Race to the Next World

Sirus has seen that Flyer around before but he didn’t really know her. He knew of her. He knew people he could mess with, he knew people he could fight with, and he knew people to stay away from. That woman was the last one. So Sirus was not playing when he told Aurora to stay away.

If she’s actually siding with Xalton and helping him on Russia’s side, she’d be successful with doing that. She’s not afraid of anything, and when pissed off, she’s a force to mess with.

If Sirus knew her number all of this would be over with. There’s fifteen different Jupiters in just one unit.

He thought about talking to her, but he wasn’t much for showing interest in things that wasn’t his interest. He could find something...but what?

“Hey, Sirus.” Hariette had seen Sirus staring at the wall, but not doing anything else. He’s never deep in thought like that. “You look like you’re going to kill someone.”

Sirus sighed and covered his face. He was frustrated and upset. He didn’t know how to relieve the tension. Now Hariette was here patronizing him. He wasn’t ready.

There were other things he could talk about instead of mentioning there’s traitors on the ship and one of them is walking around, probably with a master plan to start the downfall of the American nations. He definitely didn’t want that on his shoulders.

“You’re not buying this whole treaty bullshit, are you?”

It’s been a few days since the treaty with the African nations. Sirus was more concerned about loyalty. He knows the second the treaty is dropped, it’s going to be war. He thought they might as well go at this alone.

He certainly didn’t like the fight he went through with Aurora about it, though the aftermath was pretty nice.

Still, he would prefer if people wouldn’t get so friendly.

“Of course not.” Hariette said, but her sarcastic tone came with her next statement, “why would I be excited to be around more people that look like me?”

Sirus rolled his eyes and began to walk away.

“You’re being a bitch.” Hariette said. “They have cool stuff and we get to touch it for free.” She had her fun today. She even made some new friends. That will go a long way when she gets her spot as Commander.

No one knows she’s fighting for it.

Sirus looked at her but he didn’t say anything.

Hariette was older than he was by a few years. She lost her ranking to him though. They got along most times. She thought Sirus was cool when he wasn’t angry all the time. She teased him and he’d yell at her.

But they were friends, well Hariette would say so.

“You need to lighten up.” Hariette kept laughing. “Look, the other ship has some cool simulations you’d like, and I made a few friends, too.” She said, trying to get him interested.

“I’m tired.”

“Yeah, I bet.” She snickered. “I’ll show you a few things. Maybe you might even crack a smile.”

He stopped walking and stared at her, and his expression wasn’t pleasant. He was thinking about going, but there was something else on his mind. “Do you know Jupiter?” He asked instead.

“There’s like...twenty Jupiters.” Hariette said.

“She has the weird tattoo on her neck.” He didn’t know what it was.

Hariette smiled, nodding when she knew who he was talking about. “They call her Blue Dragon.” She knew.

Sirus narrowed his eyes. He’s never heard that. “Seriously?”

“No.” She laughed. Sirus didn’t take the joke well. He walked away angrily, and she quickly caught up to him. He thought about tripping her. “I’m just playing.” She had to stop him. “You really need to stop being so mad all the time. That’s why you don’t have a lot of friends.”

“Fuck off.” Sirus walked ahead of her.

She tagged along. She liked making Sirus upset, she teased him, and played around, but she only did that with him. With other people she wasn’t so nice. Hariette can be a bit tough. Her humor wasn’t the same as others. But with the right people, they can make her pleasant. She’s known Sirus for a while, so she gets away with some of the things she says to him.

“Why do you need to know about Jupiter?” She asked him. “She’s a little hardcore, even for you.” She was sure that Sirus wouldn’t be interested in her.

Sirus needed to find a way in.

“She spars?” He asked.

“She’ll kick your head off so I’d strongly advise that you don’t fight her.” Hariette warned, and she laughed, but she was almost serious about it. “Need a new partner?”

“Serberous has been going soft on me.” Sirus said plainly. “Last time he coughed up blood.”

“You’re going to kill him.”

“He’s fine.” He didn’t care.

“I know where Jupiter hangs out, but you’ll have to work your magic then because we don’t get along.” She told him.

“Really?” He seemed surprised. “How can someone not like you?” He asked in a sarcastic tone.

“You’re an asshole, you know that?” Hariette smiled.

Sirus definitely knew that.

