Moxx's Bar wasn't really an established place in their City Pillar. Most bars had alcohol licenses to operate within their walls, and they were strictly monitored to make sure not to mix in anything dangerous for humans. After all, a drink that could get the average Delver drunk was something that was considered deadly to a normal person.
Moxx's bar made up for the fact that they didn't have a license with the fact that they moved places every now and then. They would renovate an entire floor of a housing block to hide their business, and then they would dip so long as anyone went around to enforce the laws around the place. It helped that they didn't need to move too often since they were so close to the Basement, and as such, anyone who came by was more than willing to look the other way with a little "encouragement."
Jason took a few minutes to find the current front for Moxx's bar. It had been awhile since he had gone back to the place after he became a Delver, making it nearly impossible for him to get drunk along with his friends.
The bar looked like any normal housing block found within the lower Blues. A faceless, metallic block that was found in the middle of a maze of alleyways. The only outstanding thing was the pair of burly men who stood at the choke points at the alley where the door to the housing district was situated. They stood in a small circular area where several alleyways congregated, clearly barring anyone from going down the alleyway Jason knew Moxx's was.
"Hey buddy, go look somewhere else for a little stroll, yeah." One of the men stepped up as they saw Jason make their way to the alley they stood in front of.
Jason blinked, taking a moment to sniff the air as if he were lost. He smelt the familiar scent of alcohol and the new smokes that Oliver had been using in the elevator before. It wouldn't be the first time he accidentally went the wrong direction after he followed a scent single-mindedly.
Jason looked between the two, and he grew a little confused as he watched them tense. It took him a moment before it clicked; he had sniffed the air on habit whenever he got lost, and he had completely neglected how that looked to normal people. The bouncers were there for regular people and idiots. Delvers were a different beast that no reasonable person would turn away.
"This is Moxx's, right?" Jason asked, trying to seem less confrontational.
"Y-yeah…" the man who spoke first said, and his partner nodded along silently. "Look, we ain't lookin' for trouble, and I doubt we have anything that could get a Delver drunk, so we can give ya directions to another bar if ya want."
Jason tried not to look amused. "I think my friends are already inside. I'm just here for a little; I am looking to drink anything."
The teen tried not to think about the image of two six foot something, burly men who looked apprehensive about him. The both of them towered over Jason, but all three of them knew that should Jason decide to go through them, he quite literally could. Any weapons that could hurt a Delver would not be found in a minor bar that couldn't find a place in the Basements or Clouds.
Suddenly, the silent man opened his mouth. "Sorry, are you the bloodhound?"
Jason shot the man a glare, sighing as he knew that was probably the best way he could get in. Reluctantly, he nodded.
"Ah, yer friend said you'd be comin'." The man said, tapping his Holo. Down in the alleyway, a section of the walls disappeared, and Jason could feel the thrum of technobeat in his chest. He cringed a bit at the sudden noise, but quickly stabilized himself.
"I know it won't be much but try not to get in any fights… We might be operating an illegal place, but we can't do much to cover up homicides." The man practically pleaded, earning a pale look from the other bouncer. Jason nodded, already feeling annoyed with the man.
As the teen made his way through the alleyway to the music in the open section of the wall, he heard the two bouncers whisper behind him.
"... sure he can't hear us? I heard Delvers can hear a fly through thirty feet of concrete." A lie, Jason mused. He had tried that long ago, and he was suitably disappointed that he couldn't do it. Maybe someone with a Innate Talent for senses perhaps?
"Doesn't matter. That guy was probably the bloodhound who those kids Oliver and Lee run around with. I know a guy who knows a guy who says that bloodhound was one of the tamest Delvers he ever met. Won't start a fight unless you start it, and he only goes for the kill if its a fun fight."
… Jason picked up his pace, trying to ignore them. They definitely heard more about his exploits that got him banned from the Basement. His mom would kill him if he ever went down there again; that is if he made it back without stirring up the Delvers who evaded the laws down there.
