Scythe hasn't got the prettiest job. As one of the most wanted Phighters in the Inphinity, she's been busy fending off competing criminals and at the same time trying to grow her own base. But some of her Phighters are disappearing. A man has shown...
The Phighter was resting against the bar on the floor. The other patrons stayed put, but let Hyperspace borrow a tissue box to mop the blood and sweat on the skating man. He kneeled beside him and removed the man's helmet, checking a cut on the side of his head. One of his horns had gained a nasty scratch, and bruises snaked around one leg.
Scythe sat perched on a table, staring at him. He'd just barged in. He didn't seem fazed at her presence--he was terrified of something else.
There's always a bigger fish when it comes to crime, she thought. But whatever knocked off his boots definitely doesn't sound good.
Katana was the first to speak. "What happened?"
The skater gripped his board. He swallowed a lump in his throat and began to speak.
"We were just having fun," he rasped. "But then--but then I found this weird beacon thing and took it home to show everyone. When we went to show them where we'd found it, these robot things, they... they..." he mimed something and then made an explosion sound. "And I barely got out. They killed Slicer. I don't know what happened to the others."
Scythe's mouth twitched in concern, biting the inside of her cheek. Those robot things definitely didn't concern her. It was none of her business. And she was not going to start feeling sorry for some stranger.
But there was also a sneaking suspicion that something was seriously wrong. "Beacon?" Hyperlaser sat back, crossing his arms, the railgun bouncing against his back. "Did you see any names or anything engraved on them? What about the robots?"
"No names, no numbers, no nothing." The skateboarder coughed, trying to clear his throat. "They just came in, tried to grab us, and when we fought back they started shooting."
"Wait, wait, wait. Hold up, everyone," Scythe jumped in. "How do we know he's telling the truth?"
"He's injured, Scythe," Katana snapped. "Not as if we'd expect you to care regardless."
She turned away from him, hiding her frustration under the brim of her hat. The Phighter staggered to his feet and sat on a chair, feeling a bruise on the side of his head. "I'm Skateboard. I really need your help. Please, please help me. I don't know what to do."
Scythe sighed, giving in. "Fine. Come with me. But you all better promise to keep ya mouths shut about this."
Scythe, Hyperlaser, Katana and the new Phighter, named Skateboard, entered her hideout to find two strangers sitting on a couch with Medkit.
Scythe yelled and jumped to attention, eyes flicking from Medkit to the two strangers. "Who in the hell are these two?" Medkit's eye bulged in surprise. The other one, much to Scythe's shock, had been concealed by a bandage. "And what happened to yer eye?!"
The two kids launched themselves up, waving their arms. "We're not here to steal all your stuff, I swear!" one yelled. "It's not worth it! We'll be out of here!" He noticed Katana over Scythe's shoulder and his face lit up. "Oh, good evening, Katana!"
Katana nodded, his shoulders relaxing.
"Okay, okay, calm down, everyone," Scythe said through gritten teeth. "You two, sit down and I'll deal with ya later. This is important business."
"Is something wrong?" Medkit stood up and examined Skateboard with his singular eye as they all sat down on the floor or on chairs.
"We'll explain," said Katana.
So they all took turns explaining what had happened. Katana did most of the talking (Scythe barged in with witty remarks or corrections at times). Hyperlaser took the job of explaining the standoff in the bar with as much unneccessary detail as possible. Medkit explained how Shuriken and Vinestaff had broken in, and they sat awkwardly in the corner with very guilty faces, becoming very interested in their shoes.
"So," Scythe leaned over to properly examine them. Her hat slid over her eyes, and she was about to reach up and adjust it when she remembered that her prosthetic arm had broken off prior to the standoff and that it was probably still on the floor somewhere. "What got you two little bandits sniffin' round my hideout for?"
"Stealing," Shuriken blurted. Vinestaff was now too pale to stop him anyway.
"For..?"
"Look, if you want the truth," Vinestaff sighed. "...We're getting desperate. Sling, our friend, he--"
"Sling? Slingshot?" Skateboard heaved himself to his feet, dusting off his board. A bright flicker of recognition was swimming in the depths of his gaze. "As in, our friend who runs that cafe?"
"Yes!" Shuriken snapped his fingers. "He ran off the other week, and we never found him. Some of the regulars say he was just sick of cooking, but that's not true. It was his heart and soul! Nothing could make him get 'sick and tired' of his passion."
"We can cook, sure, but we can't replicate his food," Vinestaff admitted, her shoulders sinking into a defeated slump. "The cafe might fail if we don't find him soon."
"AHA!" Skateboard turned to the others. "Slingshot's a Playgrounder!"
Silence.
Katana scratched at his neck. "...You believe this 'robot attack' that you suffered was targeted?"
"Could be," Scythe's brain did somersaults. This was getting somewhat interesting. Now that she thought about it, Broker had also disappeared just a few hours ago... weird how everything seemed to suddenly happen so fast. But Broker wasn't a Playgrounder. He was probably just hanging upside down by his ankles above a pit of lava in Banland. He could handle himself.
She rubbed her eyes. She was going to get a permanent line in her forehead if she just sat there mooning around for too long. Broker could wait. She just wanted to fingure out what was going on and then go back to being her, Scythe, Inphinity's most wanted criminal.
Medkit was sitting hunched over with his elbows propped on his knees, and in turn his chin was propped on a hand. His eyes went glassy as he sunk into a mudpit of deep thought--or maybe he just wasn't interested. Scythe tilted her head at his antics but didn't snap him from his stupor. She didn't have to anyway. The lightbulb above decided it would be very unhelpful and give out, plunging the room into darkness.
YIPPEE NEW CHAPTER I've got a ton of schoolwork so chapters might be a bit slow. Thanks for the support--I'm getting much more engaged in Phighting and it's been fun writing this.
^^
Oh yeah and this is the spreadsheet in question: (MOST OF THE COLOURED POINTS ARE BASED OFF PERSONAL EXPERIENCE. THEY ARE OPINIONS. Thanks!)
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