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Previous chapter (RETRO COSMOS)
#2 - THE TWISTED HEIST
A star had just gone out in the distance, sending its entire system, planets and moons, into oblivion. So, what was a simple life compared to a sun? Did the human existence that earthlings highly cherished in the past deserve so much fuss?
I would say no, of course, because I’m a cat. Our condition to us felines will never have to pale in front of a shiny astronomical object. Mine specifically, don’t you think?
Oswald Avery was merely a Homo sapiens. A retired buccaneer, fermenting his adulterated wine on the carcass of a drifting supercargo; all under the remodeled features of a former Galactic Trade Company’s pilot. Alas, regardless of the genetic disguise, the FID rarely lied. It hadn’t fooled us and the masks had fallen off. Just like him.
I’m such a poet.
Anyway… Avery had had a long life of crimes and adventures. He was full of energy in his youth. And as in the universe, nothing is lost, nothing is created, everything is transformed, this energy was reincarnated in a nice amount in our bank account once the old picaroon flatlined.
“We finally got it! And it was a traditional Martian contract. Payable remotely, on condition that the FID is validated. How about that?”
“God… Lee … you’re talking to yourself and it’s only 8 a.m.,” Ali grunted behind me.
My couch potato of an associate had her head still stuck in the cereal box she was nibbling before falling asleep binge-watching Captain Caveman on ABC.
“To begin with, it’s 8 p.m., Martian Time. And we do have a positive balance in our bank account for the first time in months! Do you know what that means, partner?”
“Shopping, bitches!” she shouted as she hurled herself into the void, gliding to the bathroom in the weightlessness.
With the cardboard box on the top of her head, this sugar bishop was swimming after the remnant cereals that floated on her path like Ms. Pac-Man.
“Hell! Have I just opened Pandora’s box?”
The liner Danaë and its forty-eight post-nuclear Baltimore-XVIII heavy reactors made its annual cruise from Lunapolis to the suburbs of Ceres, in the belt. Its figurehead with the effigy of the Greek princess was a two hundred meters long, green ceramic statue. The size of the ship exceeded some inhabited asteroids’ diameter so it possessed its own substantial gravitational field.
“It’s quite a symbol of the decline of humanity,” I said to Ali, pointing with my chin at this unique work of art.
“Why?” my partner asked without caring whatsoever. “Spill the beans, Plato.”
The Kitty had obtained permission to dock and began its approach. I concluded then:
“Humanity no longer erects great and beautiful things without turning them into a shopping mall.”
The gold and ivory Danaë was one of the most luxurious epicenters of human decadence in the system; comprising hotels, casinos, megastores and amusement parks spread over a dozen centrifugal rings. There was something for everyone’s wallet, ready to be emptied, whether one was welcomed at the port or had joined during the crossing.
And to my great regret, the cape of the Danaë was just passing by us that week.
“I believe we should keep our savings for the maintenance of the Swallow. The dashboard lights up like a Christmas tree. Some parts need to be changed…”
“You’re such a bore with your adult talks,” my partner said as she left the fitting room of a luxury chain overlooking the main deck. “What do you think of that? Sexy as fuck, right?”
Her camisole didn’t hide a single inch square of flesh and I subtly pointed it out to her:
“It’s a bit of a back-alley Sally.”
I took a blow on the nose which, this time, was amply justified.
“There’s nothing chicer than Borderline. You don’t know anything about fashion. It’s crazy!”
She was furious. It was entertaining. But she was right. The human female fads were way over my head and I wasn’t a good adviser. Mostly because I didn’t care. At all.
Fortunately, the upscale shopping mall where we were staying had provided us with a free assistant who was even more servile than a decerebrate canine. As usual, the robot carrier that accompanied us did the job by flattering her with its unbearable honeyed tone:
“I find you charming, Madame. Here we have the latest fashionable lingerie on Mars. It’s an ephemeral collection that appears to have been specially made to mold your discreet curves, which seem to have been sculpted by the seraphim.”
Ali gave me a satisfied look that I pretended to ignore. Then she backtracked into the fitting room to put her black suit and pink jacket back on.
I took the opportunity to climb on the shoulders of this silly robot, servant of our servants and last link in this hierarchy whose origins go back to Ancient Egypt.
“One more move like this and I’ll turn you into a gum dispenser.”
The automaton apologized before my partner’s head emerged from behind the silk curtains which were far too fragrant for my taste.
“I just checked; it’s too expensive anyway. I ain’t buying it,” she announced. “Can you order a taxicab to take us to the hotels’ ring? You’d be a sweetheart.”
Happy to leave this irascible human with her robotic slave, I proceeded to the nearest service terminal. By the time I requested a vehicle, a flying cigarette dispenser could light me a Lucky.
“It’s forbidden to smoke in our store, Monsieur.”
The customer attaché, in his blue silk suit with elephant legs, had appeared out of nowhere. Yet, with such a shiny tie, this punk should have dazzled me from the Kuiper belt.
“Please be kind and get me a Pepper Coke instead of ruining my eyesight…” I grumbled in response.
I was in an awful mood. I definitely hated shopping. And people. Yet the pedestrian avenues of the Danaë had a very exceptional population density. Perms were making a strong comeback, as were neon tattoos and overly open flowered shirts. Under the false UVA/B sun, it was a true dance of flesh, steel and plastic bodies with assumed nudity. Implants and surgery erased the hazards of the genetic lottery for better or worse. It was so superficial. So futile. So human.
“Hello, handsome!” Ali cried out, a large smile across her face. “Lee? You didn’t tell me you knew Christophe Lambert! You know I'm a huge Highlander fan!”
My partner had just joined me, arms loaded with bags massive enough to live in it, start a family and park my chromic Pontiac Firebird. All were filled with C$400 t-shirts and sneakers that she didn’t need and would only put on once.
“No smell. Hologram,” I conclude by throwing my cigarette butt through the smiling ghost.
“Shame!” Ali sighed.
She then looked at her terminal, and continued:
“Do you think I have time to grab a watch module? There are sales in the Japanese aisle! I saw some GD-8 that would go well with my new Game Pocket! This boat is fucking rad!”
Ali could not stop humming Who wants to live forever. I had to rub my temples to avoid a migraine before the arrival of our taxicab five minutes later.
These were miniature limousines with double fake leather benches, facing each other at the back. There was a minibar with expensive multicolored drinks and sugar-soaked snacks, the sapiens’ primary source of calories and high Gs space travel drug. For the sensitive, the smart-fridge provided diet sodas with aspartame, but no one took it. Finally, there were free Gauloise cigarettes next to the ashtray on the armrest. And even Tylenol!
“What a time to be alive!”
Right after leaving the fashion district, a soft voice of a young woman, who appeared to us through the armored porthole separating her from her customers, finally emerged from the cockpit:
“Good evening! I’m Miss Meera. At your service. Hotel de Saint-Malo, correct?”
I nodded. She smiled at us. She was beautiful with her incredibly dark night metal skin that contrasted strongly with her silvery-white hair. She also had charming ivory eyes with absolutely no reflection. They were a mesmerizing void of light.
In fact, it was so rare to deal with a real person, and not an AI, that we engaged rapidly in a lovely and honest discussion with Meera. We were mostly talking about life on the Danaë. As she stated, the rules on board were very strict, even military. All was done to make sure that the customer had the most pleasant time at the expense of everything else. Finally, according to her, her condition wasn’t the most to be pitied in the cosmos. And she was fully satisfied with this precarious semi-nomadic existence.
“And what about you? Are you here on vacation or in transit for work?” she eventually asked. “What do you do for a living?”
Should we have told her that we were executing infamous people so Ali would collect expensive t-shirts and I could fulfill my nicotine addiction?
“Don’t get me wrong but I saw that you had a gun. Are you in the police… or are you pirates?”
It wasn’t the first time someone asked us this question. Although weapons were allowed on most ships and stations, it wasn’t wise to display them unless you were looking for trouble. Unfortunately, hiding such a large caliber under such a tight vest was a Herculean task.
“You can get much farther with a kind word and a gun than you can with a kind word alone”, simply quoted Ali, her forehead against the window covered with scented stickers.
Meera laughed before continuing:
“Very well, Al Capone. I understand that you’re not the type to let yourself be taken advantage of.”
The taxicab entered the central expressway after the water park then suddenly swerved violently to the left.
“What is going on?” I gasped.
After crushing the safety railing, we fell from one rotating bridge to the other in a frantic cavalcade. Judging by Meera’s swear words, this ride wasn’t part of the show.
Avoiding the stalls of an art market and a group of children coming out of an arcade, the driver finally managed to recover in extremis. It was about time, because within seconds we were passing through the transparent protective wall of the hotels’ deck.
“A thousand apologies! Another one of those mor… clients from the Middle System who doesn’t know how to use a rental car,” she shouted through the window. “Are you guys hurt?”
“No, thanks to you,” I replied, my tail spiked over my head, taped to Ali’s neck now decorated with bloody scratches.
Although my human forehead now had a bump on it the size of a golf ball, it was true that Meera had just saved our lives. This young girl had unsuspected driving talents despite taxicabs’ lack of handling. She didn’t belong here, playing the steward in a yellow circus uniform. This woman should have been a fighter pilot; or a NASCAR driver on Canyon Creek.
“In any case, here you’re almost in front of your hotel,” she replied. “You don’t have to pay anything, and I apologize again for the scare.”
From the outside, the taxicab now looked like a can of nutrigel after going through a crusher. Yet, it still worked. May God Darwin bless Venusian steel.
After thanking her, we wished Meera a good day. But the cockpit window suddenly went down on the passenger side. The smile of the driver had faded. She had tears at the corner of her white eyes.
“Wait!” she asked. “This weapon… do you really know how to use it?”
So, life on the Danaë wasn’t so sweet. As Meera explained to us in a secluded alleyway, a trio of criminals had come to threaten her a few days earlier, after finding she was a bodacious driver. They were preparing a heist in one of the flying city’s fifty casinos. The young woman was now ready to pay the price to settle the case.
“What is your opinion about this whole situation?” I asked Ali, once in our room, a small yet cozy suite whose glass walls overlooked the vacuum of space.
My human had applied a brownish ointment on her hump, which disappeared soon after, leaving only a slight pinkish hematoma.
“Meera said she would provide us with more details tomorrow. However, if she ponies up the cash, I don’t see why we would refuse. We ain’t mercs but these three guys must have a bounty on their heads. Let’s do our job, right?
“Indeed…”
All we had to do was wait for more instructions. Fortunately, it had been months since we had been able to take days off except on miserable gas stations full of drug addicts, implants scavengers and prostitutes.
After another morning of shopping, Ali went to the thalassotherapy center of the neighboring hotel. Her main occupation? Overeating sushi made by 3D nutrigel printing while getting massages.
Alas, I didn’t have the time to bask under the false sun of the lakeside resort and get my belly stroked. As a good captain, I had to go to the maintenance to fix the numerous damages of the Kitty. As always, the bill would be higher than expected.
Everything was orchestrated so that we would never hold a positive balance in this corrupted system. We had to chain contract after contract.
But Meera’s gig didn’t sound right. There was something I didn’t like and I couldn’t catch it yet. All my cat sensors were in the red. Unfortunately, the bounty hunter’s ones only saw the green of the bills.
Don’t judge me.
The young taxicab driver had finally contacted Ali again by holoconference in the early afternoon, shortly before I joined her at the exit of the tanning booths. Or as I called them: human toasters.
“Have you finished roasting like a Thanksgiving turkey?” I asked her as she plunged into the icy water of the adjacent basin, under the lustful gaze of a group of cadets from the Marine Academy.
“Meera will pick us up with a new taxicab in the hotel parking lot,” she whispered once back to me. “Alongside her, we will meet two of the criminals at the burglary location, shortly before midnight.”
“Go on.”
“We take care of these guys and we catch up with the last one: the band leader, in the storage cavities of the hangar reserved for the ship’s logistics. Below the last rotating ring.”
In Eve’s costume, Ali came out of the basin, not without deliberately drenching me. The water had a nasty chemical taste from being filtered day after day.
“Do you have any intelligence on these jokers?” I insisted while lighting a cigarette.
“The Broadway Gang. Three brothers. C$45,000 for the trio. We will also be able to recover at least C$10,000 of Techno-federal tax on their ship depending on its condition. Easy cash with the dollar credits that Meera promises us…”
