Ronnie the Beef was actually kind of fucking intimidating. The other  two G rankers I didn't recognize, not that I would have, but they might  have been new for all I knew. Ronnie though, was familiar, and despite  the absolute absurdity of screaming about beef parties, he was pretty  obviously a dangerous fucking guy. I felt Cark and Callie shift into a  defensive position beside me, getting ready to join in, and I was glad  we'd decided to throw on our costumes in the car on the way over. I spun  my cane unconsciously between my fingers as I analyzed the situation,  readying myself to fight.

Despite both of us being more  used to Callie running the show, we stayed back though. Ronnie would  almost definitely recognize us obviously, but that didn't matter. This  was Flame Riot Militia business, and that meant Cark was running the  show here. He needed to show his new underlings he could get their back,  which meant leaving Ronnie to him. The fact that he was easily the  physically strongest of us didn't hurt either. Ronnie was might heavy  from what I knew, and he'd been a G ranker for while if I remembered  right.

I saw Ronnie notice us, and his eyes immediately  fixed on Callie, which I didn't like at all. While I had a bit of a  reputation back home after taking down Stricture, and I was sure the  Jerks at least knew me if Carl was as annoying about the whole rival  thing as he was about everything else when I met him, Callie was in  another league. My girlfriend was Nightstrike, one of the most renowned  and adored Ascendants in all of Velan, and there was no possible way  Ronnie wouldn't recognize her even if he didn't know her personally,  which I was pretty sure he did.

Luckily Cark was having  exactly none of his shit, and bounty hunter immediately brought out his  staff, creating a melon sized orb of blue flame on the tip of the thing  and letting it rotate in place threateningly as he glared at Ronnie.  "So, I came down here to check up on my new charges, and I see one  flying through the wall of this place? Was that you?" He tossed the ball  of flames up lazily, keeping it spinning and started bouncing it off  the staff in a way that made my head hurt because fire shouldn't behave  like that.

As he did he kept his eyes glued to Ronnie, his  voice remaining bored despite his eyes being narrowed in irritation.  "Because as the only G ranked Blue Flame Baron it doesn't look great for  me if some hulked out nutcase with ridiculous hair starts slapping  around my boys." There was a loud clearing of a throat and we all looked  around to see a small red haired woman in a leather vest glaring at him  from under a shaggy pixie cut. Cark flushed. "My PEOPLE. Sorry." She  gave an imperious nod, and a few of the other Militia members snickered.

I  noticed that despite the laughter though, once they saw the blue flames  the Militia members seemed to be relaxing. Knowing one of their heavy  hitters was here was clearly making them much calmer. I wasn't sure what  Blue Flame Barons could actually do, but clearly they had seen some of  them do it and had plenty of confidence in their ability to kick ass.  Though it actually surprised me they needed the morale boost. I scanned  the room, and realized I'd overestimated how powerful this group was by a  large margin.

There was about twenty people here, but  only two of them were G rankers. The red haired woman and a tall man  with purple hair that went down to his shoulders. I was pretty sure the  guy who went through the door was G ranked too, but the rest of these  people being lower made me think the bastards had picked their timing  pretty well here. I knew the Flame Riot Militia had to have more G  rankers than this in the district in order to compete with Aiden, but  they couldn't all be everywhere all the time.

Cark was  thinking the same thing apparently, because he looked around with a  scowl. "You shouldn't have been able to find this many of our people  together without any executives. I'm guessing you got a tip from  someone?" Ronnie just grinned unpleasantly. Which was all the answer we  needed. Whoever was making moves was very well informed. Cark waved it  off. "Doesn't matter. You guys fucked up not bringing more people.  Solomon, Nightstrike, I'll leave his lackeys to you. I'm going to teach  this overgrown baboon a lesson."

Ronnie just sneered. "Oh  look, another one thinks he's king shit because he's tougher than a few  nobodies down here. I'm an old hand at this boy, I got moves. But sure,  if you want I should knock you around in front of your lickspittles I'm  game." He leered at Callie. "But you should know I have some staying  power. Just ask Nightstrike, I can go as long as you want."

Callie  sneered at him. "Being proud of how long I could kick your ass is about  as pathetic as I would expect from you Ronnie. The implication that I  would ever sleep with you makes me physically ill by the way, not that  it takes much when I can smell the reek of that overpriced muck you use  to keep your mohawk up from all the way over here. You have exactly  fifteen seconds to get out of here before my friend kicks your ass up  and down this grungy bar. That's the kinder option by the way, because  if you make me do it myself I'm going to stomp your teeth in and wear  your face like a shoe."

We all stared at her in horrified  shock. My voice was slightly strangled as I spoke. "Well, that  was...direct. I don't think I've ever heard you that vicious when  talking to anyone." Several other people looked just as confused as I  was, though they had less context for the change in behavior,. Cark  mostly just grinned at the big fuchsia haired thug, whose face was  coming close to matching his mohawk. I shook off my slight awe at the  tongue lashing. "I take it you have issues with him then?"

