Jason stood around on his platform, idly shifting from one foot to the other. He had honestly thought the fighting would start already, but those thoughts slowly evaporated the longer he waited. Instead, he just waited on his ledge and occasionally looked over at the gangbangers on platforms nearest to his. They all still refused to stare him in the eye, but he figured that it was better than simply waiting around.
Eventually, his boredom got the better of him as he looked down at the ground, ignoring the sensation of vertigo as he got close to the edge. Down below, Jason found that the area closest to the pillar was cleared from housing blocks, forming an empty plot of land where people could congregate. Though, even if he was high up on the pillar, Jason could see that there was barely anyone within the empty space below the pillar. Instead, most of those who he would describe as the Zoo's members lingered along the roofs of housing blocks nearest to the pillar and looked down at the space below.
The reason for that was pretty clear if one looked closely.
In the space nearest to the pillar, Jason found four fairly large groups surrounded by smaller ones. The groups didn't interact much, and the teen realized, even with his impressive sight, that he couldn't quite make out the details of each group. However, that mattered little as he knew that everyone below was part of one of the Basement's myriad of gangs. Of course, it was easy to find the four largest gangs as they had the most members present below.
Jason made it a game of sorts as he tried to count each person in each little group, and it was only after he counted all the heads of the four largest groups –five minutes, really– that he again grew bored. He then sat down on his platform as he realized he couldn't continue to distract himself anymore. If there was something happening, Jason figured he could lose himself in the fight that was to take place, but he was now forced into unwanted reflection.
The first thing that came to mind was the cigarettes his friends are using. Jason knew he smelt something similar, and when he saw Mikey create that smoke on the Draken, the teen knew where he remembered the smell.
It was mana.
Atmospheric mana wasn't that different from air; it was scentless normally, but it changed based on what other types of mana were mixed into it. Like when the Lyonire used a rudimentary mana domain, Jason had sensed the air was sort of tingly. And now Jason realized that Mikey somehow weaved his own Innate talent or something similar into the cigarettes he was spreading into their City Pillar.
The Zoo's leader was definitely planning something. Of that, Jason had no doubt. He might not know what the drug lord was up to, but the reaction of the Draken to it was enough for him to put some ideas together. When that thought came to mind, the teen knew he wanted nothing to do with the Zoo after this gig. The only problem stemmed from Oliver.
Jason chewed his lip in indecision as he thought of Oliver. The redhead seemingly found a way to advance further, and normally, Jason would be happy and support him. Now, the brown-haired teen needed to figure out if Mikey showed him that smoke because they were sure of their subtlety or if the whole interaction was a test of some kind.
"This is frustrating when I can't just punch the problem…" Jason groused aloud, squashing the immediate thought of trying to beat up said gang lord. He might not have a vast knowledge base of Delvers, but it wasn't hard to find impressive feats on the Holonet. Where a Delver caught several bullets out of the air and flicked them back hard enough that they were molten when they landed. Mikey, being one of the leaders of the Basement, definitely didn't fall short of that.
"My esteemed sorry and whatnot fo' bein' late."
Jason's head snapped up in unison as he and many others found that a large, rectangular screen hovered in the air in front of him. He looked over to his left and right as he found that there were more screens so that everyone on the tower could see them.
On the screen was the familiar face of Mikey as he smiled, exposing his black teeth. Jason felt a bit validated when he caught many people flinching at that sight. However, he put away that reaction to stand up on his platform and started to stretch. In the background, the holoscreen of Mikey continued to flicker.
"We're 'ere ta watch as the peeps 'bove us fight an' try to kill each other." Mikey started, getting a massive cheer from the Zoo members on the nearby housing blocks. The man chuckled and continued, "'Course, I can't let all yer idiots die like dogs in a pit–" he sent a glare off to one side, and Jason raised an eyebrow, looking down to see Mikey on a platform near the base of the tower. He had glared at the second largest group of those below, so one of the four main gangs, then. It was a small affair, though. "So! My little animals an' idiots set up some… some– uh, what's the word? Safety? Sure, that's probably it. Anyways, the only rule S'that you gotta stay alive on the tower."
Jason pursed his lips at that. Mikey's vocabulary didn't even include the word safety, and well… that probably was quite self-explanatory. Still, he craned his neck down to try and see whatever safety implement the crazy drug lord had set up. He squinted as he found that the floor directly at the base of the tower was darker than the normal concrete. The question of what it was hung in the air until a scream echoed in the teen's ears.
