Orpheus' Fallen Angel Ch. 01

Gil slows down the truck as he pulls over to the side of the street.

"Thanks for the lift, Gil." Says Orpheus as he open the passenger side door, about to leave.

"Are ya sure about this?" Gil asks. "Sometimes the big city is too much for one guy. If ya walk in the wrong neighborhood, ya'll get eaten alive and no one will care to remember."

"I have to find Angel, no matter what." Orpheus states. "And if she has left me, I want her to tell me why."

Out of the truck, Orpheus shuts the passenger side door and waves bye to Gil as he begins his journey. Gil watches Orpheus walk away for a few seconds before making a U-turn and drives back to the Ben Williams Bridge.

Wearing a sleeveless red sweatshirt with his faded blue jeans and sneakers, Orpheus pulls his goggles around his neck to his eyes and pulls his hood over his dark brown hair. With a few quick inhales and exhales, Orpheus makes a dash down the sidewalk to a driveway next to a Ukrainian restaurant and proceeds to a dumpster.

Not stopping, Orpheus swiftly vaults himself on to the dumpster then flings himself to the one-story building and grabs the ledge of the roof. With his feet running on the wall, Orpheus pulls up himself onto the roof and quickly rolls himself on his feet to resume running to the much bigger building on the other side of the roof, where Orpheus hurdles across the wide alleyway and grabs the rail of the fire escape. With a swift push of his feet against the bars of the fire escape, Orpheus vaults over the rail and lands on the steel grating platform. Without wasting a second, Orpheus runs up the steel steps until he reaches the top floor where he jumps and climbs to the rooftop of the building.

"Like riding a bike." Orpheus utters.

Feeling himself in his element, Orpheus takes a moment to watch the streets below him. He sees the usual happenings, people coming home from work, people leaving home to a second job or to get away from problems at home, hookers and hustlers displaying themselves for the chance to earn some money for food and/or rent, drug dealers with anything from weed to hardcore narcotics to sell.

This is all too familiar for Orpheus. Many times with his old gang, the Anarchists, Orpheus would also witness underground street races, cops chasing, beating, and/or arresting suspected criminals, gangs looking for territory or other gangs to fight with.

The Anarchists would never about taking territory or fighting unless it was necessary. Under the guidance of their leader, The Dude, the Anarchists were about being free and not be tied down to the mundane pursuits that eventually leads to the usual paths of self-destruction that everyone in Plutopolis takes.

Gangs like the Iron Dragons and the Tuff Buffs may have the streets, but the Anarchists had the rooftops.

Had. Past tense.

Feeling that he's wasting time needlessly reminiscing, Orpheus begins to run to the end of the rooftop and jump to the next building with only two floors shorter than the previous one. After doing a landing roll on the pebble-covered rooftop, the skilled free-runner continues over to the next building.

"Fuck, yeah!" exclaims a trilled Orpheus. "I can't believe I didn't miss all this."

* * * *

Clutching the stolen leather trench coat to cover her nude body, Angel runs down an alley as she tries to flee her pursuers. Making her way to a dark back alley, Angel stops to catch her breath and give her tired, bare feet a rest. Angel closes her eyes as she leans against a brick wall and releases the coat, allowing it slowly open and reveals her naked body.

Instead of covering herself from the air of the night she feels cooling on her skin, Angel takes a deep breath in hope it will calm her down and help her find the solution to her predicament. Although Angel never considered herself an exhibitionist, she finds it somewhat enjoyable to be wearing only a trench coat concealing her nudity out on the streets. Maybe even thrilling.

It would probably be more thrilling if there won't people with guns chasing her.

"What do we have here, guys?" A male voice calls out from the dark.

In response to the voice, Angel opens her eyes and closes her coat. She sees several figures walk out of the darkness of the dark alley. The man leading is in shabby street clothes with bad unwashed hair, bad skin and bad teeth and the others with him don't look any better. They are obvious drug addicts.

Angel notices on the shirts and jackets of these junkies has the letter Z spray-painted on them, showing that they're a gang but no one she recognized.

"Looks like someone got lost on her way to her boyfriend." Says another junkie with a crack pipe in his mouth.

"I'm sorry if I'm in your turf." Angel apologizes, keeping her coat shut as she backs away. "I'm just passing through."

"Where ya going, babe?" The junkie leader asks. "Why don't you party with us? We got some good shit on us."

Not aware of her surroundings, Angel accidently backs into a garbage can and falls to the pavement. Laying on her back to the ground, Angel notices her coat is wide open, exposing her naked body to the junkies. Angel then sees the look of lust on their faces, which causes a sick feeling in her stomach.

