“Now that the pissin’ contest is outta the way, how about this? As well as additional immunity for Chimera, we’ll also pay an ancillary fee of one million Creds. If those ZOBE chicken shits fail, and you guys end up finishing the job instead, we’ll tack on an extra eight hundred thousand Creds on top of that. Easy job. Can’t turn down that kind of easy money, right?” Daav asked.
Neo and Franki glanced at each other and nodded before Franki answered.
“Deal,” Franki said.
“Excellent.”
“Wait a second! Somethin ain’t right,” Neo interrupted. Neo stood, put his hand on the hilt of his sword, and headed toward the entrance of the tent.
Shit! Caiden thought to himself as he heard the commotion. By the time Neo came out of the tent, Caiden had disappeared. Caiden managed to put a safe enough distance between himself and Neo, cleverly using the crowd as cover. The goon cautiously peered into the moving crowd of patrons hoping to confirm his suspicion. He found nothing.
“Must be my imagination,” Neo said to himself, before sheathing his sword and slowly walking back inside the tent to conclude the meeting with Lt. Daav.
“What was that about, swordsman?” Daav asked.
“Thought I felt something. Never mind. The deal’s been made, so we’re makin’ our way outta here” Neo responded.
“Sounds like a plan to me. I need to get something to eat,” Franki replied.
“Your precious general will be hearing from Dragon real soon regarding the details,” Neo said.
“Fine by me. Oh, and one more thing. Try to avoid being spotted on the job at all costs,” Daav responded.
The two hitmen made their way out of the tent, “Hey, Frank! Heard they’re having some real good cage matches on the other side of the Bazaar. We should head over and catch a fight,” Neo said.
“As long as there’s something to eat along the way,” Franki grumbles.
“Sheesh, muscle head gotta eat every ten minutes. Its insanity,” Neo prodded.
“Let’s just go,” Franki said dismissively.
Caiden: Guys, start heading away from the cage match arena. The two goons are headed there now!
Hitomi: What should we do? Head back to the apartment? Or wait for you?
Caiden: Meet me back on the main road. Try your best not to panic, remember, you have the holo-straps on, so they won’t recognize you immediately. But we still need to play it safe.
Hitomi: Got it. Nams, we should start heading out.
Nami: Right, see you in a few, Caide.
-End Chat-
Intent on keeping an eye on the hitmen, Caiden stealthily followed them from a safe walking distance. He held his head low to avoid being recognized. He never took his eyes off them as they made their way to the cage fights. Franki stopped at a couple food tents along the way. Neo had a savage energy about him.
Neo had uncanny instincts, like that of a predator. It was no wonder he was a hitman for the most powerful gang in the city-state. The patrons of the bazaar would step aside, just to stay out of Neo and Franki’s way. The two men wore their allegiance to Chimera like a badge of honor and it only added to their fearsome reputation. Despite the obvious danger, Caiden’s devotion to his friends was worth that risk.
The two men found themselves at the outskirts of the seating for the cage matches. There were hundreds of captivated bystanders watching the display. The fighters were kicking, punching, blocking, countering, and evading one another's strikes, leaving the fans on the edge of their seats. There were no rules when it came to these cage matches. The only way to win was to fight dirty.
“Hey, these guys are pretty good!” Neo said excitedly.
“Yep, they’re highly skilled dudes,” Franki replied.
“I’m not surprised they attracted so many people here this time around, look at the sheer size of this crowd man,” Neo said. Franki took a quick look around before returning his attention to the fight. Neo scanned the crowd once more.
“Hey, hey, check this out!” Neo said as he leaned in and pointed to the upper stands. He was looking at two women; one with green eyes and one with pink hair.
“Those chicks are hot!” Neo said.
“Hell, yeah. They are. Hmm, I bet they could make Slavo some good money, huh?” Franki replied.
“Man, fuck, Slavo! They could make me feel good, I bet,” Neo said. Those girls were his new fixation.
“Jeez. Knowing you, you’re gonna shoot your shot. They’re gonna shut you down, you’re gonna get pissed, and then you’ll end up doing what you always do,” Franki said.
“And what is that exactly?” Neo asked angrily.
“Well, you’re not gonna take no for an answer, for starters. You’re gonna flash your sword, make ‘em do what you want, and because you’re a spiteful shithead, you’re gonna hand them over to Slavo anyway, then request to have private paid sessions with them whenever you want,” Franki said.
“Yeah? And what’s so wrong with that? I’d be helping the company with revenue, dickhead!” Neo replied, somewhat flustered, since he knew Franki was right.
“Worst of all, you won’t stop bothering me about it, so how about this; we simply grab those girls up and bring em to Slavo.” He paused. “No? Fine. You just grab ‘em and take ‘em, and do what you always do then,” Franki said.
“You know what, Franki, boy? You’re a damn good friend, ya know that?” Neo replied.
“Whatever, man. Let’s just do this,” Franki nonchalantly replied.
Caiden was within an earshot of them and overheard everything. Shit! They just had to pick Nami and Hitomi out of all the other women in this crowd! Even with the holo-straps! Why the fuck haven’t they left yet? He angrily thought to himself as he leapt into action.
Caiden: Guys! What are you still doing here? The hitmen are on their way to you! Get going.
Hitomi: It’s packed here. We can’t leave! We’ll try barge our way out now!
Caiden: No! That’ll only make them
