Bigtime (Part Four)

Please listen to the theme song before reading: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6jCJZEFIto
The Ringer in:
Bigtime
(Part Four)
Taking a hit is an art. One has to know when to tense up; when to loosen up. Growing up being a smart ass gave me a lot of experience in that particular field, as did taking the occasional smack from my grandpa. Truth is, nothing can prepare you for taking a hit from a super powered skirt with blue skin. That was the lesson that I was currently learning when those blue knuckles came hurling at my face at what I can safely assume was three hundred miles per hour.
My head bounced off of the brick wall I was being pinned to and sent a ring through my brain. I swallowed blood that had made its way into my mouth. The metal taste slid down my throat like a bad meal from your best friend’s mother. You don’t want to eat it, but you have to. She spoke.
“What are the chances that we would kill two birds with one stone?” She looked back at her partner.
“Technically it's two stones. I mean, there are two of us after all.” The one named Purge had walked up beside Morinth and crossed his arms staring at me. I took my chance and put both of my heels into her while she was distracted. It worked. She stumbled back a few steps. It was enough to give me some breathing room.
I fell on the ground, coughing and gasping for air. I needed to lose these two if I wanted to even remotely stand a chance at finishing the job and subsequently getting my stack. Morinth cursed and started to make her way back to me. I didn’t know what she had planned for me and I was in no hurry to find out. I raised my hand gesturing her to stop as I held my throat in pain. She stopped her advance and looked at me, confused.
“Really? Big time pusher and you want a time out? You can’t be serious.” She placed her hands on her hips and shifted her weight to one leg. She had looks that could kill; that much was for sure. And if anyone thought otherwise I’m pretty sure she would have no problem killing them the conventional way. I mused for a bit on the last few days and how they were filled with new people that could snap me like a twig. Thems were the breaks though. I spit up the blood that had collected in my mouth and hacked up a few words.
“I’m not a pusher.” I leaned against the wall. “I’m an investigator. I’ve been on this case for a few days now.” I looked around and saw my shotgun a few feet away from me. I didn’t even try for it. This dame would break my body before I could even think about getting it, and the cloud guy…hell, I didn’t know what he could do, but I was pretty sure it wasn’t pretty.  The skirt wasn’t buy’n it.
“Right, a few days. I call bullshit. We’ve been digging for months now on this place and you say you’ve only been at it for a few days? Please.” She waved her hand in disbelief and crossed her arms. She turned to Purge. “We don’t have time for this. Let’s just leave the little shit and get what we came here for.”
“Now, now Morinth. Let’s hear what he has to say.” He walked towards me and crouched down to my level. “How did you find this place so fast when we’ve been coming up empty for months now?”
“I’m good at what I do.” I hated it when people grilled me. I have no problem pushing for info when I’m on the giving end, but when I’m on the receiving one it’s another story. Morinth gave out a ‘pfft’ at my answer. I smiled a bit. Purge pressed on.
“What do you know about the drugs coming in and out of this place? And you better tell the truth. Morinth here has been itching something fierce to crack a few skulls.”
“I don’t know shit about the scratch that moves here. I was hired to find the guys what's been stick’n fighters. That’s it. Nothing more, nothing less.” I pulled out a smoke and lit it. “I was about to bust the joint up when you clowns showed up and put the squeeze on me.” Purge stood up again and offered his hand.
“We heard something about that. It didn’t help our investigation so we brushed it off. Are these the guys?” I took his hand as he helped me to my feet.
“Yeah, these are they guys. Tough customers, each one of 'em.” I brushed off the dirt from my pants. It did nothing to help my appearance, what with the blood stains and bruises decorating my attire.
“I can see that. You’ll have to forgive Morinth. She thought you were bad folk, is all. Not too many honest people living in these parts of the city y’know.” Purge took a step back. I waved it off. “We’re with the Unified Society. Been trying to find the ring leader of drug trafficking inside the city for some time now. Not many leads to go on but the ones we did get led us here. We were about to go in until we saw you sneaking around.”