"I guess Christmas is coming early for us, guys." Says the junkie leader. "GET HER!"

Without any hesitation, the junkies run pass their leader and to her Angel as struggles to get on her feet only to be roughly grabbed by two junkies and force onto the wall behind her. Soon the other junkies circle around her but at a short distance.

"Let me go, you fucking creeps!" Angel yells as she tries to free herself.

"I call first dibs." Calls the junkie with a small crack pipe in his mouth on Angel's right.

"Fuck you, Crank." Says the junkie with several nose rings black circle around her eyes on Angel's left, who to Angel's surprise is a woman. "I want a shot at her."

"Fuck, no, Greenie!" The junkie leader yells. "I run this sorry excuse of a gang, so I get fuck her first. You got problem with that?"

"No, -Zero." Greenie rapidly answers out of respect.

"I'm cool with that." Crank answers out of fear.

The sick feeling in Angel's stomach doesn't get any better as -Zero walks closer to her with a creepily amorous grim. The situation grows more repugnant for Angel when she feels -Zero's hand forcefully grabs one of her breasts, causing Angel to cringe with disgust.

"Ohhhhh, We're going have lots of fun, blondie." Says -Zero. "So you might as well fucking relax."

"Please, let me go." Angel pleads.

"Maybe we should give her some of the shit we cooked up to get her in the party mood, huh?" Crank suggests.

"Oh, fuck yeah." Greenie agrees as she grabs Angel's face to force her to look face-to-face. "You're about to become property of the Zeds, honey."

BANG!!

The load sound of the gunshot echoes through the alley, causing everyone to stop. Looking to the direction of the sound, Angel, -Zero and the Zeds sees Moth walking out of the dark with his gun pointing to the sky, walking beside him is Pin, Zane, Oxy Mo and Zippy with their guns drawn and pointing at the surprised gang of drug abusers.

"Get off her now!" Moth orders as he lowers his gun to the gang's leader. "I won't tell you twice."

There's a silence among the Zeds for a few seconds. Suddenly, one of the Zeds throws a small glass vial filled with a clear liquid at Moth. The vial crashes a few feet away from Moth and the liquid starts a fire, quickly spreading towards Moth and his gang.

"Fuck! Get back! Get back!" shouts Moth as he scampers from the incoming chemical fire.

Another vial is thrown by another Zed and smashes against a brick wall near the armed party crashers, causing another fire to spread downward from the wall.

Tired and angered by the firebomb-throwing junkies getting in his way of his big score, Moth fires at the Zeds. Through the fire, Moth sees one of the Zeds, who may have thrown the second fire vial get shoot in the shoulder and the Zed next to him get shoot in the lower chest.

"Come on!" Moth yells to his gang, waving his arm to them like a solider leading his platoon into battle.

As Moth runs and jumps over the fire separating him from the Zeds, Pin and Oxy Mo charge after him with Zane running behind them. Zippy hesitates for a few seconds, pondering how hot that fire is, but seeing his friends easily run through, Zippy runs to brave the fire and join the fight. But Zippy's moment of bravery is cut short when two more thrown fire-vials crashes in front of his path and ignites a huge blaze, stopping Zippy dead on his tracks.

-Zero starts to worry as he watches the advancing Moth aiming his gun at him, armed with only a fire-vial and a pocket knife, -Zero knows he has virtually nothing to fight against the tacky-dressed gunman. With only a few seconds until Moth pulls the trigger, -Zero thinks of his next defense move.

-Zero grabs Crank and yanks him between himself and the incoming bullets. Before Crank could even react, much less figure out why his leader just pulled him from holding Angel (and before he had a chance to grope her), the three shoots to his back helps him deduce the reason.

"You fucker." Crank murmurs.

"Let those be your final words." -Zero says as he takes a fire-vial from Crank's vest.

Still using the dying Zed as a human shield, -Zero chucks the fire-vial at the pavement near Moth, spanking a fire bigger than the previous one, which Moth quickly backs away.

Without Crank holding her back, Angel uses her free arm to grab Greenie's neck and launch her knee into Greenie's stomach. With the wind knocked out of her, Greenie collapses on the pavement gasping for air, watching Angel run away from the firebomb-in-a-gunfight down an alley leading to the streets.

Looking to the fighting, Greenie sees -Zero letting Crank go and fall to the ground and run passed her into another alley, along with the other fleeing Zeds, leaving behind her and three other Zeds lying dead on the ground. Close by her is Moth and Pin, looking over the bodies while avoiding the fires, unaware of Greenie. Greenie takes out her only fire-vial from her jacket, about to throw it at Moth.

