Reyna sighed as she walked down the street. Ditching the party wasn't going to make the best impression, but she didn't care. Meeting all of these new people already threw her out of her comfort zone. It was only made worse by the fact that a hunter casually strolled into the party. Memories ran through Reyna's head as she pulled her jacket closer to herself and continued her trek.
As Reyna passed by Elysium, laughter caught her attention. Her eyes moved to the side, and she paused. There was a black, unmarked van parked near the alleyway. If Chiron was going to get the bar deep cleaned by a professional company, wouldn't they have a logo on their van? Chiron didn't own a van, and no one at the bar drove one to work.
Reyna felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up as she heard the laughing again. It wasn't happy laughter; instead, it was cruel. Reyna slowly moved closer to the van. It didn't have a license plate, and the windows were tinted. She had seen vans like this before.
"Fuck," Reyna cursed under her breath. She moved towards the entrance and tried to open the door, but it was locked. A glance inside didn't reveal anyone, and frown came to Reyna's face as she moved back to the van. Her head peeked out to look into the alley. "Fuck me."
Chiron was standing in the alley, and he was not alone. Three others stood next to him, and Reyna's heart dropped to her stomach. The three others in the alley were all tall and muscular. The shortest was about ten feet tall with the tallest being just a couple feet higher. With one eye gracing their faces, Reyna could see they were Cyclopes.
Reyna hid behind the van and swallowed painfully. There were all kinds of negative stereotypes surrounding Cyclopes, ranging from them being deceptive thieves to vicious cannibals. From Reyna's experience, most of the stereotypes were true. She doubted these three were any different, considering two of them were holding Chiron's arms tightly and they had an unmarked van parked nearby.
"I already warned you, Chiron. You keep failing to listen," the twelve foot tall Cyclops said. She ran one hand through her greasy black hair. She wore a silver outfit that looked like it was supposed to be a tracksuit, but it really looked like someone had just wrapped tin foil around her. The get up didn't fit too well apparently, considering the parts of it that seemed to have split open.
"Ma Gasket, you misunderstand," Chiron began. Reyna peeked her head out again. That twelve foot Cyclops, Ma Gasket, had her back turned to Reyna. She was slowly moving closer to Chiron, and the other two were holding him in place.
"I know what you're trying to do," Ma Gasket accused. "That is why the two of us are going to have a nice, long talk. Torque, pick him up. Sump, open the van."
Reyna closed her eyes tightly. She did not want to get involved with this problem, but there were only two ways this was going to end: Chiron would either fight these three off, or he would comply, and no one would see him again. Reyna couldn't see the former happening.
"Ma Gasket, we are not trying to steal your customers. Furthermore, the incident with Tyson was not some kind of war we are trying to bring to you. We were simply trying to help someone out."
"That boy owes me, and he was supposed to work for me. You took him away," Ma Gasket accused.
"Took away our whipping boy," one of the other Cyclopes agreed.
"Quiet, Torque," Ma Gasket ordered. The Cyclops quickly hung his head and started stammering apologies. "Stop talking! Chiron, you sent your little Ogress over to my bar to take that boy away."
"Tyson's step brother asked us to pick him up," Chiron explained. "The truth is that Tyson does not work for you. You do not own him in any legal way. All you did was intimidate and threaten him if he tried to leave. I do not want to get the police involved."
"You think the police would dare touch our ma?" the other Cyclopes, Sump, questioned impatiently. Ma Gasket just laughed.
"The police won't touch us," Ma Gasket gloated arrogantly. Reyna watched and felt her heart racing. What the fuck was Chiron thinking? Talking would only piss off the Cyclopes more, and threatening them with police? How insane was he?
"Ma Gasket, the police would arrest you and your sons if they realize what you have been doing to Tyson. I simply want to help the boy," Chiron stated. "Tyson will not go to the police if you just let him be, but if you insist on bothering him, he will go straight to them. Do you know what that means?"
"The police will investigate. They may not care much about the claims of a Cyclops, but they will see the clear evidence of your other activities, and they will arrest you and your sons. If you leave Tyson alone, none of that will happen," Chiron claimed.
