No Honor Among Thieves

[Solaris: Electric Sentinel]

Review Topic.

No Honor

Among Thieves

PrologueThe End of the LineToa Arren dashed down the alley, looking behind him."Have I lost him?" he mumbled to himself.The silhouette of another Toa emerged at the far end of the alley. Arren dashed around the corner to get out of sight."Great Beings," he gasped. "Is any place safe?"He couldn't stop here. He would be found. Keep moving, he told himself. Ah, but he was so tired. He had been on the run for two days with next to no time for rest. If only he had a Mask of Speed. A Mask of Concealment was no use against his pursuer; you could run, but you couldn't hide. There was almost no doubt that Arren would be captured, but keeping himself alive had been his priority since day one, and old habits were hard to break.From around the corner there were the telltale clicks of footsteps. No enforcer was this loud on the hunt...Arren bolted once more, running through many dirty back alleys, once almost tripping over a homeless Matoran. He zigzagged through the streets, hoping he wouldn't get caught. But the end would eventually come.And it would come sooner than he thought. Right in front of him, leaning against a streetlight and smoking a cigarette was the hunter."You're really that stupid, huh?" he laughed, flicking the smoke away."I thought you were chasing me," Arren gasped."Oldest trick in the book," the hunter continued to chuckle. "Just send some boys out before you to box in your prey. Eventually, he'll run to you. You're just like any other Scarabax, Arren. You think you're so clever, but eventually, the Vorox will make a tasty little snack out of you. It's the end of the line for you, Arren.""Can't you forgive me?" Arren negotiated. "I can give ya whatever ya want. Money, jewels, gold, whatever ya want, ya hear.""I hear you," the hunter said, standing up straight. "What I want is a payoff. Ten thousand widgets worth of whatever ya got.""Here's the key to my store," Arren said, fumbling with the contents of his satchel. He handed the key over to the hunter."Thank you," he said, placing the key in a safe place on his person. Then he pulled out his elemental pistol and shot Arren in the forehead. "You cross me, you pay the price." He leaned down to close his victim's eyes. "It's just business."With that, he walked away.Several weeks earlier...Toa Ryken was happy living in his apartment. It was just the right size for him and the rent was especially reasonable for a New Atero. He didn't even need a roommate, even on his salary. The landlord was a pleasant person to those who paid their rent on time, and didn't mind treating his favorite tenants by paying their bills.Ryken didn't really want his life to change. He didn't know that he was in Mafia-controlled turf, but he didn't care. All he needed to know was when to wake up and when to pay rent.Something changed, though, when Ryken looked out his window, one night. It was a Thursday. He didn't like Thursdays because there wasn't usually much on TV and the whole day just went by unnecessarily slowly. But this particular Thursday, something was different. His apartment was on the third floor, giving him a reasonable view of the streets below. In a back alley, he saw a Toa leaning against a lamppost, smoking.Not unusual, but this Toa looked a bit shady. Ryken stayed to watch. Another Toa dashed out of the shadows. The two talked for a little bit, obviously an unfriendly conversation, the second Toa handed the first one something small, then the first Toa shot the second one.Ryken stood frozen at the window. He was shocked. It was a crime and he should report it.The Toa looked up at Ryken's third floor window. He was an easy target, but someone to catch later.Ryken began to put his essential possessions into his backpack. He would have to run. But there was a way out of this. If that Toa down on the street began to hunt him and make sure there were no witnesses, Ryken would have to turn the tables."Goin' somewhere?" the landlord asked him as he rushed past."I, uh..." Ryken stuttered for a moment. "I just got a call. A friend of mine is in the hospital.""It's a bit late to be headin' out to the hospital for a friend," the Turaga pointed out, looking at his watch.Ryken panicked for a moment, not sure of a way out of this."Did ya hear somethin' outside?" the landlord asked, suddenly. "Sounded like a gunshot. I thought I was the only one up in this building, but at least I got a pair of ears like yours awake. Did you hear a gunshot?"Ryken wanted to say no so badly, but he just couldn't lie to the old Turaga like that."I saw what happened," he blurted. "There were two Toa arguing in an alley and one shot the other."The landlord didn't look at all surprised."You'd best get movin'," he commented, emotionless. "The Mafia is pretty good at pickin' out witnesses."Mafia? Since when? There was no time. Ryken exited the building, his home, and dashed down the street, praying to the Great Beings that he would be safe.