"Don't even think about it, ya junkie bitch." Says a voice from behind her.

Turning her sights to the source of the voice, Greenie sees the barrel end of an old Smith & Wesson gun held by Zippy.

"Nice antique." Says Greenie. "Can that thing actually work?"

"I'm willing to test it out." Zippy replies like a tough guy.

The fire-vial in Greenie's hand is suddenly snatched away by Moth. Greenie tries to reclaim it from Moth but stops when she spots Pin and Zane with their guns pointed at her. Moth studies the fire-vial for a moment before putting in his coat pocket.

"The blond chick, where did she go?" Moth interrogates. "Tell me and you live."

"She went down that alley to Gardner Street." Greenie answers.

"Pin, Zane, go." Moth orders.

As Pin and Zane runs pass Moth, Zippy and Greenie and down the alley, Moth aims his gun at Greenie's head.

"Wait, you said I get to live." Greenie pleads.

"I lied, ya stupid junkie." Moth says.

"Wait, I'll blow you if you let me live." A desperate Greenie offers.

Keeping his gun to the drug addict's head, Moth takes a minute to consider.

* * * *

Pulling his goggles above his eyes, Orpheus passes by a taxi cab parked by the gas pumps as he walks to a Comin'/Going convenience store on Rollins Street and enters as a middle-eastern man in old suede jacket and a newsboy cap exits with a paper cup of coffee. Orpheus walks pass the middle-aged black man behind the counter, more focused on the latest issue of Racks and Cracks than offering aid to the customer that just walked by.

As fun and exciting as it is for Orpheus to run and jump off rooftops, it is also exhausting. Lucky for him, there are Comin'/Going stores throughout Plutopolis for him to go to and find his usual source of energy. Orpheus takes three cans of Tweak Up energy drink from the glass door refrigerators next to the Swallow 'n Gulp soda machine and walks to the counter to pay. Afterwards, Orpheus is already drinking his first Tweak Up of the night as he exits the store with the other two cans in a plastic bag.

Orpheus stops at the glass double doors as he witnesses the middle-eastern man he passed being accosted by gang of punks. These punks are dressed in various military-styled street clothes, some with shaved head but all of them had tattoos. Each one of them has different kinds of tattoos but all have one or two swastikas on their skins. Orpheus stops breathing as he recognizes this gang of neo-Nazis. The Steelheads.

Orpheus focuses on the muscular skinhead in black army boots, green army pants and denim vest over his black muscle shirt with swastika tattoos on the right side of his head, both shoulders and the back of his neck along other Nazi-themed tattoos. Orpheus recognizes him as Stomper, the leader of the Steelheads.

Counting five Steelheads outside Orpheus knows he's outnumbered and a direct confrontation would be suicide, but he couldn't hide in the store. Stomper grabs the middle-eastern man by his jacket and violently pushes him against the taxi cab. With his back to the glass double doors of the store, Orpheus sees it as a chance, slim as it is, to slip away unnoticed.

Acting now, Orpheus exits the store as quick and discreet as he can. Orpheus can't help back take a brief look back at Stomper and the brown-skinned cab driver pleading with him.

"I'm just doing my job, buddy." Says the cab driver with his middle-eastern accent.

"Yeah, a job you took from a true American, a white American!" Stomper loudly states. "Well, the Steelheads are sick and tired of the terrorists and free loaders coming to our great country and try to turn it into a third-world nation!"

Orpheus continues walking while Stomper goes on spouting his racist rhetoric before committing his hate crime on the defenseless cab driver. As much as Orpheus didn't wish any harm to cabbie whose only crime is being at the wrong place at the wrong time in the wrong city, there was no way for him to help without putting himself in danger. With his hood over his head, Orpheus sets his vision ahead of him, hoping the Steelheads are too focused on their leader to notice him leaving or recognizing him.

But Orpheus's subtle getaway is blocked by a Steelhead standing in his way. The Steelhead in front of Orpheus is at least a foot taller, but somewhat portly with a shaved head, wearing running shoes, grey jogging pants and a white sleeveless undershirt with tattoos on his flabby arms including a swastika on his chest.

"Where the fuck do you think you're going?" asks the baby faced Steelhead.

"I'm just minding my own business, dude." Orpheus says in a low voice, looking away. "I'm not looking for trouble."

"What's with the goggles, pal?" the Steelhead smugly asks. "Wait...I know you, don't I?"

