[Akuji] Bounty | Madness Continues [Kier]

It had been an inexplicable amount of time since Kier had been in the West District, five years? Maybe more. He didn't really care about dates and times at this point. He was here for a reason today. Striding through the tranquil streets, he noted that the graffiti count here was way lower than the East District. The neighborhoods were nice and all but it was a little too much like the North. Sickening at the thought of his former home, he shooed the thoughts away.

In his peripheral vision, a particular alley way caught his attention. Way back when there had been a girl the same age, he guessed, as his desperately searching for something in the storm. She had come up to him and asked if he'd seen her- what was it-

"Right! Her sister! That's it." His sudden outburst pulled a couple head turns from passer-bys. Kier paid them no attention as he entered a small bar. There wasn't many around this area.

He took a seat at the bar, next to an interesting blue-haired woman. He pulled out his phone to look over his target. The bulletin had said he was a smoker so Kier assumed he drank too. Hence why he was at a bar in the middle of the day.

The blue haired female felt pretty lucky. She had heard that her prey had fled to the West of the city and that means that she didn’t have to travel all the way to the South to find him.

She had been sitting inside a bar for the last hour, occasionally taking a sip of her drink. It was the third bar she visited that day. If John Morrison was a smoker, he was probably a drinker too. After all, it usually comes in a bundle. She decided to wait 5 more minutes. He was bound to show up at one pub or another and Akuji was going to track him down. She had time to kill.

She glanced over at the male with strangely colored hair that sat next down next to her. He looked young, probably younger than her. She took notice of his orange and blue eyes. A harbinger. He looked vaguely familiar, yet she couldn’t put her finger on it. Akuji watched as he pulled out his phone, immediately recognizing that webpage he was looking at. She turned back towards the counter and swirled the drink in her hand.

“John Morrison aka Torch, 23 years old, born and raised in the South. He joined Solstice at the age of 19. He tried robbing a bank unarmed, twice. He’s blonde haired, blue eyed, and has fair skin. He is also a chain smoker, gullible, aggressive, and not the brightest crayon in the box. In short, an idiot.” Akuji took a sip of her glass and turned back to look at the harbinger, “I see I’m not the only one looking for him.”

“I see I’m not the only one looking for him.”

He didn't catch the first half of what she said since he didn't realize it was directed to him. Probably just all the listed facts about the target, judging by the latter portion. It wasn't surprising that other people would take interest in the Morrison's bounty. The dude was so easy it'd be like taking candy from a baby. What was surprising was the fact that a woman would tackle a bounty. Guess living anywhere besides the North doesn't leave much room for the weak.

"With a bastard as careless as him, it's pretty likely we have even the lamest hunters out for his hide." He took a minute to consider his next action before adding, "If it's alright with you, how about we take this guy together? The bounty will be split half-half, of course." Because this chase would be no fun by himself. And maybe she had more information than he did, seeing as how serious she looked. Waiting for her answer, Kier took a swig of the mango cocktail the bartender slid him. He wasn't one for alcohol but it would have been strange if he sat down at a bar and didn't get anything. It'd be fine he supposed, not like he couldn't hold down this small amount .

"I don't mind. Although, you can keep the bounty. There are plenty of other missions out there that pay more than this."

So she didn't need money? Yeah right, they all needed at least some cash. Otherwise why would she be taking on the mission? He was just about to voice that question when she stated that it was a hobby. "Hmm, then shouldn't you leave the bounty for people who actually need it?" He kept his voice light and joking, wondering what the lady would have done if he didn't offer to team up. "And don't worry. This cocktail's mostly juice anyway."

She kept watching him, not that he minded all that much. But her stare was burning holes into the side of his face. He assumed the reason was to be his eyes, the orange to blue was a dead giveaway that he was a Harbinger. Even in the dim light, the neon blue portion glowed softly.

"Do I know you?"

He turned to her, smirk in place. "Do you?" Her face did look vaguely familiar, especially those powder blue eyes. "I'm not from this District so you probably don't but I did visit here a couple years ago..." So long ago that he didn't remember. He didn't like the place at all, being so similar to North. It didn't bother him as much now but he still wasn't relaxed. "I'm Kier, nice to meet you." He held out his hand to shake, eyes on the black star tattooed onto her cheek.

