Blood. It was everywhere, all over his counter, and his clothes and his floor and his antique arcade machine. Life just wasn't fair.

It had been approximately 45 minutes since Palm had decided to open his bar for the day, It was a small establishment with a flair for old tech and vinyl, a quaint and quiet establishment in the midst of the unending chaos that ensued out in the streets of Checkmate. The city was notorious for its constant and almost ceaseless acts of police brutality served fresh from the hands of elite taskforces all employed from the company keeping every citizen trapped there known as "Mercy". So as the herald of peace Palm made it his personal mission to ensure that his customers were safe from the violence of the outside.

But this was just an image that he was selling. In truth the bar was more run-down than quaint and his unique selling point of retro technology was only even there thanks to some old-school gaming systems Palm found rotting in the trash down some alleyway, fixed using his expertise as an engineer earned by the blood sweat and tears of him just barely paying attention during lectures in his university years. The cosy red couches and coffee tables spread neatly around the old oak floor were scratched and teared, the leather would peel off at the edges and the tables were brittle and stained. But not from overuse, instead from poor quality.

"Its dilapidated no other way to describe it" Palm sighed as he navigated his way to the front door fumbling with cold steel keys that he held in his crisp black trousers. Despite living like a slob he felt that he should at all times at least try to look presentable, it was one of the few things he even cared about anymore.

He wore a black button up shirt with a silver tie, his black greasy hair tied up into a samurai bun. This, paired with the haunting complexion of binge-watching one too many dramas and late night paperwork that scarred his olive skin, made Palm look like a fancy undertaker. Something one of his regulars was sure to insult him of often. Despite being a relatively young man at age 23 The constant and concentrated stress he had built up gave him a much more wizened appearance.

Back to business, he had just opened up his store and sat bored by the countertop near the back, despite the same opening time as his competitors Palm knew that the Hurricane wouldn't see any customers for at least three hours, if any at all. Therefore he took the time to flip a switch under the rough dark wood which turned on a fairly large flat screen television which hung from the ceiling. A thick layer of dust that he hadn't been bothered to clean lay across the top.

As the daily barrage of war propaganda and advertisements droned out into the empty room he found himself drifting away in thought. 'When was the last time I got proper sleep?' he wondered, The 6 hours he meant to give himself the night before had been disrupted by Candy Blast Kingdom, a mobile game which had been holding an event at the time. 

'Well at least I'll be succeeding somewhere' He thought depressingly. As unfortunate as it was Checkmate was not just a planet of criminals and psychopaths, it also included all those which society deemed failures. Those that would rather make excuses than work properly a day in their life, Those who acted as leeches off their parents despite having the capability of being employed. Then people like him that squandered almost all the opportunities they were ever given. 

Palm thought that the punishment for being lazy equating to living with potential mass murderers was a bit harsh, but such is life. Most people that ended up in the planet sized city deserved it, and in a society where hard work was praised above all else it was hardly surprising.

"Now onto some particularly exiting news!" the television blared out suddenly, "Thanks to the recent efforts of Her Radiance, the fourth princess of the Theos kingdom, investment is at an all time High in Checkmate, with all kinds of new partners this planet has never seen before!".

'what the hell'. Palm thought as he rubbed his eyes to focus on the screen above him. The city was a correction facility not a tourist attraction, how was it getting any kind of foreign investment other than the please keep those ugly people away from me? Also, in recent times? granted Palm never truly payed attention to the news over the years opting to sleep during the opening times of his shop before people arrived. But something this big he would have noticed.

His thoughts ran rampant in his head. What had he been doing these past several months that news of a CITYWIDE REFORM had slipped its way out of his grasp. Surely watching the bejewelled egg series hadn't taken that long?. 'Actually how many seasons did that show have again?' he pondered. Then his face grew pale. When was the last time he went outside? He would always avoid it in order to not get caught in the many gang operations around his neighbourhood opting to have groceries delivered at all times.

So the last time he properly set foot outside was... about 6 months ago to salvage another machine from the junkyard.

