The Crazies (Dart)

After a two month rehabilitation period, Red Hand was back in action in the criminal world...


He was currently hired muscle and bodyguard for the O'Malley Gang, an outfit that specialized in smuggling illegal arms to other criminals, along with racketeering in the Downtown district. Dennis's main job was collecting the protection money from the shops, which he loathed. It was such a waste of his pugilistic talents. The moment he uttered the first syllable of the gang, the shopkeepers would throw the cash at him in and put their hands in the air or cower in fear. No fun at all, they wouldn't even put up a fight.

The last muscle they had, a large pure-blood Irishman who was aptly nicknamed Brick, had done his job too well. But Dennis was a last minute replacement for Brick after he went off the deep end. Brick was currently locked away in the cellar of a pub after beating ten of his gang members to death while babbling on about it being 'the best party ever.'

Or at least that's what Dennis heard anyway. He had only been with the guys for a month and didn't ask many questions. They told him to get money and keep the boss safe when asked, so that's what he did. After his fighty wanted him dead, but he was family on the Missus's side so he kept him held up until they could figure out what the hell was wrong with him
with Dar, Dennis spent his savings on the medical expenses. As soon as he was healthy enough to throw a good jab he put word out that he needed work and O'Malley was the first to reply.

Not too long ago, Dennis received a call from an old associate of his. Says he needs a favor from him or something.  He wouldn't give him too many specifics about it over the phone. Dennis should have been somewhat wary of this, but he was so bored he agreed to meet up with Pix at Danny's Bookstore to discuss it. He needed to find a book anyway, so he thought he might as well kill two birds with one stone.

Which brings us to the present, with Dennis sitting on a bench in front of the bookstore waiting for Pix to show up.

Often came the necessity to exaggerate intimacy. As his father taught; a friend was an acquaintance you wanted favours from. No not 'favours', that was a different kind of 'friendship'. And Pix was likely to meet such suggestions with more of his dad's intolerant opinions. The point being, a careful man only bonded with those who could be of immediate use.

Before yesterday Pix held a very poor estimation of the smack-happy Dennis Miller. Today, however, that same bruiser was his confidant, wingman, and lifelong mate. For one reason alone - 'friend' was a poor bargaining position. If Russia had made America its comrade, welcoming them with big bear-hugs, then they would have had an awkward time imposing economic sanctions over the whole Crimean crisis. China might have shook its head with a 'not cool man, not cool'.

"Keep the change." Hugh stepped from a taxi, amid protests that there was no change, and that he had under-funded. The door slammed shut as he found himself lost in the hub-bub of commuters each trying their damnest to ignore a collection of sidewalk venders, leaflet pushers, and charity donations who were fighting nearby beggars for alms. As one doped up vagrant began a shouting match with the missionaries adjacent, Hugh dipped his arm into their proffered suitcase and wished them a good day. He went unheard, and the dollar coin glimmered in his hand as he twisted it against the sun.

By the time he'd reached his destination, that coin had been traded for a newspaper. Hugh paused by a mail box and observed his contact from afar through the throng of passing bodies, taking particular note of the man's clothing style, and knowing he had chosen appropriately to reciprocate that style. Dennis hadn't changed. He was a simpleton who could be aped or brow-beaten whenever necessary. Pix held few concerns that he would be denied the meeting he wanted.

The paper was slung at Dennis' lap as Pix zeroed in for a landing. "Hey Denny. What's it been; six months, fifteen days, and one hour? Hardly noticed the time pass. I've been busy. What about you there?" Hugh sat himself on the edge of the bench, frankly perturbed by some of the wood colourations and not knowing if they were stains. He held his arm askance for Dennis to take.

When the daily news was air dropped in his lap, Dennis turned his head to see the hand of Hugh Exley extended out to greet him. He hadn't changed at all since the last time they met. He was still the same small nerdy looking techie as he always was.

"Has been a while hasn't it? Haven't seen you since that heist forever ago."

He clasped his hand and gave it a vigorous shake. He had such weak hands. How does he survive?

