Deafened

by Crayonpaste

The Seven Hundred Dollar Moneyshot

If only this street was properly lit, this place wouldn't look half as creepy as it does. But on the other hand, that extra lighting just might mean a not so nice person can find you two a lot easier. Speaking of not so nice people, as you and Adagio walk deeper and deeper into the streets, you start seeing walls sprayed with intimidating looking graffiti signs of different colors. There's no doubt about it that you two are walking straight into gang territory. On the outside, you may appear calm, but you're actually scared to death over being in a place like this. You wonder if Adagio's handling this situation any better then you.

You look back, and find that the Adagio Dazzle you're accustomed to from school has changed quite a bit. She no longer walks with the long confident strides she does in school, and that constant devious smile on her face that has always captivates you is also gone. Instead, she walks with her back hunched over, her head constantly probing left and right like a security camera. The slightest noise gets her attention, and her trademark poofy hair has also been brushed and tied back into a ponytail, revealing her ears that are normally hidden behind them. She looks far more human, and attentive of her surroundings.

"Careful now." She says to you. "Something doesn't feel right..."

From the back of your ear, you hear the sound of a radio playing loud hip hop music. Turning around, you spot a pair of dim headlights getting brighter and brighter. Adagio, who noticed it before you, already found a hiding place behind a parked truck, and beckons you to come over.

You scramble for a spot next to Adagio, and wait as the music gets louder and louder. You hold your breath as it revs past the two of you, leaving behind visible tire marks on the pothole ridden road.

"That was close." You whisper, clenching your heart.

"Just keep moving." Adagio orders you. "The sooner we find Aria, the sooner we can leave this dump."

Adagio peeks her head just above the car, scanning for any movement before gingerly getting up from her hiding spot, motioning for you to follow her. The two then continue to walk in silence, forgetting the car ever came by. Adagio keeps her eyes up front, while you watch behind, keeping your eyes peeled for anything fishy.

You wipe sweat off of your forehead. To add with the rundown houses of the street, the near deafening silence, and gang graffiti, it's also extremely humid tonight; the air feels oppressively thick, and a thin layer of mist rises above the road, making it pretty hard to see far. All these factors combined makes this place feel like the setting of a horror movie, starring you and Adagio.

The street seems to go on without end, but to your relief, you finally spot the familiar looking Mercedes in all its glory. You take a quick look, and find the car's perfectly intact; no scars, no scratches, no dents, nothing. Nice to know that Aria didn't kill anybody coming over here.

"Well, there's the car..." You think aloud. "No Aria however." You look over to Adagio nervously.

"Where do you think she went..."

You and Adagio suddenly freeze in place at the sight before you. In the darkness, you spot three humanoid silhouettes moving towards the two of you with a very aggressive and purposeful manner. From the looks of the shadows, they definitely look like they're armed.

Your mind is screaming for you to move, to get behind cover, to do something, anything to get away from those three people, but your body stays there, paralyzed, and unresponsive. The three silhouettes are getting closer and closer until you see them stop at a fence. Shaking your head, your mind finally regains control of your body, and you dash with Adagio behind a tree.

"Think they saw us?" You ask Adagio, who responds only by shushing you. You dare to take a quick peek, and make out the shadows as three extremely tall, brutish looking men wearing ski masks to conceal their faces. One of them is carrying a gun, and another one a very big, machete-like knife.

"Well? Spill it already." You hear them speak, causing you to dart back behind the cover of the tree. "Is it her?"

"What the hell do you think?" A different voice growls impatiently. "This is the house she said to meet us in. Now do you have that stupid baseball with you?"

"Yeah, it's right in my pocket...but tell me this: Do you think those stories are true about her?" The conversation continues. "How she can take on five guys twice her size all at once?"

"Bullshit." You hear a harsh laughter. "It's just like those stories about walking talking ponies living on some other dimension; just stupid campfire stories to pass the time. Besides, we came prepared."

"You know, I don't care who or what that this 'Aria' girl is." A third, much angrier voice steps into the conversation. "I just wanna get this done so we can get to the pub early before all the good whiskey's gone. Now come on, let's move it."

You hear the sound of a shotgun being pumped, immediately followed by a fence gate being kicked open. You and Adagio remain behind the tree, not daring to move a muscle. When the sounds of the mens' footsteps die down, Adagio looks a you with a pale face.

