Hello! I don't exactly have much to say as an introduction, so let's just dive right in, shall we?
DISCLAIMER: I don't own it, and rightly so. Homestuck would be even more of a disaster if I did…
Chapter 10
More reports are coming in that the infamous Midnight Crew is on the rise. More and more people have been getting kidnapped in the past weeks, only to turn up dead a few days later. Their bodies are often found in the ditches, covered in bruises and cuts. The authorities aren't sure where the Crew takes them or what happens to them when they are kidnapped, but-
Sollux interrupted the newscaster when he turned off the television in his apartment that he and Karkat were watching. It's disgusting how often these reports are surfacing lately. I obviously have to keep a closer eye on Aradia now. She's probably going to be a prime target once the Crew finds out how much she knows about English…
It had been a few weeks since Sollux offered to protect Aradia from the Midnight Crew in exchange of her invaluable information about their Mafia Leader, Lord English. Since then, Sollux has done everything in her best interest. He was keeping out of trouble with the authorities and other local gangs just so he would be ready to look out for her whenever necessary. They would often hang out after school and on weekends, and the two had become increasingly close. Karkat seemed to be the only one to really take note of this.
"Dude, I know what you're thinking." Karkat said. "You're thinking now that you've heard another news report about the Crew, you need to call Aradia again and make sure she's okay. Am I right?"
Sollux rolled his eyes. "No, I wasn't. I may be her protector, but that doesn't make me her babysitter. I trust her. I'm sure her or someone she knows would contact me if something was wrong."
The redhead smirked. "Oh, I know you trust her. I also know you're totally head over heels in love with her."
The older boy's eyes grew wide and his face went red. "Wh-what? No that's not it." He laughed. "You're crazy! Where did you get the impression that I like Aradia that way?" He questioned.
"It's not that hard to tell. You constantly fawn over and think about her. It's pretty obvious to everyone but you two apparently." Karkat leaned back in his chair, clearly pleased with himself.
Sollux tried to formulate a response to that. "That's not necessarily true. I just want to protect her. Just like you want to protect Dave." He paused for a second, smirking. "Oh wait. That is because you're in love with him."
The other boy's face turned as red as his hair. "N-no! I'm not! We've been friends for a really long time. I'm just really close to him and-"
"You want to protect him." Sollux finished. "Uh-huh. I get it. Well, you don't accuse me of love and I won't accuse you."
Their conversation was bound to continue, but was interrupted by a sharp knock on the door. Sollux stood up.
"You expecting someone?" Karkat asked, getting up from his place on the couch.
The taller boy cleared his throat. "Actually, yes. Aradia, in fact."
The smaller of the two chuckled. "Lovesick puppy." He muttered under his breath before exiting the room.
Sollux heard the comment, but decided to deal with it later. He opened the door, seeing the short girl with her head down, loose curls hanging freely over her face. "Hey Aradia. Wanna come in?" She looks nice today. Well, she usually looks nice, but… ah I'll stop this right now before it goes anywhere.
The girl looked up and smile, her face lighting up. "Hi Sollux. Sure, thanks." She walked in, automatically making her way to Sollux's room, where they always hung out.
The boy closed the door and made his way to the same room, closing that door behind him. "How have you been?"
"Fine, I suppose. I debated writing to my mom and sister, but I'm so worried it will get intercepted by the Crew, or that English will find it. I just can't risk it." Aradia looked sad when she mentioned her family.
The boy sat across from her, sitting in a chair while she was on the edge of the bed. "I know. It sucks, but we will figure it all out. Before you know it, you'll have them both back. Anyway, I was wondering if you wanted to come to the Warehouse tonight. We are having our monthly meeting, and I was thinking you could start sharing some English information, if you're comfortable with it."
The girl nodded. "Yeah that's fine. I told my aunt I would be out for a few hours, so she doesn't expect me back until 9:30 or 10 tonight. When is your meeting?"
Wow. It's so cool how willing she is to give information. Sollux was impressed. "Uh, at about 7. Equius is coming to pick us up around 6, so we will probably head down in about 10 minutes."
"Okay." The girl fiddled with her hair, then turned her attention back to Sollux. "I don't mean to sound rude, but you're old enough to have a licence, don't you drive yourself anywhere?"
"Ah. Well that, Aradia," Sollux leaned back in his chair, "Is because I'm all but broke. See, KK and I don't exactly live in the lap of luxury, but we get by okay. We can't afford a car to drive around in. Equius, on the other hand," he gestured vaguely towards the door, towards what would be the assumed direction of his friend's condo complex, "EQ is loaded. Well, his parents are. And he gets a lot of what he wants. He has his own place and a nice car, and that's all he really asks for." The boy looked at the girl's confused expression. Anticipating her next question, he continued. "He is one of those gang members I was telling you about that's in it more for the justice. His older brother, Horrus, was taken by the Midnight Crew years ago. The difference with this case is that his body was never found, so no one knows what happened to him, or if he's even alive. EQ still holds out hope that his brother is alive somewhere, so he is a part of the gang in hopes of being reunited with him."
The girl looked down, clearly sad to hear this story. "That's terrible. I wouldn't know what to do if I was in that situation."
"Yeah." Sollux wasn't sure really how to respond. "But, getting back to the driving thing." His tone changed to slightly more upbeat. "I'm not completely tied to EQ. I do have a motorcycle licence, and a beat-up old Harley-Davidson 883. It's not fancy or anything, but it runs, so it's useful if I have to go somewhere alone or with Karkat. Maybe I can take you on it sometime."