Releasing his compatriots hand he quickly turned his attention to the paper, dissecting the funny pages from it and chucking the remains to Hugh.

"Other than working for the O'Malleys's, nothing's changed for me. But I'm pretty sure you didn't call me up check on me. So what's the deal? You gotta job or is this something personal?"

Dennis was far from a genius but he knew people well enough to know that Pix needed something from him. That and he had been hearing his name pop up here and there. Pix was starting to make a name for himself which meant whatever he had planned in that pixelated mind of his meant Dennis was sure to get some excitement out of it. Which in the end was all he ever wanted.

Their handshake shook Hugh from his conceited repose. He immediately regretted this rather careless decision, instinctively tensing his muscles in a feeble attempt to squeeze back. Evident pain flashed across the sprite's face despite an effort to repress such an impulse. The morning was still young enough to be cool. Hugh felt its soothing effect on his hand as it finally came free. The mincer withdrew leaving its crushed and hoarse victim to recover.

Pix soon received, what was to Dennis, the paperweight portion of the paper. A wry smile worked its way to his face but left just as quickly. The news remnants were bundled to one side for now. Pigeons looked up passed them from the brick flooring, before picking at crumbs with a single-minded passion. A cute girl in the store opposite was crouched in the window display trying to dress mannequins with style and flare.

"Wait! Wait. What was that? It's not been thirty seconds yet and you want to get to 'the point'. Are you in much of a hurry? Slow down. Try again. Stop looking at her ass, she's probably underage as it is." Hugh hadn't looked to see if Dennis had noticed the girl across from them, but given his conduct already, Pix was willing to bet nothing had changed. Simplistic people with simplistic taste. Not that there was anything wrong with indulging in this kind of simplistic taste... But when you could, you got up on that high horse and paraded around your torment victim like a dressage champion.

" H-Hold on a sec! What ass?" Hugh's barrage of comments left him stumbling on his own words. He wasn't expecting him to say anything about random eye candy, or 'slowing down' for that matter.Dennis was legitimately caught off guard by it. He couldn't help but give his sitting mate a glance and a raised eyebrow. He was going to comment on it, until his peripherals caught a glimpse of the posterior in question.

Her face was facing the mannequins, her deft hands clothing and unclothing the off white lifeless models like a true professional. Her long auburn hair swaying softly as she moved. His attention left Hugh momentarily as he gazed upon the illustrious buttox of this mystery woman.

After several moments Dennis spoke again. His eyes still transfixed on the young girl."My bad dude. Just thought you wanted to hop to it. We can chill and look at chicks for a second if you wanna." he shrugged his shoulders and tried to obtain a more comfortable position on the hard wooden bench.

Dennis had never been much of a small talker himself, he needed his adrenaline and chit chat didn't accomplish that. But rushing into things got him tossed into a hot dog cart, so it may have been the time to try and curb that character flaw. And what better way to start than people watching?

"And what you mean she's probably under aged? She can't be no younger than seventeen. How old you think I am? You scared I'll compete with you for her? Or you already got a lady friend? Besides the ones on computer screens. he laughed at his own bad joke and gave Hugh a light jab on the arm.

Efficient summaries were the mainstay of Hugh's career. His complex plans needed to be imparted so that the layman (read: his coworkers) could grasp its key points. Failure to do this led to them making their own decisions, which were often staggeringly devoid of common sense and therefore wrong. Even worse, it sometimes made people say that the plan itself was to blame. That Pix was to blame. This was intolerable. He could not stand dim-wittedness for just this reason. Misrepresentation was his most abhorred pet-peeve.

That was why he had asked Dennis to slow down. Instead of bombarding the guy with facts and figures he would take a page out of his father's book; bond, get to grips with his acquaintance's perception levels, integrate himself with their lingo. Only then would he avoid this cycle of explaining himself over and over again to no avail.

It transpired that a 'light jab' to a boxer was not categorised as the same by an administrative type like Hugh. The blow momentarily dulled sensation in his arm. Pix rubbed the spot and smiled back irresolutely as Dennis guffawed. That duck egg of a joke hurt almost as much as the punch. We couldn't all be blessed with wit, Hugh reminded himself.

