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Braeden gave Tsurai a short look of disbelief. "Isiah really did keep his lips zipped shut, huh?" He yanked a dirty bag of jerky out of his pocket- presumably the same he was working on earlier- he pulled a piece out with his teeth and chewed slowly, pushing it to the corner of his mouth like chew before continuing. "Sim's the Denzien Patron God. Diety. Object of worship. Whatever."

Braeden didn't believe in all that hocus pocus, but he had feverently pretended to. He felt that most Denziens did the same.

The underlying beliefs of strength in selection were there, of course. But Braeden wasn't the sort to hang onto antiquated ideas, and dieties where one of them.

He groaned. "You know.. kid.." He stopped. "Simulators? What the ********? Why are we Denziens?" He threw his hands up after shoving the bag of jerky back into his pocket. "We could have been simulators!"

He finally swallowed back the bite he had taken before tearing off another, giving it a similar treatment. "Sim.. was.. is, the Creator. Of Denziens, anyway. It's kinda. Complicated."

Braeden didn't remember everything.. he had never properly paid attention in that respect. He was hoping that Tsurai would drop it. He knew he wouldn't- Tsurai had that youthful curiosity, the kind that gets a cat's paw off in a blender- but if he went slow, maybe Tsurai would get bored and move on..

He laughed again, a shorter, more curt sort than before. "Kid, ain't nothing bad about it. To be honest, I never paid that much attention. There's a lot of history. A lot of history. For me, it wasn't a religion. It was a way of life." He continued making slow work of the jerky in his mouth before swallowing.

"I'm sure your friend was all gung-ho before whatever happened to him, happened. The younger ones always are. What I can tell you, is Sim's the one who wrote down, or at least made known, all the rules we live by. I'm not sure how. Through an avatar or something. Kaie, probably. Kaie did everything."

"Isiah came from Isaiah. He probably changed it cuz of the Christian connotation. And you're the one with the c***k name, kiddo." He was guessing, of course, about Isiah. He was correct.

"Kaie was.. some.." He groped for the word. "Sim's avatar, when the Denziens migrated from their homeland and came to warmer shores. Supposedly, Kaie could hear him talking and s**t. Between you and me," He took another bite. "I think he was just schizophreniac."

Braeden paused in walking to give Tsurai a once over. "Spick? You got a c***k name, anyway." Ah, so cultured. "Why, did you inherit the one inch syndrome from your chinamama?"

Braeden grunted as the soup can hit him in the temple, distracted long enough to take the punch to the gut solidly. He hacked, the air temporarily knocked out of him. Bent over, he muttered, "Oh you little ********' redskin b*****d.." He pulled up, grabbing Tsurai's hurt arm and twisting it upward, hard. "You want me to wrench this off, huh? You know who the ******** you're dealing with, you little retard!?"

Braeden's lip turned up in a cruel grin, eyes sparking as he watched Tsurai suffer. "Scream louder! Maybe your c***k mama will come save your stupid a**!" He bent back harder, enjoying watching the kid squirm.

Isiah snorted and opened his eyes, groaning at the scream. "What th-"

It took him about ten seconds to assess the equastion: Missing Tsurai, plus large crowd of people, equals trouble. He stood, closing the distance fast- there wasn't much- plowing through people before throwing a hard right into Braeden's temple.

The older man released almost immediately, spinning to the left before falling on his side, face in the dirt. Isiah pushed Tsurai, a hand to the chest, behind him, fists clenched. "Pick on someone your own size, you lazy ********!"

Braeden panted, once or twice in the dirt, pushing himself up. "It's his damn fault.." He turned to look at Tsurai through Isiah's legs, the same dirty grin on his face. "Mama did come and save you, didn't she?"

Isiah growled, giving Braeden a hard kick to the ribcage, pulling him up off the ground and back onto his face with a thump.

Isiah was long gone by then- his sense of justice had been seriously trod on, not to mention.. Well.. Tsurai right now, that was not important. What was important, is that this old ******** was hurting someone obviously weaker than him. Weaker, younger, smaller.

No Denzien would stand for that. It was unnecessary and unjust..

Braeden lay still on his back, panting. He wasn't ready for this kind of a confrontation. Isiah would beat him into a pulp if he tried to fight back.. What choice did he have? All these people watching...

The decision was made for him quickly. Isiah grabbed Braeden by his greasy hair and yanked him onto his feet, shoving him back, fists curled. Isiah was ready, muscles tense and tightened.

Braeden swung on his feet a little, readjusting. "Look, I don't want-"

"THE ******** you don't."

Braeden blinked, breathing slowly, shoulders visibly rising and falling. The crowd was nowhere near quiet- bellows and suggestions, insults and egg-ons flying. Isiah was waiting. It was Braeden's move.

The older Denzien studied Isiah. He was nervous. Good. Nervous means he'll make mistakes. If he was going to win this, it wouldn't be through strength, but finesse. He'd have to read Isiah before any blows struck. Even then..

"C'mon, you old ********." Isiah changed languages, suddenly. The next string of words sounded like a mixture of a dog growling and gutteral, low sounds.

Braeden's eyes cut before he charged, raising his fist as though he were going for Isiah's head. Isiah ducked- Braeden brought his knee up just as he did so, grabbing the younger Denzien by the shoulders, slamming Isiah's jaw into his kneecap. Isiah took the blow fully, releasing a slow, quiet yelp. Isiah planted his feet and pushed, headbutting Braeden in the gut.

Braeden lost his footing, falling over onto his a**. Isiah straightened himself and kicked Braeden solidly in the face.

Braeden fell over, spitting out a tooth before losing conciousness.

Isiah wiped his mouth, blood streaked across his face due to an open lip, panting, mouth slightly ajar. He turned his head and spat before muttering. "Stupid ********.." He turned slowly to the crowd, grumbling. "Get out of here! Nothing to ******** see!"

He knelt down by Tsurai, licking blood from his lower lip. "You okay?"