The urchin with a gun

'Nova Lux City,'the lights hit every corner of the city from the gigantic sign floating hundreds of feet in the air.It served as a welcoming sign to all new arrivals.The cars hovered two feet over the neon blue streets.The Novluxians hurried in the busy streets,going about their days with their decorative clothing,some jackets seemed to glow while others changed colours on the wearer's whim.Most hairstyles were unique with a collage of colours ranging from dark to vibrant.However,even in the brightest of cities a dark patch is all but present.

His jet black hair shot out in multiple directions.He peeked out from the dumpster he was hiding behind.The street,which was more of an alley,was deserted.The city's lights didn't flood it as they had the rest of the streets.He then turned to face upward,the two adjoining buildings were tall enough to hide the alley below from the prying eyes of the city watch.They were also close together that no enforcer would fit in the alley but not so close as to restrict movement.Three people could walk through shoulder to shoulder.These perfect conditions made it the ideal escape route... atleast that was what Jim had been told.

"Where the hell are they?"he asked himself,irritated at the lateness of his partners.

He curled up against the wall,wrapping his coat tighter around himself.He cupped his hands around his mouth, trying to prevent them from numbing up.

"Screw this,"he said as he got up,"I guess they'll have to improvise."

Jim rummaged through his coat pockets before producing a screw driver.He run his fingers across the wall he had been leaning on.

"Got it,"he thought as he leaned closer to the wall until his nose was touching it.

"It's warm,"he thought.

He took a few steps back, eyeing the street,making sure it was truly deserted before approaching the wall his screw driver raised to the hot spot.He held his breath and using his index and middle finger,felt the vibration emanating from the machine.Still holding his breath,he punched the spot,popping off the top part.

"Well that was easy,"he thought as he grapped the now protruding ends and tore them off, revealing a network of blue wires with visible currents travelling through them.

Jim eyed them curiously,trying to follow the currents to the source but they wound up confusing him.

"Screw this,"he said before taking a few steps back.

His right hand shot to the back of his coat and emerged holding a red blaster,which was about 7 inches long with a thin barrel.He pulled the trigger as a red hot laser shot from the large hole at the end of the blaster,melting the grid of wires to a black gooey paddle.

"Hope that was useful,"he said as he re-holstered the fire arm.

A few minutes flew by where the only sounds were the overlapping conversations in the streets coupled with far off sirens.

"Sirens,"the sounds jerked Jim from his thoughts.

He listened more keenly.Those were definitely sirens.He paced around, thinking of what to do when suddenly,the air turned hot his eyes stung as hot ash blinded him,he was knocked off his feet,colliding with the opposite wall,a few feet behind him.

Jim was disoriented.He had no idea what had happened.He slowly rose to his feet,using the wall as support.His knees were wobbly but he managed to stay upright.Smoke filled his lungs as he covered his nose with his coat,inspecting the damage.

The wall,or atleast what was left of it,had been blown apart.He had no time to process the situation before three hooded figures leapt through the hole.

On instict, Jim's right hand shot to his coat but he hardly had his blaster out before one of the hooded figures grabbed his arm.

"Chill you trigger happy maniac it's us,"he said before yanking off his hood.

"Sam!?"Jim said in both surprise and confusion.

"The one and only."

"Whats with the clothes,"Jim asked noting the uniform they all doned.

"We had to find a way to sneak in,"Sam replied taking off the workers coat.

"Enough,the cops are on their way,"one of the others said, pulling down his hood.

"What happened to your face Ren?"Jim asked,clearly amused.

"I got jumped,"Ren complained.His usual bony face was covered in bruises,some red some purple.His left cheek was also grazed,a thin cut running from the bottom of his eye to the top of his lip.His blond hair was messy and filled with soot and his usual white complexion was covered in murk and blood.

"He wasn't jumped he flew headfirst into a brawl and got his ass handed to him,"the third and final figure said.

"Shut up Danny,"Ren retorted.Danny removed his hood,his oily black hair falling to his shoulders.He was tall,around six-foot five,with a muscular build.He was always the heart of the group,keeping them out of prison...or worse,which wasn't easy considering it was a bunch of lunatics huddled together.

"Oh and thanks for the assist Jim,we would've been toast if the equipment hadn't

gone all haywire,"Sam said.

"Yeah,OR if you had just stuck to the plan we wouldn't have been caught in the first place,"Danny commented.The air suddenly shifted,tension rented the air as Sam took menacing steps toward Danny.

"What did you you just say?"Sam asked, accenting every word,his nose a few inches from Danny's.Sam wasn't muscular but he had unusually broad shoulders and a puffed up chest.His short hair and buzz cut added to his military look.He was six-foot three so he slightly raised his head when looking at Danny.The two considered each other rivals for the longest time and always stepped on each other's toes.Jim and Ren had a long standing bet on who would win if they ever fought.

"You two will have to kiss later the cops are here,"Jim said pulling the two apart.Three cop cars parked right in front of the building,two officers jumping right out of each, blasters in hand.Jim quickly bolted in the opposite direction,the others close in tow.They ran for a few minutes before finally emerging.

"The docks,typical,"Jim commented.He always had a phobia for large water bodies.

"Guess we'll have to swim for it,"Ren said,quickly taking off his coat and shoes.The city stretched on to the other side of the river.

"There is no way I'm swimming, it's almost a mile wide,"Jim complained.

Before they could argue,they heard a low humming sound like that of a purring lion.A white vessel emerged from the depths of the water,quickly followed by two more.The hull of the vessel was white with a blue,almost glass covering with a blue star painted on top.

"Isn't this overkill?"Sam asked as they quickly descended the steps leading to the dock.

"Move your asses before they notice us,"Danny said,taking the lead crept along the shadows cast by numerous containers piled on top of each other.Luck however wasn't on their side as the top glass slipped off and cops in full combat gear jumped off.

"Grab them,"one cop said.The group abandoned their stealth tactics and sprinted for the water.They were about to jump when a cop shot from one of the vessels,tackling Sam.

They realised this too late as they had already hit the water...all except for Jim who had hesitated because of his phobia.He spun around and charging full speed,knocked the cop off Sam.

"Run, I'll hold him off,"he yelled.Sam was about to protest when Jim pulled out his blaster,a crazed look in his eye.Swallowing his pride,he leapt into the water.Jim heared the sound of splashing as they swam away.

"It's you and me now porky,"he said, advancing on the cop.Hardly had he taken a few steps when three cops tackled him to the ground, knocking his blaster out his hand.

"Get him in the sub,"one of them commanded bafore he was yanked up by his coat and cuffed.He saw his friends stop for a brief moment bafore the sub dove into the inky black river.