"Seventeen? Age of Consent in California is eighteen. But you knew that. If any lawyer asks, you knew that." He groaned, keen to steer the conversation away from the sore spot of his lack of love life. Pix had many valid excuses for why he was without a girlfriend. All of them sounded lame out loud. It was a topic best dropped, "Look at the cute little badges with slogans on them and use of a bum-bag. She's seventeen, if a day. I recall you, meanwhile, are nineteen. Means we shouldn't be having this conversation. That's a recorded misdemeanour if she presses charges for harassment. And don't make a pun of her'ass'ment, because I already beat you to it."

Hugh knew exactly how to take the wind out of a guys sails. He crushed his little fantasy and used up the pun he was gonna use... He really was a villain through and through.

" You know I forgot you were a walking legal encyclopedia.." Dennis rolled his eyes and let out a puff of air from his nostrils. Pix could kill the mood of a good bro-bonding experience like oogling the bottoms of teenage girls with his legal jargon. But he did make a mental note to memorize Hugh's number in case he ever got locked up. He'd be better than any public defender. "Besides, she's legal somewhere right? Just gotta go across state lines and BOOM!"  he clapped his hands together to emphasis the 'boom' he had just exclaimed, "Instant legal tender.." chuckling to himself he rubbed his palms together like an evil mastermind, reveling in his cunning  plan. Then he stopped. He rubbed his chin to actually think about the 'plan' he concocted. Then he busted out in laughter, launching another jab at Pix's arm, forgetting he wasn't a sparring parter.

"That sounds like a kidnapping plot. A bad one too. '
Stuff is too messy for me." With the burst of adrenaline quickly dissipating from his system, he returned to a more relaxed position just as the young lass completed tasks, disappearing from the pair's view.

"Either way, I'm sure the boss man or one of his lieutenants got a couple lasses they can throw my way if I got desperate enough. Then again I a. Still a bit green with them. Speaking of which, who are you running with these days? Or are you solo now? Nah, no way, you need some type of muscle on your side..."

If Pix had been an electrokinetic, they would have called him Buzzkill. Being right had overridden his brain impulse of being sociable. He'd knocked that bonding experience out of the park. Only in hindsight did he realise that he probably should have shut up after the first bout of verbal posturing. If he wasn't careful he would start irritating people. Wait... Had he ever done it to Gilda? Oh. That might explain why she refused to attend missions under his command. It all made sense now! Pix congratulated himself on the astute self insight. No wonder he was smarter than everybody else.

Dennis continued on with his humour, which was finally starting to take wing. His proposed loophole and snappy pun drew a small smile from Hugh, finally starting to relax into Dennis' company. That was until the guy tried to break his arm again. A pummelling punch piled on top of the bruise delivered previously. Pix seethed subtly under Dennis' laughter and budged marginally sideways, grasping his shoulder like it was already in a sling.

Maybe he should hurry this along. Before it got to the stage where Nina could joke about him being a victim of domestic abuse. Thankfully, the boxer was steering the conversation in the right direction. "Need is debatable." Pix scoffed, well aware that hired muscle made any scheme ten times easier. But such a confession would only flatter Dennis. If friends started complementing each other then they risked making their relationship weird.

"I'm in the big leagues now. Got together with a group of superpowers and founded the criminal enterprise known as HIVE. Surely I don't need to explain who we are. Reputation proceeding and whatnot." Pix hadn't been checking the papers until today, but he was confident they were frequent front pagers. Probably a household name by now. A synonym for large scale crime like Al Capone and Frank Costello. "It's a proper operation, Denny. Weapons, contacts, surveillance, you name it. Then again. I haven't asked for 'lasses' before." There was the jibe. In times past these two friends would often debate the merits of the gangs they were currently employ with. But despite the odd veiled comment, these kind of pissing contests were assuredly over. They'd grown up.

"By the way, my boss could kick your boss' ass."