"Aria..." She gulps before shaking her head. "I can't believe her..."

"I always knew she sold weed at CHS..." You say in disbelief. "But this? I didn't think....."

"That she's actually involved with all these gangs?" Adagio finishes off your sentence. You nod in reply. "I'm going to need a serious talk with Aria if we ever leave this place alive."

Dragging yourself away from the safety of your tree, you and Adagio stare at the run down house where the three thugs just walked into. The windows are dimly lit, signaling that there's people inside, and you hear Adagio grinding her teeth in stress.

"This can't possibly be worse than walking into the girls' locker room, right?" Adagio asks, her eyes still fixed on the house.

"Only the girls inside didn't carry freaking twelve gauges..." You answer back. You take the lead, with Adagio closely tailing behind you, and walk into the lawn. The lawn, much like the house is extremely run down; the entire left side has somehow been completely overtaken by brambles, and whatever ground that isn't host to the thorny bushes is home to sickly, mildew green grass that runs up to your thighs.

The front porch doesn't look any better than the lawn either; the right side is sagging, and you can see some of the supports splintering, giving you the uneasy feeling that the house could completely collapse any second. Sneaking off to the side of the house, you spot a lit window that's still open, and wave for Adagio to come over, pointing at the window.

"Alright, think you can boost me up there?" Adagio asks. "I think I can hear someone talking."

Nodding, you kneel and place your hands on your bent knee, making a platform to Adagio to climb on. She steps on you apprehensively, gaining balance before you thrust her upwards towards the window.

'Jesus.' You think to yourself, letting out a wheeze. 'She's definitely heavier than she looks.' But it's nothing you can't work with; you watch as Adagio grabs the opening of the window, and carefully peeks, looking for any signs of activity in the house.

"See anything?" You ask Adagio, your arms beginning to wobble a little.

"Not yet, but I can hear talking." Adagio answers back. "If I can just get a little higher, I can-"

A loud crack suddenly goes off, startling Adagio, who lets out a yelp and falls backwards. You were also taken away by this, and jump in surprise to both the sound, and the sudden shift in weight. As you fall down your butt, you look up in horror, as an orange mass off curly hair quickly smothers your vision.

The next thing you feel is pain. Lots and lots of it. Like how you said earlier, Adagio's not fat; far from it. But you'd be more dishonest than a used car salesman if you said she was light. You want to scream as loud as you can right now and you would've if your face wasn't smothered by Adagio's hair right now. You spit out the orange strands of inedible spaghetti in your mouth, and gently roll to the side.

"You alright?" Adagio asks worriedly, as she hurries over you.

"I'll live." You groan a reply, clutching your stomach. "But did you hear that?"

"A gunshot."

"But Aria..." You say slowly.

You never liked Aria. Period. The second you saw that girl in your gym class, you knew she was trouble. You've fantasized beating her up even more than you've fantasized being with Adagio. But...this?

In all those thousands of daydreams, you at least had the courtesy of leaving her alive. Even if it's barely. You never wanted to kill Aria, or see her get killed. Everybody still deserves a right to live, no matter how much of a cunt they are.

"Do you think Aria-"

"Let's not think of that right now." Adagio cuts you off. However, you can see quite clearly that she's even more worried than you are. "Can you still walk?"

"Yeah."

"Then come on, I spotted a ladder outside that we can use to get in that window." Adagio points to an open toolshed in the house's backyard.

Nodding, you get up while doing the best you can to ignore the pain. You watch as Adagio sets the ladder, and climbs up, and you follow suit, being careful not to make too much noise. When you reach into the interior of the house, you're not surprised to see that just like from the outside, it's a complete mess; the floor is so dusty that you're leaving footprints as you walk. Half eaten cans of food are scattered everywhere, and broken shards of glass bottles are littered all across the room, just waiting to be stepped on. You look over to Adagio, who doesn't seem to be too fond of this place either, but then again, who is? This entire house feels like it's about to collapse from the way it creaks and moans every time the wind blows against it.

"Ugh, this dust is going to take hours to get out of my hair." Adagio mutters, brushing her sweater. "I swear, if Aria's still alive, I'm going to kill her myself."

You look around, and find another room lit by, that seems to be the source of all the talking and commotion. Putting an ear to the door, you try to listen in on the conversation.

