Chapter 13: Everybody Loves a Bar Fight Scene

I have designated Werewolves and Vampires as the main Demihuman races to be used as viable donors. They were selected because of their unique regenerative properties which will prove essential in making the test subjects strong enough to grow to full maturity. The Vampires have long faded from political power in the universe, so I doubt there will be repercussions should it get out that the Vampiric children I adopted will be used for the experiment.

Leon sat across from Captain Morgan with Mozar and Kormal taking up seats on either side of him. The others flanked behind Leon in a defensive formation, keeping a wary eye out in case of traps.

Captain Morgan sat there grinning at Leon with aggravating confidence with a mug in one hand and the other under the table. He knew full well he was addressing powerful Psionic Users and Elementals, but he didn’t seem the least bit nervous. Now that things had settled in the bar, Leon could pick out the captain’s crew a little more easily. There were quite a few tattooed and poorly dressed pirates with bad haircuts eyeing them all over the room. They pretended not to notice as they went about playing, joking, and drinking, but they all had their hands on their pistols as they occasionally glanced his way. Leon wouldn’t have been surprised if most of the bar’s occupants worked for James given how readily they were to worship him. Leon kept his telepathy on scan for threatening intentions. He couldn’t read direct thoughts all too well yet, but he was very good at sensing intent to kill.

Go ahead and keep that hand under the table, thought Leon, almost wishing that the pirate would make a move against him. The moment you or any of your morons decide to become a threat, I’ll catch the shots and kill every idiot in this bar with a single slash of Psionic Wind.

Captain Morgan held up a finger as he chugged down his drink in an irritatingly slow manner. Then he finally slammed his glass on the table with a satisfied sigh. “Mozar. Always good to see an old dog like you.”

Mozar growled in annoyance. “This one told you we were coming. You just wanted to show off for these pups, didn’t you?”

James laughed loudly as he slapped his knee. Leon curbed the impulse to take his head off with a swipe of his hand.

“You and your ‘this one’ and ‘that one’ stuff. Always a barrel of laughs you are, eh, Mozar? Either that or a barrel of limbs,” James said as he noticed the others.

Captain James took particular notice of Rachel with her sunglasses. Sliding his own sunglasses down his nose to reveal one blue eye and one green eye, he grinned mischievously at Rachel and said, “Love the shades, darling. Nice to see someone else around here with good fashion sense.”

Rachel simply coughed uncomfortably with a fist to her mouth as she turned away from the pirate and crossed her arms.

The Pirate Captain put his shades back over his eyes and turned his attention to Mozar. “At least I can look forward to a bit of fun now that you’re here.”

Captain James pointed at each of them in turn as he spoke almost admiringly. “Do you blokes know what a legend this old hound is ‘round these parts? Mozar, the oldest Werewolf alive. The lone killer with more kills than most crews rake up in their entire lifetimes. The cold-hearted bounty hunter with powers and skills equal to nearly any Elemental.”

Leon’s jaw tightened in anger when James said the word ‘Elemental’ and he opened his mouth to protest, but Captain James waved him off dismissively.

“Don’t get yer panties in a knot, cupcake. Nearly every bloke here works for me, and those that don’t know better than to blab ‘bout me business when I’m with guests.”

Well, that confirms that theory, Leon thought, stifling his annoyance at being called ‘cupcake’, but holding back a retort. Then I won’t have to pick my targets should it come to a fight.

“Now then, Mozar, me old chum, tell me a bit more about this venture of yours?” James asked as he swished his mug around playfully.

Mozar nodded his chin towards Leon as he said, “Not this one’s venture. The young pup’s here.”

“Oh, he’s the one, eh?” said James, sounding bored.

Suddenly, the pirate jumped to his feet, slammed his hands on the table, and leaned down until he was almost nose-to-nose with Leon as he grinned maniacally. The other members of Squad 99 instantly went into defensive postures as Grafael moved to kill the pirate with a punch to his face. Leon calmly raised a hand stopping the massive fist an instant before it destroyed the pirate’s head. That one hand raised kept all his teammates from unleashing untold destruction upon the captain and his crewmates. Rachel also had an attack ready at the same time as Grafael, her fingers angled at James’ throat and sparkling slightly with Lightning Elemency. With just the slightest pressure of electricity from her fingertips, she could’ve decapitated him. Torsha and Tork crouched facing opposite directions, Torsha raising her claws and smoke sizzling from Tork’s mouth as he prepared a fire blast. The Werewolf and the Dragon growled as they scanned all directions for incoming attacks, waiting for an excuse to lay waste to their adversaries. Leon would’ve let them continue, but he hadn’t sensed any threat from the pirate, only bemusement. James was testing him and the killing instincts of his men. The Pirate Captain didn’t even flinch as he kept his attention firmly on Leon.

