Drugs and Pizza

Hard rock music blasted from the speakers, as the fog of smoke and the dull drum of drunken laughter thickened the air. The pool balls scattered, the stripes and solids going everywhere. The pool table itself was old, with stains and etchings from knives and various sharp implements.

“HA! I am the solids!” Aj drunkenly bellowed, using his pool stick to support his weight.

“Your move, big guy,” Nameless laughed, taking a sip from his beer.

Aj smiled and leaned down, putting his hand out towards the pool table to balance himself as he took another drink from his nearly empty glass of whiskey. His hand missed, and Aj face-planted on the floor. The room erupted in laughter, with Sammy almost falling out of her stool across the room.

“I’ll get him up,” Sammy sighed, putting her drink down and beginning to get up.

“Nah, don’t bother,” Nameless called, smiling.

“Hey, is that a guy I see hitting on Sammy?” Nameless called distantly, cupping his hands towards Aj. There was a moment of silence, then wham. Aj’s bear-like closed fist slammed onto the pool table as he heaved himself up. His eyes were glaring, veins popping out of his forehead, his dreads all over the place as he huffed like a beast, pulling himself to his feet.

“Were. I’ll kill ’em,” Aj growled, scanning the room.

“Come here you!” Sammy giggled.

Aj grunted, then sauntered over to Sammy’s embrace. Even with her on a stool, the man towered over her. They embraced, Aj’s dark massive hand resting on Sammy’s brown hair as he nearly petted her.

“Ah, love. Truly a magnificent and wondrous sight,” Professor Thaddeus beamed across the bar.

“I love you, Professor Bullshit!” Aj roared over Sammy’s head.

Professor Zion raised his glass, smiling.

“A toast! To young love, success, and a fruitful apprenticeship for one and all!” Zion called.

Everyone raised their drinks, cheering. Some were ordinary humans, others pupils like the vagabonds, and some were white-haired professors of all shapes and sizes as they cheered. As Nameless scanned the crowd, he noticed Julia’s absence. Again.

Nameless slowly walked over to the Professor and took a seat beside his mentor.

“Ah, my dear lad. A drink of brandy, on me, old boy.” Thaddeus smiled.

“You gonna reveal some more mystic and crazy secrets to me?” Nameless chortled.

“Whatever do you mean?” Thaddeus smiled.

“Remember the last time we drank brandy together?” Nameless asked with an arched eyebrow.

“Ah, well, no. Not this time. But there certainly is cause for celebration! I have good news,” Thaddeus smiled.

“They found Spider?” Nameless beamed with joy.

A dark look overcame the Professor.

“Ah, well, no, I’m afraid not,” He said darkly.

“Is Hera awake yet?” Nameless asked impatiently.

“No, no, still in her coma,” Thaddeus said.

“Then how is it good news?” Nameless grumbled.

“They have approved your status! Scourge, Level One. Quite an honor, I assure you; you are now the first Level One we have seen in, well, centuries! You shall be meeting your fellow Scourges tomorrow. Once my daughter returns, the Scourge training program can commence!” Thaddeus beamed.

“And what about them?” Nameless gestured to the remaining Vagabonds.

“Assaults, all of them. They shall be put into their perspective classes and will be beginning training just like you. All goes well; we’ll have you all back on Mars in a few years,” Thaddeus said joyfully.

“And what about Spider?” Nameless asked darkly.

“We have our best people looking for him; I assure you we shall find him,” Thaddeus said firmly.

“It’s been a month.”

“He is here, can’t have run off anywhere else, dear boy. Most likely in some sub-level causing mischief,” Thaddeus chortled.

“The under levels are no place for him. We would have heard something by now,” Nameless grumbled.

“He can take care of himself; I am certain of that. Now, no more melancholy! To your apprenticeship!” Thaddeus beamed.

“Thanks for the update; I will go find Julia,” Nameless said, downing his drink and getting up.

