Khalif and a party of six potential guards stood in a line side by side. Troy paced in front of them all, staring at the last sun as it drifted below the horizon, her nerves on what was about to occur dressed visibly on her every facial feature.
She’d told Khalif she’d never been in the dump overnight without Arson, and even though Khalif didn’t understand what made their young leader’s presence so vital, he would soon learn why being untrained in the dump wasn’t optimal for any individual or party.
“Anything else you can tell us before we start,” Khalif asked, looking at his gang and back toward Troy who shook her head.
“It's as I said, form a circle, keep your backs to each other, and don’t let anything inside. I’m going to try and play the ranged defensive role Arson normally takes on, but no promises, things might get rough, but I’m sure you all will catch on quick… I hope,” Troy stated for the third time. Khalif was confused as to why absolutely no information was truly being given to him and his people, but was beginning to feel that that was a part of the experience. He’d been jumped into his own gang, long before he took it over. The members who brought him in that had moved on to bigger and better crimes had done the same. So Khalif wasn’t surprised that a slight bit of hazing was required from Troy, though outwardly nervous, a very telling smile often popped onto her face as she clenched her fists.
Everything is okay… Everything is fine… No reasons to freak out.
Then it occurred and one of the girls near to Khalif screamed a string of curses that Khalif could barely understand.
“What in the bloody break neck speeds are those, bra!”
Khalif turned to see what looked like a group of robots rushing toward them. Only for Troy to yank him back to face the direction he was originally facing, shaking her head at him.
“They have to stand on their own here, or Arson will cut them lose when he’s back. Trust and believe. Let them handle what comes their way, and you focus on what heads your way,” Troy said never taking her eyes from the path in front of her. Khalif immediately shown the truth of her words as another group charged from that angle.
The crossroads they stood on was swarmed in mere moments. Every person there fighting for their lives.
“Give me the bat you brought!” Khalif reached a hand over his shoulder to receive a bat from a trembling young man that he’d given the task of carrying any weapons they could gather before coming to the dump. Baseball bats, chains, rusted knives and more was slung about wildly by the group. No breaks in combat for rest arose, just pure melee and the occasional skill or ability used by those gathered kept their adrenaline pumping.
“Move,” Troy roared as she pushed through the chaotic mob of robots. So many enemies pressed into the skirmish that even Troy’s advanced speeds proved to be inefficient to stop all the blows sent her way.
Khalif had only ever used his cultivation based skills and abilities to move unseen, or travel more quickly. Now however he’d wished he’d trained in some sort of offensive skill or abilities.
If he traveled through the void that connected all things through darkness he would be safe and able to move unbothered by almost any foe or attack sent toward him, but that would leave a massive hole in their defense that they could not afford to have.
Khalif grew so desperate he began to outright shove the robots into the void. A smashed robotic knee, was all that was necessary to stop the foe in front of him, but as it flailed on the ground he summoned his power, transforming the monster’s own shadow into a gateway that led directly into the void. Three stomps later and the robot was gone, forced from the land of the living and immediately forgotten.
“Welcome to the party!” Khalif looked to his left to witness Troy summoning HardLight clones in the air above their foes. Devastating kicks landing on unsuspecting targets. The only things heard as they crumpled was Troy’s excited yells, metal on metal, and the discordant beeps and electronic alarms that came with each robot being broken down.
Troy gave Khalif a nod of approval as he stuffed another robot into their own shadow, beating the robot into the void as if he used a plunger and was trying to kill a monster climbing free of a sewer pipe.
“Die you metal garbage scrap,” grunted Khalif, knocking the robots head clean off its shoulders, a spray of fizzling sparks shooting up toward him from its neck. Both pieces of the robot finally falling into its shadow.
Khalif glanced back, still seeing all of his group upright, even more surprised by how well they were doing. Only one had a major injury to speak of, a bleeding gash on the shoulder of the young man directly behind Khalif.
“Yo, you good?” The young man glanced back wearing a look of shock, but still managed to send a thumbs up gesture back before returning to the fight.
“Khalif, eyes out!” Khalif snapped his vision back toward the path in front of him, shocked to see that all the robots he fought had been replaced. He got back to work immediately, noticing that Troy seemed to be fighting another type of foe.
Her hardened light clones kicked through the crowd, opening up the area slightly. Only for Khalif’s jaw to drop open at the sight of a ghost or phantom working its way toward their group.
The phantom didn’t discriminate, lashing about even as it waded through the mobs of robots to get closer.
“What in the bloody sparks is that!”
“Don’t worry about it, I’m working on it,” yelled Troy in response. Troy then summoned more clones than Khalif had ever seen her achieve, almost a dozen projections rushing toward the phantom only to end up dogpiling the monster.