Leon noted, with no small amount of amusement, some of the pirates stand to their feet while raising their guns. Their reaction was too slow. He could’ve killed James and most everyone in this room long before they noticed a threat. Even now, if he gave but the slightest signal with his hand, his teammates would tear them all apart before they could even register dying. Leon gave a circular motion with his finger, and Squad 99 relaxed behind him. Kormal and Mozar sat completely still throughout the whole exchange, only glancing at each other in wry amusement.

James laughed as he appraised Squad 99 before waving off his own men who holstered their weapons and went back to their games. “Well trained, you lot. Suppose that’s to be expected for your types.”

He leaned back into his chair lazily. By the tone of his voice, he hadn’t been nearly as drunk as he had let on earlier. “Who should go first then, eh?”

Leon forced himself into an easy smile as he folded his hands on the table, and said, “So glad we can finally get down to business. I didn’t know if there’d be more party games, or perhaps a shanty, before you could be bothered with us.”

James gave a single scoffing chuckle. “Well, ain’t you the snippy little blighter? You really think they’d leave me alone until they had their fun? I’ve got a reputation to maintain. They know when they come to see old James, they’re in for a good time. And those that want something’ other than a good time usually end up floating out in the debris field.”

A pretty Satyr barmaid with dark hair done in a ponytail and tanned skin passed by, setting down cups. She had small, ram-like horns, was fairly short with a slim figure, and had furry brown goat legs beneath a black skirt, though her other features were mostly human. She wore a brown leather sleeveless dress and a white apron. When she left a cup for James, she gave him a wink, and he grinned back at her in return.

The mood became slightly relaxed as the three singing Giants took out some violins and started playing a surprisingly pleasant tune.

Leon looked down to the drink in front of him, then to Mozar who would be able to detect any poison. The Werewolf shrugged, taking a swig of his own mug. Kormal simply pawed at his drink gingerly with a disgusted sneer. Sages were notorious for their weak constitution.

Taking a sip of his beverage, which was a little bland for his tastes, Leon continued. “I was told you could get us into the Inner City of Nirvana.”

For once, James seemed surprised as he choked a little on his drink. “The Inner City! I thought we’d be scouting out the outer orbs.”

Leon felt the slightest bit of satisfaction at seeing the pirate become ruffled, but kept his face emotionless as he said, “There’s been a change of plans. We’ll be needing safe passage to the Inner City, preferably undetected by security.”

James raised an eyebrow as his gaze became suspicious. “Now why, young buck, would an inexperienced team of investigators need to be visiting the Inner City of Nirvana for? You can learn plenty from the outer orbs, and the security there isn’t half as tight.”

Already feeling impatient, Leon decided it was best to just cut to the chase as he said calmly, “Well, that’s simple. The Pirate King makes his home in the Inner City. I should expect it will be easier to arrest him by visiting him in his home instead of waiting for the small chance that he will appear in the outer orbs.”

James gawked at Leon with an unreadable expression. A few of the pirates that had been listening gasped, some even falling from their chairs. Then Captain James sniffed, wheezing out a gasping laughter as he threw his empty mug away, shattering it to the ground. A Green Goblin barmaid appeared moments later and swept up the broken glass into a dustpan with a broom.

“The balls on this wanker,” James said, gesturing around the room. “He actually wants to-”

James was cut off as an explosion sounded off in the distance. Leon came to his feet alongside the other members of Squad 99. Grafael and Tork were already reaching for weapons.

“No need to be alarmed,” Kormal said without much reaction, still fingering his drink uncertainly. “Her name is ... Sharon, right Mozar?”

Mozar growled as he licked at his mug while muttering, “Always tinkering with something.”