Nameless walked across the bar, leaving out the double doors. As he left, AJ and Sammy gave Thaddeus a look. As Nameless put his coat on, his heightened senses picked up their conversation.

“Leave him be; their love life isn’t as clear-cut as yours,” Thaddeus nodded.

“She shouldn’t have come; she’s never accepted his powers,” Sammy said dryly.

“Julia needs to get over it. I say good for him!” Aj slurred.

“I believe she made it quite clear. She said she was going home as soon as Spider was found, and Hera woke up. Best leave them be; not everyone wants to be here, children,” Thaddeus nodded.

“She has no right to break up the Vagabonds!” Aj growled.

“That is her decision, lad,” Thaddeus said softly.

Outside, rain fell down from the simulated atmosphere. Nameless pulled his hood up over his head, gazing at the tall buildings, hundreds of hovercars racing back and forth overhead. He walked along the sidewalk, barely anyone out at this hour. The streets were spotless, with buildings on either side housing many people from all walks of life.

The Kingdom of Zion, the Zion base, the central hub, the Zion Citadel, whatever this place was called. It was massive, home to millions, with dozens of levels. Nameless still didn’t understand if this place was a titanic tower or some sort of floating station drifting through space. On the day they arrived, they had gone through a portal and entered the spaceport. He had never seen what lay beyond Zion’s walls.

Each habitation was custom built to mimic the home worlds of the prospective residents. Since they were the first Martians in quite a while, they had been put on a level that mimicked Earth. From what he could tell, each level of Zion was just as massive as the city back on Mars, with its own simulated sky that hovered below the adjacent level.

As Nameless walked by himself, hands in his pockets, he noticed a solitary figure up ahead, taping posters onto the hoverbus station walls. As he got closer, he recognized Julia’s figure as she was putting up missing signs of Captain Spider. Nameless got closer and saw it was a cut-out close-up of Spider from the day they had their picture taken on the day they had arrived at Zion.

“Seems like a lifetime ago we took that picture,” Nameless sighed as he approached Julia.

She darted a look from the corner of her eye, out of her hood, as she began taping up another poster.

“What do you want?” Julia growled, turning her back to him.

“Come inside, Julia; they miss you.”

“Sorry, I prefer not to be drunk while our friend is somewhere out there.”

“He’s fine! Probably, it’s been a month, Julia. You can’t be out here every night,” Nameless huffed.

Julia whipped around, her eyes glaring.

“Go ahead. Go ahead, try, and tell me he wouldn’t be out here if it was one of us. Like he wouldn’t be searching every nook and cranny of this god-awful place!” Julia barked, her voice cracking.

“Julia,” Nameless sighed, reaching his hand out.

“Don’t you dare fucking touch me!” Julia seethed, backing away.

“It’s not my fault!” Nameless said, gritting his teeth.

“You just had to drink that vial, didn’t you? Just had to drag us here!”

“You all agreed to come!”

“I agreed to come so I could take of them while you go off doing whatever bullshit they wanted you to do! And I failed.”

“Him disappearing isn’t your fault, Julia.”

“Shut up,” Julia snarled, taping down the corners of the new poster.

“What do you want me to say?” Nameless asked defeatedly.

“Nothing. Say nothing, as you always do. Just go with the flow while our friends die and disappear. Nothing is ever your fault. Right?” Julia said, her back still turned.

Nameless balled his fists as anger bubbled in his chest.

“Her blood isn’t on my hands,” He said softly.

“Wouldn’t know, wasn’t there,” Julia shrugged.

“You volunteered to lead the diversion. Julia, I wanted you by my side.”

“Yeah, so I could help you kill the traitor.”

“I never said that.”

“Then why leave Hera in that bunker to die? We all knew she was suspicious, but you were the only one who actually thought she was a traitor. I found that box in her pocket; you made her think she had the vial. In her final moments, she thought she was dying to protect you and keep the vial out of their hands,” Julia said.

“Julia….”

“Go fuck off somewhere else. The only traitor we ever had was you,” Julia snapped.

Nameless stood there.

