy’s voice, somewhere between screaming and sobbing.
I was just going to beat them up. I was just going to beat them up. I was just going to beat them up! This was not the first time he let someone slaughter another… but it was the first time that the killer broke down like Biggy had… Stein’s team usually consisted of hardened warriors, used to the ending of life and perversion of their innocence. That man had never killed another soul in his life… and now he has killed what had to have been two of his close friends. Or worse… his family…
Stein had to find another elevator. He suddenly felt very… very ill…
Breakfast had been nice. It was quiet, even with the twins present. Two tired, even at ten AM. Stein was content with the quiet, and everyone ate their fill. Even Mrs. Davenport showed up, but she was just as quiet. She seemed to be more than a little exhausted – which Stein found weird. Don’t old people automatically become morning types? He thought so.
It was back to work now. He had used the elevator ride down for a few stretching exercises, to get the juices flowing and whatnot. Sleeping in a cozy bed was all well and good, but hammered till unconsciousness and sprawled out on the floor was another matter entirely. He felt more sore than when riddled with bullets. Well… almost.
Ding! As the door opens, Stein is immediately met with a few rather rough looking ‘gentlemen.’ He tensed, readying for the assault… but they just walked in, turned and pressed a button for Tier 5. It was not till he walked out and looked over his shoulder did he see the three were each readying an assortment of sci-fi looking firearms. Clearly something was going down. With a quick jolt, he was sliding back into the elevator before the doors closed.
“Wrong floor!” He chirped with a chuckle. He tried to sound nervous… but he lacked acting skills. It just sounded awkward. That was fine. Awkward worked. “So, uh... you guys going… hunting?” He said, feigning ignorance. They wielded assault rifles and pistols, not what he would associate with hunting at all.
One of the men smirked, while the other two peered at each other nervously. The more burly man spoke. “Yea, what’s it to you, bub?” He had a voice like gravel scraped across a chalkboard under the tire of a diesel engine.
“I was just curious… I’ve never been this low! I’m usually just hanging around the first Tier, they have all the best restaurants…” This spiked another group look. That is exactly what Stein wanted… to them he sounded like a lost tourist, easy picking. With the slightest nod of one of the shorter men, he felt the barrel of a gun against his back. “H-hey now! What’re you doing?” Damn that was cringe worthy.
“Shuddup and hand over your valuables!” The smaller of the three was eager, his voice was a few pitches too high even for his size.
“What my companion means to say… is if you want to make it back to your cozy penthouse… empty your pockets…” The gravel grinds again. It was almost irritating the way that rough baritone rang around the tight compartment.
Stein’s hands reach into his pockets as demanded and out comes that little Bluetooth webcam – already recording to his phone. “I’ll take that!” The middle man chimed, reaching over Stein’s shoulder. Stein’s hand jerks forward, jamming the clip of the camera between the elevator’s doors. “The fuck you d-“ Stein’s foot followed and with a strong kick he lept back into the man behind him, mid-man into shorty for a unison of grunts.
“Wise guy, aye?” Stein took it back… THAT was cringe worthy. The larger man pointed the barrel of his gun at Stein. There was a moment of fear in his eyes.
It too was a ruse. “Please don’t shoot me Mr. Badguy! I’m just a – zoink!” Stein plugged the barrel with his finger. He really wedged it in there too. “Haha! Now I’ve gotcha!” The look of annoyance on biggy Mombasa was priceless. Instead of just firing, which would have been smart, he takes a hand off the gun and takes a jab right at Stein’s face.
That shiver ran up his spine and almost before he was punching, Stein was tilting his head. Mid-guy yelped before taking a bite of a knuckle sandwich he did not order. “Swing and a miss!” Biggy was a little startled. “You going for round two?”
“Fuck you, hero!” A line Stein has heard many times before. That crawling sensation returned, much more violent than before. He saw the finger tightening on the trigger and with an audible pop he retracts his finger, the other hand grabbing the top of the gun and shifting the aim as he shifted the other direction.
His ears rang, the sounds of shouts filled the elevator and before he realized fully what had happened, he realized his hand was numb and stinging at the same time. The top of the gun apparently got very hot, and he had not considered that. Being the first to recover, he saw a rather horrifying scene before him; mid-guy was now down one arm, and shorty was slumped to the ground, wide eyed and unresponsive.
That is NOT a semi-automatic, it’s a god damn hand cannon! “Holy shit! What did you do?”
Biggy was stunned. Clearly this is not what he intended. The weapon dropped to the ground and his hands rose to his head. Wide eyed, he stepped back to the other corner. “Dini’ell… Shit, fuck, shit!” His voice rose to a normal octave. It had been faked… a persona to frighten people, no doubt. “Look what you did!” He shouted, glaring at Stein.
“What I did? That was all you! Who fires a damn cannon in an elevator! Sweet maceral on a stick, where did you even get something like that?!” As a follow up, Stein quickly picked up the discarded weapons. Mid-guy’s screams mixed with the symphony of yelling back and forth. With the weapon in hand, Biggy wedged himself as far as he could in the corner. “Stop, I’m not going to shoot, I’m the good guy.”
This is not what I wanted. Apparently not everyone down here was as weak as the first couple of guys. Just like the brawler when he arrived, there were powerhouses. Stein quickly dismantled the gun, yanking bits till he found out how to unlock them. He took what he assumed was the clip, it looked like some sort of energy weapon. He then tossed the bulk of the gun to the ground.
The clattering of metal against metal broke a newborn silence. It had been there only for a second, it almost felt like the drop of the gun is what brought it. Mid-guy had stopped screaming. When Stein turned his gaze onto the man, he stared off into space, blood pooling from his mouth and the empty shoulder.
Ding! The door opened. Stein quickly caught the camera before it could hit the ground, then left the scene behind. His breath was rapid, his heart racing. He could hear Biggy’s voice, somewhere between screaming and sobbing.
I was just going to beat them up. I was just going to beat them up. I was just going to beat them up! This was not the first time he let someone slaughter another… but it was the first time that the killer broke down like Biggy had… Stein’s team usually consisted of hardened warriors, used to the ending of life and perversion of their innocence. That man had never killed another soul in his life… and now he has killed what had to have been two of his close friends. Or worse… his family…
Stein had to find another elevator. He suddenly felt very… very ill…