Vendetta, Part 1: Corruption, Chapter 1: Black Coffee

Vendetta, Part 1: Corruption, Chapter 1: Black Coffee Vendetta, Part 1: Corruption, Chapter 1: Black Coffee

The winds of destiny were also blowing in Twoson, driving snow along the streets. A teenaged girl with soft red hair was walking against the gusts, not to get anywhere, but simply to get away. She was fleeing from her home, to someplace where her abusive father would not be able to hurt her anymore.

The blizzard was growing fiercer by the moment. Soon, the teenager was completely unable to see. She was cold; in her haste to escape, she'd forgotten to take more than a dark black scarf. She ducked into an alleyway, hoping the wind would die down so she could continue on.

"Hey, do you need any help?" The voice startled the teenager; she spun around to see a man in a trenchcoat leaning from a doorway. "Are you going somewhere? Need a ride?"

She shook her head, unsure that she could speak over the storm.

"Well, you should at least come in from the cold," the man said, pointing over his shoulder. "It's freezing out here!"

Something in the man's voice suggested that he was friendly, or at least friendlier than her father. She ran over to the doorway and followed the man inside.

"Ahh, I see you found a fifth after all!" A chorus of assent greeted the teenager as she stepped into a dimly lit room. Three other men were seated around a table, each having a pile of money in front of him. She recognized two of them: Orange Kid, the renowned theoretical physicist who had long since grown out of his name, and Penetella Giovanni, the one-time mayor of Fourside. The man in the trenchcoat introduced them each in turn, as well as the unrecognizable man, "Jack."

He took a seat, pulled some money out of his trenchcoat, and spread it out on the table. "I'm Simon, the host of this floating poker game. As long as you're staying, you might as well play. Got any cash?"

The teenager drew back, but Simon gave her an assured smile. "We're not thieves or sharks. We play fair. C'mon, you're just as likely to win as you are to lose."

"It's not that," the teenager whispered. "I don't have any money."

"Then I'll cover for you." Simon pushed some of his money in front of the empty seat. "We'll even call it a gift, rather than a loan."

"Al-alright.." The teenager sat down and looked at the Eagleland currency. There was nearly ten thousand dollars in the pile, a reasonable man's working salary for two months in the current economic situation.

Even though she was nervous at first, the teenager gradually relaxed in the company of the four men. They were good friends, and they all jumped at the chance to tell their favorite stories to the newcomer; they didn't normally have an audience. After Simon finished an amazing tale of how he'd saved a cruise liner from a giant leech, he turned to the teenager. "What about you? We've been chatting away all night, and you haven't even told us your name."

By now, the teenager was almost feeling gregarious. "My name's Amber. I used to live in the Peaceful Rest Valley with my parents. They loved me very much.. but about two weeks ago, my mother died. I guess it affected dad a lot, because he got kind of.. um..." Her voice gave out on her again, as memories of her father's recent terror came back to her.

"I know what you're saying," Simon said. "So you were out in that blizzard because you were running away?"

"Yeah," Amber replied, sniffling. "I didn't know where I'd go but I knew I had to leave. A fox told me I should try to go to Onett -"

"Wait," Jack interrupted. "A fox told you? You can talk to foxes?"

Amber looked at Jack with surprise. "Of course I can. Foxes, cats, dogs -- all the animals. Can't you?"

Jack shook his head, frowning. "We can't. But he can." He nodded his head at Simon.

For his part, Simon looked rather incredulous. "There aren't many people left in the world who can talk to animals, Amber. I think you'd better get going for Onett." He stood up, taking off his trenchcoat, draping it over Amber as she stood as well. "Take your money with you," he offered. "You might not have noticed, but you've won another two thousand."

They went back to the door and glanced outside. The snow was still coming down, but the wind had dwindled. "Listen up," Simon said. "When you get to Onett, head north up the hill. After a while, you'll get to two houses. Go to the one on the right and knock like this." Simon tapped out 'Shave and a Haircut' on the doorframe. "Ask to talk to the dog. His name is King."