Hariette showed Sirus where he could find the woman. She hung around an older crowd of Flyers. None of them were interested in an eighteen-soon-to-be-nineteen year old. They had other things to worry about.

Then again, it was fun to bully people that were younger. The younger Flyers were fresh and hot headed, they always want to fight.

They can take a hit.

Sirus may be young but he wasn’t new. He’s been a Flyer for almost five years. He’s seen almost everything. So he might not be as much a veteran as the others, but he knew what he was doing.

She was as tall as he was, but she gave off the aura like she was taller, like she was bigger, even if she wasn’t. The look in her eyes were mean and she was like that, too.

She wasn't very pleasant.

The people she surrounded herself with weren't pleasant either.

Sirus didn't seem to mind. He was just staring at her neck. He didn't care if the group of Flyers were trying to be intimidating once they smelled fresh blood.

And she had the blue dragon tattoo on her neck. This was the first time that Sirus had seen that before. Maybe he should be careful.

All Sirus needed was to find out her number.

She got off the table and her friends went quiet. “So you’re the one that shifted the ranks two years ago.” she stood right in front of him.

That’s not all he was known for, but that sure was the nicest thing.

“I’ve heard of you.” she looked him in the eyes.

There were quite a few things that went around about Sirus. The nasty rumors, the secrets about what he did when he was fourteen, who he was paired with now. People talk. A lot.

Sirus would love to tell people what was true and what wasn't, but the rumors would continue to spread no matter what he said.

There was no point.

Jupiter heard the rumors. They would past her sometimes depending who she was with and when.

A quiet kid who joined when he was fourteen turned into something mean almost five years later. Was it being a Flyer that changed Sirus?

Something certainly made him snap.

He wasn't going to let anyone take advantage of him, and no one has.

“You’re a tough kid, aren’t you?”

Sirus didn’t need to answer that, and he didn’t. Everything she’s heard about him could answer that question. Sirus was tough. He fought for himself, no one could walk over him, no one could make him their bitch. He was a hot head and he fought like one, too. No one sees him coming.

“What can I do for you, Sirus?” she asked him.

“Hariette said you’re a good fighter.”

“Oh, you’re friends with her." She sat back down on the table. “Tell Hariette she can come kiss the ground I walk on-”

“Tell her yourself. I don’t care about your fight with her.” Sirus wanted to get to the point. He could care less about Jupiter and Hariette not getting along.

“So what? You want me to kick your ass for what reason?”

“Kick my ass?” Sirus scoffed.

The bait worked. Jupiter wasn’t going to let anyone get away with thinking she could be beat. She was great at hand to hand combat, and for some reason, she knew that one day the skill would help her.

Seems like Sirus knows that, too.

But Jupiter got up again and she put on her black jacket as she gestured for her friends to come along, too. Apparently there needed to be witnesses. Sirus went picking a fight and he was going to get one.

Well, all he really needed was to see her number. That will set her apart from all the other Jupiters. He’ll let her enter her numbers for access, and that’s it. He’ll have what he needs.

So maybe then Aurora might stop panicking.

Sirus got his ass kicked.

Jupiter warned him, but he thought he could take her. He got what he asked for, his ass kicked. Granted, he did put up a fight with her, and a training spar turned out to be a prolonged work out.

But still, Sirus got his ass kicked.

He took off his gloves. He had bruises on his knuckles and his wrists. When he pushed up his sleeves, there were more bruises on his skin. Those were definitely going to hurt in the next couple hours, and Sirus is not the one to get treatment.

Jupiter had fun. She was laughing. She put her hand on Sirus’ shoulder, more to congratulate him for not passing out half way through. Sirus flinched away immediately, he wasn’t sure what was going to happen next. He even put his hands up just in case there was a surprise attack about to happen.

“You fight like Serberous.” Jupiter laughed loudly. “Did he teach you?”

Someone had to teach Sirus.

“I’m better than he is.” Sirus said, almost upset that Jupiter said that.

“There’s no doubt about that.” she continued to laugh as she tied her hair up. She looked like she barely broke a sweat. She was laughing and smiling, and Sirus was not happy with that, especially when he felt like his life was threatened. “He would’ve been tired after ten minutes. I’ll give it to you, Sirus, you’re pretty good.” she praised him.

His ego was swelling.

He didn’t say anything.

He remembered the hit to his jaw. He was lucky to not have his teeth knocked out of his mouth. He was a little worried for his face. Jupiter was a fast puncher, and she aimed for places where people would know her victims got beat up. Sirus was practically shielding himself the entire time.