'Debatable'. Dennis couldn't help but roll his eyes. There was a bond between the brains and brawn in the criminal world. A bond as old as crime itself. They needed each other like peanut butter and jelly. There was probably a better analogy, but Dennis's blood sugar was getting low and his mind tended to wander towards food when that happened.

The bottom line was Dennis called bull on Pix's claim but simply gave his chum a stare which should convey his bull-calling. Or he could just see it as an odd stare. It was entirely possible their acquaintanceship wasn't at the level of non-verbal communication.

It was also slowly occurring to Dennis that his playful punches were starting to cause harm to Hugh. He needed to man up. Those were his light punches. Maybe he would take him to the gym one day and get some reps in. If it came out that he was associating with such a scrawny toothpick like Pix he might start losing respect.

"HIVE? You mean the one with the bird chick? I've heard about 'em through the grapevine, but I didn't think they were that major." he could have stopped there. He knew what Hugh was trying to do. Dennis was an adult, and having a back and forth over which criminal could take out the other would just be a waste of breath.

" I dunno Hugh.. They used to call boss man 'Madman O'Malley back in his heyday." he made that part up. Dennis knew very little about the history of his latest employer. But he doubted Pix knew that.

" And there's a rumor he's a meta too. They say he gets strong as Superman if he drinks enough. Took out ten dudes with just his fists. And a couple dozen headbutts." he rapped at his forehead with his knuckle. " but I'm sure he could give him a good run for his money." he flashed Hugh a quick smile before feigning another jab at Hugh's arm.

Pix honed in on a phrase. That bird chick? The fool had to be pulling his leg. Gilda might have gotten coverage for that train she derailed, but the media must surely recognise the pettiness of her actions and instead concentrated on the masterful machinations of one Hugh Exley Pixington. Granted he was far more subtle than the great mace wielding harpy. But Pix had unveiled enough of his involvement to attract press interest and probably gain a really cool street nickname. Ah! That was probably it. Knowing his handle 'Pix', Dennis had naturally overlooked the awesome new pseudonym all the papers were currently using.

Sometimes seeing more clearly than everyone else was a burden.

His ego suitably stroked, and purring like a mad cat, Hugh turned his mind back the matter at hand. The sprite was glad Dennis had taken the bait and started talking about his own boss. He needed to judge whether this was a man who could be approached with reason or else if caution was advised. Alarmingly, Dennis suggested the latter. Pix's eyes widened ever more as the boxer piled on acclamation after acclamation. TIBERIUS may literally be built like a tank but it sounded as if Madman O'Malley would give him a run for his money. And Pix had to go meet the guy!?

Flinching away from Dennis' feint, Pix realised he was being mocked and seethed internally. It was time to fight injury with intelligence. "I'm glad you know your bossman so well. Because I want you to speak to him on my behalf. Vouch for me. There's an asset of yours I need access to." Perched on the edge of the bench, Hugh was now seated on top of the newspaper he'd brought. He had to shuffle forward in order to release it, "Yes. Business snuck up on us there. Roll with me. Seems the police hit a dead end on a multiple homicide. They're calling for witnesses. Besides the guy that died in A&E. Are we walking round this bookstore or not?" Pix was standing. The headline he held in front of Dennis read very familiar:

Spoiler:

Damit... Dennis had not expected his bluff to bite him in the ass so quickly Usually it took a few more hours. But Dennis was skeptical as to why Hugh needed him to vouch for him for 0'Malley. What scheme had that 8-bit mind of his concocted this time? And why did it need to involve him? As Dennis followed Pix's lead and rose to make his way to the bookstore, he was reminded why he was employed by the Irish Gang in the first place. He winced slightly when he read the headline Hugh showed him as he remembered the horror story of what Brick did to his fellow gang members.  

