The Stronghold

Did I Mention I'm Armed?

One day and a lot of sleep later I finally managed to persuade Tom and Elenia to go to a bar and start a bit of trouble.

Carrying Cat under my arm I strolled down the street to the largest bar in all of LA (according to Elenia). People were there at all hours of the day and night and most gangs frequented it in the evenings, the time that we were visiting.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Tom said doubtfully as we stood on the pavement opposite, staring up at the building.

"Of course it is," I said, grinning broadly. "We want to start trouble and make a name for ourselves, this is the place to do it."

"If I die then I'm haunting you," Elenia muttered. "And taking that cat with me."

"His name is Cat," I said, holding onto the struggling animal as it tried to wriggle free and attack a passer by. "And he will-"

"Rule the universe as your evil minion, I get it," Elenia interrupted, rolling her eyes.

"I think we'd better go in before you two start fighting," Tom said hurriedly. "Well, fighting with one another, that is."

"Good point," I said, crossing the road with Cat held firmly in my arms. I set him down on the other pavement and gave him a stern look.

"No wandering off," I said to the animal. He meowed and twisted around my leg, sitting on my shoe, perfectly happy to be lifted into the air and back down again whilst I walked.

"No animals in here," a staff worker said, rushing over, blue and gold uniform being smoothed down as she walked. I raised an eyebrow and looked down at Cat. He purred and closed his eyes, a trusting expression on his face.

"Cat isn't an animal," I replied. "He's a cat."

"Cats are animals, sir."

"I'll agree with you if I get a drink," I said. By that time the room had gone silent and everybody was staring at me. Inside my head Tom was chanting 'shut up' repeatedly and I could sense Elenia glaring at the back of my neck.

"Sir, please remove your animal from this bar," another staff member said. His badge proudly announced that he was floor manager and that meant he had some authority.

"Or what?"

"Or I will be forced to call the manager, sir, and the police."

I smiled coldly and swiftly pulled my pistol from my waistband, firing three shots into the air. People started screaming but the two staff members just stared at me in shock.

"Did I mention that I'm armed?" I said. They screamed and ran off. Everybody was running around in circles, screaming, and it was getting incredibly annoying.

Before I had a chance to do anything Elenia had already shot once upwards. The bullet embedded in the ceiling, dust raining down on her. When it cleared she'd already moved across the room, sitting on the bar, gun in hand.

"Everybody is going to calm down," she drawled, "and nobody is going to leave just yet. The police will not come and everybody will be happy! So keep on dancing, keep on drinking, keep on partying because for some of you, there will be no tomorrow." She smirked and then swung her legs over the bar so she was facing the bartender.

"Oh, and you're going to get me and my friends drinks for free. Only the best."

Quiet murmurs began and Tom strode across the room, silencing everyone once more. He flicked the DJ on the forehead, implanting some sort of ice mind control chip in the young man's brain. A blank expression passed over the boy's face and he started to play the music, mixing records and putting on tracks. Soon people were dancing again and the bar seemed to be a happy, working place.