Now sitting on the ledge, my partner splashed her feet to demonstrate her eagerness to head back swimming.
“Excellent! This will pay for the maintenance and allow us to save some money on our way to the belt.”
“Can I go now?” she asked, sliding back into the water.
“You may,” I had concluded before seeing her leave for her absurd wanderings that would fill her afternoon.
I myself was very busy making eyes at the wealthy guests of the hotel restaurant to glean a few pieces of Peking duck or juicy crabs. They were real farm animals from Mars. Not nutrigel. It was worth abandoning a little dignity aside.
With a full belly, I finally joined Ali in the middle of the evening. Arriving in the corridor of our suite, I crossed the group of cadets noticed near the swimming pool. They seemed tired but blissfully smiling as they just discovered the nirvana. And I knew why…
“Ali? Are you ready?” I said as I walked through the half-open bedroom door.
Her dressing gown had been thrown on the floor. Her gun and badge were resting on the bedside table against a giant bottle of Koala Springs soda and a pyramid of little Yoyo Mints.
To be honest, I expected a bigger mess.
“Gimme five minutes,” she replied while in the shower.
An hour later, we met Meera in the staff parking lot behind the recycling stations. Without further discussion, we joined the expressway in the taxicab. Between two noisy info-ads, the radio played Sweet Transvestite then the rest of the mythical Rocky Horror soundtrack.
“I wonder what Tim Curry’s up to these days,” asked Ali while browsing the intraweb on her implant.
“Being legendary as usual,” I answered.
Afterwards, the casino was in sight. But once on the forecourt illuminated by the gold and silver bulbs, we heard gunshots and screams. My partner and I quickly realized that this was a violent robbery rather than a modest heist.
“What the fuck, Meera?” Ali asked, turning to the porthole that separated us from the cockpit.
There was a hint of irritation in her voice.
Meera remained mute, her hands on the wheel and her gaze forward. In the rear-view mirror the young woman looked panicked.
The right door of the vehicle suddenly opened and two men sat down in front of us. They were wearing theater masks: the first was Melpomene, the sad grimace of tragedy; the second, Thalia, the twisted smile of comedy. Each brigand carried a huge metal block under his arm; drawers that were sure to be full of cash. On the other hand, they held their still smoking ZeG-4 machine guns even more firmly.
When they saw us, they both gasped, in unison:
“What the fuck, Meera?”
One… two. One… two.
Four holes in their faded tuxedo. Four bullets as big as a cat’s eye that silenced them forever, before slowly repainting the bench in red.
“What the fuck was that? You killed them!” Meera shouted this time, as she started the electric engine. “You had tasers at your disposal, you psychos!”
She had finally turned around. Her voice was quivering. She was no longer panicked, but angry.
The tasers must have slipped between the seats because I hadn’t seen them. My partner raised her eyebrows and it made me realize that their use had never been in mind.
“We’re bounty hunters, not 9 to 5 social workers!” continued Ali. “Now, you gotta motor, otherwise the cops will shoot our ass on the spot before we could even meet the third dude!”
Meera put her foot on the pedal and one could almost hear the noise of the thrusters melting the white asphalt.
“I can perceive the sirens, Ali,” I concluded before Meera entered the ring's external road reserved for logistic transport.
We then had the shortest car chase we had taken part in. The Danaë security forces may not have had the best elements in the system, but Meera’s talents didn’t give them a chance. We had crossed half a dozen rotative bridges to the rhythm of Take on Me, zigzagging between expressways and maintenance tunnels to arrive before the song ended at the deserted logistics hangar.
It was similar to a huge supermarket with honeycombed shelves. Each of these garages, dimly illuminated by red LEDs, housed a delivery or transport vessel. There was the most impressive fleet I had ever seen.
In one of the first level’s cells stood, between a set of clamps, a Swift-0 scout, from Peugeot Corp, with wings spread. The Swifts were small and very high-end single-seaters. They could be modified to integrate weapons systems, but their primary characteristics were velocity and evasion.
Leaning on the flank of the mono-turbine, the last of the three criminals, a tall blond man with a “Chevy Chase” prominent chin was looking down on the approaching taxicab.
“Were they planning to escape on that ship? The three of them?” I remarked when the vehicle stopped a few meters from the small vessel.
But Meera ignored me.
“Hand me the money, I’m going out. That was the agreement.”
The porthole opened at its base, allowing us to pass the steel cash drawers. Once the taxicab’s ignition was turned off, only their holographic numbers glowed in the dark.
“It’s all over if his cronies don’t stick their noses out of the car,” Ali replied, finally giving the second drawer away. “He’s going to figure out that it went south. He will kill you!”
Outside, the man was getting impatient. Blinded by the taxicab’s headlights, he came closer before exclaiming:
“Zéphyr, are you there? Where are my brothers? Security is closing all the departure modules. We will be stuck here, for fuck’s sake!”
He now had a gun in his hand. A machine gun identical to those of his companions currently bathed in their blood, nailed to the seats.
“Zéphyr? Wait… I know that name!” I meowed to myself.
The doors and portholes of the taxicab were locked. Ali and I were now stuck in the back with the two flatlined and most wanted criminals on the ship.
“Sorry guys, but I’ll handle the rest.”
Miss Meera, alias Zéphyr, smiled at us through the armored glass just before leaving the cockpit by the driver’s door.
“What a fucking piece of shit… Lee? Do you have a plan? I think the windows are bulletproof. I don’t feel like testing. Especially if it’s bouncing around with us inside, we will be turned into ground beef!”
“Did you forget who I am, my dear?”
I was already crawling under the seat, between a pair of Méduse shoes and half nibbled fried rat wings. It was time to demonstrate all my infiltration skills learned from Ninja Gaiden. Unfortunately, both the crab and the duck slowed me down and my belly remained for a few seconds stuck under the driver’s seat with my head on the brake pedal. How outrageous!
From the porthole, I saw Ali watching what was happening in front of us, near the ship. Our eyes met for a brief moment and I could read on her lips: “diet kibble”.
“Better off dead!” I shouted.
My paw reached the bottom of the dashboard, activating the mechanical opening of doors and windows. And, accidentally, the loudest horn in this dimension.
“My bad!”
My sapiens immediately jumped outside, pointing her gun to Zéphyr. Surprised by the thunderous din, her target pivoted towards us, uncovered, turning her back to the human with the magnificent chin and his ZeG-4 who yelled:
“What in the whole universe is that? Wait! I know her! Did you bring us bounty hunters? You were clearly planning to double-cross us!”
The man shouted and his gun produced a rain of bullets. It first hit the windshield of the taxicab, passing through the conductor compartment where I was. The rounds bent the windscreen, but it held. This wasn’t, however, the case for the hood, protecting the engine and the reservoir full of coolant, which ended up covering the seat and my face.
Fortunately, the sticky alcohol allowed me to escape from this trap and jump out of the vehicle through the window I had previously opened. But, once again, a fire ring enveloped the ZeG-4’s cannon.
“This is how I die…” I meowed, eyes closed.
I was violently tackled and hit the ground. Zéphyr had saved me at the last moment, just before bullets obliterated the front of the taxicab.
Other projectiles ricocheted off the metal money drawers on the floor and got lost in the ceiling, activating the fire sprinklers. This incident triggered a silent light alarm throughout the hangar while the mobster prepared a new salvo.
“Don’t hurt my pilot, you narbo!” roared my partner.
Ali, this time taken as a target, retaliated. She fired a single shot towards the rascal with a formidable precision. No one knew how to handle such a heavy gun as she did. She was my human. She was the best in her field: murder.
And I taught her everything. Almost.
The leader of the robbers tried to reload the magazine of his weapon, unaware that his heart had been punctured a few seconds before. Adrenaline was doing its job. But the blood loss caused by the explosion of the aorta at its base, near the ventricles, gradually stopped him in his gesture. His pressure dropped and the bloodstream no longer reached the brain sufficiently. He was already in a coma when his shoulders touched the ground. He was luckier than the average Joe and died a few seconds later.
“Is everything all right?”
My voice was trembling, still in shock from this disaster. I was wet and frozen.
Zéphyr got up with difficulty. Next to us, one of the metal drawers was opened, revealing a bunch of green bills and a much stranger booty: an eight-inch gold diskette with suspicious Chinese symbols.
Well… I couldn’t read them but Chinese symbols on stuff are always suspect, aren’t they?
But there were more important matters. Because my partner, on the other hand, stayed on the ground. Blood was dripping from her black suit and mixed with the clear firefighting fluid that was falling like an endless rain.
I tried to talk to her again but my voice was lost in a groan.
“Why are you whining, you big baby? It’s just blood.”
With her nose in a puddle, my sapiens smiled at me. Her left hand was compressing her abdomen. The bullet had passed through the external oblique muscle, far from the stomach.
It wasn’t that bad after all but she had scared me. And that deserved a scratch on the wrist that made her scream:
“What the fuck?”
“And the medical expenses? Have you thought about medical expenses? We don’t have insurance!”
“God, Uncle Scrooge! I hate you!”
“We won’t be able to fix the Kitty with your heroic outbursts!” I fulminated to mask my joy of seeing her in one piece.
“I will kill you, Muppet! I almost died! I don’t give a fuck about your rusty trash can which flies like a brick!”
It was true that we hadn’t had a fight for a long time.
“Guys…” intervened Zéphyr.
“What?”
Ali and I had spoken together.
“These three ruffians had planned to steal the diskette drive from me once I got back. I needed a hand, so… thank you… I guess.”
“You’re welcome,” my human answered dryly while sitting.
Although Zéphyr saved me, I didn’t share the same kindness:
“Wait, we’re not letting him go! Do you know who he is?”
Zéphyr. Prince of thieves. And yes, he wasn’t much of a princess either. Just an androgynous cyborg. A breakout king wanted throughout the entire system for his affiliation with the Data Brokers’ Guild. With an incredible bounty of C$800,000, she or he… whatever… was the knight of the brokers’ chessboard.
“I think we’ve had enough for today,” Ali said. “Unless you hope to go after him with these big fat guts of yours.”
“By the 79 moons of Jupiter, you shall pay for this, woman!” I meowed, angry.
My ears were backwards and my hairs were spiky. But soaking wet, it just made Ali and Zéphyr laugh.
Disgrace!
“He’s so cute when he’s furious,” he joked.
Now on his knees, the night-skinned androgynous was blotting Ali’s wound with a torn piece of fabric from his driver’s uniform.
“But more seriously, I need to go. With the bounty, you’ll be able to repair your vessel. As for the hospital fees, I will contact a good friend who will take care of you for free. She’s the ship’s chief medical officer.”
“Thank you,” I simply replied as he helped my partner get back on her feet.
“It’s the least I can do. I wasn’t interested in money. More important information is contained in this,” he said as he was picking up the floppy disk.
This golden diskette must have been worth a lot of cash for Zéphyr to play a taxicab driver to ensure coverage. I had perceived that something was fishy!
Then, halfway to his Swift-0, Zéphyr stopped. I witnessed his hesitation.
“There was nothing personal, you know. We’re all just trying to make our way. The best we can…”
And he ultimately left before adding:
“Maybe we’ll see each other again! You seem like fun.”
Before fleeing away, Zéphyr abandoned one of the boxes near the criminal’s corpse. Thus, he validated the theory of a robbery that had gone wrong. When the security arrived a few minutes later, we were the heroes of the day. And with a little bribe, nobody cared about Zéphyr’s missing ship.
This whole story surely left us a bitter taste. A feeling of defeat and humiliation that the swimming pool under the synthetic sun couldn’t make disappear even a week after.
“He undoubtedly played us as we were rookies, with his little face of a young innocent girl in distress,” I said to Ali right after the end of the daily Brett Maverick.
This old show was dispensed on a couple of giant screens suspended by drones.
Until now, Ali had remained silent on her deckchair; with a brick of sour juice stuck between her breasts and a pair of straws between her teeth. Only inaudible grunts emanated from her mouth since the departure of the sexually unclassifiable mugger.
“I wonder what information this fucking cyber-Tootsie could have been looking for in that casino,” my human mumbled as she squeaked her rainbow flip-flops.
“Admit that it’s not really that question that puts you in such a state…” I answered, now well installed on my motorized buoy that I had gotten as a gift in a diet kibbles package.
“You bet! I will have a nasty tan mark on my stomach with these bandages!” she exploded, spitting out her plastic straws with infinite curls.
My float slipped towards the ledge as a robot came to bring us our next glucose overdose.
Ali finally added:
“I swear that if we run into him again, I’ll smack his fucking angel face.”
Back to business!

