The Death of Alfonso Carlson Avery

It was a late Biodome night when the streets were clustered with roused and startled citizens gathered around the site of an accident. To light the ashes of a demolished coffee shop were police and emergency vehicle lights parked at the scene. They all talked among themselves, speculating what happened, filing their reports, counting heads, checking for people trapped under the rubble and taping off the scene.

Though no one had been reported dead, the sight of the shop suggested anyone who was inside when it went up could not have survived. And for one person on the scene, she was convinced there was at least one casualty.

?Miss Black, we're going to need your signature on a couple of these forms.? a law enforcement officer politely asked to the woman who was crouched before the rubble with a suspicious look.

?I'll deal with that in a minute.? Cassandra told him in a dismissive manner, not wanting anyone to throw off her concentration right now. She did stand back up eventually and decide to reconvene with the officers at the vehicle's hood where some paperwork had been strewn out and a large mag-lite sat in the wiper blade groove to better light.

Outrageous damages needed someone to step up and take responsibility for, and tonight that was Cassandra Black. There were several reports and testimonials floating around of just what happened here tonight, but the basics of the incident remain loosely the same: Alfonso Carlson Avery had made an appearance and an extravagant order of foam lattes to go. But before the tyrannical figure could live out his joke, Cassandra Black arrived and attempted to murder him, in-effect destroying the whole coffee shop in the process.

Cassandra cursed that her methods had been so unrelenting, because she could justify that there was no body to be found because of how much firepower she had unleashed upon her contemptible adversary. It would be racking at her mind all night.

?I know some people are upset, Miss Black. But we support why you did it, Miss Black. As long as someone pays for these damages, all should be forgiven. Just hang around for a little while longer, okay? I think you may need to make a statement.? The policeman was unsure of whether or not she needed to, but looked to be looking into that detail. He left the writing desk of a car hood for now.

Cassandra Black walked away from it as well to scrutinize the demolished coffee shop for the nth time looking all shades of unsure. ?..Hmph...?

In the distance had been a black town car parked and lifeless among the slumbering street side of other cars belonging to the Biodome working man. But this car, in its backseat window, had a lone eye onlooking the woman out its cracked window. It did not watch for long, before the window rolled up.

Inside the car, Alfonso sighed out with relief that, though she may not have thought he was dead, she had at least abandoned her meddlesome hunt long enough to give him a break. ?She sure has it out for me... that one.? He looked up from his knees for the two men in the front seats, seeking sympathy.

Johnnie had sat behind the wheel, frequently busying himself with his own mustache, and beside him was Declan DonEvans, like Alfonso, watching the woman known as Cassandra Black on the crime scene trying to convince herself that ?Alfonso Carlson Avery? was still out there somewhere.

?As long as she thinks you're dead, you're safe.? Declan said, maintaining a serious look on her through the window. Her seriousness to kill this man was nothing to make light of, and him being the man who normally saw ways out of things, even let out a sort of tamed, hopeless sigh.

?She will realize it eventually, you know,? Johnnie wiped his mouth down just one more time. ?If I were you I'd use this time to get a nice head start. A sensible person might say that's smart.? He looked back to Alfonso who had slid up between the two chairs and draped an arm around each man.

?Who, out of this great power-infested world, do I have to be afraid of?? He looked his eye to each man while brandishing a very friendly smile that did not suit the situation at all. ?We should be enjoying this moment, because who knows when we might be able to sit down peaceably like this again.?

It was true, the three were phenomenal powers packed into one little car, but however faint, there was a mutual understanding between them all. Declan looked over to Alfonso with a unfriendly stare before removing his hand from his person and returning it to him.

?You just have to lay low for a little while. Destiny is a player among us as well. Fighting her now would only kill and injure other people, and tampering with the civil course of the average day in Biodome... well, equal consequences will come into play.? Declan said.

Johnnie started the car once he'd seen Cassandra finally leave the scene, allowing for his headlights to beam on. ?Balance always returns itself here.?

Alfonso looked between them with his hands on the shoulders of their seats. ?And there is nothing about chaos that doesn't just excite you both?? his grin favored one side of mouth. Whether he anticipated it or not, Declan's eyes had seen within the one Alfonso had what his intentions in that moment were.

The car could have rocked and it could have gone aflame and a battle then could have erupted, but that would have only been following Alfonso's moving up-front, which Declan quickly halted by smacking him in the chest to push him back in his seat. Another disaster averted.

?Don't...? He pointed at him.

Alfonso was smiling, caught red-handed in his recent efforts to turn something fun out of a calm situation. But he could respect those in the domes whom could cause trouble for him. ?Okay... okay.? He showed him that his hands were doing nothing and would continue to do so. A sweet promise, the likes of which he only made once or twice in a lifetime. But it was genuine.

Johnnie pulled out of the parked space and began heading away from the scene all alone on the dark road. The night had in store for it something akin to a pleasant drive with three of Biodome's more ?capable? occupants.

Having heard Alfonso's unspoken promise to behave, Declan turned back in his seat to face the windshield again and try and slip into a comfortable position for their long drive to the outskirts of the dome where undoubtedly The Kurgan would be docked outside and awaiting its captain.

Alfonso, though he had promised to behave, had enjoyed that minor altercation just now, and was only just starting to calm, dropping his hands over each of his inner thighs and looking out the window. The sight of the apartments all scrolling by, some with their own cute little porch lights and some without, were very relaxing and homely.

It transported Alfonso to another place, almost. Quietly, he started whispering out a few words to a song.

?.. ?.. baby, .. ? quite alright ..need you baby, on such a lonely night...?

Johnnie looked up to his face in his rear-view mirror, and Declan similarly back over his shoulder at him.

?need you... baby. Trust in me when I say.? Alfonso continued.
? ?when I saay.? Declan quietly contributed.

Alfonso looked his eye over at him, who was looking out his own window at this point.

Alfonso continued,

?Oh pretty baby..?Alfonso sang.
?Oh pretty baby.? Declan sang.
?Oh pretty ba-aaby...? Johnnie sang.

Alfonso grinned out his window, ?If it's quite alright ? I need you, baaby.?
?If it's quite alright I need you, baby..? Declan sang.
?If it's quite alright I need you, baby...? Johnnie smiled.

?Alright. Yeah. I think we've got something special here, fellas.? Alfonso critiqued, time enough to join back in with the singing.

?... ..such a lonely night.? Johnnie swayed his head, keeping his eyes relaxingly on the road.
?... on such a lonely night.? Declan sang.
??such a lonely night.? Alfonso added.

?Let me love you baby, let me love you.?
?Let me love you baby, let me love you.?
?Let me love you baby, let me love you.?

The car drove off into the night.