When the woman reached out her hand, Kier sent a small spark through his fingers, up her arm. It wasn't anything that could hurt her, it'd just feel like her arm brushed the tips of a million pins. Her name was unusual, Japanese maybe? He watched her retract her hand when a bit of recognition dawned in her eyes and a bit of remorse.

“Three years ago in July? That was when you came, wasn’t it?” the blue-hair questioned suddenly. Kier blinked in surprise, trying to think back to the time she was referring to. Was three years really that long of time? He couldn't really be sure, since all of his days were so similar they melded together. Hand moving to cup his chin, he gave her a slow answer. "Well, it's not a positive answer, but it could've be around that time. Any particular details about what we met about?" He never broke eye contact with the woman, waiting for a spark of recognition.

The other looked increasingly uncomfortable, as if she was recalling things that were better off forgotten. He knew that expression all too well. "You sure I really met you or is this just your way of hitting on me?" He attempted to lighten the mood. It wasn't worth it for her to remember such unpleasant things just to recognize one guy who probably wasn't even significant.

The sound of shattering glass burst behind him, followed by dead silence before the whole place exploded in a riot. The pumping music was easily overrode by the crowd cheering. There, at the center of the establishment, was two men fighting. One was clearly way too drunk to fight properly while his opponent looked he wanted so desperately to get out.
Taking a closer look at the sober one, Kier noticed his all-American features- the dirty blond hair to the blue eyes to the half finished cigarette slipping out of his mouth."Would you look at that? Looks like we have our guy." That was almost too easy.

Glass shards scattered across the floor. Two men hovering over them. One, drunk and angry, the other, devastated and scared. Akuji looked at the terrified man with the cigarette in his mouth. He looked as if he desperately wanted to get out and far away. Mussed blonde hair, blue eyes, and didn't have a look of a genius. Oh yeah, that was their guy.

"What da ya think ya doin'?" The drunken man slurred, throwing another bottle on the ground. Morison's cigarette dropped to the ground as he fumbled his pockets for a weapon of some sort. The drunken man began to scream at everyone around him. A crowd of people were beginning to stand up, they weren't going to take his insults and be okay with it.

"Stay by the door," she advised Kier while getting up from her seat. Torch was pushing his way through the crowd, but it was futile, they was huddling around the two of them as if they were waiting for the fight to break out. Torch frantically looked around. A split second was all it took. Their eyes had met. Blue to blue. He broke out into a sprint, pushing the people with all the strength he had in his bulky body. The room shook as everyone administered their punches and kicks at whomever they saw. He ran towards the door, but she knew he wasn't getting away this time.

Kier observed the fight quietly, looking for an opening to smash morrison in the back of the head. The drunk was really losing it out there, breaking another bottle on the ground and lunging for the target.

"Stay by the door," the blue-hair ordered. She pushed off her seat and headed towards the growing crowd, all business now."Already on it, boss lady." He kept his eyes on the target as he made his way slowly to the door. The pathetic guy was ramming his way through the crowd, well it was mostly ramming and not so much getting through. Akuji also eyed him carefully as she threw angry customers off the drunk.

Standing at the doorway with his arms crossed, Kier waited patiently. His body was bulk enough to cover the majority of the entrance. The area was nearly deserted as most of the customers were bashing each others' brains out in the center. The owner probably wouldn't be happy about this. He was probably calling the police this very moment. He smirked at the carnage, although his attention never left Morrison's face. Slipping on his brass knuckles, he prepared for the approaching target.

In his concentration on Torch, he failed to notice one lone bar lady lunge at him. With a knife. Screaming like a frantic banshee. At the last moment he ducked under the slash and jabbed her solidly in the stomach, knocking her out in a heap on the tiled floors. Too bad the freaking lady attracted the attention of other customers, who were beginning to lunge at Kier too. Shit I lost Morrison.

Between punches and kicks, he saw the target flee out the entrance.

It's not like Kier asked to be jumped by ten people. He already knew there wasn't time for this. Hurling another crazed customer back into the crowd, he turned to follow Akuji. "Wait! Don't -hic- just leave me here!" He stopped and saw the drunk who started this whole mess crawl out from the crowd. He face was bruised and a trickle of blood ran down his nose. The red-head narrowed his eyes, half in disgust and half questioning him 'why-should-I-help-a-drunkass-like-you'.

