Money Matters (3)

After Oliver led Jason down the hole-ridden staircase, it didn't take long for the two to meander through the Zoo's territory. Bright neon signs practically glowed at every corner, pointing to the pillar where Oliver said the event was going to be. 

Still, if Jason was asked to describe the Zoo's zone, he could sum it up with the word "overwhelming." 

He thought it was chaotic from high up, but when he got up close and personal, everything was dialed up by several notches. What were once corridors between buildings were now dimly light walkways full of what Jason could only describe as "mood lighting." Repurposed housing blocks lined either side of the pair as they traveled down the walkways, and open doorways were covered by loose drapes or curtains where lights and smoke spilled out into the paths they walked through. 

As they passed through the Zoo's territory, Jason felt his nose twitch and ears burn. The Zoo's eclectic music taste served as an annoying backdrop to his trip, and the teenage Delver could only rub the migraine that built up behind his eyes the longer he stayed there. It didn't help that all types of scents filtered into his nose. He would much prefer to not be able to smell the body odor, perfume, and stimulants that clung to the air like smog. 

Additionally, every now and then they would pass by one of the Zoo's gangbangers. They were the type of person that Jason would expect to run in this chaotic mess of an area. 

Piercings and leather clothes were the staple of the Zoo. They had a variety of hairstyles, but the one they gravitated to was similar to Oliver's own mohawk. Many of them had tattoos of animals or had arm bands with a specific animal as an emblem. Jason noted that those emblems fell into three groups: a wolf, a bear, or a hawk. 

"You okay? How's your senses?" Oliver asked suddenly as they walked, distracting the teen from his surroundings. 

Jason waved off Oliver's concern, but he frowned as they passed another open housing block. The door was blocked by some big guy in a leather jacket, and Jason's acute hearing easily picked up the soft moans on the other side while his sense of smell confirmed it for him. He really didn't like his senses, at the moment. 

"I'm okay, man." Jason finally said with a grimace. "But seriously, this gig better pay up. I don't want to have to go through this place often."

Oliver gave an amused snort. "I'll make sure you get paid in full. Besides, we're almost there." 

Jason didn't really know what "almost there" meant in his current situation. He could see the giant, graffiti-covered pillar even before they started their trek, and while it was closer than it was before, he still knew they were a little ways away. With how Oliver had said that they were in a hurry, he wondered how they would get to the pillar fast enough. 

Then, his friend turned to enter a nearby housing block. Jason scrutinized the nondescript curtains for a moment, following as Oliver popped out and waved. 

The second he crossed the doorway, Jason flinched as his nose was assaulted by more scents than he could deal with. He furiously rubbed his face, frowning at the room as he blinked tears out of his eyes. 

Like all things a part of the Zoo's gang, the room was a diverse depiction of punk leather. It was a fairly small room; big enough to only fit a large C-shaped, leather couch that was flush against the gunmetal walls. Said walls were now furnished with curtains and what looked to be some type of holographic image of several camera feeds that played various parties. In the middle of the room was a square table laid out with empty beer bottles, various powders of dubious substance, and the same cigarettes that Oliver and Lee had been using. 

Jason felt his lips curl further into a scowl as he stared up at an ornate bowl that hung directly over the table full of vices. A couple of sticks were inserted into it as purple smoke spilled from the bowls edges like a waterfall. Wisps of purple smoke broke off from the waterfall as they wandered around the room aimlessly before they dissipated. 

Then, a deep, baritone laugh startled Jason's thoughts. The teen had kept the sole occupant of the room in his sights as he walked in, but he hadn't really paid too much attention to him. 

Now, as he regarded the man, Jason's eyes widened like a beast caught in a hunter's trap.

"Oli, good job on bringin' a bangin' replacement last min." The man spoke, grinning at Oliver with black teeth. 

"J– just doing my job, Bo– Z, err Mikey." Oliver stuttered slightly, and Jason had to pause momentarily at that. His friend doesn't stutter often; he would pause and then think of what to say, but Oliver was not one to seem apprehensive about talking. 

The man, Mikey, nodded his head at Oliver before he turned to regard Jason. At the same time, Jason also studied the leading authority of the Zoo's entire gang. 

