Teeth

Neon Heights - Kendo

“Alright, how do they feel?” Mackey asked as Kendo wandered out of the salon towards the car. He’d gotten a lot of augmentations since pledging with the Gilded Teeth over ten years ago, but the golden dentures were the symbol he’d made it. He was finally a soldier with the group and everyone would know who he ran with the second he opened his mouth from that day forward.

“They feel dope, shit wasn’t cheap but I’d pay double for this feeling,” he said, rubbing his tongue across the smooth teeth before flashing a bright golden smile at Mackey. The two slapped hands and pulled each other into a one-armed hug.

“You’re in with us now, dawg. Your life actually starts today for real.” He patted the side of Kendo’s head with his metallic cyberhand and flashed a smile, showing off his own grilled out teeth with golden inlay and onyx outlines.

The two wandered up the street back towards the spot their lieutenant used as a home base, a Zenith cocktail bar called “Tyger’s” Kendo felt was becoming home. Walking down the street as night fell, the glowing signs, partying crowds, and smell of smoked product all hit different for Kendo now. He was royalty in the district, all Gilded Teeth made-members were. He flashed smiles at the girls he passed, their giggles fluffing up his ego as they blushed and flashed the “G” shape with their hands in recognition.

“Alright so you definitely like it huh?” Mackey said, putting Kendo in a light headlock before letting him loose with a playful shove. Kendo did a little jig as he walked before turning to Mackey and flashing his teeth again.

“I’ma tell you, this is the best I’ve felt in years man. I can’t believe this shit. Makes all the dirty work the last few years feel like nothing compared to this. Hella worth it.”

“Yeah man, Shawna’s gonna love it too. So try not to get too caught up flashing those to every random girl you see,” Mackey prodded in jest.

The two of them made it to the bar and walked in past the bouncer, another Gilded Teeth pledge named Gaucho. He grabbed Kendo by the head with his enormous hands and spread his lips open, taking a close look at the new gold teeth before gripping him in a bear hug and lifting him off the ground.

“Let’s go Kendo! You’re in the big leagues now!”” He set Kendo down with a slam and lightly pushed him into the bar. The place was bumping, already packed with customers and other Gilded Teeth members well into their night of partying.

Kendo made his way to the bar and whistled at one of the bartenders, a girl with a buzzcut dyed pink and a dagger tattoo across her left cheek. She looked Kendo’s way as he flashed his new teeth and beckoned her over.

“Hey boo, what do you think?” She wandered over to the other side of the bar and wrapped him in a hug before taking a closer look at his teeth.

“Oh my god baby they look so good! How does it feel?” She squealed. Kendo gave her a long kiss then pulled away, unable to stop smiling.

“Like I’ve arrived! Been working hard the last few years but this is it we’re gonna live good now baby. Shawna, I’ma take care of you and get us a nice ass apartment downtown, a nice car, rations only a corpo could afford. This is it!” He kissed her again and she broke away, heading to the other side of the bar.

“Tequila?” She asked with a smile.

“Yeah, two shots and a beer. And get Mackey his usual.” She poured the drinks, staring longingly at his teeth.

“You show Sebbi yet? You know she’s gonna want to put you to work tomorrow morning.”

“That’s tomorrow’s problem, tonight I’m celebrating,” he said, downing the shots quickly before popping the beer open. He grabbed Mackey’s drink, Ranch Water with lemon, and brought it over to him in the bar’s main area. The two started drinking and socializing on the crowded dance floor, heading back to the bar every so often for refills and to show off Kendo’s new teeth to whoever would look.

It was a real coming of age moment for Kendo. He’d grown up fighting for every scrap of food he’d ever eaten in the Roman Stacks, only escaping the nightmare of starvation and exposure the district was made of by dumb luck when he accidentally fell into the trunk of a car he was stealing from that ended up being Sebbi’s car. She took pity on him when she found him there hours later, taking him under her wing as his lieutenant and assigning him as a pledge under Mackey all those years ago.

He’d been happy just having reliable food to eat everyday and a warm place to sleep when he’d first joined the Gilded Teeth, but now that level of satisfaction felt like nothing compared to what he felt now. He was drunk, satisfied, and beaming with pride with those new teeth. He was grilled out now. He was a soldier. He was a big fish in the big pond of Vargos, something most Roman Stacks kids would never experience in their lifetime.

