Sesame knew that his job of being a solo killer was coming to an end. He had run into a lot of trouble dealing with his assassination jobs. He had heard rumors of a new group though or at least a group he had not been aware of too this point. Some sort of bounty hunter organization. How he stumbled about that was simple. There had been a bounty hunter hired to hunt him down. Sesame dragged said man along with him into an alleyway. The Bounty Hunter had quickly found that Sesame was not someone that should be messed with. Sesame made sure to question him about what sort of group this bounty hunter was from. So after he got that answer he had made up his mind.
He used the bounty hunter cell phone to call the numbers of the other bounty hunters. Just to get them to head towards his location. He wanted to see how strong these guys were. If they actually could help him maybe he'd join their organization. Sesame knew that for some of the future jobs he could get offered there would need to be more then just himself facing off with high powered targets. Plus, it seemed like most of the time he run into more then one person he needed to kill at a time. A bit of backup never hurt anyone. Though if they were as weak as this guy was maybe it was not worth the time. For now though Sesame waited for any bounty hunters to head to his locations so he could start questioning them a bit more about this group and get an idea how helpful they would be on Sesame future missions.
Power Level: 8,000 • Suppression: N/A • Antisense: On Transformation: None (x0)
EAST CITY ALLEYWAY... ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ There had been a call from Operations, with a perturbing alert for Bounty Hunter assistance, as a hunter had gone after a high risk target alone. It sounded like a rookie mistake, really, which resulted in others being put into danger for a job handled poorly. It was one thing to have confidence in a profession, but another completely to delude yourself into thinking you could handle a target with considerable power behind them. Still, common sense wasn't common, and Ryze found himself on the way to the location indicated.
The Cerealian was dressed in his usual getup; dark boots, loose pants, black shirt and dark trenchcoat, with gloves on both hands. For all intents and purposes Ryze looked like an Earthling, save perhaps for his red right eye, which was specific to his species alone. But the chances of someone on Earth recognizing him as a Cerealian were astronomically low, considering his race tended to keep to themselves for the most part, save a few outliers like himself.
Before long, the alleyway entry was there, and Ryze stepped into the opening. He was immediately cast into a dim light, the shadow heavy between buildings, but his red eye pierced through that dimness easily. He saw the situation. A figure stood over another one, the latter down on the ground... and it was obviously the Bounty Hunter that was sprawled out in the muck.
"Heard you called to talk to someone from the Bounty Hunters' Association," Ryze said matter-of-factly, as he had few reasons to suspect he had stumbled on the wrong pair, given the locator of the downed member's phone. "This moron try to jump you by himself? Yeah... serves him right, probably a rookie."
Ryze walked into the alleyway a bit, his demeanor calm and non-hostile. He crossed his arms and regarded the individual who had made the unexpected call:
"Sesame, right? Name's Ryze," The Cerealian gave a nod. He continued in a gravelly voice. "You don't have to worry about anyone trying to claim your bounty. Only that guy tried. Anyway, Association operations mentioned you wanted to talk... so what's on your mind?"
One of the Bounty Hunters did eventually arrive. He didn't sense him come through. Good thing Sesame had good eyes and hearing. He saw Ryze step into the alleyway to meet with him. The man had one red eye that seemed to pierce through the darkness. It was not something he expected to see. Why did he had those discolored eyes? He was pretty sure it was not just a discoloration of eyes, it seemed too bright for that. Sesame turned o face the man as he asked if the man had tried to jump him alone. Sesame gave a nod to his question. "Yes, but it would not of mattered, at least I believe it not of mattered who they sent." Sesame didn't know how strong this guy was but how he approached he either had to be strong or damn cocky.
The man seemed to know who he was asking if he was Sesame. He gave a nod. "I must ask why you know my name?" Maybe he just knew the news or did his homework. Either way he was curious. The man also did introduce himself as Ryze and he noted he didn't have to worry about anyone claiming his bounty anymore. He explained he had been called over since the association these bounty hunter were apart of heard he wanted to talk. So he wanted to know what he wanted. "When men come after you become curious. Not that i'm surprised. But this group seems large. Full of weaklings if this guy one of your better ones. As you know I am Sesame. I am an assaisan by trade. I killed a lot of people don't really do bounty hunter work. But i've run into many foes that can't be killed by my own hands. If there some large group of like minded folks who do jobs for money. I am interested to see if that organization is something I should consider putting my weight behind."
