From the Intergalactic Dictionary.
Defective: Something that is defective, has a fault in it and does not work correctly. The most known example of this is the so-called Irken defective. Any Irken fit with a faulty ID PAK is considered a defective; these individuals possess a high level of free will to the point the Irken Imperial Control Brains cannot brainwash or control them, turning these Irkens into dangerous assets due to their unpredictability. Most Irken defectives are either executed or given menial labors.
Curiously, the Sobrekt have a similar stigma, in their case for their genetic hybrids, particularly the trademark Indokuro. The organization that keeps track of and controls the indokuro population, IK-CADCOM, has strict quality control and a set of strict rules and standards for the indokuro trainers, better known as indokani. Should any indokuro not meet the standard, it is often confiscated and, in the worst of cases, put down before it can become a danger to others.
-IZ-
Cheesecake was terrified as he hung from the flying creature's hold. They were veryhigh in the air. He called out for master for the hundredth time, and again he didn't come. The flying creature shrieked at him. What is that supposed to mean? He didn't care, he just wanted to go home! He was smart enough not to try wiggling out of this creature's hold, however, especially not at such height.
The flying creature brought him to a dark, scary building. As soon as he was on the ground again he tried to flee, only to find himself surrounded by even more lizards, all of them poking at him with the long, painful poles. Cheesecake hated that sensation. He tried snapping at one of the poles, but it didn't scare them away. He didn't notice he was being cornered into a cage until the doors slammed shut, trapping him inside. He slammed against the bars, but they didn't budge.
"Okay, he's in! Sedate him!"
He wasn't sure of what that was supposed to mean. A strange smoke started filling up his cage. It had a very pleasant smell that made him feel sleepy. Cheesecake tried his best to stay awake; he had to be when master came to save him, and he didn't want to sleep surrounded by the mean lizards. They could more easily poke at him with the painful sticks if he did. But as minutes went by his eyelids became heavier and heavier until he succumbed to the sleepiness.
He awoke a while later. He was still in a cage, but a different one. This one consisted of cold, gray metal walls and an invisible wall that shocked him if he came into contact with it; he found the latter when trying to make a run for it. This didn't stop him, however. He banged against the wall again and again until he was all sore over. Cheesecake called out for master endlessly until his throat hurt.
Soon after, he felt hungry. He looked around for anything to eat, but all he found was a moving little critter inside a thick glass. He stared at it curiously as it moved around the case, staring back at him with dark eyes. Cheesecake tried to play with it, but the glass made it impossible for him to grab it. He tried breaking it a few times but failed. Eventually, he lost interest and went to drink water from a plate on the corner of the cage.
As he got bored and started roaming near the invisible wall, Cheesecake noticed he wasn't the only one in here. There were others that looked like him, all in cages, some bigger, others slightly younger, but like him, they seemed to be bored out of their wits. The one from the cage in front of him, whose stripe was a sky blue, somehow had gotten a living critter similar to the one in his own cage out of its glass case, but to Cheesecake's confusion, she didn't play with it. She killed and ate it. So those are supposed to be food?
Minutes later some lizards arrived. Cheesecake snarled and ran to the corner of his cage. They weren't interested in him, however, and instead went over to the blue-stripe in the opposite cage. Her invisible wall disappeared, but she didn't try to escape. Instead, she just sat down and stayed completely still, not moving an inch. The lizards were doing something to her with a small device similar to the one master would often play in.
"Yeah, it's her alright. Cikrada, belonging to indokani Tangrok."
"Should we give her back already?"
"Yeah. It's only the first time, and there were no fatalities. But do inform Tangrok she'll be paying a fine."
Cheesecake watched as the blue-stripe was led out of her cage and down the corridor. She calmly walked alongside the lizards, ignoring the shrieks and growls from the others. Then the lizards approached his cage. Cheesecake growled.
"What about this one?"
"I don't think we can do anything for this one," the taller lizard looked down at the device. "It's very aggressive, and according to his victim, he didn't respond to basic indokani commands. The officers who brought him said he was out of control. Besides, his test results showed he's overweight, malnourished and has unusually high sugar levels. It's clear he didn't have the proper diet."
"What about its indokani?"
"It doesn't have one. This indokuro was not registered, perhaps it was stolen as an egg and raised outside of Sobr. That would explain why it doesn't behave normally."
