"You must be out of your damn mind if you think I'm wearing those clothes!" Shea hissed, turning around to face the woman. She was soaked from head to toe, and the freezing interior of the building did absolutely nothing to warm her. Her red-brown hair stuck to her forehead and neck. Her oversized charcoal hoodie was soaked, the material drooping off of her lean frame. In all honesty, the uniform would have been a nice upgrade from her sopping and torn clothes. Her ratty violet high-tops were ripped and beaten after years of good use and her jeans were practically in tatters. They might have been terrible clothes, but they were her clothes. She was the one who found them on the streets she ruled back in the city. They were hers. And Shea didn't want to give up what she had for something given to her by the people who were holding her prisoner.
The woman stopped, entered again. "Would you prefer to be forced into them? Oh, and I almost forgot," the woman said with some boredom. "Here, the cuffs off." she pressed a button which unlocked each and every single pair of handcuffs, allowing them to clatter to the floor. With that she finally left, and the doors were sealed once more. Mary dutifully showered and changed, plans of escape already hatching in her mind. Meanwhile, Embers made a move to rally his fellow prisoners in order to escape the horrible place that this was. "One of you assholes give me a boost." he nodded to the security cameras.
Without hesitation, Shea locked her hands and created a step for Embers to use. "This'll be the only time I'll listen to one of you so don't get used to it," She huffed, beckoning Embers over to underneath the camera.
"So," she muttered. "What did all of you do to get sent to this godforsaken place?"
Embers had no intentions of thanking the girl, but he was grateful for the help. He stepped up on her hands and used her to get a bit closer to one of the cameras. He yanked it down, while Mary shook her head and sat on a steel bench in the center of the room. "Well, I set a fire that burned down my city." he was proud of it, too. Mary had no intention of answering Shea's question, however.
"Nice," Shea responded hardly fazed by the drastic crime a kid her age committed while lowering Embers to the ground. "I guess that's why they call you Embers, huh?" She padded over to under another camera, already preparing her hands to be a makeshift stool for him. "I painted an entire subway, started some fights - which I won, by the way - with the wrong people, gained a lot of powerful enemies because I just existed. But mostly vandalism, or as I call it, "Illegal Art"!"
"A bit boring, but par for the course for a rebellious teenager of your disposition." he shrugged, taking down the next camera. Six left, and the looming threat of the guards entering was slowly growing less looming as it seemed nobody was actually planning on responding to their antics. "Now, six more. Hopefully this will create enough of a distraction as for our escape."
"Let's get to it," Shea sighed, helping Embers take down the last few cameras. She slightly shivered in her wet clothes. The steam coming from some of the other showers weren't enough to warm her bone-deep chill. "And excuse you, sparky. See this scar-" She pointed to the long straight scar covering a majority of the left side of her face. "I think you've heard of the Blackouts." Everyone had heard of the Blackouts. They were a notorious gang known for demolishing buildings with their hammers and pistols and killing anyone that bothered them. "I and I alone managed to totally piss off their leader and live. Gave me this scar but it was worth it." She grinned impishly. "There may or may not have been a massive explosion. If we weren't stuck here, I'd take you to my little section of New Manhattan, maybe then you'll appreciate art." Shea cheekily stuck her tongue out at the last statement.
The mention of her home on the streets of New Manhattan sent a pang of hurt through her heart. It was only her there, but it was her place. She managed to work her way up from just another street urchin to the girl that ruled the vacant subway tunnels under the city. She had painted every last inch of those old concrete walls with her thoughts and ideas. Some of the areas were beautiful scenes of a starry night and calm fields, others were controversial canvases of chaos and war. Somehow she had managed to put all of her thoughts and feelings into her hands and express that with spray paint and chalk. She missed those tunnels.
Elowen had begun to change and shower dutifully as well, giving the who were dismantling the cameras a dirty look. She raised a pale eyebrow at their antics, stepping into the shower stall to remove her wet clothes, a bit sad to see them go. She had so loved this outfit, and it hadn’t been cheap, but whatever she had to do to get out of this place—legally, of course. She was not spending the rest of her days on the run. She preferred to do her own illegal acts in secret. These idiots were only going to get themselves in trouble, and Elowen was making it clear that she’d have no part in it. She hummed quietly as she showered, the same tune that she had hummed as she had slit a man’s throat. Of course, none of these imbeciles knew that. And if things went Elowen’s way, they never would. She couldn’t care less what happened to them. However, there was one imbecile that she at least tolerated, and that was her brother. Her brother, who was not doing as he was told.
“Do you two really think that will work?” Phoenix asked, staying frozen in place. Despite the dampness of his clothes, he made no move to take them off. He was much more of a material person than his younger half-sister. He raised an eyebrow at the twosome, curious. “It doesn’t seem like anyone is coming for us…”
Elowen emerged from one of the shower stalls, having quickly showered and dressed as the other two dismantled the cameras. “Kai, that’s enough.”
