Plasmatropolis [OLD]

Assignments

Ciantrius cautiously peeked over his shoulder, observing the sunset-streaked streets. He had been quite paranoid ever since he'd escaped from the locked-down Sendaris headquarters, and was now on the run, trying his hardest to stay away from the Sendaris, William's forces and Black Plasma.

He'd heard on the news that Omeleto and the police force had caught Thalleous and Osivian fighting in a nearby forest, but Osivian was killed before they could intervene. Thalleous had escaped, though injured. With Osivian dead, Ciantrius had no one left to turn to, and would have to fend for himself.

He trudged along the streets, pulling his hood tighter over his head, his horns poking the fabric, and he carefully lowered his face. With some degree of luck, no one aside from the Sendaris Madman would recognise him. The problem was that the aforementioned Sendaris Madman was the last person he wanted to recognize him.

Looking back, Ciantrius wasn't sure what Osivian was thinking when he sent him on this mission. It didn't make much sense. Why wouldn't Osivian have asked him to kill Thalleous himself? That was merely the more practical course of action, in Ciantrius' opinion. Why cut off the snake's tail when given the chance to cut off its head? Though he disliked Tygren, it was never enough to create enough hate to result in a desire to murder. He winced as he remembered the trickle of blood that came from the Voltaris' neck as the scalpel slid through the flesh like a stick through water. Despite the initial flow of joy he had felt as he died, he was now feeling immense remorse for his actions.

While he was deep in thought, he bumped into something. Or was it someone?

"Hey! Watch where you're going, you moron!"

For a moment, he glanced up at the barrier he'd bumped into, and saw that it was really a human. A human with strangely red eyes.

"Sorry," he mumbled, pushing past him.

"Wait."

He froze, fear stalling his movements.

"Yes?"

"Are you Ciantrius?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"You are Ciantrius, then. Come with me-"

He was just about to turn around when Ciantrius threw a potion of harming at him, the sharp, shattered glass exacerbating the sizzling burns caused by the evil purple liquid. As he pulled back, Ciantrius recognised the human as RoA Nitrox, an ally of Black Plasma Studios, and in many cases, a part of it. He pulled out a thin rapier from his inventory, dashing away from the thrashing human. He didn't get very far before an arrow flew in his direction. Nitrox had gotten back to his feet, grimacing, still likely in pain but able to function again. He'd aimed his bow at Ciantrius and fired. The Ardoni flung up his other hand, snatching the arrow from the air and throwing it back at Nitrox. He ran up to Ciantrius. He snarled at his opponent, holding his rapier in front of him like a long needle.

"Leave me be! I didn't want to do this!"

"Murder is murder, no matter why you did it!"

Nitrox dodged the arrow and fired another. Ciantrius rushed in, ducking beneath the flying arrow and jabbing the thin blade at the human. He missed his leg by less than an inch. Nitrox skipped out of the way, wincing as he turned, stretching the burnt skin. He then swung around and punched Ciantrius, knocking him over, before nocking another arrow into his bow and aiming it at the Sendaris.

"Drop your weapon. Now," He ordered.

Ciantrius chuckled, "How about no?"

He leapt once again at Nitrox, stabbing the rapier at the human, managing to slice open a flap of skin on his hand. Nitrox yelped, and in alarm, rammed his other fist into Ciantrius' face, hearing a crack as his nose broke, spraying the both of them with crimson blood. The Sendaris hissed, taking out another potion. It was a dirty green, and fizzled in its vial. Nitrox did not wait for Ciantrius to use it, and swatted the potion aside while he had the chance. He drew out a knife from his own inventory, slashing the Sendaris' face, causing the already injured Ardoni to screech.

Ciantrius adjusted his grip on the potion, and slammed the glass vial into his face. The foul green concoction hissed against both his hand and Nitrox's face. Right as he began to feel queasy, the potion taking its toll, he took out another glass vial, somehow managed to take the lid off and quaffed the whole thing down. He took the opportunity to run from the stumbling human, and disappeared into an alleyway, people turning their heads as he ran. Dragging his hood tighter over his face, he managed to hide his face from view, and ran as fast as he could.

Nitrox stumbled, leaning against a building. He was going to have to let Ciantrius get away, as he did not have the strength to pursue him with the poison setting in. He would die if he didn't act quickly. Nitrox took out his phone and shakily dialed the number of the Black Plasma hotline. He gasped into the phone.

"Knight here, what's the matter, Nitrox?" Came the voice from the other side.

"Got... poisoned..." Nitrox said. "Ciantrius... come.... inner city. Outside the hotel I'm... I'm staying at. Quickly."

Knight's gasp was audible through the phone. "Be right there, just hold on!" He assured. Knight hung up, just as Nitrox's grip on the phone ceased and it clattered to the concrete ground. He slumped over against the wall, breathing heavily as he clutched his chest. The whole world spun, up became down. Or was that left? He gasped as he watched the light blue Sendaris disappearing behind a building, in sync with the dying sun.

He heard the choppy whirr of a helicopter within a few minutes, though he wasn't precisely sure how many. He could make out the chopper landing. Knight got out and rushed to Nitrox, picking him up and supporting him while walking back to the helicopter. Nitrox was too weak to say anything now, and he blacked out before they made it to the vehicle.

*****

Ventrum made his way through the hallway of the Sendaris gang headquarters. He was a tall and stocky Ardoni with dark, navy blue markings, a bulletproof vest, and dark shades. He stepped through the sliding doors at the end as they opened up.

Inside was another Sendaris, a female, who wore a cloak and carried an ornate, iron-tipped spear which was planted firmly in the ground.

Ventrum kneeled respectfully as the other Sendaris turned to face him.

"Mistress Ria, I come with bad news," Ventrum stated, "Your father, Osivian... our leader... is dea-"

"I. Know," Ria's hands clenched into fists, "I watched the news. I know what goes on in Plasmatropolis. I pay attention. Is that all you're here for, Ventrum? Because if so, you're dismissed."

"I have come to inquire... what is the next course of action?"

"One of the orders my father gave before his death was for the Sendaris gang to be reassembled," Ria informed, "Osivian is gone. I am the one in control of what is left. I intend to gather everyone we can."

"You may send me to inform the others of these developments and recruit them to your side," Ventrum offered.

"That will be your precise assignment," Ria nodded, "As for myself, I will seek revenge on Thalleous for what he has done, but not now, not when we are weak. We need allies. We cannot ally with the authorities. We have already broken the rules, there is no point in turning back now. There is only one faction we can turn to."

"And that would be?" Ventrum queried.

"I will attempt to ally us with William Lothan," Ria claimed.

Ventrum shook his head, "With all due respect, that would be hopeless. You know he despises Ardoni."

"He may claim so, but the truth is, with no allies and with his recent defeats, he will go as desperate as we are given time," Ria countered, "We both have a common goal. We both surely want Thalleous to die for what he's done. Lothan has no reason to turn us away. An alliance would be mutually beneficial."

"Even if that were true, would Lothan not just betray us afer Thalleous' defeat?" Ventrum questioned further.

"He most certainly will, but we'll be ready for that," Ria claimed, "We will go into hiding once Thalleous is defeated and wait until Lothan is inevitably dealt with by the authorities. Then we will return and gradually amass power. We will profit from this."

"Many things could go wrong," Ventrum stated.

"No plan is perfect. Is it not worth the risk?"

Ventrum simply looked down, "I will gather the others at once and tell them of the new updates to the situation."