Here is a new chapter, I hope you like it! (There may be spelling errors, I am too tired to fix them at the moment, I had to wake up early for a job interview, but I am sure it is very readable still)
4. July 23rd, 2140. Grey City
Val watched as the lights went out inside the bar, she was worried. Red had barely walked in and now the doors were closed the lights were off. Crash! the sound of glass breaking, a fight? She needed to get in there and find Red. She knew that if she didn't act now she might lose Red and the Sapphire, her Sapphire, a gift to her late husband, Hex Achord. The fool had turned it into one of the twelve stones, and before he left he had disabled them, and broken the Sapphire, he gave her a piece and took the rest with him. She wanted it back, it was hers, she didn't care about the rest of them, in fact she had made duplicates and fakes, just to throw anyone off the trail of the original twelve. Her Violet stone was easily duplicated, she'd given out two today already. She heard yelling, there was an angry voice "I told you to wait until he gave us no choice, what if you hurt him you idiot?" It was that large man in the Blue suit from Red's attic. Great, now I have to deal with this ass hole. She thought, but then the doors to Rosten's opened, it was the man in the Blue suit, he was carrying Red out of the bar. She watched as he came out followed by a woman and two men, they all had guns, she had her weapon, but she was outnumbered. She decided to follow them instead, to wait for the perfect moment to get to Red.
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July 25th, 2140
James' eyes slowly opened, he felt like he'd been hit by a car, What happened? Then he remembered the bar and Bass Clef's appearance and then... well not much, someone must have hit him from behind. He looked around the room, it was a very nice room, painted blue like a sky, with clouds an everything, he was in a bed, much softer then his own which was now ruined, the blankets, sheets, and pillows had this sky motif going on as well. The windows had bars on them, there was a television set in the left corner, an alarm clock above it, there was a bathroom connected to the room he was in and a door on the right wall. The closet was full of clothes, a few suits, some casual wear and a cops uniform, they were all made for a larger man, This must be Clef's room. He tried to stand up but found that his left leg was tied to the bed post. He wondered how long he'd been unconscious and where he was, this was all too nice for Gray City. He looked over to the night stand next to the bed, a glass of water and a get well card. Gee thanks Bass. It read "Dear Brian Holve, get well soon, thank you for your bravery. Sincerely the people of Wallace St, Blue Stone. Section S, North West District." Well, guess it's not for me, is that your real name? Brian? oh crap! Am I in Blue Stone? I gotta get outta here. James began to panic, he tried to pull his leg free, tried to untie the knot, he even knocked the bed over and dragged it to the door, he was going to take it with him if he had to, although a man dragging a bed attached to his foot would probably get him noticed more than he would like. The door was locked, he went into the bathroom, hoping to find a razor, with a beard like his Bass/Brian was sure to have a razor, he could cut himself free from the bed and figure something out from there. He entered the bathroom and saw a tooth brush, lotions, soaps and an electric razor, Electric? come on, who uses an electric razor? (People who have money and time to shave James) Shut up. He was in no mood for his own logic. He tried to go back out to the room, only to find that the bed was stuck in the door way. he had gotten himself stuck in the bathroom. Great... Just then he heard footsteps coming towards his room. "James, are you up?" It was Bass, he was opening the door, "We were a little worried, you weren't waking up-" He tried to open the door, but it was getting stuck up against the bed that James had gotten stuck in the bathroom door way. "James, what is in front of the door? What are you doing?" James yelled from the bathroom, "Uh, I kinda got the bed stuck in the uh doorway here to the bathroom" Classic Me He thought.
"James if you had to use the bathroom you could have called one of us"
"Why was I tied to the bed? I thought you just wanted to talk?"
"James we both know that you would have tried to escape, in fact I'm sure that's what you were doing in the bathroom, just stand back, I'm gonna force the bed out of the way."
There was a loud crash as Bass rammed the door, sending the bed flying into the bathroom, "Are you ok?" he yelled in to James, "Peachy" was his muffled response, he was trapped up against the mattress and the sink. Bass pulled the bed out of the door way, and James with it. He locked the door and sat next to James on the bed.
"So, how is your head?"
James was wary, this guy seemed completely different from the Bass he had met in his attic, the man who broke down his door, who was in a shoot out with that Muerta. "Uh, it's fine, what happened?" he asked.
"Brian hit you with a bottle and you passed out, then we brought you back here."
"You mean the other Brian?"
"Ah, so you saw my get well card?"
"And your clothes, is this your place?"
"Yeah, I tried to make it as much like home as possible"
"So we're not in Blue Stone?" James was relieved.
"No, we're still in Grey City, but I am from Blue Stone, I transferred here a few years ago."
"Wait, so your a cop?"
"Yeah, kinda funny huh?"
"No, not really, why go through all this shady stuff? Have me be watched by the people at the bar, were they all on your payroll? The Stable Boy, The Painter and the Whore?"
"She wasn't really a whore, she was a friend."
"Was?"
"Yeah, we got attacked on the way here, by that Muerta who caused the shoot out in your office, she got Brian and Karen, her Muerto weapon killed them instantly. They died protecting you, so I would really appreciate it if you made this easy on me and just answered all my questions."
Shit, they died protecting me? Why? They hardly knew me, and I thought I hardly knew them, turns out I didn't know anything. "Look, Brian, I don't know what's going on, I don't know how to find the stones, I can't help you and I am very sorry about your friends, I'm sure they were great people-"
"James, don't do this, to yourself or me, I know you are hiding things, you spent a lot of time with Hex Achord before he disappeared, you have to know something, he gave you that Sapphire."