Mikey, Z, or whatever he wanted to be called was handsome in a roguish sense. He had long, messy hair that was a shade of dark purple that it might have just been black. A well-maintained beard rested on his sharp jaw, and he somehow made his obviously black teeth look good. The only other call for pause was how his eyes didn't have pupils at all, just amorphous cloud-like specks of purple that seemed to lazily float within his sclera. 

The oddities continued as Jason found that the gang leader also refused to wear a shirt. Mikey just wore a loose coat made of purple fur that draped over his broad shoulders, exposing the plethora of animal-themed tattoos that covered his upper body and neck. His legs were –thankfully– covered by a pair of cream-colored pants, and Jason found that the man wore a pair of dark brown, Draken-skin boots. As the man crossed his hands over his stomach to show multiple gold and silver rings on his fingers, Jason finished his assessment of one his home's most dangerous Delvers. 

Jason struggled to associate this man as some sort of Delver instead of a random pimp. 

"Care to share, Bloodhound?" Mikey asked with a toothy grin. 

Jason flinched as he realized he was staring. He then leaned warily away as a wisp of purple smoke drifted closer to him. 

Mikey just laughed heartily and waved his hand. The purple smoke in the room then slowly started to gather into his hand, trickling upwards to his open palm and forming some sort of swirling purple orb. Jason blinked as the Delver then put the orb into a small inner pocket in his purple coat. 

"S– sorry, Sir– no, Mikey. My friend is pretty new to a lot of stuff, and he hasn't met many Delvers." Oliver interjected quickly. 

"Relax, Oli, I ain't offended." The gang leader spoke easily, rolling his eyes and leaning over the table to offer a hand to Jason. "I ain't gonna fuck with my own image. What say you, Bloodhound, right?" 

Jason forced his body to not twitch at the name again, reaching up and taking the man's hand carefully. He pursed his lips when he felt a slight pressure from the handshake, but he matched the strength the man put into it. If anything, that only caused Mikey to smile a bit more. 

It was then that Jason realized that he couldn't actually smell Mikey. The teen was accustomed to the different scents each person gave off, and he felt that anyone who seeped themselves in so many drugs would be fairly recognizable, scent-wise. However, the gang leader of the Zoo carried an absence of scent with him, almost as if he controlled it specifically. 

"Okay… this is gettin' pretty damn creepy." Mikey spoke, looking over at Oliver. "Yer friend ain't–" the man paused and waved a finger near his temple. "No judge, though. But he's kinda bein' pretty weird." 

"Sorry, I uh–" Jason spoke in a hurry before Oliver stuttered out another answer. "I'm just a little surprised. Aren't you like, busy doing… other stuff." 

"I ain't committing crime all the time, if that's what you're askin'." The criminal said with a shrug. "And why wouldn' I greet the guy who came to save my ass? Oli over there didn't fill you in or somethin'?"

"He did." Jason said carefully. So far, the leader of the Zoo had been rather normal, but the teen had heard all sorts of rumors of the man's infamous abilities, so he was still wary about being in the same room with the older Delver. "I fight for your gang's… honor. You needed someone fresh and without any other connections." 

Mikey waved his hand back and forth. "'bout right. Come on, let's get movin'. I'll tell the deets as we move, cool?" He then snapped his fingers, remembering something and reaching into his coat to pull out three purple coins. They seemed like they were made from the same material as the purple orb as their insides looked like constantly swirling smoke. The man then tossed the three coins to Oliver who fumbled a bit to catch them. "Thanks again, Oli. Go and trade those in to whoever is mannin' the exchange this week. I got it from 'ere. Go and get laid or somethin'." 

Oliver looked conflicted for a moment, sparing another look at Jason and then the coins in his hands. Idly, Jason realized that Mikey was not wearing a Holo watch, but he put that out of his mind as he gave Oliver a smile, trying to seem as reassuring as possible. Eventually, his friend got the message. The redhead's smile in return seemed distant as he locked eyes with Jason, and the brown-haired teen got the message his friend tried to convey. 

Don't die. 

Jason hid a snort of amusement as Oliver left, looking over to see an equally amused gang leader. Mikey had just watched their interaction with poorly concealed mirth. 

"S'nice ta see a bond like yers." Mikey said after a pause. "If ya wanna join my pack of little dumbasses, I can move things 'round. Loyalty like that don' come easy, you know. After the event, of course." 