Starman #8 - Storm Force

DCNext Proudly Presents…!

STARMAN

Issue #8: Storm Force

Arc II: Fire Opal

Written by Fortanono
Edited by VoidKiller826
<< Previous | Next >> (coming February)
-=-=-=-= 🌟 =-=-=-=-
Part 1: Jennifer Knight
”Now!” Ted barks through my earphone. I dash between the rooftops of a series of old brick buildings and look down. Courtney and Jack are shooting blasts of energy through the dense pale-green fog that fills the streets around us; Rick is looking around, clearly bored but unable to actually do anything. Darrell is above the arena, making sure everything goes smoothly, and Aunt Sandra is somewhere around here but I have no actual idea where. I jump down, twisting my dial to the “Bubble” mode as I land. Quickly, I summon a purple-black bubble around me, trapping just a bit of the Mist’s fog in it. I’ve successfully separated part of the Mist from the rest of him, but I’ll have to be quick about what comes next.
The small tendril of fog in my bubble seems to realize what’s happening as I dart as far as I can down the street. I see it bend and contract, diving into my throat. I start choking; it becomes harder and harder to breathe, but I just have to go a bit further out. Eventually, as I begin to get light-headed, I release the bubble and switch my dial to “Panic.” A burst of energy surrounds me, knocking the fog away from me and out of my mouth. I cough a bit before straightening myself and speaking into my microphone.
”He’s gonna try to reassemble himself,” I say. ”Darrell, it’s your move.”
”Right,” Darrell says. I can’t see him above the battlefield, but I immediately notice his presence as dozens of tiny blue-and-red drones drift down from the sky, each one with fans. They surround the Mist’s missing piece, keeping him in one place, still separate from the cloud that Jack, Rick, and Courtney are dealing with.
”Fantastic,” Ted radios in. ”Mist’s primary goal will always be to keep himself together. It’s a sort of side-effect to his powers. Keep him there, and the rest of him’ll follow eventually, no matter how hard he resists.”
It takes a few seconds, but the giant cloud of fog slowly starts drifting to meet up with the smaller one. Courtney and Jack rush over to the area with the fans, both concentrating fire on the one position where they’re merging. I turn my dial to “Energy Blast” and add my own energy to the mixture. Slowly but surely, the green fog begins to get thicker, and soon enough, the figure of the Mist begins to take hold.
“I was hoping you guys still thought I was in Gotham,” he mutters in a raspy voice. I stare at the face of the villain that Ted had been so worried about, remembering how we had prepared for this battle for over a month before he felt comfortable sending us out. He looks old, weak; in his eyes, I see a man who knows he’s been defeated, a man who may have once been a titan but whom old age has gotten to. I smile as Aunt Sandra decloaks and cuffs him with a pair of power-dampening handcuffs. Nearby, a police car pulled up and Clarence, one of the older O’Dare brothers, escorts him away.
“I will be back,” he hisses. “You should all know that.”
I know that it’s still possible for him to come back once again, that he had even come back when the world thought he was dead. There is a sincere promise in his words. But even so, seeing the frail figure of Opal City’s legendary villain once again defeated, I smile.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Rick, Darrell, Courtney, and I re-enter Ted’s workshop once again; Jack and Sandra split from us and went back to the Stargazer. As we descend the stairs, I could tell that Ted was over the moon.
“Wow,” he says to himself. “Just… wow. I’ll be entirely honest; I was certain we would have had to retreat at some point during that battle. I did not expect this to be one and done.”
“Well,” Rick chuckles, “I think the guy’s just a fucking pansy. No offense; I get why you couldn’t beat him or whatever, but like, the dude tries to make us go to Gotham so he didn’t have to deal with us. Again, no offense; I’m sure you were, like, a great hero in your time, of course.”
Ted laughs heartily. “None taken. I’m sure that as he’s gotten older, he’s had to rely more on cheap parlor tricks like the one in Gotham. I, for one, definitely knows how the aging process can take a toll on your abilities. I’m just… so happy that bastard is behind bars again.”
Courtney nods. “Here here.”
“Anyway,” Ted says, “I’d like to let you know that our little merry band of heroes is going to get a fifth member fairly soon.” His tone sours as he continues to speak. “My sister… she’s a vapid idiot, so you can understand that we haven’t talked in a long time, but her son started developing metahuman powers. And he started going out as a hero. She told me that she couldn’t stop him, so she wants him to at least have more support.”
“Ah, great,” Rick laughs. “Because I was just thinking that we didn’t have enough people who sucked at being heroes on this squad.”
“Rick,” Ted glares. “Please cool your behavior. I’ve seen what you’re able to do on the field and I must say: it’s pretty bad too.”
The door to the workshop slides open once again, and a new kid walks down the stairs. He’s got dark brown hair that’s just barely covering his eyes and is wearing a grey T-shirt and jeans. He waves to us as he walks down the stairs to meet with us.
“Hi,” he says. “Name’s Aaron. Aaron Munro. I’ll be working with you guys for a while.”
“He’s been helping people in his hometown of Liberty Hill as the great ‘Iron Munro’ for the past few months now,” Ted explains. “Unfortunately, Aaron, when you decided to do that, you perhaps made the worst mistake you could have made in this line of work. You made your identity public. Tell me, why’d you do that.”
Aaron sighed. “I… I just thought it was a small town, and I figured we all knew each other already, and… I guess I wanted to be recognized for my deeds or something.”
“I’m sure you’ll feel sufficiently recognized when your mother gets a bullet in her skull,” Ted says bluntly. “Let’s be clear: I hate the lady, but not that much. Come with me.” Ted beckons Aaron to the far corner of the workshop.
I stare blankly at what’s happening in front of me; Ted’s a hardass, but this is… a bit much even for him. Clearly, this was about more than just business. I had heard small things about Ted’s sister before but never met her or her family. Whatever happened to separate them had to have been a big deal.
Ted shows Aaron to a costume on a stand in the corner; it consists of a brown-and-grey bulletproof bodysuit with metal accents and a full face-mask made entirely of metal. “This,” Ted says, “is going to be the new you. I’m calling it: ‘Metalsmith.’”
“Th-thanks,” he says. He looks frustrated; I can tell that he’s not happy to be here, but he’s holding it all in. “I--I just have to say that… this really isn’t my style. I’m trying to go for a friendly hometown hero vibe, and having my whole face covered up… It just doesn’t seem right.”
Ted grimaces. “You did the hometown hero thing, and you failed. You showed your face to everyone. Metalsmith isn’t the friendliest guy around, but he’s safe and so is his family. If you wanna talk about alterations, feel free to tell me. But keep in mind that I have to work to preserve your safety first.”
Aaron nods. “Fine,” he says.
I look around the room; all of my teammates are either looking at the spectacle in front of them, or looking at their phones. Starved of anything else to look at, I turn to look at Rick’s phone. He’s responding to a text message from someone named Luisa; I think she’s a girl in his class or something. It doesn’t quite look like a message about normal things teenagers talk about, though.
hey, so I have a confession to make, the message begins. John and Maya and i, we knew about you being hourman and everything before we met you. we’re still your friends, we always were, but we also want to get your help with something we’re working on. a project that involves metahumans, basically. let us know if you’re interested.
I immediately turn away from the message on the phone. Clearly, this is something I’m not supposed to know about, but now that I do, I can’t stop thinking about it. Some other people want Rick to help them with… something related to his powers. It sounds really shady; should I tell Ted about this? It could be a conflict of interest, whatever it is. On the other hand, Ted doesn’t seem like the most level-headed person to deal with this. Who knows; maybe it’s for some sort of superhero stunt show or something really cool, and I’d be denying him access to that.
Whatever. It’s not my problem right now. It was never meant for me.
“Hey,” Aaron says. “You here? You listening?”
I look up; Aaron is standing right in front of me, his hand outstretched. “Sorry,” I say, shaking his hand. “My name’s Jennifer. It’s nice to meet you.”
-=-=-=-= 🌟 =-=-=-=-
Part 2: Sandra Knight
“Well, that could’ve gone a lot worse,” I say, currently on the back of Jack’s Star-Cycle. Jack apparently figured out that he could make his motorcycle fly if he used his Cosmic Rod, which is both hilarious and something that neither Ted nor David would ever begin to consider trying out. Which is why Jack is so great; he’s questioning everything, figuring out new ways of doing things, and making a motorcycle fly.
Feeling the wind rush against my face, I’m taken immediately back to my rebellious college days and my early stints as the Phantom Lady. It’s nice, almost nostalgic, but still different enough. We come to a descent in the back of the Stargazer, and Jack locks up his motorcycle.
Hope comes out the back door to greet us. “Glad you could make it,” she says. “Cutting it a little close, though, I gotta say. The meeting’s in less than 5 minutes.”
Oh, right. The meeting with our potential client. The Mist tends to give a lot of people tunnel-vision; I had completely forgotten about this.
“Sorry about that,” Jack chuckles. “You know how it is, going out, saving the day. Maybe someday, you should give it a--” He cuts himself off as I glare at him. His expression turns more serious. “I’m so sorry,” he finally says. “I forgot about what happened with you and the Mist.”
Hope sighs. “It’s fine,” she says. “We can deal with this another time. He’s behind bars yet again; he can’t hurt anyone else. That’s the best news anyone could hope for.”
We walk into the office; Jack takes a seat, ready for the meeting. “So, this new client. What’s the deal with them, again? Missing kid? Brother’s a supervillain?”
“She has some information on who might have been behind the prison break a few months ago,” I say.
“Okay, wow,” Jack responds. “That’s sort of a big deal.”
We hear the door swing open. A young woman with light brown skin and shoulder-length black hair walks in. She’s wearing a sleeveless white shirt and black winter coat; on her left hand is a tattoo of the Superman “S” sigil. “Look who’s here,” Jack smiles. “Glad you could make it.”
The woman sits down in front of Jack, putting her coat on the back of the chair. “Yeah, well, me too,” she sighs. “Listen, if you have any witness protection-type deals or whatever, can you hook me up with one of them? I’m honestly… I’m honestly terrified right now.”
I nod. “Well, there are a few options there. My cousin can easily create a fake ID and get you out of the city without anyone noticing. If you want to go through a more legitimate program, Hope here has contacts with the police who can get you into proper witness protection.”
“I’ll take the first one,” she says. She reaches out and shakes Jack’s hand. “Name’s Sarah. I’ve been working for Maxie Zayas for the last few months; I needed work, and he seemed really nice at first.”
Maxie Zayas. That’s going to be a tough one. A big-time club owner and crime boss, following in the footsteps of his father; I was personally involved in putting his old man behind bars. All of Opal City’s heroes know about him, but we’ve never been able to really do much about it. A few years ago, David flew into Maxie’s club and arrested him straight-up for drug trafficking. Not 12 hours later, he was out, cleared of all charges.
This isn’t going to be a battle we can fight with force.
I walk closer to the table where Sarah and Jack are seated. “And you believe that Zayas is responsible for the recent breakout?”
Sarah nods. “At some point, I began to hear whispers that he was planning some meteoric takeover of Opal City. He said he needed something to distract the local heroes in the meantime. And then, a few days before the big event happened, I saw him talking to that card guy who broke them all out.”
“Jeremy Tell,” Jack says.
“I… I couldn’t be a part of whatever he was doing,” Sarah says. “I grew up in Opal City. Believe it or not, I loved you guys.” She points to me. “I actually had a poster of you in my room. I thought Zayas was a harmless dude who just sat around. It wasn’t a big deal, whatever he was doing. The people he broke out… I remember seeing what they did on the news. I had to talk to you.”
“Glad you did,” Jack says. “Hey, that’s awesome that you had a poster of Phantom Lady. Wait, why aren’t we selling posters?” He turns to me. “Can we do that?”
I laugh. “Topic at hand,” I smile.
Mia leaves, and Hope walks up to us. “So… what’s the plan then? We can’t both take down Zayas and the people he released, right? Those are two huge undertakings.”
“That may be so,” I say. I pause for a second. “We may not need to. If we can get the All-Stars to handle the escaped convicts, we could divert all of our attention towards figuring out what Zayas is planning.”
“Okay,” Jack says, “but how are we going to take him down? David tried, and he failed miserably. The guy’s just super well-connected. We can’t just storm in there, can we.”
I smile. “Jack, sweetie. There are other ways to do this kind of work that don’t involve punching all your problems away.”
-=-=-=-= 🌟 =-=-=-=-
Interlude VIII: Hour of Espionage
”Positions, everyone,” Al Carlyle said through the microphone. ”We need to set the scene just right.”
Carlyle stared at the multitude of cameras around him. He watched as Luisa, Maya, and John made their way to the docks. Turning to another monitor, he watched as several stealth-agents readied their sniper rifles, hiding on rooftops, in windows. He pressed a button on the console in front of him; a series of machines around the docks whirred to life; to the outside observer, they looked like they were doing nothing, but Carlyle knew that they were the key to this mission.
“I have to say,” Luisa said apprehensively. “I’m really worried about this. These snipers… if he doesn’t show up, they will kill us, right?”
”11:49 PM,” Carlyle reiterated. ”Unfortunately, for this to work, the snipers have to be steadfastly committed to their mission. The dude doesn’t get visions about things that could happen. He gets them about things that will if he doesn’t intervene. But don’t worry; we’ve run several experiments with the energy emitters. Every time, he shows up right on cue.”
Luisa nodded. ”Okay. And what’s the deal with those machine things? You’ve explained them to me before, but I’m not good at remembering all the science stuff. Just isn’t my thing.”
”They emit a specific frequency of radiation that, for reasons unbeknownst to us, seem to massively increase the likelihood that Rick gets a vision in that area. We found residual traces of it naturally occurring in almost half of Rick’s usual visions; when we massively crank up the numbers, he always seems to show.”
The three kids sat down at the dock. After a few seconds, Carlyle spoke up. ”We’ve gotten confirmation that Rick has now left his house. The snipers can now evacuate the area. The three of you, just act normal. It’ll take the better part of the hour for him to get here, so get comfortable.” As soon as they had settled in, the masked snipers quickly ran off, lowering their weapons and quickly changing into civilian wear like clockwork.
John was the first to speak up after Carlyle went silent. “So, what, we’re gonna wait, like, 58 minutes until he gets there? Well, this will be boring.” He pulled out a couple of joints from his pocket. “Anyone want some?”
“We’re on duty,” Maya said. “I don’t think it’s worth it.”
John shrugged. “What? We have to sit around, pretend like we’re doing something, and then act all buddy-buddy with him when he shows up. It’s not like we’re taking down Basilisk; this is easy shit. It’ll be fine.”
Maya shook her head. “We should wait.”
John chuckled. “Alright, fine, you win. But we’re popping these babies out as soon as the man of the hour gets here. Got it?” He shoved the joints back into his pocket.
“Alright, whatever you want,” Maya smiled. “Just don’t come running to me when Carlyle yells at our asses for being high on the job.”
Carlyle watched the security footage, smiling and shaking his head to himself. Behind him, William Vickers walked up. He was the same age as the rest of them, but he had proven himself remarkably more mature than the others, quickly becoming the group’s de facto leader.
“Sorry to bother you at this time,” William said. “I gotta talk to you about another developing situation.” Carlyle hesitated, before standing up and dusting himself off. The two of them walked into the next room, where they began to talk.
“Basilisk activity’s been at an all-time high for the past few months,” William finally said. “Just recently, they’ve opened up 3 new cells in Germany, and are pulling in a remarkable number of recruits in Indonesia and Malaysia, to name a few. There’s also been a lot of restructuring; several smaller cells have been suddenly relocated to South America for some odd reason. If the ASA’s gonna be able to keep limiting their spread, we need more agents, and they need to be trained.”
Carlyle nodded. “Yes, yes,” he said. “I’ll remind you that you’re looking at only a small piece of the bigger picture. We are only a tiny fraction of what the ASA has to offer, and the adults are well aware of these issues. That said, you’re not wrong; we need all the help we can get. That’s what we’re working on right now.”
“Rick Tyler,” William affirmed. “He seems strong; he’d be a great start. But one metahuman won’t be enough. We need more metahuman soldiers, or at least, soldiers equipped with energy weapons and similar tech. The capes have been doing it for years; it works. But somehow, we can’t seem to find nearly enough people willing to serve. Maya’s the only metahuman on our squad right now, and her powers are still very much a wild card in combat scenarios.”
Carlyle nodded. “Yes,” he finally said. “Well, I don’t think that just recruiting a bunch of people is the right way to go. If we do that, we run the risk of potentially exposing ourselves to a large number of double-agents. But… if this lead pans out, there might be a way to enhance the prowess of the agents we already have.”
William perked up. “Yes? Do tell.”