Quickly, Jason found himself in the middle of Moxx's bar. A layer of smoke and mist lightly coated the floor, curling around his ankles. He found the walkway of normal housing complexes had been transformed into a path straight up to the circular bar that sat in the middle of the place.
The walls that would have sectioned off every apartment had been ripped off and demolished with the doors and larger gears that had sat within the walls being used as makeshift tables and chairs. The long strips of lights that would have illuminated the place were covered with thin, colored cloths and tints so that the bar was colored in a collage of different colors. On the far right of the bar was a crowd of people gyrating with the beat of the music as they surrounded a DJ who had antlers that grew from his forehead.
Jason peered through the crowds, dexterously making his way through the roving bodies. The low light and smog of the place didn't obscure his vision even a little as he spotted Oliver's trademarked mohawk in one of the booths that were found in the corners of the bar.
Next to Oliver was a pale and skinny teen. His hair was long and held up in a messy ponytail, and his clothes didn't look too far off from what people commonly associated with those from the Basement. Long, baggy pants and a long-sleeved shirt that looked like it had been slashed and stitched back up several times. Stains covered his clothes; though, even Jason had trouble deciphering if those were from the teen's past endeavors or from the drink that sloshed from his hand's erratic movements.
Across from the two were teens that Jason recognized as people who joined Oliver and Lee on whatever jobs they took. Their faces changed every now and then, and they seemed to only continue to rapidly dropout or leave entirely as they struggled to keep up with Jason's physique. In the end, Jason got into the bad habit of calling them the Helpers, only really associating himself with Lee or Oliver since they seemed to keep up with him the best.
Oliver caught sight of Jason first, standing up and waving excitedly. Lee was quick to follow, and Jason found the whole table getting up to greet him.
"Hey, the man of the hour! Or should I say the Delver of the hour?" Oliver smiled happily.
Jason saw everyone's minute reaction the second the words "Delver" were uttered. He couldn't help it; even in the dark bar with flashing lights and a plethora of smells to get distracted by, they were just too close for Jason to simply ignore their reactions.
The Helper group, a trio of two girls in baggy hoodies and skirts and a guy with a buzz cut. They looked on at Jason like he was some sort of creature corrupted by the Abyss; a mixture of awe and terror. As if they were afraid and intrigued of the mystery of his presence. Of course, this was just a guess he had formulated from the past experience of similar reactions. He had known himself to be wrong on occasion.
Lee, however, was someone who Jason could read easier than others. Lee was jealous. A jealousy that Jason could see grow and grow the longer the other teen expected to become a Delver any day now.
Jason hid his thoughts behind a genial smile, easing into the middle of the booth with Oliver on one side and Lee at the edge. One of the girls from the trio slid next to his side, and Jason could see she wanted to lean closer to him, but he scooted away before she could try.
"Ah, don't touch our bloodhound." Oliver cut in before she could say anything. "Becoming a Delver really screwed with his senses, so he doesn't like to be touched much. I remember when he couldn't even wear a shirt for the first week he awakened as a Delver."
Jason blushed under the light of the bar. He ignored the high-pitched laughter from the trio and Oliver's own chuckle. The brown-haired teen's eyes glanced at Lee, and caught his friend pulling out a cigarette, hiding a frown as he tried to light it.
"Lee, man, what did I tell you about that shit!" Oliver tore the cigarette out of Lee's hand, reprimanding him as he warned him about what Jason said earlier. Lee just shrugged, setting off Oliver onto another tirade about how some drugs caused normal humans to explode.
"So," the buzz-cut teen grabbed Jason's attention. "How does it feel to slum it with some normie humans like us?"
"Blake!" One of the girls slapped him, and Blake just laughed it off.
"What? Am I wrong? He's a badass Delver, yanno!" Blake said fervently.