Reyna really wished that Chiron would keep his mouth shut. There was no negoitaing with Cyclops. They had more fingers than brain cells, and they were all violent brutes. Chiron needed help. If they threw him into the van, Reyna knew he would be dragged somewhere more secluded, and he would leave only in a body bag. Reyna clenched her fist.
Reyna stood and turned away. She would just leave. This wasn't her fight. Reyna willed her feet to walk forward, but she couldn't move. Chiron helped her out. He let her stay at his place and even gave her a job. There was no way she could just turn her back on him.
So much for not getting involved in the business of others. Reyna swore under her breath and stepped out from behind the van. She walked into the alley, careful to not make any extra sounds. Should she just attack Ma Gasket and try to disable her? Try to convince the three Cyclopes to leave.
Reyna saw that Chiron was mid sentence, but he froze upon seeing her. His eyes widened from pure shock. Ma Gasket whirled around, and Reyna stared at the red orb that the Cyclops had. The eye was full of hate. Reyna spoke, "Leave him alone."
Ma Gasket sniffed the air and then studied Reyna. The Cyclops spoke, "You're a new one."
"Reyna," Chiron said. "Leave."
"Just let Chiron go," Reyna ignored her new boss. She clenched her fist and raised her chin defiantly. Her heart hammered in her chest. "Chiron is a hero of not just this city, but the entire world. Hurting him is going to get you in trouble, and not just with the police. Let him go, or you'll answer to me."
Reyna swallowed painfully and felt her heart pounding against her ribs. She clenched her fists to keep them from shaking. Reyna could fight a Cyclops, if she transformed. Fighting three Cyclopes when she wasn't changed was not going to happen, but she could pretend to be confident.
Ma Gasket studied Reyna, looking her up and down. Reyna forced herself to smirk. She wasn't confident like she had been with Lycaon. That bastard was weak and scrawny. He wasn't a Cyclops.
"Reyna," Chiron began again. Ma Gasket held up a hand and made a fist. Reyna really hated that she had a fist almost the size of her head.
"No one disrespects Ma Gasket," the Cyclops growled.
"Just leave Chiron the hell alone. Or else," Reyna warned again. She felt her muscles tensing up as she thought of transforming. If she was quick enough, she could transform and tear her claws through Ma Gasket's eye. Then, she could slam Sump into the wall before jumping at Torque and tearing his throat out.
"Reyna, stop," Chiron demanded. Reyna slowly looked at him. Then, a fist slammed right into her jaw. Reyna stumbled to the side and fell to her knees. All thoughts of transforming were gone as she clutched at her jaw.
"Boys, teach her a lesson," Ma Gasket ordered. Reyna stood and stumbled backward. She tried to focus on transforming once again. Transforming took concentration even for the most seasoned of werewolves. Reyna just needed five seconds to quell the fierce pain in her jaw so she could transform.
Sump threw a wild punch that Reyna dodged. The Cyclops had great power behind their punches, but they lacked speed. Reyna dodged an attack from Torque and danced away. Sump ran at her, and she barely dodged out of the way. A hand grabbed her arm, and she reacted with a punch to Torque's face.
Pain sprouted in Reyna's hand as Torque stumbled backward. Reyna turned and lashed out with a kick to Sump's crotch. He doubled over, and she slammed her knee as hard as she could into his face. Pain flared throughout her leg, but she shook it off as she backed away again.
The only advantage Reyna had was speed. She took a deep breath and focused on trying to transform. Her muscles started to tense, and as she felt her body starting to change, something slammed into the back of her head. Reyna fell forward and groaned.
"Do I have to do everything for you?" Ma Gasket demanded. Reyna blinked a few times as she tried to shake off being stunned by the blow. Reyna tried to get to her hands and knees, and a foot greeted her in the stomach.
Reyna gasped and choked on her cry of surprise and pain. Two hands grabbed her jacket, and she was pulled to her feet. Reyna was thrown into the wall a moment later. She cried out as her back hit the brick wall. A fist slammed into her gut, and she doubled over.
"Ma Gasket, stop. She meant no disrespect," Chiron began. Reyna felt Sump grab her arms and trap them behind her back. She struggled with the Cyclops and tried kicking out at Torque. Another fist to the gut caused her knees to go weak. The next punch forced her to cry out, and the fist after that slammed into her already aching jaw.
