*set juniorfriend true They all appear to be my age, probably also attending the highschool, although they seem rougher than I was expecting from American highschool students. I see a few bladed weapons among them, though with the casual way they hold them it is probably safe to say they have never used them and have no idea how to. They outnumber me quite a bit but I should have diplomatic immunity due to being a foreigner to their territory. Even if they do not respect the laws of diplomatic immunity, I feel I have sufficient military power to counter whatever threats they make to my own territory. I would however prefer to avoid open warfare if possible, as I do still require their consent to seek asylum in their territory and any hostilities would likely lead to my swift and immediate deportation from their alleyway. Upon entering their territory I notice several of their number cut off the exit behind me. This isn't any problem, as I could still easily move past them or if that is impossible use the fire escape above the dumpster, however it makes me slightly uneasy as to the course these negotiations will take. *page_break Next "Hey girl," one steps forward, I see a knife on his belt with no attempt to conceal it, an obvious intimidation tactic. His eyes move over me thoroughly, I suspect he is also searching me for weapons, "What's a pretty thing like you hanging around here for?" This erupts a chuckle from several of his allies "I seek asylum in your territory." I say diplomatically "My territory, huh? Well I do believe you're coming onto me, girl." "That was not my intention. I apologize for the miscommunication." "That so," he unholsters his knife and lazily holds it out toward me, "How about now?" His stance is horrible, with all the balance to the side rather than forward, and his arm is all the way extended meaning he has no lunging power. It's clear that this man couldn't offer any threat to me if he seriously tried. *choice #I've been itching for a fight *set violent %+20 *set junior_beach_rom +10 *set juniorrelationship "Impressed" *set bored +1 *goto fight #I would still like to avoid having a knife pointed at me. I disarm him *set violent %+20 *set junior_beach_rom +10 *set juniorrelationship "Impressed" *label fight It is an easy matter. His arm is twisted and extended, and he hasn't left anything to use should he come under assault. It's a simple matter of ducking to the side as I come in close and wrapping an arm around his extended one, keeping him from being able to adjust his grip and keeping his knife far away from me. Once I'm close, I quickly grab him by the throat and push forward while using one leg to pull his out from under him, causing him to fall backward. His knife goes flying into the air and far away from where it can influence the combat. Now I'm behind him, my arms wrapped around his slim neck. Ready to press down on the arturies leading to his brain. "Your form is bad, this is how you threaten someone," It's not long before I hear his allies also drawing their weapons, "The first one to step forward will have to explain to your superior how your impatience got an ally killed." "Heh, look at that," my attention and the attention of everyone around me is drawn to a single speaker stepping in from further down the alley, "You sure you don't have balls? Cause that the ballsiest thing I've ever seen! Take a good look, crew, this is what a badass looks like! Walks right into our ugly den and the first person to stick a knife at her gets it taken away! Love it!" The others step aside to make way for him, meaning he is probably their leader or at least a high ranking officer. He's clearly more well built than the others and unlike them, he isn't carrying a weapon, yet he stands comfortably and in control while surrounded by people who do. His knuckles are bruised, meaning he still hasn't learned the value of protective gloves or tape, but it also shows that he's had to fight recently, and judging by the lack of bruises on other parts of his body he evidently won that fight. This is clearly who I should have been talking to from the start, "I seek asylum." "Yeah, I heard that part. You think you could get off my boy? He's a bit of a dick, I know, but he's one of mine all the same." Seeing as how he's more likely to approve my request for asylum if I comply, I stand up and release him from his choke hold. The leader nods and pulls from his pocket a narcotic that is very familiar to me, lighting it. I recognize the narcotic all too well; they were quite common when in trenches to help pass time between combat and increase our pain tolerance during combat. "Want a whiff?" He says, offering one to me. *fake_choice #No thanks I had plenty of those in the barracks, I don't need to destroy my body any more than I already have. "Fair enough," he says, returning to his own self-destruction #Sure *set combat -1 I never understood Americans' aversion to narcotics, they served me and my coworkers pretty well. With a little practice I even found a way to keep my reflexes sharp even during the high. *goto sister #I'm not in danger and I still need this territory. I continue to try diplomacy *set violent %+10 *set explosives -1 *set reflex -1 *set stealth -1 *set juniorrelationship "Impressed" "Nothing has happened to change my answer." I tell him He scowls at that, "Bitch, you'll eat those words!" "I find it improbable that you are in any way physically capable of carrying out that threat." His allies snicker at my remark and I see his face redden, as well as his likelihood of attacking increase. His arm twitches as he is about to pull back so he can lunge forward, emphasizing how much of a disadvantage he put himself in by extending his arm, when someone from further in the alleyway shouts out at him, "If you know what's good for you, you'll put your little knife away!" Looking past my attackers, I trace the voice in question to a male wearing what I can only describe as road leathers. It fits the image; a thick leather jacket, despite the weather only barely cooled down from the hot summer temperatures, as well as pants to match. I understand that road leathers offer some protection, however as far as my understanding goes it is more designed for protection in the incident of motorcycle accidents, hence the name. If I had to guess, his choice of attire is less about personal protection, and more about imposing the appearance of dominance. Aside from his choice of attire, he appears to be of an older disposition. Certainly older than me, though not by more than five years at the most. He must either be in his last year as a high school student, or at the very least recently graduated. It's difficult to tell his build due to the coverings, however the jacket seems to fit him well and it seems clearly designed for a person with broad shoulders and long arms. His hands are scarred around the knuckles. Old scars, indicating one who is quite used to physical altercations. The