"I don't think its different from when I was a normal human." Jason said, trying to stop the teen from talking louder. He already caught a few glances sent their way, and Jason already promised the bouncers not to get into a fight.
"Really?" One of the girls asked. Now that Jason had a better look at them, he could tell that they were twins.
"Come on, don't think I'ma weaklin' like the others who left before. What was it like to kill someone with your bare hands?" Blake asked bluntly. He grinned as the girls leaned in as well, interested. "I heard you tore a man apart like he was just a wet piece of paper."
"T- that wasn't really what…" Jason stuttered as he remembered the incident that forced him away from the Basement. "I didn't really mean to do–"
"Hey Blake," Oliver leaned over the table, offering a smile that didn't really reach his eyes. "Shut the fuck up."
"What?" Blake's face fell. Almost as if he wasn't expecting such a response. "What man? I'm just askin' a normal question."
"What man?" Oliver parroted, mimicking Blake's voice almost perfectly. It was something Jason hadn't heard in a long time. Oliver had a knack for sounds and voices, but since he wasn't a Delver, everyone seemed to overlook that fact. "I let you run a couple jobs because you said to me 'I can slum it, too.' Yeah… you almost got us caught today, ruined our gig yesterday, and now you're trying to start shit with bloodhound. I ain't gonna carry a liability around who goes around with a death wish. Find another group tomorrow."
Blake didn't say anything for a moment. His lips flapped as he opened and closed his mouth wordlessly. Eventually, he decided on anger. The teen's face scrunched up into a rictus of rage, lips pulling into a snarl as he reached for his waistband.
Jason was on autopilot as soon as he saw the idiot try to escalate the situation immediately. His heart thundered in his chest, and he felt the electrical flood of Mana fill up his body. His eyes sharpened and it was like time slowed down.
The teen could see Blake's spittle flying from his mouth, and how Lee had already been watching Blake's actions. Lee had already begun to stand and start to leap over the table, trying to stop the idiot. The two girls stared at the whole situation, unsure how to react.
Oliver was… Jason found himself freezing as he saw Oliver's face. The mohawk-wearing teen was looking at him. Jason always knew there was tension between the two of them ever since Jason became a Delver as Oliver was always the leader of the group, and the second Jason became something more than human, the dynamics of the group changed immediately.
Those that left always contacted Jason after, inviting him on a different gig with a different group. They always said he could be the leader if he wanted. Everyone who joined their group always wondered why it was the normal human instead of the Delver who called the shots.
In that infinite moment, Jason had a small suspicion that Oliver knew exactly what would happen here.
A second passed and Jason's gaze snapped back to Blake. The teen had pulled a small, black pistol from his waistband. How he snuck it past the bouncers and detectors, Jason didn't care to ponder. Normally, Delvers didn't really have to fear bullets from older gun models even if the technology had advanced, but Jason was not the target of the gun. Oliver was.
Jason moved before the gunshot drowned out the other noises of the bar. Screams echoed in the back of his mind as his hand already intercepted the path of the bullet, and he felt a sting of pain as the metal slug dug slightly into his palm.
Blake's face already had a look of realization on his face when Jason's fist smacked against the barrel of his pistol. The metal bent and shattered under his force. Shards of metal launched into the teen's body and he screamed in pain, falling to the floor at the same time that Lee landed on him.
Lee grappled the teen to the floor, blinking as he saw Jason already standing. The screams of the bar continued on, and Blake's blood started to stain the floor.
"W- what just happened?" One of the twins asked carefully. Jason ignored them slightly as he scanned the room, catching sight of others who eyed him warily from their own parts of the bar. The bartender glared from his place in the center.
"I think we might have caused too much of a scene." Oliver laughed awkwardly, cutting through the tense atmosphere. He spared the twins a pretty smile. "Sorry Liz, Madison, I'll send you two a message through your Holos in the morning. That is, if you want to do another gig together?"
