Grakkan's Union • Chapter Nine "Mr. Grakkan"
Li Musen Daer, which meant The Best Grub in the Majestian language, bustled with the hushed rumblings of the diners. The maître d', a construct indentured to the Majestian owners, delicately unfolded the royal blue cloak from the shoulders of Lady Diamond, giving the cloak its own closet in which to rest. Lady Diamond's guest was the metal Frankenstein named Johnny Alpha. His picture hung in the walkway leading to the main dining area, but he was the same construct only on the inside; he was not readily recognized, and even the maître d' looked down his shiny, chrome nose at him now. The couple turned a lot of heads, Lady Diamond, because of proper, physical maintenance and genetic gifts, and Johnny Alpha for his improper, physical neglect and unfortunate events. Faces continued to turn away from food and conversation to watch, as the two were led into a private room in the back.
Already at the table was Kavorkian Grantun. His suit clung to his body tightly enough to reveal the weaponless sheaths beneath. They crisscrossed his chest and back, bunched at his waist, and crisscrossed again down his legs. He filled his tailored suit. His muscles bulged and contracted of their own will. His temperature rose and dropped with each heavy breath he took.
His skin was gray-blue by nature but looked a reflective brown under the lights. He was built out of squares stacked upon one another, with the edges sanded down after completion. His large, trapezoidal jaw housed a continually clenched mouth but smiled with ease in the presence of Lady Diamond. His eyes were slit, like a serpent, giving rise to many rumors of his ancestry. Raised only by his mother, an alien from Raskelon territory, the identity of his father was questioned until recently when he tracked him down, only to find out he was a dead-beat demon from Skiverkilial, who was better left unknown. Kavorkian let the rumors of his ancestry continue to abound, rather than admit he was half-demon.
He slid the table away from him as he stood to greet Lady Diamond and Johnny Alpha. He hugged and kissed her without touching, and gave a hearty, full-body handshake to him. "Have certainly grown up," blurted Kavorkian, looking Lady Diamond up and down in the most flattering of ways. "And look," he told Johnny Alpha, an incomplete thought. "Please, sit," he rapped against the table with knuckles like boulders.
Lady Diamond sat first, both Kavorkian and Johnny Alpha helping her needlessly with her chair. Johnny Alpha sat directly beside her, Kavorkian directly across. "Have certainly grown up," reiterated Kavorkian.
"Yes, time ages a person," Lady Diamond caught herself without pause, "except for you. You look as young as when my father first handled you."
Kavorkian sighed dreamily, "Was a long time ago, wasn't it?" He thought back through time.
"Am I to understand you're manager and gladiator?"
"Yeah," Kavorkian was still thinking of the past, "four years now."
"That must be daunting, watching over the team inside and out of the arena?"
"Tried to retire, get away from the bruises and beatings, but was bored and fat. Might as well just fight 'til death."
Johnny Alpha did not feel the loll of depression, "I'm surprised you haven't died already. You came close back when we fought together."
"Yeah." Waking up from the dream, Kavorkian brought them back to the present, "Will the rest be joining?"
"I'm afraid my team is unable to be here," said Lady Diamond. She considered adding they were one public incident away from being on house arrest, but she decided against it. "How about your team?"
"Yeah, should be here soon. Jobs outside the arena." Kavorkian apologized. "Times are tough."
With a twinge of embarrassment, Lady Diamond agreed. "Did you hear about Croi?" asked Lady Diamond.
"Yeah, hasn't recovered from the match the other day. Supposed to fight tomorrow night down in the Pits."
"Yes, I heard your team was opposing him in the opening match. Do you know who you will fight if he doesn't show?"
Kavorkian gave a soft growl, "Got to arrange another team."
"We’re scheduled with one less match than the other teams this season. I don’t think we’re even scheduled to fight you. Shame, as we sure would like another chance to prove ourselves in the Pits," Johnny Alpha noted.
"Could happen," said Kavorkian, letting the conversation conclude there.
The low trickling of conversations erupted as two people with the voices of a thousand entered. "And then she said she'd get faster service if she hired deactivated constructs!"
