Typically, when a person witnesses something happen three times in a row the surprise factor wains a little bit, this of course does not apply when it comes to murder. Neil didn’t see himself dive into a slide the moment the shot rang out; it was like one minute he was standing watching his friend have a pleasant conversation with a stranger and the next he was beneath their table. Timothy felt something bump into his legs and he looked down to find that a boy in a tattered coat had appeared there as if by magic. Sophia had the closet view- needless to say it wasn’t pretty.
The gun had fired point-blank into the blue man’s skull, if it hadn’t been a Calvin’s Compactable Pleasant Pistol poor Pullum Mock would’ve had a lot of cleaning to do. Instead, the result of the shot was that its recipient no longer had a face- which if he was a different species would’ve been fine. But since the blue man was an Arstoninian, which has no natural defenses against blaster fire, his face was now just a smoldering heap of burnt ashes which scattered to the ground as his body hit the floor.
Alex heard the shot and quickly turned his face away from the group that he was spying on, hoping that they wouldn’t notice his unwelcome listening. “What’s happening now in this dump?” Vander muttered as he turned a bored eye to the commotion.
The bartender was quick to react, eyeing the woman up and down. “Sally, why’d you have to go shoot a guy during my rush hour?”
“Sorry, Mock,” Sally replied, leaning down to the man she had just newly made a corpse. “This fellow was trying to run out on a payment, you know how it is.” Her hands glided as she reached into every pocket she could find, and her coy smile flipped into a frown when she came up empty. “That bastard!” She cried standing up and giving the body a swift kick.
“Did he not have anything on ‘em?” Pollum asked, inquisitively.
Sally gave him a scowl. “If he did, I’d be buying myself a nice cold drink right about now.”
The bartender smiled and reached one of his many arms to the shelf. “Consider this one free, I’d never liked the look of that scraper anyway.”
Over in the booth, WaldAcker was shaking his head at the scene. “Well, that was bit unpleasant, wasn’t it? Oh well, I guess people live and learn… well except for that guy I suppose.”
Timothy was a little frazzled by seeing a man shot in the head, as one typically is when this happens, but he nodded along politely. “Is everybody here always so violent?”
“Almost always, I would say 9 out of 10 conflicts are settled with a duel or some other method of violence. I would denounce it, but it does liven the place up a bit, doesn’t it?” Through the helmet, the boy could see the figure smile. “Now, would you mind asking your friend to remove himself from under the table? I would appreciate the leg space.”
“Oh!” Timothy leaned down to peek beneath the table, Neil met his eyes awkwardly.
“Um… I admit… I may have overreacted just a bit.” He murmured, crawling out with as much dignity as one can muster in this scenario. “Hello, sorry about that, I was just… making sure the table was sturdy.”
WaldAcker chuckled. “A noble service indeed. Now if you don’t mind, me and your friend were having a lovely conversation before the murder that just happened and I’d rather like to continue it. Feel free to keep eavesdropping on us though, I don’t mind.”
Neil nodded and backed away, though something in his chest was telling him to run. There was something odd about the man in the helmet, he just couldn’t pin down what. Timothy squirmed in his seat; he hated having to ask people for favors. “So, WaldAcker, I’ve been meaning to ask you something.”
“Oh?”
“Could you take us back to our ship? You see, we were kidnapped and brought here, and we have no way to get back to the Lavender- that’s what our ship’s called.” The silence from the man in the helmet was disheartening. “We would pay you, but the thing is we have no money, so we can’t.”
WaldAcker tapped his fingers on the table. “So, you want me to take you to your ship… a person I’ve never met before… for nothing?”
“Well, not for nothing!” Timothy beamed. “You would have our thanks!”
The man was silent, Timothy lost his beaming expression.
“You know…” WaldAcker began. “That sounds lovely!”
“Really?”
“No, but that’s never stopped me!”
“Wow, that’s amazing!”
“Unfortunately, I can’t.”
“Oh.”
“Sorry, my ‘ship’ is sort of recharging at the moment and even if it wasn’t it can only take two people at a time.” WaldAcker put his head in his hands above the table and sighed. “They really should’ve made it better.”
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
“That’s alright.” Timothy said, crossing his arms and lowering his head. “Thanks for the thought though.”
WaldAcker tilted his head. “What’s wrong, you look glum.”
The boy sighed. “I’m just worried about my friends, that’s all. They are all so worried about being here, they weren’t meant to be on a place like the Ring. I just want them to feel safe, you know? I was hoping I’d be able to get them out of here, but I suppose I’ll just have to try harder.”
“You said ‘them.’” The man inside the helmet pointed out quickly. “Why do you not include yourself, Timothy? Do you not want to leave?”
Timothy blinked as if catching himself. “No, I do want to leave, it’s just that I…” He trailed off, looking away. “Sorry, I must be wasting your time, thank you for talking with me!” He stood up quickly and started to walk away, then remembered himself and turned around to curtsey.
“Wait!” WaldAcker said, raising out an arm. “Could you do me a favor?”
“Ah, of course, what do you need?” The boy asked, mid-curtsey.