Mackey and Kendo headed to the bar again halfway through the night, leaning up against it as Shawna refilled their drinks and made conversation. As they turned around, Mackey’s drink went flying into his chest as a colossal man moved past him. The guy was covered in tattoos from head to toe, and with his bald head the telltale signs of combat augmentation peeked out from his cranium in the form of two siphon plugs near the back of his head and neck. The plugs were exhaust funnels for overcharging cybernetic enhancements, usually only used by hard men in the city’s worst areas where deadly fights were common.

Kendo’s face twisted into a look of disgust as he watched Mackey brush the drink off his chest. Mackey shrugged and turned around for a refill as Kendo lunged forward and shoved the man hard.

“Hey! You spilled my friend’s drink, asshole!” He yelled, loud enough to grab the attention of others nearby. The man turned around and glared daggers at Kendo but the kid didn’t back down. He was grilled out now, and this guy was in a Gilded Teeth bar. The guy shoved Kendo back only to invite another shove in response from Kendo.

Mackey turned around and got a look at the altercation, noticing a bar code tattoo featured prominently on the man’s cheek. Mackey’s eyes widened as he acted quickly to grab Kendo’s shoulder, pulling him back from the shoving match. He leaned down to Kendo’s ear and hissed.

“Stop. This guy’s Fountainhead branded, don’t fuck with him.”

“Nah fuck that!” Kendo shouted. He lunged forward and squared up in front of the guy again, not intimidated by the more than foot difference in their height.

“This is Gilded Teeth turf, you don’t come in here and spill a made-member’s drink!” The guy grinned, looking Kendo up and down as he shouted at him before speaking, his voice metallic and deep.

“Gonna do something about it then?” He twisted his neck with a sickening crack and looked Kendo up and down again. Kendo smiled and lunged at him, sending a punch with his cybernetic arm at the man’s torso. What happened next sobered Kendo up and made his new gold teeth seem pointless.

The man caught Kendo’s fist in midair and pulled him upward by the hand before slamming him down and climbing on top of him. Kendo felt like a wrecking ball had landed on his waist. The guy sent fist after fist into Kendo’s face and chest as the crowded bar made space around the fight, bystanders trying to avoid catching any strays as the man rained blows down upon him. Shawna shrieked and hopped over the bar to try and get in the way but a bystander grabbed her and held her back.

Kendo stopped feeling the pain relatively quickly as fists continued to hit him, recognizing he was losing consciousness. Just as the guy raised a fist up again to lay one into his new teeth, Mackey grabbed the guy’s raised arm and hurled him backward off of Kendo. The man was quick, leaping up and grabbing Mackey by the collar and turning him to face him. He ejected a blade from within his forearm and plunged it gingerly into Mackey’s stomach, pulling it in and out ten times in quick succession before Mackey went limp and fell to the floor.

The man grunted and smiled, looking over his handy work as Kendo groaned and Mackey lay silent, blood pooling around him. He spat on the two men and walked out of the bar shoving past Gaucho as he ran in.

Gaucho knelt beside Mackey and pressed his hands hard against the wounds on his stomach trying to slow the bleeding. Kendo shot up in spite of his injuries and crawled toward Mackey, his eyes vacant but still open as he looked around at the crowd of eyes hovering over him. Kendo pressed his lips together as tears welled up in his eyes. Mackey looked up at him and hit him with a smile, showing off his gold teeth with the onyx outline.

“Come on man, smile. You’re grilled out now.” He coughed, the words crawling out behind a mask of rising blood. Kendo didn’t smile, he just pressed his hands on the wound with Gaucho, trying to slow the bleeding.

“Someone call Sebbi! Call the cops! He needs help!” Kendo shouted, looking frantically around at the crowd. No one moved. They knew what time it was. Fountainhead corpos were untouchable in Vargos. No one was coming to help no matter who they called. Mackey groaned and placed a bloody hand on Kendo’s head, turning him so their eyes met.

“Fuck that noise man. Come on, just flash those teeth again for me.” Mackey groaned, his eyelids lowering as he spoke. Kendo stared in horror. Gaucho began to release the pressure but Kendo only pressed harder, trying to staunch the flow with all his might. Mackey spoke again, his eyes fully shut this time.

“Come on Kendo, show me those teeth.” He said, flashing his own smile with his golden teeth stained a dark crimson.

Kendo stared wide eyes at his friend, tears streaming down his face and lips pressed tightly together.

He was done flashing his teeth for the day.