His head swerved over to the falling body not far from him. The man screamed for help as he descended, and Jason grimaced as those the man passed just laughed at him. A mixture of disgust and pity filled Jason's gut as the man finally landed onto the darker floor right next to the tower, blinking as the man –still screaming– bounced. It took a couple of bounces for his momentum to be arrested, but he got up quickly after that, limping and disappearing into the crowd below to join up with his gang.
As much as Jason disliked the action, Mikey's "safety" precaution was clear to those who saw. Jason stifled a resigned chuckle as he realized the other man just created a giant trampoline.
"Uh," Mikey's drawl centered everyone's attention back on him. "Don't do that. I wasn' finished. Right, so, I gotta say–" he paused, leaning back and squinting at something offscreen. Jason felt a bit of sweat coat his brow. Did the man seriously have flashcards for this? Unaware of the very prevalent question that popped into everyone's heads, Mikey groaned and visibly slumped. "I 'ate all this tradition shit."
The gang leader then turned to glare in several different sections before he gave a roguish grin. "Yer all thinkin' it, too." He said vaguely and then regarded everyone through the holoscreen. "We all think Cogs are shit, but we're corporations, too. We peddle our shit, takin' from e'eryone else. What do you idiots think this is?" he asked, gesturing over at the tower. "This is our ad on the Chrome Corridor! We recruit idiots, take land, and take whatever the fuck we want, gettin' what we put in. We're jus' clear 'bout it. We ain't two-faced like the Cogs above us on their shiny ass thrones."
Jason rubbed his ears as a cheer exploded from below and around him. He frowned as several rival gang members looked visibly excited with the speech, vibrating in anticipation. Below he saw many of the larger groups shuffling awkwardly as they had to join in with the people around them.
Mikey laughed on the screen, spreading his arms as if he enjoyed the chaos he stirred up. With a toothy smile, the man declared, "With that, le's bash each other's skulls in! 'Course, there's Delvers among yer groups, so try not to die too quickly!"
As abruptly as he appeared, Mikey stepped away from whatever camera they used as the holoscreens in the air flickered away for a moment. Then, the screens appeared again above the crowds below, and Jason found that there were only four of them, giving them a view of the four Delvers of each main group.
He narrowed his eyes to try and sneak a peek at the three others Mikey told him to avoid, and then, he paused as suddenly his surroundings were filled with screams and gunshots. His nose twitched as blood filtered into the air. Around him, stray bullets bounced and skittered across the metal platforms nearby; though, Jason found that many of the gang members on the platforms closest to him made a conscious effort to stay away from him.
Realizing he wasn't anyone's target, Jason held back an annoyed grunt. He supposed it made sense, and he figured it was for the best since he really didn't want to accidentally break some normal human. Instead, he focused back on what he was doing before.
His eyes narrowed down at the four screens below. They were inverted, making it easier for the audience to see. However, that only made it harder for him to make out the images on them.
The monk from the Infinite Monastery was still seated on his platform, cross-legged while his hands were folded in an odd sign. Jason pursed his lips as he noted how the sign was vaguely related to the one he saw that Hunting Ground's Delver had used. Intrigued, the teen awkwardly laced his fingers together such that his palms were facing himself while his pointer fingers were held straight and fingertips were touching.
At first, the teen was a little confused as nothing happened. He supposed it made more sense for the hand signs to just be some random thing the Delvers around him kept doing, but he remembered a small slip-up Julius had once said when they met. Where the man had said something about "hand signs" and "offensive techniques."
With a sigh, Jason stopped copying the monk, putting it off for later. He then looked over at the other screens, getting a little concerned as the Yakuza shinobi rushed from platform to platform with an inhuman grace. The teen looked around, finding a little bubble of calm around him compared to the chaos of the other platforms.
It took him a moment to lock in on the scent he caught from the shinobi when he did the flyby, and Jason spied over his shoulder to see the man jump over a couple platforms overhead. The teen tensed at how quickly the man moved, ready for a fight. Though, that quickly became moot when the shinobi barely spared Jason a glance before he disappeared in the direction of the monk.
Jason felt tension and excitement leave him in equal measure. Sure, Mikey had asked him to run away from the other Delvers, but Jason couldn't follow those orders if someone charged him instead, right?
With that justification, Jason found that he was on one screen, and then he hurriedly looked to the last screen to find where that redheaded girl was. He saw she was jumping across platforms with a smile, heading towards some direction and avoiding the chaos around her. Whenever a gang member tried to take a potshot at her, she'd just flick something their way before she disappeared. A closer look showed that–
Jason's head snapped to the side as a series of explosions shook the tower. His own platform vibrated violently as he dug his fingers into the metal, stabilizing himself.