Edited June 28, 2012 by Solaris: Electric Sentinel

[Solaris: Electric Sentinel]

Day 1Friday, 29 JuneNEW ATERO1:30 AMRyken trotted through the streets, dead tired from being up so early for so long. But he had to keep going if he valued his life. He turned a corner, checking to see if it was clear. There was no one but a homeless Matoran slumped against the wall. Best to be careful of anyone you find, though. All it took was a dirty towel and a beaten up hat and you could tackle anyone who passed by.The Matoran snored loudly as Ryken passed by, not moving except to shift to a sleeping position.The hobo was nothing of which to be scared, but Ryken heard footsteps behind him. Being a Toa of Lightning, Ryken's armor was a bright yellow hue, making him an easy target in the night. If he was going to hide, he had to do it well. He grabbed the towel from the hobo and ran quietly down the alley."Please, Great Beings, don't let him find me," he muttered to himself.After winding through a confusing passage of alleyways, Ryken came to a dead end. It wasn't all that much about which to get upset. He rubbed his Mask of Fate for luck and dashed up the side of one of the buildings, somersaulting over a wall and landing in the empty street. As long as whoever was hunting him didn't have any way of doing something like that, he ought to be safe for a while.And, as luck would have it, there was a hotel just down the road. It looked a little cheap, but he would take almost anything at this point. He entered, the Matoran at the front desk looked just as tired as Ryken felt."One room," he requested. The Matoran blearily handed him the keys and he walked gently up the stairs.Once at his room, Ryken closed the door behind him and used every single lock to bar anyone from entering, then secured each of the windows before settling down on the hard mattress for whatever was left of the night's sleep.A HOTEL IN NEW ATERO9:45 AMRyken rose from his bed, yawning and rubbing his eyes. He checked all of his windows briefly before looking out of the peephole on his door.There came a knock followed by a gruff, "Room service."But he didn't order any... Ryken grabbed his bag and jumped out of one of his windows, grabbing the top of the frame and flipping up to the next floor's window, repeating the action, landing himself on the roof. Thank the Great Beings for his mask.The door to the roof burst open as a familiar-looking shady Toa ran out. He looked around the empty roof, looking for his prey, only to find it three rooftops away and still running. Clever boy...Ryken looked behind him. Four rooftops away, his pursuer was starting the chase back up. The Toa of Lightning upped his pace, dashing from roof to roof, occasionally switching sides. The street had to end sometime, though. But he kept running. His hunter kept his distance, not wanting to waste his energy like his foolish quarry. The silly Toa would wear himself out from all that hard running and then that's when he would strike.Indeed, after going a few more buildings, there was a gap that Ryken just could not cross. He turned back to see the other Toa strolling along a few rooftops behind him. Ryken ducked into a fire escape. If you couldn't outrun them...The hunter clearly saw his prey go down the fire escape. He looked down the sets of ladders and landings. Ryken was nearly at the bottom. So the pursuer climbed down the first ladder, and when he looked back down to check on his prey, he was nowhere to be found... odd. Either way, he kept on going until he was down on the street and drew his elemental pistol.The fire escape was right on the side of the building, allowing Ryken to swing around the corner and hang on to the second floor window. When the hunter was on the ground with his back turned to him, Ryken silently swung around, grabbing the fire escape's landing platform, flipping once, and then letting go, tackling the hunter. This caused the Toa to let go of his elemental pistol. Ryken grabbed it, taking advantage of his opponent's surprise and pointed it at the Toa's head."Clever, boy-o," the hunter said, wiping the sand from his mask."You can do some pretty creative stuff with a Calix," Ryken said a bit nervously."So, just hand me the gun--" the Toa began."I don't think you're in a position to negotiate," Ryken interrupted, placing his finger on the trigger."You got the makings of an enforcer like me," chuckled the hunter, standing up. His armor was a light brown. A Toa of Stone, perhaps?Ryken's hands were shaking. An enforcer? So there really was a Mafia."What did you see last night?" the enforcer inquired.If you didn't want to die, you told a Mafia enforcer "Nothing. Nothing at all," but Ryken had a bit of an advantage."I saw you shoot some other Toa, then hide his body in a dumpster," Ryken replied, his grip tightening on the gun in his hands."That gives you two choices," the brown-armored one said, a sly look coming across his already seedy-looking mask. "One, I kill you and you don't tell anybody. Or two, you come with me and I'll put a word in with the Don about you joinin' the family."If this was a reliable Mafia enforcer, he would have a few more tricks up his sleeve than just one gun. Ryken decided to do the smart thing."I... I'll join... the family," he said, taking his aim off of the other Toa."Wise decision," the