“Shut up, Elowen,” he snapped, looking around. “If there’s a way to escape, I’m in.”
“Your funeral,” she sighed, shaking her head. She clearly didn’t think much would come of this. Based on her lack of concern, Elowen clearly didn’t expect the more rebellious kids to get too hurt.
"There's always a way out," Shea huffed, kicking one of the cameras across the room and watching it break into dozens of pieces. "We just have to find it." She turned to Phoenix, turning her head slyly to the side. "Any ideas?" She stepped back to look at all of the delinquents she was stuck with. "Does anyone have any ideas?"
Shea sighed, the coldness of her sweatshirt finally setting in. She took off the wet layer and tied it around her waist. Her old thrift store band t-shirt was still damp, but a whole hell of a lot dryer than her sweatshirt.
Phoenix thought for a moment, giving Shea a grin. “We could always just make a run for it, though I doubt much would come of that,” he responded. “Or we could have our friend Embers here start a fire. We all put our talents to use. If Embers starts a fire, we can use that as a distraction to escape. I can bribe any guards we pass. You can, I don’t know, be lookout?”
Elowen glanced off to the side, huffing. “If I scream, they’ll come, won’t they? You three are endangering us all, and I for one am not going to get dragged into it.”
Phoenix glared at her, taking a step towards his now-annoyed looking sister. No longer a picture of serenity, Elowen looked angry. “Don’t even think about it, El.”
"If someone can get me one of the guard's pistols I'll rain hellfire on them. Or a knife, I like knives." Shea shrugged, slightly offended that Phoenix had told her to keep watch. "And a knife does a lot more damage than sweettalking, Sparky." She turned to Elowen. "And where's your sense of adventure, hon? We won't have any fun just standing around and letting them mess with us and shit."
Shea folded her arms, fingers twitching, aching to get her hands around a can of spray paint, a knife, a gun, anything.
“Okay, all’s a good plan, but how the hell would I start a fire in here?” Embers asked, a little flatly, sardonic. “I get that I’m the expert, but honestly? I need my crap here to start a fire anywhere near good enough to get anyone’s attention.” he said.
“Maybe if we don’t try to escape? I feel like escaping is a not good plan.” Mary said mockingly, as if she wasn’t herself working on an escape plan right that very second.
Shea smirked, unfastening a necklace from around her neck. The chain was a sparkling silver, the pendent a solid steel ring. At the end, a simple charcoal colored rod slipped through the small hole that kept the necklace in place. She tossed it over to Embers. "The ring is steel, the fastener is flint. I used it to start a few fires back in New Manhattan." She looked around the room, eyes lighting up when they landed on the pile of clothes she refused to change into. "And use these as kindling."
"You can have mine too," Phoenix offered, glancing distastefully at his pile of clean clothes. Elowen huffed, crossing her arms across her stomach. "Besides, I can do more than sweet talk, thank you very much. My particular set of skills happens to include pickpocketing, gambling, a bit of martial arts, being smart, and yes, sweet talking. Not to mention a decent shot with a pistol. Don't diminish what I'm capable of, sugar."
"It's not about a sense of adventure," Elowen interjected to Shea, her pale brows furrowing in anger. "It's about a sense of self preservation, which none of you seem to have! If we ride this out, then we go into the world as normal citizens, because unlike the lot of you, I find it better to do my not entirely legal dealings secretly! If you had one single brain cell between all of you, you would see that." She tilted her head towards Mary. "Only she has any sense, knowing that thinking of something better and staying here, at least for now, if not until they let us go."
"I say we let Embers start a fire and make a break for it," Phoenix added in, glancing at the boy in question. "With her stuff, you can do it, can't you?" He looked around at their small group. "And then we can attack the guards right there. We get the two of us guns, and the two of us can lead the charge. Sound better?" He directed this last question at Shea, raising an eyebrow. If the two of them had guns, they could be the protection for the others, or possibly a distraction if needed. Elowen made no further comment, clearly aggravated.
"And my skill set includes boxing, expert marksmanship, knife throwing, painting, saying whatever the hell I want without fear of consequence, and extreme reckless behavior that often leaves people baffled," Shea responded. She smiled her lopsided smile, the right side rising up and her nose scrunching. "Don't diminish what I'm capable of, Sparky."
The teen turned her attention to Elowen. "Self preservation is for those too afraid to die, hon." She lightly patted the top of Elowen's blonde head as if she was a dog. "And there's no fun in being normal."
"Sparky!" Shea suddenly turned to Phoenix. "As soon as Embers here starts the fire, guards are bound to come running. We'll jump 'em, steal their weapons and get the hell out of here. Sound good?"
