[Centaurea: Contestation Arc] [Part I] This Home Isn't a Home... Yet

(With Karl, Wilder, Jonny)

At behest of Karl, the two teens backed off even further allowing the bartender to proceed with whatever he had in mind. To their surprise the blonde spit some purple spittle into the sky that then began to rain down on their single opponent. Wilder grimaced as he had little in ways of ranged attacks and simply made sure to keep a safe distance from the dangerous rain. Jonny on the other hand pulled out a sling shot and began rummaging for any type of ammunition in his bag.

Once the rain came to a halt Wilder dashed in behind Karl while Jonny stayed back to offer support from range. However this preparation wouldn’t be necessary as when Karl reached the gang leader he swiftly dealt the finishing blow to the man. Wilder came to a slow beside Karl, his adrenaline and blood still pounding in his ears. The man was unconscious but his wounds were obviously still bleeding and that stab wound was easily the worst of it. The blonde could care less and turned away from the bleeding out man.

Jonny jogged up to the duo and heard Karl ask for some bandages, “Uh, Jude always has some first aid on him back with Miku and the rest of the locals.” The bald teen then looked down at the gang leader and was struck by a sudden idea. “Hey Wilder, let’s take this guy back for questioning. Isn’t that a good idea?” He turned to his friend with a smirk and obvious pride in his eyes at coming up with the thought. The blonde in question frowned but nodded his head. “Makes sense. Karl, let’s go back and get you those bandages. Jonny and I will keep an eye on this guy just in case in the meantime.” With that said the two teens sheathed their weapons and bent down to pick up the unconscious gang leader before slowly walking back to where Miku and the rest were.

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(With Miku, Lukman, and Co)

The crowd of Centaurians all stared solemnly upon the chaotic scene of the Meddling Kids fighting tooth and nail to keep them safe. Henreitta was no stranger to violence and had been mixed up with Miku in the past before but even the hardened woman could feel something different about this. Everyone born on this island had seen or been involved in violence in one way or another but it had never been like this for them. The violence was always felt senseless, as if they had no control of when it would strike and when it did it had no true purpose. Violence for the sake of violence.

Sure those who won often claimed spoils in one form or another from the loser. Sometimes that even meant the life of the one too weak, but this time the locals all were witnessing a new type of battle. One of conflicting ideals and goals, the desire to grow and become something more against the desire to oppress and control what is allowed to be. In a sense it was even more off putting than the normal scenes of violence they had grown accustomed to. After all, could everyone say that they’d be willing to die for something as empty and worthless as an ideal.

As the crowd dealt with this strange feeling inside of them Miku and Lukman continued observing what could very well be the first battle of many for Centaurea’s future. “It seems the bartender has more to offer than just a well mixed drink.” The scholar noted out loud to himself as he flourished his pen to signal he’d finished documenting the end of that particular event. “Oh, look at that, they even return baring gifts for you.” This statement was said much lower so as to only be heard by the Rascal herself. The trio were slowly making their way over and looked worse for wear, but not nearly as bad as the unconscious man being dragged between Jonny and Wilder.

“Jude, can you patch up the bart-, Karl.” Miku had made sure to actually use the man’s name, he’d definitely earned that much from his display of strength. “Following that can you make sure our new ‘friend’ doesn’t bleed out before we get a chance to talk? I have some things I wish to discuss with him.” With the orders given Miku returned her attention to the only battle left. The one her second mate had finally managed to join in on after ensuring all the patrons of Henreitta were safely evacuated; relieving Cedric and Nick who seemed to be holding their own well enough against the horde. The bluenette couldn’t deny she was mildly impressed with how they held out, sometimes she forgot how strong her own crew was. Something she had to stop doing. It seemed the Rascal had a lot of things she had to change about not only herself but about everything around her.