And he got quite a few hits in. He got her on the ground once, too, so he was proud of that. It looked like she might’ve given up, but Flyers don’t give up that easy.

She might actually be a problem.

He knew what he heard about her was true. She was strong and ruthless. She might’ve done her worst if she was angry. Sirus was so thankful that he could keep Aurora from saying anything before. Sirus knew Aurora might’ve called her out on what she was doing, and by then they would’ve been dead.

Thank God. Sirus thought he saved both their lives.

If he had to take a beating just to stay on Jupiter’s good side, then it was fine. It’s better than being dead.

Sirus and Jupiter were walking together.

Sirus had this sudden feeling like something was wrong, like something was out of place. He only felt like that when he had a hunch a certain someone wasn’t listening to him. He desperately wanted to give Aurora the benefit of the doubt.

But he looked at his tracker and saw that Aurora was nearby. Extremely nearby.

Dammit.

Sirus warned him but Aurora doesn’t want to listen to a word he says. Sirus only says the things he does for Aurora’s own safety. Apparently Aurora wants to go snooping around even though Sirus warned him.

Sirus wanted to get upset.

He wanted to drag Aurora out of the corner he was hiding in.

He had to hold in his temper and continue his conversation with Jupiter. They were supposed to hang out. Sirus didn’t get a chance to see her use any of her codes, so he was going to try again. He hoped that Aurora wouldn’t be stupid in the meantime.

It would be smart if he left the area.

Sirus couldn’t help him now.

“Hey, Sirus.” Serberous came and found him. He was one of the older Flyers, too. He took Sirus under his wing many years ago.

Now Sirus had a terrible personality despite Serberous being nice and friendly.

He was five years older. He had the knowledge to prove it. He smiled a lot more than the other Flyers did. He was mostly doing this for fun. He thought the experience was fun, and Flyers were never on a leash.

He could do whatever he wanted.

Sirus wouldn't call him a friend, but Serberous would quickly say they were close. He knows how to deal with Sirus and he wanted to be his friend.

Sirus will never be able to get away. He sighed obnoxiously when he saw Serberous.

“I saw Aurora today.” Serberous said, a little concerned.

Sirus turned quickly when Serberous said that. "Where?" Sirus thought he knew the true, but he hoped he was wrong. “I swear to God! He doesn’t listen.” Sirus didn’t have the patience to hope.

He knew Aurora so it wasn’t surprising to find out that he was where Sirus thought he was.

“You were with Jupiter earlier.” Serberous had a sly smile on his face. He thought that was more entertaining than having to cover for Aurora.

“Okay.” Sirus wasn’t going to add to that.

“No details?”

“She kicked my ass earlier.” Sirus pushed up his sleeves to show Serberous it’s not what he thinks. “I thought I could take her, but I was wrong.”

“Yeah, I thought I could take her, too.” Serberous laughed. “Took me years to learn my lesson.” he thought it was fun though.

“I shouldn’t be learning from a loser.” Sirus said to him.

“That hurts.” Serberous put his hand over his chest. “I’m great, and you know it. You just pick the wrong people to fight with.” he laughed.

Sirus got what he wanted today.

Was it worth the fight? He learned a few new tricks today and he was going to put it to good use. And as pay back for getting his ass kicked, he gets to see Jupiter get stripped of her ranking.

“You think Aurora wanted to watch, too.” Serberous asked.

Right. Aurora’s need to go places he shouldn't.

Sirus didn’t want to be reminded. “He never listens to me, you know.” he said angrily. “I’m tired of his need to be a fucking nuisance. He’s going to get us both killed.” Sirus was actually stressed out.

“I actually had a great time with him-”

“Apparently, if you could tolerate him for two years.” Sirus didn’t think he could last that long. He didn’t want to last that long. “I am this close to losing my shit, Serberous.”

“Almost one year.” Serberous was rooting for the two of them.

He believed that Aurora could become Commander. He trusted that Sirus would be the final component to get him there. And Sirus has to love all the glory, too.

Serberous was just too happy and smiley for Sirus’ liking.

“You’re the reason I’m going to die.”

“Relax.” Serberous put his arm around Sirus’ shoulder and pulled him along.

Sirus was genuinely mad. The next time he gets his hands on Aurora, he was going to really shake some sense into him.