Amber nodded. "Should I come back here to give you your trenchcoat, or will we meet again somewhere, or what?"

"The next time we meet, you'll know more about yourself than ever before," Simon promised. "Good luck."

Amber smiled and tossed her scarf around her neck. "In that case, until we meet again, goodbye!" She headed out of the alley and started up the street towards Onett again.

Jack stepped up next to Simon as Amber left. "Nice goin', pal. You just sent our fifth player into the hands of death."

Simon corrected him. "Destiny, Jack. The hands of destiny."

"Death."

"Destiny."

"Death!"

"Destiny!"

----

Ness's mother pulled into traffic, uneasy. Tracy's words had been a bit harsh, and she was having trouble merely shrugging them off. In fact, she began to notice, Tracy's attitude had become increasingly angry and violent. She might even go so far as to call it... angst. She frowned.

"I hope she'll be all right by herself…"

As she continued, somewhat absentmindedly through the streets of Onett, she almost neglected to stop at a crosswalk near the old Mach Pizza place and by some extent of luck managed to stop in time to allow a rather unexpected young man to finish crossing the street. Mrs. Lee watched incredulously as he walked past; she had never seen this boy before and suspected that he was perhaps new to the town. He appeared to be unaware of the car that had almost come close to running him over. He headed deliberately toward his destination, which seemed to Mrs. Lee to be (quite correctly) the old Mach Pizza place. She probably would not have cared, had the young man not been so mysteriously intriguing. Perhaps it was his two-inch long blond hair that seemed to flow from his head. Or perhaps it was his green eyes, the brightness of which she had never witnessed before in eyes even of the most hazel variety. Who was this guy?

The car behind Mrs. Lee's sounded its horn obnoxiously. Realizing she had been waiting at the crosswalk for a bit too long, Mrs. Lee continued along her path, mostly shaking the image of the blond-haired boy from her mind.

He, however, walked the few more yards to the entrance of the old Mach Pizza place. He hesitated for a moment, but deciding it was a bit too cold to merely stay outside, he cautiously grabbed the door handle and pulled. Locked. He could see that the lights were on inside, however, and he used this as justification for producing a key from one of his pockets and using it to unlock the door. He opened it and went inside. Wiping his feet at the entrance, he surveyed his surroundings. It definitely wasn't Mach Pizza. This was a good thing; he had been expecting this. He had also been expecting the place to resemble more of a cafe sort of facility, and to be playing Muzak at him. It was doing both. And in doing so, it was doing more than the lone man sitting at one of the tables was doing. The blond-haired boy approached and sat opposite him.

"Hey," he said. "You're Siris O'Brien, right? You own this place?"

The man looked up from his coffee. "Yeah," he said with little to no surprise at all. "We're closed right now. How'd you get in?"

"I used th-- I mean uh, it doesn't matter."

Siris shrugged. Normally he probably would have called the cops or something like that. But this boy... Somehow he made Siris feel very at ease.

"Why'd you come here?" he asked.

"To uh... get out of the cold," the blond-haired boy lied. He had a purpose in coming here, of course. Siris could tell this; but it wasn't bothering him. He smiled.

"What's your name?"

"Uh..." the boy pondered this for a moment, seeming to wonder exactly what the proper response would be. "... Chase."

Siris frowned, and nodded. This was enough for him. "Nice clothes. Look's like something I would have worn a few years ago."

"Hm. Yeah?" Chase fidgeted for a couple of seconds.

"Yup. Hey... do you drink coffee? Something tells me you probably do. Let me go get you one."

----

Paithan felt the winds of change as well. He didn't like wind, though. It made him cold.

At five foot nothing most people mistook his age. As it was, he was 18. He lived in Onett all his life and he couldn't be happier. So many interesting things happened in Onett. Sure, things had died down for a while, but he was always hopeful. In fact, it was high time something happened. He didn't need a chill wind to tell him that either.

Instead, the chill wind told him to get off the street into the nearest building he could find. He stepped into the Onett Drug Store and was greeted by the workers behind the counter.

"Need any help?" asked one of the workers.