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(With Emi, Cedric, and Nick)

Cedric was currently held in a full nelson hold while several other thugs took punches, kicks, and swipes at him with their weaponry. The brunette did all he could to sway, kick away, and even trip his captor to avoid many attacks in an almost comedic manner. The scene was contrasted by the sweat on Cedric’s extremely stern face as he did his best to not be gutted. Thankfully a cacophony of cries suddenly rose from the surrounding crowd that distracted the thug holding him in the grapple. Using all his strength he broke free of the hold and tossed the man over his shoulder and straight onto the ground knocking him out.

Just a few feet and out of sight was Nick who was spending much more time dodging attacks by weaving between bodies, ducking, and redirecting blows at the last second with his own open palms. Just as the blonde backed into what felt like a solid mass of muscle, the mass was suddenly gone as in his place was the ever smiling and beautiful Emi Roromiya. The blonde shot the woman a grin that matched her own and let out a rebel yell at her call to action before leaping into the fray with renewed vigor and an unnatural spring in his step.

The brunette who had just joined his two overly cheery crewmates simply shook his head with a barely concealed smirk on his own face. He may not have been one for such shows of exuberance but he definitely had his own way of making his own rebel spirit known. With this thought in mind he let out a much more deep yell as he started throwing out haymakers left and right, utilizing the full weight of his body to move through his opponents. It was a sort of lumbering waltz that allowed him to move forcefully through the crowd as if he was simply rolling over reeds that bent under his weight.

(With Karl, Wilder, Jonny)

“It seems we’ve won the first battle, too bad it means practically nothing.” Lukman muttered to himself as he shut his journal after a flourish of his pen. Miku ignored the comment as she watched Emi bump fists with Cedric and Nick. The blonde returned her exuberance but Cedric still looked as if he was being forced, though the captain could see the slight twitch at the corners of the brunette's mouth that he was forcing down.

“What was that abou-AH” Jonny yelled as he felt the burning of the poisonous residue on the unconscious gang leader seeping through his own sleeves. Wilder smirked but continued to drag the man despite Jonny’s pleas to stop so he could move his arms away from the poison, unlike the blonde who had thought ahead on that particular problem.

Jude darted out between Miku and Lukman and headed straight towards Karl whilst digging for supplies in a satchel he always kept on his person. “These don’t look too fatal but let me clean and bind them at the very least.” The gentle teen said to Karl as he began to pull out various bottles and rolls of clean linen. When the blonde bartender had resisted and insisted on bandaging himself the young medic allowed him to, his own captain was the same way. The boy silently assisted the bartender whenever he couldn’t complete a task on his own. Henrietta hovered silently as she watched to make sure her most recent employee didn’t cause any trouble for the young man tending to him.

“I think we all saw that, Emi. Good job.” Miku said as the crowd behind her all started to shout out their own praise at the teens who had quickly defeated such a large group of thugs. The captain allowed the crowd to celebrate their victory for a small moment before turning on her heel to face them all with a frown on her face. “I don’t know why you’re all celebrating. This is our victory.” Miku said with complete seriousness to the crowd. The cheers died instantly and all their eyes were immediately drawn to Mikus diminutive yet intimidating form.

The tension in the air was palpable as everyone who wasn’t busy had turned their attention to the short woman. Even those who were busy were watching her from the corner of their eyes wandering what was going to happen next.

“Do you all think it will be this easy moving forward? That we will just fight all your battles for you? What makes any of these kids different from you? Are they special in anyway? Look at them. Remember who they were before we left all of you behind!” Miku shouted as she shot her arm out to send their attention to her Kids that were all being patched up slowly and catching their breath.

“If you haven’t figured it out there’s one difference from us and yourselves. We chose to fight against the chains that held us down instead of wallowing in our miserable lives. You’ve all been content to live in misery and oppression for years and have done nothing! I don’t see people who have what it takes to take Centaurea from those who keep us down in front of me. I see the pathetic people I left behind.” Miku's voice was growing harsher in tone as she continued her tirade.