The two blankly nodded, still a little shaken. Lee looked between Oliver and Jason, shrugging.
"Guess I wasn't really needed, huh?" Lee said jokingly, but Jason heard the bitter tone he hid.
"Sorry, Lee." Oliver said, not really denying that statement. Even if he did, Lee knew it would just be a lie.
"Its nothing, man." Lee said, taking a cigarette and lighting it. Jason smelt the familiar scent again, but chose not to say anything. The whole situation ended in the blink of an eye, yet it only served to highlight all the little cracks Jason had chosen to ignore in his friendships.
"Wanna go to another bar, then? I know one not far from here." Oliver offered with a smile.
"Nah, I gotta go. Got a gig for somethin' tomo." Lee said, grinning. With that, he turned and left the bar. Jason and Oliver paid each other a glance and followed him out quickly. Though, before he could follow far, Oliver turned back and tossed a few packs of cigarettes to the barkeeper in apology.
Jason and Oliver found Lee not long after they left the vicinity of Moxx's bar. The skinny teen leaned at the entrance of a corridor between two housing complexes as if waiting for the two of them. Lee scratched the base of his ponytail for a moment before he sighed and extinguished his cigarette with his heel.
"Save it, Oliver." Lee started, causing Jason to shoot an odd look between the two.
"I didn't even start…"
Lee shook his head, trying his hardest to wipe the grin from his face. "I know why you invited Jason and that idiot to Moxx's. You've always been the nosiest bastard, you know."
"I figured it was something like that." Jason frowned, turning to his friend as if to ask him to explain.
Oliver raised his hands in a gesture of surrender. "Sorry, sorry, I meant well. I swear. I just wanted Jason to understand what's been going on when he doesn't have his head in the Clouds."
"What?" Jason smacked his lips, eyes wide.
"Figured it was somethin' like that." Lee groused bitterly. He crossed his arms and shot Jason an annoyed look. "Don't tell me you haven't even thought about us 'normal humans' as less than you for a second. You even said it back in the bar without a second thought. Face it, Jason, you already understand the distance between us and you, and you're still slummin' it with us despite that."
"Yeah…" Oliver said with a wry smile, ignoring the look Jason sent him. Instead, he turned to face Jason with a shake of the head. "I… I figured it would be best if you saw what it looks like normally. After you stopped making regular appearances in the group, everyone tended to treat you like an untouchable figure or something to be feared and respected. You became less a member of the group and more a… Well, a Delver."
"...Yeah. Same." Lee chimed in, dodging a punch on the shoulder from Oliver.
Oliver sighed. "What he means to say is that you can't really fit in like you used to, Jason. I know you like the way things were, but you gotta understand that people like Blake are getting pretty common the more people associate us with you. At one point, you gotta make a decision. You got a real shot at making it big like any other Delver. Not like... well, you know what I'm saying."
Jason knew what his friend was getting at. Every Delver who developed alongside normal people always ended up running some sort of gang in the Basements. They were an almost indestructible evil. There wasn't much money and profit in getting rid of the parasites down below, and there was even the benefit of illegal materials and items that were more readily available if people did look the other way.
Of course, the ones that bore the brunt of the problem were undoubtedly the normal people. And those people that did try to escape or fight back either died or had the chance of a lifetime and became a Delver themselves. Those lucky ones either joined a gang themselves or left entirely.
The two of them definitely knew that Jason had talked about becoming a hunter, but even Jason knew that the more he chose to stick with them the more he would use his powers as a Delver to solve their problems. Slowly, his presence would escalate the threats they faced till it grew to a point where Jason had to either leave or create his own place down below.
His Abyss Stone Appointment was a pathway to something different.
And yet, Jason paused before he could make the decision. He thought about the vague promises of the academies; the predatory contracts every corporation sent his way; the absurd prices for academies when he didn't sign said contracts. All of those things added together to build an image in his head, and Jason couldn't quite understand what he wanted to do.