A ghostly wail was heard, and all that Khalif could see from his position was an aggressive beatdown, various colored arms and legs made of light, snuffing the creature out before Khalif and the others were even able to understand the level of danger the monster they’d seen actually put them in.
“You okay?”
“Yeah,” yelled Troy, sweat covering her torso, her usually curly hair straightened and stuck to the sides of her face as she panted.
“Arson usually handles those, didn’t know how hard they were to take down until now!”
“Let me know if you need help with the next one,” Khalif offered, but Troy shook her head.
“No, keep your people upright,” Troy yelled back, not stopping her onslaught against their foes for even a breath. Punches and kicks lighting up the night as she summoned more and more, the clones delivering incredibly powerful blows before they either disappeared or were eradicated by the robots immense numbers.
“How long do we have to keep this up,” screamed Khalif over his shoulder, needing to keep his focus on the foes still trying to gain ground.
“What do you think, all night my guy, all sparking night!”
Khalif almost froze as the words washed over him. Then he realized why Troy and Arson suddenly seemed so much stronger than him and his gang members. The pair of orphans had been training in this environment for days or more, and the results of their drastic training showed. Khalif momentarily remembered his recent fight with Arson.
He could have killed us all…
“Yo boss, did she just say all sparking night?” Khalif gave a slow nod in their direction before facing back toward the next group to storm forward. He missed the unsure gazes the rest of his people shared, focusing on one thing.
“Tonight we survive, or we die!”
…
Jasmine stood by as the delivery service brought in far more laundry orders than they’d ever completed before. Instead of partially filling a corner of the warehouse as she had prior with numerous orders, almost half the warehouse was filled with a single order. The estimated value was over six million credits but after the day she had yesterday, Jasmine was excited to see the limits of what she could pull off.
The rest of the interviews she had the day prior went absolutely without hinderance or flaw. She’d managed to hire on two more full teams, all of whom now stood behind her wide eyed and overwhelmed.
“Hey Jazz, where do you want me to set up?”
Jasmine turned around to see Rob and his sous chef Brianna pulling in tables piled with cooking equipment and food. She was surprised to see Rob but even more she was shocked to see him trailed by Jade, Troy, Khalif, Xani, and a little more than a handful of other orphans she’d never met.
“Anywhere should be fine. Is that okay with you, Lady Jade,” Jasmine asked unsure if she should be directing anyone in the Keeper’s presence, especially while on her land.
“Of course, child. I told them to come here for their morning training. I hope we aren’t intruding, I just assumed you all would like to eat?”
Jasmine smiled and nodded. Looking to the new hires behind her that looked on with excitement toward the large quantities of food. She clapped to draw their attention, before waving them over to speak.
“We have been blessed today, my friends. Looks like we will be cooked for by my close friend, Rob, who many of you may know,” Jasmine explained. The energy in the room grew lively, and many gathered began to converse, and to Jasmine’s further surprise, everyone got along well.
The new employees spoke about their new jobs, while Khalif’s gang shared a rather vivid story that made Jasmine wonder if they were being trained or were describing a new horror movie they’d just seen.
At one point, Rob was forced to step aside as the silent Jade stepped in and began to cook on a grill. Although her friend was truly talented, the magnificent smells that filled the area, became divine after a mere few moments of Jade stepping up to the grill. Before she knew what was happening everyone had been served and the entire group sat eating comfortably.
“So will we be feasting like gods everyday, Ms. Jasmine?” Jasmine looked over to the beautiful young woman beside her, and smiled before she shook her head.
“Most likely not, this breakfast would be a fantastic addition to the start of everyday, but Rob’s time is becoming more expensive, and that was before he was being trained by a realm renowned chef,” Jasmine said nodding toward Jade.
“I don’t know if that is exactly true. Arson was paying his mother for her time to teach me, but with his accident I don’t know that he will be able to continue doing so, but I’d honestly love to cook breakfast everyday for everyone on staff, not for free of course, but I’m sure we could work something out,” Rob offered. He looked to Jade for permission, and the woman’s brow crinkled as she thought a moment before giving a slow nod and response of her own.
“There is nothing stopping you all from spending credits amongst each other, it doesn’t make sense for you all to build businesses under my son and not build each other up along the way,” Jade said eating pancakes made with cream cheese filling, topped with whipped syrup she made with a fork, a bowl and an infusion of mana.
“How could we do that,” Jasmine asked, honestly excited by the thought of being able to help the others who worked for Arson, especially if they were going to return the favor.
“Think before you ask simple questions, darling. You are a clothier. No one who spends time around you should ever go without proper dress for whatever task they are involved with, suits for body guards, outfits for professional fighting matches, even lab coats and more, there is no reason your own employees should work without a proper uniform, even that will help with creating a more efficient work environment,” Jade said simply. Though this was minimal pieces of business for Jade, the youths she spoke to were being affected down to their cores. Jasmine especially was sent into deep thought, nodding as she looked toward Rob with an idea.