Leon traced a cloud of smoke to a doorway in the back as a figure burst out. Pirates around the bar pointed and laughed as a young girl emerged from the cloud of smoke coughing and waving it out of her eyes. She had wild, unkempt black hair almost as long as Éclair’s. Black goggles were strapped over her forehead. She had one green eye and one blue eye like Captain James. She wore big brown gloves, a black leather apron, and dirty gray overalls, leaving her sweaty arms bare. Her dark skin was the same tan shade as James, and her face was pretty with a small beauty mark on the corner of her mouth. She wasn’t very tall, but she had a pleasing curvy figure. The girl looked fit with arms slightly larger than the norm for most girls, like she spent her days doing manual labor. Although, she did not move like a warrior, so Leon doubted she got those muscles from fighting.

When the smoke cleared and the girl looked around to see everyone laughing at her, she pumped a fist at them and said in a manner of talking that had become quite familiar at this point, “Oh, lay off, ya bilge rats. As if any of you lot could know an atmospheric compactor from a bottle of rum.”

The laughing died down as the pirates went to their drinks. A large, gray-skinned Troll with a small head but disproportionately huge arms lumbered towards the girl. His legs were like tree trunks. The yellow-eyed Troll – who wore a brown sleeveless jerkin that showed off his chest, and brown shorts – was bulkier than Grafael, but his build looked more stout than muscular as his belly popped out slightly. Like all Trolls, his skin was stone-like, and probably just as hard. At first, Leon felt a hint of concern as the huge creature, about ten feet tall, came towards the petite little lady. However, his fears were laid to rest as the Troll brought out a white handkerchief and dabbed the black smudges on the girl’s face. He was speaking in a soothing voice, using a language that Leon didn’t understand.

The girl waved the Troll off in annoyance, “Lay off, Gumar! I’m fine, alright!”

Gumar, the Troll, with huge mouselike ears, gave out a sad moan as his ears drooped. Then the girl sighed and jumped up as high as she could, climbing on his chest using his shirt as leverage. Then she gave him a quick peck on his stony cheek. The Troll immediately brightened, rubbing his cheek and laughing loudly.

The girl caught sight of Captain James who was grinning at her fondly. She pushed past several pirates with the huge Troll trailing and grinning behind her. Then she pulled up a chair, spun it around, and plopped herself down next to James with her arms resting on the chair’s back.

“Air might get a little stale in the bar now, but we’ll still be able to breathe for the time being. Yer welcome,” she said as she took James’ mug and downed what was left in one gulp. “So, what I miss, brother?”

Of course she would be his sister, thought an exasperated Leon, remembering how Kormal had called her Sharon. Now there’s two of them.

“Oh, nothing much, sis,” said James, patting her shoulder in a familiar fashion. “Our Elemental friends here just told me how they want to disrupt the very fabric of our society, that’s all.”

“Blimey!” said Sharon with an excited grin. “So, it’s gonna be one of those days, eh?”

The Troll came lumbering over behind Sharon and Captain Morgan, making tables and chairs shake with every step. Now that he was closer, Leon could see the Troll had green irises surrounded by yellow sclera. He immediately zeroed in on Grafael and gave a low growl as he scowled at the Saurian. Troll faces were roughly humanoid in shape, but there was something beastly about the growling Gumar.

Grafael glared at the Troll, growling a little in return as his lips curled back to reveal his fangs. The Troll was taller than Grafael, and much bulkier, but things like that meant less than nothing to a Saurian in a rage. Leon suspected that the instincts of Trolls and Dragons made them naturally born rivals. Everyone went quiet as the two continued staring each other down.

“Calm yourself, you repulsive reptile,” Mozar said with a growl of his own directed up at Grafael.

Grafael turned his glare down at Mozar. “I don’t back down when challenged, and I don’t take orders from moronic mongrels!”

That actually made Mozar smirk slightly as he waved a clawed hand at the growling Troll. “Gumar, this is Grafael. Grafael, this is Gumar. With both of you being so large, clumsy, and stupid, you should find some common ground, yes?”

Gumar stopped growling, then said with a tone of curiosity, “Oca! Mozar vog Saurian.”

He was speaking a dialect of Trollish that Leon couldn’t quite make out. But their language patterns were simple enough that most could pick up on their general meaning after hearing Trolls speak for a little while.

Mozar shrugged at Gumar, clearly understanding the Troll. “I guess you could call him that.”