“Presumably, Rick could gain access to the technology that Starman and his companions use to fight crime. Luisa could take a staff, you could take the blacklight…”
“I’m not the type of guy to stay in the shadows,” William said. “Have you seen my attempts at infiltration? Not my strong suit. Appreciate the offer, though.”
Carlyle nodded and smiled. “Well, whatever happens, this new member could help us more than we initially thought.”
-=-=-=-= 🌟 =-=-=-=-
Part 3: Jack Knight
I pull up to a street corner a few blocks away from what many Opal City residents affectionately refer to as the ‘Zayas Strip.’ Hope is sitting in the back seat, done up to look like a completely different person, and Sandra’s already run off to do some good old-fashioned sleuthing. The prosthetic nose I’m wearing feels so uncomfortable already; couldn’t we just have gone for the blond hair dye and nothing else?
Sandra materializes on the hood of her green convertible, startling the bejeezus out of me. “Password for the night is ‘Prometheus,’” she mutters.
“Alright, alright,” I say. “Hey, I know it’s technically your car and all, but maybe don’t jump on the hood, okay? That was probably the biggest scare I’ll have all night unless Grant decides that the Olympia is his new favorite haunt.”
Sandra ignores me. “You two head into the bar; I’ve given you fake IDs for the absolute worst-case scenarios, but you shouldn’t need to wave them around. I’ll never be too far behind, but as usual, you won’t see me. Got it?”
“Clear as ever,” I smirk.
“So,” Hope says from the back seat, “you ready to raise some hell?” Her usually-red hair is now jet-black, and she’s wearing these bright blue contact lenses that accentuate her eyes. If I didn’t know who she was, I would never have recognized her in the first place. Let’s just hope my disguise is just as good.
Sandra vanishes and we walk a few blocks further down Harris Street. As we walk down the street, the quiet townhouses are quickly replaced with a completely different atmosphere of bustling nightlife and flashing neon lights. On both sides of the street are a series of Zayas-owned businesses: strip clubs, brothels, bars, casinos, even a fight club at the far end of the street. It’s almost disorienting; look, I’m not the nicest guy in the world, never pretend to be, but I promise I’ve never been in a place like this. Not quite like this, at least.
Nestled in the middle of the brilliant signs and faint bouncing of club music is a single building not illuminated by lights. The top floor is taken up by some sort of high-end brothel with a sign reading ‘The Elysian Fields’ on it. The stairs that lead down to the bottom floor are guarded by a dude who seems absolutely ripped--like, probably-a-meta ripped--and a sign at the front reads “Olympia Nightclub.” Zayas’ personal shining gem, for those who were affluent enough to get an invitation.
I walk up to the bouncer and am immediately taken aback as I realize who exactly it is. Tony Woodward, aka Girder. Former Flash villain who got in a few fights with David before being broken out. As I get closer, it becomes clear that this dude’s entire body is made of rusted metal. He speaks up in a deep voice as we approach. “What’s the code?”
“Prometheus,” I say.
Girder bows his enormous metal head and steps to the left. “Enjoy.”
As we walk in, the last trace of the booty-bounce music that I could hear vanishes as it’s replaced by a classical violin tune from a distant speaker in the corner. The walls are blue plaster; segmenting the walls are a series of white column-like decals meant to invoke ancient Greek architecture. The bar in the center of the room is also surrounded by similar white columns. On the far end of the club is a wooden stage, currently unoccupied, and a few poker tables. Still not nearly half as good as my restaurant’s interior design.
The bartender walks up to us as we take a seat. His head is completely shaved; from what I can tell from the rest of his body, he appears covered in tattoos of vines and flowers. “Don’t think I’ve seen you lovely pair before around here,” he says.
“No, you wouldn’t have,” I smile. “We’re new in town. Heard about this place from an old military buddy of mind, and as it turns out, we got just enough money to spend on a nice place like this.” I reach out my hand and he shakes it. “David Vosberg. This is my girl, Rita.”
Hope offers her hand as well. The bartender shakes it. She turns down towards the cocktail menu, looking over the options. Her face shifts a bit as she reads over the various options; each one seems to be based on various tragic events that Opal City has suffered through. Down the list, I see the ‘Swift Hydro Plant’ as their fancy new drink, the ‘Prison Break,’ the ‘Doll Killer’--complete with a miniature doll in Martha Williams’ likeness--a drink simply labeled ‘The Mist,’ and, the final drink on the specialty list, the ‘Fallen Hero.’ The description listed it as ‘a tribute to the asshole who tried to bust us finally kicking the bucket. May aliens continue to do what we never can.’
My stomach drops. Fuck, while we go out and bust our balls to make this city a better place, the people in this club turn around and laugh at our failures. Laugh when one of us dies. I feel my blood boiling. I need to stay in character. I can’t blow this for all of us. Gritting my teeth, I take a few deep breaths before sucking it up.
“What’s the matter?” the bartender asks. “Can’t take a couple of dark jokes? Lighten up, man.” He gives me a pat on the back like I would ever be okay with that.
“Sorry,” I say. “It’s just… Well, let’s just say I lost someone personal in the hydro plant attack. One of, uh, those flying shadow things cut my brother open. I’ll take… I’ll take a Fallen Hero, I guess.” At this point, I’m flying by the seat of my pants. I’m definitely excited to get that drink.
“And I’ll take a Mist,” Hope says.
“Damn,” the bartender says. “I’m sorry about that. I didn’t realize that you could… I’m sorry to hear about your brother.”
“It’s fine,” I say. “You couldn’t have known.”
The bartender serves our drinks and we quietly sip at them. Aside from a few regulars, nothing much seems to really be happening.
I feel a slight breeze on the back of my neck. I turn around; nestled in my suit is a small piece of paper. The writing on it reads, ”Can’t find Zayas, but did find something else big. Meet me outside? -Sandra”.
“Hey, uh, Rita?” I clear my throat and put my arm around her, subtly passing the note over to her. “This place is getting really stuffy; I think we need to step out for a second. Whaddya think?”
Hope shrugs. “Oh, alright,” she says, covertly reading the note. “But we’re coming back; this place is just fabulous, don’t you think?”
“Definitely,” I say. We walk outside, brushing past Girder’s cold metal form as we do. Sandra’s waiting on the corner of the street, fully visible.
Sandra turns to us as we approach, and her voice turns to a whisper. “So,” she says, turning to Hope. “Before I bring this up, I figure it’s worth asking. How much do you know about what your brothers work on in the Force?”
Hope takes a deep breath. “Well, you know what’s going on with Mason, Clarence is in the same precinct as me, Barry just got a promotion to Major Crimes, and Matt works… well, I think he works around here, actually.” Her face turns bright red. “What’s going on?”
“I managed to get into one of the back rooms,” Sandra says. “And… well, Zayas is there, and he’s talking to a bunch of associates. One of them was Tell. And I think one of them may have been Matt.”
Hope nods. “Okay,” she finally says. “I… I guess I’m not surprised. He’s always been really secretive about what he’s doing, he’s denied promotions before… but I didn’t really think about it before.”
Sandra sighs. “I know this can be hard to hear, but I, unfortunately, have to ask you for one more favor. We’re here to watch Zayas over an extended period of time, figure out what he’s planning. For that reason, you can’t tell your brothers about our suspicions.”
Hope nods. “Got it,” she says hurriedly. “My… my lips are sealed.” As she speaks, I can tell she’s not fully convinced.
We walk back to the car. This was a short mission, but if this goes right, it will be one of many. And once we’re done, I’m almost certain, we’ll be able to take Maxie Zayas down.
-=-=-=-= 🌟 =-=-=-=-
Part 4: Rick Tyler
“Okay,” I snarl as I pass Luisa in the hallways of my school. She’s currently putting her bag into her locker. “I need to know what the fuck is going on, and I want you to tell me everything. What do you want from me?”
“Rick, calm down,” Luisa says. “Look, there are reasons why we had to do what we did, why we couldn’t just tell you everything as soon as we met you. We’ll explain everything soon enough.”
I shake my head. “Again with the secrets. Just fucking tell me what I need to know, alright? You guys pretend to be my friends, stage some sort of chance meeting with me--I got no idea how you did that. You pay some guys to shoot your heads off if I didn’t show up?”
“More or less,” she whispers. “Look, keep your voice down, okay? What we’re involved with isn’t something we can talk about in public.”
Oh, for Jesus fucking Christ’s sake.
Luisa bows her head. “Meet me out front of the Valor Building, this Saturday at 3 PM. All three of us will be there. Once you get there, there’ll be no more secrets. You’ll get to know everything. Promise.”
I sigh and throw my hands up. “Okay, fine,” I whisper. “I’ll be there.”
As I make my way to class, I shake my head. Fuck this. Clearly, they don’t trust me any more than anyone else seems to. But still, for some reason, I still want to meet with them. Just to figure out what’s going on. And then I’ll be done with them.
I nod my head. That seems fine. Find everything out, then leave. I can handle that.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
The Valor Building is one of Opal City’s oldest brownstone skyscrapers; it’s not even close to the tallest anymore, but it’s right in the middle of the city center, and it’s one of the most iconic buildings here. To those who actually give a fuck about Opal City, I guess. I remember that when Dad and Mom were still together, we ended up going for a weekend trip to Opal City. Dee and I were taken aback by the Valor Building and all of the dazzling skyscrapers in the city center; it felt so much nicer than Baltimore did. Then I moved here and discovered that like every other city, it’s full of shit. Tourists just like to hide the shitty parts from view.
I walk up to the front steps of the building. John is leaning against one of the pillars near the entrance, and Luisa and Maya are waiting for me up front.
“Yo, glad you could make it,” John smiles. “We were placing bets as to whether you’d actually show up. Seems like Luisa here owes me ten dollars.”
“Trust me,” Luisa laughs. “If you’d have been there, you’d have agreed with me. He didn’t seem like he was in the mood to keep putting up with our bullshit.” She turns to me. “Regardless, glad you could come. Sorry to put you through all of this.”
“Sorry,” I say, shrugging. “I can let my nerves get the best of me at times. I’m feeling better now, don’t worry.”
“So,” Maya says. “Are we ready to go?”
Luisa nods. Maya turns to the keypad next to her and types in a code. 7, 8, 4, 4, pound sign. The door clicks open. Immediately, as I walk into the lobby, I feel like I’m in a place I’m not supposed to be. The floor is made up of elaborately-patterned stone tiles; large windows to the sides let in a lot of sunlight as I walk to the elevators.
“So, uh, what do you do here?” I ask. “This is just, like, an office building, right?”
“Just, like, 10 seconds left,” Luisa says. “Then you’ll get to know all our secrets.” She calls the elevator, and we walk in. I push my way to the back as John and Maya get on.
“Alright,” John says. “I think it goes without saying that what we show you here today, you can’t mention to another living soul that we don’t approve of. Not even your hero pals. Got it?”
“Yeah, of course,” I say nonchalantly.
“Okay.” John reaches up above the panel of buttons on the elevator and opens up a small compartment. Inside is a fingerprint scanner; John jams his thumb onto the pad and the elevator begins to go down. After a few more seconds, the doors open. We’re in a pristine grey room; computers line every wall, and dozens of people look up as we walk in. Immediately, it reminds me of Ted’s workshop, but on a much bigger scale.
A man is waiting for us in the middle of one of the hallways. He’s wearing a neatly-ironed grey-green suit, with combed-over white hair. He reaches out his hand for me to shake.
“Al Carlyle,” he says. “Director of the American Security Agency. Nice to meet you, Rick. I’ve heard so many great things about you.” I turn around. All three of my so-called “friends” have deserted me, leaving me with this weird dude.
“Uh, nice to meet you too,” I mutter, shaking his hand. “So what exactly is going on here?”
“Well,” Al smiles, “what isn’t going on here? I suppose you’re a bit confused, a bit overwhelmed, so I’ll try and give you the long and short of it. We’re like the CIA, sort of. But a bit more secret. We’re the CIA when the CIA can’t be involved. Take, for example, metahuman agents. Do you know much about the Freedom Fighters?”
I shrug. “Heard of them. The original Starman was working with one of them, I think.”
Al nods. “Come,” he says. “Walk with me.” I sigh and follow him through the convoluted halls and terminals of this absolutely massive underground base.
“Now,” he says, “the Freedom Fighters were a truly amazing group of people. They were a UN task force composed of one sergeant, a handful of regular soldiers, and three metahumans. Well, they fought long and hard for the values that we hold dear to us today, but in the end, the UN saw them as a threat. What’s to stop our enemies from conscripting metahumans too? It’d be another cold war, one that many countries were all-too-eager to stop. So, metahumans were banned from serving in combat.”
He clears his throat and lets out a hearty chuckle. “Well, you see, terrorists don’t tend to follow by our rules. I suppose that’s what makes them terrorists, don’t you think? So that’s where we come in. One of many examples, I suppose, of where we come in. We use many of the techniques superheroes use to fight against potential threats to the land of the free and the brave. And I’ve had my eye on you for a while. I think you’d make a great addition to our cause.”
I pause and look around me. This place is huge. It’s bound to take up more than a few city blocks. When I intercepted the battle Jack was having with Swift, this base was underneath it all, computers typing away. Our school is only a few blocks west of here; it’s very possible the base extends that far too. I haven’t even been in Opal City for a year yet, but I had felt like I knew everything about it. Clearly, I was wrong.
I’ve never been the type of person who hated the government and everything they did. I followed the news, though, and they’ve clearly done some questionable things in the past few years. With Cale as President, that’s just going to get worse and worse. Do I want to be a part of this? Clearly, I don’t think I do. I was just here to get answers, and I got mine. That’s as far as this goes.
‘Take your time,” Al laughs. “We’d love to have ya, but no pressure either way.”
Before I can tell him no, my vision flashes white. A man walking down a run-down section of Snejbjerg Street. Nearly bald buzz-cut, blue eyes, wearing a grey hoodie. A car pulls up to him, firing three rounds in his chest. The blood splatters over the sidewalk. I snap back to reality.
“I have to go,” I say, my voice strained. “How do I get out of--”
Al gives me a knowing smile. “What’s going to happen, and where will it be?”
I sigh. “Some dude in a grey hoodie is gonna get shot on Snejbjerg Street. Drive-by shooting. It was a black sedan, I think. Just let me go, okay?”
Al turns on a radio on his jacket. “I want a dozen soldiers placed across Snejbjerg Street within the hour. Look out for black sedans, check each one for weapons. And get Rick Tyler here a tall glass of water.”
Immediately, the people around me start getting up and gearing into action. A young woman who was manning a computer earlier walks up to me and offers me a glass of water. I drink from it.
“Thanks,” I finally say.
Al hands me a burner phone from his pocket. “If you ever get any visions at an inconvenient time, text me from this phone. We’ll have it handled, and you can focus on the things in life that matter.”
I smile. “Wow, thanks.”
Al nods. “Look, Rick, I know that everything must be really disorienting for you right now, but trust me when I say that we’re here for you. From what I’ve heard from my agents that have been interacting with you, that doesn’t seem to be the case with the other team you’re on right now. They see you as a loose cannon. Maybe they’re right, who knows. But here, we need loose cannons. You can beat up as many terrorists as you want here--or don’t, whatever floats your boat. But you’re welcome here as you are, no matter who that is.”
I pause, looking around for a second. He’s right; in the few seconds I’ve met him, Al has made me feel at home more than I’ve ever been with the All-Stars.
I reach out and shake Al’s hand. “I’m in.”
“Fantastic,” he smiles. “Well, let’s meet the team then.” He brings me to a room with a circular table. Around the table are John, Luisa, Maya, and another kid I don’t remember. White kid with neatly-trimmed brown hair.
“Well,” Al says, “this is one of our finest covert ops units. We’re calling them the ‘Force of July.’ Right now, they’re mostly doing international missions, but we’re planning on bringing them into the spotlight as superheroes to handle domestic matters in the near future.”
He gestures to John. “You’ve already met John Trujillo, Jr., alias: ‘The Black Condor.’ His dad was one of our finest officers before sadly meeting his fate protecting our country. He piloted a one-of-a-kind wingsuit that his son now uses.”
“Besides that,” Al continues, “the Campoverde sisters have been fantastic assets. Luisa first came to us because she needed help with her sister’s metahuman powers. That’s right: she found us. Always a good metric for future success. Turns out, her sister has a bit of a way with plants, and it was a bit out of her control. Now, the two of them serve us as Lady Liberty and Mayflower.”
The last kid, the one I haven’t met, reaches over to shake my hand. “William Vickers,” he says. “Also known as Major Victory. My teammates have been telling me a lot about you. It’s good to finally get to meet you in the flesh.”
“The feeling’s mutual,” I say. And somehow, surprisingly, I mean it.”
Al nods and smiles. “Now that we’ve gotten to know each other, Rick, I have a special mission briefing for you and only you. I can tell that this will be the beginning of a long and fruitful partnership.”