“Hmm, I never thought about it like that. Chefs do need their equipment and clothing cleaned often, maybe me and you could work out a deal for cleaning services in exchange for daily breakfast?”
“Jazz, you are speaking my language. Me and Brianna hate dishes, anyway we could have you clean our clothes and utensils,” Rob asked with the excitement of a toddler sitting in front of a new toy.
“Easy, with the new system we have, we should be able to pull that off, right?” Jasmine asked with a look in Xani’s direction. The young woman barely looked away from her food before she gave a nod of confirmation and returned to her food.
“Your plans?”
The entire room turned to look at Jade when she spoke, and Troy looked up, knowing that she was being spoken to instinctually.
“Fight, a lot. Figuring out how to extend the time I can summon full body clones feels like a good starting point.”
“Are you going to continue to train overnight with the bodyguards?” Jade and Troy spoke casually, the group that had barely managed to stay alive the previous night, feeling respected by the title bodyguard, so much that futures were solidified by fate by merely overhearing a simple dialogue.
“Maybe, but fights are at night, so I’ll probably have to find a way to train during the day. Have any suggestions?” Jade’s eyes narrowed, and time seemed to freeze around Jasmine momentarily before the woman responded. Everyone in the room waiting on nothing more than a simple suggestion.
“You and Arson have fought against the Seventh Style of Omni, I would start with the first. It isn’t hard to find and is very close to our current location, start there.” The words were a cryptic maze of forage actions to everyone but Troy who smiled and nodded.
“Thanks, that should be fun,” the response nothing to the oddly confident Troy. Yet Khalif no longer felt as the laundry teams did, but the team of ex gang members, who’d survived living horrors alongside Troy, shared his opinion. Troy didn’t need them there, they needed her there.
“Without Troy, we wouldn’t have made it last guys. We all know it, so what are we going to do about it? I’m open to ideas,” Khalif said looking toward the bodyguards. All ate and enjoyed, but most stayed silent when Khalif spoke up. He had many ideas, but lacked the current level of determination he felt he needed to lead confidently in a new profession. What did any of them know about protecting a life...?
“We should practice. If not in the Dump, maybe focus on protecting one of us like we are being targeted constantly in the bronze sector of Maelstrom. No practice like surviving during broad daylight in the city of storms, right?”
Khalif broke the silence, but the conversation finally unfolded in a way that allowed for a true brainstorming event to occur. Unknowingly for them, it was this conversation out in the open, simply stated from person to person, leaders amongst their peers, that allowed Jasmine to learn more about the people she brought in to her own team. The words were passed from anyone who dared speak at the table. Daring honesties, the only thing valued, and the only thing allowed even without statement.
“We have many shifts open, but don’t push yourselves beyond what you can manage while remaining healthy,” Jasmine expressed truly to everyone who would listen amongst her new acquaintances. Yet it was a single use of Arson’s name that caused the entire three laundry teams Jasmine had hired thus far to quit immediately after breakfast.
Jade stared with a deadpan that relayed silent death as the teams left, and Jade followed after them all in an attempt to bring them all back.
None dare walk out of the warehouse to join Jade as she stood alone outside the warehouse. With the exception being Jade who walked beside Jasmine and said things that Jasmine had felt deep in the senses of her soul, and the gifts it’d given her throughout life.
“Why are you crying when you have so much to offer and it is them who walk away from glory?”
“What glory do we have to speak of? We are working out of a dump, and no offense but my boss is just shy of a criminal savant. I’m convinced of that for sure, so is there a glory I’m just not seeing here?” Jasmine said rambling in her fury as she did her best to keep tears down.
“You managed to bring more than a dozen people to work for you in a day, and you are mad at what, how they view your boss? Doesn’t seem like reason enough to not be a part of a good service. Seems to me you let go of individuals filled with envy, unwilling to be a part of something great that they themselves don’t have the ability to lay stakes to, but let me ask you this, what happens when you are no longer hindered by the opinions of individuals who’d rather judge a child than help you succeed as the room full of people behind you are still willing to?”
Jasmine digested the words, looking back at the twins speaking softly with everyone else at the table. The pair, far from opposing the success of any one child, were instead made more happy pushing themselves to help Jasmine than anything else, until they were allowed to choose a path for their own. Yet even they seemed happy in a way that Jasmine was not, and she’d made 1 million credits overnight. Then she took in how everyone at the table interacted and realized that maybe she should see just how exclusive to their trades everyone around her was, responding to Jade in a moment of absolute epiphany.
“Absolutely everything….”