"This ball for just two hundred?" You hear a harsh laugh that's distinctly masculine. "Girl, you don't even know how much your own belongings are worth!"

"I shouldn't even be offering anything for my own god damn belongings." You hear a familiar voice growl. "It was mine to begin with 'till it somehow wandered into your hands."

"Hey, finders keepers." You hear another masculine voice. "Besides, you owe us for that last bad shipment anyways."

"It's not my fault you goons can't spot an undercover cop when he's right next to you." Aria says, her voice getting increasingly more aggressive. "As soon as I sell my batch to you, I don't have a part in whatever you guys do with it. It's on you that you had to throw it all away to stay out of jail, not me. Now two hundred fifty for my ball, and you three'll walk out with no broken bones, deal?"

"Ohh, did I just hear a threat?" A third voice chuckles. "Little girl, you better watch that mouth; we're the last people you ever want to start a war with."

"You damn well did just hear a threat. Now are you going to do make the smart move, and take my deal?"

"No, Aria, no!" You whisper, cringing at Aria's response. What is she doing?! Is she trying to get killed?! You reach into your pockets, and still feel Sonata's taco sauce pepper spray still inside. Giving it a quick shake, you lean back onto the door again, only to feel something loose. You look down at the door, and find that the wood around the hinge is rotting away, which means...

"Fuck!" You shout as the door completely falls apart, sending you tumbling into the room with Aria and the three gangsters. You kick up a huge cloud of dust, and watch as Aria quickly runs over to one of the men, knees him in the groin, and takes something out of his hands while dashing back towards Adagio.

"Anon, come on!" Adagio runs over, and pulls you back up. Upon getting up, you bolt down the stairs with Adagio and Aria, hearing heavy footsteps, along with some very vulgar language close behind you. You skip the last four steps, and jump down the staircases, then quickly find the window you and Adagio came in, and make a jump.

Landing on your feet, the three of you start running for your dear lives as you hear loud cracks and the sounds of bullets whizzing around you like angry bees. Now, you've played your fair share of shooter games; Counter-Strike, Battlefield, and everything in between. You always liked to believe that you had it all figured out when it came to situations like these where gunmen are trying to murder you. But too bad getting shot at in real life is a day and night difference between getting shot at in a video game.

"ARIA!" Adagio shouts. "Key!" Aria nods, as she reaches into her pocket, and tosses Adagio the keys to the car. She remotely unlocks the car, and the three of you scramble into the car. You take a seat in the back, while Adagio takes the wheel and Aria sits up front with her. Her hands fumble around with the ignition a bit before finally starting the engines, and taking it.

Normally, you'd be complaining about Adagio's driving right now, but this is different; if her driving doesn't kill you, than those three gunmen chasing Aria certainly will. Besides, so what if she just took off that mailbox? It was so broken and rusty, you guys are doing the owners a favor by making them have to buy a new and proper one.

"I can't believe you." Adagio groans, narrowly missing a cat crossing the street. "All for that stupid ball..."

"Hey, is it my fault Sonata decided to be stupid and throw it?!" Aria shoots back, polishing the baseball with her vest. "Also, how was I supposed to know that a bunch of goons I used to sell shrooms to just so happen to pick it up?!"

"This has gone WAY TOO FAR, ARIA!" Adagio explodes, making Aria flinch. "You said it would never involve me, or Sonata, now look at us!"

"If it weren't for me, we wouldn't have this car, OR the rent every month, genius!" Aria retaliates. "You and Sonata would've had to get 9-5's at McDonald's if it weren't for me! These guys I don't even deal with anymore!"

"Well we're dealing with your buddies right now!" Adagio shouts, as she slams the brake, and makes a hard left turn. "This whole mess that we're dealing with was caused by you, and-"

"Hey, hey, hey let's calm down girls!" You pipe up, trying to defuse the situation. "Why don't we just focus on getting out of this place alive first before we-"

"STAY OUT OF THIS!" The two girls shout in unison. Their voices synchronize, temporarily breaking your hearing aid for a second before going back to normal.

The temporary peace and quiet is soon broken when you hear a loud clang in the back of the car. You look over your shoulder, and see a blue pickup truck pursuing you. They flash the truck's headlights for a second before firing again, this time shattering the side view mirror on Aria's side.

"Fuck!" Aria shouts, looking at the destroyed mirror. "That's gonna cost so much to fix!"