"The officers said an Irken claimed to be his owner."
"You know how opportunistic Irkens are. They've been trying to get their hands on any hybrekt they can ever since their Invader failed."
"Remember his execution?"
"I got the video."
"Cool! You gotta show me sometime. Anyhow, what will happen to this one if it can't be fixed?
"What happens to the ruined specimens?"
"Oh."
Cheesecake had no idea of what they were talking about, but the way they were looking at him gave him a bad feeling about it.
-IZ-
"WHERE IS HE?!"
"Purple, calm down or they'll kick us out!"
"I'd like to see them try!"
Blue was trying his best to be patient, but it's hard when Tallest Purple didn't listen to reason. Then again, his indokuro was taken; Blue could remember how he got the first time Fury was taken for misbehaving out in the city. He wanted to tear the officers' heads with his bare hands at that time.
They used Blue's ship to get to Igano downtown, where I-KCADCOM's HQ was located. It was a cold, sterile-looking building in shades of dark green. Purple imagined it as a sort of jail for indokuros, reminiscent of pounds where ownerless animals were put to either wait to get a new master or... Purple pushed the thought out of his head and instead went back to being uncomfortable in the tiny space.
He felt relieved when they finally parked in front of the building. Purple didn't even wait for Blue as he made his way to the doors just in time to see a female kryvtor leave with her blue-striped indokuro, the former looking deeply relieved. So they can be taken out of here! "Blue, where do I go to get Cheesecake out?"
"You have to go make a petition at the reception and then- Wait, Purple!" There he went, the idiot! Blue sighed in dismay.
Purple made his way to the reception desk. "Who is in charge here?!" he shouted.
Any other would have jumped off their chairs or fallen backward from the fright, but the sobrekt receptionist didn't even flinch. "State your business, mister..."
"I'm Almighty Tallest Purple, and I'm here to retrieve my indokuro!"
The crocodile stared at him with a raised eyebrow. "Your indokuro?"
"Yes, his name is Cheesecake! He's black with a white stripe!"
The receptionist checked his computer. Minutes later, he snorted. "There's no indokuro registered as Cheesecake in the databases, mister."
"YOU LIE! He was just brought in-!"
Blue caught up at that moment. "Purple-!" He turned to the receptionist. "Excuse us for a moment, sir." He dragged Purple away from the desk, allowing another indokani to take his turn. "What are you doing-?!"
"What do you think I'm doing?! I'm trying to get my indokuro back!"
"It's not that simple in your case!"
"Why not?!"
Blue took a deep breath and explained. "When an indokuro egg hatches, its indokani must come to I-KCADCOM to register it. Both the indokuro and its indokani are registered in the databases so that I-KCADCOM can supervise their progress; that way, should the indokuro misbehave or cause any trouble, its indokani can be identified and fined for the trouble.
"Cheesecake is a different case. As you know, his egg was stolen and never returned because it hatched and imprinted on you. It means he was never registered in the database, and neither are you. By law, this means Cheesecake is a rogue indokuro*because he doesn't have an owner-"
"I am his owner!"
"Legally you aren't!" Blue snapped. He was finally getting impatient at Purple's stubbornness. He took another deep breath. "You never took the exam, you didn't earn the right to have an indokuro, so it doesn't matter if you raised Cheesecake from the egg. Even if all your army in the Massive came to act as witnesses, he will not be returned to you, especially after the Invader your people sent tried to steal one before.*"
"If they won't give him back, what are they going to do to him?!" Purple didn't like the silence that followed, especially when Blue looked away with a troubled expression. "Answer me! What will happen to Cheesecake?!"
"There are two options: the first is that he gets reassigned to another indokani who lost his first indokuro and wishes to keep working. However, Cheesecake was not properly trained as a hatchling, and since he never learned proper behavior from others of his kind, it'll be very hard for him to get used to another person. Rehabilitating him would probably cost more time and resources than the I-KCADCOM will be willing to spend."
"What's the second option?" Blue didn't reply immediately. Purple frowned, impatient. "What is it?!"
"He'll be put down."
Purple froze and felt a knot in his squeedly-smooch. Put down...? As in... killing an animal when it's deemed too old, sick or dangerous...? No, no, no! Not his Cheesecake, it couldn't...! "Isn't there anything I can do?!"
