Designed Destiny

1. Nasty Business

"Ain't that the damnedest? Outsiders bringin' their lofty asses over here to educate us dumb asses on how to be civil," she sucked her teeth, then snickered. "I ain't really worried 'bout it, hon. They can't get this planet cleaned up overnight and by that time we'll be long gone." She threw her arm around Meda's shoulders to pull her closer, pressing a reassuring kiss to her temple as they walked.

In truth, Percy and Meda had successfully managed to smuggle themselves aboard three different transport vessels, unfortunately they were discovered every time before they even made it past the atmosphere of the smog-ridden planet. But that never stopped them from trying to get aboard the next one. Lately though Percy had been trying to make enough tokens to purchase their own star-hopper, she loved the idea of having the freedom to get up and leave whenever and wherever she wanted to.

As they two made their way down the dingy alleys, they passed a brick wall decorated with the Chrysaor gang sign; a horse's skull with a golden sword erupting from the forehead, homeless creatures were sleeping in greasy newspapers beneath the graffiti. Skyscrapers that towered above the little mazes of alleys -buildings that at one point in time (a long time ago) were used as offices and high-end living courters- were then diseased, condemned shambles with more graffiti staining the broken and dirty glass panels. Such graffiti typically read things like "The Gods Are Dead!" and "Prayers Can't Save Ya Now!" or "38 Million Lost 2 Da Plague!" Some kind of virus was always running rampant on Argos. Percy and Meda struggled to find ways to keep their faces covered when everybody from the homeless to the insane tried to steal their facemasks or bandanas off their heads seemingly around every corner.

Oh yeah, Argos was a fun place to vacation.

"I guess, but with all this new shit, it's getting harder to figure out who and what to trust or where to duck anymore," Meda huffed.

"True dat!" She chuckled but then suddenly felt a chill spread through her, goosebumps rose on her flesh and a heartbeat later, on instinct it seemed, she seized Meda's arm and shoved them both to the grimy alley floor as shots fired in their direction.

"What the hell is that?!" Meda shrieked as they got up, still hunched low as they ran down the alley. A dark silhouette was on the rooftops several buildings away from them, moving in the same directed they were and fired more shots. Chips of brick flew off the wall and hit them as they moved.

"No clue! Wait!" She yanked Meda into her the instant before a hole drilled into the wall she was just standing before. There was no smoke wafting after it, so it wasn't a firestone or a battery charged laser, but rather a concentrated stream of water. Hydro-guns they were the latest and most lethal weapon that was racing around the galaxy. Percy wished she could get her grubby hands on a hydro-gun one day. The weapon of choice of their assailant told her one thing about them though, they were on big budget, but what would anyone with a lot of tokens want with them? There was no time to worry about that just then though, they were still under a barrage of heavy fire.

Suddenly a massive black brio ship -that strongly bore resemblance to a jagged murex seashell on blazing yellow repulsers- zipped around the corner and threw on the brakes right in front of them, taking the oncoming fire meant for them. Percy and Meda looked up in surprise, the door screeched open and a woman's voice called out to them. "If you don't want my ship to pull away and leave you two to become human colanders, you might want to get your little butts inside!"

Not looking a gifted horse in the mouth just then, Percy grabbed Meda's arm and scrambled inside, the door slammed shut and the brio ship lurched forward before it raced down the alley. Percy struggled to take in their new surroundings in the dark while being jostled back and forth on the floor, but she did register a woman and man sitting on one of the two leather benches that faced each other, they were both seemingly staring down at her. "Who the Hades are you freaks?" She demanded as she struggled up to the opposite bench, taking them in with a quick glance as Meda joined her on the seat.

"Honey, I'm your gods be damned savior," the young, yellow-skinned woman smiled, she was terribly beautiful with killa temples to be envious of and had a wide, laser bright smile. She wore skin-tight patented leather snake-skin leggings and an over-sized furry white coat that looked like fifty Lhasa Apsos had to die to make, a screeching bright white hijab was in place around her head and shoulders and her eyes were concealed by an outrageously massive pair of solid black sunshades.