Oh shit! The Sapphire, where is it? He began to frantically search around him, he hadn't even thought about his belongings, his clothes and shoes were gone, he was wearing his undershirt and his boxers, and the Sapphire was in his coat. "I have all of your things in the next room, I need to know that you can be trusted before I give you your things back. Now, tell me what you know."
"I don't know anything"
"James, please I don't want to have to resort to violence, I like you James, you seem like an ok kid, what are you, 27?"
"Kid? You can't be that much older than me."
"I wouldn't worry too much about it, now, tell me what you know"
"I don't-" Before James could finish Brian had punched him in the face, knocking him to the ground. James was hit so hard the bed fell with him. "And that was just a warning James, now, tell me what you know" James didn't have time to breathe, let alone think of a response, before Brian kicked him in his gut. Fuck, this guy is strong. Brian picked James up off the floor and threw him up against the window and it's bars, he could feel the steel pressing into his skin. "James, I'm waiting for an answer." he said in a calm voice, this man wasn't even breaking a sweat. "You're a cop?" James got out before Brian sent a right into his gut, knocking the wind out of him. "Not the answer I'm looking for James."
James gathered as much air as he could and started "What don't you understand? I don't know anything, everything I know I'm sure you know, The Old Man was Hex Achord, he made the stones." "What else?" Brain said as he swung at James, who tried to shield himself, but there was nothing he could really do, this man was a beast. He flipped James onto the bed, breaking it, James saw that there was a pipe laying in the wreckage of the bed and tried to swing it at Brian, only to have him grab it and hold James up against the wall with the pipe at his neck. "What else James?" James gasped for air and started again "He left his wife Val and Violet City to come here to hide out, he disabled the Twelve Stones before coming here and he knew that people were on to him, so he gave me this chipped Sapphire before he disappeared again. I don't know what it does, I don't know how it works, all I know is that it's some sort of computer chip!" Brian released him and James fell to the floor, gasping for air and clutching his throat. "See was that so hard James? You just had to give me one piece of information, and I would have left you alone, now I am going to go check out this computer chip theory of yours and I'll be back, for your sake you better hope it's true, I really hate to hurt you James. I'll be back with some food for you later, try and get some rest won't you?" Brian left and he locked the door behind him. James regained his breathe and sat against the wall. I'm a coward, I'm sorry old timer...
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July 25th 2140,
The Colonel sat alone in a small room he had built in the basement of his apartment building, the denizens of the building called it "The Dom" mostly because someone couldn't say "Kingdom" and it caught on. He didn't really care what it was called, it was his home, his pride and joy, and he was in charge of it. Twenty years ago The Colonel lived in the building that used to stand here, then there was a territory dispute between a Human gang called "The Memories" and an Undead gang called "The Grey City Turks" a bunch of hoodlums as far as The Colonel was concerned, even back then. The two gangs fought on this street and this building was burned down as a casualty of their war, many innocent people died because they couldn't make it out of the building alive. The Colonel saved as many as he could, but it wasn't enough, he blamed himself for their deaths and promised that he wouldn't let something like this happen again. He gathered a few men and some weapons and took to the streets of Grey City. Everyone called him the colonel, he was the leader of this army of now homeless men, who looked to this retired military man for hope and leadership. He waged a guerrilla war with these two gangs and won, but at a price. He was just as bad as many of the gang members who haunted the streets before him, he had the blood of innocents on his hands, all in the name of peace in his own neighborhood, he murdered the leader of the Memories in cold blood outside of a diner, all in the name of peace. He had brought peace to his people, and they loved him for it, he hated himself more than ever. But he would continue to lead these people until he couldn't anymore, he would provide a shelter for those who had nowhere to go, and all he asked for in return was the loyalty of his men. A colonel needed an army, and he had found his in the many disenfranchised people of Grey City. He saw himself as a modern day Robin Hood, he stole from the rich and gave to the poor, the rich made him sick, they sat two sectors away in Violet City and Gold Estates. May god help any upperclass that found themselves lost in Grey City.
The Colonel sat in his room waiting for the scan of the Violet Stone he was given by that Muerta, it was almost done. There was a knock on the door. "There were six characters, what were they searching for?" The Colonel shouted. "An Author" a voice shouted back. "And the five?" The Colonel said, "An Exit" was the response. The Colonel opened the door, it was Allen Crumb, code name Treble Clef. A loyal Zombi that had proven himself very useful. "Sir, I gave your orders to Bass and the others, they are heading here as we speak."
"Good, prepare burial rights for Karen and Brian, i want a quiet ceremony, family only, I don't want word out that two of ours were killed protecting Rojo from a Muerta, the people don't need to know the details, it would only depress them."
"Yes sir, do you really believe that Rojo is dangerous?"
"I don't know yet, but this all started around him, he's involved somehow and until I know to what capacity I want him held."
"Yes sir, Bass says he believes that Rojo is innocent, he didn't seem to know much beyond our own knowledge, and that was after spending a lot of time with Hex Achord."
"You can never be too careful Treble, I want to talk to him myself, please arrange food and water to be taken to the Laundry room" The Laundry Room was a euphemism for a pit they had made to house their war prisoners, they dug out a hole where the laundry room stood in the building before it burned down.
"Yes sir." Treble left, and The Colonel was alone in the room with his thoughts. I'm sorry Rojo, but I can't just trust you and risk everyone's lives, I've got enough blood on my hands, what's one more versus hundreds more?
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