"Nah, I'm good. I'll just look around." And look around he did for a while. He talked to another customer (until the customer got tired of hearing him talk and left, muttering something about a dentist) and played with a dog while there, too.

"Find anything you wanted?" asked the worker, as Paithan made his way to the door.

"Not really. But if I'm ever deathly ill or decide to join a tee ball team, I'll come back." Paithan smiled as he left.

Outside, he continued his aimless wondering about the streets of Onett, digging in his pockets. Strangely enough, his pockets were more full now than when he went into the drug store. He somehow acquired a cheap bracelet, a wallet, and a dog collar during him time in the store.

"They must have misplaced them," he said to himself. "I must have picked them up off of the ground or something. Honestly, what would people do if they didn't have people like me to pick up after them?" he said, while absentmindedly separating the wallet's money, coins, and credit cards into different pockets.

----

The winds of change were surely blowing through Fourside. Or perhaps it was just the cold winter wind. The winter was taking its toll on Fourside, with temperatures dipping down to below zero. The wind chill made it much worse, giving a biting chill to anyone who ventured outside.

Rhythmic sounds filled a small basement cafe. The lights shone brightly on the stage, illuminating the two players.

Lucky, former member of the hit band The Runaway Five, turned newspaper manager, turned small band member, finished up his vocal solo as he strummed a guitar, belting out the last note and holding it as long as he could. The small audience sitting in the cafe applauded.

Skulryk, former reporter turned band member, put down his bass and picked up a trombone, going into a solo of his own. Although not one for singing, his instrumental skill was excellent.

After a few more minutes of this, with Lucky singing once again and Skulryk finishing up with a trumpet solo, the two-man band stopped playing. Lucky spoke to a few words to the small crowd, mostly begging for money, and the band began to pack up.

After packing away several instruments, Skulryk checked their monetary situation. "Ugh... After this gig, we still barely have enough to live off of. I don't know what we're going to do."

The man at the counter shouted at them. "Hey, hurry it up, this ain't no hotel. I want to go home, so get out of here!"

Lucky shrugged the comment off as he grabbed the equipment, and, with the help of Skulryk, helped load the truck with their instruments and equipment. Skulryk's new video camera was also in the back of the truck, although it had rarely been used.

Outside, the roads were covered in snow from a recent snowfall. Although the snowing had stopped, there was still a fierce wind roaring through the city of Fourside.

"Ugh, it's freezing outside!" Lucky commented. "Skul, do you think we have enough to get gloves, or new coats, or anything?"

Skulryk sighed. "I told you, we don't have any money! I don't even know if this will cover gas."

"What are we doing?" Lucky yelled. "We've been doing this for years, and I figured we would have gotten somewhere! But this is just horrible. We've been doing the same shows for years, and we haven't made any money at all... What kind of dream life is this? This sucks!"

Skulryk didn't respond, although he understood their situation as well. They got into the truck, and, after several attempts, it started.

"Uh oh..." Skulryk said. "It's all fogged up, and the defroster just isn't kicking in..."

"We don't have time to wait... I want to get out of here!" Lucky said.

"Don't worry, I got a solution." Skulryk said, as he rolled down the window, sticking his head out to get a view of the road.

He didn't have to do this for long, though. The defroster eventually cleared up the window. Rolling the window up, Skulryk continued driving through Fourside.

They were driving through an intersection when, suddenly, the truck received a large jolt and went spinning.

It continued to spin until it hit a lamppost. Lucky and Skulryk, although shaken, were still alive. Lucky jumped out of the car and started screaming at the driver of the car who had hit them.

"What the heck do you think you're doing? See that?" Lucky yelled. "That's a STOP SIGN! It means you gotta STOP! Now we could have been killed! You can bet you're gonna have to pay for this!"

The driver of the other car jumped out of his car and just sneered at Lucky. "I won't be paying a cent. As a matter of fact, I'm a lawyer, and I'm gonna make you pay for all of this. I'll bet you can't even afford your own lawyer."

Lucky was fuming at this point, and was just about ready to punch the other driver, when Skulryk stepped in, trying to smooth things out. "Lucky, calm down. I'm sure that we can take care of all of..."

