Chasing Time

Fighting Back

Sector C2, Lower Terragon.

20:40, 16th July, 3000.

Somewhere in the trenches of Lower Terragon, a group of men were gathered outside of of the more popular bars in the area. They looked like a dangerous bunch. Dressed in the same black leather jackets with a scorpion insignia. Their bodies were like canvases, completely cover in ink. Their hair was shaved at the sides and they had a lot of piercing.

Terry swallowed hard and pulled his coat closer to his body to protect against the sudden cold that settled over the city that night. This could be his last chance to get into Upper Terragon. He was a Middler and hated that. Since he was little, he had always done all he could to be where the Uppers were, helping them do whatever they wanted. They usually rewarded with money which he had been saving to buy his way into Upper Terragon but recently, they cancelled that and people could only get in strictly through invitation.

He had been devastated by that news of course and was nursing his hurt emotions when a delegate from one of the Thirteen approached him. What he told him was a huge scandal that they did not want the general public to be aware about. As he listened to everything, he was in complete shock. The future Head Councilman was kidn*pped and by Lowers which was both surprising and unsurprising at the same time. His job was to find the kidnappers and return the young Lord safely to Upper Terragon. How he went about it was none of their concern and his reward was a place in Upper Terragon.

"Good evening gentlemen," he said when he finally reached the group. The music blasting from the bar was rough and hard. People were falling in and out of the place, drunk and scattered. Their already quiet chatter fell into a deep silence as they stared at him, intensely. He swallowed and staggered a bit under their glare but stood his ground.

"I uh...I'm here for a uh, a Mr Huncho," he said and two of them moved towards him suddenly. He stumbled backwards but they reached him and each one grabbed his upper arm roughly.

"Who are you?" One spat at him, he had a scar running from his left temple to his jaw. The shaved side of his head was covered with an eagle tattoo and his eyes looked terrifying as they bored into Terry.

"I-I'm...my name is-"

"Let him be," a voice came from the midst of the other men. Terry turned his gaze from the men rough handling him until it fell on the one who spoke. He was hidden by the shadow of the bar and surrounded by the other men. Terry could barely make out an outline of him.

"I'm Huncho. Who are you and what do you want?" his voice was gruff, his appearance even gruffer.

The men pushed him forward and he moved briskly towards the man called Huncho. Terry had heard of the Scorpions mostly through stories. They were the most formindable group in all of Terragon. They had their claws deep in every part of Terragon. Even Uppers knew of them. He knew that if anyone could find the Lord Stanley, it would have to be the Scorpions.

"M-my name is Terry...and I-I uh need your help," he stuttered. None of them made a sound. He could feel sweat trickling down his back despite the chill in the air.

"I see. Come close then," Huncho said and Terry got pushed forward again, almost falling to the ground. He found his balance and walked up to him until he was in the midst of the menacing men. Huncho had to be one of the most handsome men Terry had ever seen. He had bright brown eyes, a chiseled jaw and he was the only one whose hair was not shaved at the sides. All over his veined forearms were covered in crossed out marks.

"Beautiful aren't they?" Huncho said and Terry realized he had been openly gawking at the tattoos "each mark is for everyone who ever crossed me." he paused and looked the now petrified Terry in the eyes.

"Now tell me, Mr...Terry, what exactly do you need my help with?"

•|•|•|•|•

Central Market, Middle Terragon.

07:30, 17th July, 3000.

"I look absolutely ridiculous," Julia whispered to Stanley. She was wearing a short brown wig that barely covered her blond hair, oversized sunglasses and large clothing "I don't understand why I have to dress this way and you get to look like that." She waved her hand towards his khaki shorts and colorful t-shirt. He was also using sunglasses but they suited him well just like everything he was wearing.

"Can you quit complaining for a second? If my father was able to find us once, he'll do so again." Stanley replied and turned back to look at her angry, pouty face "plus I think it looks good."

She rolled her eyes in response but said nothing. They had to get up very early and make their way to the market to get supplies for their new cave home. Layana still had not given them any explanation for why they had to stay there. They have been monitoring The Lessers for any information that could be related to the cause of their sudden need to hide but found nothing at all. Melinda had taken control when she saw everyone looking glum. She ordered Stanley and Julia to get supplies since they had Defender skills and could save themselves if the need arises. Travis and Layana were to help set up the cave and explore around to see if there was anything else hidden around.

"Why did you run from home?" Julia suddenly asked. The market was already buzzing with a little excitement despite the time. The sky was a darker orange and it was cold, though she was used to even colder weather. She was glad for the baggy clothes because she felt warm and her weapons were concealed.