Power Level: 8,000 • Suppression: N/A • Antisense: On Transformation: None (x0)
EAST CITY ALLEYWAY... ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ When Sesame mentioned it wouldn't have mattered who had been sent, Ryze nodded. He understood the individual before him was strong, it was why Ryze hadn't taken the bounty to begin with, but the rookie Bounty Hunter had. Which had resulted in the current situation...
"I can't disagree with you," Ryze said simply as he glanced down to the member of the Association. "Like I said, this guy was the only one stupid enough to try. Don't hold it against the rest of us?"
When it came time for the questions, Ryze was prepared. He had been with the Bounty Hunters' Association for a while, he had completed a number of bounties and earned some decent pay from it all. It certainly helped with his wanderer lifestyle, as he needed the zeni to pay for the next hotel or meal, and being in contact with a group that provided universe-wide job opportunities was convenient. Still, when Sesame began to speak, Ryze looked back to him and listened, offering the odd nod every so often.
"I'm part of the Bounty Hunters' Association, we do a bunch of contract and hire work across the universe," Ryze started with, as he figured the start was the best place to begin. "Bounties, kill orders, whatever it is, we do it if the contract is accepted by a member. And if there was a bounty on you, it wasn't us, it was a client... so someone out there wants your head."
Ryze shrugged again, as he put his hands into his coat pockets and pressed on:
"Assassins do well in the business, especially for the clients who want dead bounties. Also a good opportunity to branch out, earn more money, and team up with other members for maximum profit... the Association offers bonuses for teams, because it's more effective." The Cerealian raised his eyebrows as he regarded Sesame. "If you're interested, I could call up the Association and see if something's available in the area? Could be a good way to see if you're interested enough to take part. If not, that's fine, I can answer more questions..."
Sesame nodded as Ryze said that most people would not be so foolish to try that agian. That bounty hunter had just not been aware of what he had been dealing with. "I don't hold it against you. It's business. He got paid to kill me. He should have had a better plan." Sesame grunted looking at the defeated bounty hunter for a moment before letting that go. He knew that in his profession there was a chance of being hunted. When you killed people for a living there was always a chance someone would try to hire someone to stop your rampage.
The man then explained so interestedly about the group he was a part of. They were the Bounty Hunter Association. They did contract work across the universe. Any sort of work, bounties, kill order, and he assumed by that logic assassination. He knew some groups were not a fan of those types of things. So he was glad it seemed likely that if he did join this group he'd not have to change his Mo. The deal did sound pretty good from what he heard. Ryze then offered him a part of the association, maybe to find a job right away. Sesame gave a nod. "I am interested in joining this group." Sesame raised a hand. "However, I am not sure if you all even that strong. I have been working solo for a long time. If I am gonna work with this group I wanna know that at least some of the bounty hunters were strong. So I wish to face you in battle. I assume if they sent you, you must be one of their stronger bounty hunters. So this will give me an idea of the upper limits of this organization."
Power Level: 8,000 • Suppression: N/A • Antisense: On Transformation: None (x0)
EAST CITY ALLEYWAY... ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ When Sesame looked down to the Bounty Hunter on the ground, and mentioned it was his own fault, Ryze couldn't disagree. The notion of attacking a more powerful individual, alone and head-on, proved how inexperienced and new the defeated alien was. It had been a stupid move, both Sesame and Ryze knew it, and both understood the situation regarding the attempt.
"Yeah, part of the risk when you do this kind of work," Ryze said with a nod. He looked back to the other individual, and added. "That said, being part of the Association does protect you from bounty reprisals for any work you do for them. We're contractors, any fallout lands on the organization, not the individual... so you could still do what you're doing, but with some security in place."