The other driver screamed out "Stuff it, hippie," and punched Skulryk right in the face. Skulryk, who was not expecting it, went flying back, gliding for several feet over the snow.

The driver got back into his car, ready to drive away, while Skulryk became furious as he got up.

"Whoa, Skul..." Lucky said. "Calm down, man... Uh... This isn't like you..."

The words passed by Skulryk, who had just about gone berserk in a fit of anger. He charged towards the car and put his fist through the window just as it drove away.

Lucky stood back, somewhat afraid, but Skulryk had calmed down. "Skul..." Lucky said. "What was that?"

Skulryk stumbled, confused. "I don't know. I guess... I guess I just don't like being pushed around. Ugh, I got a headache. Is everything ok?"

Lucky sighed. "Well, you seem to have a black eye. As for the truck... we got hit in the back. The amps... they're gone. I don't know about the instruments, but I don't think they fared much better. Your camera seems to be ok... But what are we gonna do? We owe money on all that stuff."

"Does the truck still run?" Skulryk said.

"It's still running now... But why? It's a wreck... not like we can sell it anywhere. It was only worth a few hundred when it was in good condition!"

"Let's get out of here. Get out of Fourside. Go somewhere else. Where, I don't know... but let's go. There's nothing left here in Fourside but problems."

Lucky shook his head, but got into the truck as Skulryk slowly drove away. They headed west, towards Onett.

----

Looking out the window of a small building near the outskirts of Onett, a young teenager shivered despite it being quite warm inside. Even though he was inside, an ill wind howled around him.

"I still hate the fact dad could feel these things..." he trailed off. "I don't like them, they chill the heart."

In the back of his mind, a voice answered. But that's part of what makes you who you are. Do you really reject who you are?

"Yes ... and no." He stared outside at the whiteness of the snow, until it was pushed to the side by a plow. "I might not like where I came from, but I am who I am." He paused for a minute. "Let me guess, I'm supposed to go try to figure out what's causing the wind, right?"

Did you expect any less?

"Yeah ... whatever..." He turned towards the door.

Out of his sight, a younger child scampered back up the stairs. Everyone had gotten used to the boy's habit of talking to himself, already.

"I can't exactly get out of here without any of my things, you know," he said condescendingly to the voice in his head as he dressed for the weather.

Then you'll just have to come back later.

And with that, the boy walked outside, wondering if he was insane to be going - the fact he talks with a voice in his head not registering at all.

--------------------

Very intent on making her plans succeed, Dio was paying close attention to Tracy. When the girl fell asleep, Dio pondered whether to make a move.

"Sleep can be the easiest time to get someone into the palm of your hand, but not always the best," she mused.

"If you can get her now, why wait?" asked Rasheed.

"Because we have more to take into account than just her..." She trailed off as she shifted her attention to the others who were beginning to take their positions.

----

The blond-haired boy named Chase stared into his coffee. "So... why aren't you surprised? I mean, I did break into your cafe and all."

Siris grinned. "You must have had a reason."

Chase frowned. He didn't respond.

"Not that you have to tell me, of course."

Chase shrugged. "I don't know."

Siris continued to smile. Here was a boy he had never met before in his life, who had somehow managed to get into his cafe, when it was closed, without actually breaking anything, and who seemed actually not to want to say a whole lot. But Siris considered him a friend for one reason.

"There's magic flowing through you."

Chase went into a sudden coughing fit. Siris watched as he regained his composure and began to provide a reply. "How... can you tell?"

"I can tell." Siris smiled yet more. "I use magic, myself. It's been a while of course... maybe five years or so?" As he said this, he frowned. Memories were resurfacing. He shook his head, as if trying to clear away those memories. "I can tell your brand of magic is very similar to my own. Not like TsuramiSea's magic, though there's nothing wrong with his. Just different. Not Sugemo, not Stellar, not PSI... but magic. I have to say, I already feel very proud of you, and I hardly even know you."

"Tsurami...?" Chase repeated softly. A somehow familiar name...

"Hm?"

"Uh... nothing."