Most underrated cities/towns in Maryland?

The International 8 Pubstomps Thread

View this thread for the most up to date pubstomp list! This thread is updated everyday! Organizers, you can create an account and publish your event on Esports-Tickets.com if you plan to sell tickets, $0 fees promo for organizers
I tried to look for a pubstomp thread but couldn't find one so here it is! Usually Reservoir_cat creates this one but I haven't been able to get in touch with him/her. Here's the old TI7 and TI6 pubstomp threads.
There are a couple of threads made to ask for surveys/feedback/how-tos about pubstomps, feel free to PM me because I've organized several pubstomps in the past and partnered with sponsors such as RedBull, Logitech, GameVox, AMD, etc. as well and can offer a few tips and tricks!
Comment below with the country, city and description for your pubstomp, it helps a lot to include a link for additional details.

Country	City	Description
Australia	Brisbane	Event Link - Tickets $20 before 18/08, $25 after. Food and Drinks provided, giveaways and 1v1 tournament as well. luberk
Australia	Melbourne	Event Link - One amazing guy has rented a cinema in Melbourne, Australia if you feel like joining us at 3am! priorax
Australia	Sydney	Event Link - The same amazing guy that rented out a cinema in Melbourne, Australia has also rented out a cinema in Sydney, Australia if you feel like joining us at 3am.
Austria	Vienna	Event Link - HurghtRS
Belarus	Minsk	Event Link Official Secret Shop, bars , cosplay & sponspors giveaway. Velcom Cinema & Galileo Silver Screen RestorKa
Brazil	Belo Horizonte	Event Link - We will broadcast every game, including group stages, at WASD eSports Bar in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. For the finals we are planning a big event with giveaways and x1 with pros and semi-pros. The tickets are R$ 10,00 and you can check it out here. Urso_WASD
Brazil	Porto Alegre	Event Link - Venha assistir a final do The International 2018 ao vivo, em um telão, na Lends Club! Teremos comida, chopp e premios! Come watch The International 2018 finals on a big screen, at Lends Club! We'll have food, draft beer and prizes for atendees! esportsPOA
Canada	London	Event Link - We will once again host @ The Squire Pub & Grill in London, ON, CAD. RGBKnights
Canada	Ottawa	Event Link - At Click eSports Sat, 25 August 2018 12:00 PM – 8:00 PM EDT. Ticket types to only watch or to also use gaming PCs at same time (note that I am not the organizer) Cote-de-Bone
Canada	Toronto	https://esports-tickets.com/event-public/ti8ve - Join us again this year at the Cineplex Yonge and Dundas! We’ve always sold out every year for the pubstomp and the crowd is always awesome! Need more information? Information and tickets are on our Esports-Tickets.com event page and you can join the Canada Dota 2 group. Some ticket packages are limited in quantities, so if you can't purchase a specific ticket, it means that it has been sold out. chibista
Denmark	Copenhagen	Event Link - Cinema viewing party for the Lower Bracket Final and Grand Final of TI8 on 25. august 2018. 17:45-04:00 CET (or whenever it ends) with competitions, giveaways, free Coca-Cola at entrance, hosts, entertainment and a great atmosphere. Panel, interviews, and ceremony will all be broadcasted as well. OlLi_-
Estonia	Tartu	https://www.facebook.com/events/218604902140257/ - Hey! I'm organising a pubstomp in Tartu, Estonia. No ticket and proper pub food at the pub Illegaard. More info can be found at our FB event. dekamano
Finland	Helsinki	https://www.facebook.com/events/285584798893275/ - PHZ.fi in co-operation with Aalto Gamers are organizing a viewing party in the Helsinki metropolitan area (Espoo, Otaniemi to be precise). You can get there very easily by metro from Helsinki. Come enjoy the final day of TI8 with us! There's gonna be pizza & soft drinks available for free + there's a grocery store and a grill close by to the venue phzgames
Finland	Jyväskylä	Event Link - There's one here organized by JeSSe Ry: Jyväskylä, Finland. Ilokivi onstage. Facebook link for the event: This is 18+ event. Hallunder
Germany	Karlsruhe	Event Link - Since we have successfully hosted Germany’s biggest Dota 2 public viewing for a couple of years now, we want to try meet the expectations this year once again. We will be broadcasting the grand finals on August 25th on the AKK tribune starting at 7pm. There, we want to collectively experience the biggest spectacle in this Dota 2 year with all the fans from near and far. Not only Dota 2 players but also DotA veterans, Dota 2 newbies and everyone who wants to get to know the phenomenon Dota are welcome to join us. spcemarine
Germany	Regensburg	Event Link - The 4th year in a row we are organizing the Dota TI finals public viewing in the old town of Regensburg. The event will take place at Picasso Regensburg. Starting time is 18:00 at the 25th of august. Like the last years the entrance is free, we have a pubquiz and MEGA Dota related drink specials. This year we also organized a Fotobox (thanks to the Gamerverein Regensburg) were you can take fotos with your favourite Dota heroes or even become one yourself! For further details you can look up the event page or contact us via facebook. Kryptondifluorid
Hong Kong	Hong Kong	Event Link - Location is still to be determined. Dota2 HK is hosting one on Grand Finals Day. Aug 25, 10pm HK Time. cybuster2
India	Delhi NCR	Event Link - Dota 2 Delhi pubstomp is back sunnydiv
Ireland	Dublin	Event Link - It's in the same pub as previous years. Strictly 18+ unfortunately. Hopefully can get added to the list. KC252
Netherlands	Amsterdam	Event Link - Confirmed to broadcast as many of the games as possible, even after official closing times. No Facebook event yet. Razorya
Netherlands	Rotterdam	Event Link - Pretty sure there is one in Rotterdam in the Netherlands. I'm not sure it's a "pubstomp" but they're supposed to be hosting something. justanothrunistudent
Russia	Saint-Petersburg	http://dota2vo.ru/ti8 - Organizing pubstomp 6th time in awesome theatre with lounge zone, secret shop, 1x1 tournament and other stuff. Come to us on 25th of august finargot
Singapore	Singapore	Event Link - Singapore's one's at SAFRA Yishun, main atrium. Minimum spending of S$5 as per the post, for snacks pass. Cannot go because i booked a hotel somewhere else. nekosake2
Singapore	Singapore	Event Link - 2nd one is at Singtel Comcentre, with PMS nekosake2
South Africa	Cape Town	Event Link I think there's something happening in Cape Town (South Africa), I'm definitely gonna attend it :D meeposki
South Africa	Johannesburg	Event Link - Sparky_Naartjie
Sweden	Stockholm	https://www.facebook.com/events/206858336604801/ - I'm not entirely sure, but I believe it's an 18+ event. burger_stand
Thailand	Bangkok	Event Link - Not sure if this counted as pubstomp but we are having one in Bangkok, Thailand. Sponsored by Lenovo Thailand. It will be hosted at Siam Pavalai Theatre on the 6th floor of Siam Paragon shopping mall. Aug 25-26 10pm-10 am local time. Rawinza555
Thailand	Bangkok	Event Link - Another BIGGEST PUBSTOMP in BKK THAILAND is held by INVATE, Esport Specialist in Thailand (The best Live Broadcasting), who will bring the best experience to all Dota 2 fans!! discotechssss
Ukraine	Odessa	Event Link - there is pubstomp in Odessa, Ukraine if anyone even cares
United Kingdom	London	Event Link - This event is pending and not finalized JawnisBritish
United Kingdom	London	https://www.facebook.com/events/259335661345723/ - We are having one at the Carlsberg Esports bar in central London with free entry, food and drinks available and more to be announced. BanKseSports
United Kingdom	Manchester	Event Link - Over 18s only (they are Casino venues) epicWinbar
United Kingdom	Newcastle-upon-Tyne	Event Link - Over 18s only (they are Casino venues) epicWinbar
United Kingdom	Reading South	Event Link - Over 18s only (they are Casino venues) epicWinbar
USA	Acton	https://m.facebook.com/thepizzaplaceacton - Considering doing deals on pizza, apps, and Beer if we can get anyone out there. 85" TV and 6 TV'ss total in the sports bar. Pictures on Facebook. At this point its just me and my one friend. renorhino88
USA	Baltimore	Event Link - Hey, representing the Baltimore one as well! This event is 21+, food specials. It's the fourth year we've participated! Seanbiscuit
USA	Chicago	Event Link - If you're 18+ in Chicago and want to watch Grand Finals surrounded by fellow fans, come out to a FanHome hosted International watch party at Hi-Point, the gaming lounge of Highline in River North on Saturday, August 25th. Tickets are sold above, each ticket provides you entrance to the bar, food, giveaways from FanHome's beverage partner, and enters you into a raffle. Jayhawk2b
USA	Cincinnati	Event Link - I’m proud to announce the official TI8 Pubstomp this year in Cincinnati! I’ve been working with the owners of 16-Bit Bar+Arcade. We have a great venue setup, with our own reserved seating to accommodate however many people show up. We'll even have a signature drink just for the occasion! Please be sure to tell your friends and family (even those who haven’t watched or played DotA – they might leave a fan!).This event is for guests 21 and over, so please keep that in mind. Don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions and please RSVP if you plan on attending. Banana___Hammock
USA	Houston	Event Link - The International 8 Watch Party on August 25th In Houston, TX! Whether you love Dota, or have never seen a game this is going to be a great party for all gamers! We will have special guests, vendors, raffles, drink specials, food, hookah stands and much more! We will be raffling off a Hyper X gamer setup including a Mechanical Keyboard, Mouse, and Headset! LotharThrowaway
USA	Medina	Event Link - Welcome to the 6th year of me hosting Dota pubstomps in Medina Ohio. Last year was a great turnout but after many people saying that it was too small i looked for a new place again. Luckily the place i hosted in 2016 is back and that's where we are this year. As always the event is open to anyone of any age and no cover charge! I just strongly encourage anyone who attends to Eat and Drink there as they are giving us the place for the whole day for free. theaxel11
USA	Oakland	Cafe el Patio - In Oakland, California is going be showing everything from the group stages to the Main event finals! Address is 4030 International Blvd, Oakland CA. There is limited seating but there are three TVs. typicalhonduran
USA	Sacramento	Event Link - Come watch The International 8 at my house! Join us for our second annual Pubstomp! We host Friday and Saturday and setup a LAN party in the dining room to play between matches. Fairfield is located directly between San Francisco and Sacramento (North-East bay). Last year we had six viewers. Please RSVP so we can plan for food and message you the exact address. Amenities include: 75" 4k UltraHD stream with Pioneer 5.1 Surround Sound, Pizza, Beer, Nachos and More, Couches, Enthusiasm, Fast Internet, 420 Friendly josher777
USA	Seattle	Event Link - If you're over 21 and are in the Seattle area during TI, @FollowMe has organized a pubstomp in Capitol Hill for Saturday, August 25th. Sketches_Stuff_Maybe
USA	Washington	Event Link - Join us at Tenley Bar and Grill to watch the finals on their projection screen. This event is ALL AGES and cosplay is encouraged. There will be giveaways throughout the day of some Dota2 swag as well as 3 full event tickets for GEXCon (gexconvention.com) coming up at the end of the month. dmr83457
Vietnam	Hanoi	Pending details from 23 Creative VN ptaqll5
Vietnam	Hai Phong City	Event Link - Time 21:00 , day 25 / 08 , location : 21 Trần Hưng Đạo Street - Vườn Xuân Coffee butchimau_hp_95
Vietnam	Ho Chi Minh City	Event Link - Watch their full HD video for the event: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOLKzDDyNuU ptaqll5
Vietnam	Ho Chi Minh City	Event Link - Time: 21 h00 day 25/8-10 h00 day 26/8, location: Restaurant 68 lộc shots, number 213 to theme, Ward 15, District 10, TP. Ho Chi Minh. All details, please contact MEGA esports gaming house at 0909791809 ptaqll5
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PS: Also still hoping Valve would ship this merch out to us pubstomp organizers :D
PS: Discount on ticket fees on esports-tickets.com, pm me for details.

Ultimate Guide to Baltimore for Visiting Fans

Baltimore Maryland - Carnival Pride Compared To Royal's Grandeur Of The Seas

Because of the bridge, there is a limit to the size of cruise ship that can come into Baltimore. I thought that might make for the fairest possible comparison between two ships across different lines. Please keep in mind that while I have attempted to be as comprehensive and unbiased as possible, this is from my perspective. As a result, some items (e.g. youth program) I reviewed may have no relevance to you while other items (all-inclusive drink package) I didn't review at all may be extremely important to you.
Many times where I say "on the Pride/Grandeur", the statement is true across the entire Carnival/Royal line but I have stuck with this usage specifically because I do not know enough to know which is specific just to the ship and which isn't.
About Me: I am in my early 40's and cruise with my wife and two daughters (ages 10 and 12). I primarily cruise Carnival because of the cost to value factor but we have no brand loyalty and all three cruises booked in 2018 are on 3 different lines (Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian). Besides cost, I choose cruises based on itineraries as I like to go to at least one new place each time I cruise which is hard to do without also leaving from new ports each time.
Ship Factoids

Completed: Pride = 2001, Grandeur = 1996
Last Upgraded: Pride = 2014, Grandeur = 2017
State rooms: Pride = 1062, Grandeur = 1142
Passengers: Pride = 2124, Grandeur = 2446

Cruise Cost
I'm a deal hunter and, in both cases, the cruise was booked at least 9 months in advance and the price was monitored daily for price drops. The prices below are per person per day keeping in mind a family of 4 sharing a single interior cabin.