"The x'lor of her!"
"I'd like to get her in the cave and show her my zorvyt bkalkhei..." the woman's voice slipped into the war language of the alien race of Blaunt, of which both of them were derived. Blaunt was a planet-less moon that was taken into orbit in the Leonide system, but the inhabitants considered themselves a planet. They were conquered and re-conquered so many times the original alien race was gone, but the language remained and was popularized by teens who liked the vulgarity of it.
"My team," noted Kavorkian.
The maître d' entered their private room first, trying to stop the two intruders. "This is a private party, you cannot..."
The two aliens pushed past, still spouting off in the war-tongue. "They're with us," assured Johnny Alpha, rising to greet the guests. The maitre'd left them, reluctantly.
"You'll never believe what that mrell of a boss did to me today!" assured the female. Her name was Chrysan Vortex. She was tough, pink and yellow skin on a wiry frame. She wore a dress popularized on a recent magazine cover. Her hair nearly reached the base of her neck, auburn in color, and could have passed for a human. Her face was small but striking and hid the anger she carried. She stood next to her manager and team leader, Kavorkian, leering over him until he stood, then she was eye to shoulder. It did not take away from her haughtiness. "That pyter mrell fired me!"
"It was oitern unfair!" whined her coworker and team member, Nylan Epimetheus. He was eye to shoulder with Chrysan, as thick as he was wide, half as wide as he was tall, and pinstriped yellow on green. His hair would be like Chrysan's if he grew it out, but he chose to shave it, and let it grow in stubbly. Models in magazines also decided his clothes, though he was a few issues behind.
"Lunch now, talk later," ordered Kavorkian. He flashed Lady Diamond and Johnny Alpha an ogreish grin to explain it all. "My team."
"It is a pleasure to meet you both," Lady Diamond spoke with the utmost sincerity.
"A real pleasure," Johnny Alpha leaned forward and bowed.
Chrysan screeched her chair across the floor, letting neither Kavorkian nor Nylan helps her with her it. She sat with her legs apart; lucky the table shielded the view. "You look like you've been ripped apart and sewn back together," Chrysan tactlessly blurted.
Johnny Alpha nodded. "That's pretty much true. Part of me is original, the most useless of parts I should add." He laughed with the humorlessness that constructs of old laughed with.
"I like your arms, where'd you get 'em?"
Johnny Alpha held up his left, magenta-ish arm, "This I recovered from a scrap heap, Pol-tec design. It had a short, but I fixed it myself. This one," he held up his newest component, a yellow-white automail arm with spring-activated pellets "was bought from a merchant down in the market here."
"You'd be better off scrounging from the oitern garbage dump than from the markets here," commented Nylan, with no proof to back up his claim.
"Johnny Alpha and I have found many treasures here in the Detrius Colony, and this arm is at the top of the trove," assured Lady Diamond.
Chrysan sat up and forward, "Johnny Alpha? I know that name..." Chrysan thought. Nylan thought as well, but without intending to come to an answer. "Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, I know, I know, you fought in Grakkan's Union a long time back, right? Why do I know that? Someone mentioned you...oh...yeah, yeah, weren't you?" she addressed her manager.
"Yes, were partners some time back."
"Huh, small world. Did you hear about his record?" Chrysan asked the two guests, still not certain of their relationship. She nudged her manager, "He's this close to holding the record of most wins in Grakkan's Union. They're calling him 'Mr. Grakkan' now. He'd already hold the record if that pyter of a jrell Captain Un-Impressive would lose; he's like one win ahead or something. Gornb, can't wait for him to just pummel him so he can claim that title and stop grumbling about it." She nudged Kavorkian again, "Said he'd give Impressive's manager the old ferub and tirn as well, just to teach her a lesson for bringing Impressive back to Grakkan's Union." No one at the table was breathing, except for Chrysan who continued to live for the sake of ignorance. Even Johnny Alpha's inner workings paused. "That's going to be one sweet fight. Now, where's the waiter to take our order? I'm oitern hungry!"
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