'Damnit' he cursed wondering how things ever got that bad, But it was odd. Despite all the great technology possessed by the higher-ups it was impossible the change this dumpster fire of a planet into anything properly habitual and civilised. It was and always would be a cell. Intended to keep the rotten eggs out the basket, why would any companies from outside even want a piece of the- 

Unfortunately the universe would not give Palm anymore time to question the choices he made in the last chunk of his life as the familiar high pitched screech of quartz lasers sounded outward. Streaks of hot white light blinded his vision slicing through most of his furniture and a good chunk of his shoulder. Palm dived under the countertop immediately blood gushing from his wound. Strangely enough it didn't hurt all that much and only felt a little cold, but none of that mattered as he scrambled to hit a red plastic button on the side of his favourite arcade game, Man vs Dog 2.

After a brief delay period fairly sturdy black iron bars came crashing down blocking the doorway and windows. A singular sleek grey turret popped out of a metal hatch in the floor and began scanning the room, the words BIG GUY printed in bright red letters across its side. For a brief period Palm simply sat still and breathed. "This cursed city and it's goddamn constant warfare" he muttered under his breath, how was any decent person supposed to make a living? No matter he would simply-

Shaken out of his thoughts for the second time in a short period he heard the sound of bending metal. Now fear had taken root in his heart. Somebody was here for him specifically, the laser just fired was not just the crossfire of an out of control scuffle too close to his bar. He looked down at his palms, shaky and slick with sweat. His heart rate seemed to build endlessly as heavy boots crunched around through the room. Creaking wood which only every sounded closer with every step. How had his turret not triggered yet?

For not the first but most likely last time in his life Palm prayed for anything, any sort of supernatural event or random god taking mercy on him if the members of the silver church were to be believed. He actually read one of their pamphlets once, seemed like nice people. As the crunching encroached on his position he began to think. What had he ever achieved? before being sentenced to a lifetime of struggle in this pitiful city he thought he would hit it big as a developer, helping to revitalise the old lost forms of media and entertainment through spectacular feats of engineering, but upon realising the workload that dream died as quickly as it came, and as a result of his attitude he would never make it far, opting to make excuses rather than build results.

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Now he was here, at the end of his life lamenting the fact that nothing much was ever achieved.

Looking back on it if he had just worked a little harder, If he had just earned a bit more money, If he had been able to afford just a bit better security, If he hadn't spent all that time wasting away but improving, If only he weren't so lazy. Maybe things would be different.

....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Noah Waters more often known as 'Hercules' was an ex-military powerhouse. Having completed over 20 cycles of service for the IOU and fighting in several different frontiers of space in the Starsparked Armada. He was a force to be reckoned with and acted the part, serving as the personal bodyguard of one Eva Star, the fourth daughter of the Blinding Emperor and the one currently attempting to reform the dead end planetary city known as Checkmate.

This fierce and grizzled veteran was currently staring down a much shorter nervous thin eyed man who was carefully placing dumplings into a plastic container. The shaking employee was donning a bright red apron and hat that read Dumpty's Delicious Dumplings, the man in question then handed Noah the full container whilst stuttering "T-t-t-this one's free of charge good-d-d sir."

"No I insist take the money" Noah said clutching a large bill in his hand and holding it dangerously close to the mans neck maintaining a stoic expression that was betrayed by the predatory gleam in his eye.

"I-i-i-i'm  a-afraid I will have to d-d-decline sir I could n-n-never impose on a w-w-war veteran such as yourself." the dumpling employee mumbled whilst clasping and unclasping his hands.

"Your loss pal." Noah said grinning inwardly before pocketing the money and walking away. Once far enough he handed over the dumplings to the younger member of his journey. The member was in fact his daughter who was holding his other hand the entire walk.

Millie Waters possessed the same dark coffee bean brown skin that her father had wearing a pair of shorts and a leather jacket that any other 6 cycle old child would wish they could have. After dressing up in the morning and posing in the mirror for an embarrassing amount of time she dragged her father down to the seedier areas of Checkmate because of some dumplings he had brought home the night before. Demanding that their sweet taste must grace her mouth once again.

Noah surprised by both her vocabulary and ferocity ultimately gave in after warring with his own mind whether it was a good Idea to bring his only child to the more dangerous parts of town just for some food. But then again she would throw a tantrum if he didn't. Ah, the things we do for our children.