Cruise Fare Including Taxes/Fees: Pride = $58.54, Grandeur = $66.13
Daily Gratuities: Pride = $12.95, Grandeur = $14.50
Add-on Gratuity: Pride = 15%, Grandeur = 18%

I will cover the cost of specific items like room service separately. The add-on gratuity is here because I didn't really have anywhere else to fit it but if you order a drink at a show or eat in the specialty dining, this reflects what will be tacked on to the bill automatically on the respective ships.
The $9.14 a day difference may not seem like much but for a family of 4 over a week adds up to $255.92
Cabin Size/Amenities
An interior cabin for 4 passengers was compared. The Carnival Pride is a slightly larger ship but has fewer cabins and can accommodate fewer passengers. This was very apparent in the size of the cabin as it seemed luxuriously spacious in comparison to the Grandeur. The Pride has a mini-fridge where as the Grandeur does not. The Grandeur has a flat screen TV on an adjustable wall mount while the Pride still has a big old CRT TV. You can find the average square footage by searching online but I don't think it will really help to appreciate just how tiny the Grandeur rooms were in comparison.
Internet
Internet at sea sucks which is nowhere more apparent than on the Carnival Pride. That being said, the cost for their value plan when booked in advance is $4 per day. On the Grandeur, the price was $15.95 per day. At that price, surely it was going to be blazing fast in comparison right? WRONG I only got a 24 hour pass and after the first hour, I went to customer service to cancel and get a refund. I talked to several people who said the same thing (no coverage in the cabin, only works when everyone else is asleep, etc.) but I also talked to someone who said he was video chatting on a daily basis so I will just leave this with a caveat emptor
Technology
The Carnival Pride has the Carnival Hub App which is a game changer. This free phone app gives you access to your stateroom charges, deck plans, activity guide, menus, etc. An optional capability for a one time fee of $5 for the entire cruise, allows you to chat with other guests on the ship. With younger children, this was huge. And because it was only local communication (no satellite uplink required), it was fast and reliable. Apparently RC has a similar app but it isn't available on the Grandeur.
The Grandeur has touch screen displays at the stairs on each deck which allows you to get an activity guide, see today's menu as well as map out how to get to something on the ship. This was really cool and the Pride didn't have this though it was available from the Hub App.
The Carnival Pride had a number of kiosks through-out the ship where you could check your room charges as well as on the TV in your room and the Hub App but the Grandeur had none of these - you had to go to Guest Services and get a print out each time (what a waste of paper).
The Grandeur had self-service soda machines for people who purchased the soda package but the Pride does not.
Gift Cards
This may seem like an odd thing to review but as I mentioned before, I am a value shopper and can get gift cards for at least 10% off which is a significant savings. Online and on the Pride, I could use a gift card to pay for anything (cruise fare, taxes, gratuities, excursions, etc.) and the process was easy - just enter the gift card information. The Grandeur was excruciating painful in comparison. When the gift certificates arrived in the mail, I discovered that I had to hand write information and then mail them back to Royal and that it could only be applied towards the base cruise fare. Once received, Royal then marked my account as being handled by a travel agent (I'm not making this up) which meant I could no longer have full control of my account online and had to call and explain each time any time I wanted to make a change.
Bring Your Own WateJuice/Soda
I'm not covering alcohol but I believe both ships allow each adult guest over the age of 21 to bring on a certain size bottle of wine/champagne.
Carnival Pride's official policy is that each guest, regardless of age is allowed to bring 12 cans/cartons of juice/soda/sparkling water. These must be placed in your carry-on luggage. Bottles (plastic/glass) are specifically prohibited.
The Grandeur's official policy is that no outside drinks are allowed aside from the alcohol allowance mentioned previously. In practice, they seem to look the other way for bottled water.
Effectively, you can bring bottled water on the Grandeur but not the Pride. You can bring 12 cans/cartons per person of juice/soda on the Pride but not the Grandeur.
Both ships make medically necessary allowances (you can bring on distilled water for a CPAP machine for instance).
Food/Dining
We always get "early dining" but both ships offered 3 options (early, late, my-time). The only difference to note was that early dining is 6 PM on the Pride but is 5:30 PM on the Grandeur.
The quality of the food in the main dining was great on both ships. The service in main dining is also excellent on both ships. The only difference between the two was the options offered. On the Pride, there is a section for "rare finds" where you might get to try something that you might not otherwise have such as frog legs or rabbit. On the Pride, there is also a section for "local" which is representative of whichever port you just departed from (Caribbean jerked chicken for instance). The Grandeur didn't have these on the menu and by the end of the cruise, the offerings seemed repetitive.
The buffet dining is a different story all together. The Windjammer on the Grandeur is tiny in comparison to the Pride's Lido. This was problematic for two reasons. First, seating. Second, offerings. The Pride has a ton of places where you can tell someone what you want and how you want it and they will make it for you (Blue Iguana for tacos/burritos/fajitas, Guy's Burger's for hamburgers, The Deli for hot/cold sandwiches, the Pizza Pirate for pizza, etc.) as well as a number of cuisine specific self-serve (my wife loves the Asian food from Chopsticks). On the Grandeur, I didn't really see any made-to-order food options in the Windjammer except for breakfast at the omelet making station which the Pride also has.
While I have tried a number of specialty dining options on a number of ships/lines, the only equivalent specialty dining that I experienced on both ships was the sushi restaurants (Pride = Bonsai, Grandeur = Izumi). Both were excellent. I think the Grandeur had the edge in terms of range of offering but the Pride had two options that I thought were unique. First, there is a "boat for two" for $22 which comes out on a literal boat and was too much for my wife and I to finish. Second, they had a "surprise and delight" feature (again, $22 for two) which was the chef's choice. Again, I think the Grandeur had a wider selection of options but the a la carte pricing was a bit more.
EDIT: My wife just informed me of one other difference which I was unaware of as I skipped the second formal night on the Grandeur. On the Pride, when they had lobster and filet mignon on the menu, she was allowed to order as many as she wanted. On the Grandeur, she was told only one lobster tail per guest. Because I didn't come to dinner that night, she ordered one for me and then ate two.
Excursions
Since this is a highly personal choice, it is hard to provide any meaningful comparison but there are two things worth pointing out. On the Pride, excursion prices are fairly stable and you likely will not see any discounts unless you follow John Heald and find one of the rare promo codes. On the Grandeur, the prices seemed to change all the time and every week I was getting an email offering a certain percentage off different excursions. I'm not sure either is superior but as they are different, I wanted to point them out. The second thing I wanted to mention I struggled if I should include or not as it has more to do with itinerary. The Pride tends to arrive at port early in the morning and depart around early dining giving you quite awhile to book whatever excursion you want. The Grandeur had weird arrival/departure times which made excursions more difficult to plan. Nassau for instance (Pride 8AM - 5PM, Grandeur 1PM - 11:59PM).
Entertainment
Kids: I couldn't keep my youngest daughter out of the youth program on either ship so I would say they are equivalent. Both ships have an arcade as well as age designated areas and lots of things for the kids to do. That is where the equivalency ends as Carnival wins this category hands down. On the Grandeur, kids are not allowed in the first row of shows and in the first 3 rows must be accompanied by an adult. On the Pride, every comedian must have a family friendly show in addition to the adult only show. The Pride has two water slides and a Splash Zone. The Grandeur has a rock climbing wall. The Pride has a ton of family targeted entertainment such as Hasbro The Game show where as the Grandeur seemed to tolerate those under 16. The Pride had events such as the Dr. Seuss breakfast ($5 per person) and Build-A-Bear where as I don't remember a single thing like that on the Grandeur.
Adults/General: The Grandeur only had 1 location where it put on shows (The Palladium) which is a two deck theater. On the Pride, there were two locations - the Butterfly lounge which doubled as the Punchliner Comedy Club and the Taj Mahal which is a three deck theater. The Grandeur did shows with a live band which it called an orchestra. The downside to this was they took up a lot of space which limited the size of the performance of whatever act was performing. On the Pride, they put on shows that use moving floors, backdrops with projected scenes as well, pyrotechnics as well as raised/lowered floors. None of that was possible on the Grandeur. On the Grandeur, there only ever seemed to be a single show that was repeated twice to accommodate differences in dining times. On the Pride, there seemed to be multiple different shows every night where the one in the main theater was repeated. For instance, there might have been three comedy routines in the Punchliner (1 family friendly by the first comedian, a later adult only by a second comedian and then the last show would be another adult only by the same comedian as the family friendly). That same night, they might have a magician in the main Taj Majal theater perform the same act twice.
Laundry
On the Grandeur, you need to check towels in/out using your sea pass card where there is a $25 charge for any towel not returned. These are roughly the same size as the bath towels - just colored blue. On the Pride, 4 towels are in your state room (more available upon request) and are giant beach towels. The cost if one is lost is $22. Oddly enough, you may also buy a brand new one for $22 if you want one to keep (they are nice towels).
The Pride has self-service launderettes on nearly every deck. The price recently went up to $3.25 to wash and $3.25 to dry for a total of $6.50 to do a load of laundry ($8 if you also need to buy detergent but we bring our own pods). The Grandeur doesn't offer any self-service laundry and charges $34.99 to do a small bag of laundry.
Room Service
Continental breakfast is free on both the Pride and the Grandeur. The only notable difference is the hours (Pride = 5AM-10AM, Grandeur = 6AM-11AM).
Room service is $7.95 + 18% gratuity on the Grandeur. It is more complicated on the Pride due to recent changes. The Pride stopped offering complimentary room service 24 hours a day but expanded the menu. From 6 AM until 10 PM, there are still complimentary room service items available but it now offers several other items during this time that range from $2 to $6. From 10 PM until 6 AM, an expanded menu is available with items ranging from $2 to $6.
Miscellaneous
I like beer - different styles of beer. The Pride doesn't have a lot of craft beer options. The Grandeur didn't have any. I ended up drinking Newcastle the entire Grandeur trip. On the Pride, I at least had a handful of options.
The Pride does not change the clock to match local times when in port but the Grandeur does. I watched both systems cause problems with other guests and do not feel one is superior to another. The important thing to remember is that even though you are on "island time", you must remain vigilant if you are supposed to be in a certain place at a certain time.
Trivia on the Pride is on the honor system (self-scoring) where as you are instructed to swap sheets on the Grandeur. The Pride gives out "ships on a stick" and sometimes medals as prizes where the Grandeur gives out a wide range of items (pens, highlighters, key chains, carabiner, etc.).
Both ships have a section of the casino marked as non-smoking. Until the Grandeur, I thought that was like saying you have a non-peeing section in the pool. I was so surprised on the Grandeur of the lack of smoke smell that I actually played black-jack several times. This was not the case on the Pride where I would actually go up a deck just to avoid walking through it.
On the Grandeur, while in port, my daughter couldn't sign herself in/out of the youth program despite my authorization that she could do so. I can't remember if this was also the case on the Pride. I think we may have only noticed this again because of the weird port arrival/departure times.
The Pride had a dedicated "game" room, library and chapel. If the Grandeur had these things, I didn't find them but they did have a bookcase that served as their library.
The Pride has bathrobes available upon request for any category cabin and any loyalty level guest. The Grandeur only has bathrobes available for higher level cabin categories/loyalty levels.
I have only cruised on the Grandeur once but towel animals didn't seem to be important. On the Pride, we had a new animal every single night in our room but on the Grandeur it seemed to be once every few nights. On the Pride, one morning the entire Lido deck was covered in towel animals - in extremely creative ways. Nothing like it happened on the Grandeur. This may not seem like much but the kids were kind of let down.
This really isn't about the ships so I hesitated to add it but I feel it is an important distinction. Royal's website is a hot mess compared to Carnival's.
Closing Thoughts
While the Pride provides much better value dollar for dollar, we had a great time on both ships and would go on either again for the right price/itinerary.
If I didn't cover something that you want to know about, please ask. Both ship's have "The Quest" for instance which I didn't cover but would be happy to discuss if someone wants to know more.