The  sneer got more pronounced. "Ronnie and I have fought several times.  He's Mr. Jack-tastic's enforcer. Most of the Jerks are just idiots or  bullies, but Ronnie is a real sadist. He enjoys hurting people, and he  likes to think he's good at it, despite only actually inflicting that  pain on people he knows he can beat." I could hear genuine venom in her  voice as she snarled that. Normally when I heard about villains or  gangsters it was a professional dislike, but clearly Ronnie was someone  she actively loathed.

Cark walked towards the big man,  grin still in place, bouncing that ball of flame. Every time it made  contact with the staff I saw it flash, and I realized he was condensing a  new layer of flame from the air around it and compacting the fire into a  hotter and hotter sphere. I wondered if he'd gotten a few pointers from  Burning Fist, or if this was just a trick I hadn't really seen him use  before, but either way it was pretty damned impressive to watch. Ronnie  eyed it casually but without any real fear as Cark approached him.

I  knew Cark though, I'd seen my friend fight. He could throw hands with  the best of them, but he wasn't stupid or cocky. He could and often did  fight smart. As he came within a few feet he shifted his grip on the  staff and smashed the sphere of fire toward Ronnie's head. As the bright  orb filled the other man's vision however the staff swept back around  and a concentrated swathe of flame was released at Ronnie's feet, or  rather, at the ground beneath them.

The big fuchsia haired  thug grinned as he took in the attacks. Without any delay he brought  both hands together in a hard clap in front of him, about chest level.  When the hands made contact there was a kind of...change. The sound of  the clap was amplified into a sonic shockwave that ripped the air in  front of him apart, dispersing both the orb and the flame wave, though  most of his effort had been aimed at the former. A few tongues of flame  landed on his pants and boots, searing them and eating holes in the  material before he smacked them out, cursing at Cark.

My  friend wasn't particularly pleased though. Despite the sneak attack he  hadn't managed to injure Ronnie aside from a bit of clothing damage. It  was nice that the big asshole wasn't smirking anymore, but now he just  looked annoyed rather than worried. I had known Ronnie had a sonic power  from what Callie had told me, but I hadn't realized how effective it  was. Neither, apparently, had Cark.

Cark  was starting to get a little wary of the bigger man, and I didn't blame  him, but Ronnie was looking more serious than he had been a minute ago.  The other Militia members weren't exactly jumping for joy anymore, but  they were still cautiously optimistic. Cark kept his eyes on that other  man. "So, Nightstrike, why don't you tell me more about this guy. I  remember you mentioning he had some kind of sound power, but that attack  was...weird. I haven't really seen anything like that."

Ronnie  turned to glare at her. "You interfering little bitch, if you say a  word I'll-" His incredibly unwise threat was cut off by a high pitched  shriek as he hurled himself backwards, barely avoiding a spike of shadow  that had speared up from under him right at his junk. I could tell he  realized he'd lost some of his momentum from the action, but rather than  glare at Callie his face just looked kind of green at what had almost  happened to him,. I grinned behind my mask. Good.

Callie,  meanwhile, acted like nothing at all had been said, her face placid and  bored as she turned to answer Cark. "I'm not sure what it is now, but  the last recorded variation of his ability was called Warcry. There are  still a few people at the guild in Velan who remember Ronnie's intake  interview. After our first fight I looked into it. It lets him amplify  and shape sound waves. Basically he uses his Might to crank the volume  and his ability to control them. Careful if you get close, his shouts  can burst ear drums, and he likes to mess up people's equilibrium and  then smack them around."

Ronnie  was practically seething, but his face was still confident. "So what?  Your little slut tells you my tricks and you think you can take me? I'm  not the same fighter I was before. I've gotten stronger than you can  imagine." He grinned maliciously, clearly thinking of however many  points he managed to beg off the other candidate, but I'd had just about  enough of this asshole. He'd been shit talking Callie and being a  general bastard since he showed up, and I was going to make sure he  suffered.

I  stepped forward next to Cark and put my hand on the staff. I was smiling  genially at Ronnie, but he couldn't see it through my mask. Pity for  him. "Hi. My name is Solomon, and that's my girlfriend you've been  talking shit about. I don't care how strong you are, or who you work  for, or what you're doing here. I've decided I don't like you, so you're  about to have a bad fucking day." I kept my voice even and controlled  and I flexed my DS Mastery skill, reaching down into the staff with it.  Touch of Tears, Consecration of Flame.

The  length of the staff crackled as it became imbued with toxic green fire.  I think Cark was confused as to how he could still hold it, but he was  the items wielder, so it wouldn't hurt him. It had been a small strain  to change the designated owner like that, but doable. He called up a  small orb of fire at the end of the staff and when it appeared it  was...different. Sort of a teal color and crackling with acidic  lethality. I smacked on the shoulder. "Well that should do it, enjoy."  Then I turned to walk back over to Callie. This should be a fun show.