"Look lady, shoot straight and tell me why the Hades you saved our asses!" If Percy knew one thing about anything, it was that creatures didn't do shit for a gods be damned body without expecting something in return. Even though Percy was addressing the chick, she couldn't not take her eyes off the woman's companion who had yet to say anything or even move.

He was freakishly well-built, with muscles upon even more muscles, and had a collage of tattoos that formed half-sleeves up his otherwise bare Black arms; most of them were of three headed cats. His entire outfit ensemble looked like it was comprised entirely out of black leather strips that were woven tightly around and around his immaculate body; the leather strips even completely covered his head and face. An oversized black hood was in place over his head and fingerless leather gloves covered his grease-stained hands, a single baton was strapped to his back but even still, there was something about his entire aura that screamed lethal as the plague.

"I'm glad you asked," the woman smirked and lit up her mistalizer-wand, taking a hit and then slowly blew the neon green vapor into the air. "You see, kids, my name is Medusa. You might have heard that I'm -"

"The leader of the Chrysaor family," Meda's eyes were wide in alarm. The Chrysaor family? Oh, they were only the most powerful gang in the entire world of Argos. They dictated how much drugs were sold on the streets, they decided who all got what vaccine and when, and they controlled nearly all the import stations and were one of the key reasons why Argos was such a lowly place to exist. They liked to keep creatures living with fear in their shadows and viciously punished those who opposed them and the ones who refused to pay tribute when the henchmen came knocking for a "protection fee."

"Hmm? Oh that, who doesn't know that?" Medusa smirked. "But no, what I mean is that you may have heard that I'm in the market to hire, and I wanna hire you, Perseus."

"How do you know my name?" Percy demanded, feeling more and more on edge, she was beginning to wish she'd have tried her luck escaping the hitman on her own.

"Oh, I know more than that," she chuckled. "You have quite the reputation for being a savvy survivor of the back-alleys. Yes, I've heard of you, you've even managed to kill a few of my guys when they got too close to you!" She laughed as if it were all a delight. Percy looked around wildly for a quick exit. "No bad blood though. So. How'd you like to do something huge and get paid for it? Hmm? I have a little errand I want you to run for me, you see, there's this thing that I've really had my heart set on since I was just a little girl! But everyone has either wussed out or has died on me trying to get and eh, I'm tired of waiting, y'know? Life is short, so I try to keep mine sweet."

"What is it that you want?" Percy and Meda exchanged nervous looks.

"The eye of the crones." She snarled. "I mean," she laughed lightly. "The Graeae sisters, the Gray Witches, have you kids heard of them? Anyway, they're these little old windbags with this devise that's been referred to as the Gods' Third Eye. I want that. With the Third Eye, I'll be able to like, predict the future and see everything in the galaxy whenever I want to. It's always been a dream of mine to be one of the most powerful creatures in the universe, I mean, sigh, right?" She exhaled more mist.

"Wh-why do you need me to do that? Why can't you have Biceps here to it?" Percy gestured the masked man beside Medusa.

"Huh? Oh, because you're expendable and HeadShot's not," Medusa smiled. "Now then, we have a deal, kid? I'll pay you handsomely."

"What the Hades kinda pay?"

"Easy. I'll give you what you desire most in the galaxy."

"Why do you sound like you know what that is?"

"Because I do, silly. It's for me to unfreeze your pretty girlfriend here," she gestured at Meda with a sickening smile.

"Huh?" Meda furrowed her brow in confusion.

Suddenly HeadShot threw black powder into Percy face; she coughed violently and felt her eyes rolling back in her sockets, vaguely hearing Meda screaming in the distance as Medusa removed her sunshades, and that was all Percy seen before she collapsed on the floor, unconscious.