Ultimately, the Association provided insurance, and made sure legalities were handled on the business end of the contracting system. It meant no single Bounty Hunter was charged or incriminated or received a bounty for completing their work, in retaliation for completing a job, within reason. Obviously there were limits, and the Association couldn't protect someone who destroyed a city or planet for a single target claim...
"Hm?" Ryze raised an eyebrow at the next statement from Sesame. "You want to fight me? Why?" The Cerealian was confused, as he cleared his throat and got more serious. "I never claimed to be a strong member of the Association. I was in the area, so I responded to the request to talk. All I'd get for fighting you would be medical expenses, and you'll just be disappointed... I didn't take the bounty on you for a reason."
Ryze shrugged, his hands still in his coat pockets.
"If you joined, you would be one of the strongest members, sure. You would gain access to the most dangerous bounties, class five's, probably. But, you would also be protected while on the job, legally... so it's not a question of if the organization is strong enough, it's whether you want to keep doing what you do, but with job security and the option to have assistance from others."
The Cerealian looked down to the unconscious Bounty Hunter again, and smirked:
"I'm guessing the Association could make any outstanding warrants disappear, too. It's your call... I'm just the messenger."
Sesame nodded as Ryze listed the benefit of being apart of the group. In a sense, he’d have a fallout net. Not that he needed much of that. He was more worried about getting jobs done. However, the man disappointed him when he noted he was not that strong. They were people in this organization even stronger then himself. Or at least that what that guy believed. Unless this organization had some power house under wraps then he was sure that was exaggeration. Then again he had not shown his power. So it was possible for the guy to assume that. And he claimed that if someone set a bounty on him they be able to remove it. He gave out a light chuckle before leaning against the wall.
“I see…your group…they are newbies. I got my hopes up.” Sesame frowned at Ryze. “I very much doubt your people have the power to drop my bounties. Some yes? All, I doubt so. I did try to kill a lot of people including the current president of this planet. While I can’t say I am one of the people he got an official bounty on me, there is that new law. I can’t remember the name.” Sesame rubbed his head. “Ki registration act I think. Since i’m not signed up and your not I image your group will be hunted as well. You claiming to be some legal organization. If you wanna actually become legal on this planet you’d have to meet the President. Just my advice.” He didn’t dislike some of the benefits they offered in terms of fighting with others. But this guy must of thought this group of his was more powerful then it actually was. Or maybe it was. He’d love for these guys to have that much power.
Power Level: 8,000 • Suppression: N/A • Antisense: On Transformation: None (x0)
EAST CITY ALLEYWAY... ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ For a moment, Ryze inclined his head.
Is he... not understanding what I've said, or?
Perhaps some clarification was needed. Some specifics. Examples, as it were, since Sesame seemed to need things outlined in detail.
"The group is newer than other companies or organizations, sure," The Cerealian said after a pause. "But the network is growing universally, allowing for contracts on multiple planets. There's members across the universe, I'm just one, and so is that guy who came after you... I couldn't say who's stronger or not, because I haven't met everyone. Also, I imagine the pay offs for bounties would rely on the member's usefulness to the Association... for example, they aren't going to pay a bounty, for a nobody who doesn't complete claims or do good work. I imagine the offer to help you, is because of your skills and power, and the Association thinks you'll do well as a member?"
Ryze raised his eyebrows, as he glanced down to the unconscious hunter.
"They also use other methods. Bounties are listed for all hunters via bulletins or whatever, so they might keep your existing bounties buried and not readily available to see... other groups might still have your outstanding bounties on offer, but the Association would probably support a member by keeping them on the down-low, and even purchasing the bounties from other groups. I dunno, it's not my department, I just catch or kill."
The mention of the new Earth-specific laws made Ryze nod.
"You mean the Central City Accords. Yeah, I'm aware of them. And I've met the President, I've done some work for him even," The Cerealian said simply, as he glanced to Sesame. "I don't expect trouble from the Government of Earth, at least... and the Association isn't claiming to be a legal controlling entity. What I meant was it's a business, a company, it operates within established laws on any given planet, which protects the members legally. Why? Because the Association has lawyers that handle the specifics of each contract, and make sure we're good to claim them. Easy."