The moment she says that however, another bullet hits the car, causing you to jump in fear. You cover your head, and duck as you watch Aria reaching down for something in one of the compartments.

"Aria...?" Adagio says worriedly while still keeping her eyes on the road. "What are you doing?"

"Teaching." Aria replies, pulling out a pistol. "More specifically, teaching these assholes a lesson on respect."

"No." Adagio says firmly. "Absolutely not."

"Last time I checked, Canterlot has a Stand Your Ground Law." Aria says.

"I don't care." Adagio retorts. "I won't be dragged into a second-degree murder lawsuit with you over some weed, and a stupid baseball."

"I thought 'leaders' always do what's best for the group." Aria says, mocking Adagio's voice as she does. "So much for captains going down with the ship. So much for-"

"Alright! Alright! Fine!" Adagio shouts. "Just...don't kill anyone, please!"

"No promises."

Aria begins loading rounds into an empty magazine before sliding it on to the gun, and pulling back the bolt, producing a very audible clicking noise. Upon hearing this, Adagio presses a button on the Mercedes' front panel, and the car's top window opens up, giving Aria a place to shoot from.

"Hey assholes!" Aria shouts before firing a round. "Eat this!"

Another bullet whizzes by the car, and Aria continues firing. You peek your head up from your seat, curious to see if Aria's actually hitting anything, but all you can see are brief, but intense flashes coming from the truck pursing you. Just as they begin gaining on you guys however, Aria fires another round, hitting one of the tires, causing the truck to lose control and spin out onto the sidewalk. She then flips off the truck just as Adagio makes a sharp turn, and you lose sight of your pursuers.

"Damn, that was fun!" Aria laughs, as she sits back on her seat. "You two should've seen the looks on their faces when I shot a hole on in their tire!"

"You're freaking crazy." You shake your head. "You know that?"

"And you're a dork." Aria flips you off, before turning her eyes back on the road. "By the way, did you know we're getting chased by the cops, Adagio?"

"I can try to lose them on the highway." Adagio replies, swerving violently to a different lane on the road onto an interstate highway. Aria starts loading more rounds into her gun, while all you can do is tighten your seatbelt; you've seen how Adagio normally drives when she's on the highway; how she's going to drive while being chased by the police? You'll be having Nam flashbacks if you survive this.

Within the span of ten seconds, Adagio's already going 90 miles an hour. Your heart feels like it's about to rip out of its chest as you've never went this fast before in your life. Zipping in between cars, you take another look at the rear view mirror, and see the blue and red sirens flashing getting closer.

"Guys!" You shout in the back. "They're closing in on us!"

Adagio responds by slamming on the gas pedal, causing the back of your head to connect with the back of your seat from the inertia. You take a quick peek, and to your horror, you three are now going at 140 miles an hour, the car's limit.

"They're still gaining on us!" You call out from behind. You're beginning to panic. What else can you guys do?!

"You got the energy for one more song?" Adagio asks. "I'm still spent."

"Well shit, I'm also low on negative energy." Aria sighs. "So...are we gonna have to blow 'em up?"

"And end up as international criminals?" Adagio scoffs. "Do you even think before you do anything?"

"Yeah, big words coming from someone who-"

"Hey, can you two seriously do something about the COPS THAT ARE LESS THEN FIFTY METERS AWAY FROM US?!" You interrupt them. Adagio puts a hand on her forehead and starts thinking, while Aria starts looking for more bullets.

You guys cross over a bridge, and Adagio suddenly slams the brakes, causing the tires to screech as she abruptly slows down, and pulls over onto the breakdown lane.

"What?!" Aria shouts. "Are you insane?!"

"Shut up, Aria!" Adagio shushes her. "I know what I'm doing! Just put down your gun, and walk out of the car!"

Shaking your head, you watch as police cars swarm you, blocking your escape. You look at Adagio, who's holding something in her hands, as you and Aria get out with your hands on your heads. You look to see Adagio doing the same, although with one hand behind her back.

"Freeze, and put your hands up in the air!" One of the police officers demand. "Both of them!"

"Adagio?!" You look over. "The hell are you-"

"I know you're going to hate me for this, Aria." Adagio mutters, suddenly getting her attention.

"Huh?!" Aria's eyes widen with fear, feeling the pockets of her vest. "Wait a second, where'd my ball go?!"