The crowd’s general reaction was a mixture of shame, guilt, and irritation at the young woman’s words. “If you want our help, you have to prove to me that you are just as willing as we are to fight for our home.” Miku said this in a level tone meeting the eyes of anyone willing to meet her own, a silent challenge inside of them. There was a silence as the Centaurians all milled about, contemplating the words thrown at them and looking to one another for guidance.

The silence was finally broken when a blonde woman with shoulder length hair broke from the ground and walked towards the group of thugs that were defeated and left behind. It only took seconds before a blonde man caught up to her and began to walk silently alongside her. Wilder had just gotten his chest wound clean and was in the middle of having it bandaged when his eyes shot open in shock and he cried out. “Ma? Pa!” He made to stand but Nick forced him to remain seated as his chest was properly bandaged yet.

The blonde couple each crouched down to pick up a weapon each, looking to one another for courage, before going through with what they had decided to do. The crowd watched with suspended belief as the poor but friendly merchants, that tried their best to maintain low prices without going broke, each took their new weapons and began to stab at the prone form of a thug. The pain woke the thug up as they cried in anguish as they were stabbed multiple times before finally succumbing to their wounds. The woman kept stabbing as she visibly hyperventilated but was stopped by her husband who pulled her away to calm down.

Wilder eventually was allowed to stand and made his way over to his parents who simply turned to him and pulled him into a hug. The three stood huddled, having a private conversation between the three of them, before releasing one another. Wilder’s father ruffled the shorter young man’s hair before he said a few words to his wife, she in turn nodded her head and composed herself. The small family then turned to the rest of the crowd and stared at them resolutely in silence.

Miku watched in silence and turned her attention back to the crowd that had sought her out in hopes of having her solve their problem. Slowly, one by one, people began to break from the crowd to prove their own resolve. The cries of thugs being slowly and amateurly slain began to fill the air, most of these people had never wielded a proper weapon with intent to kill. Some were unable to continue past their initial strikes, others found it too easy and became unsettled with themselves, and a couple found themselves relishing it too much having recognized some of the men on the ground as past aggressors.

Time passed as Miku along with her crew simply watched in solemn silence as a majority of the crowd had taken up arms and began executing the gang on the street. Small rivulets of blood began to pool into small streams as they ran off to the sides of the road, cries of those dealing with their first kills were all around. Jude was staring at the scene with a haunted look on his face, Nick was by his side with a comforting hand on the teens shoulder. Jonny was looking away awkwardly, trying his hardest to not watch the scene unfolding. Henrietta was shaking her head with a resigned look of acceptance on her face rather than a look of disappointment, she knew this was necessary. Cedric was standing beside Miku looking at the scene with an impassive look on his face, it was obviously forced as his eyes were narrowed and his jaw was clenched tightly. On the other side of the short captain was Lukman, observing with extreme interest but keeping his comments to himself for once.

This event took the better part of an hour as Miku refused to interfere or retire early herself. She had issued a challenge to these people and had to see it through with them. Once the last kill was done and most of the crowd composed themselves they all looked to Miku expectantly. The Rascal scanned the crowd meeting each of their gazes with her own before nodding once. “Tonight is over. Go home and take your weapons with you. They’re yours now.” With this said she continued waiting until the last of them had left, the street was still littered with corpses and needed to be disposed of. Miku had no idea how she was going to manage this.

“Don’t worry, I have people on the way already. I had one of my men watching and he would have known what to do by now.” Lukman said as he noticed Miku’s contemplative look at the corpse ridden street. The woman nodded and turned on her heel, “I need a drink. The bar still open, Karl?” Miku called out as she walked into Henrietta's. Each of the Meddling Kids slowly began to make their way inside, except Wilder who had left with his family promising to return in the morning.

Miku had made her way back to her original seat in the bar and leaned heavily on the counter. She hadn’t lifted a finger but felt exhausted nonetheless and had no clue as to why that was. Lukman sat himself beside her with the Kids all taking up various spots along, Jonny had dragged the unconscious leader in alone and was told by Henrietta to deposit him in a broom closet, the bald teen would be gone for several minutes as he dealt with securing the man.

