A shorty story detailing the results of hiring mercenary "Cardiac" Steve, post Episode 3
“So this whole crew walks up like they’re some hot shot mercenary group, demanding to get in and ‘find someone to go around the Bath of Fire’, and I was like ‘nuh uh’” Edge while slowly shaking his head no. Taking another swig of his ale, Cardiac Steve asks while laughing, “So how’d you get rid of them??” “I slowly took out my blades… showed them a little something-something (makes cheesy martial arts sounds) with my katanas and they knew not to mess with me and Strider here” as Edge elbows Strider’s arm, spilling some of his ale. Red flashing and low beeping comes from Steve’s pocket. “Oh shit sorry boys, gotta take this.” He leaves a couple IBU’s on the bar counter as Edge nods him farewell. Walking outside into the bright sunlight, he squints checking his message. It’s from Earl, asking him to go check on a contact named “Quick” out in Arlandria, with the appropriate IBU’s attached for payment. “Ho ho ho, time to go to work!” He leaves Rosshar immediately to get to Arlandria as soon as possible.
Steve arrives some time later at the center of Arlandria. While all seems business as usual, he does notice the increased number of security firms throughout the main districts.While pounding down some drinks at an old bar from his earlier merc days, he sees some old acquaintances and makes some calls to some old contacts to help track down where this “Quick” would be hiding out, based on what background and details Earl would have provided. A few hours later he gets a hit; someone fitting that description was last seen going in and out of the old Naruto building. Once a large corporate office that was part of Aldren’s Infinity Core, now an empty shell frequented by delinquents and such. Cardiac Steve uses the cover of night to go scope it out.
Posing as a drunk homeless person (not hard considering his look), Steve makes way into the dimly lit building. He picks up a distinct scent in the air, that of a fellow Alterbeast and in some way, reminiscent of when he met Earl back in Everlong. He tracks it into a stairwell and after a few flights notices it stops and exits the door. As soon as he opens the door, the temple of his head is met with a drawn arrow. Steve, without missing a beat, “Is this where the can is? I really gotta take a leak.” “You’ll be leaking more than piss in ten seconds if you don’t tell me who you are and why you’re sniffing around here.” “Look kid, I’m here cause a friend of yours wants me to make sure you’re still breathing. ‘You don’t write, you don’t call.’ You get the idea. Now you can put the toy arrow down before Lefty here blows a hole big enough in you you’ll have a built-in quiver” as he already has a large hand cannon pointed at Quick’s abdomen. “Who’s the friend?” “Earl Waddams.”. Quick slowly retracts and lowers the bow and arrow. “And what did Earl say he wanted?” “He said if you weren’t busy to come get your hands dirty with him. But by the looks of it you’re already plenty dirty” as Steve gestures to the dilapidated hallway. “I’m sure he does…. But I’m kind of tied up here. How ‘dirty’ are we talking here?” Quick asks with much curiosity. “I don’t know kid but they paid me pretty good to come out here and talk to you, so probably some crazy shit that I’d love to be part of. Anyway, what kind of bird watching you doing here, I can probably help knock it out and be back at the bar before last call.” Quick, constantly surveying his surroundings, “Oh you know, working intel on some no names like Aldren Stockton and Bray Godsil. I’m sure you know Bray Godsil was just assassinated and shit is going down in Arlandria, so that’s a tiny bit of a big deal.” “No shit. Well I can’t say he didn’t have it coming, I always thought Godsil was shitbag lacky. I’m sure it was weird for him lately, with him breathing normal air without his head so far up Aldren’s ass” Steve says while laughing. “Yeah well, that shitbag lacky is dead and there’s a lot of finger pointing going on as to who and why it was done. Lot of people have eyes on this. I’m trying to find out what the hell’s going on because it’s about to get real different here in the east.” Quick continues to describe his work in Arlandria to Steve as they make their way through different corridors and offices. Eventually they stop at a large open office with floor to ceiling windows looking out to Arlandria. Quick points down to a smaller nondescript building further southwest of their location. “I’m pretty sure she’s there.” Steve, squinting, “I am getting old. You really think Bray’s killer is there? And so what, even if you catch’em, you think they’re gonna spill the beans as to why they did it?” “Only one way to find out,” Quick says.