Reyna was shoved to the ground, and she felt a foot slam into her ribs. She cried out again and curled up. Another foot slammed into her kidney. The next boot was aimed right at her nose. Reyna tried to cover her head, only to be interrupted by another kick to her midsection.
That didn't stop one of the Cyclops from stomping down on her ribs as another kicked her right in the back. A kick to the shoulder blades caused her to whimper. A blow to the kidney made her eyes water. She couldn't just lay down and die, though.
Reyna caught one of the kicks and shoved Sump back with all of her might. She rolled away from Torque's stomp and tried to get to her hands and knees. Ma Gasket punted her in the ribs, and the fight was torn from Reyna along with the air in her lungs.
"Ma Gasket, stop!" Chiron pleaded as he stepped forward.
"Take another step and I break her neck," Ma Gasket hissed. She stomped on Reyna's hand. Then, she dug her heel towards Reyna's fingers and slowly ground her heel directly into Reyna's ring finger.
Reyna let out wheezy gasps as she tried to bring air into her aching lungs. Another wheeze left her as she felt her ring finger snap instantly. The heel moved onto her middle finger. A foot stomped on her kidney, and she gasped in agony. Another foot slammed into her side.
Ma Gasket's foot stomped down onto her hand, cracking the two broken fingers worse. Reyna yelled and tried to pull away. Another kick to her body caused her to tense. Chiron spoke in a desperate voice, "That is enough! She has done nothing to deserve this!"
"She disrespected me!" Ma Gasket growled, lifting her foot. Reyna retracted her hand and cradled it. A foot stomped down on her elbow, and she felt blinding pain. Another foot slammed into her thigh. A kick to the head shattered her nose and knocked her senseless. Reyna didn't register the next few kicks that hit pieces of flesh that the Cyclops had yet to bruise.
"She's learned her lesson!" Chiron yelled. He stepped forward again.
"What did I tell you?" Ma Gasket asked. She placed her foot on Reyna's neck. Reyna tensed and grabbed at Ma Gasket's ankle.
"Don't," Chiron pleaded in a desperate gasp. He took another step back. Reyna felt the pressure ease off. She tried to scoot away, but Sump picked her up. He slammed her into the wall, shoulder first. Reyna cried out as she felt a new level of pain in her shoulder. She shoved Sump away the best she could and turned. Torque slammed directly into her, driving her back into the unforgiving wall.
Reyna was thrown face first into the van. Her head bounced harshly off of the back window, and she fell back to the ground. Ma Gasket appeared over her and intoned, "Do you understand why you should respect me now?"
"Fuck you," Reyna wheezed. She rolled onto her stomach and slowly got to her hands and knees.
"Reyna, just stay down," Chiron begged. Reyna felt blood trickle from her nose, and she stared at the ground. She had never given up before, and she wasn't going to start now. Reyna continued to struggle to a standing position.
"I like this girl's fight," Ma Gasket said with a laugh. "But not her mouth."
Reyna felt Ma Gasket's heel rest on her spine, and she was pressed back to the ground. Reyna felt her battered and bruised body give up, and she collapsed under the pressure. The foot moved to her jaw and pressed down.
"Chiron, you bring my property back to me, or this is going to happen to all of the members of your staff. That blonde bitch, the half-breed, your precious security, all of them," Ma Gasket threatened. She raised her foot. Then, she slammed it back down.
Reyna just gasped as her jaw cracked. When the foot lifted again, she turned away and clutched at her broken jaw. Ma Gasket spoke, "Boys, take the trash out."
Sump grabbed Reyna's right arm, and Torque grabbed her left. A small groan left Reyna as she was pulled to her feet. Her knees had already given out, but it didn't matter as the two Cyclopes picked her up like she was a child. The two threw her directly into the dumpster
Reyna grunted as she hit the garbage bags piling at the bottom of the dumpster. As if to add insult to injury, Sump and Torque both grabbed a bag of garbage and poured it over her. Reyna winced as old food, broken glass, and more garbage rained onto her.
Tears of pain, anger, and embarrassment came to Reyna's eyes. She heard Ma Gasket talking but didn't bother to register it. Instead, she cradled her injured jaw and just wished that she would pass out from pain before she had to face the embarrassment of Chiron helping her again.