Aradia's eyes glistened. "That sounds like fun!"
The boy looked at his phone clock. "Well, we should probably head downstairs. EQ is probably gonna get here soon." He stood up, leading Aradia to the door. He looked behind him. "Hey KK! Come on, we've gotta go to the Warehouse!"
The short redheaded boy walked out of his room, grumbling as usual. "I don't see why we all have to be there. Nothing exciting ever really happens anyway."
"Ah, but this one is important." Sollux responded. "See, Aradia here is going to spill some information on Lord English to the gang, so that we might have a better chance of taking down the Crew."
Karkat scoffed, but regardless followed the two older teens out the door and down to Equius' car.
The ride there was very mundane as usual, but Sollux couldn't contain his excitement. I can't wait to see what the gang does with this newfound information. I know they already like Aradia, but I am sure the gang will want to protect her even more now that they know all this stuff. The car pulled up to the Warehouse, and the four walked in, where most of the Alternians were already gathered. Sollux looked at the nearest clock, which read almost 7, so he decided to go ahead and begin the meeting. He stood up on a table, helping up Aradia. "Alright everyone. Let's get this meeting started." The crowd noise began to die down. "As you are all aware of by now, Aradia knows a lot of good information on the Midnight Crew's Mafia Leader, Lord English. Tonight, she will be sharing some of this information. Treat her with the same respect as you would to me or Karkat, alright?" He looked at Aradia, smiling. "Take it away." He hopped off of the table, standing in the front row of the crowd.
"Uh, hi guys." Aradia began shyly, waving her hand. "I'll just start from the beginning I suppose. You may be wondering how I know Lord English so well. That is because he started to date my mom a couple years back, though I didn't really know who he was at the time."
Although he had heard this story many times before, Sollux listened with great intent and concentration. He looked around the crowd to see most people in a similar fashion, drinking up all the information Aradia was telling. This is good. They really seem to be latching on to this.
As Aradia reached the halfway point in her story, an alarm started to blare, and red lights started to flash. With little hesitation, Sollux jumped back up on the table. "Alright everyone, you know what to do. I'm sure this is nothing, but everyone, find your battle partner and get to your stations immediately!"
Everyone began running off in various directions. Equius and Nepeta found each other and headed for rooms closest to the front doors. Sollux looked at Karkat and simply nodded, then watched him run to the main entrance. He then turned his attention to Aradia, who looked frightened and confused. "Come with me. I'm going to take you somewhere safe." He grabbed her hand and lead her to the safe room on the underground level of the building. There, many young children and injured members sitting there quietly. "No matter what happens, stay here. As soon as this is all over, I will come and find you."
"Sollux, what's going on?" Aradia's voice was shaking.
The boy sighed. "No time to explain. I promise I will sometime later, okay?" He drew her into a tight hug and kissed her on the forehead. "Stay safe, and stay with this group no matter what. You'll be fine. I promise." He turned around and left without waiting for a response.
Sollux made his way to the front entrance, where his battle partner Karkat was standing. The sirens were shut off. "Do you really think this is nothing?" The younger one asked.
"I don't know. I guess we're about to find out." Sollux responded. The two motioned to the elite fighters behind them to stay inside, just out of sight. The redhead and brunette walked out, not prepared for what they saw.
Just outside of the Warehouse entrance stood the four that they came in contact with frequently, Boxcars, Slick, Droog, and Deuce. However, they were now accompanied with another person, a female. She wore high heels and a long trench coat, which was opened to reveal a low cut thigh-length black dress. Her hair was cut in a short bob, the color as black as the night. She was smoking a cigarette and pointing a pistol at Sollux.
"This is Alternian territory. You have no business here. Identify yourself immediately." Sollux called out.
The woman piped up, her voice smooth and sensual. "Oh, you don't know who I am? Well, I guess word doesn't travel as fast as it use to. I am Snowman. Perhaps you've heard of my name before?"
The brunette knew that name all too well. She was one of the Region Bosses of the Midnight Crew. She controlled most of the South. "What do you want, Snowman?"
"Am I correct to assume that you are the leader of the Alternians?" She took a long drag of her cigarette, gun still aimed at the boy.
Karkat looked at Sollux, shaking his head slightly. Sollux drew in a breath. "Yes, I am he. What business do you have on Alternian property?"
Snowman chuckled. "Well, actually, this is officially Midnight Crew terf, but I'll let that slide for now. I have a demand. I need you to back off of the Midnight Crew. You're little gang is causing a lot of issues for us lately, and we really don't need that. I would love to talk more in detail about the terms of this back down alone with you for a little if you don't mind." She gave Sollux a wicked smile.
Without hesitation, Sollux shook his head. "Absolutely not. I don't go anywhere with the Midnight Crew, especially alone. Go find another gang to pester."
The woman tsked. "Oh, what a pity." She looked behind her at the four brutes. "Boys, dispose of them"
Boxcars laughed. "Certainly my lady." He readied his gun.
Seeing that this was going to end badly, Sollux turned around immediately, running inside, Karkat not far behind. He flung open the doors, and looked at the Elite fighters consisting of about a dozen people. "Ready yourselves. The Crew is outside, and it doesn't look like they want to play nice."
Knowing what that meant, they readied what weapons they had and charged out to battle.
Well, you guys got lucky. I wasn't planning on making such a long chapter. Oh well. It was worth it.
Please feel free to comment or PM me if you have any questions on this or other chapters, because I know some stuff can get pretty confusing XD
Other than that, I'll see you all in a couple weeks!
~Jane