"You could try and appeal to postpone his execution while you take the Indokani exams, but-"
"Hey, you, lizard! Do you hear that?! I want to make an appeal!"
Blue smacked his forehead.
X0X
Purple had never been in an office before... that many times. Okay, you got him. In the Academy, he had been called to the office to be raked over the coals a few times, but those times were mostly Red's fault, Purple just had the bad luck to be dragged down with him. In this occasion, though, he was not in a superior's office. He was inside a sobrekt's office, about to formally beg that his Cheesecake is spared, and maybe negotiate a way to return him. But the damn person in charge was surely taking his time!
"How long are they going to keep us here?! And they didn't even give us snacks!"
"Well, perhaps if you hadn't beaten the receptionist with a pole..."
"It was that or breaking my hand like Red.*" Blue merely rolled his eyes with a sigh.
At last, the door opened, and a sobrekt in dark yellow robes stepped in. Her gaze was fixed unto a datapad as she walked over to the desk.
"At last!" Purple cried, but Blue stopped him before he could step closer to her. Right. Physical proximity equal to flirting. "What took you so long?!"
"You are mister Purple?"
"It's Almighty Tallest Purple to you, lizard!"
The sobrekt raised a thick, spiny eyebrow. "I'll take that as a yes." She glanced down at her datapad again. "So you want to make an... appeal for an Indokuro?"
"Yes! His name is Cheesecake and he's mine!"
"I'm afraid I'll need more information, that name is not registered in the databases."
"What kind of information?!"
"Usually his age and the color of his stripe are enough, but given that there's no record for this one, anything that could help identify it will do."
Purple forced himself to take a deep breath. "He's about two Irken months old*, his stripe is a pearly white... He's very playful and loves snacks... He was brought here not long ago by a kurokran!"
"A... white stripe?" The sobrekt frowned and looked through her datapad. "I see. There is a white-striped specimen brought in an hour ago."
Purple raised his lekku. "Yeah, that's him! He responds to Cheesecake!"
"He doesn't have an indokani, as far as we're concerned..."
This time, Blue took it from there before Purple could say anything stupid. "There's a good explanation for that, miss." He explained how they recovered Cheesecake's egg from a black market auction, how it hatched on Hoth and imprinted on Purple, and then it snuck into the Irken flagship when they were about to leave, omitting the part where he and Captain had decided to let Purple keep Cheesecake. It might sound selfish, but they had reputations to maintain too.
"That would explain some of his... habits," the sobrekt frowned. She sighed. "I'm afraid that indokuro was labeled as 'ruined'."
"What do you mean?" Purple asked.
"It's a way to say he was badly trained, your Tallest. It lacks communication skills with others of its kind. It's severely malnourished due to lack of proteins, and there are high levels of sugar in its blood. It has very little stamina and strength from lack of exercise. Not to mention it's not very..." she coughed uncomfortably. "..smart. Some senior indokani have taken a good look at it and determined it cannot be reassigned given its poor condition. Your people have a similar status, as far as I know. You call them... defectives*."
The 'D' word sent shivers down Purple's spine. He clenched his fists with a deep frown. "My Cheesecake is not defective!"
The sobrekt raised her eyebrow a second time. "It's unpredictable and dangerous because of faulty training, or 'programming' if you will. It cannot follow commands from other indokani nor be controlled, just like defective Irkens can't be controlled by Control Brains. Should I continue?"
"Well, if you don't want him, why don't you just give him back to me?!"
"It's a danger, your Tallest. It tore off the arm of an indokani who tried to calm it down, and it caused quite the destruction in the marketplace. Who knows how many people would get hurt if it's on the loose again."
"Oh, please, you guys can regrow your limbs! What's the big deal?! And the issue in the market wasn't his fault, there were some frill-necks-!"
"Did you tell it to stop?"
"Yes, I did!"
"And did it obey?"
"What does that have to do with-?"
"Did it obey?"
"He was chasing after-!"
"Did it obey?" The tone in which she spoke left him speechless. "So I figured."
Purple's resolve started to crumble. "I-I will keep a better eye on him-!"
"It's no use if it won't even listen to you, in the long run, you'll only give it more reasons to be permanently incarcerated."
He froze. "Y-You can't...!" Did this mean...? His Cheesecake was going to...?
