Empires of Brick and Blood
Chapter 1 - The Prologue
Rating: G
The words echoed through every unoccupied space in the city, through each junkie filled alley, through windows that were open in hopes for cool air to combat the sweltering heat, into the sewer where rats that were once cat size were now dinner plates. So booming that it could have been a victorious combatant against the thunder that threatened to rumble in the sky. It had been just twenty minutes before it had filled with brownish green cumulonimbus clouds, ready to spill their clean drops into their filth filled city.
The sudden clink of metal against faux porcelain came to follow as the owner of that name paused his antics of shoveling the stew into his mouth, already late to several 'appointments'. A single dark eye darted up to the chef in front of him, paused behind the large metal counter, before he spun in the chair to look at the open space behind him. Druggies waiting for him, a limousine headed into the town center just a few minutes away, a few merchants lurking for easy prey to fall to their inner-coat 'rare' deals.
"...Did you--" The confused man started to call back to the chef, only silenced as the deep voice began its echoing speech.
"You're a dealer. An urchin among the others on the street, but the most poisonous one of them all. You've slipped through lazy fingers for too long and, now that my family is here, this reign on the Downworlders is going to end."
Credits clinked on the counter as Bane's pierced tongue swept over the slit between his canine and premolar, a tsk following as he felt a bit of the fake meat trapped there. Gloved hands reached behind the counter and felt around until his fingers curled around the toothpicks there, one tugged out and used before the piece was spit aside and the toothpick rested between his lips. The loud voice was going on and on, something about him being a killer (wrong), reckless (closer to the truth), and how he lived up to his name, being a Bane to their city. That part had him chuckling as he stepped out from under the protective metal roof, trying to find which speaker this man's voice was coming out of.
A familiar blue haired junkie that was ever devoted to him pointed upwards towards the large, hovering, blimp-like contraption flying through the air, the large screen on the side revealing the most striking natural blue eyes Bane had ever seen. They rivaled Zydrate in every way, serious and deadly, but a hint of something that promised so much more. A rarity these days, most people after all their surgeries and genetics had either crazy impossible colors, or dark eyes like his own eye. That one eye narrowed as he focused again on the male, who had shifted from leaning back against the high-backed chair to instead fold his arms on the desk, his head leaning towards them as he came closer to the camera that had been placed unflattering angle. Until now.
Goosebumps littered the tan skin hidden by layers of shirts and jackets as a grin spread across the man's lips, perfect white teeth that screamed of money and power. Like a mouse cornered by a large cat, Bane didn't move from the spot. Though his dark hair, buzzed at the sides and a long mane down its center, was neatly pulled up into a mixture of a mohawk that trailed into a braid, his sidebangs betrayed the cat eye hidden beneath them with the slightest gust of the breeze going by.
"My name is Alec Lightwood, Bane, and I will find you, personally. I will hunt you down. I will have eyes everywhere, and I will be one step behind you until I'm one step ahead. You can't get away from me."
Bane swallowed thickly at this threat, he knew that every single inch of him should be terrified by the threat of a new person who seemed to be putting his all into catching him, unlike the last guards he paid off. Being the last living Largo had its perks when it came to the old surviving repo men and guards that once loyally served his family, but the two faces this 'Alec' had behind him drew a blank.
The terror that should have been there was... excitement. Slight arousal, perhaps, but mostly it sent adrenaline rushing through him. A laugh began rumbling in Bane's chest before filling the air as he let himself go, let that rush go straight through him with a shake of his hair to return the bangs to their place, hidden from the guards lurking the streets.
"Alec Lightwood. Pretty boy. Magnus Bane, an immense pleasure to meet you. I look forward to this chase and I wish you the best of luck." Bane called out to the blimp as the screen went dark, his body bending as he bowed in a mocking adieu.
The blue haired junkie sidled up to him, slipping under one of his arms as her quiet, nervous voice rang like sweet honey in his ears.
"Do you think he'll get ya, Bane?"
"Maybe," Bane hummed, his arm slipping around her shoulders as he pulled her into a side hug, his lips pressing against her forehead. "But not without some good chases and fights, hm?"
The worry was clear on her face, but it seemed a good enough answer for her as a smile crossed her face, her small hand curling around his larger as she tugged him towards the nearby alley.
"Come on, come on, we're all waiting for you. Some of 'em are getting really bad and need your fix. They're here from Striker."
Striker. Now if there was anyone that Alec should have wasted his time on, it was that lousy sack of shit, the one who didn't care if he was poisoning or killing his clients with his tainted Zydrate. Not as long as the credits were tucked firmly into his greedy pocket, first.
"Alright, chickpea. Lead the way."