He didn’t know what to say; he bowed his head and turned around. Nameless trudged back to the bar, staring at the pavement. His heart raced; his mind numb. The dark tide of anguish and regret smashed into him as every thought was pushed from his mind. Without saying a word, Nameless went back to the bar and ordered a bottle of whiskey. Not making eye contact with anyone, he then left, ignoring the calls of his friends.

Once again outside, Nameless cracked open the bottle and chugged the burning liquor. He belched and blinked away the tears as his lip quivered. Suddenly, a taxi hovered above him, beginning to land. To his right, Nameless saw a figure standing beside him.

“She must heal, dear lad. Best to let her grieve in peace,” Thaddeus said.

“You could at least pretend to not be able to read me,” Nameless sighed, wiping his eyes.

“Bottle in hand, off to no good, I’m sure, just looking out,” Thaddeus smiled comfortingly.

Nameless wanted to lash out, take every shred of anger and pain and just hurl it at the Professor. Rage and regret nearly bubbled out his mouth, but he bit it back.

“Thanks. I’ll be in my room, make sure they get home, okay?” Nameless asked, disheartened.

“Of course, dear boy,” Thaddeus nodded.

Thaddeus patted Nameless’s shoulder, then walked back inside. Nameless yanked the door open and sat down on the cracked leather seats.

“Good evening, sir!” The robot handling the Driver’s seat chirped, its metal head and eyes buzzing with electricity eerily in human shape. “Where to?”

“Hall of the Light Bearers,” Nameless grumbled, swigging from his bottle.

“Excellent, sir. Shall this be a quiet ride, or would you enjoy conversation?” The robot chimed, sending the taxi rocketing into the sky.

“Quiet,” Nameless growled.

The robot nodded, its built-in smile creeping Nameless out as it faced ahead.

Nameless gazed out the window, watching the bright neon signs and holographic advertisements whisk by the taxi climbing higher and higher. The foot traffic below looked like ants milling about. Soon they were high above the ground, the city below looking like a child’s toy.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Soon the taxi flew towards the Hall of the Light Bearers, its pyramid-like structure framed by bright spotlights, several stories higher than any of its neighboring buildings.

“Shall I land in front, sir?” The Driver chimed.

“Yeah, sure.”

The taxi shivered, the controls fighting the Driver.

“What is it?” Nameless growled. Just his luck; out of all the cabs in Zion, this one had to be glitchy.

“Begging your pardon, sir, it would seem that there is a ruckus in the landing zone. I’m afraid my control protocols will not allow us to land,” The Driver said.

Nameless looked out his window and saw at least a dozen peacekeepers standing off against a man expelling golden energy far below them. Nameless whistled; he hadn’t seen a gold light bearer since he had got there.

“Put me down, man; I got this,” Nameless laughed.

“Sir, I am afraid unless you are military personnel or law enforcement, I cannot land near that,” The Driver said.

Nameless huffed.

“Scourge, Status One, designation Nameless.”

“Authentication?”

“Eight, zero, one, nine, seven, eight,” Nameless sighed.

“Acknowledged commander. Putting you down,” The Driver said.

Nameless sighed. He always liked the irony of making his authentication code his old slave serial number. He once hated those numbers, but now they got him basically anything he ever wanted in this place.

The taxi landed, and Nameless got out after paying his tab, plus a tip.

“Begging your pardon, sir, you have overpaid. Sending refund now,” The Driver chimed happily as Nameless closed the door.

“Fucking bucketheads,” Nameless sighed, pulling his hood up as the rain drenched him. He then put his hands into his pockets and walked across the garden towards the conflict.

In the distance, it was plain to see the man was utterly gone, his eyes glazed, his body shooting out golden arcs of energy as he wielded a burning park bench like a great sword. Nameless chuckled as one of the peacekeepers went flying back.

“Sir! This is a human-only area! You do not have clearance!” One of the peacekeepers shouted through a megaphone. The peacekeepers wore visored helmets and shiny brown armor. They looked like one of the tin men from the old Earth movies.

