RED HAZE

Micha fidgets and leans against the RV. He runs his short claws through the hardened grime on its wall, listening to the clicking noise as they glide along the uneven bumps of various substance. Clint finally calmed some since the news had broke that Micha was spotted on the night of him scouting out Carl's mansion. Still, a quiet Clint wasn't putting him at ease. 

Micha's conscience - which he might as well nickname Keith - had been gnawing at him. Opposite that conscience however, were powerful counterforces. The supplier of Micha and Jeremy gave specific instructions. And he was, loathe to admit it, too terrified of going against demands. Besides, the money had to come in from somewhere. But to get the money, he needed product. So here he waits, in a barren dirt yard full of trash, perhaps trash like him, waiting for a visit from Brian, their supplier. 

Micha kicks up a squashed can and ducks down with arms outstretched. He feels the can drop and roll onto his wings. He flaps them, juggling the can and counting. Each tap makes the hollow can drum like miniscule thunder. The wind rush from his flaps only adding to the effect.
"I am alcoholic thunder!" he cackled.

Clint scrunches up his face and mumbles something about drunk flying. He chuckles raspily, coughing a bit and scratching an ear. Micha smiles, silently keeping to himself that he heard the lame joke. Bat hearing had its advantages.

Then a new sound invaded Micha's ears: frantic footsteps.
"Jeremy?" He's panicked. And as soon as Jeremy makes it past the tree line to their yard, he turns his direction a bit more towards Micha. Jeremy raises his paws up, making ears over his head. Micha barely hears it over Jeremy's panting, but he was sure Jeremy said, "Leo's here!"

In a flash, Micha makes himself scarce, shutting himself into the moldy RV beside him. His breath quickening.
"No, no. If Jeremy is panicked then..." Goddamn Chase. Did he really send Leo out for a shakedown after their talk? "That betraying little bitch!"

Micha kneels by the door, listening. By the sounds of Clint's clumsy sliding footsteps he was already up and hopping like a scared rabbit. Each landing causing his paws to slide a bit in the dirt. Suddenly, a loud slap and a cry.
"We don't know shit!" Clint shouts. 
"Not like this," Micha mutters. "This is so bad." He yanks his phone from his pocket and texts Chase. "ITS MICHA. UR BF IS FCKING SHIT UP. HITTING CLINT. GT DWN HERE 2 JASMYNN ST NOW." He hears Leo speak while putting his phone down.
"I got word that says different. Now talk."
"Eat shit!" cries Clint. Leo's voice was different. Older, thicker. But that accent was familiar. Micha hadn't heard it in years. Never with such aggression.
"You two were going to rob Carl's place. Then he got spooked and ran off."
"We ain't done none of that robbing shit from his place. House is fucking cursed."
"YOU. KNOW. WHAT. HAPPENED." Micha was trembling so bad that his wings rattled like storefront shutters in a storm. Then he hears both Clint and Jeremy grunt and yelp. Their backs thump against the RV as a trash can tumbles over. 

Bat or not, it wasn't enough to rely only on sound. And despite the crisis, which Micha knew he and his friends were responsible for, he wanted to see Leo. To see what he looked like. Micha takes a breath, allowing curiosity to win the battle over his fear. He presses his snout to the window. A broad red back is seen rising and falling as it fills with full angry breaths. From his angle, Leo looked massive and intimidating. A contrast to the smiley confident younger football player he remembered. The only thing recognizable was his bulk. 

The red bulk shifts, and it looks like Leo's focusing on Jeremy next to Clint. 
"I just want to talk to Micha." To Micha's relief, Jeremy did not reveal his location. But hearing Leo call for him after all these years, and in this situation? It wasn't the way he would have hoped they met again. Resting on the wall under the window was a metal pipe wrench. Micha grabbed it, mainly to have something to squeeze his anxieties into. But he couldn't be too sure about what would happen if he got caught.