While he warily glanced at the plumes of smoke that rose from a couple platforms over, Jason found that a couple of people had surrounded his platform. The place Mikey had dropped him off at was a sheet of metal that had been bolted randomly into the walls of the tower, which meant that there were no other platforms nearby to form the makeshift "staircases" he had seen before. However, this meant that there were two of said "staircases" above and below him. Both of which were now populated by normal humans who leveled their guns at him. In addition, there were other standalone ledges like his own that were placed between the two series of platforms.
Jason felt a smile spread on his lips, looking around.
The teen waited for someone to make the first move, but he hesitated when he heard someone land on the metal ledge above his head. He caught the scent of the Calderone's hunting dog in the air followed by a thick scent of smoke. Jason snapped his gaze upwards, finding that the men who had threatened him were now going over the edge. They screamed as they fell down, but Jason's nose and eyes followed a familiar silhouette who had jumped over the side with them.
He barely caught their oversized jacket and short bob of red hair before the girl reoriented herself mid air to toss something at him. Jason blinked as he backed away from the stones the girl just threw at him, and he watched as they pelted the ledge he stood on, digging into the metal. His nose caught the scent of mana in the air. A sort of spicy and hot sensation that triggered something in his brain. Fire mana.
Jason ignored the stones as he dashed across his ledge, finding that they were now glowing a red light. He didn't want to see what happened next as he used the edge of the platform he was on to flip himself onto the bottom of his ledge, looking down at the series of metal platforms below. Looking up at him was the familiar redhead, grinning with an insane smile slashed across her cheeks.
His legs flexed the second his feet touched the underside, and he jumped down right as his platform exploded into a conflagration of heat and noise. Jason was deafened momentarily as he fell, feeling the remnants of heat and shrapnel against his back.
He hit the staircase below hard enough to dent it, and then he awkwardly scrambled out of the way as his previous platform slammed behind him. The entire series of ledges trembled and shuddered, and Jason found his hearing again as he heard the inorganic complaints of the groaning bolts that barely held the entire staircase to the side of the tower.
Without a moment to catch his breath, Jason then leapt back as a hand swiped where his head just had been. Clouds of smoke wafted around the area, letting him see where a couple of stones were haphazardly tossed around the ledge. He tensed again as the Calderone's hunting hound appeared through the smoke that curled around the area where he landed.
The girl was petite. She was thin, almost unhealthy so, but Jason found it more as a lithe in a "kill you in your sleep" way. Her face was round and innocent-looking so long as you ignored her twinkling red eyes and wide smile. A shock of short, bob-cut red hair was messily tied up in loose pony-tail.
Her clothing is what actually gave Jason pause. He had seen her wearing her long, dark red coat, noting that it draped over her almost like a dress. It was a nice coat, too. Gold trim lined the edges and obsidian buttons were fashioned over the plethora of pockets on it. Which Jason supposed was fine, but the girl wore basically nothing underneath.
It wasn't that the teen was checking her out –Jason swears he is not– but the girl had her coat opened to reveal her crop top that functioned more like a single strip of cloth across her chest as well as her shorts that barely went to mid thigh. In addition, a tattoo of a rope or fuse meandered aimlessly around her exposed skin, and two other tattoos of the words "bang bang" were wrapped around her exposed thighs like bands.
"'Sup, Bello. Don't die too fast, aight!" The redhead winked at him as her hands were pressed together –fingertips touching to create some sort of steeple while her thumbs were interlocked between her palms. Jason froze as he recognized that that sign was what that one Delver in the Hunting Grounds had used before. His suspicions were then proven as a cloud of red exploded from her palms, swallowing the two of them into a rudimentary mana domain.
Jason felt the mana veins near his heart twitch in reaction. However, that was quickly put aside as he saw how portions of the rudimentary mana domain seemed to disappear, getting sucked into the various rocks the girl had strewn about earlier.
"You're crazy!" Jason yelled, realizing what was happening and jumping up and towards the tower's walls. He quickly slammed his fingers into the wall and threw himself further upwards.
An explosion roared into his ears, and Jason caught a dark red blur shooting towards him before the girl opened up her coat with her mouth opened in what he guessed was a laugh. Smoke trailed off her figure as he sent a kick his way that he was forced to block else he fell. Jason grunted as the force hit him harder than anything he had felt before, but he had succeeded in arresting her movement.
The girl just laughed, and this time her voice reached his healed ears. "I'm crazy hot!"
Jason just threw her back down. He debated whether or not he should follow Mikey's advice to run away, but the curiosity of her abilities and how another Delver fought clouded his decisions.
It would be a lie to say he reluctantly jumped down after her, a smile of his own growing on his lips.