People were beginning to realize that guy was escaping and attempted to drag him back into the mess. Cursing, Kier ran back and slung him easily over his shoulder then he was out. He glanced around for any sign of Akuji or the target. He caught a whip of blue hair round into an alleyway. By the time he got there, Morrison was already at a dead end and Akuji was channeling her inner sadist. Or outer sadist, he wasn't sure.

Kier watched her lips twist into a dark smirk, one that gave him an eerie chill down his spine. She obviously enjoyed making her victims squirm and judging by his paler than normal skin color, Morrison could see it too. For a second, Kier could see him splattered on the ground and drowning in his own pool of blood. As much as he'd love to pound his face in for the trouble, there wouldn't be much bounty if he wasn't alive. Besides his two little robberies didn't equal a death sentence.

Keeping his distance to block Morrison's only exit, he called out to her, "Don't kill the guy, yeah? Torture him all you want just make sure he's still alive and kicking." Then he stood back and enjoyed the show.

"Tell me, have you seen a girl almost the same as me but with platinum blonde hair and without the tattoo?"

Kier blinked as memories and recognition suddenly flooded back to him. Platinum blond hair, those powder blue eyes, and that face. So she was the girl that day in the rain, searching so frantically for her sister. Back then, she had described her sister the exact same way. He couldn't help but smirk, knowing that pathetic girl had become so strong. So cruel and sadistic. It intrigued him so much.

"You're an idiot, girly. Anyone who disappears never come back. They're better off dead."

And then it began. The minute Morrison opened his mouth and spat those words, he was a goner. The target didn't know what hit him until he was stumbling backwards with had to be a fractured shoulder, the smug expression he once wore writhed in agony. He tried to fight back, but he was no match for the demon he'd unleashed himself.

Keeping his word, Kier let her punish him. Let twist her his arm ligaments into sickening positions. Let her beat him to a such a mess that his face was covered in his own sordid blood. Any more of this and Morrison would definitely be dead and Akuji wasn't showing any signs of stopping.

Supposing this was his cue to step in, Kier dropped his passenger with a thump and grabbed both the blue-hair's wrists before she could find a weapon to deal the finishing blow.

"Okay, boss, I know you're having a helluva time uniting his sorry ass with the ground but we need him alive for the bounty remember?" He spoke in a soft, almost sweet tone. As much as he'd love to watch him suffer some more, they were on a job. And he needed the money. He gently pulled the woman off the unconscious half-dead body. "If you've got pad we can let him, er, rest for now. I don't think we should hand the police a half-dead carcass." His house would have been an ideal place but seeing as how he was in the District...

"And I want to question that one too." He nodded over to the sleeping drunk at the entrance of the alley. Something about the way he tried so hard to get Morrison, given his current state, was suspicious.

Yeah, leave him the bloody mess why doesn't she. He didn't miss that stray tear either. Deciding it was better not question her about it, he let her take the drunk. Looking at his own passenger, Kier made a disgusted noise. He took off his jacket and wrapped it around Morrison before slinging him over his shoulder. Drops of dark red blood splattered onto the surrounding walls. Hopefully the police didn't check dark alleyways.

The walk to Akuji's apartment was quiet, since most people were shut in their houses by now. It wasn't quite nighttime yet but it would be soon. Gang members were the last thing he needed right now.

The distance between the alley to her home wasn't far. Inside revealed a plain, three- room apartment. The furniture was nondescript and the floor was, thank god, not carpet. He dropped Morrison as carefully as a person could drop someone. Which probably wasn't very gentle. The target didn't even stir when the back of his head hit the door. He crouched down and pealed his jacket off the victim, swearing that the money had better be enough to buy a new one. At least he had worn the green one rather than his favorite white one.

“All yours,” the blue-haired informed.

"Ick yeah. You might want to give this guy a bit of first aid, or at least stop him from hemorrhaging all over the floor." Dropping the jacket again, he strode to the waking drunk. He knelt and studied his features. Red hair, mid-thirties, brown eyes. Not a Harbinger. Although the guy seemed pretty shocked at Kier's eyes considering he yelped and jumped back only to hit the back of the couch.

"Hey, I've got a couple question for you okay? Just answer as honestly as possible," he said, friendly smile in place. "Why were you after Morrison, or that dude dying on the floor over there? Cuz' judging by that watch of yours, you don't need the measly bounty he has to offer."

