Chapter Text
Sitting upon the bar stool, I pick up the tiny shot glass, twirling it in my hands. Some cheesy state design was printed upon it, shining through the clear Vodka inside. How cute. With a sigh, I shoot the cup up to my lips, practically throwing the alcohol down my throat. The sting of the alcohol was a welcome friend, along with the warmth that came with it.
“Yo, bartend, I’ll take another shot.”
With a cup and a rag in hand, the guy makes his way over to me, eyeing me suspiciously. Honestly I can’t stand this guy, but when he’s the one giving you what you want, you shut the fuck up and do what he says.
“I’m sorry Strider, but I think you’ve had enough for the night.”
Well, you only shut up when you know he’s going to give you what you want.
“Come on Bryce, it’ll be my last shot, I swear. Besides you know I don’t have enough for a fucking car.”
“I haven’t seen you in here in a while, Strider. Not to mention you’ve been drinking like a fish. What’s the occasion?”
Fixing the pointed shades upon the bridge of my nose, my eyes dart to the bar counter in front of me. “It’s my little bro’s birthday. Except I haven’t seen him for years. No idea where he went, but that’s that.”
Without another word, he sets a double shot in front of me. “On the house.” This man just became my god send.
Inspecting the drink in front of me, I tap the edges of my shades, wondering why the damn thing looks so fuzzy. Must’ve gotten something on my shades. Casting my eyes downward once more, I cleaned off my shades before returning them to their rightful place. Of course everything was still fuzzy looking. I couldn’t be that drunk, could I?
With a shaky hand, I bring the shot glass to my lips when a commotion at the entrance catches my attention. Some idiot hopped up on god knows what concoction of drugs is screaming at the bar hop, flailing a gun in his hands. This certainly wasn’t looking good.
“Bryce you better call the-”
The familiar cock of a gun rang in my ears as I made my move. Moving like a cheetah hopped up on speed, I flash stepped across the room, grabbing the guy’s gun and knocking him in the jaw with a fist. An explosion of sound echoed about the dingy bar as a bullet flew across the room, nailing another customer square in the back as the poor guy slumped to the floor. With a snarl, I smash my boot into the guy’s face, making sure the fucker is out cold.
With the gun in my hand, I looked up at Bryce, a look of horror on his face when multiple hands grabbed me from behind, forcing me to the ground.
“What the fuck are you doing?! I just knocked this guy out and did you all a favor!” I spat. I always hated the police. Never did a lick of good for anyone.
“From where we’re standing, you’re the one who shot the gun into that guy’s back. Now do yourself a favor and shut the fuck up, unless you want to get into even deeper shit than you already are,” one of the cops growled, placing a shoe on the back of my head.
Dave, wherever the hell you are, I hope you’re having a better time than your bro right now. As I was hoisted up off the ground, I glanced over at Bryce, who was cowering like a dog with its tail between its legs. Of course the bastard wasn’t going to back me up. Nothing but a bunch of low lives in this town that are too busy covering their own asses to bother with anyone else’s. That’s just what I needed.
Keeping my mouth shut, I look over the cops who are taking me to one of their vehicles. I could easily take these guys and get the hell out of here, except lucky me, I have an audience of civilians watching me. For once people want to pay attention to Daxx Strider, and it’s when he’s getting his ass hauled off to jail.
“What’s with the get up, you look like a fucking pansy,” one of the cops laughs. With a snarl I kick the fat bastard in the stomach before I’m thrown in the back of the car. He’ll be feeling that one for weeks. Steel toes are a guy’s best friend after all.
Sitting calmly in the car, I closed my eyes thinking about how I was going to get the hell out of this. Clearly this was one of those cases of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Surely it would get sorted out quickly. There had to have been security cameras that caught what really happened. In the end, it would sort itself out.
“Hey sleeping beauty, wake the fuck up. We’re at your home away from home.”
In my drunken stupor, I allow the apes to guide me to wherever the hell they’re taking me. The alcohol buzzing in my brain is making me too tired to think properly anymore and I’m ready to sleep it off. After being thrown in a cell, I lay back on one of the mats and pass off into an alcoholic dreamland.
Dreaming while you’re drunk as shit is really a terrible experience. You’re forced down some terrible memory lane that’s all too real and painful, but so far out of your grasp. You could be flash stepping as fast as you could and you’d never be able to catch up to it. My little bro’s face implants itself in my mind, smiling up at me with his own rounded shades. I was supposed to take care of him and protect him. Except I let him down.
The loud groan of metal scrapes through my subconscious, bringing me out of my sleep along with a raging hangover headache.
“It’s time for you to wake up, Daxx,” a woman’s voice called.
Sitting up with a grin, I look over the lovely lady calling to me. She certainly wasn’t human, but she definitely wasn’t an unattractive troll either. I hadn’t really gotten the chance to interact with this new species, but I’ll take any attention I can from a pretty lady.
“You can call me Strider for now,” I say smoothly as I rise to my feet, ignoring the sledgehammer of a headache trying to pound my eyes out. “And what can I call you, toots?”
Her black shoulder length hair swirled around her as she shot me a glare that would make any other man piss his pants. It only made me more excited.
“I am the Neophyte Redglare. Redglare will suffice, and nothing else. And as far as I can tell, you’re in need of an attorney since you don’t have a penny to your name. Quite pathetic for one of your standing,” she spat.
Good looking and feisty. This day just keeps getting better and better.