"Besides, the committee has already reached a consensus regarding this specimen in particular. Given that it cannot be re-assigned to another indokani and rehabilitating it would consume too much time, it's been decided that the specimen IK-W01 is of no use to the Sobrekt Military, and shall be put down in two days-"
She didn't get to finish as a PAK-leg came into contact with her shoulder.
-IZ-
"Are you feeling better?"
"Do you mean it physically or emotionally?"
"Both."
Red snorted. "Let's see. There's a bloody video in the bloody interweb of me acting like a fool, my reputation is in shambles, Purple just got arrested again, and now Zim has to go get him out! Other than that, I'm fine, thank you very much."
Lena sighed and took a sip of her tea. Apparently, Purple got into a fight at the I-KCADCOM and he and Blue were dragged off to sobrekt jail until their bail was paid... or Hitorken Zim went personally to get them out. Zim had been more than delighted to go 'save his Tallest', of course. Guess Cheesecake was not coming back soon. She was particularly worried about Purple; he was very attached to that animal.
"I swear, if I were superstitious, I'd think somebody cast a curse on me."
"A curse?"
"You know, when somebody uses magic to have bad things befall unto someone who made them angry. It's not normal that so many bad stuff happens to me in such a short period of time!"
Lena rolled her eyes. "I didn't think you believed in those things."
"I don't! I'm just saying it's weird. Ever since we got here, it's been one thing after another. First Zim grew taller, then Blue's female parental unit got it against me, Purple's pet comes down and causes more trouble, and now this!"
"You cannot blame Deltra for that, Red. You did kill her husband and father-in-law."
"I told you back on Hoth, and I repeat it: it was either their lives or mine and Ilk's*. Besides, if you think about it, if I hadn't killed them then Blue wouldn't have Ilk."
"He knows that, Red. We all know. It's just that there are others, such as Deltra, who don't see it that way. How would you feel if I left on a mission and never returned?"
Red pouted and pulled his wife into a tight embrace. "Don't say that! You'll bring us bad luck!"
"What did you just say? You don't believe in curses?" Lena questioned.
"I'm not taking any chances, my dear. Besides, if what Captain said is correct, the universe is currently on a conspiracy to make us both as miserable as possible*."
"Since when do you take Captain seriously?"
"Ever since he saved my life on Hoth*, and then did it again with both our drunken asses last night," Red quickly added. "Just don't tell him I said that."
Lena giggled. "My lips are sealed." She leaned in against the embrace with a purr. Red rubbed his cheek against her head affectionately. "So what do you want to do today?"
There was a loud knock on the door. The computer announced Captain's presence, additionally showing him on the screen. Red opened his eyes slightly when he noticed the crocodile looked somewhat... anxious. Had something happened? "Tell him to wait." There was no way he'd receive Captain in his bathrobe. Once he and Lena were properly dressed five minutes later, he opened the door. "What? Are you going to make fun of me?"
"Usually I would, Irken, but right now's not a good time for that."
"Oh? And why's that?"
"You see..." Captain looked uncomfortable. "Something came up..."
Red raised an eyebrow. This wasn't like Captain at all; instead of bluntly going straight to the point, it looked like he was avoiding the topic. Before he could question him about it, the computer announced a transmission from the Massive. Red sighed. "Patch them through."
The image on the screen was not what he expected.
"M-My Tallest, we're under attack! The Sobrekt—!" The engineer was cut off as he was roughly shoved aside by a crocodile and the screen turned to static.
Lena dropped the cup of tea she had been drinking. Red stared at the screen for a few minutes, unresponsive, until he turned to Captain. The bastard was grinning nervously.
"Err... surprise?"
The next half an hour consisted of Red chasing after Captain around the base with a metal bat (a Christmas present from Zim he and Purple had tossed aside until they found a proper use for it), while the sobrekt merely dodged the blows and tried in vain to get the Irken to calm down.
"Irken, cool down-!"
"YOU BACKSTABBING, TREACHEROUS CROCODILE!"
"It's not like that, let me explain-!"
The bat missed and struck the wall. "COMPUTER, MAKE HIM STAND STILL!" Before it could, Captain had gone to hide behind Lena. "THATS A LOW BLOW, CAPTAIN!"
"Red, don't you think we should at least listen to what he has to say?!" Lena snapped.
"Don't make me take that thing off your hands, Irken! You won't like the result!"
Red snapped and held up the bat. "I'd like to see you try, Captain!"
"Just listen! This is not my doing!"