"I-it, I, who, Who are you?!!" the not-so-drunk man screamed. He tried to get up, too bad he had a massive hangover and flopped right back down.

"Dude, calm down. I won't hurt you." Yet. "Just tell why you were after Morrison. If it makes you feel any better, the name's Kier." While the not-so-drunk continued to flail, Kier glanced over at the target. At least the bleeding stopped, although the bandages were wrapped a little too tightly for comfort. He was glad Akuji didn't take the opportunity to kick him the gut.

"Because Morrigan was on the Bulletin. And because he's from Solstice."

He turned back to the not-so-drunk and raised an eyebrow. The dude seemed way more coordinated now. He said nothing and let the man continue.

"And he was just a common crook, so I thought I could take him."

"Yeah, while you were drunk out of your ass. See how well that turned out?" The man flinched at his insult. Kier, on the other hand didn't let his smile falter.

"Shut up. I can get your ass gone when I get back to Silver Dust," he threatened. There's no way such a powerful gang would go out of their way for a low-rank like this guy.

"Tell me more about Silver Dust, Mr. Not-So-Drunk."

"Hey, what information do we need from this guy anyways?" She sounded bored already. Not that he wasn't too. The guy wasn't saying quite what he wanted to hear.

"Just a bit more information about the gang. I'm interested in how they do things. No to the tea, but thanks. Something flashed in the not-so-drunk's eyes; realization? It was like watching a cornered mouse suddenly realizing that the exit was so easy.

"So what? You want to join us or something?" Bingo. Kier waited for him to elaborate. Truthfully he didn't care about the invitation but he wanted to option to be open in case he changed his mind. And having that would definitely be helpful if he ever needed some extra cash.

Ah, so that was what he wanted. Akuji set her tea down onto the counter. The conversation was now beginning to interest her. Silver Dust, huh?

"Well," she snapped, waiting for him to continue, "I want to hear more about this offer you're making."

"Doll face, Silver Dust could use members like you." He chuckled with a slight bit of sarcasm hidden in his voice. Akuji eyes narrowed. She slammed her hands onto the table. Pushing Kier aside, she walked up to the man, grabbed the collar of his shirt, and pulled him towards her.

"Okay, doll face," she spat, "while you're in my presence, there are a couple of rules you're going to have to follow. One, don't ever call me doll face and two, I don't want to hear any stupidity from the guy who couldn't even take a D-ranked mission." She threw him back onto the couch and scowled.

Kier laughed at the terror in the guy's face. Seems like Akuji got a lot a grief just for being a woman. Well, that was that. His invitation and Akuji's was assured. Getting up, Kier picked Morrison up again. The target moaned from the sudden movement but didn't move. "Alright you doll faces, let's get this one turned into the police and we can all get on our merry way." Pausing at the door, Kier turned back to the Silver Dust drunk. "You aren't getting any of the pay though."

At the station, Kier swore to have found Torch already beaten to his half dead state outside said bar and collected the bounty while the other two waited outside. Stepping back out into the crisp night air, he tossed half the credits to the blue-hair. She might have declined before the capture but she would probably want something for all her trouble. Although entrance into Silver Dust would be reward enough.

"I'll take you both to headquarters tomorrow," the not-so-drunk mumbled as Kier turned his back to leave. Giving the man a smile he replied, "Nah, I'm not interested right now. But if I am I'll find you." Then he stopped and turned back to the blue-hair.

"I know I'm not your type but," he lifted her chin and gave her a quick peck on the lips. "This was certainly fun." Coy smile on his lips, Kier turned and and left before she could kick him in the nuts. "See you around, doll face"

Akuji took initiative to lead them to the nearest police station. As Kier turned Morrison in, she waited outside with alcoholic who was attempting to make conversation with her. Irritated, she told him to shut up and he quietly did. Kier came back not long after and tossed her half of the bounty money which she decided to graciously accept.

"I'll take you both to headquarters tomorrow," the Silver Dust member mumbled, but orange to blue eyed male simply stated he wasn't interested. The harbinger turned to Akuji and lifted her face up to his.

"I know I'm not your type but, this was certainly fun," he gave her a small kiss on the lips, "See you around, doll face." Grinning, Kier turned around and began to walk away before she had time to release her anger.

"You are the complete opposite of my type," she called to him, grimacing. With that, she turned around to the Silver Dust member, "Just take me there now."