BACKGROUND — Clan Ya-kith-Thar (art for art’s sake)

Since the time of the Great Founding, the Clan Ya-kith-Thar has been at the forefront of the art and entertainment world. High-Lord Assassin Ka-Kasoma led the first wave of explorers to settle the three-solar system protectorate. He stepped aside once the first government was formed from the union of the first family (the two most powerful families at the time). The couple’s reign was short, and stepped down when their first child reached the proper age to take over as head of the house.

Since the original founding, the Clan has been ruled by a constitutional monarchy.

The people, in general, prize beauty and glamour above anything else, this tends to reflect the large number of engineers, architects, carpenters, masons, task-mages, poets, actors, inventors, revolutionaries and writers/thinkers as a chosen profession. If they can imagine it, they can find some way to build it.

Of all the clans, this clan has a tendency to pride itself on beauty, creativity, courtesy, and grace. Conversely, their dark nature can turn an innocent-looking social butterfly into a sadist that finds delight in inflicting emotional, physical, and mental pain of others.

Artistic vision is a blessing as well as a curse.

Often times, clan members are easily overcome by little things such as emotions of the moment, paintings, neon signs or even a moving song. They could be stunned from seconds to hours when properly captivated.

It’s often joked, behind their backs, that they make the harshest of critics. They will bicker and snipe at each other for hours on what’s considered true art. The clan members dominate the social scene of any given area. While middle and upper class wear the latest fashion, members of Clan Ya-kith-Thar were the ones who created it. Clan members are often the creating what mortals are wearing, eating, buying and know who is sleeping with whom.

Inside and outside of their native lands, they tend to be the city’s harpies and having spent years perfecting their art with their bitchy and conniving clan-mates. Clan members are more than capable of ruining someone’s reputation with a pithy comeback or a damning piece of gossip whispered in just the right ear.

Unfortunately many are easily addicted to excess, and their all-consuming desires drive them to fulfill those requirements at the cost of everything else. Inbreeding has caused a number of families to take on more exaggerated behavior and vice, especially with regard to art, culture and social refinement.

The recent ascended Emperor hails from the clan with his family line being traced back to the first family. It’s often said, by historical scholars, that however the coronation ceremony is conducted is a direct reflection of emperor’s upcoming reign.

In typical Ya-kith-Thar fashion, the emperor suddenly appeared instead of walking through the doors of the great hall. He bowed deeply, and asked the arch-priest conducting the ceremony if they could begin. The daring entrance the clans what while he would adhere to tradition, while at the same time forging a new path.

***

Contrary to popular belief store bashing’ isn’t typically the modus operandi of the North-Central Posse or any other gang for that matter. If that were the case, a breaking point would be reached and the shop keepers would bang together and beat us to a pulp. Those methods are usually done by thugs from rival outlander gangs.

As a whole we get money from shopkeepers and in return we perform jobs for the local shopkeepers such as: delivery, fetch jobs, collect money from debts, sweeping and mopping or whatever the shopkeeper needs to have done.

It’s not uncommon to see one of us running a business while the shopkeeper is sick out of town. In return, we learn a trade. In Lee’s case, he is learning to be a butcher. Red, our local task mage, is learning magic from a retired Militant-Wizard. In Anna’s case, she is learning business ethics at the pool hall, along with bad language.

When the next wave teenage hoodlums grow up, we will teach them; this is the law of the ghetto.

We arrived back at my mansion, that’s what we like to call my home, only to find Henna relaxing on the couch. She ditched the rest of the classes that day to eat what little food we had. I tossed her a bag of chips and planted myself on the tattered couch.

She was watching a rerun of the show “My darling Darla, Darla Darling — Domestic Cat-Girl”. It was the episode there Darla and her neighbor discover that were both pregnant after an office party. Seasons 1, 3 and 6 were the best.

She glanced up from the episode just long enough to spy Lee walk in with a cash register, bags of food and Anna proudly showing off her plasma gun to her.

“Successful hunt?” she asked already knowing the answer.

Lee let out a grunt. Anna walked into my room with the weapon, probably to stash it someplace. I find all sorts of things in my room from time-to-time including: watches, wallets (minus the gold of course), rings, shiny bits, a tire once, or whatever an 11-year-old girl can carry off with. So why not a knock-off plasma gun?

Lee slammed the cash register on the kitchen counter and began trying to pry it open with his massive fists. Before I could locate a hammer, which was probably stashed in a room someplace, there was a loud knock at the door.

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“No one is here, go away!” Anna shouted back from my room.

The person knocked harder.

“Open the door you little scrub or I’ll kick your teeth in!” came the reply.

The voice was from Akuma, the next in line for the throne as leader. As much as we talk shit about the Royal Class we sure do use a lot of the terms. I’ve never realized it, till I started writing this down. Before he could knock my door down and make good on his threat to my sister I opened it and stared him down. He was a head shorter that me with curly black hair. His dragon eyes stared back at me, 40% dragon I believe.

He cast his eyes down and quickly turned his head back to me, “We got a problem, boss.”

“You better have a good reason to be trying to bash my door down, Akuma,” I grinned at him expecting fight.

He didn’t return the challenge, “Sorry but we got a really big problem, there’s zero gold to pay our dues.”