"Oh, really?! And who's behind it?! The transmission clearly showed a Sobrekt in the ship!"
"I don't know!" Captain snapped. He took a deep breath. "I noticed something was going on up there and came to tell you what was happening!"
"And how did you know that if you had nothing to do with it?!"
"Irken, that ship's so big we can see it all the way from down here."
"Well, if you're not behind this, who is-?! No, wait I don't even need to ask! Take me to your leader!"
"That was what I wanted to suggest." Captain frowned. "But I can assure you, if the Shuryo were behind this, I would have been amongst the first ones to know."
Red half-closed his eyelids. "Right. And what assured me you wouldn't have held that information for as payback for me doing the same on Hoth*."
Captain rolled his eyes. "Irken, on Hoth it was our lives on the line. This is only a ship."
"The irken flagship, idiot!"
"Are we going to keep arguing in cycles all day or are we going to see the Shuryo?"
Red let the bat fall to the ground, but his glare never left Captain as they left the base towards a nearby ship, probably the sobrekt's. Lena tagged along just in case Red did something stupid. Ignoring the questioning Invaders, they took off and left towards the Shuryo's fortress. On the way there, Lena and Red watched as hundreds of Irken ships flew out of the Massive, some of them even coming down.
The Shuryo's stronghold, dubbed Karajork* by the Sobrekt, sent shivers down Lena's spine. It was almost as big as the Tallest Tower on Irk, but there were dark green spines protruding from the external walls, and the atmosphere gave an almost tyrannical feeling. As the ship flew closer to a hangar in the upper levels, Captain exchanged some words in Sobrekt with someone with the ship's communicator, and they were granted clearance to land.
Red was the first to step off the ship... or rather, he jumped out of the shop and tried to go straight inside only to be stopped by two guards with ivory black scales. Captain's prompt interference was the only thing that saved his limbs.
"What's wrong?" Red asked impatiently.
"Usually any foreigners who wish an audience with Shuryo must undergo a series of tests to prove they are worthy-"
"You gotta be fucking kidding me!"
"Let him finish, Red," Lena warned, squeezing his arm.
"But given the... circumstances, the Shuryo has decided to make an exception this time. Besides, Hitorken Zim has spoken wonders of you." For a reason, I can't understand. Captain muttered this last part to himself.
"Good! Then take us to your leader, lizards!"
The interior of the fortress was not as dark as the exterior, but there were lots of old-fashioned weapons and trophy heads of different creatures hanging on the aqua-green walls. Lena was startled when she noticed there were sobrekt and kryvtor. Captain explained it's a sobrekt custom to cut off the heads of the greatest Shuryo that ever ruled to hang them on the walls. Red was glad Purple was not present; he would have probably thrown up.
The throne room, if it could be called that, was more reminiscent of the feasting halls some inferior alien cultures had, complete with the rustic, an orange bonfire in the middle and weapons-hanging-on-the-walls décor. Some sobrekt and kryvtors, probably generals and high-ranking warriors, were having some cuts of meat on the long table while enjoying a cold mug of grootbeer. Red glared at the drink.
The Shuryo himself was seated atop his mithrilium throne. Much like his subordinates back on the table, he had scars all over his body, but his were more prominent and noticeable and he made no attempt to hide them. In fact, he was proudly exposing his bare, deeply scarred torso and face. Red noticed there were no guards posted near his throne, he was completely defenseless. Then again, he didn't look like he could be dispatched that easily if he had survived all those injuries.
Captain saluted and stamped his tail. "Shuryo, I've brought one of the Irken Leaders, as you requested."
"Where's the other one?" Lena and Red felt shivers down their spine. His voice was very deep and demanded respect.
"Tallest Purple is.... Indisposed right now," Red stated, omitting the reason why. The raging fire had cooled down considerably, but it was still there. "But that's not the issue here, your... " How is he supposed to refer to him? This one didn't look like it'd take kindly to being referred to as 'lizard'.
"Shuryo," Captain whispered quickly.
"Yeah, Shuryo! Would you mind telling me why you attacked the Irken flagship?! We came here to attend my daughter's kekkon-something, not conquer your planet! If we wanted to, we would have blown it up already!"
"It's not my doing."
"Is this because of Invader Dren? Get over it already, I wasn't even the Tallest when it happened! And your planet has been taken from the list of marked planets ever since, so you don't really have to worry about it!"