“Wait, human only?” Nameless wondered.

The man’s body was flickering, briefly revealing a non-human being using a holographic disguise. Nameless chuckled, his first non-human interaction, and the guy was completely hammered.

“I am a disciple of the Great Truth! You cannot stop me! You cannot stop the Golden Legion!” The man roared.

Golden Legion, non-human? Nameless stopped in his tracks. No way. Absolutely no way, here, in this exact place, he’d meet one of the non-humans from his dream of the blood-red moons. There was no way on any star or Earth that this man was one of them.

“Sir, General Lion, please calm down!” One of the peacekeepers pleaded.

“We don’t want to arrest a war hero, sir! Just come with us,” One of the female peacekeepers called.

“I will not yield to you, Gurgen! You will not slay me! I will stand with my men, here and now!” The General screamed, tears running down his face.

Gurgen? Dark, terrible creatures that Nameless had seen during the briefings. Nameless recognized the name, the primary non-human race opposed to Zion, due to the blood feud that had existed for centuries.

Pity filled Nameless as he understood what was happening. Any soldier would. The man may have been here physically, but mentally he was knee-deep in the blood of his brothers on some far-flung battlefield.

Nameless knew he had to act; nothing good would come from what happened next.

“Excuse me, officers, how long has this man been here?” Nameless called.

“None of your business citizen, please vacate the area; we have this handled,” One of the peacekeepers commanded.

“Yeah, bullshit. Commander Nameless, here’s my card.” Nameless sighed, showing his identification. The peacekeeper scanned it, and his face lost its color.

“Sorry, sir! Still learning the faces of the new officers. This is General Lion; we woke him up, here about an hour ago,” The keeper said.

“And didn’t call backup?” Nameless asked with an arched eyebrow.

“Let’s just say this isn’t his first time. Normally he cooperates, but tonight is bad for some reason,” The keeper reported.

“Yeah, I can tell. Just back off and let me talk to him,” Nameless sighed.

“Roger that,” The keeper firmly nodded.

“Hey, pal! Hey, Lion, is it?” Nameless called.

The man whirled around, spittle hanging from his mouth, tears running down his face.

“I know your face! What are you doing here?!” The man screamed.

Nameless grimaced, struggling to keep his face straight. Must have thought he was some kind of old human friend. Explained why he was outside the human light bearer hall.

“Yeah, sorry I’m late; I’m here now!” Nameless called, inching closer.

“I made it! I made it today; we’re behind their lines; we can break them, sir!” The General shrieked, pointing his burning bench around.

“Lion, buddy,” Nameless sighed.

“Watch out, they’re right there! They’re right there!” General Lion screamed, bursting into tears, pointing at the officers. Nameless came up to him, hands outstretched.

“Hey, it’s okay, it’s okay, I’m right here,” Nameless soothed, inching closer.

“We can hold this, sir!” The General screamed.

Nameless lunged forward and gripped the man in a bear hug.

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” Nameless said softly.

The man wept, struggling, the gold energy-zapping Nameless. Nameless grunted in pain but was able to deal with the electrical feedback. Had the man been sober, he might have been able to hurt Nameless.

“Shush. It’s okay, it’s okay,” Nameless grunted.

The man’s energy gave out, and the General collapsed into Nameless, his body heaving. Nameless nodded to the officers, mouthing thank you as they backed away.

“I’m sorry, Aryus,” The man sobbed.

Nameless nearly bolted upright. How did this guy know his real name? His first-born name?

“You good now? You’re on Zion; let’s go inside,” Nameless said kindly.

The man nodded, noisily wiping his nose with his sleeve. It was now that Nameless realized that the General wasn’t in human form due to a hologram but by particle manipulation.

Nameless let go of him and took a good look at him. He was a stout, short man with broad shoulders, wavy blonde hair, his pupil’s glowed bright orange even without energy. He seemed more predatory than a man. There was a crafty, vicious way he carried himself.