Phoenix nodded. "Sounds good," he agreed. He rolled his shoulders back in anticipation. "We're getting out of here, because I for one am not staying in this hellhole."
Elowen could've screamed she was so pissed off. "What are you idiots doing?" she hissed. "Kai, I love you and all, but you're being thickheaded. This girl is treating us like dogs going to do her bidding–what kind of a name is Sparky and you did not just touch me, graffiti girl!" With that, Elowen whirled on her. "Trust me when I say you do not want to know what I'm capable of."
Phoenix's eyes widened at that statement before narrowing as he turned to his sister. "Elowen, enough! I'm the older brother, so I make the decisions–"
"–Is that how it works now?" Elowen cried. "That's not how it worked when I–" She took a deep breath, seeming to calm down instantly in a way that could not be a normal human reaction. "You know what? Fine. I'll go along with your dumbass plan, because none of you will listen to me. If we survive this, I'm not following your rules and I am not going anywhere with anyone except Kai. And if any of you get him killed, there will be consequences." Despite her small size and previously goody-two shoes demeanor, something about that last sentence sounding more menacing than it should be possible for a girl that frail-looking. Calm Elowen was much more frightening than angry Elowen.
"No one said you had to, El," Phoenix said with a long-suffering sigh, though he clearly noticed her sudden shift in demeanor. He turned to Shea and Embers. "Sorry about her. She's very stuck in her ways. Anyway, yeah I'm on board with that plan. By the way, you guys can call me Phoenix."
"You guys are cute when you argue, but I still think this is a bad idea." said Mary. "I'd personally recommend just getting showered and getting dressed in the perfectly reasonable clothes provided." she said. "I don't think anyone here should be getting shot, alright? I can use- I mean, you're all very useful to- I mean, you'd be very good assets- I want to escape as much as you do! But now is not the right time.""
"Alright, Sparky," Shea responded the Phoenix, not backing away from the nickname she bestowed upon him. She wasn't shaken by Elowen's sudden outburst. Shea had pissed off thousands of people in the past and some little girl wasn't going to frighten her. "And you don't scare me, girl," she hissed in Elowen's direction, taking one slow step towards her. "I've lived on the streets alone since I was eight. I've seen death, disease, and destruction everywhere I go. I've never had a family that I could rely on, never had a real home or possessions. I own nothing so I have to act like I own everything."
After Shea's small little monologue, she realized what she had said. She practically just told everyone her oh-so-tragic backstory. Before anyone could ask her anything, Shea turned around, looking Embers dead in the eye.
"What are you waiting for?" She gestured to the heaps of clothes and walked over to the doors, getting into position to pounce on any unsuspecting guard that entered. "Light it up."
"Glad you think I'm cute, sweetheart," Phoenix responded to Mary with a lopsided smirk, clearly only hearing what he wanted to. "I'd suggest you get on board unless you want to be left behind."
"Oh boo hoo," Elowen said to Shea, rolling her eyes in an unimpressed manner. "Tell it to someone who cares. I'm sure my brother will be more than happy to comfort you." She was on board now, although reluctantly. Leave it to Phoenix to latch onto the first person to show him any sort of attention. Sometimes he was such a pain.
Shea rolled her eyes at Elowen's comment. The girl had managed to irritate her, not that it was a difficult task, but it made everyone else's lives much more difficult. When Shea was irritated, things got broken, people wound up in the hospital, and an entire gas station went up in flames that one time.
"Sparky, you coming?" Shea raised an eyebrow and gestured to the place on the other side of the door. "And what are you waiting for, Embers? I don't want to stay here any longer."
"Of course I'm coming," Phoenix responded. "Let's blow this popsicle stand already. I'm ready to be out of here too." He hurried over to Shea, getting ready to run out the door.
Elowen blew out a breath in annoyance. "Agreed. If we're doing this stupid plan, might as well get it over with. No point in waiting, so we can all argue some more. I'd rather we argue on the outside, or at least get caught already. This waiting is irritating me."
"Let's burn some shit, give me the stuff. Once they sniff smoke, it's all over, so I hope you've got a plan to get past those guns, or get one." Embers said gleefully, like he'd be just fine watching their own demise as long as he got one last fire. As long as he got to burn with them. He could always use the most destructive plan, but that would make a need for at least a new hoodie if not a new shirt entirely. Setting yourself on fire and running at guards did that to you.
(Embers internally: yes let's go violence violence murder kill kill kill violence-)
"You got flint, steel, and some kindling right there, Arson." Shea pointed to the clothes and necklace she threw him. "And be careful with the necklace. Please." She added the please as an afterthought. Shea wasn't one to plead, but that necklace was extremely important to her. "Uh… Girl and Pickpocket-" Shea gestured to Elowen and Mary. "Just be a distraction or something. I don't care, just don't get in the way."
(Shea can and will give everyone nicknames)