Ryze didn't really know what else he could say. Either Sesame was interested, or he wasn't, but for the Cerealian it was almost time to keep moving to the next job. Time was money, and he didn't want to miss out on a contract...
"Anyway, I have some work lined up. Can't stand in an alleyway to chat all day. The decision comes down to you, Sesame, and whether being a member might benefit you or not," Ryze cleared his throat and turned to face Sesame. "Seems like the Association is happy to offer recruitment, if you want it... otherwise, I can tell them you said no, and can move on."
Sesame glanced as Ryze explained that while the group was new they were expanding. They were people across the universe. He didn’t know how strong the members were. But the payment he could make would be based on his skills and doing his jobs. He even then added some more information explaining that the association would try to get rid of any outstanding bounties or at least keep it on the down low. To give some cover from being hunted. Sesame gave a nod, that was all a reasonable responsible. But did he have a way to back that up. Well he did.
He claimed that he was not only aware of the accords and he has meet and done work for the president. He was pretty sure that they would not have any trouble with the government. It was a company in that sense. It was going to follow Earth’s laws. They would use lawyers to protects its member from trouble. Sesame frowned in thought. He was not sure how much he trusted this new group to throw his lot with them. It was possible everything he was saying was going to be backed up by the group. But what it was wasn’t. He was a criminal and joining this group could just be mean they would wait to hunt him. After a few moments in thoughts and after noting that Ryze needed to go soon he’d sigh. “Impressive. I’ll join this group for now. But I hope that everything that is being offered is actually backed up.” If not then he was going to have to pull himself away from this organization.
Power Level: 8,000 • Suppression: N/A • Antisense: On Transformation: None (x0)
EAST CITY ALLEYWAY... ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ It seemed Sesame had reached some kind of decision, regarding the Association. Seemed he would join, for now by his words, and would see what the organization offered and could do for him. That was about the extent Ryze expected, though with luck Sesame would eventually see the benefits and grow to support the Association, but as it was there wasn't a downside to seeing if it worked out or not.
Worst case scenario, he leaves, Ryze thought to himself, as he nodded. We'll see.
The Cerealian fished around in his coat pocket, before he pulled out a small card. He held it out to Sesame and waited for him to take it, before he pointed to the thing and added:
"That's some contact information, for Operations, the personnel who run the Association," Ryze put his hand back into his coat pocket, before he looked back to Sesame. "If you call them, they can sort out the specifics. I'll send them a report on the discussion we had, too, so they'll be updated."
Ryze raised his eyebrows.
"If you join, welcome aboard. Maybe we'll work together eventually, when I'm a higher contract class. Was there anything else you wanted? If not, I have some work to get to."
Depending on Sesame's answer, Ryze would either remain to answer following questions, or nod at the farewell and leave the area...
Sesame glanced as Ryze handed him a card for the Association. They would be the ones to give any other information he was in need of. They would be his contacts if he wanted to get work. He gave a nod and put the card away. It was good to know there was a group to contact. He didn't need to go someplace. They must have had a base somewhere out in space. It didn't matter, he was not going hunting for them. Ryze then asked if he had anything else he needed. Sesame waved. "No, I beat up your guy. I got my information. Now I won't be hunted by you lot. Perhaps I'll do a few jobs soon."
He could use more money and some harder jobs. These Bounty Hunter guys seemed to at least be offering work he might find more worth his time. Killing humans who could hardly fight back didn't help him deal with the pain of his last defeat at the hands of Fend. With that, they had finished their business. He gave a curt nod to Ryze before leaping onto one of the buildings and vanishing into the depths of town with a few quick movements. No need to stick around when he had obtained everything he wanted. Instead, it was time to go do some training before he took up one of the many jobs this association had now opened up to him.
Apr 6, 2024 1:21:15 GMT -5
Lottus: Friendly reminder for new folks to check the rules regarding art claims - AI Art is not accepted on Sparking for character sheets.
Apr 17, 2024 14:43:28 GMT -5
Lottus: Hey folks, got a new phone, but verification is preventing me from downloading Discord for now
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Yakito: I am the #1 Tenrec hater (Striker will be struck)