The night air is now filled with light rain. Purple, blue, and yellow neon lightning from the small shops and restaurants provide an extra glow against the wet concrete. The pair of Alterbeasts arrive near the building Quick believes his person of interest is hiding out. It’s a noodle bar on the street level with darkened residential living above it. Quick gives a simple nod to Cardiac Steve as he seemingly leaps into the darkness up towards the second story of the building. Steve casually walks into the noodle shop, ordering a quick bowl. He grabs his chow and while munching down walks back around into an alley next to the building. Slurping the remainder of the noodles, he tosses the bowl and walks up to a side door. Taking his chopsticks, he gives them a quick shove into the door jam. He puts so much force into it they shave against the weathered metal, getting thin enough to squeeze in between and push the bolt in, popping the door open. Steve quietly closes the door behind him and sneaks through the storage and kitchen areas of the bottom floor, getting to a stairwell to take him up. He gives a quick burp and takes a deep breath; he picks up Quick’s scent and starts to track.
About two more floors up and Steve gets hot on the trail. Despite the only light coming from the neons outside through a single window in the hallways, he’s able to navigate through the dark wood floors and worn, hunter green doors for the cramped apartments. He arrives at a door; 343. He examines the door. “Too easy” he whispers to himself. He takes a small black flask from his pocket with a crudely drawn white skull and bones on it. “I really gotta get a different container, one day I’m gonna drink this shit” as he carefully pours the contents along the side of the door where the hinges would be. A small cloud of slow moving smoke exudes from each spot. Steve then lifts and pushes the door slowly inward to keep unnoticed. In the dead silence as he gets about halfway opening the door a column of arrows spring, hitting the door with the arrowheads narrowly missing Steve. Without missing a beat he lifts the door from his side, over his head, and throws it straight ahead. A dark figure behind a table dodges it as it crashes and crushes everything beneath it. He draws his pistols and leaps to get behind a wall leading into a hallway. Instead of firing some shots off he tucks his arms in as a trio of daggers tag the wall across from him, missing. Steve shouts, “I know this is hard to believe, but I just want to talk!”. No response. He takes a peak around the corner. Nothing. Peaks again. Nothing. For a second he thinks of going around the corner but instead rolls down the hallway. The wall he was against explodes towards him. He ducks into the bathroom. Looking for precisely what he needs, he rips off the toilet bowl cover. He swings the cover towards the opening of the door which connects with a flashbang grenade, sending it back out into the hallway. After it detonates, he scrambles out to the hallway to meet his enemy. But he lowers his pistols. She’s already on the floor with her hands tied behind her back with Quick standing over her.
Quick picks the woman up and throws her sitting on a couch in the living area. “Geez Quick I know you’re fast but how the hell did you rough her up so bad?” “I didn’t” Quick replies deadpan. The young woman, covered in bruises, dried blood, and tattered clothes glances at both of them. Quick gets right to the point, “Well let’s spare everyone the bullshit introductories and get right to it; who hired you and why Bray Godsil?” She stares back at him, “Wow, really? No interrogation foreplay? Chivalry really is dead.” Steve jumps in, “Hey listen, this is my friend Quick,” as Quick shoots Cardiac Steve a wide-eyed angry look, “and I’m Dirty. Nice to meet you Dagger Lady of Death. Can I get you a nice cocktail while you tell us what we need so we can be on our merry way?” Quick puts a neutral face back on. She looks at Steve, then back at Quick. “It’s a good thing you brought your polite and handsome friend, otherwise this conversation would be over.” Steve, with a wide grin and open arms says to Quick, “Fucking irresistible.” “Seeing as you two seem like a real pair of jokers, I’m guessing you’re not part of the usual gang that’s been looking for me. Which means you have about five more minutes before she shows up.” Quick and Steve exchange looks. Quick asks, “Well, I guess you need to be fast but not furious and tell us what we need so you can avoid ‘her’.” She shakes her head at Steve, then looks back at Quick. Nodding at Steve, “It’s better when he does it.” She then brings her hands from around her back to her front, tossing the cuffs at Steve. She gets up and walks towards the window to take a peak. “Name is Chelsea. Yeah, I killed Bray, but not on purpose. I was hired by a bunch of misfits to plant a bug on Bray, not blow him up. Now this place has gone shit crazy, I’m barely staying alive, and that’s just the start of it. You got a problem with all that, you better go take it up with my employers.” Steve looks at Quick, “You don’t think-” “I hope not, but crazier things have happened” Quicks says, cutting off Steve. “Sorry fellas, looks like we’ll have to catch up another time. She must be reeeeally eager to finish work today” Chelsea says with fake enthusiasm.
