The tattooed boss Kevin rose from the sand, shaking off the impact of Kiro's punch. A slow, intrigued smile spread across his face.
KEVIN: "You've got a strong punch. Surprised me. But you can do better, can't you?" His voice was a taunt. "What's your name? I'd like to put it on your tombstone."
KIRO: (Cracking his knuckles) "Yours first. Before I have to slap it out of you."
KEVIN: He let out a low chuckle. "Go ahead and tr—"
He didn't finish. Kiro was a blur in the storm. He vanished and reappeared directly in front of Kevin.
SMACK!
The open-handed slap echoed, snapping Kevin's head to the side and sending him stumbling back. Before he could recover, Kiro was behind him.
SMACK!
Another slap sent Kevin flying the other way, skidding through the sand.
KIRO: (Dusting his hands) "The name's Kiro. Remember it."
KEVIN: He pushed himself up, rubbing his jaw. There was no anger, only a colder, more focused amusement. "Now, now, kid. I was just joking. As if I'd give you my real name. But you're a special kind of stupid. You can call me the Beast Master." His tattoos seemed to pulse. "Or Kevin."
He raised a hand, not toward Saber, but as if pulling on an invisible tether. "My Cube... it's the Beast Master. I don't just command creatures. I draw their strength into myself."
As he spoke, a visible, sickly gold energy began to flow from Saber into Kevin. The sabertooth let out a weak, pained whine as it visibly dimmed, its engery level seeming to leave him he getting tired. Kevin, however, swelled. His tattoos blazed with stolen power, his muscles expanding, his aura becoming thick and predatory. Saber wasn't being empowered he was being consumed as a battery.
KIRO: He watched Saber wither and Kevin grow, his own expression shifting from annoyance to cold, murderous rage. "Oh. So that's what that is." He cracked his neck, a feral grin spreading across his face, but his eyes were pure ice. "So I just have to beat you too free him. Even easier."
KEVIN: "Time to not hold back. Back in Grand Electrum City, I had to hold back like they were fragile sticks. Only a few can beat me or keep up. Now, I can go all out on you."
KIRO: "Good luck. I'm not that weak."
Both dashed toward each other. Their fists clashed with a WHUMP of displaced wind.
Kiro followed instantly with a whip-fast kick to Kevin's side.
CRACK.
Kevin coughed, a spray of blood misting the sand.
Kiro didn't let up. He dashed forward as Kevin was still recoiling. But Kevin recovered mid-stagger, planting his feet and launching a brutal uppercut that sent Kiro flying upward.
Kevin skidded to a halt in the sand, breathing hard. He looked up Kiro had vanished from the air.
A presence. Kiro was already in front of him again, a trickle of blood at the corner of his own mouth. Kiro's fist snapped into Kevin's face, a stinging prelude to a furious barrage of body blows that drove the air from Kevin's lungs and sent him stumbling back.
Kiro blurred, dashing to intercept Kevin's flight path, leg cocked for a shin-breaking kick to the spine.
KEVIN: (Thinking) That'll break my back!
His free arm shot out, wreathed in a surge of green light. From his shoulders, big, eagle wings shaped like a desert eagle's burst into being. With a single, powerful downbeat, he wrenched himself upward, narrowly dodging Kiro's devastating kick.
KEVIN: (Panting, hovering) "That was a close one."
KIRO: (Looking at the wings) "Now you have wings? Do you have a whole bird in that truck or something?"
KEVIN: "Bingo. An eagle."
He flexed the great spectral wings, the green energy shimmering. "Now I'm faster and I can fly. You can't."
A vicious, dripping claw made of corrosive green energy formed over his fist. Acid sizzled as it fell, eating tiny pits in the sand below.
He shot forward in a burst of impossible speed, a green streak. Kiro twisted aside, but not fast enough. The acid-claw grazed his side, burning instantly through his shirt and searing a line of fire into his skin.
KIRO: "Gh—! That burned!"
Before he could recover, Kevin was back. A second slash opened a line on Kiro's arm. Then a third, a blinding-fast circle.
On the fourth pass, Kiro didn't dodge. He punched the empty air where Kevin would be. His fist connected with a solid THUD against Kevin's jaw in mid-dash, staggering him. Kiro followed with a snap kick to the face, shoving him back but Kevin's wild retaliatory slash caught Kiro across the chest, burning another brand.
Kevin beat his wings, regaining altitude, panting. "Not bad... You're no weakling. Who are you? You should join us. We're the true leaders of this frontier. We'll make it ours someday."
KIRO: (Wiping blood from his chin) "How's the pay?"
KEVIN: (A predatory smile) "It's real good."
KIRO: "Good."
Kiro clapped his hands together with a force that cracked the air. A visible shockwave of concussive force erupted, stunning Kevin for a crucial moment. The eagle wings flickered, and Kevin faltered in the air.
