Diabolical

"...Hm...?.." Last Resort cocked his head to the side, his pastel pink eyes barely believing what they were seeing.

He had left the arena early to come and check up on the HQ and make sure the lookouts were alright. Strangely there wasn't a single soul to be seen, yet all the doors were open. Fearing the worst, he rushed in only to see that his fear was confirmed..

Amber Alvarez sitting in the Branch Head Quarter's of Taitanzu's hideout, watching the highlights of the bout between the Fort Lauderdale Warriors and another gang while eating a jumbo bag of Doritos.  Her Warriors won the match effortlessly.

"That commander of yours really is something... who would've thought that such a strategy would work against a bunch of grown ass men playing delinquent?..." The blue eyed menace chewed loudly without even turning to face the Taitanzu deputy.

"What're you doing here Amber..." LR asked while slowly taking off his prized earrings and stuffing them in his pockets, muscles tensed in anticipation of any sudden movements from the fourteen year old.

"Why I'm only looking for a certain someone who might be involved in the death of my parents and the unjust incarceration of my brother..." Amber spoke, her face suddenly in front of Last Resort's making him jump.

He had forgotten how quickly she could move if she felt the need to and it slightly scared him that she had become faster ever since their first encounter.

"Nobody in Taitanzu is responsible for the deaths of your parents...or the fact your brother is in jail..." He spoke carefully so as to not let slip the fact that Killer, her brother and her parent's murderer were one and the same. Making such a mistake now was as good as him signing a death sentence.

Amber said nothing, her eyes searching his face so intensely LR thought he was going to melt.

"I heard that there was a guy named Killer who could  be connected to the case. This is the second time I've come here and turned up empty handed...you know what happened the last time...."

LR remember the terrible state they had met their headquarters in, and the broken forms of Noah and Eliza. He grit his teeth.

"So that was you...."

Amber chuckled and walked past him, still munching on Doritos.

"Yes it was. And we can prevent the same result if you tell me where he is...." she cracked her knuckles as a wicked glint shone in her eye, like a predator eyeing it's prey.

"We never sell out our fellow soldiers" he glared back at her, getting ready for what was coming next.

*****************************************

"What's the deal with your eye anyway?"

Killer looked blankly at Casey, obviously having no idea what he was talking about.

"Your left eye. The white is bloodshot red and your sclera is yellow. Don't know if you noticed but that isn't exactly a normal eye color"

"Oh that" Killer shrugged "my dad hit it against the edge of a table and it stayed this way ever since..." He laughed and laid back in the leather seat of the bus that was taking the Taitanzu soldiers back to their turf.

Casey nodded and went back to tending to the bruises he got from the match, satisfied with the answer he got. After making sure his bandages were on tight for the twelfth time, he looked around the bus.

Noah was sitting with the newbloods in the back, and judging from the distant and mellow look on his face and how his eyes were glazed over, he was clearly as high as a kite. Crystal was tending to Triple's wounds with extra care since he took a harder beating than anyone in the fight while he watched, trying his hardest not to wince in pain (and blush in embarrassment) as her fingers danced on his skin. Eliza was chewing on a cigarette and looking out the window. Killer next to her but more interested in watching Fort Lauderdale Warrior's match highlights, obviously searching for any sign of his sister. Boris was sitting up front, talking to someone on his phone, an ancient device that somehow had a touchscreen and buttons. Boris called it a Blackberry...said he liked the feel of old phone models on his ears. Casey considered it a miracle that such phones still existed in this day and age.

Casey stifled a yawn and checked his bandages again.

*******************************************

Lance held his arms in an x shape in front of his face. They were bruised and shaky as pain wracked his entire system.

It was hard to believe this girl was fourteen.

Amber was advancing on him slowly, a playful grin that looked very similar to Killer's on her face as her icy blue eyes glowed with excitement.

"Why aren't you taking this seriously Redford? We both know you're a lot more capable than this..."

Last Resort shook some feeling into his arms and stepped back. It was true that he wasn't taking this seriously... neither of them were. He didn't want to go all out on the kid sister of one of his own gang members for two reasons.

First he was sure that Killer would definitely murder the entire Taitanzu gang if he did so much as scratch her, which LR admitted was impossible for him to accomplish the last time he fought her. Over an entire hour of continuous fighting and he was unable to leave a single mark on her, while she gave him the scars across both his eyes as a reward.

And it wasn't because he was taking it easy on her, or because he made a mistake.

The second reason was that he wasn't sure taking it seriously would make much of a difference.

Amber was inches away from him, her fist clenched around a stop sign that she had pulled clean out of the ground. She blitzed towards him in a flash of grey and before LR could react, struck him in the side of the head with the metal handle with the force of a jackhammer.

Last Resort groaned and sat up, trying to ignore the growing pain in his head and focus on his two main priorities: staying alive till reinforcements arrived and not hitting Amber Alvarez, no matter what. Boris' orders.

Amber rose the sign above her head, ready to strike the killing blow, her eyes lit up by the excitement and sadistic pleasure. The sound of a car engine in the distance caught her attention and she stopped her assault.

"Oops. Looks like the cavalry's here. I don't know about you but I do NOT want to be caught on the wrong end of that white haired guys temper tantrums..." She dropped the sign with a loud clang and pecked LR on the cheek. "see you at Brawlhalla Lancey..." she giggled and ran off, ducking into an alley and disappearing from sight.

LR just lay in the street, annoyed and in pain. He could already hear Casey shouting at some unfortunate newblood that had been assigned as one of the lookouts. Lance rubbed the place where the sign met his head and cringed at the pain. He definitely needed that patched for sure.

"Isn't this just fucking diabolical"