Suddenly, the Troll beamed brightly and said happily, “Ota ro! Gumar vog Saurian!”

Then the Troll jogged past the table, every footstep shaking the ground, as he ran towards Grafael with arms outstretched. Everyone backed away, and Grafael glanced uncertainly at Mozar who simply regarded him with a cold countenance. Leon didn’t feel any aggression in the Troll’s actions. He felt...

Before Grafael could decide if the Troll meant to attack, Gumar wrapped his huge arms around Grafael’s shoulders and spun him around while laughing merrily. James and Sharon both laughed while pointing at the confused and stunned look on Grafael’s face as Gumar handled him like a doll.

Then Gumar sat Grafael down as everyone, including Leon, gawked in amazement.

Grafael cleared his throat uncomfortably, his face going a slight shade of purple for a moment as he briefly blushed. “I ... I appreciate the sentiment, Troll brother. But please don’t do that again. I am not accustomed to ... to being manhandled.”

Rachel gave a short chuckle. “Now you know how you and Tork make Ryan feel sometimes.”

Grafael nodded, looking more shaken than Leon had ever seen him as he said, “Duly noted.”

Gumar pointed at Grafael’s face with a big, bulky finger, and laughed loudly. “Saurian vog chu ra! Gumar gra Saurian!”

“Uh ... I’ll take your word for it, friend,” replied Grafael in confusion.

As much as Leon enjoyed seeing Grafael unsettled, he wished to conclude their business and leave the bar as soon as possible. Though, considering that they were in a pirate-controlled galaxy, getting away from bars seemed a slim prospect.

“Back to the matter at hand, then,” Leon said, bringing everyone’s attention on him.

“Oh, yeah,” said Sharon, giggling and tapping her fists together excitedly. “I wanna hear ‘bout this ‘end of pirate society’ bit.”

James pointed a finger at Leon’s face. “Well, Mr. Sunshine over here wants to take on the Pirate King himself singlehanded like. And he wants us to get him close enough to do it.”

Gumar and Sharon gasped at Leon. Sharon whistled softly in amazement, and said, “Shadows rising and Caretaker coming.”

Torsha cleared her throat in annoyance. “The Lord Caretaker doesn’t actually have much to do with the Shadow Realm. You know, he’s the giver of light and life, and the Shadow Realm is kinda the opposite of that.”

Sharon looked up at Torsha in surprise, then gave a sweet smile. “Oh, religious type, are ya? Never would’ve thought it, what with you being ... uh ... being...”

“Furry,” Torsha finished politely. “Yeah, I get that.”

“As for my proposal,” said Leon, bringing them back to pertinent discussions before they went off on a tangent again. “I think I know a way to make it worth the risk to you and your crew.”

James smiled in a friendly but subdued manner. “Look here, mate. I have no love for the way the Pirate King runs things around here. That’s why I agreed to Mozar’s request to help you lot spy on him. But outright taking him on. I may be a little crazy, but I also have a strong sense of self-preservation, especially when it comes to me crew. So you can offer me all kinds of cash, but it won’t make no difference. I won’t send my men to die for the likes of you and your ego just because-”

“I have a way to make you Pirate King in his place when the job’s done,” Leon said simply.

Gumar, Sharon, and James all stared in stunned silence. Most of the bar went quiet, and even the musical Giants had stopped their music.

James leaned in close, no longer amused as he said, “Now that’s a load of shite if ever I heard it.”

Leon gave him a casual smile. “Perhaps you’ve also heard of my family, the Lurranna Clan?”

James jerked back into his seat, looking afraid for the first time. In fact, all the pirates looked alarmed as they watched Leon with a new wariness. Gumar drew just a step closer behind Sharon, putting a big arm around her shoulders as if to pull her back, and her eyes widened in shock.

Then James glared at Mozar. “You failed to mention that little beauty, didn’t ya, Mozar?”

The Werewolf didn’t look up as he smirked, licking from his mug in silence.

“My family name still holds a great deal of influence in certain parts of the universe, even here,” Leon went on. “We take down the Pirate King, I give you the credit. With the Fire Ministry’s backing, you can rule Nirvana as our proxy governor.”

Captain James scoffed. “Be your puppet king, eh, mate? And under that jerk, Chissler, no less.”

