Infinite Aces

A thief's folly

After a long nights rest Avvix awoke and packed up his gear for the day ahead.
"Why must we move so much!" Mileas said as she rolled out of bed.

"Nowhere is truly safe." Avvix said as he was placing a few pieces of parchment in his bag. Avvix stopped packing for a moment and looked back at Mileas. "Take this." Avvix said as he threw a small knife and sheath at Mileas's feet.

"Why do I need-." Mileas started.
"I don't need you getting injured again, I figured a weapon would fix that problem a little." Avvix interrupted. "My dad gave me that, so don't lose it." Avvix added.

"If you say so..." Mileas replied while examining the knife. She quickly packed up her things shortly after.

Exiting the room Mileas looked at Avvix and said "Ya know I need better clothes, any idea on how I could get some without spending too much money?" Mileas asked.

"We can stop by the laundry room here and grab something fitting." Avvix said as he started off.

"We won't get in trouble for that will we?" Mileas asked as she followed closely behind.

Avvix scoffed at that statement, "Of course not, that's where I got this jacket" He said as he looked at his blood stained jacket.

After a few turns they arrived at the laundry room. Avvix quickly went over to one of the machines and threw his jacket in and hit the start button. "I'll be here, go find something you like... but nothing too flashy." Avvix said to Mileas as he leaned against the wall. Mileas quickly started rummaging through some baskets and found a good pair of pants, a flight jacket, and a holster belt. She quickly put all of the clothing on over her current outfit.

Quickly and quietly the made their exit back into the underworld of Vir. They walked briskly and presented themselves proudly as to avoid attention. (A shady figure was easy to spot down here.)

"So what is the extent of our problem, I want to know what I'm getting into here." Mileas asked when they turned down an ally.

"Well I'm sorta wanted by the Maw crime family, and the Bleeder gang..." Avvix answered.

"Uhh... that's pretty bad, how did this happen?" Mileas asked nervously.

"Let's just say I've worked for a lot of people, and have done some questionable things." Avvix said so as to diffuse the question.

"Fine, but at least tell me where we're going." Mileas said while she looked around at the surrounding buildings.

"We're going to the watering hole to talk to an old friend of mine, hopefully he still has the skill set to get me my ship back." Avvix explained casually.

"You have a ship!?" Mileas asked in disbelief.

"Had..." Avvix responded through his teeth.

They walked in silence for a while, but then they happened upon a small underworld market. The place was dimly lit and many suspicious looking people milled about.

"Let's try and make our way through without getting robbed." Avvix said plainly.

Mileas nodded and followed Avvix through the hooded customers and masked thieves, but suddenly Avvix was stormed by a small group of rushing figures separating him from Mileas.
Avvix put a hand on his revolver and prepared to draw, but the group dispersed into the crowd.

Meanwhile, Mileas had completely lost track of Avvix. She ducked into one of the shops, ready to draw a knife. However no one showed up to rob her as she expected. Then she realized that the only one who had anything worth stealing was Avvix.

Avvix was beginning to figure out what was happening. A small group of surprisingly smart thieves were splitting him off from Mileas so he was easier to take down. He was confident in his abilities, but he didn't know what was about to happen. He stood still like a rock in a flowing river and listened closely for the oncoming attack.

Out of the orchestra of hurried feet, Avvix barely detected a lone and quiet player that was slowly approaching. Avvix placed a hand in his pocket discreetly and with his other hand he gripped his knife.

Suddenly the steps stopped. Avvix immediately  spun around while drawing his knife, and landed a devastating punch right into a cloak wearing thief's face. The thief stumbled back and fell to the ground in a heap. Then out of the crowd three more black hooded figures emerged from the crowd and grabbed Avvix by the arms.

Avvix found himself being dragged away into an alleyway. He fought to get free but it was no use these particular thieves hand iron grip. Avvix was then thrown against a dumpster causing Avvix to drop his knife. He was soon met with a masked man kneeling in front of him.

"You're a tough fellow to track..." The man said menacingly. "The Bleeder gang is surprisingly adamant about getting their hands on you." He continued.

"You can quit with the senseless monologue." Avvix said in a irritated manner. "I don't take kindly to being roughed up like that." He stated while rubbing the area on his arms where the thieves had grabbed him.

The masked man slapped Avvix across his visor and pressed him up against the dumpster. "This is going to go one of two ways Ace, first option you come with us quietly and we won't treat you too harshly... Second option, you can back talk me again and the trip to the Bleeders won't be pleasant in any way, shape, or form." He explained ominously.

"Is there a third option?" Avvix said quietly.

"What was that?" The man hissed.

Avvix cleared his throat, then asked confidently "Is there a third option?"

The man immediately slammed Avvix's head into the dumpster and threw his against the opposite wall.

Avvix knew how to deal with this. He'd been through it before, all he had to do was wait until the man got the message that he wasn't afraid. Then he would reverse the balance in his favor.

Mileas saw what was happening. Mostly because of the crashing and thudding coming from the ally way.

"Back at it again..." she sighed to herself.