Before the three of them could even get into any kind of defensive position, a bunch of tiny, glowing metallic marbles rolled through the front door. Chelsea grabs the door Steve threw earlier off the ground and shields herself; Steve dives towards the kitchen area, opening the fridge door to shield himself; Quick in the blink of an eye pulls a retractable bow out with a small grappling arrow, firing it through the hallway door and launching himself around the corner. The glowing metal marbles slow their roll, hum while levitating off the ground slightly and a bright flash of white light fills the room, followed by shrapnel covering the entire area. Before Chelsea could push the door off herself, a large glowing glaive crashes through the door narrowly missing her head.She goes to spin clockwise and swipe the purple metallic legs to her right but as she starts, a massive weight lands on top of her chest, knocking the wind out and begins to get crushed under the sheer weight. Chelsea shuts her eyes expecting death. Instead though she sees a burst of blue glowing light and the sound of electricity. Quick turned the corner back out and fired in rapid succession multiple arrows at the assailant, but all failing to bring them down by what seems to be a force field. He reaches for a different arrow more suited for these types of situations. As he does, Cardiac Steve lets out a loud yell as he rips the door off the fridge and hurls it at the mysterious figure. It’s swiftly met with a backhand knocking it to the side, without the figure shifting its weight to do so. Quick fires another arrow, this time frying the force field. Steve lunges at them and is promptly booted to the chest, knocking him down. Quick fires another volley of arrows. The figure instantly splits their glaive in half and spins the released short end knocking them away. The other half remains in the door and explodes with a metallic net around the door, trapping Chelsea. The figure then unnaturally leaps up onto the ceiling, clinging on and now hanging above Quick. Steve fires his pistols from the ground up at them, some missing and some reflecting off their armor. Quick draws his wakizashi blades and they clash with the enemy dropping from above.
Quick struggles to block the incoming strikes. “Maybe I guess there is some left in the tank…” Steve grumbles. He does a Power Up, transforming into a gray-black Alterbeast, hulking with muscles and patches of short fur where many scars would be. He rips the netting off of Chelsea, then the door, then gently tosses her up and over to the window. “Quick, get her out of here, time to get dirty.” Quick tosses one blade up into the ceiling; it then erupts with a dense white cloud. He leaps out transformed as well, with slick silvery white fur and blackened eyes. Chelsea, gasping for air, clings to Quick’s fur. Steve lets out a growl as he runs at the mysterious figure. He manages to grab their arm, swings them around and slams their back onto the ground. He lunges, his claw ready to crush them; the figure punches up, with a large retractable blade erupting from their wrist, slicing straight through Steve’s collarbone. They then twirl themselves up, with their thighs around Steve’s neck and begin choking him. The figure turns and stares at Chelsea with glowing red eyes through their purple and blue helmet. Chelsea, stares back. Quick, holding onto Chelsea, turns as he’s ready to open and exit out the window. Chelsea is holding a hollowed out table leg; it’s really a tiny rocket launcher. She manages a smirk and presses the secret button. The rocket fires up to the ceiling above the assailants head, exploding. There was a little too much force behind it however, as Chelsea is pushed back enough and stumbles, pulling Quick with her and they crash past the window and out the building.
Quick manages to slow their descent by grabbing onto a ledge outside the building, then leaping down other jutting fixtures down to the street. They hear more growling and fighting from up above. “Why did you save me?” “Other than being a damsel in distress? We need more info and we can’t get it if you’re dead” Quick replies. Chelsea, coughing up some blood, “Not as good as your friend Dirty, but getting better. Let’s get out of here.” They disappear into another dark alley.