"So. Why did you come here? You must have had a reason." Siris took another sip of his beverage. "Something to tell me, maybe?"

"I... uh... I think something bad is going to happen soon." Chase frowned. He hated equivocating like this, but it was all he could do.

"Something bad, huh?" It was Siris's turn to frown. "Well, I'm done adventuring. If something bad happens I always end up meeting the same people. And... I think it's about time I put that all in the past."

Chase began to object. "But..."

"The Winds of Change have been blowing lately, come to think of it. Maybe I should go... no. I can't. But I can't stay here... if something really is happening, like you say... they might come looking for me."

Siris stood up hastily, leaving his coffee on the table. He approached the front door, grabbing a long jacket and a circular brimmed hat from a coat hanger when he reached it. Before leaving, he left his instructions to Chase, the blond-haired boy.

"I'm going someplace where nobody will find me. You can stay here as long as you want. If people come looking for me, tell them I've taken a vacation. If they come in hopes that I will be able to come with them, I want you to go in my place. I have the utmost faith and trust in you, even though I've never met you before. The Winds of Change are blowing, you can feel it. ...And something tells me you'll know who the heroes are if they come along. If nobody comes, seek out Har... no. Never mind. Just stay; count on someone coming to look for me."

And with these final directions, Siris disappeared out the door. Chase sighed. "Oh well... free coffee, I guess."

----

The ships had started coming in and out of Fourside port consistently again. It had taken two years of nothing strange happening in Fourside after the return of Raltise for complacency to once more set in.

From one such ship, the just-arrived HMS Maria Regina, from Winters, disembarked a troubled young man, Seong-un. Nervously, he fingered the jewel-encrusted ring that his adoptive parents had given him when he had announced his desire to search out his true origins.

He could still remember what his mother had said when she gave him the ring — "The jewels in this ring ... the adoption people said they found them with you when you were left at their doorstep."

As he wandered through Fourside, looking for the adoption agency to which his parents had directed him to go, he wondered what he would do when he found his birth parents. Would they accept him? Or would they reject him, as they had done before?

Superstitious by nature, Seong-un quickly rubbed the tiny jewels on the ring: an emerald, a sapphire, and a ruby. His parents had told him something else about the jewels, something about them supposedly being lucky.

Maybe the luck'll rub off on me, he thought, then returned to his search for the adoption agency.

----

It was dark in the Threed Cemetery. And cold to boot. A young man, wearing a black trenchcoat, was standing in front of a snow-covered grave. Why'd you have to die during the winter dad? Why? He hated standing there, every year doing the same, but he still came. It was after all, his father's dying wish. The young man came every year, reporting the year's events, and asking forgiveness. He always felt guilty about letting his father die, even though it was during the days before Ness became famous, and the young man was but a little boy.

The young man had trained in his family's style of PSI martial arts for almost four years. He had progressed so incredibly fast that his uncles were beginning to have hard times keeping up with him. The young man had even created new techniques for the style, but he kept them secret from all but his dead father.

The wind gusted again, harder than before, making the young man shiver. "Dad, something's about to happen here. I don't know exactly what, but I don't like the way it feels. Hopefully, I'll be able to tell you about it next year. It's late though, so I'm going to get some food and sleep, and tomorrow, I'm going to Onett. My dreams have been pointing me there, and I've got to follow them soon. See ya."

He took a small crushed flower out of his right hand pocket and laid down on the grave, before heading home. Luckily, it was a short walk, and the winds were forecast to die down by morning.

----

That business degree was definitely paying dividends. Dan was at this very moment over Twoson, approaching Onett in his private jet. As he sat down playing a cocktail-cabinet version of Donkey Kong, he smiled at his own good fortune.

23 and a millionaire. And he didn't even have to do anything! That's what helping to save the world and then talking about it and then writing inspirational books and appearing on Oprah about it gets you. Suddenly, a cool breeze hit his face, blowing his concentration. Winds of change, or...

"Philo, shut the window! You're gonna drop the pressure again!"

"Yeah, yeah. Anyway, we're approaching Onett."