Dennis made his way to the quaint little bookstore, holding the door open for his acquaintance.
"So that's what you wanted this whole time? To talk to that looney slab of meat of a man?" It was the first conclusion he came to, and he was pretty sure he was right. It was the only thing that made sense. Still he couldn't figure out why Pix would have any involvement in the whole thing. After a quick chat with the midddle-aged man at the counter, he began his quest for the book that he had been wanted to read since he was holed up in the hospital. While searching he continued to question Hugh.
" Did he off someone you knew? Owe you money? Cause if I were you I'd just let it go. Guy went from sane to nutjob like that." He snapped his fingers to emphasis the speed. His eyes finally spotted the text he had been searching for, Norton Anthology of English Literature. Containing the story of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. It was the story Dar had been spouting off about during their bout months ago. For some reason it stuck in his head. He was hoping reading it would help him understand Dar so he could whoop him better the next time they met. Maybe throw in a quote or two. It would be so badass...

Happy with his find, he turned his full attention to Mr. Exley.
"Either way, if you want me to stick my neck out, I need something from you." This could end up in Dennis's favor after all. He knew he was going to need some kind of assistance if he had any hope of beating Dar, or at the very least finding him. O'Malley's resources were aplenty, but if HIVE was as successful as Pix said, they would be of more use to him.
"I want in on your HIVE thing. I need to whoop somebody but first I need to beef up a bit. And find 'em. Get me that and I got you."
It was a simple request, or at least Dennis thought so. This way he wouldn't have to directly ask for help, which would be next to impossible for him to do, he was too prideful. This would simply be a transaction. Service for a service. Yeah, that's all. Loopholes never seem to fail.

"It'd really make my day." Hugh responded affirmatively to the conclusion drawn. The newspaper headline foretold the highlights of a police investigation. One where officers had uncovered the scene of a mass murder. The only casualty alive when they arrived had spun them a tale in fluent delirium. Sketchy details made it known that an associate had snapped. They arrived of sound mind but left demonstrating incandescent lunacy. The trigger? Nothing. Which meant nothing normal. The result? Unprecedented slaughter.

Tragedies happened every day. What made this case stand out from the rest was its tagline. The city homicide division didn't put much stock in what the culprit had been saying, but the media hounds lapped up his verbal dementia like fresh milk. 'Best Party Ever' had an unsettling angle to it. And for Pix, it was eerily relatable to an earlier incident he'd been researching these passed few weeks.

Dennis continued to guess at Pix's interest. He was shooting blind. The sprite was a master of misdirection. An indulged tsk met the man's curiousity, "Your thinking is flawed. Most people with a vendetta call it a day when their target comes down with life-crippling insanity. Except Batman of course. Never got off Joker's case." It was fun watching people try to perceive his motives. Too few even tried.

What was withheld from the press was the victim's identity. And known associations. Fortunately HIVE didn't know the meaning of the word 'confidential'. TIBERIUS had officers on payroll, so what Jump's Finest knew, HIVE knew. The likelihood that the culprit was also an O'Malley gang member brought him to this meeting. Word on the street was his old pal Red Hand was under the O'Malley banner. Upon hearing this Pix knew he had his access route.

The book store presented them with a brief distraction. Hugh tailed Dennis but kept his eyes on the titles they passed, occasionally allowing his finger to hone in on a familiar author. He didn't read much fiction except for crime serials. Biographies were more his thing. Meanwhile Dennis' choice outright perplexed Hugh. An Anthology of English Literature? Red Hand didn't strike him as the poet and prose type. This selection proved to be the gateway back to their discussion. Pix soured when it became clear his 'friend' wouldn't be giving him a free favour, "Oh do you?"

The magnitude of his request, however, caught Pix off guard. He had never considered asking Dennis to join HIVE. An embarrassed pause ensued, "Err." Awkward situations had a bad habit of creeping up on you. Hugh wanted to let the guy down lightly. It never occurred to him that he should say yes, "How about some advice instead? You don't wanna join HIVE. To put it delicately... You're not ready. You'll never be ready. You're likely to get yourself killed. A lot." Those sounded like good rationalisations, Pix told himself.

((AND NOW FOR THE REPLY!!))