The man in the helmet reached into his coat and ruffled around for a bit. Timothy could’ve sworn he could hear the sound of metal clanking and something squealing, but soon WaldAcker found what he was looking for. “Here.” he said, holding out a credit chip. “Could you be a doll and go buy me a drink from the bar?”
Timothy took the chip and nodded. “Sure, what would you like?”
“Oh, I didn’t think that far… um, something shiny and purple? Yeah, that’ll work.” He clapped his hands together as if to congratulate himself for the thought. “Oh, and when you’re done, keep the rest of the chip! Consider it my thanks for such a pleasant conversation!”
“Oh, thank you!” Timothy said looking down and the clear tablet, he couldn’t help but notice that there was a clear bloodstain in the corner.
“Don’t mention it!” His voice went suddenly low. “But like, seriously, don’t.”
Alex’s nerves calmed down a little as the dealmaking behind him continued. “Here’s your credit, don’t spend it all in one place.” Said Vander Extemorst, sliding over what appeared to be a metal plate with strange numbers written all over it.
“You know,” said Jenny, taking the plate with a swipe of her hand. “That stuff in there could buy me a fortune, ain’t every day that you come around some Splindine.”
Vander’s squishy face went wide in surprise. “Keep your voice down, scraper!” He said waving an angry finger. “I don’t like it when people know my business.”
“Heh, half the Ring knows your business, Vander.” The pirate captain replied with a snort. “That hustle your runnin’ at the lotto sure is making ya some big ones ain’t it?”
The businessman curled his face around into a half-smile radiating contempt. “Yes, yes. Speaking of which, I think it’s just about time for the big announcement.”
“Announcement?” Gleg repeated, parrot-like.
Sophia jumped as the roof of the cantina suddenly lit up and started to glow. At first, there was nothing but static and light but after a moment an image appeared on the screen. It was fuzzy, and half of the screen was blacked out and missing, but the girl could see the face of a robot staring right back at her. Its body wasn’t humanoid, which was a pleasant change, instead, its head twirled around into a bronze disk with just enough room for a screen. On the screen two dots were lit, glowing in the shape of eyes. The music on the radios stopped, instead replaced with a loud, enthusiastic booming voice.
“Hello, hello, ladies, gents, fauna, flora, insectoids, and all those in-between! Do you know what time it is?” There was an uncomfortably long pause. “That’s right! It’s time for the annual Extemorst Lottery! As you know, every year the Ring is host to this amazing event and every year one lucky soul comes away with the winnings of a lifetime! That’s right! YOU can be the one lucky winner that goes home with the grand prize! Now, I know what you must be thinking right about now, you’re thinking ‘now, just how big is this grand prize?’ Well, I’ll tell ya! This years grand prize is worth… 40,000,000 credits!”
Vander Extemorst, who up until this point had been idly sipping his drink, spat it out in a flurry of liquid. “What!” He choked, his eyes wider than the moon.
The entire cantina hadn’t been paying much attention, Sophia had noted. They had mostly stuck with their drinks, barely looking up at the screen. But now everyone in the bar was paying attention, eyes glued to the screen.
“Yes, you did hear me right! 40,000,000 credits! The highest reward payout ever in the history of this sector and a sum that could be yours if you stroll on down to the Extemorst Casino, located on the flip side of the Ring! The Extemorst Casino is not responsible for any deaths caused in participating in this event. The Extemorst brand name is copyrighted, any infringement on this claim will result in immediate legal action or death. Only one card per lifeform, terms and conditions apply.”
The screen turned off and there was silence in the room. This was naturally the calm before the storm, the four friends spotted each other from across the casino- they all looked very confused. Suddenly, the woman in the spiral helmet clambered drunkenly on top of the bar. “Well, what are we waiting for?”
The sound of glass shattering was abundant as the entire crowd of people rose from their seats as if standing for an ovation. Elephant stampedes would be put to shame with the number of patrons that began to pour out of the cantina like a floodgate was opening. Poor Timothy was at the bar, trying desperately to figure out what type of drink was both purple and somehow shiny. He didn’t notice as a line of people barreled into him, knocking the breath completely out of his lungs.
“Tim!” Neil shouted, he tried to get closer but was blocked as Sally pushed passed him on her way to the door.
Winded the boy couldn’t call out for help, instead, he found that something had snagged on one of the patrons and that he was being pulled along with them. He scratched at his throat, the collar of his shirt revealing itself to be the thing that was stuck. Alex wanted to stand up, cry out for them to stop, but he remained frozen in his seat.
His friends watched unable to do anything as their friend was dragged outside the cantina, the girl in green couldn’t help but start running towards him. As she passed Alex, she shot him a glance. “Are you not gonna help?”
Spurred by her words, Alex stood up and started running, Sophia in front and Neil trailing closely behind. Outside they saw their friend being helplessly tugged to the side of the building. The patrons of the cantina were already lining up on what seemed to be just an ordinary set of circular metal plates, it was clear that none of them were paying any attention to the boy that was currently struggling to breathe.
Sophia was close, very close. She reached out her hand to try and free her friend but suddenly a bright light started to flash. The girl watched dazed and confused as Timothy disappeared in a bright flash and a cloud of smoke, gone within a second.