Adagio runs over to the edge of the bridge, and throws something small, white, and round as hard as she can.

"NOOOOOOOO!!!" You hear Aria shout, as she sprints towards the edge of the bridge and jumps off, going after the baseball. "FUCK YOU ADAGIOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooo-"

You hear a loud splash, and watch as all the cops look at each other in shock over what Aria just did.

"Jesus, did she just jump?" One of them asks another officer.

"That's fucked up..."

You and Adagio back up to the edge of the bridge, and look down, seeing Aria emerge from the water, looking a lot more pissed off than usual for obvious reasons.

"Adagio, you BITCH!" She shouts at the bottom of the river. "WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?! WHEN I GET BACK UP THERE, YOU'RE GONNA WISH YOU WERE ARRESTED! THIS BALL IS WORTH SEVEN HUNDRED BUCKS!!! SEVEN HUNDRED! WORTH MORE THAN YOUR LIFE AND-"

As Aria's angry rambling continues, you can help but notice a mass of green smoke emerging around Aria. It starts spinning violently around her like a tornado before shooting upwards, and spiraling into Adagio's red ruby necklace. The necklace rejuvenates itself, the dull maroon quickly glowing, and returning to the most intense shade of red you've ever seen. Adagio then quickly rushes to you, and rips off your hearing aid.

"Hey!" You shout. "What gives?!"

Adagio then opens her mouth and starts...humming? You don't know; you can't hear shit without that thing. Suddenly, all the cops start putting away their guns. Adagio then walks up to each and every one of the cops, and starts...conversing with them? You look at the scene before you in disbelief. Seriously, what the hell is going on?

A couple seconds later, and all the cops get back into their cars and start driving away, leaving you and Adagio alone together on the bridge. She tosses back your hearing aid, which you promptly check for damage before putting it back on.

"Hey...Adagio?" You ask nervously. "What the heck just happened?"

Adagio looks around nervously, before sighing in defeat.

"I guess there's no point hiding it anymore, is it?" She stoops over. "Clearly, you know we're not ordinary girls..."

"You just...opened your mouth, then...that green fart cloud, and everyone was just...calm!" You exclaim. "Seriously, how did you do that?! It was like-"

"Adagio!" You're cut off by the voice of Aria, who's soaked to the bone and holding her prized baseball. Every time she takes a step, her boots make a loud, wet squishing noise.

"Oh, you're still alive!" Adagio says, putting on the fakest smile you've ever seen. "Was the water cold?"

"If you didn't just save our lives right there, I'd kill you right here, right now!" Aria snarls before taking off her vest, and squeezing the water out of it. "Do you have any idea how much that belly flop hurt?!"

"No, because I'm not the one who dove from a thirty foot bridge for a stupid trinket." Adagio replies.

"Hey, come on Aria, just take one for the team alright?" You pat her soaked back. She promptly swats it off before glaring at you.

"What happened, happened..." You hold back a snicker. "It's all... water under the bridge now."

If looks could kill, than Aria's glare would have disintegrated you with sheer hatred. You can tell she's seriously considering murdering you right now, but you don't care; you just had to say that. Meanwhile, you pull out your phone, and your heart drops after seeing the time.

2:45

Yup. Mama Anon is not going to be happy with you one bit. You may have survived a gangster shootout, followed by a highway cop chase, but you know the second you step in your house, you're dead meat. All you can do is look at Adagio and Aria hopelessly as you three walk back into the car, and take off.

"...Adagio?" You ask nervously, constantly checking your phone to see if your mom's texted you at all or not.

"Yes, Anon?" She responds.

"...Do you mind if I crash over at your place tonight? I really don't want to go home right now..."

Author's Note:

Sorry for taking so long to pump out the chapters, I don't really have a set schedule so I kind of just write whenever I feel like it. Also, I've been trying to find some proofreaders to help me out. If anybody is reading this, please help me out by linking a site to where I can ask some people to proofread.

Comments

[Crayonpaste]

7340201
Lol, I'd probably do the same. Didn't really try to write this with realism in mind; just something to let my mind go loose when I'm not busy.

[xoid]

This chapter was insane; you really went off the rails here. I’m still more than interested but I know where the lack of up‐votes comes from now.

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"STOP USING THAT TINY PEA SHOOTER THIS INSTANCE!"

INSTANT