There was something about this aggression that bothered Micha and it wasn't just him being a little scared.
"The hum?" Leo moved awkwardly. Like he was sleepwalking and drunk at the same time. A buzz of energy, like a cloud, hovered over him. A red haze of multiple passions. Micha couldn't quite finger it, but he trusted what Keith taught him. Something was wrong. Like the energy surrounding Leo was forcing his movements. 

"You won't be loud soon," Clint threatens. Their supplier Brian was approaching. Micha knew. And that was a whole different presence that only buzzed with evil. The sudden opening of the trailer door makes Micha jump. Chase finally enters.
"I'm fucked..." Micha returns his gaze toward the window. "And so is your friend. Thanks to him of all people." Micha points to Leo who had just punched Jeremy's arm, making him cry out.
"I didn't know he would react like this." Micha only half-listens to that. 
"Didn't expect this from the goody-two-shoes Echo gang." He turns to face Chase, still standing dumbly in front of him, eyeing the pipe in his hands.
"Get out there and stop your bf you dumb shit!" Micha whispers harshly.
"Oh!" Just as Chase turns, Micha notices footsteps. He looks out the window to find he can't see the red mass anymore. But the footsteps are getting closer.
"He's coming."
"Oh shit." Micha rushes into the bathroom, hiding inside and listening as Chase hurries out of the trailer. The musty air in the bathroom assaulted Micha's nose. He'd never get used to the stale wet odors of the RV. How his friends put up with it was a mystery he didn't want to solve. 

It was difficult to make out what they were saying, but Micha was glad Heather left the yard. She didn't need any additional stress than what she puts up with, given her problems. He only catches bits of what was said. Mostly from Leo since he was likely still facing the trailer. His voice barreling through the door. 
"They just hurt people. Always have." Bullshit. Micha frowns. The comment was like a shove in his chest. That's what we look like to them? It might be true that they dealt product and stole. But beyond that, how much did they hurt? Micha shakes his head. It wasn't a lie. And he knew he had dirty hands. They all did. But now Leo's hands are dirty too. 

At this point, his assault on Micha's friends amounted to light torture. Even if he is trying to help a friend. Wrong is wrong.
"Shit..." Keith entered his conscience again. Wrong is wrong. That oppressive buzzing intensifies. It's close. Then a meaty thud and a groan from Leo. Micha carefully crawls to the window again. Brian finally arrived. And Leo is crawling back, knocked down from a blow. This time Micha had full view. Leo really had gotten big. And he has a little gut now too? But Brian was still larger.

'You hurting my boys wasn't a kind thing." That terrible squeaky voice. Micha watches with wide eyes as Chase steps to the side, away from the two giants.
"What the fuck...?" Micha whispered. He watched as a red blur slams into the massive brown bear. The impact slaps loudly, then a rumbling crash. "Shit!" His heart thuds. Eyes glued to the window. Excitement fills him. "This is so crazy. Fucking crazy." But it was also impressive? Is this all bad? Definitely. There was bad and there was fucked up. Fucked up produced more bad. And Brian is definitely fucked up. So to see him being blasted back like this was somehow inspiring.

There was something different about Leo. Though there is hum energy, the feeling that there are more complex forces around him couldn't be ignored by Micha. And Leo, while obviously doing bad, is trying to help a friend. And Micha knew what Brian had done though he wouldn't say it outright. Despite taking the worst approach possible, Leo was right. And here he is taking on the foulest biggest creep in Echo with no fear.

He was a bit like Keith in that regard. The drive to do something no matter what others think. A strong sense of self-ownership. Truly acting on what you believed. 

The fighting goes on and there is a nasty back-and-forth between the two. Chase intervenes twice and is blasted back for it. Then an unsettling turn in the fight. After a strong effort, Leo was pinned down. Brian sits on his back, strangling, and teasing him. 
"I can't let this go on..." This was not how anything was supposed to go. Stupid Clint, Stupid Jeremy. Fucking Brian. 

There was cowardice and there was being afraid. Micha was definitely afraid. But this was the worst time to be a coward. Micha sighs and looks at the pipe he violently clutched in his hand. Damn Keith and the conscience he instilled in him. With a deep breath, Micha raises the wrench in his hand then he rushes out the door.