Nameless lead the way inside after talking with the peacekeeper commander. As they walked into the gold lobby, a woman in bright white clothes and hair greeted them. Her face was sharp and thin, her body straight as a rod. Her hair was tied up in a bun, her demeanor proper and well informed, very professional.

“Welcome back, Commander, and who might this be?” The woman asked cheerfully.

“Ah, yeah, um, that’s-” Nameless began.

“General Lion, at your service, madam,” Lion slobbered.

“Oh my, not every day I get to check in a war hero,” The woman smiled, producing a clipboard out of thin air, small white sparks of electricity dancing from her hands.

“This isn’t a problem?” Nameless asked.

“Heavens, no. Granted he won’t enjoy reporting in for this in the morning, but I see no harm in letting him dry out upstairs. Does he require any refreshment?” The woman asked kindly.

“Yeah, send up one of those Earth meat pies if you could please,” Nameless nodded.

“One large pepperoni pizza coming up,” The woman smiled.

“Thank you, Cirilla,” Nameless said gratefully.

“And how is my husband this fine evening?” Cirilla asked with a smile.

“Oh, Thaddeus is the life of the party as always.” Nameless laughed.

“The old fool has a meeting early morning! Now I told you-” Cirilla spoke like a mother to a child.

“Keep him on the straight and narrow, yeah. Unfortunately, we all had some steam to blow off,” Nameless sighed.

Cirilla’s face turned from the scolding mother to a generous and kind expression, holding the clipboard.

“We will find the little Spider, and Hera should be waking up in a week.” She said softly.

“Really?” Nameless exclaimed.

“Of course, my dear, now go clean up. You all have a big day tomorrow!” Cirilla nodded happily.

“Thanks, mom!” Nameless called happily.

“Do not start that, young man! Off with you!” Cirilla laughed as the two retreated.

Nameless led the way to the elevator.

Once inside, Nameless pushed his floor button, the top floor. They were now isolated, with no one else around.

“How do you know my name?” Nameless asked darkly.

Lion wiped his nose, his eyes focusing.

“We served together,” He said darkly, with no hint of intoxication.

“That was a long time ago,” Nameless said.

“Some of us can remember further back than others. You don’t remember me, do you?” Lion asked seriously.

“I remember a woman with raven black hair and the bridge of a ship. Let’s talk about this at my place,” Nameless sighed.

The two emerged from the elevator and walked down the long hallway. It was a small studio compartment with a balcony overlooking the city. Nameless pulled out his key, then unlocked the door. General Lion whistled.

“Nice place,” He smiled as they walked in.

“You’re supposed to be a lot drunker.” Nameless sighed.

“You’re supposed to be in charge of this place,” Lion shrugged, walking around the room.

“Bullshit,” Nameless growled, drinking the whiskey.

“You really don’t remember anything?” Lion asked, genuinely.

“Just her and the bridge,” Nameless sighed.

Lion nodded.

“She’s here, ya know?” Lion smiled.

Nameless spat out his drink.

“What?” he gasped.

Lion smiled, as he sat down on Nameless’s old worn couch, nodding.

“Did your research on me?” Nameless asked.

“Course. When my people found out about Martian Light Bearers returning to Zion, I had to come to see for myself,” Lion nodded.

“Why do they call you Lion?” Nameless asked.

“Cuz I act like one, I guess. My real name is super hard for humans to pronounce, so Lion it is. We were the first mammal species, so highly superior to humans. I choose human form because you people can’t handle perfection,” Lion smirked.

“What makes you perfect?” Nameless huffed.

“Imagine millennia of the human appearance, perfected. We don’t age, staying young virtually forever. Different castes have different traits. Since I’m royalty, I get all the good looks and cunning. Plus, I do literally look perfect. It’s a pain in the ass though, I stick out too much. So, I put on the ugly filter, appearing human.”

“That is single handedly, the most stuck up thing I have ever heard.”

“Something like that. Trust me, I prefer human form; the females are much more to my liking,” Lion laughed.