Mafia Commission

Thomas Gambino Sr. runs a Medical charity racket in NY and resides in Florida as one of the top members of the modern Commission. Thomas Sr.'s wife is Frances Lucchese. They oversee the Luccheses and factions of the Gambinos. The Lucchesi-Palli family are a nobility of Sicily, Tuscany, and Austria and they own the Lucchese crime family. The Russian Mafia in Brighton Beach, New York pay tributes to the Lucchese crime family. The Russian Mafia has held meetings in Austria where the Lucchesi-Palli are nobles. Frank Stronach is an Austrian businessman that owns horse race tracks in the US including the Rosecroft Raceway in Maryland where the Corsican Mafia are covertly headquartered. The Corsican Mafia partnered with the Lucchese crime family through their "French Connection" heroin operation. The mafia use horse race tracks as headquarters for money laundering.
Carlo Gambino "Lucchese" is the grandson of the founder of the Gambinos through his father and grandson of the founder of the Luccheses through his mother. The Luccheses have an alliance with the Russian Mafia. The Russian Mafia have operations in Florida and California and the Gambinos live in New York, Florida, and California.
Thomas Gambino "Lucchese" Jr. owns an international warehouse and distribution company called Dynamic Worldwide with operations in China and other parts of Asia as well as in Texas next to the Mexican border. Thomas Jr. is headquartered out of Florida.
Frank Cali is the top boss in California and Los Angeles and has high authority within the Gambino crime family. Frank Cali covertly works with the Israeli-American businessmen Lyor Cohen who works with criminal rappers like Jay Z, Kanye West, DMX, and Method Man. Lyor Cohen is married to the deputy chairman of Christie's Asia Xin Li. The Massimo family of Rome own the Gambinos and Prince Tancredi Massimo works at Christies.
Rosario Gambino is Frank Calis uncle and adviser with close connections to Rome. The Gambinos are owned by the Massimo family with Prince Fabrizio Massimo-Brancaccio who is like the godfather of organized crime. The Massimos received tributes from most mafias and cartels around the world.
Massimo Carminati who was imprisoned in 2017 was the head of the Nuclei Armati Rivoluzionari (NAR) a Neo-Fascist paramilitary group that still covertly exists and works with the Magliana Mafia of Rome. The NAR is involved in weapons trafficking, assassinations, and contract killings and they are owned by the Massimo family. Massimo Carminati was nicknamed the "Last King of Rome"
Leonardo Rizzuto is the head of the Montreal crime family which includes the Rizzutos and Cuntrera Caruana mafia. They have a business alliance with Venezuelan drug cartels and the Sinaloa Cartel. The Rizzutos have residences in Venezuela and meet with the Sinaloa Cartel on the Island of Margarita and properties owned by the Rizzuto crime family's owners the Ruspoli noble family of Rome.
Jack Giacalone runs the Detroit Mafia and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters in the US through James Hoffa the son of Jimmy Hoffa who was disappeared by the Giacalones. The Detroit Mafia runs rackets on the US automotive industry. Giacalone also works with the Jewish billionaire and crook Daniel Gilbert who owns casinos in Detroit, Cleveland, and also owns the Cleveland Cavaliers. Dan Gilbert renamed his casino company Jack Entertainment to honor Jack Giacalone. The Detroit Mafia is owned by the Odescalchi family of Rome.
Russell Papalardo is a top boss of the Cleveland crime family which works closely with the Detroit Mafia. The Licavole family have been top members of the Cleveland crime family. Their relative named Jimmy Laccavole is one of the most insane and relentless gang stalkers and paid slanderers in my region. He is a small little zealous psychopath that specializes in poisoning people and brainwashing them with insane lies. The Orsini family are owners of the Cleveland crime family and they are merged with the German Rosenberg family which own some Jewish mafias with the Def Jam CEO Paul Rosenberg as a member of the Jewish Mafia.
Meyer Lansky III runs territories in Vegas today and is a top member of the Jewish-Polish Mafia and associate of the Chicago Outfit. His grandfather Meyer Lansky was a Polish-Jew. Lansky III works with Tamares Group which is a casino company in Vegas owned by the Zabludowicz family which are Polish-Israeli Jews with Poju Zabludowicz. The Colonna family are owners of the Chicago Outfit and use the Roselli del Turco and Capponi noble families of Florence to mange them. Al Capone and John Rosseli were Chicago mobsters and related to these noble families. The Colonna family of Rome also have a Polish branch called the Colonna-Walewski family. Meyer Lanski was a Polish Jew.
Simone Rizzo DeCavalcate Jr. oversees the New Jersey crime family from Florida and he works with Wu-Tang rapper RZA or Robert Fitzgerald Diggs who lives in NJ and runs AVLN gangs, 5 Percenter Islamic Gang Stalkers, and other street gangs involved in drug trafficking of marijuana, PCP, crack-cocaine, and heroin. Wu-Tang also works with the Gambinos, Westies, and the Triads.
John Bokun is a high level and extremely dangerous Irish gangster that runs the Irish Westies in Hells Kitchen. John Bokun has a monopoly on marijuana both in the streets and in the medical industry. He extorts the medical marijuana industry and street sale of marijuana in the US. John Bokun was arrested several years ago for transporting a half of million in marijuana on his 40 million dollar jet from California to the East Coast. The Westies are allied with the Gambinos and Gottis. John Bokun is an extremely evil murderous psychopath that needs to be executed immediately.
Jay O'Connor is an Irish Mafia boss from Dublin. The Irish Mafia are extremely violent and involved in drug trafficking, gun trafficking, murder, extortion, thefts, robberies, and business rackets. The Irish Mafia often operate out of boxing clubs, bars, and racetracks. The Rooney family in the US are Irish white collar mobsters involved in politics and business. They recently sold their Yonkers Raceway in 2019 to MGM. They owned the Yonkers Raceway since 1972. In 1995 there were arrests at the Rooney's Yonkers Raceway for a multimillion dollar gambling ring.
Gerry Hutch is an Irish Mafia boss that runs rackets in the boxing industry and has been involved in robberies. Hutch has worked with the boxer Mike Tyson and has run boxing rings in Ireland. Conor McGregor is an associate of the Irish Mafia in Dublin and is a boxer and MMA fighter. The mafia rig fights for their bets. Bookies will collect bets and then the mafia decides who wins based on which is most profitable for them. Conor McGregor is an Irish mobster.
Terry Adams is an English gangster in Clerkenwell, London. The Adams crime family are involved in extortion, drug trafficking, human trafficking, sex trafficking of minors, blackmail, contract killings, and gold heists. The Clerkenwell Mafia is extorting the royal vault for gold. The Clerkenwell Mafia or Adams crime family are owned by the Massimo of Roccasecca family which live in London. Prince Stefano Massimo's mother was Dawn Addams.
Richard Valentini is the street boss of the Springfield Crew and he is one of the most violent and murderous members of Cosa Nostra. The Arrivabene-Valenti-Gonzaga family own the Rochester crime family of New York which was headed up by Valenti mobsters with crime bosses Frank Valenti and Constenze Valenti. Their cousins own a large car dealership company in New England. Richard Valentini works under the Arrivabene-Valenti-Gonzaga family of Venice. Its believed the Springfield Crew is part of the Genovese crime family. The Savoys own the Genovese mafia. The Arrivabene-Valenti-Gonzaga family is currently married with the royal House of Savoy-Aosta. Prince Giberto Arrivabenne-Valenti-Gonzaga's wife is the daughter of Prince Amadeo of Savoy-Aosta.
Philip Andrew Genovese is a major pedophile living in Massachusetts and he is the grandson of Vito Genovese the founder of the Genovese crime family which works with the Springfield Crew in Massachusetts. Philip Andrew Genovese oversees Philip Gigante and Andrew Gigante of the Genovese crime family.
Andrew Gigante is a top boss of the Genovese crime family which have infiltrated Wall Street and run high end prostitution rings. Gigante means giant. The Gigantes work with the Mara family which own the NY Giants. The mafia rig sports for their bets. The Mara family are Irish white collar mobsters connected with the Jesuits and they work with the Rooney family through marriage which are white collar Irish mobsters, businessmen, and politicians that ran the Yonkers Raceway for decades. Racetracks are often mafia headquarters used for money laundering. The mafia works with owners of racetracks which allow them to claim their criminal profits like from drug trafficking were gambling wins.
Philip Gigante is a mobster and mayor in Airmonte, NY. The Savoy-Aosta family are owners of the Gigantes which have operations in New Jersey while the Savoys which live in Switzerland and are the princes of Naples and Venice are the owners of the Genovese family with the Gigantes being second in command. The Savoy-Aostas are also the Dukes of Apulia. The Apulian Mafia or Sacra Corona Unita mafia have deeply infiltrated New Jersey and work with the DeCavalcante crime family of New Jersey.
Liborio Bellomo is a high level mafia boss in the Genovese crime family. Liborio Bellomo spreads insane lies into society like a virus. Bellomo is from a Sicilian noble family and there is still a Bellomo castle in Syracuse, Sicily today. Bellomo operates out of the Bronx and oversees many African American gangs and mafias including a large gang ran by the criminal rapper Papoose out of Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. This Bed-Stuy black mafia are major gun traffickers in New York.
Vincent Badalemeti is a ruthless and murderous boss of the Bonanno crime family. The Bonannos have an alliance with the Ceritto crime family which have moved from California to Texas. The owners of the Bonannos are the Boncompagni-Ludovisi family of Rome. Bon-compagni translates to good fellow or Goodfella which is a term for made men.
Joseph Merlino is one of the top bosses in Atlantic City and oversees Ft Lauderdale from Boca Rotan. The Merlinos were involved in building many of the casinos in Atlantic City including Trumps casinos. Donald Trump works with the Philly crime family and his Counselor Kellyanne Conway's grandfather was an associate of the Philly crime family. Merlino works with the Israeli white collar mobster and billionaire owner of the Miami Heat Micky Arison. Merlino also works with black street gangs run by the gangster rapper Cassidy who was convicted of involuntary manslaughter for what was originally a murder charge. The Gaetani family are owners of the Philly Mob and the Merlinos. Trump is friends with Prince Gaetani d’Aragona Lovatelli and his ex wife dated him for years. Lovatelli just as Philly is called the City of Brotherly Love.
Joseph Ligambi is a high level consiglieri for the Philly Mob and he works with the Jewish billionaire and owner of the Philadelphia Eagles Jeffrey Lurie who rigs games for the mafias bets. Joseph Ligambi also works with the Jewish billionaire Joshua Harris who is an owner of the Philadelphia 76's and co founder of Apollo Global Management with the Jesuit educated Knight of Malta Tony Ressler. Ligambi has similar ancestry as the Gambinos and has Philly mobsters loyal to him including George Borgesi, Joseph Massimino, and Mikey Lancelotti and all of their names refer to the Roman noble families; the Borgheses, Massimos, and Massimo-Lancellottis which are owners of the Gambinos.
John Gotti Jr. is a high level member of the modern Commission. He works with 50 Cent who runs both Bloods and Crips on the East Coast. Gotti Jr. and 50 Cent can be seen hanging out together. Gotti Jr. operates out of Long Island and manages Jewish billionaires and businessmen in New York through blackmail and extortion. The mafia uses violence to control wealth. This creates a layer of protection for the owners of the mafia which are the Black Nobility of Rome. The mafia provides children and underage sex workers to pedophiles in business and politics while taping them in the act and then use this to blackmail them. They use violence, blackmail, and extortion to control wealth. John Gotti is an extremely dangerous coward that controls other men through faggotry. Faggotry really means men raping other men to control them. Faggot derives from the word Fasces where the word Fascism also derived. Many Jewish billionaires are working with mafia including the child murdering pedophile Michael Bloomberg.
Louis Vallario is a Gambino street boss from Brooklyn working under the Gottis and he manages the Brooklyn born record producer Jimmy Iovine. Jimmy Iovine is an associate of the Gottis and Gambinos and he manages Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg. Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg are top bosses of the West Coast Crips and they are extremely evil. Jimmy Iovine who is worth over 900 million is close friends with Dre who is worth about 700 million. Dr. Dre and the Crips are involved in human trafficking and pedophilia cults. They use faggotry to control other men. Dr. Dre is a major faggot and pedophile. This makes him extremely insecure and dangerous.
John Gotti III is a MMA fighter working with the UFC and has infiltrated mixed martial arts industry which is used for rigging fights for bets and recruiting mafia enforcers. Gotti III is ruthless and murderous.
Dennis Pappas is a high level criminal associate of the Colombo crime family and works as a financier and law adviser for Cosa Nostra. Dennis Pappas was convicted of racketeering and tax evasion and later worked for the wealthy Venetian Cipriani family who were also investigated and fined for tax evasion assisted by Pappas. Dennis Pappas worked as a high level executive of Cipriani USA which owns restaurants and nightclubs. The Ciprianis own clubs all over the world and are originally from Venice. They are likely worth billions. They moved their company headquarters to Luxembourg where there are banking secrecy laws. During Pappas original arrest in the 90's for racketeering he claimed he worked as a spy for the FBI involving 1993 World Trade Center bombing to blackmail them into getting a plea deal.
Salvatore DeLaurentis is the boss of the Chicago Outfit which has a covert alliance with the Los Zetas drug cartel. The Chicago Outfit also covertly runs many Vegas casinos today and use them for money laundering. The Chicago Outfit specializes in controlling democratic politicians including Clinton and Obama. Obama has business connections with Tony Rezko who was convicted of wire fraud, extortion, and corrupt solicitation. Obama is also friends with Alexi Giannoulias whose bank made loans worth millions to convicted mobsters Michael Giorango and Demitri Stavropoulos. The Chicago Outfit has agents that have infiltrated the Chicago police department and the Chicago Mafia also works with various black street gangs which move drugs for them.
James Inendino is a Chicago mobster operating out of Cicero right next to Chicago. They have a headquarters at the Hawthorne Race Course in Cicero owned by the Carey family. Hawthorne was involved in the 70's in gambling rings and an arson to cover it up.
Peter DiFronzo is a Chicago mobster and brother of the recently deceased mafia boss John DiFronzo. John DiFronzo owned car dealerships which the mafia use for moving stolen vehicles which they use to transport drugs and for human trafficking. They use dealer plates to move around these stolen vehicles. The Chicago Outfit is covertly involved in pedophilia rings and child trafficking and they blackmail politicians and businessmen that are propped up with videos of them molesting children.
The Fertitta family with Frank Fertitta III, Lorenzo Fertitta, Tilman Fertitta are billionaires and members of the Galveston crime family and run the UFC. The Fertittas married with the Maceo crime family of Galveston, Texas. The Ferttitas operate in Nevada and Texas. The Fertittas also own Station Casinos which operates in Vegas. They use casinos for money laundering. Casinos are rigged. Dan Caldwell is an Irish mobster and owner of Tapout. Caldwell works with the Fertittas and Irish Mafia and he is extremely evil. Dan Caldwell is a psycho. Tillman Fertitta is the owner of the Houston Rockets and manages James Harden who is a ruthless satanic psychopath and mafia associate that defends the Fertittas. James Harden is a horrible person.
Vincent Civella is a high level made man in the Kansas City crime family which have operations in Missouri, Texas, and Nevada. The Sansone family are members of the Kansas City crime family with Michael Sansone and Anthony Sansone as made men and they have white collar mafia relatives running a large real estate company in Missouri. The mafia infiltrates everything including real estate. They have rackets in nearly every industry.
Vincenzo Isoldi is a Camorra mobster in Pittsburgh and associate of the Pittsburgh crime family. The Pittsburgh crime family runs the Jewish billionaire Mark Cuban who owns the Dallas Mavericks. Mark Cuban was originally from Pittsburgh and he is involved in rigging games for the mafias bets. The Borghese, Torlonia, and Rocco di Torrepadula families are owners of the mafia in Pittsburgh sometimes called the LaRocca crime family and the Torlonias also own the Kansas City crime family which have criminal operations in Dallas. The Torlonias are a continuation of the ancient Conti di Segni family and Gregorio Conti founded the Pittsburgh crime family. The Torlonias are the Princes of Civitella Cesi. The Civella family were founding members of the Kansas City crime family. Civitella and Civella both mean owl. The Hunt family own the Kansas City Chiefs and are also connected with Dallas. The Chiefs CEO and President Clark Hunt was born in Dallas.
Victoria Gotti is a female member of Cosa Nostra. Female members of the mafia are directly involved with pedophilia, child trafficking, and murdering children. Victoria Gotti is really evil and ruthless.
Carmine Agnello is a Gambino-Gotti associate and made man in the Cleveland crime family. Agnello and the Cleveland mafia infiltrate blue collar industries. Carmine Agnello is extremely evil. The Gaetanis are part owners of the Gottis. The Gaetanis are married with the billionaire Agnelli-Elkann family with Ginevra Elkann the granddaughter of Gianni Agnelli married to Prince Giovanni Gaetani dell'Aquila d'Aragona.
Frank Agnello-Gotti is a high level made men in the Gambino crime family and they also manage the Albanian Mafia with his brothers Carmine and John.
Carmine Agnello-Gotti is a high level mobster. The Gottis are considered royalty among the Italian Mafia.
John Agnello-Gotti is likely the head of the Gotti-Agnellos. John Agnello-Gotti is a murderous thug.
John Alite is a high level Albanian mobster and Gambino made man and hitman. Alite works with the Gottis and Gambinos and oversees factions of the Albanian Mafia. The Jewish-Albanian rapper named Action Bronson is a covert Albanian mafia boss and oversees a US faction of the Hellbanianz which are headquartered in London. The Hellbanianz oversee the Albanian Boys which are a national crime organization.
Chris Colombo runs prostitution rings, pedophilia rings, and specializes in blackmail. The Colombos also have a monopoly on cocaine trafficking. A man named Vincent Martello works with the Colombos in the Greenwich and Long Island area. He runs an intelligence network for Cosa Nostra. He also makes threats on behalf of the mafia and is involved in trafficking children in the trunks of vehicles that he sells. The Colombos are an extremely evil and active crime family in New York City and they work closely with Jewish white collar mobsters which specialize in embezzlement, criminal financing, and infiltration.
Raymond Patriarca Jr. is a hidden boss of the New England crime family which have operations in Boston, Providence, and New Haven. They are involved in human trafficking, extortion, and blackmail. They are an extremely violent and oppressive mafia and they are allied with Jewish white collar mobsters, Irish Mafias in Boston including the Winter Hill Gang and the Puerto Rican Mafia in Boston headed up by the criminal Puerto Rican rapper Termanology or Daniel Carrillo who lives outside of Boston. The New England crime family work closely with the Romney family and with Bain Capital and Bain & Company through Stephen Pagliuca a co-founder of Bain Capital and owner of the Boston Celtics. Romney's Bain Capital was originally financed by offshore accounts from Latin American businessmen including associates of the Puerto Rican Mafia. Raymond Patriarca Jr. is Italian-Irish and has a Jewish wife.
Carmen Dinunzio is a top boss of the New England crime family and its Boston faction. Carmen Dinunzio works with the Jewish-Zionist billionaire Robert Kraft the owner of the New England Patriots. Tom Brady is a criminal agent of Kraft and he is involved in cheating and fixing games for the mafia's bets. Tom Brady also works with motorcycle gangs including the Iron Horseman and Hells Angels which traffic meth and also adrenochrome which Tom Brady consumes. The Patriots are known for fixing games with spying and deflating footballs during a game because they practiced with deflated balls giving them an advantage. Robert Kraft has donated large amounts of money to the Jesuit colleges Boston College and College of the Holy Cross. The primary owners of the New England crime family are the Bourbon-Two Sicilies family and their ancestors officially established the Jesuits.
Frank Colacurcio Jr. runs the sex trafficking industry including trafficking of children in the North West part of the US including in northern California, Oregon, Washington, and Alaska. The Coacurcios own a lot of strip clubs in Seattle used as fronts for brothels. The Seattle crime family works with Aryan Brotherhood gangs, Nazis, and Yakuza. There is a large scale human trafficking network from Asia to the West Coast with members of the mercenary company United Resources Group involved. Yakuza and Triads have also infiltrated the ports on the West Coast. The Palin family in Alaska are heavily involved in human trafficking. The Seattle crime family also works with Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos who finance and participate in human trafficking. They use their collective hundreds of billions to bribe police and government agents.
Vincent Loscalzo is a top member of the Trafficante crime family of Florida. The Trafficantes work with the Cuban Mafia and are involved with cocaine trafficking with the Cuban Jesuit Fanjul family of sugar manufacturers. They conceal cocaine as sugar. The Trafficantes work with the CIA and have operations and casinos in Cuba. Cuba is a hide out for mobsters. The CIA also fakes deaths of high profile criminals which hide out in Cuba like the ruthless mobster and rapper Lesane Parish Crooks. The Trafficantes also work with the New Orleans crime family which are major human traffickers and specialize in murder and disposing of bodies. The New Orleans crime family has an alliance with the Gulf Cartel.
Chris Paciello is a former mafia hitman and currently a night club owner in Miami, Florida. Paciello is still a member of Cosa Nostra and works covertly with the Trafficantes. He also manages the criminal rapper Rick Ross who took his name from the drug trafficker Freeway Ricky Ross. Trina is a female member of the African American mafia in Miami and is involved in child trafficking and child murder. The rapper Rick Ross can be seen hanging out with Chris Paciello on numerous occasions at Paciello's Miami clubs.
Joseph Caridi is a high level member of the Lucchese crime family which have a monopoly on the heroin market. The Luccheses own a funeral home called Joseph A Lucchese Funeral Home with a crematorium in the Bronx which they use for disposing of bodies. Joseph Lucchese is a member of the Lucchese crime family and he disposes of bodies in his crematorium and also murders people by burning them alive. The Luccheses are probably the most murderous mafia on the planet. They work with the Corsican Mafia which are headquartered in Baltimore. They import opium and heroin mostly through the ports on the East Coast and Thomas Gambino-Lucchese Jr. also traffics in heroin through Mexico.
Joseph Lubrano is a high level Lucchese mobster headquartered in Yonkers and he oversees rappers from Wu-Tang, Yonkers based D-Block, and the Harlem based Diplomats which are running the modern day Drug Council which is the head of the African American Mafia in the United States. D-Block which are from Yonkers are the head of the modern day Council. Confirmed members of the Drug Council include Jadakiss, Sheek Louch, Styles P, Ghostface Killah, and Jim Jones with his associate Hell Rell. The Yonkers based gangster rap group D-Block are the head of the modern Council and they work with Jay Z. They recently signed to Jay Z's record label.
Semion Mogilevich is a Jewish-Russian mafia boss headquartered in Budapest, Hungary. Mogilvech's mafia runs some Israeli Mafias and has a portion of authority over the IDF through former IDF Chief Benny Gantz whose family was from Hungary. Mogilvech has owned a military arms manufacturing plant and this mafia also specializes in making snuff films. The Austrian House of Esterhazy and Lucchesi-Palli family are owners of the Mogilevich Mafia.
Alimzhan Tokhtakhunov is a Russian Mafia boss with operations in Monte Carlo, Monaco. Tokhtakhunov is an associate of the Corleonisi mafia clan of Sicily which also have operations in Monte Carlo where they launder their criminal profits through casinos. The royal family of Monaco the Grimaldis previously ruled in Genoa which ruled in the Black Sea region and they had relationships with the Romanovs and Khazarian nobles. Putin is a close friend with Prince Albert II of Monaco. Tokhtakhunov has admitted to meeting Putin.
Kwok Wing-hung is a Chinese Triad boss. The Triads have operations on the West Coast in the US and have infiltrated the ports. They are involved with human trafficking of Asian women and children. They are also involved in thefts, protection rackets, and manufacturing and selling knock offs of high end goods. Prince Francesco Luca Costa Sanseverino di Bisignano is from a Sicilian noble family and he was born in and resides in Hong Kong overseeing the Triads. Most mafias are managed by Cosa Nostra and pay them tributes. Cosa Nostra means "Our Thing" which refers to the Italian criminal's monopolization of organized crime.

