Kincaid
Earlier Today
Cyrus sat where he always did, at some run down bar on Jaya. He had been coming to this same bar every day now for nearly a week, staying for the exact same amount of time. No, it wasn't his alcoholism that kept him coming, but instead his desire to eventually see William the Creator walk in through those doors. This was the bar he had told William to meet him at when the old man eventually finished up his work. He had told William he'd be waiting between the hours of ten in the morning and one in the afternoon everyday for the next two weeks.
Although the first week hadn't even concluded, Cyrus was growing impatient and concerned. Perhaps he shouldn't have left William alone to try to figure out how Toy King Momo had hacked his bots. Then again, the inventor was walled up in a large Marine Base, not exactly a place for a Revolutionary to be crashing on the couch.
Cyrus sighed and sipped the last remnants of his whisky. He fished around in his pocket and pulled out some crumpled beli notes, placing them on the bar top to close his tab while he finished his tab. Out of the corner of his eye he could see two disheveled looking men approach the bar.
Man this is some babyback bullshit. Why'd we get shafted with transporting all that cargo from the ship?
Hell if I know, it's not so bad though. Most of it is already in Dollyland. The boss just wants some papers.
Exactly, that's why I'm pissed. It's not even important stuff. Just some drawings of robots, Momo has enough robots for cryin out loud. Does he really need more drawings of them?
The other man shrugged as a third joined them up at the bar. He spoke in an angry, hushed tone,
If you two dumbasses are done blabbing to the entire bar of lowlifes and degenerates about the secret cargo we're supposed to be transporting could you hurry up and get us a drink. Also, they're not drawings you fish brained fuck, they're schematics, blueprints on how to build more robots. Stronger, better, faster, deadlier robots. Idiot.
With the last word the newest member of the trio slapped one of them upside the head before returning to a table with two other pirates. A group of five in total it seemed, five of Momo's crew just to transport some schematics from his docked ship to Dollyland? That seemed a bit over the top, obviously these were something worth getting his hands on.
Cyrus finished his drink and left the glass, stepping away from the bar he gave a quick nod to the other two pirates standing at the bar beside him, touching the brim of his hat as he went by. Well, if William wasn't going to show, at least he had found something to do today.
Present Time
It hadn't been hard really, finding the five pirates he had seen earlier. The only way to Dollyland was on the ferry that took excited passengers to the theme parks of Long Ring Long Land and the Ten Heavens of the World. So, Cyrus simply sat on a bench beside the entrance ramp to the ferry and watched the crowds mingle about and board. The first ferry left without any sign of the pirates he had encountered in the bar, which wasn't exactly surprising as Cyrus suspected they were still enjoying their drink before heading home to Dollyland. However, by the time the second ferry pulled in and docked, ready to pick up more eager passengers, Cyrus noticed two of the pirates milling about amongst the excited faces. As they boarded he searched the crowd for more. Minutes later the pirate who seemed in charge of the group, the one who had slapped the back of the head of his comrade, walked through the crowd and onto the ferry.
Finally, towards the end of the boarding process, the last two who had been complaining about their job walked down the gang plank and onto the ferry. Cyrus quickly brought up the rear behind them, making it on just as they began to close the gate and retract the walkway.
On board, he followed the final two pirates through the hall of the ferry, passing numerous excited families and blabbering children all looking to enjoy their vacation. The two pirates passed by the man who had entered alone, but none of the three so much as glanced at the other. Cyrus found this odd at first, until he realized they had planned this staggering of forces.
Odds were good that only one of them had the blueprints and they had spaced themselves out to not draw attention to the fact they were pirates, they were part of Toy King Momo's crew, and they were carrying very precious cargo. Groups of two or just a solitary pirate could lay low, simply look like a maintenance worker headed in for his shift this afternoon. A whole group of five though, that would get loud and draw too much attention. Perhaps these pirates were smarter than Cyrus had given them credit.
Regardless, he followed the talkative pair to the end of the ferry and up the stairs to the upper deck. There they walked out of the enclosed seating area and leaned against the railing. Cyrus followed, but moved farther down the railing so as not to be so obvious that he was tailing them. So if these two were up here and the head guy of this mission was down below, that left two unaccounted for that he'd have to find. Cyrus thought through how he was going to do this with a ferry full of civilians.