"Well," Stanley started "I don't know...it's just, I've never felt like I belonged there. Everyone thinks the same way, they all believe they are superior and they're only bothered about their appearance, their food, their jewels, their money...I did not want to join that life. That's why I insisted on training to become a Defender but father made it clear that I might have the training but I'll never become one."

They turned a corner to go where Layana always insisted that they shop. Luckily, it was already opened. Julia still hated going there because of the snotty attendant but she felt a bit more confident since Stanley was with her.

"So what was your plan exactly? If you never met us, what did you plan to do? Hide around forever? They would have found you eventually,"

"Yeah...I know, I just-" he stopped mid-sentence and froze. Julia stopped to and frowned at him.

"What is it?"

"Those men are looking at us," he said. She turned her head and saw the men he was talking about. Her heart dropped as she recognized the insignia on their black leather jackets and their tattoo covered bodies. One in particular looked at her and smiled. She knew him, personally.

"What the hell are the Scorpions looking for here?" she said, in a tone that was almost a whisper.

"The Scorpions? I've heard about them...aren't they usually in Lower Terragon?" he said, also whispering.

"Julia!" the one that had been smiling at her called out and they all started walking towards them. She could hear her heart pounding in her chest, she reached into the pocket of her baggy top and fingered the knives she had with her.

"What are you doing here?" she asked him.

"You know this guy?" Stanley asked, she looked at him and nodded. When she turned to face the men approaching them, she noticed that some of them were spreading around. Something was very wrong, she could feel it.

"Come on J, is that anyway to say hello to an old friend?" he said with a slight smirk when he finally reached them.

"Oh, I'm sorry...I must have dropped my manners in the same place where you dropped my brother's body after you beat him half to death," she responded harshly but he only smiled.

"You're still mad about that? You know the rules," he asked and reached a hand forward to stroke her cheek "how is he by the way?"

"He's fine," she said and smacked his hand away "what do you want Rej?"

"Still so harsh and straight to the point as always. You'd have made a fine Scorpion."

"Can you just let us through? We have things to do," Stanley finally spoke. Rej turned his head to the side until their eyes met.

"I'm afraid not...My Lord,"

Julia gasped but was quick enough to pull a knife from her pocket. She grabbed Rej and hooked an arm around his neck, pointing the knife to his jugular.

"Oh, you really don't want to do this Julia," Rej gasped out and held his hands up, not struggling from her grip "all we want is the Upper. We'll let you go, I promise."

"Shut up." Julia responded and scanned around. They were surrounded by four other Scorpions who had pulled out weapons, ready to fire at Rej's instruction. The situation was dire. They were in a corner where people hardly went in the market and those that passed went by like they did not see them. There was not a single Defender in sight, not like that would be any better.

"We can get through them," Stanley said and whipped out two daggers.

"Where did you hide that?" she asked, surprised.

"Does it matter?" he responded, half yelling.

"Just let us go and I won't kill him," she said to the rest. They looked at each other, then at Rej who was feeling irritated because he had not expected the situation to turn out that way.

"What are you doing? Attack them!" He yelled. Julia cursed and tightened her grip around his neck. He fought and kicked but she held on until he passed out. Meanwhile, the other Scorpions charged towards them. Stanley was fast, he dodged one then kicked another so hard that he sent him flying back, landing hard against a trash can.

"Turn your back to me!" Julia yelled and they stood back to back. One of them yelled and threw stars towards them. She used her knives to deflect most of them but one slashed her cheek and another lodged in her thigh.

"Arrgh!" She screamed. Without thinking, she hurled her knife towards the culprit, causing it to go through his throat, killing him instantly.

Despite the pain in her thigh, she launched herself towards another Scorpion. They started to tussle. He reached down and pressed the star even deeper into her thigh. She screamed out and gave him a hard uppercut. He kicked her thigh again, forcing her to fall to the ground. As he raised a dagger to stab her while she laid on the ground, squirming in pain, a knife went straight through his throat.

Julia held in a scream and blood spluttered from his mouth onto her face and he fell on her. She looked up at Stanley who was breathing heavily.

"Come on," he said and pushed the Scorpion off her, then helped her up "we need to remove this," he said, pointo to the star that was now even deeper in her leg. She looked at it and nodded then turned her head up.

Stanley took in a deep break and grabbed the star and gently and firmly as he could. Julia let out a groan, digging her fingers into his shoulder. He pulled it as careful as he could, her grip on his shoulder increased with each pull as she tried not to scream out. When he finally got it out, she let out a loud groan and closed her eyes to try and numb the pain from her mind.

"Sorry," he said and tore the sleeve of his shirt, then wrapped it around her wound "can you walk?" he asked her.

"I can try..." she muttered.

"Okay, let's go."