It was all the opening Kiro needed. He launched himself upward, a human missile. A single, piston-driven punch to the gut drove every ounce of air from Kevin's lungs. Before gravity could reclaim him, Kiro pivoted in mid-air and slammed a heel down like a hammer, kicking Kevin from the sky.
BOOM.
Kevin cratered into the sand. He wheezed, struggling to push himself up.
He didn't make it. Kiro landed beside him and delivered a second, final ax-kick to his spine, driving him flat into the desert floor.
KIRO: (Looking down, dusting his hands) "Not enough pay. No deal."
He turned and began walking toward the truck, leaving Kevin broken in the sand.
Kiro freed the eagle from the truck. It flapped its wings, then settled, surprisingly light, on his shoulder.
He walked over to Saber.
KIRO: "Who's a good boy? You are."
Saber looked at Kiro, weakly wagging his great tail and letting out a low, rumbling roar of gratitude.
VEYRA: (Approaching, arms crossed) "Not again. Kiro gets into a fight and comes back with another pet. We can't keep them all."
KIRO: "Come on, they found me. That guy found us."
VEYRA: "Oh, really? Let's see…" She tapped her digital phone, accessing a data-log. "I think I saw his face before… Oh yes. 'The Beast Master.' Wanted for Racketeering, extortion, and piracy. Impressive. Fifty thousand credits. Nice job. Carry him to the police station in Junker Town. We can receive a sweet, sweet payday."
She turned her sharp gaze on Kiro. "And I need your scrap, hero."
KIRO: "No. It's mine."
VEYRA: (Bats her eyelashes, putting on an exaggeratedly sweet voice) "For little old me? The big man picks on me… I need the scrap to take revenge."
Kiro shifted nervously under her stare.
VEYRA: (Dropping the act, all business) "And you do owe me for that one time I paid your tab. I'll take… ten thousand off the debt." A sly smile. "And it is stolen scrap."
Kiro sighed, defeated. "Fine. Okay. You know you're a witch sometimes."
VEYRA: (Smiling triumphantly) "Yes, I know. And I always get my way with words."
They left the truck, Veyra riding Saber. The great beast moved with a steadier stride now, its strength slowly returning.
The pair passed through the rusted gates of Scrap Town proper and headed for the fortified police station more of a bunker with bars.
VEYRA: (Approaching the desk, all business) "We're here to collect. This is the Beast Master. Our reward for successful bounty hunting."
Kiro hauled Kevin's unconscious form forward and showed the officer the bounty badge.
The officer, a grizzled man with a scanner grafted to his eye, took it. He ran the scan over Kevin's face, then over the badge. Data flickered across his lens. He looked from the screen to Kiro, then to Veyra, his expression deeply suspicious.
OFFICER: (Grudgingly) "Scan confirms. Go ahead. Put him in holding cell three." He tapped a console. "Your money's transferred. Fifty thousand credits."
They left the stifling station, the heavy door clanging shut behind them.
VEYRA: "I'll be off. I'm taking your pet to go install some fear in everyone. I'll be buying parts." She patted Saber's flank. "Do me a favor check on the Reaper's repairs."
KIRO: "Sure. But… why my Saber?"
VEYRA: (Without looking back) "What's yours is mine. What's mine is mine. Crew rules."
Kiro shook his head, a faint smile on his lips despite himself. "Okay, okay. I'll go."
They split up at the crossroads Veyra and Saber heading toward the market's chaotic heart, Kiro turning toward the blacksmith's district where their ship, the Reaper, was being repaired.
Kiro arrived at the blacksmith's forge. The air shimmered with heat and the clang of metal.
TITAN: (Wiping his hands on a grimy apron) "Come on in. Your fuel tank repairs are done. Upgraded it, even. Here's the fuel with it, just in case. Need someone to install it for you? I'll do it for four scrap."
KIRO: "Sure. But I don't have the device on me for scrap right now."
TITAN: "No problem. I can still get started." He squinted past Kiro at the eagle perched on his shoulder. "Is that a desert owl? New pet?"
KIRO: "I got him from the Beast Master. He's not mine."
Titan froze, his massive hands stilling on the workbench. He looked at Kiro with a surprised, searching stare. "Wait, wait. I misheard you. You said you... beat up the Beast Master?"
KIRO: (Nodding) "That's right. Even collected his bounty."
TITAN: A low whistle escaped him. "Nice job, kid. Real nice. But... he's one of the bosses around here. Leader of the Scavengers. You just kicked the hornet's nest. They'll be after you now."
KIRO: (Eyes narrowing) "Who's 'they'?"
TITAN: Leaned in, lowering his voice. "The true leaders. The ones even the other gangs watch out for. So... watch your back."