Kharon Week of May 6th
Kharon Chapter 57
Emma, Jacob and Sparky are going up a glass elevator that overlooks an indoor atrium designed like a rain forest complete with a waterfall that goes outside the building and crashes back indoors in the atrium. “Listen while we have a moment I just wanted to say about last night….”, starts Jacob.
Emma’s head whips back from the view. “It was fun. Leave it at that.”
“But you….”
“I said leave it. We’re good.” Emma and Jacob both divert their eyes from one another in silence as Sparky looks between the two of them rotating his head back and forth.
Emma and Jacob walk up to a room with just a dark mahogany sign hanging over the door that reads: ‘Mist’. “Guess this is the place”, says Jacob. They walk through the door and their eyes begin adjusting instantly to the dimly lit reception room. They both feel out of place amongst all the colorful characters looking up at the newcomers. Jacob walks over to the reception desk in the corner. There is a samurai like figure sitting behind it reading a book. “We’re here to see The Mist.”
The samurai does not look up from the book but instead just hands Jacob a card. “Take a number”, he growls.
Suddenly a hidden panel in the wall to the room opens and another samurai emerges from it and bellows, “The Mist will now address number 7433.”
“Well at least we don’t have a long wait”, says Jacob looking down at the card. A man wearing a robe with bizarre swirling patterns of color on it gets up and walks through the secret panel into the misty darkness along with the samurai. The panel slams shut behind them.
Kharon Chapter 58
Simone and Luke are still dancing on the club floor. Both are gazing at each other in silence a million thoughts left unsaid racing through their minds. “Why are you being nice to me all of a sudden?”, Luke finally asks.
“I wasn’t nice before?”
“I would say indifferent.”
“Maybe my homecoming reminded me of some things.”
“Like what?” Before Simone can answer Luke’s question the body of a thug flies through the air between them. Before they can figure out what is happening another thug lands with a crash in-between them. They look towards the direction he came from and see Kiarah fighting a group of thugs in the corner of the club. Several patrons seem to be hurrying to join the brawl. “I swear that woman is nothing but trouble.”
Luke and Simone run over to join the fight and the trio begin tossing thugs left and right as they kick-ass.
When there appears to be no one left to fight them they see a man with neat and well-kept features walking up to them slowly clapping. “Well, well the last surviving Quarsian and the infamous pirate Simone to boot, must be Johnny’s lucky day."
Kharon Chapter 59
Back in the reception area Emma is fidgeting as she sits next to Jacob. “Something about this feels off”, says Emma.
“You’re just not used to being around people with power and wealth. They’re into eccentricities and mind games like this.”
“How do you know what I’m used to?”
“I read you the moment I met you. You're not like Luke and me. You're just a survivor who caught some bad breaks.” Emma averts her eyes down and looks at her folded hands. “It’s a compliment. You don’t want to be like us.”
Just then the hidden panel opens and the samurai walks out and announces, “7440.”
“That’s us”, says Jacob as he stands and walks towards the samurai standing in a cloud of mist. Emma and Sparky follow him.
As they walk through the darkness on the other side of the wall Emma tries waving her hands to get the mist out of her face. “I can’t see a thing.” Just then the mist in the air all around them begins to swirl in the darkness. Their seems to be a light coming from somewhere but they can’t make out from where. In the flickers of white light they see before them the mist twisting and swirling into various shapes.
A scream of “Silence!”, comes from all around them. “Why have you sought out The Mist?”
Sparky begins to growl and electricity shoots out of him from all directions. It doesn’t harm Jacob or Emma as they clutch each other but it travels through the mist and electrocutes the samurai standing with them. It also causes the shapes in the mist to contort and eventually dissipate. Out of the clearing mist appears a woman whose eyes are so sunken they look like she is wearing large goggles and she sports wild hair that seems to float in the air. She looks menacingly at the three visitors who are trying to piece together what happened.
“Cute trick”, says the woman who is The Mist. “But it’s not enough to save you.”
Kharon Chapter 60
Johnny begins to walk circles around Kiarah looking her up and down. Kiarah bristols like she is about to lash out and strike him but Luke quietly reaches out a hand to stop her. “I heard rumors there was a survivor from The Quarsian Massacre but I assumed that it was just sea tales.” The three crew members remain coldly silent studying this stranger as he continues speaking. “Clearly I was incorrect and what a fine specimen survived at that. Couldn’t have dreamed of any better.” Johnny then stops examining Kiarah and stares directly at Simone. “But what I want to know now is how you ended up with Simone? Thought you were a solo act? What made you finally start recruiting?”
Simone narrows her eyes. “Do I know you?”
“Hmmm don’t remember all your exploits do you? I guess when there are as many as you’ve had it becomes difficult to keep them straight.” Johnny lets out a small snort. “You raided my ship when it was docked at Merian’s Lagoon 412 cycles ago.”
Simone’s eyes go wide for a moment and then she regains her composure and tries to act cool. “Oh. Well like you said that was hundreds of cycles ago and besides all’s fair in raiding and love as they say.” Simone then walks up to Johnny and puts her arm around his neck in a seductive way. “I’m sure some arrangement can be made where I can make it up to you”, she says as she runs her hands down his abdomen and along the inside of his thigh.
“Well there are plenty of bounties on your head currently”, says Johnny.
Simone presses her body against Johnny’s and starts moving her hand to center. “I was thinking something more suitable to both our needs.”
“Your Quarsian friend then?”
“What?!”, says Kiarah and Simone in unison.
Johnny pushes Simone away and walks over to Kiarah. “I could use a Quarsian on my crew.”
“She’s not my slave. Negotiate with her yourself.”
“How about it?”, says Johnny with a wink.
“You will drop dead before that happens”, Kiarah coldly replies.
Johnny sighs and looks down at the ground crestfallen. “See that’s what I thought.” In an instant before anyone can react Johnny unsheathes a weapon and fires it at Kiarah. A serpent like device shoots from the weapon towards Kiarah and encircles her neck and begins to glow. Kiarah tries to pry it off but it only coils itself tighter and glows brighter as she starts buckling and collapses to the floor with a grunt. “My eyes and ears at the market spotted you and tipped me off. So I had this little gadget specially calibrated for a Quarsian.” Johnny then turns to Simone and Luke who are now charging towards Johnny. “The standard model should work on you two.” With that his thugs fire similar weapons and glowing serpents appear wrapping around Simone and Luke’s arms and torso. They instantly fall to the ground writhing.
Johnny continues talking. “You see when Simone here ripped me off I owed a lot of people a lot of money. So I ended up becoming a bounty hunter." Johnny walks over to Simone and stands over her watching her gasp and struggle. "Gotta thank you Simone. It was the best career move of my life.”
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