"It's not my doing, your Tallest."
Red continued on his ranting. Lena noticed the Shuryo was digging his claws into the throne's armrests, and his pupils had turned to slits. "Red..." She quickly tapped her mate's shoulders but was ignored.
"Or do you want to take revenge because of your precious flower? I thought we had already settled that down-!"
The Shuryo had enough. He abruptly stood up, baring his teeth and spines. "I said...!" Red jumped unto Lena's arms at his outburst. Satisfied, Shuryo relaxed. "It's not my doing, you Tallest. I didn't order the attack on your flagship."
Lena dropped her mate to the ground. "What?"
"I have no current interest in your Irken flagship nor starting a war with your people. As you said, the issue with the sacred flower is in the past, and it would be dishonorable and outright boring to take the Massive without a fight."
Red got back to his feet, rubbing his sore back, frowning at his wife momentarily before turning back to face the Shuryo. "Well, if you are not behind this, then who is? Because I received a transmission from the Massive, and I have two witnesses here that saw a sobrekt in that transmission right before it cut off."
The Shuryo glanced sidewards to a kryvtor technician. "Contact the Massive." As the kryvtor dialed something into a nearby console and a large screen lowered from the roof, Shuryo turned to Red again. "If the attacker is a Sobrekt like you say, he won't dare to ignore a call from me."
The screen was static for a few minutes until the call was finally taken, and a veryconfused sobrekt appeared on it. As soon as he realized who had called, he went stiff and saluted. "Shuryo, sire!"
Lena noticed it wasn't the bridge. "Wait, is that the hangar?"
"Soldier, what are you doing on the Irken flagship without permission?" Shuryo asked sternly.
The sobrekt seemed hesitant. "Our boss ordered us to take arms, sire, and we obeyed."
"Well, get your scaly asses out of my ship now before I go up there to personally throw you all out of the airlock!" Red snapped.
"Who is your boss?"
"He's currently in the bridge, trying to figure out how this ship works. I can transfer the call over there."
"Do so."
The sobrekt rubbed the back of his head. "Err... which button should I use? Irken technology is not my forte..."
After twenty minutes of having to explain which buttons to press, during which the soldier pressed the wrong ones and ended up removing audio and turning off the screen amongst other things* (Red nearly lost it for a second time), the call was finallytransferred to the Massive's bridge. It was filled with Sobrekt and kryvtor alike, all of them looking around the consoles curiously.
And there was another Sobrekt, larger and more scarred, sitting... on... Red's chair. Lena and Captain saw his clenched fists and his twitching eye. Both knew it would be a matter of time before the bomb exploded
"Shuryo," The Sobrekt saluted and stamped his tail, followed by the rest of the Sobrekt.
"State your name and rank, soldier."
"Sendou Grikal, senior Indokani." Sendou...? Where had she heard that name?
"Would you mind telling what the hell are you doing in MY SHIP?!" Red roared. He almost lunged at the screen, but Captain held him back. "GET YOUR FILTHY ALIEN MEAT OUT OF MY SEAT!"
Sendou stared at Red. "Your ship?" He chuckled. "I'm afraid it's no longer your ship, your Tallest."
"WHAT ON IRK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT-?!" Red was abruptly cut off when Captain quickly grabbed an old cloth and gagged him with it. Red retaliated by bringing out his PAK-legs and trying to strike him with them, leading to a rather violent scuffle between the two.
Lena smacked her forehead. Shuryo sighed and directed his attention back to the screen. "What do you mean with that, soldier?"
"With all due respect, Shuryo, this matter should be solved in person. I'd rather go down to discuss this with the Irken Tallest..." Sendou's gaze went to rest on Red and Captain as various soldiers tried to break them apart. "...unless he's busy."
Lena took it from there. "No, no! Pick a place and time and we'll meet you there! Please, the sooner we solve this issue, the better!" She laughed nervously. "Please forgive my husband, he's not taking this... very well, as you can see."
"That's plainly obvious."
"Why, you-!" This time Captain used his hand to cover Red's mouth. The Irken tried to bite it, but his softer teeth didn't even leave a mark.
"Meet me back on the Betting House from last night in an hour, your Tallest." With that, the transmission was cut off.
Lena and Shuryo glanced back at Red and Captain's fight before both exchanged an annoyed look and shook their heads.