The club was hazy with smoke. Ace made out the silhouette of a handful of Cobras sat at the bar. He saw the others dotted about the place. Alex headed towards a group sat around a booth by a window.
"Beer?" Ace asked her.
"Yeah" she replied "I really think I need one"
Ace walked to the bar, he flipped up two fingers signifying his order to the bar man and slipped into a stool beside Eyeball.
"What's happened man? Your fuse looks pretty short" asked Eyeball in between drags of his cigarette. He subbed out the depleting embers of the butt onto the underside of his stool, and ran a hand through his hair listening intently as Ace recounted the events of the last half hour or so.
"Stupid whore, she should know not to mess with Alex, she'll bite your head off if you give her the chance" said Eyeball as he reached for another beer.
"Tell me about it! I'm sure she had Vince in headlocks before she could walk" Ace laughed as they both headed towards The Cobras.
Fuzzy was in full flow destroying the gang in a game of quarters. It was a simple game, where the only objective was to get a quarter into a shot glass by bouncing off the table first. No one could beat Fuzzy. The gang had spent many nights hustling customers at the bar out of tens of dollars with this game, but tonight the place was dead.
Alex was content with the guys company but eventually something had to give. She needed a bit more excitement than this. She looked to Ace for something but he didn't even notice her. She sighed and sunk lower into her seat. Then suddenly both her prayers were answered and her nightmares came true.
The bell rang and all heads shot to the door as in walked 6 members of a rival gang. The Sharks. All Cobras jumped out of their seats facing the newcomers. Alex and Ace exchanged looks as the counted up the number of members of each gang present at this moment. Fuzzy, Vince, Charlie, Billy, Eyeball, Ace and Alex. They had an advantage but they really didn't want to have to use it.
"Well what the fuck do we have here?" the words fell lazily out of the mouth of Frisk. He was the leader of The Sharks and one crazy son of a bitch. You didn't mess with Frisk. He carried a good six inches of silver like Ace, but he was a lot quicker to use it. For Ace his knife was a last resort.
The Cobras looked to Ace for guidance. No one spoke until he did.
"Look Frisk" he started calmly "You know this is our turf so why not just leave?"
Everyone waited. No one moved or flinched or even breathed. The bar man disappeared into the back room silently, scared of the possible conflict about to erupt.
"What's wrong Ace? Me and the boys just want a drink, no need to break the peace" Frisk smiled a devious smile. He scanned the face of each Cobra then let his eyes linger on Alex. He scanned her up and down slowly. Once, twice, three times a fourth. Finally Ace got agitated. He stepped forward to be face to face with Frisk.
"Why don't you just get a drink somewhere else? You're not welcome here." Ace spat the words. He didn't like how he looked at Alex. He traced his blade gently though his jean pocket, then froze and let his hand fall to his side.
This was all a game to Frisk. He'd come in here for the sole purpose of finding a fight, and he knew if he picked at Ace's weaknesses he could get one. To him it seemed he'd found one in the form of Alex. Frisk suspected she was more than an average gang member. Never apart from Ace, he knew if he could get his hands on her, Ace would play right into the palm of his hand. The thought of charming his way into her pants just to watch Ace crumble seemed way too good a plan.
"I don't see what your problem is Ace" Frisk pleaded innocently "I just wanna get six beers and leave, although.." his necked curved slightly as he surveyed Alex a fifth time "I may get a seventh for that lovely young thing over there" he winked in her direction. Alex merely raised an eyebrow in disgust.
Frisk made a motion to head towards the girl only to find his path blocked by Ace.
"Don't you dare.." he growled.
This got Frisk's motor running. He could sense the impending fight and was ready. Unfortunately so could Alex. She pushed herself between the two leaders who were growling like pack animal, claws flexed.
"Look guys peace-" she never got chance to finish her sentence as a fist met her face.
The force threw her backwards a full three feet. She lost her balance and crashed onto the floor. Before she had even landed Ace had Frisk by the throat.
Vince ran to Ace's side ready to kill Frisk. His eyes wide and teeth bared as Ace slowly cut of his oxygen supply. The rest of the gang surrounded Alex. Eyeball clutched her chin looking for any damage.
"Let me kill him!" the words ripped from Alex's throat.
"The only place you're going is home, guys help her up.." the surrounding gang helped her to her feet and Eyeball searched the body clammed scene for Ace. Small fights began to erupt around him and he dodged punches and kicks thrown without coordination.
Ace was still clutching Frisk's throat. The anger radiating from these two boys could fuel the whole bar. Eyeball grabbed Ace's arm to pull him off him but it wouldn't budge.
"Ace man, take Alex home"
"No way, I'm gonna kill this bastard!" he traced his knife again. He had the balls to kill him but following implications of the rival gang and police made him think it wasn't worth it.
"Ace, she needs your help" Ace loosened his grip slightly "Don't worry, we'll take care of him"
Ace's head flipped to face Eyeball's. They shared a look that expressed more than any conversation could.
He relaxed his death grip on Frisk, and he flopped to the ground like a puppet who got it's strings cut. The oxygen starved boy stirred once more and Ace aimed a powerful kick to his stomach - just for good measure - then ran out the bar to find Alex.