He wasn't opposed to innocents dying, but preferred to only do it on a needed basis. As in, he'd be paid handsomely for the death of hundreds of civilians. Getting these families roped into a fight with pirates wasn't exactly beneficial to Cyrus, so if he could avoid it, he would.
Oi, mate, haven't I seen you before? A voice broke Cyrus's train of thought as he looked farther down the railing to see the two pirates staring at him.
Aye, yeah, you're the bloke from the bar. Headed to the Ten Heavens with the rest of these ninny's, eh?
Honestly you don't strike me as one of them fun loving family types, mostly cuz you're alone and was drinking alone in a run down shit hole bar. The two pirates laughed and Cyrus simply smiled.
Got me there fellas, I'm actually on business, mechanic for the rides. Not exactly glorious, but it pays the bills. I've always found the work goes by faster when I've had a couple in me.
Cyrus said before opening his jacket, keeping his hand over the cloth stopper of the molotov to only show the neck and upper part of the base of the bottle of alcohol. Speaking of which, would you gents be interested in continuing this little party?
The two pirates looked at each other for a moment before approaching Cyrus eagerly.
Ya betch your ass we would. Screw work man, we're working too and we definitely need a little drinky drink to get through the day.
Whoa whoa whoa, hold up. The ferrymen work for the Ten Heavens, they don't like you bringing in outside drink to the parks or on the ferry. We get caught with this they'll make us toss it before we even get to enjoy it, plus I'll probably lose my job. Come on, follow me.
Cyrus said and the two pirates did, just like some of the dumbest ducklings Cyrus had ever seen, they followed him down the stairs, past their fellow pirate and to the back where the bathrooms were located. Cyrus opened up the door and said,
Welp, in you go.
The two pirates looked at the small, cramped bathroom. There was enough room for a sink, a toilet and a urinal. The three could fit but it wouldn't exactly be comfortable.
Seems kinda...
Gay, it seems real gay. Three guys in a bathroom?
Relax, I'm not suckin ya off no matter how much you beg me to. It's just the only place we won't be bothered by the staff. This shit's strong, if you want some get in, if not I'm going to enjoy it myself with some peace and quiet.
Alas, it was the draw of booze that did in the bumbling pirates and as they stepped into the bathroom, Cyrus looked down the left corridor to the back of the ship. He saw no one and the right corridor was currently blocked by the bathroom door he held open. So, as the pirates stepped in and turned, waiting for Cyrus to come in with them and split the booze, Cyrus raised a single finger to neck height and quickly brought it across a horizontal line.
The first head fell clean off the shoulders of the pirate's body, tumbling to the ground while the body crumpled beneath it. The second one however was built a bit thicker and sturdier. The razor string went deep, deep enough to cause the pirate to attempt to cry out but instead only gurgle and choke on frothy red blood.
He clutched at the bleeding wound in his neck, blood pouring out between his fingers as he tried to stop the flow. Panic set in, his eyes bulging as he reached forward with his other hand to attempt to grab Cyrus. Instead however, he fell to his knees, the blood loss overcoming him as he stumbled forward and fell to the bathroom floor beside his comrade.
Cyrus looked down at the two corpses before frowning,
Well, that was messier than it needed to be. They never make this easy.
He then stepped into the bathroom, closing the door behind him and turning the bodies over to search for the schematics. Patting them down and searching their pockets and jackets, Cyrus couldn't find anything even remotely resembling blueprints or robotic schematics. He frowned, but truthfully wasn't surprised.
These two were far from the brains of the operation, just dumb muscle really. Standing up right and washing the blood from his hands in the sink, Cyrus opened the bathroom door to leave only to have it swing back violently and smack him in the face.
The Revolutionary stumbled backwards, tripping over the corpses on the floor and falling into a sitting position atop them.
Ow. He said, rubbing the bridge of his nose where he had taken the worst of it.
A figure appeared in the doorway, something in his hand pointed at Cyrus.
Get up. Now.
Cyrus stared at the figure, the light behind him making it difficult to discern features until he recognized the man's voice. It was the other pirate from the bar, the one who seemed to be running the show. If anyone was going to be carrying the schematics it was him. However, the click of a hammer on a pistol stirred Cyrus's thoughts as the pirate demanded,
Now.