Leon shrugged. “I doubt that would make much of a difference to a man of your pragmatism. Nirvana will still be autonomous for the most part, answering only to the Fire Minister, not necessarily to the Emperor. So long as you keep your raiding parties away from Imperial Space and target only entities throughout the universe we deem unfriendly, you can remain in our employ as a private buccaneer. Even enjoy the protection of the most powerful of the Elemental Ministries. A Space Pirate Captain with Fire Elementals in his corner. Now don’t tell me that isn’t the least bit tempting?”

James scratched his cheek as if considering, but his upturned nose seemed to indicate he wasn’t impressed. Leon recognized a classic salesman practice when he saw it.

“Now all that does sound dandy, I do admit. There’s just one thing, mate,” James said offhandedly as if he could care less. “What makes you think I even bloomin’ wanna be the Pirate King in the first place?”

Leon cocked his head, taking a long, deep drink from his ale, downing it all in one gulp. He purposefully made James wait on him this time. Then, after the brew was finished, he slammed his mug down with a loud gasp and looked back up to the waiting pirate as if he just noticed him.

“Well, I simply took you for the heroic type. Unlike most in your profession, you care for your men. I doubt you were pleased when you heard the Pirate King made an enemy of the Fire Ministry. I wager a number of your friends have already been taken into custody in response. The growing crime wave is also alarming to you. Someone like you prefers to do jobs quietly, without much collateral damage. All this ruckus the Pirate King has been making, the questionable allies he’s been acquainting himself with ... it’s all bad for business. You knew his days were numbered when he angered Saria Kaves. I’m just speeding that process along a little ahead of schedule. You were probably hoping to grab what power you could in the aftermath and use that influence to protect your own crew and allies. Now I’m offering you the chance to take it all. I think you would’ve jumped at the opportunity to make yourself Pirate King, but you just didn’t see an opening on your own ... until now that is. So stop bluffing, will you? We both know you’re going to take the deal.”

Not a word was spoken as everyone waited for Captain James’ response. James sat there watching Leon with an unreadable expression. If Leon had to guess, he would say that James was showing him his best poker face.

Then James sighed, and took one last swig of his drink before smiling. “Grinds my gears being hustled instead of doing the hustling. But you know something, mate? You’re bloody right, you are.”

James then stood to his feet and jumped up on the table, turning to the crowd who listened with bated breath.

“YOU HEAR THAT, GENTS! I’M GONNA BE THE BLOODY PIRATE KING!” he announced, raising both arms in the air.

The whole bar erupted into the loudest cheering so far. Pirates everywhere threw up their hats and their mugs, shattering glasses of ale and sending alarmed barmaids scrambling to clean up the mess. A few even fired their laser pistols into the air, leaving holes in the ceiling. Gumar then took Captain James in his arms and threw him over the crowd as they carried him above them mosh pit style.

Leon groaned as he gestured to the idiot pirates. “Does he have to scream it out for the whole station to hear?” he said over the roar of the privateers who were gathering on the other side of the bar, tossing a beaming James and Sharon between them like a couple of footballs.

Mozar chuckled. “Why do you think James picked this place for our meeting? He may seem reckless to you, and he is in many ways, but he still knows what he’s doing. Almost everyone on Karma-1 is loyal to him, and he already set up shields around the bar when we entered to prevent eavesdropping. Sharon was doing more than tinkering with the air system in the back, you know?”

Leon mulled over the Werewolf’s words. He tried, but couldn’t help the slight smirk that followed. “So, he’s a more cunning fool than I gave him credit for, but still a fool nonetheless.”

“Regardless of the matter of his intelligence, he will be useful to us in more ways than one,” Komal mused, still eyeing his beverage without coming to a decision. “His men can back our own reinforcements when the time is right, allowing us to wage a war against the station’s outer defense systems. That will leave our squad with little to no opposition to storm the Pirate King’s fortress ourselves and mop up whatever bodyguards he has protecting him.”

Kormal finally took a sip of his drink. He gasped with a disgusted grimace and then threw the mug away, shattering it to the ground along many others. The Goblin barmaid soon appeared, giving him a sour look before sweeping up the glass. Though it hardly made a difference as shattered glass now littered the entire bar, leaving her and her coworkers quite busy for the time being. Mozar only sniffed in amusement at Kormal’s display.