"That was cheeky" Millie said after depositing her well earned food into its rightful resting place. whilst simultaneously glaring at the brazen behaviour her father had just shown.

Noah simply chuckled before whispering "He didn't want my cash Mil, what did ya want me to do?" 

"You scared him into giving it for free!" she exclaimed.

"I did no such thing!" her father retorted with mock outrage. But after seeing his daughter huff at him he eventually conceded saying "All right, all right I won't do it again."

"Whatever." his daughter mumbled practically drinking down the rest of the dumplings, now she was being cheeky.

 Before the old man could give her another piece of his mind he halted abruptly. 'Damn it' he thought. The city had been improving slowly but surely, he saw the vision that Her Radiance had whilst beside her and he was confident that with all her skills she could create hope in even this desolate place. Yet Checkmates grimy soul continued to survive unencumbered by all the revitalisation efforts. Police regulatory action had barely been dented and even with all the new infrastructure projects the derelict regions refused to change with the others, It's wealth of crime and depravity stood ironically steadfast within the typhoon of change.

Proof of this lay in the gang men that had just surrounded him. An older lady donning an elephant mask complete with scarred tissue red eyes and cracked tusk, stepped forward amidst the group.

"Noah Waters." She spoke, her voice crystal clear and cutting. "You and your daughter will be coming with us, if you attempt-"

Noah had heard enough once she mentioned kidnapping his baby girl and had scooped her up and promptly barrelled straight through one of the masked lady's goons as if he were made out of paper taking off faster than any normal human would be capable of doing.

"The hard way it is then." The masked woman sighed, simultaneously charging her Quartz rifle and taking aim, she seemingly paused before pointing it directly at a grey slab of concrete directly in front of her and firing.

The laser travelled through quite a few buildings before narrowly missing the head of one Noah Waters who had run through multiple alleyways at this point. 'This ain't good' He thought. Normal civilians would never see a quartz weapon in their life let alone a criminal in Checkmate, they were heavily regulated considering that the city was crawling with murderers. Not to mention that she knew his actual name rather than his infamous moniker.

'She must also have some sort of x-ray related attachment' He noted internally, it was bad but not overly so, as long as he found a decent enough shelter he could safely deposit his child before quickly disposing of the criminals. Not a moment later he heard the sound of clanging as a thick metal grate slammed down protecting the doors of a rather run down establishment called the hurricane. The exact spot where the beam had passed through after missing him. He grinned wickedly, his prayers had been answered. 

"Are we going to be ok?" Millie asked nervously, she knew she was safe with her dad but couldn't help but feel apprehensive.

"Don't you worry Mil, we'll be fine. Just gotta get you somewhere safe" Noah replied, sweat lacing his brow as he pried the iron bars of the establishment open, greeting him inside the building was what looked like a worn down but rather comfy, a place he could see himself relaxing at after a hard days work. A shame that the rifle had destroyed most of the furniture. The security features should have strengthened the walls enough to not worry about the outside gunfire. 

Moving forward Noah recognised an IOU grade turret, these things were classic home-defence especially in a city as poorly run as this one, luckily they had safety measures to recognise police officers and military men like himself preventing him from being pasted immediately. 'Just gotta find the owner' He thought approaching the countertop. It was strange that the bar had not a single customer, the place was relatively decent which can't be said of most of the other buildings in the area so it struck out as odd to the veteran. 'Maybe it's a front for criminal activity' he thought grimly. Not that he would be surprised.

He made it to the long dark oak counter that spanned the length of the room near the back thinking furiously, his mind could already work much quicker than a regular person's but he had to come up with a plan and fast. But in that moment he was distracted. he spotted a picture of two men hanging in a dimly lit corner, they both smiled and laughed with an energy that radiated infectious joy. It brought him back.

He looked down at Millie who clutched his shirt with an iron grip. She looked more determined than scared, she believed in him and that was all he needed. he would get her out. 'sorry Mil,' he thought 'Dad ain't the smartest cookie, but I'll get you out safe.'

These were the last words that echoed through his mind as a man in a black shirt leapt up from under the countertop swinging a silver axe at his neck and his world faded to black.