World Undone

[Diana]

For at least 30 years, life had majorly degraded in the region. Political unrest turned to war, turned to hostile takeover, and finally became the twisted existence the people of the city knew today. Drugs were a major part of daily life. Be they the freely given kinds from the government to "protect" citizens from unwanted mutations, or the ones sold on the streets. All highly addictive no matter which way was turned. Crime was at an all time high. Most wouldn't dare stick out their necks and claim to be law enforcement, when gangs and terrorists were running rampart in the streets. Then there was no need to mention legal slave trading, experimental genetic studies, and the whispers of a revolution.

...Megan didn't know any of these things. In fact, only 24 hours ago, Megan thought the most frustrating thing about life was not being able to step outside her front door. Now, she was walking down a back alley street. Lost, confused, and a little scared. She still wore clothes from yesterday, a printed t-shirt, light corduroy jacket and a jean skirt. Her hair was a bit messy and streaked with color. At least that didn't look unusual compared to some of the other people walking around the streets. She saw women down on the far corner practically naked and beckoning to passing cars to stop. There was another guy across the street who was so thin she could see his bones, and he twitched every time he moved. What made her stand out was how bewildered she looked as she glanced around!

 

[Delnoir]

Altair scratched his head and glanced up and down the streets before turning to the young men behind him. They stood out a little bit to say the least. In this shithole part of town these men look particularly well groomed. Their hair wasn't a mess and greasy, their clothes weren't damaged or dirty, and their morale seemed higher than most.

But that's what happens when one feels they're in a rebellion worth fighting. Altair led a rebellion known as the Spear of Light. He smiled to his comrades, "Alright guys, you know the drill. Get as many people as you can out of here and into the East Slums."

The East Slums were almost entirely under the Spear's control and was one of the few safe havens in the entire city. It was fairly well supplied through convoy raids and though living conditions weren't perfect, it was a fuck ton better than anyone in this part of the city could ever imagine. The norm as of late was going in and getting whatever innocent, clean, and sober people out of the bad parts of town, "Alright. Let's go," Altair pointed.

"Just try to keep yourself on a low profile, Al. We don't want you flinging thugs around like rag dolls again..."

"Right, right. You guys just keep yourselves safe. I won't be here to bail you out of trouble immediately," the group of men smiled and went their separate ways. Altair zipped up his duster around his body and looked around, "Alright...let's do this..."

He proceeded down the one alleyway one his friends had not gone down.

 

[Diana]

"Hey little pretty... you lookin' for something?" someone called out to Megan, wagging a finger for her to come over to the dark little area they were camping out in behind the alley.

Megan stepped up a few paces, stopping a few feet away. "Somewhere to sleep? A hotel maybe?"

The man, who was covered head to toe in dirt and grime and looked like he hadn't shaved in a week, responded with a grin. He was missing at least two of his teeth. "Aye, I know just the sort of places you might like. Right down this back alley here, you won't be able to miss it."

"Really?" Megan looked relieved. None of the places on this street looked livable, and she really wanted to find a decent place to sleep for the night before it got dark. She started down the alley.

"Oh wait..." said the man as he stepped out of his spot near the wall. "Before you get on yer way... Maybe you'd like a little candy...?" He opened up his jacket and inside were all sorts of things. Syringes, bottles, little packaged items.

Megan looked curiously at them. "I don't have a lot of money on me..."

"How bout I give you on free, pretty?" he grinned, beckoning for her to come a little closer!

 

[Delnoir]

Altair looked around in the little nooks and crannies he often found the younger and far healthier refugees in with little success. Hopefully his friends were doing better. Just as he passed a junction between building corners he stopped and listened.

"How bout I give you on free, pretty?"

Altair's eyes fell rather unamused behind his sunglasses. He let them dangle on the bridge of his nose as he turned to the left and saw a familiar face and sighed.

"Oh Traaaviiiiis."

The man talking to his latest mark stopped cold. Altair could have sworn he heard him mutter something along the lines of "Oh dear merciful god." Altair smirked as the drug dealer turned around to face him.

"Erm...H....hi....Altair..."

"Travis, what the hell have I told you about coming down here?"

"Okay, Altair, be reasonable, I'm just--Oh god, here we go again."

Travis' felt his feet leave the ground as he levitated, "You're gonna throw me out into the street as a car comes by again aren't you?"

"Nah, that was a little violent last time. I was gonna go for something a little more creative."

"Man, for a guy with a gift like telekinetics you sure use them for shit you know that? Rebellion is one thing, shaking down innocent---AAAAAGH!"

Altair had turned the drug dealer upside down and began to shake him up and down forcing whatever drugs he had on him out of his pockets. After about a minute of Travis floated away over to a stray rope which proceeded to tie a knot around his ankle.

"Dammit Altair! How many times are you gonna keep doing this to me?!"

"As many times as it takes to get your drug dealing ass out of my territory! Now if you come back again I'm gonna drop your stupid ass off a second story floor! And then every time you come back after that I'm gonna increase the distance I drop you!"

Altair ignored the wailing of the hapless idiot as he approached the young girl. His unamused stare changed to his regular smile. He took his sunglasses off and pocketed them. It was always easier with new encounters to not obstruct his eyes. As he talked the drugs floated up behind him being ground into dust.

"You should be more careful with that guy. He's a drug dealer of the worst variety..." he slowly looked the girl up and down, "Then again...you are not from around here, that much is certain."