Then, Jason remembered the excitement on his dad's face when he mentioned his opportunities. His dad definitely wanted him to go to an academy, and Jason was fairly sure his mom carried the same opinion.
The teen rounded on his mohawk-wearing friend. "Is that what all that was about? You could have made your point some other way, Oliver."
Oliver sighed at Jason's words, sagging like a deflated balloon. "Is that really what you're paying attention to?"
"You did purposely get a gun put to your head." Lee commented from the side.
"Jason was there to save me!"
Jason regarded Lee with a raised eyebrow. "Is this really happening that often?"
"Its a gamble on any new members no matter what." Lee said, waving his hand vaguely. "Oli is normally good at gaugin' the idiots… until now, I guess."
"Hey, don't look at me. Besides, I can't always be right! You're going to another gig without us! You're trying to split off on your own, too."
Lee shrugged awkwardly under their attention. "I can't always get your help, and a guy I know contacted me for a solo gig. I can try to get my name out there without being behind either of you."
"Ah," Jason made a noise involuntarily as he realized Lee's plans. The teen already had something else lined up, moving towards a goal he wanted.
Oliver was much the same as well. His business in the clubs in the Clouds showed that the redhead already had works in plan, striving towards something Jason couldn't see.
Both of them were moving on their own, but Jason still clung onto them. His status as a Delver definitely didn't do them any favors; Oliver had driven that fact into Jason's head with his stunt.
"Something wrong?" Oliver asked, dragging Jason away from his thoughts.
"No, no, I—" Jason clammed up a bit as he realized that he was the only one who didn't change when he became a Delver. Like Oliver had said, he had a chance to make it big, but everything just seemed like he was being pushed to make a decision that was not his own.
Still, he sighed, knowing it was the same to flounder around thoughtlessly.
"I'm just thinking about things. You guys wouldn't believe how expensive Delver shit is." Jason finished.
"That so?" Oliver asked with an upturned eyebrow. The smirk on his face told Jason that his pause did not go unnoticed.
"Tell you guys what," Oliver started again, sending something with his Holo. Jason looked down as his wrist buzzed. "I've been talkin' with some Fixers who manage gigs, and a couple more successful gigs from me can land me enough contacts to start calling gigs of my own."
Jason shot a look at Lee, finding the teen's eyes widened and jaw dropping. Lee's cigarette hit the ground as the two of them processed their friend's words.
"You serious, Oli?"
"Mhm," Oliver hummed, grinning at them. "So, if you need to get your name out," he gestured to Lee, and then pointed at Jason. "Or you need some Bits to make it big. You can call me."
Jason smiled as he forgot about his problems, genuinely happy for his friend. "I'll be sure to contact you, then."
"Yeah, anytime. But uh…" Oliver said and glanced at his Holo. "Probably not anytime soon. It won't look good if you hang with us so much before I settle things, you know. Having a Delver behind your actions sells a very different image."
"Right," Jason's smile grew brittle, but he understood it.
"You'll be the first one I call for anything that pays big, Jason." Oliver offered, glancing at his Holo again. "But, I really gotta go now. Something came up, and I need to get to it."
"Go, we can party when you make it, Oli." Lee piped in, moving to leave as well. The skinny teen paused to look at Jason for a second. "Hope you stop being so half-and-half."
Jason snorted, amused. "Ass."
"Idiot." Lee echoed, waving as he left.
"Take care, Jason." Oliver also moved to leave. "Don't die while we're apart."
Jason chuckled as his friend turned those words back on him, waving as he was finally left alone in the dark corridor. His friend's scents lingered around for a minute, and he couldn't help but wonder when they started to move on without him.
He breathed out roughly, feeling momentarily bitter. The young Delver sagged against the wall after he stopped hearing his friend's footsteps. After a moment to collect himself, he started off towards the elevators of the city.
"Seriously, I just want to not think about this stuff."