“Stay the fuck away from the Vagabonds,” Nameless growled.

Lion held his hands up, smirking.

“You said you were a disciple of the Great Truth earlier. What’s that about?” Nameless asked, taking a seat on his old couch across next to Lion.

“My people fought alongside yours when you were called Aryus. The religion that sprouted from that is called the Great Truth,” Lion said.

“Don’t tell me you worship me,” Nameless sighed, leaning back on the sofa.

“Worship? No, remember, yes.” Lion said lowly. “This place is a shadow of its former self, and with the return of the King and the Witch, war is nigh.”

“You’re talking in riddles, man,” Nameless sighed. “Whiskey?”

“Please,” Lion smiled.

The two silently enjoyed the night, the sound of sirens and music coming from the open balcony.

“King?” Nameless laughed.

“Yes, many centuries,” Lion nodded.

“Centuries?” Nameless coughed.

“Oh yes, we once formed a great conglomeration of civilizations. Founded under the red stars,” Lion smiled.

“Gods above,” Nameless sighed.

“You look almost exactly as you did when I fought alongside you,” Lion mused.

“So, wait, did you guys help found Zion?” Nameless asked.

A dark look overcame Lion’s face.

“Perhaps, that is enough history for one night,” Lion said darkly.

“C’mon. Do you remember this? I don’t,” Nameless grumbled.

“We were separated at the end; your death hailed the end of the peace. It was chaos for years afterwards. Slowly, those who could interact with other worlds formed together, creating this place. This is the closest you’ll ever get to an intergalactic Parliament. We keep the peace here, going from world to world, trying to stem the tide of the next great threat,” Lion explained.

“Which used to be my job,” Nameless sighed.

“Our job,” Lion nodded.

“So, what is your current life?” Nameless asked. “They said you were a war hero.”

Lion smiled.

“In this life, I was once Prince of our people, the Laydren. But I forsook that path and took on the mantle of the Great Truth. Life brought me here. Then I heard about you, so I figured I’d pay a visit. You need someone who remembers the old days to guide you on this journey,” Lion nodded.

“Still doesn’t explain why a war hero faked being sloshed to get one-on-one time with me,” Nameless said, cocking his head.

“Ah, yes, the war hero thing. Well, on our level, I am also a scourge status one. Did a mission a few years back, rescued the actual princess of Zion!” Lion laughed.

“No shit,” Nameless laughed.

“Stubborn little thing, always has a knack of sneaking off Zion,” Lion shook his head.

“So, this is the Kingdom of Zion,” Nameless said.

Lion shook his head.

“More of an honorary title for the daughter of the most powerful family here,” Lion said. “Don’t let the democratic propaganda shit fool you; this place lost the people’s voice years ago.”

“Great.” Nameless sighed.

“Hey, the lesser evil, am I right? I’ll take them over any of the other regimes out there,” Lion shrugged.

“And you’re here because?” Nameless asked.

“I want to serve with you. And Thaddeus may or may not have recruited me,” Lion said abashedly.

Nameless laughed, recalling Thaddeus’s mention of a class.

“He recruited you,” Nameless said, laughing. “And that’s when you researched me.”

“Yes, that is what I’ve been saying,” Lion said, confused.

Nameless was clutching his stomach, revealing his pistol from inside his jacket, which had been pointing at Lion that whole time.

“Brother, I thought you were a stalker,” Nameless laughed.

Lion looked puzzled, then burst out laughing.

The two’s laughter was interrupted by a knocking on the door. Lion stood up and went to open the door. Behind him, Nameless’s face was stone cold. He didn’t trust this guy; he wasn’t even human. What was all this King talk?

Lion returned, grinning with the box of pizza. Nameless was smiling again.

Lion lifted the box top and took a slice.

“Dwun fooy.” Lion said with a mouthful of pizza.

Nameless took a slice as well.

“Don’t worry,” Lion said again. “we’ll have plenty of time to get to know each other on the upcoming missions.”