Altair paused to inspect the girl. Judging by her appearance, the look of her clothes, and the fact she seemed in relatively good health, it was clear she was not native to the slums in any way shape or form.

"My name is Altair. What's your's?"

He extended a gloved hand to the girl.

 

[Diana]

Megan stared at his gloved hand, before looking back up at his face with a weary expression. Usually, she would be polite and shake the man's hand, but he DID just shake a guy down with, what did the dude call it? Telekinesis? That was something completely strange! ...then again, she was seeing a lot of strange things in the past day.

"I'm Megan." She leaned to the side so she could look around him at the man now hanging and flailing from a rope. Did that mean the directions he gave her for a hotel were bad ones? Megan looked over her shoulder and frowned in the direction of the ally.

"I was looking for a hotel to stay at, is there one down there?"

 

[Delnoir]

Altair tilted his head, "Megan...well, Megan, I can't say there is with the exception of Travis' little headquarters. See, Travis here is a dealer of all sorts of illegal substances that are not only addictive, but after awhile would have you looking like that," Altair pointed at one of the scrawny looking skanks on the corner of the street. Travis flailed from the rope in vain.

"Fuck you, Altair!"

"Truth hurts doesn't it, you jacked-up little gremlin? You want me to start my second floor policy early? No? Then shut the fuck up!" Altair turned back to Megan and smiled, "Sorry. Threats of violence and yelling are the only things that people like him understand. I can't count the number of times I've sent him home with some bumps and scrapes only to have him come back a week later. Now, to be completely honest with you, there's no real sanitary or safe place to hole up here in the West Slums. The safest place around here is the East Slums, where me and my organization operate. We call ourselves the Spear of Light. We're trying to get people like you out of these bad areas of town and into the East Slums with us. Right now, our ultimate goal lies in getting the slums cleaned up entirely."

He looked up and down the streets and sighed.

"Not like that its a speedy process or nothing. You're the first healthy person I've encountered in three weeks."

 

[Diana]

"You speak a lot." Megan responded, looking a bit baffled by the amount of words and trying to process what it all meant. It wasn't that she didn't understand what he was saying, it's just that... she didn't understand. The other man named Travis was selling medications...? Or not really? She had no idea what a slum was, nor what light spears had to do with it! And if she was the most healthy person he's scene, this place needed the drugs! After a moment, she looked a bit frustrated trying to figure it out and let slip a slight huff.

"Hum. All right then. Which ways is the right way to a hotel? And to talk to police officers?"

 

[Delnoir]

Altair blinked. He started to wonder if the girl might have a screw loose. But the more he thought about it the more he came to the same conclusion...

"Oh boy...you don't get a word of what I just said..." Altair's look wasn't of disbelief more than it was concern. He'd have to explain this to Megan as he would a child, "Okay, Megan, I'll make this as simple as I can. There are no hotels down here. No police officers. This place is not safe. About ninety percent of the people you will meet in this place are criminals of the worst kind. Murderers. Things like that. The only truly safe place is...well what I guess you would call my home. Where me and my friends do what we can to make this..." Altair gestured all around him "...To make all of this a better place," Altair pulled his sunglasses out of his pocket and placed them lightly on the bridge of his nose low enough for someone to look directly into his eyes.

"I can tell right now that if I leave you here bad things will probably happen to you. And quite frankly, leaving you out here all alone would make me feel really terrible. Its no hotel, but I can at least offer you shelter, food, and other things at my home provided you don't mind the fact that there will be a lot more people than you and I there. Its a bit of a walk, but its a hell of a lot safer there than it is here. Its a place where we treat one another a lot like a family, even if none of us are truly related."

He looked down at her and glanced aside, "Though...I wouldn't blame you if you didn't trust me, but I can't really bring myself to leave you here with no one to go to..."

 

[Diana]

"I see..." A rather dark expression came over her face. A grim look, suggesting that maybe she understood all too well the threat of murderers or criminals of the worst kind. Megan fidgeted with the cuff of her sleeve as she glanced around one more time. Trusting someone had never been an issue for her before, but now she was wondering if she would make a mistake with him, just like with the upside-down Travis guy.

"I don't mind a little walking, I guess. Is it really far from here?"

 

[Delnoir]

"Not very. We have a few modes of transportation that'll get us there in fifteen or twenty minutes," as Altair spoke he used a mildly sharp slab of metal to cut Travis down before hogtying him. At least this way someone could find him and let him go. As he did, the men Altair traveled with arrived.

"Al, we didn't find any...huh. Seems you did though."

"Yeah, I did," the men didn't look much younger or older than Altair, if a little scruffier, "We're done here for the day, let's get out of here. This way, Megan," Altair lead the group through a series of alleyways until they came out to where they'd left their vehicles. Two older cars for the other Spear members, and Altair's motorcycle, "Go ahead and get in one of the cars. I don't want you falling off my bike or something," Altair put away his sunglasses, placing riding goggles where they once were.

 

[Diana]

Megan didn't speak much. Choosing to take in the sight of each man. Learning their faces well. When climbing in to the car with them, she was stuck in the middle of two. Being in such close proximity to anyone was a little awkward for her. They were eyeballing her about as much as she stared at them.

When the car started moving, she decided she wasn't keen on sitting in silence.

"Do you all have super powers too...?" she asked the men in the car.