I rolled my eyes in response. All the gangs of Capital city pay a certain percentage of gold to the Main-Street Gang (the first and oldest gang in the city). They cover the bribes that allow us to operate unmolested by the Commissars, law enforcement, and other crews. Other than that, I see no reason to even be paying them.

“Why? Where the hell were they when the Tanglewood assholes were tryin’ to take back their turf?” I snapped back. “If they want their tithing, they can send a rep here an’ I’ll tell that shit-bird personally he can have two squirts off my dick!”

Still pumped up from the store bashin’ I puffed myself up to look bigger, “The next time you talk shit to my sister you better make the fuck sure I’m not here!”

I pushed him back and slammed the door in his face.

“Fuck that scrub,” I muttered to no one in particular.

I glanced up and saw Anna, Henna and Lee were all staring at me in disbelief. I threw my hands up, “what?”

***

Later on that evening, after killin’ a few bottles of Lazer 88 (a whiskey infused with catnip), Abby showed up. She brought us seafood from the restaurant where she works at a cook/waitress.

We were watching Ninja Team 7, a show about an underdog ninja teenage ninja boy who uses his wits to get himself into and out of trouble. “They” (who e every they are) told me that when a new episode premieres in the Military Clan territory, fewer crimes are reported. Even some of their gangs adopt some of the names of the ninja clans featured on the show, nerds.

During one of the many commercials, there was a knock at the door. Henna, who was playing with my hair around her finger, begged me to leave it.

I should have listened. Instead, I got up and answered it.

It was Akuma, this time with Red and Angel Eyes behind him. Akuma took a step back, probably expecting the door to be slammed in his face again. I tensed up.

Akuma took a deep breath and said with a hint of stutter in his voice, “I’m calling you out, brah! We need new leadership.”

He threw down his jacket, a symbol of a challenge, borrowed from the Royal class, again.

“Fine,” I muttered hopped up on 88, “this will be the 100th time I kicked your fucking ass.”

Lee, Henna, Abby, and Anna followed me down stairs to the back ally. To keep us from killing each other, the gangs took on rules or absolutes to follow. One of the many rules is that duels are no longer to the death. This prevents retaliation or even bloody civil wars.

Lee and Angel Eyes drew a circle in chalk. We would take turns hitting each other till one of us fell to our knees or stepped outside the chalk. The light rain made the cobblestones slippery, but with the careful balance, I could make Akuma double over in one or two hits. He closed his eyes, taking deep breaths.

“What the fuck is up with him?” I asked Angel Eyes.

Angel Eyes, one of the members of the North-Central Posse was about my height with eyes that could calm the angriest of berserkers, simply shrugged. He was an orphan raised by an old retired spacer couple. His soft features and sea-blue eyes game the impression he was a lover and not a fighter. His bold actions during the Tanglewood turf war suggested otherwise. He could easily stand against three or four thugs before becoming overwhelmed.

When the circle was ready, both Akuma and I stepped into the fading chalk circle. He put his hands down by his sides and gritted his teeth. As per tradition, the challenger goes second.

“Finish this Horus!” called my sister.

“Gladly,” I said back to her.

I took a swing as his gut. It was like hitting a sack of bricks. I felt my fingers go numb as I pulled back my fist. It quickly turned red. Akuma grinned at me.

He hit me in the same place I hit him. I was able to tense my stomach up as his fist made contact with my stomach. Even after doing that, I still felt the air knocked out of me. I doubled over but refused to fall to my knees. How the hell did he become so strong? I straightened up and gritted my teeth.

This time I hit him square in the jaw. He didn’t even twitch or give the slightest sign discomfort.

The only sign that I hit him came when he spat out a little blood on to the street, “try that again” he turned his cheek “but try the other side, you might have better luck!”

I popped him again, not caring about the rules.

His dragon eyes glowed red in the night air “that’s a little better, I think I might have actually felt that.” He and Red laughed. Was he using magic to make himself stronger?

The last thing I saw was his fist fly towards me as it met my skull. I heard a loud clang as the next thing I knew I was laying face up on the cold street watching the rain hit my face. My ears were ringing and my vision was blurry. I remember seeing Henna hanging over me, patting my face, trying to wake me up and was looking concerned, and Akuma standing over me saying something.

I saw something above them. It was blurry in the night air. They were humanoid shapes, watching us from the roof tops.

I heard my sister tell everyone to shut up as I tried to speak. The ringing in my ears slowly stopped.

Akuma kept saying over and over, “You lose, sucka.” I pointed my finger up in the air and pointed, “look out…”

He responded, “Ha! It’s too late for that, you lost!” Anna, ignoring him looked up.

Three figures fell from the roof and fire escape. Anna was the first to pull out Stabatha and slash it at one of the falling attackers. Blood sprayed in all directions. I desperately tried to stand, but my legs wouldn’t obey me.

Four more figures dropped from the roof and six ran in from the side street into the alley. It was 8 (technically I was still down so it was only 7) to 13 unknown attackers. Anna took up a defensive position as she tried her best to protect me.

I felt something sharp at my throat from one of the hooded attackers. I did my best to grab the arm, but before I could, Lee picked up him up and threw him against the wall. Henna had flipped one of the attackers on their back and buried her knee into his neck.

Anna helped me to my feet. Before I could fully recover, they were gone into the night. It looked like they were trying to catch us off guard and attack us when our guard was down.

That night I had lost my dignity, the fight and my gang….

Maybe I wasn’t the leader I thought I was.