“I was trying to find a better way in. As you can see, the past few hours have not been kind to me.” I walked over and grabbed my gun. Morinth took a cautious step towards me. I held up one hand to reassure her that I wasn’t going to blast her head off and returned to my leaning position on the wall.
“What do you think, Morinth?” Purge asked.
“I think we need to quit all of the gab and get to what we came here for.” She was annoyed. Her body language screamed ‘I want to get this over with’.
“I hear ya, but I think we could use this guy’s help. Never hurts to have a few extra hands.”
“Fine, whatever, let’s just hurry before anyone else sees us. You up for this, little man?” She looked at me with a stare that could break ice. I didn’t really want their help, but in the state I was in I honestly couldn’t refuse them. Whatever I did, I needed to get the info on the boss man’s whereabouts and ditch these two as quickly as I could. I nodded.
“Whenever you are, doll.”
The door blew open with Morinth and Purge bursting in like gangbusters. I followed after them, keeping my gun leveled just in case any goon tried to go for the little guy first. They were both like war gods. Morinth waded through the thugs like glass, throwing punches and elbows like there was no tomorrow. Every guy she jabbed hunched over in pain. Most yakked up their dinner when she was done with them. Purge was more subtle. I don’t know what he did, but everyone he touched began to cough and sweat like they had come down with the worst kind of fever imaginable. They just fell over as if Death himself decided it was a good day to have a poking contest and everyone in the room was invited.  They were unstoppable. They were god-like. And they were causing me a hell of a lot of problems.
Each person they encountered fell over unconscious. I needed one awake so I could get the information I needed. My eyes darted across the room looking for one gink to put the clamps on. That’s when I saw it. A blue-green blur jumped into a room at the back of the bar followed by a click. Whoever it was locked the door behind them. I couldn’t let them get away. I ran past the fray and jumped the counter, putting all of my weight into the door. It broke under my shove and I landed on my side. A bird person stood before me with talons ready to tear into my skin. I aimed.
“NOT THIS TIME!” Fire plumed from the end of my barrel as buckshot tore its way into the knee of my attacker. He screamed and tumbled backwards onto a couch that was located in the back of the room. I sprung at my chance and rushed him, placing my gun barrel square between his eyes. The bird man started to shake with fear.
“I THOUGHT WE KILLED YOU?” I struck his face with the stock. He let out a shriek of pain and covered his face.  I placed my foot on his chest and pushed the barrel deeper into his feathers.
“Where is your boss?” He kept groaning. “WHERE IS HE?” I pumped the chamber again, ejecting the spent shell and readying the next. 
“FUCK YOU, MAN!” He moved his hands and stared at me. He was loyal. He was an idiot, but loyal none the less. I pointed the barrel at his other knee and pulled the trigger. He screamed.
“You want the next one down your throat, HUH? ANSWER ME!” I pressed it against his neck.
“SOUTH SIDE! HE’S ON THE SOUTH SIDE. HE’S HOLED UP IN AN OLD STEEL MILL. I SWEAR THAT’S THE TRUTH!” he yelled, holding what used to be his knees. 
“Don’t move.” I moved my hand from the pump, began to rifle through his pockets, and found a set of keys. Perfect. I held them in front of his face and pressed harder with the gun. “Which car?” He was crying now.
“THE CADILLAC. THE BROWN CADILLAC OUT BACK!” I had all the info I needed. Now it was time to ditch the blue girl and Dr. Coughsalot, and fast. I darted for the nearest window and jumped through it. Shards of glass cut my arms and body as I made my getaway. I ran towards the back of the building and found the car. With adrenaline pumping in my veins I flung open the door and sped off towards the south side of town. I pulled out the cell phone I had taken from Tommy and dialed the one man whose money would make this whole shit storm worth it.
“Yeah, Mr. Kalivas? Meet me at the south side steel mill. I’m about to solve your little problem.”
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Characters Involved : Morinth Nightingale , Purge , The Ringer
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