Okay, okay, I'm up, relax. Everything is cool, we're cool. Cyrus said, raising his hands to show he was unarmed as he propped himself up against the wall.
Shut up and walk towards me, let's go. The pirate demanded and Cyrus did as he was told, slowly walking towards the pirate. Although in the space of the cramped bathroom, it wasn't more than four steps to the doorway.
Get out. He said, motioning with the gun and Cyrus did. Behind him the man placed the pistol in his pocket, keeping it pointed at the small of Cyrus's back.
Walk to the back and up the stairs to the top deck. We're going to have a little chat and then you're going for a swim.
Cyrus walked slowly and evenly through the hallway as the bathroom door closed behind them. The pirate was right there behind him, every once in awhile he could feel the pirate's coat brush up against him. Clearly this guy had done this before.
As they turned the corner and headed up the stairs, Cyrus could see a ferry worker coming down the same narrow steps, built for barely enough room for two people to pass each other on. As Cyrus passed the ferry worker, he used a finger to attach a nearly invisible string to the man's heel, yanking on it suddenly to trip him up.
The ferry worker stumbled, falling into the pirate behindvCyrus.
Agh, what the hell? Get out of the way!
The pirate demanded as the ferry worker tried to get his feet under him so he could stand on his own and not tumble down the metal stairs.
GUN! He's got a gun! Cyrus shouted for all the ferry to hear, This man is a pirate and he has a gun! Someone help!
Immediately heads whipped around, panicked shouts ran out across the ferry and children began to cry. It was exactly the chaos Cyrus needed. He jumped up on the stairs, supporting himself by holding onto both railings before delivering a devastating kick to the pirate's face. This caused the tangled ferry worker and pirate to go tumbling down the steps, Cyrus hot on their trail.
Sorry mate, you okay? Cyrus asked at the bottom of the stairs as he pulled the ferryman off the dazed pirate.
The gun had spilled out of his pocket and Cyrus went to reach for it when he noticed a large manilla envelope peaking out of the corner of his unbuttoned jacket. That was it, those were the schematics Cyrus had been looking for. He looked at the gun for a moment before grabbing for the schematics.
The pirate managed to get himself back together just as Cyrus pulled the manilla envelope free of his grasp. He grabbed for the gun, but the Revolutionary was able to attach a string to the weapon and pull it into his grasp.
To any onlookers it would have looked as though Cyrus had lifted the gun with his mind or some sort of magic trick. He pointed the gun at the pirate who in turn simply stared angrily at Cyrus, hands raised in the air in defense but pure rage behind his eyes.
Here, you work here, hold this. This man is a criminal and a terrorist. He was going to murder me and mentioned something about a bomb being on board the ferry. We need to dock immediately and get everyone unloaded.
Cyrus said as he pushed the gun into the ferry worker's hands, inadvertently making him the hero of the story as a crowd began to gather and more workers showed up to detain the pirate.
I think he killed two others too, somewhere on the ship. Cyrus called down as he walked up the steps and away from the crowds, manilla envelope in hand.
Looking across the gathering faces he could see the other two pirates staring him down. They made eye contact and for a moment Cyrus paused before nodding, touching the brim of his hat and then turning to continue up the stairs. The docks of Ring World were already in sight and Cyrus could feel the engine of the ferry kick into overtime as panic swept across the vessel. It'd only be a matter of minutes before they docked and everyone was unloaded in a panicked frenzy.
He popped open the manilla envelope, effectively alone on the top deck as everyone had run down to the lower decks to be the first ones off the ferry. He was confident the other pirates wouldn't try to pull anything while still on board the ferry, not with such a heightened security alert, and disappearing into the frenzied crowd when they docked would be child's play.
Looking through the contents of the envelope, Cyrus unfolded schematics for what appeared to be highly weaponized robots. There all different sorts, some ranging from humanoid in size to small dolls that could explode after a set timer. Whatever Momo was building, it wasn't good for life itself and now Cyrus knew how to build it too.
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Jaya Island | Revolutionary | 2708 Words | +2 S&A |