The two blue haired adults seated near one another remained silent for a while longer, waiting to see who would speak first. Miku was resolute that she wouldn’t speak a word until she had some kind of drink in her hand and Lukman seemed to be simply observing her closely.

Miku may have looked as if she wasn’t looking, as her eyes were focused on the wooden countertop before her, but she was absorbing each word and processing it all in her own way. When the glass of cognac was placed before her she grabbed the glass and downed it after listening to Karl’s feelings on what just happened. The bartender’s heart was in the right place but he just didn’t understand what life was like for them here. This wasn’t stooping to their level, this was doing what needed to be done to not be treated like the trash the world thought they were.

Emi’s response was surprising to Miku unlike Karl’s, it was also easily the most serious she’d heard her navigator outside of combat. This had affected her more than Miku originally thought, it was easy to forget that Emi hadn’t come from Centaurea with how easily she fit into the Meddling Kids. The world saw a bunch of teens causing trouble but didn’t realize we’d all had to grow up much faster than most thanks to our home being such a trash heap. Though it didn’t take the suffocating weight off of her shoulders, why did she feel so drained?

The Rascal played with a trickle of cognac at the bottom of her glass by swirling it around over and over as she thought about what she’d just heard. Eventually she decided to speak. “You’re both right.” Miku said out loud to ensure the bartender who had stepped away could hear well enough. The woman’s eyes remained focused on the little trail of cognac swirling around the bottom of her glass as she continued to speak.

“It was dirty business what we did out there, but my crew has all had our hands stained with blood. Some before we even became pirates, it’s a more common thing on Centaurea than outsiders would ever assume.” She paused to let them know she was referring to them in particular before continuing. “The people who had the resolve to ‘stoop that low’ all either joined the likes of Croft or simply left like we did. The ones who stayed and did nothing? Well, they’re the ones who suffer the most. Suffer, toil, toughen or die. That’s the cycle for the good people of Centaurea. We all suffer, we all toil, and then we choose if we toughen up or die like the dogs the world thinks we are.”

Miku stopped swirling her glass and set it down, looking up with a surprisingly calm look on her face. “You’re right, we put those bastards out there down like rabid dogs. Would it have been more easy on our souls to have done it in self defense? I suppose. Did you know most people lose in their first fight because they hesitate to cross that line?” The sudden subject change wasn’t subtle but Miku could care less. “If we told those people to defend themselves and they froze up in battle like they did out there, how many would have survived against those bastards? I don’t know. But now we know who out there can cross that line. I didn’t shame the ones who refused to follow me, but it’s better they know now than when it’s too late.”

The Rascal felt even more tired now that she’d explained herself, something that she rarely ever did. The woman looked at her glass and considered asking for another before shaking her head. She instead reached behind the counter for the nearest bottle and just popped the top without asking and taking a long swig from it.

After gulping down the fiery liquid, Miku wiped her mouth with her sleeve and impatiently waited for the familiar feeling of intoxication to hit her. As she waited she decided to speak up again. “Karl.” Miku leaned on the counter top and could feel her face turning red from the large drink she took, her stomach was feeling upset but she knew she’d be able to keep it down.

“If you got a better plan, I’m all ears next time. Just don’t expect me to be a good person, I’ve never once claimed I was a good person.” With that said Miku stood up, large bottle in hand, and started walking towards the hallway that she knew had rooms available. “Emi, get the rest of the Kids and tell them what’s going.” Miku said as she walked across the room. When she got to the hallway she leaned on the frame of the hallway and turned back around the look at the familiar dining room she was in again. Why was it every time she came here her past caught up with her?

“Welcome home.” Miku said to herself before shaking her head and taking another long drink from the bottle. She then turned around and disappeared into the hallway. The sound of a door opening forcibly and then slamming closed could be easily heard by the occupants in the building.