“Yeah. So, missions?” Nameless asked.

“Mhm,” Lion nodded.

“I thought it was just classes.”

“Oh, it is for now anyway. But Zion is getting their ass kicked, once the reports come back in from all the plants we just lost; whew, man. We gone be busy for a minute!” Lion laughed.

“Plants?” Nameless asked.

“Yeah, man, remember when dear old Thaddeus came to you on mars? When a professor inserts on a planet to do some crazy shit, that’s called a plant. Sept, they’ve been dying a lot lately. Whatever, peace is boring anyway.” Lion shrugged.

“We’re not here to fight their wars,” Nameless growled, already imagining what Julia would say.

“It's our war hombre. You’re here; that means your planet, like it or not, is aligned with Zion now. That’s game on for our enemies. You don’t buck up and help out; they could come to your world next,” Lion said.

“What happens when they get to your world?” Nameless asked darkly.

Lion was silent, his face solemn.

“I’ll let Rachel answer that one when she gets back,” He said gravely.

“What else do I need to know about you?” Nameless asked, exhausted.

“Mmmmmm. Not much, I’m a good fighter, got your back, can smell when you lie, oh! I make a mean omelet!” Lion laughed.

“You what?” Nameless asked.

“An omelet! Ya know when you scramble the eggs-” Lion started.

“You can smell when we lie?” Nameless asked.

“Oh, yea. My species already have heightened smell, and thanks to the XM-801, I can literally smell the pheromones when other species lie. It's awesome!” Lion giggled.

“How old are you?” Nameless asked.

“In my people’s years? Eighteen,” Lion sighed.

“How many human years is that?” Nameless chuckled.

“A lot. A lot of years, probably as old as Thaddeus.” Lion shrugged.

“So, you’re an eighteen-year-old alien shapeshifter who’s somehow as old as Thaddeus, can smell lies and are probably just as strong as I am.” Nameless sighed.

“Am. I am as strong as you,” Lion grinned.

“Are you now.”

“A friendly wager?”

“Sure. The odds.”

“I’ll bet you dinner with Rachel; I can kill ten enhanced beings, before you do, on this campaign,” Lion smiled.

“She’s off the table,” Nameless said instantly. “That’s her own choice.”

Lion arched an eyebrow.

“You don’t even know her yet. You win; that’s a pretty good introduction. Hello fine lady, I vanquished many foes to have this evening!” Lion mockingly boasted.

“If I win; you’ve got to streak naked in your true form down broad street,” Nameless grinned.

Lion grinned slyly.

“And if I win?” Lion asked.

“Then I come to your level and do some idiotic shit. You can come up with whatever you like.”

“Deal!” General Lion laughed.

He held out the whiskey bottle, and Nameless took it.

“Do you outrank me?” Nameless asked after taking a swig.

The General shrugged.

“Billet over rank man; guess we’ll see when we get new team spots tomorrow,” He sighed.

Nameless looked out onto the balcony, the distant simulated skyline glittering with fake stars. A sandwich bag ruffling next to him caught his attention, and he turned to see the General was pulling out a green plant he was grinding up.

“What’s that?” Nameless asked as the pungent smell of the plant overtook him.

“Drugs. Want some?” Lion asked, putting the ground-up plant in a tiny bowl from his pocket.

Nameless chuckled.

“Sure you ain’t from Mars?” Nameless laughed as Lion lit up the pipe bowl.

“Nah, man, always wanted to go though,” Lion coughed, handing Nameless the bowl.

“Whatcha mean?” Nameless asked lightheartedly.

“Well, you hear the stories of those crazy thirteen fucks, always wanted to go see for myself,” Lion said wistfully.

“Like the thirteen gods?” Nameless laughed.

“Oh yeah, I forgot you Mars humans worship them. That’s crazy, but yeah, most of them are here,” Lion shrugged.

Nameless violently coughed, pounding his chest.

“Take it easy, man.” The Lion laughed, “want more pizza?”

“The fucking gods are here?” Nameless shouted.