I don't want to go.. but I think I probably should..

It was thirty years ago. It was me, Twitch, and Mumbly. That's what we'll call them here, anyway. We were just some young teenagers, the three of us, having a sleepover at my place, the weekend after my birthday.
I lived out in the sticks. Off the main highway, down a narrow gravel road, where the ranch houses were spread far and few between. Cornfields, patches of woods around the creeks, the old farm's junkyard, these were my stomping grounds. At home on rainy days, I drew up maps on notebook paper, everywhere around me, what felt like the whole wide world, the wild places I explored outside.
My mom had to work overnights, so we were home alone. My sweet worrisome mother, she would never have let us do it, if she had been there. But boys will be boys, I suppose, and it was such a perfect night to camp out. "We could sleep under the stars," said Twitch.
It was near dusk. We sat around a campfire, leaning back on some old tires we carried with us from the junkyard. Me and Twitch joked about the kinds of things that teenagers usually joke about with close friends, but Mumbly just kept to himself.
I found out, years later, that Mumbly's parents were going through a divorce, and that he was kind of lost in the middle of things. That night, I saw something about him. Something bad. Something that still bothers me, and I wish I never saw it.
This is what I remember about how it all went down. It was weird. Twitch and Mumbly, they both saw the man before I did. I swear, they must have seen him at the same exact time. Their heads lifted up, quick, their eyes open wide, looking over my shoulders. I twisted around to see what it was they were looking at.
A bloodied man, standing at the edge of the woods, outside a cornfield. He stumbled around, aimless. In one hand, he held a rock, or what looked like one. His white T-shirt was soaked in blood, down the front. His face was broken, his nose smashed in, his forehead caked in grime.
We jumped to our feet. I backed up, behind the fire. "Who are you?" shouted Mumbly, his voice cracking, shaking. "Sir? What do you want? What's wrong with you, sir?" Me and Twitch, we ducked behind our buddy. I grabbed my pocket knife. Twitch snatched up a branch we had for the fire, raising it over his head in two hands like a baseball bat.
The bloodied man turned, staggering, lurching towards us. He had something in his hand. We all knew somehow, the three of us. In that man's hand, it was a weapon. He was covered in blood. He was going to kill us. We were in trouble, all alone out here, miles away from any help.
The bloodied man was mumbling, wheezing with labored breathing. His beady eyes were sunken, swollen. "My friend, come here," he said, or something like it. "Friend, come over here."
Without a word, Mumbly suddenly marched forward. He grabbed one of the old tires, and held it over his head. "No," screamed Mumbly. "You are not going to kill my friends!"
That old tire, Mumbly lobbed it at the bloodied man. He flung it into his knees. That man fell backward, awkward, down at an angle, his legs locked and twisted back. Mumbly ran forward and swung his fist across the bloodied man's chin. And he kicked him, over and over again, rolling him over, across the grass and sticks on the ground.
Me and Twitch, we just stood back and watched, frozen. What could we do? We watched our buddy beat the man to death. The panicked look on Mumbly's face, crazed and so full of anger and hatred, his eyes burning with a fire I couldn't understand. And after it was over, the way he stood over him, swaying, catching his breath. It was like he suddenly became a crazy person, not my best friend. I didn't know who he was anymore. How off he seemed, how he began laughing so hard, and smiling so wide, turning back to look at us. How he cried, bawling, between bursts of laughter.
"We have to hide him," said Twitch, talking fast. "We can't tell anybody about this, or we'll all get into trouble." We buried him deep in the cornfield, quietly, under the moonlight, and snuck back to my house. We would tell everybody that we stayed inside that night, watching television.
The next day, as my mother cooked us scrambled eggs and bacon, we saw it was in the news. A mysterious car accident in our rural area. It was a tragic cautionary tale, repeated by our teachers at school for years, always reminding us of that night in the woods.
A sedan skidded off a gravel road, colliding with a telephone pole. The passenger, she was dead on impact. Two others, highschool sweethearts, flung from the back, no seatbelts, through the windshield, smashed into the trees. Everybody knew why they crashed. The floors held some empty beer cans. It was the big picture they ran on the front page of the newspaper. A couple of college city kids, with wild abandon, joyriding out on some back country roads. "Let this be a lesson to all of you bright young kids. The dangers of drinking and driving."
But the driver of the car? His door was open, but he was missing. My face flushed when they flashed his school picture up on the news. It was him. It was that poor bloodied man.
The rumors were, that he survived the crash, but ran away in fear from getting caught. He didn't try to get help for his friends, they said. He was a coward, ashamed of his bad behavior.
The truth is, that bloodied man must have been in shock, rambling like he was. Possibly brain damaged. Whatever he was, he wasn't all there. And he had a weapon when he stumbled up to our little camp. Mumbly acted in self-defense.
As the years went by, we drifted apart as friends. I haven't heard from them in over twenty years. I moved away from the country and made a living near the big cities, going to college near St. Louis, working near Washington, D.C., with the city of Baltimore just hours away, before moving back to the Midwest near Chicago, where I live today. My childhood friends, we just didn't keep in touch. Maybe deep down, I just didn't know how to cope, and decided to get away and avoid them altogether.
I am back in my hometown this week, packing up some of my mother's things. This morning, I drove down to the local grocery store to pick up some food, and as it happens, I run into Twitch. He is bald and gained a few pounds, but it is the same bobbing awkward person I knew as a young man. We stand in the aisle near the breakfast cereal for what seems like an hour, catching up on old times. Turns out, he also moved away, but he headed out west, living in the deserts of Nevada, working at a casino and then a pharmacy. He tells me that he's back in town to visit his sister, who still lives here.
I'm about to invite him to lunch at a local family restaurant. But we both stiffen up, shocked to see him. Mumbly, his skin stretched thin over his tall gaunt frame, a long salt-and-pepper beard hanging down to his chest, smiling as wide as he ever could with those crooked teeth. We clap each other on the backs, "What are the odds?", cracking half-remembered inside jokes.
"We should get together," says Mumbly. "Tonight. Over at my Dad's old place. It will be like the old days. Just another night, camping out with the boys.." He caught the hesitation in the both of us, and insisted. "I won't take 'no' for an answer. It's been too long." And then he leaned in, and whispered: "We got to talk. We got to talk about it."
He pulled back, eyes unblinking, regarding us both in silence until we agreed. It was so awkward, I was stuttering like I did when I was a kid. And then we all just nodded at each other and walked away. I bought my groceries, and drove off.
I don't want to go. I know I agreed, and it's probably no big deal, but what if Twitch doesn't show up? What if he does, but I don't? It could be another twenty years before I'd see either of them again, if ever again.
It weighs heavy on my heart, and it's a burden that I can only really share with these two men, my old childhood friends. I don't want to go.. but I think I probably should..
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This critically-acclaimed restaurant has been honored with multiple awards such as “Best of Baltimore” by Baltimore Magazine; a Zagat rating as the #1 steakhouse in Baltimore, Philadelphia and DC; designation as one of the Top Five Romantic Restaurants in the U.S. by Food and Wine; and a coveted place on Esquire magazine’s prestigious list of Top Twenty Steakhouses in the United States. David's - Live! Casino & Hotel is a Contemporary American restaurant in Hanover, MD. Read reviews, view the menu and photos, and make reservations online for David's - Live! Casino & Hotel. Baltimore Marketplace features three area restaurants that together comprise our extensive casual dining experience. Located on the first floor of the casino it includes Ben's Chili Bowl, Tony Luke's, Piezzetta, and B’More Beers. Restaurants near Horseshoe Casino, Baltimore on Tripadvisor: Find traveler reviews and candid photos of dining near Horseshoe Casino in Baltimore, Maryland. Live! Hotel, recognized as the only AAA Four Diamond rated accommodation in the BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport district, sets a new standard in luxury. Each of the spacious 310 rooms and 52 suites boast a sleek, chic contemporary design. BREAKFAST BURRITO. Soft flour tortilla stuffed with scrambled eggs, sausage, hash brown potatoes, fresh jalape ñ os and cheddar cheese served with house pico and sour cream. FIESTA BREAKFAST BOWL. Hash brown potatoes topped with scrambled eggs, jalape ñ os, black beans, cheese, house pico and sour cream. FRESH BERRY & YOGURT PARFAIT Restaurant Guru allows you to discover great places to eat at near your location. Read restaurant menus and users' reviews about tasty food. View photos and ratings of open restaurants around you. A legendary gaming, dining and entertainment experience awaits you at Horseshoe Baltimore. Check out our Baltimore casino and play your favorite games. Restaurants near Live! Casino & Hotel Maryland, Hanover on Tripadvisor: Find traveler reviews and candid photos of dining near Live! Casino & Hotel Maryland in Hanover, Maryland.

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Maryland’s Beloved Chesapeake Bay Crabs Food/Groups

There are a wide variety of fun sights and attractions near our hotel in Edgewood, MD. Inner Harbor, the most popular district in Baltimore for shopping, dining and sightseeing, is just minutes away. desaki Hibachi & Sushi. Poconos Japanese Restaurant in the Pocono Mountains, near Great Wolf Lodge & Mount Airy Casino. Family friendly dining experience and entertainment for the entire family. The Chesapeake Bay is home to over a third of all blue crabs harvested in the entire country, and no offense to Virginia, but it’s Maryland that lives Chesap... These crazy customers unleash the beast and bring the madness on these poor, angry employees in our newest count-around compilation of the Top 10 Craziest Cu... J goes under cover in a local whore house located downtown Kelowna. (but not under the covers!) More to come... no pun intended. The dark side of the mob. How Michael Franzese, the highest paid Mafia boss since Al Capone, one day decided to walk away from the life. Playlist of mafia in... White Bay, Jost Van Dyke in the British Virgin Islands - Live from the Soggy Dollar Bar. Visit paradise at http://soggydollar.com ... Listen to Soggy Dollar ... Three Dudes vs. Two Chicks in a brawl at Italiano's Restaurant in Baltimore, Maryland on 07/24.For any licensing requests please contact [email protected] Outrageous cellphone video from inside a Milwaukee Popeyes restaurant shows a group of employees getting into a vicious brawl. This all went down while custo... This was interesting..I've seen a bunch of people eat at the worst reviewed restaurant in their city, and I wanted to give it a try! Things got interesting.....

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The Future That Never Was: KITTY KITTY - #2 THE TWISTED HEIST