Dan got back to his game, but the jet suddenly shook violently.

"ZEROS DEAD AHEAD!" The plane went into a nosedive, Philo shouting Japanese racial slurs.

"--Japs, that'll teach Hirohito!" He pulled the plane out of the nosedive just in time, for a relatively smooth landing.

"Okay, boss. Break a leg at that seminar. Remember, loose lips sink ships, and don't talk to the Russkies."

Dan stepped out of the plane.

The seminar, titled "Drop the Hammer on Your Inner Raltise", went as planned, but Dan was a diligent CEO. He decided to go on a little door to door selling.

He rapped at a familiar looking door, and a sleepy-looking 15-year-old girl stepped out.

He went into his pitch. "Hey there. You look like a failure!" He started into the bit about the Chosen Four when Tracy slammed the door into his face, the knocker hitting him square on the forehead.

After regaining consciousness, he noticed a timid looking girl walking to the door.

He dusted off his suit, picked up his briefcase, and began to walk away. He turned to the girl as their paths crossed. "Tough sell, that one." He muttered as he rubbed his forehead.

He would have walked away; he had been knocked out by door-knockers more than once in the past, by angsty teenagers no less. However, a chance glance backwards and...

"You know that's a dog you're talking to, right?"

"Of course!" The girl said, matter of factly, "People don't have fur! Now quiet down, he's getting to the good part!"

Dan dropped his briefcase.

"You poor doggy," Amber went on, brushing the snow out of King's coat. "Your owners should know better than to leave you out all night like this!"

<They normally don't,> King whined. <But mom went away and Tracy's not very nice these days.>

Dan stayed where he was, curious as to who this red-haired girl was. Amber took no notice of him.

"Well, c'mon, doggy! We'll get this 'Tracy' girl to let you back in!"

<Aww, no, let's not. She's got eerie powers.>

"Powers?" Amber said.

"Powers?" Dan repeated. "What kind of powers?"

Dan heard none of this; he only saw Amber gasp. "What'd he say?"

Amber looked over her shoulder, seeming to notice the businessman for the first time. "He says we have to get out of here." She addressed King again. "Where should we go?"

"Wait, where are you going?" Dan asked as Amber loosed King from his leash and they started to head down the hill.

"To O'Brien's Coffee Shop," Amber shouted over her shoulder, running to keep up with King.

"O'Brien... You don't mean Siris O'Brien, do you? Wait up!" Dan grabbed his briefcase and chased after Amber and King.

----

Chase continued to stare into is coffee, occasionally taking a sip, but doing more thinking than drinking.

Chase looked up, quite surprised, to see a short guy standing next to his seat. Before he could speak- "Can I have some coffee? I noticed you were alone in here and drinking coffee and the door was unlocked and I suddenly realized that I could smell the coffee from outside so I decided to come in but I did it really quietly so not to disturb you since you were thinking and..."

Chase showed hints of a scowl coming on from irritation.

"OfcoursetomakeitshortcanIhavesomecoffeeplease?" Paithan concluded and smiled nervously.

Chase sighed. He didn't mean to scare the guy. And he was being honest...

"Sorry, but we're not open right now, I..." But Paithan had stopped listening. He was searching through the coffee selection.

"I changed my mind. Cappuchino. No, Latte. No, green tea. No, wait, I hate green tea. ...Decaf?"

"Oh please choose decaf," said Chase under his breath.

Paithan eventually chose to mix a few of them together and see how it worked. He eventually made his way back to Chase with a mug of mixed coffee in his hand. He sat in the chair Siris had been in not long ago and set his mug on the table. Paithan then proceeded to take creamers and sugars and those little straws and mix it together with the coffee. When he was satisfied, he merely looked at his surroundings with interest.

"Are you going to drink that?" asked Chase.

"Nah, I don't drink coffee. I just like the smell of it. By the way, did I ever tell you about the time I met a living cup of coffee? It was the most interesting thing..."

"Did I tell you that we were closed?"

"Yeah, I remember you mentioning that. Anyways, where was I? Oh yeah, the coffee that attacked me..."