Leon gave Kormal a sidelong glance. “You would really have us fight alongside pirates?”

“I believe that was your idea, my young Lurranna.”

“My deal was for them to get us to the Pirate King, not to ... oh, never mind. I doubt someone like James would even agree to doing that much for us. He’ll probably just sit back and let us do all the dirty work for him. He would never risk himself or his men for our sakes.”

“You think you know him so well, do you?” Mozar said quietly.

His tone made Leon want to argue, but he let the matter pass as he saw James bring some of the revelry to the end and gestured towards Squad 99. “Oy! Get these super-powered lads and lasses some lodgings, eh? They’re gonna need their rest to usurp an intergalactic criminal government for us!”

A round of laughter rang out at that one. Leon just took that as a sign of confirmation as he raised a hand towards the would-be Pirate King while looking between his two elders. Kormal and Mozar didn’t seem to be paying attention as they stared at each other. Leon realized that they were having a private conversation using telepathy, and he was almost tempted to try and pierce into their minds to hear what they were saying to each other.

Before he could ask what they were talking about, he noticed a newcomer. An old, graying Elven pirate - with long pointed ears, copper skin, a long white beard, and a burn mark on one side of his face - waved his arms to get James’ attention. He jumped down from one of the upper balconies and leaned against the railing. Since full-blooded Elves generally didn’t have facial hair, it was likely this Elf had human blood in his lineage as many of their kind did.

“Captain,” called down the bearded Elf. “There’s an unregistered crew of Minotaurs heading for the bar.”

James grew grim as he eyed his Elven teammate. “Are they meaning to attack? Is that old codger, Brocktree, on to us already?”

Brocktree? thought Leon in curiosity. Vladar Brocktree, the Dwarven Cyborg. Yes, rumor has it that he’s one of the likeliest candidates to be the Pirate King.

The Elven crewmate shook his head. “Doesn’t look like it, Captain. Reports say they’re an independent crew of raiders and marauders back from a job in the Labyrinth. All indications suggest they’re just looking for a good time. Should we turn them down, Captain? Politely but firmly ask them to take their fun elsewhere?”

That Elf’s mannerisms, thought Leon as he studied the newcomer. He seems a bit more refined than the others. More dignified. And ... and I feel like I’ve met him somewhere before, but I can’t think of where.

James gave a dismissive wave and a shrug. “Our business is concluded for now. If them bull fellas wanna have some fun, so long as they behave themselves for me girls, I don’t see why not. Just tell ‘em no roughhousing with the ladies, same as any chap who comes here.”

The Elf gave a brisk salute, and said in a mannerly way a tad too polite for a pirate, “Aye, Captain.”

And then he was darting out the door in a way that seemed a tad too energetic for an Elf his age. He looked ancient by all accounts, so his spryness surprised Leon.

James waved away his crewmates. “Alright then, you lot. Mum’s the word. Get the preparations ready for our trip to the Inner City. I want everything ship-shape in the next day or so.”

A few drunken Spacers wobblily said, “Aye, Cap’n.” Then humans and Demihumans alike scampered off to do the captain’s bidding.

James pointed a thumb behind him as he approached Squad 99. “That pointy-eared bloke is me first mate and me accountant. Calls himself Nazz. Weird fellow, but nice enough. He’ll be seeing to your lodgings here and when we reach our base in the Inner City. You got any questions, you direct ‘em at him then, eh?”

Leon opened his mouth to respond, but then he heard the sound like the charging of bulls, which wasn’t too far off. The Minotaurs had come. They came in all colors of fur coats from black, to brown, to gray. They were long-horned Minotaurs, each one roughly the size of Tork or Grafael. Some of them wore black leather armor similar to Grafael, others simply went bare-chested. Their hands and upper torsos were humanoid-like, but they had bull-like legs and tails for lower halves with silver metal skirts covering their private parts. Their faces were fierce and bovine, some even having golden rings going through their noses. Many of the bare-chested ones had purple tattoos of archaic symbols.

The group of fifty or so Minotaurs barreled into the large bar laughing raucously. They came with all manner of guns, swords, and axes strapped to their backs. Most of James’ men on the ground floor had already gone to complete their assigned tasks for the captain, leaving the bar mostly empty. However, there were quite a few watchers on the upper levels eyeing the Minotaurs warily.