The moment Dennis heard Hugh's 'err', he already knew he wasn't going to make this an easy exchange. Hugh just had to make things difficult. Dennis couldn't see the problem. He gets into HIVE, Hugh meets the crazy berserk Irishman. He did feel as though he was getting the better end of the stick though. And in typical Pix fashion, the sprite didn't answer his original question as to why he needed to see him in the first place. But his thoughts faded as anger began to fester when his accomplice turned him down.

"The hell you mean I'm not ready?!" He took a step closer to Hugh, shaking the book in his hand. His voice had been raised a few octaves but he didn't care if he was causing a scene. " If you can handle whatever the hell it is you guys do, I sure as hell can. You think I'm some kind of pansy boy or something? I can take whatever you, the bird chick or Tibby got." he was livid now pressing the spine of his book into Hugh's stomach. Hugh had offended him on so many levels. Treating him as if he was some weakling, saying he wouldn't make it.

" You scratch my back, I scratch yours. Otherwise you're not seeing anybody if I got my way." Hugh would cave. He would have to. Or at least he hoped he would. For God's sake he had to relent. If he didn't get a good fight soon he was going to explode. And he knew O'Malley wouldn't be able to help him get to Dar. Plus he was just a temp thug. A bandage until he could put his full attention towards his syndicate and not his lunatic of an underling. Besides, beating up on a tech nerd like Pix would be bad for his rep.

In short order Dennis was using his physical presence to dominate the conversation. Never a debating technique they promoted in school. Hugh made sure to turn his head aside as the breath of this bull cast down upon him. His eyes met the floor for want of somewhere to settle. Through his mind flashed the impression that Dennis was unjustified in his anger, because Pix had clearly stated he was putting it delicately. Sheesh! It was like he didn't grasp how dangerous the job was.

"Oh come on! Be realistic!" Four members had died since he had been working with HIVE. One had recovered. The topic was in the forefront of his mind these days. A part of the reason he turned away Dennis so forcefully. But Red Hand's arrogance had negated Hugh's subconscious concern for his friend. Grudging at first, his reply became a fast flurry, "Fine matey. Even trade. You talk to your boss, see if he'll take a shine to me. I'll talk to my boss, see if he shares your high opinion of yourself. But I have to warn you - mine grades higher."

Pix squeezed himself sideways along the bookcase to escape from under Dennis' weight. He wormed his way out of the press of bookshelves. Hands folded behind his back to return the illusion of sobriety, "I can give you some pointers. Improve what is your résumé. 'Cus you've done a lot of grunt work but nothing to my knowledge that's spectacular." And TIBERIUS would need an eye catcher. Their boss was the talent scout. Pix had never tried to promote another before. He feared a weak candidate would reflect badly on himself, "We see yours today. I'll brief mine in a week. Don't count on seeing him unless you're successful. Deal?"

And once again Dennis's brutish nature got him what he wanted. He attempted to conceal his ever growing grin as he witnessed Hugh transform into a sheep of a man before him. But the effort proved too great. His grin became a tooth-baring smile accompanied by a quick laugh. The confrontational air about him dissipated just as quickly as it arrived, like a sudden squall changing into a warm summer breeze.

He gave Pix a hearty pat on the shoulder. "See now was that so hard. Life is all about compromise, buddy. You learned a good lesson today. You're welcome by the way." One day Hugh would look back on this conversation and understand this life lesson Dennis was helping him with.

Although Dennis would hate to ever admit to Pix being right, Dennis had no spectacular blips on the radar. A few B&E's, a kidnapping, more assaults than he could count, but this was all mook work. Chump jobs for chump change to get his pugilistic kicks. He'd have to find something major to look good in front of Hugh's boss. But Dennis had always been a grunt. He liked being a grunt, it was simple and easy. If he wanted to get noticed however he might have to actually come up with a scheme all his own. This was quickly becoming more work than he anticipated.

"I'll figure something out. Shouldn't that hard to find a good gig. But you got a deal Pixy. We can see O'Malley now if you want. He's got a pub he uses as a front. He's usually over there 'round this time." He grabbed Pix's hand and gave it a quick shake to solidify the deal.