one threatening me (though I use that term generously) immediately turned with a look of surprise on his face, like a rookie that was caught with an unpolished rifle during a surprise inspection, and his entire demeanor changed to one of submission and a hint of fear. "I was just..." The new one, clearly someone of rank in this ameture gang, grabbed him by the collar and threw him to the side, "I know what you were doing! What the hell is wrong with all of you? Don't you know a lady when you see one?" He lashed out angrily, like the drill sergeant that caught the rookie with an unpolished rifle, and pointed sharply in the direction he came from, "Get the hell out of my sight till I figure out what to do with you dickless punks!" The subordinate ran off quickly while the leader cursed at him before turning his attention to the others, who promptly looked at their feet. The leader sighed in irritation and turned to me, "Sorry about my boys; don't pay any mind to their language, they wouldn't have actually done anything. It's just that most of their mommas never taught them any manners." "It's ok. My mother never taught me anything either." "Deadbeat, huh?" "Something like that." Though more emphasis on the dead part "I hear you, sister," he says, pulling a narcotic out of his pocket and lighting it. I recognize the narcotic all too well; they were quite common when in trenches to help pass time between combat and increase our pain tolerance during combat. "Want a whiff?" He says, offering one to me. *fake_choice #No thanks I had plenty of those in the trenches, I don't need to destroy my body any more than I already have. "Fair enough," he says, returning to his own self-destruction #Sure *set combat -1 I never understood Americans' aversion to narcotics, they served me and my coworkers pretty well. With a little practice I even found a way to keep my reflexes sharp even during the high. *goto sister *label sister "So," he says, blowing smoke to the side, "What brings you to our little paradise?" "I seek asylum until the school day begins. The school authority is currently looking for me." "That so? What'd you do to get under Gardner's skin?" "I hospitalized two school security officers." "Are you serious?" He laughed and looked me in the eye, "Holy shit, you're actually are serious. That's awesome! Yeah, you can hang around here anytime you like! Can't promise some of the boys won't give you trouble at first but hey, stone cold killer like you oughta be able to sort them out right quick!" Stone cold killer? How did he know? I might have underestimated this gang if they have that wide of an intelligence network. "Say, what's your name, killer?" *fake_choice *if (female =true) #Jane *set firstname "Jane" *set fullname "Jane Decker" "${fullname}, huh? Seems a bit...well, ordinary. No offense, we don't choose our names after all." He was mostly right. Technically it was Daniel that chose my name, since my mother was a bit too dead to tell me what it was. He says the name Jane suited me; as in Jane Doe, the woman with no name, no past, no identity. Perfect for a fresh start; or so he put it. *goto namer #Henrietta *set firstname "Henrietta" *set fullname "Henrietta Decker" "${fullname}, huh? Pretty, has a nice ring to it. Never would have pined you for a pretty name but hey, it works." I'm not sure why Daniel chose a pretty name when he was choosing one for me. Though in his defense, it does have some history behind it. He told me I was named after some woman from a long time ago named Henrietta Lacks, whose cells had managed to live long after she died and survive multiple splits. A testament to their survival instinct, although I didn't understand a word of it until we started my biology lessons. *goto namer #Joy *set firstname "Joy" *set fullname "Joy Decker" "${fullname}, huh? Never would have guessed with that permanent scowl on your face. Did your parents give it to you as some sort of joke?" Well no, Daniel gave it to me. *if (hatedan >0) I'm pretty sure the name is meant to be ironic seeing as how I haven't smiled in...well, I haven't smiled. If he meant it to be serious then he had a very poor sense of judgement when he named me. *if (hatedan =0) At first I thought he meant the name as a joke until I asked him about it. He said his hope was that someday the name would fit, and so every time I heard it I would be reminded of where I was trying to be. He wasn't sentimental very often so that moment always stuck out to me. *goto namer #Jeannette *set firstname "Jeannette" *set fullname "Jeannette Decker" "${fullname}, huh? Pretty, has a nice ring to it. Never would have pined you for a pretty name but hey, it works." I'm not sure why Daniel chose a pretty name when he was choosing one for me. Though in his defense, it does have some history behind it. He says I was named after an American girl named Jeannette Walls, who was able to grow up in some of the worst conditions possible and still come out as a person, and even wrote a book about it. I never got around to reading it, but I admit I wouldn't mind swapping stories if I ever met her. *goto namer #Joan *set firstname "Joan" *set fullname "Joan Decker" "${firstname}? Like the knight? Well it's fitting, I'll give you that. ${fullname}; yeah, it fits." Daniel thought so too when he gave me the name. Joan d'Arc was a woman who became some kind of holy soldier a long time ago. I don't know much about holiness, but I recognize the soldier part all too well; which is why I suppose he figured it would be a good name or me. *goto namer #It took awhile to get him to say it right *input_text firstname *set fullname (firstname&" ")&lastname "${fullname}, did I get it right that time? Odd name, but I suppose oddness is turning out to be par for the course for you. Your parents must have been high when they came up with that." Well, it was Daniel, and I'm pretty sure he has never had any type of narcotic in his entire life other than painkillers. No point in correcting him, though. *goto namer *label namer *set junior_name "Junior Beach" "Well, whatever you call yourself, you're welcome here. Just drop my name to anyone who gives you trouble; it's Junior by the way. Junior Beach. *if junior_beach_rom =20 Or I suppose you could always just beat the crap out of them like you did poor Kyle back there. Violence tends to send a pretty clear message. And who knows, maybe getting beat by a girl will make these idiots start learning to take care of themselves." *if junior_beach_rom !=20 " "You have my gratitude," I reply, "When will the first day will begin?" "Oh, half an hour or so. You'll know when the school buses start rolling up. Say, why don't you join my corner at the assembly? I can save you a seat." "Is it out of the way, have a clear view of the room, and near an exit?" "Uh, well the first two." "That will be acceptable." "Great...do you always talk like that?" *page_break Later, at the assembly... *goto_scene 1-4juniorassemblyfemale-1