enforcer said, grabbing his pistol. "Come with me."Ryken followed the brown-armored fellow across town to a restaurant. They entered through the back, went through the kitchen, and walked into a room beside the kitchen. There, several Toa and Glatorian sat at a table, each holding a set of cards and smoking a cigar with a pile of money in the center.The enforcer cleared his throat. They all looked up from their cards. One very aged-looking Glatorian rose from his seat."Bofor," the Glatorian said. His black armor was so scratched and old, it didn't even shine in the lamplight. "Come, play. And who's the guest.""This," the enforcer apparently named Bofor replied, "is the only person ever to have outsmarted me on a hunt.""My name's, uh, Ryken," the Toa of Lightning replied."Ah, what happened," the old Glatorian asked."I was... dealing with a client that double-crossed us," Bofor explained, "and Ryken here saw the whole thing from his apartment window. So, he ran and I hunted him down to one of our hotels. He was the only witness and I wanted to keep him quiet. As it turns out, the tricky little Brakas has a Calix, so he flipped up onto the roof and started running. I chased him across, he went down a fire escape, and apparently hid around the corner, cause when I got on the ground, he swung out, tackled me, and took my gun."The black-armored Glatorian laughed at the end of the story. Bofor looked a bit embarrassed."Well, Ryken," the old Glatorian said, "it seems that you've earned a place in the family. Welcome to the Mob."Ryken certainly didn't have this anywhere in his life plan. He looked around the room, smiling weakly. One of the card-players looked familiar. It was his landlord. The white-armored Turaga looked up from his game and smiled at his tenant. Ryken blinked twice in disbelief."It seems you got the Don's approval," Bofor said, patting Ryken roughly on the back. "Now what do you say I get you some lunch?"Ryken looked at the clock on the wall. It was a little past noon."Sure," he replied, accepting the offer.They walked out of the kitchen and sat down at a table. A waiter immediately rushed over to their table."Can I start you out with some drinks, gentlemen?" he asked."Bula juice for me and my friend, here," Bofor said.The waiter dashed off and came back with the drinks."Here you are, sirs," he said, standing back, letting Bofor take a sip. "What would you like to eat?""I'll have the Ruki," the enforcer replied, handing his menu to the waiter."I guess I'll have the Kane-Ra steak," Ryken said, seeing the genuine fear in his waiter's eyes. "And don't worry. It's just lunch."The Matoran calmed down a bit, but not by much. He entered the kitchen and came back out immediately with the food."That was quick," Ryken mumbled, cutting his steak."Well, when the family asks for food, they usually want it as fast as possible, even if you have to delay other customers," the waiter whispered.The Toa of Lightning nodded, getting a bit scared himself. And on top of that, this was stolen steak. But, if he was in the Mafia, he would have to stop listening to his conscience and enjoy his lunch.So he did. It was delicious.When they were done, the waiter came back with the check. Bofor shoved it in Ryken's direction."But I thought you'd pay for lunch," the yellow Toa argued."I said I'd get you lunch," the enforcer said, getting up. "I never said I'd pay for it."He walked away, leaving Ryken to dig down in his satchel for the money. Once he had paid, he joined Bofor in the back room."You can go home," the Don said. "We'll show you the ropes tomorrow. Unless you want to partake in a game of poker."Ryken shook his head no and was waved off.49 TAKANUVA BOULEVARD, APARTMENT BUILDING, NEW ATERO1:00 PMRyken was a bit disoriented from the rather... interesting day he had. He ran all the way around town just so that he could be sent back home.And that was the least of his problems.What would happen when he worked for the Mob? What would he do? From what he knew of organizations like this, anyone who was involved had a high chance of being arrested. This was organized crime he was entering. Ryken never wanted to do anything wrong, but now that's what his whole life was going to be.For now, though, he sat on his couch and read a book. Perhaps this would be some of his last hours as an innocent civilian.17 TAMARU WAY, TZAD'S KITCHEN, NEW ATERO OUTSKIRTS11:00Don Tzad closed the doors to the restaurant, waving good-bye to the last customers. Then he returned to the room behind the kitchen."I swear, we're gettin' fewer and fewer customers," he said, collecting his winnings from the poker game."Maybe people can't afford to come here," Bofor suggested. "You do kind of overcharge some of the dishes."Tzad shrugged, saying, "Business is business. It's their problem, not mine.""Well, it's becoming your problem," Bofor argued. "I'm busting my back with my... discount negotiations, and we're already falling behind on half-priced bills."Tzad looked genuinely worried. "Why don't you take the new kid under your wing," he suggested to Bofor. "He's a tricky little hunter. I can tell."Bofor was still a little bit shaken from being outsmarted for the first time in his life, but he agreed."Let's all go home, then," the Don said, rising from his chair once more. "We've got a busy day ahead of us."