"I– I will think on it." Jason said, trying not to immediately deny the de facto crime lord. He might not think about many of his decisions –going along with Oliver to fight in what was most definitely a superpowered cage match on a giant pillar being one of them– but Jason felt that it would not be a good idea to antagonize Mikey. 

Mikey just chuckled as if he saw through Jason's thoughts. The man spread his hands over the table. "Want anythin' for the road or nah? I'd be a bad host if I let you go on my orders without a bit of spice in yer blood." 

Jason anxiously paused to consider if this was a choice or not. He deliberately shook his head, tensing slightly as if a fight would break out any moment. "My… senses are a little too sensitive for them. I'd be more of a liability than anything." 

"I guess…" Mikey scratched his head, thinking over Jason's words. "I forgot all 'bout how long it took to adjust to the new senses." the man leveled his pupil-less eyes at Jason. "Yers are prob's stronger than normal. Stronger bodies always mean stronger everything else… Hmmm, anyways, let's get outta here." 

Jason chose to keep his lips closed, allowing the man to talk. He just followed the stronger Delver as Mikey picked up a section of the couch, tossing it over to another side of the room and letting it knock over the curtains on the walls or the various substances on the table. Jason controlled his reaction to the man's actions as he saw the seams of a door appear on the wall where the couch had been pressed up against. 

The door opened with a soft hiss, and Jason blinked as the new room was lit up well. There was no "mood lighting" nor was there multicolored drapes strung up across the walls. Instead, the room –which seemed to be the rest of the housing block connected to Mikey's small room– looked like it had been repurposed into some sort of garden as the ceiling had been broken to allow trees to grow skywards. Familiar grasses covered the ground while vines crawled up the walls, hanging off the trees and brush to form a miniature jungle. 

Jason took a moment to recognize several species of plants, noting that many of them were similar to ones in the Hunting Grounds. However, he also knew that it probably took a significant amount of expenses to sneak each one out of the Hunting Grounds as each one was considered a key resource of humanity, which meant that this small jungle was very much illegal. The teen doubted that Mikey really cared, though. 

The gang leader gave a slight grin at Jason's pause, and then he motioned for the teen to follow. Reluctantly, Jason complied as the man wove through the man-made forest, stopping every now and then as his nose caught the scents of various wildlife nearby. 

In the forest-like environment, Jason allowed his senses to expand. He caught markings on trees, depressions in the loamy soil and grass, various brush that had been trampled on. All of it added up to tell the teen that there were many species of animals living within close proximity of each other; something that his instincts as a hunter told him were impossible. Especially since he caught signs of multiple predators within this small jungle. 

Jason had half a mind to ask what they were doing before Mikey had led him to a small clearing in the maze of trees. The teen grew slack-jawed as he looked around the clearing, finding the ceiling had been removed to show the skyline of the first and second floors. Nonetheless, what drew most of his attention was the massive, reptilian beast that lay in the middle of the clearing. 

Drakens were creatures that many thought were related to dragons. Really, Jason assumed this was the case, but something inside him told him that they had no similarities. 

Still, that didn't mean Drakens weren't imposing monsters. This one was only fifteen feet long from head to tail, sporting a slender, snake-like body. Its green-brown fish scales ground against each other in a sound reminiscent of two metal plates as its long neck rises from its slumber. Two slitted eyes narrowed at the two of them, and Jason gulped inadvertently as it rose up to regard them on its thick, digitigrade legs. Its shoulders were wide as it propped itself with its wing-like upper arms. 

Mikey stepped into the clearing without a pause, and Jason took a step back as the Draken shot forward. It wasn't a speed Jason couldn't react at, but the fact that a mere beast without mana could move so quickly was a little unnerving to him. The purple-haired gang leader just chuckled as the monstrous wyvern-like creature rumbled and rubbed the top of its skull against the man's outstretched hand. 

Jason blinked as he realized the monster wasn't going to attack them, but his eyes narrowed as he saw Mikey's other hand drift closer to the monster's nostrils. His eyes caught some sort of smoke drift off the man's hand into the monster's nose as its eyes dilated. For a second, Jason smelled Lee and Oliver's cigarettes. 

Still, he didn't say anything as he drew closer. 