"Don't think so. I'm just passing through." Orpheus tries to mislead.

"Oh, Fuck. I do know you!" the Steelhead with an obvious big mouth yells out, bringing the attention Orpheus doesn't need to him. "You're one of the An...!"

Orpheus lets go of his can of Tweak Up and with his free hand gives a swift punch to the throat of the big mouthed Steelhead, a second later Orpheus gives a swift roundhouse kick to the face of the portly Steelhead, knocking him to the pavement before the Tweak Up can hits the ground.

Immediately, the Steelheads advance on Orpheus in retaliation.

And Orpheus is ready for them.

As one Steelhead with brass knuckles run to Orpheus and winds up to launch a series of punches. Orpheus swings the plastic bag with the two cans at the Steelhead's head, tearing the flimsy bag on impact, causing the drink cans to fly out while stunning the Steelhead long enough for Orpheus to give a hard sidekick to the chest.

Another Steelhead charges at Orpheus with a baseball bat. Orpheus dodges the bat of the swinging Steelhead with a side flip and lands on his feet near the Steelhead. Orpheus gives the Steelhead a swift elbow to the eye as he takes the bat from him and swings it hard to the Steelhead's knee, causing him to scream in pain as he falls to the ground.

As the remaining Steelheads are dumbfounded and hesitate about their next more against an obviously difficult enemy to beat, Orpheus grabs one of the drink can off the pavement.

"Stomper!" yells Orpheus, winding up for a pitch.

Still holding the cabbie back with one arm, Stomper looks to Orpheus and sees a Tweak Up drink can hurling at his face, colliding hard with his nose. Nursing what could be a broken nose, Stomper backs away from the held cabbie.

"Get the fuck out of here." Orpheus yells to the cabbie.

"Thanks, buddy." The cabbie says as he open the driver door of the cab.

With one Steelhead tending to his wounded leader, Orpheus notices a female Steelhead with long dirty blond hair in her knee-high lace-up boots and knee pads over her dark green leather pants rushing to the cabbie. Orpheus also notices the blond Steelhead's red thong visible above the waistline of her leather pants as well as her black bikini bra and some strange looking arm-length glove on her right arm. Like the other Steelheads, this blond girl has no shortage of tattoos on her body, like the lightning bolt tattoo under her left eye, the number 88 on the right side of her neck and the swastika tattoo over her left breast as well as other tattoos too many for Orpheus to distinguish.

To give the middle-eastern cab driver more time to escape, Orpheus charges at the blond Steelhead with the bat. With no moral qualms against striking a woman, in this case, Orpheus does a back handed swing to her head, but halfway through, the bat is intercepted and, to Orpheus's surprise, firmly grabbed. As the blond Steelhead pulls the bat away from her head, Orpheus, still holding the bat, gets a better look at her unusually strong right arm.

Wait, that's not a glove. Orpheus thinks. That's metal.

Orpheus can't believe it as he sees the blond girl's entire arm is a metallic prosthetic, like something from the science-fiction movies. Despite Orpheus's failed attack on the blond girl with a metal arm, the cabbie manages to get in his taxi and speeds out of the gas area, nearly hitting the dodging Stomper, making a clear getaway into the streets.

"Fuck him up, Matilda!" Stomper shouts.

Letting go of the bat, Orpheus drops to the ground where he swing his leg to the metal-armed Nazi bitch's legs, kicking her off her feet and falls backwards on the pavement. Kipping himself up to his feet, Orpheus dashes away from the defeated Steelheads, not wanting to push his already limited luck.

Stomper runs after him but stops halfway through the gas pumps as the sound of police sirens is heard and getting loader.

"Cops." Matilda warns as she gets back on her feet. "We gotta get the fuck outta here."

"This isn't over, Anarchist!" Stomper yells out. "We know who you are and the Steelheads are coming for you!"

* * * *

After jumping several chain link fences and running across the rooftops of two low-rise apartment buildings and a strip mall, Orpheus finally stops on the roof of a paint store to pull his goggles and his hood down and catch his breath. Standing near the front, Orpheus scans the street below and recognizes it as Boudreaux Street, at least six blocks from his fight with the Steelheads.

To Orpheus's knowledge, Boudreaux Street being a black neighborhood is run by the Boudreaux Street Business Association, which is no different than any other gang in Plutopolis despite the upscale sounding name and that their members wear business suits and call themselves 'businessmen'. Still, Orpheus doesn't plan to stay long to encounter any BSBA businessmen tonight.