"Right, Bloodhound," Mikey started as he flung himself over the Draken's neck, straddling it. "Come on, we gotta show up in style. As much as we gotta be nice an' all, I 'ave an image to uphold." 

At this point, Jason realized that the man just liked to hear his own voice. In response, he nodded his head and warily approached the Draken. When the beast didn't immediately try to eat his head, Jason leapt up onto its back, and he drew pause as the monster flinched when he made contact. 

Mikey patted the monster slightly, casting a confused glance at Jason. There was an unsaid question in the air, but the man just shrugged and urged the wyvern into the sky. 

Jason sucked in a deep breath as the Draken spread its wings and took to the air. They pulled away from the man-made jungle in Mikey's little house, easily crossing the distance to the pillar where the event would take place. 

Their journey didn't take longer than a couple of minutes, and Jason found the experience rather enjoyable as the wind tousled his hair. His lips split apart into a smile as he sights passed by, reminding him of a slower version of his dad's Line Diving. 

Like all journeys, Jason's finally came to an end when they arrived at the area where the giant colorful pillar was. He caught many platforms bolted into the side of the pillar, forming several spiral staircases that jutted out from its sides. The problem was that many of these "staircases" either started and ended in random spots on the pillar where ladders or ropes hung to allow someone to ascend further if they wished to. That only made the entire structure look shoddy and poorly thought out. 

Mikey took his time when they arrived, circling the pillar and letting Jason see all of its paths. On the structure, Jason caught many people on the diverse number of platforms. Many of them looked like normal gang members, but a couple of them caught his eye. 

The gang leader who he rode with spoke up over the wind, pointing out three other people who occupied the pillar's platforms. "See that red headed bitch?" Jason pursed his lips, following the man's crass description to a woman in a large coat who sat at the edge of her platform and waving at them as they passed. "She's one of the 'rone's little huntin' dogs. Was told you 'ad a grudge with 'em, so you shouldn' mess with 'er." 

Jason grunted in acknowledgement. He had pretty much no idea what constitutes being one of the Calderone's "hunting dog," but he felt that they would be similar to a company's Delver. 

"That guy over 'ere." Mikey said, pointing to another platform as they passed on another circuit. Jason regarded the man as he was dressed in some sort of full body suit with a light blue cowl before Mikey continued, "He's one of the Yakuza's Shinobi. Also a new Delver, but they are pretty savage, so uh… Actually, stay 'way from 'em, too." 

Jason paused, nodding his head again. He supposed it was fair to not embarrass his employer when this event doubled as a show of force. It wouldn't do him any good to get taken out by stronger enemies. Still, it was kind of annoying to not be able to see how other Delvers fought. 

Finally, they passed lower, and Mikey cleared his throat, pointing out the last person of interest. Jason caught the man before the gang leader spoke. They were dressed unlike anyone else, and Jason had to do a double-take as he saw the light gold kasaya the man wore and the bald head that reflected light off it. Those gang members, of smaller gangs who peppered the various platforms, who were nearest to him gave the man a wide berth as they shot the man wary glances. 

Despite the sheer attention he garnered, the man in monk clothes just sat cross legged on his platform, silently meditating as he waited for the free-for-all to begin. Jason didn't need an explanation about a monk from the Infinite Monastery. 

"Stay the fuck 'way from that one, too." Mikey added unhelpfully. He grumbled to himself, letting Jason hear. "No idea how the Golden pissants got a damn monk from…" 

Jason sighed, feeling a little less confident about his chances in this tournament suddenly. "So, run away from everyone?" 

Mikey chuckled in front of him. "Jus' don' get taken out too quickly. M'not expectin' you ta beat everyone, so jus' don' suck too bad and I'll pay you premium. 'Course, if you do win it, I'll pay more." 

With those words of encouragement, Mikey then brought their mount over to one of the empty platforms. Jason carefully stepped onto it, testing the stability of his makeshift floor and grimacing as he heard the metal underfoot creak. He looked to either side of him, finding many of the normal humans several platforms away from him had taken to looking anywhere but his direction. 

Jason just shrugged and shook his arms and legs, feeling a grin spread over his lips. His heart started to pick up speed, growing into a small tempest in his ears. 

Despite everything so far, he was rather excited for what came next.