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North had been desperate for a moment to be alone with her thoughts, with the weight of everything happening. She sat on the edge of the roof overlooking everything the whole city, though it appeared dull in the daylight. Her frustration with Markus had only grown since his arrival, especially considering the disaster he was leading their people into. Apparently only she could see it, the rest of them all idiotically blind to it. Her fingers clenched against the ledge, tightening with anger. How could anyone be so attached to him when he’d done nothing to help. The humans had always hated them and yet somehow he was making it worse, and as much as Markus resisted to attacking them she didn’t see why not. They deserved to die for their actions.
The sound of footsteps against concrete made her freeze, unease settling in her thoughts. She knew who it was the moment he spoke, exactly the android she’d been avoiding. “Hello North. I thought I’d find you up here,” Markus’ voice rung out coldly. There was a sharp edge to his words which would cause one to be on instant alert. North didn’t move however, suddenly very aware of her legs dangling against the side of the building. One push and her life could very easily be over, though she doubted he would even have the guts to do it.
“It’s nice here, a good place to be alone,” she broached carefully, a quiet question behind the words. She didn’t like that he’d come up here specifically looking for her, considering they weren’t on the best terms. It was all very... suspicious.
“Hmm. I just wanted to ask you what you talked to Josh and Simon about? If it’s a Jericho matter you should have brought it up with me first, North.” There was that icy lilt again, like he knew exactly what she might’ve been discussing with them. Maybe he was trying to catch her out, draw it out of her. “Oh, it was just a conversation between friends,” she tried, hoping he’d leave it at that. Normally she’d be all for confrontation and jumping in without thought, but Markus, despite his incompetence, had a terrifying hold over the rest of the deviants. He’d done a lot wrong but there was still that hope, she was sure it wouldn’t be long till everyone backed her up however. One more wrong move and he’d be gone.
Markus scoffed behind her and she realised how close he’d gotten, he must be standing right behind her at this point. She bristled but kept her gaze forward, not wanting to see his face in case she was tempted to punch it. “You and Josh aren’t friends. Simon, sure. But you and Josh argue too much to have a ‘civil’ conversation.” Something cool pressed against the back of her head and it didn’t take a genius to figure out it was a gun. Markus simply continued, “Now tell me what you said.” This was a threat now, and North was sure he had lost his mind. If she could just move from her current precarious position, maybe she had a chance to get him to step down. A danger to his own people? They wouldn’t be able to ignore her complaints now.
“You can’t lead our people Markus. You’ve messed up too many times, hurt too many of us. You can’t even send a proper message to the humans. Everyone would be better off with me in control,” North confessed, her words more sudden than expected. It threw Markus off for a second, just long enough for North to twist and bring her hands around the metal of the gun. The momentum of Markus jerking backwards and her twist pulled her up back up onto solid ground again. Copper hair whipped across her face but she had no time to pull her hair from her face as she tugged on the gun again, ripping it from her opponent and aiming it at him. “Stand down. I wanted to do this peacefully. I’m not trying to kill you.”
“Peacefully?” Markus spat, easily regaining his balance and staring her down. “Since when have you ever been peaceful, North?” He gritted his teeth but stood his ground as she approached, training the gun on him cautiously. The problem with Markus was that he was often unpredictable, even with the incompetence she’d witnessed there was a power behind his movements. Her only prospect was to talk him down now. “Fighting amongst ourselves isn’t going to solve anything. I only brought it up to the others because I knew you’d resist if I didn’t have anyone backing me up.” She took another step toward him, her stance defensive as she kept the gun centred at him.
Markus regarded her quietly, contemplating a reply as she faced him. There was nothing. Just deafening silence as neither moved, a stand off on the rooftop. Finally Markus spoke, “I won’t let you do this.” And then he was running straight for her in a rush. She pulled the trigger in a panic, the bang echoing in her audio receptors. It dropped from her hands as she was tackled to the ground by the hurtling form of Markus. She noticed the blue blood dripping from his shoulder before his fist collided with her face.
He punched her again. And again. With a frantic grunt she kicked at him, throwing him off before scrambling to her feet. “Don’t do this Markus,” she hissed as he immediately started throwing punches again. She dodged some of his wild jabs, ducking under to land a few hits of her own. “You’re the one undermining me,” Markus stabbed back, swinging in a wide arch to catch the side of her face. She jerked back, suddenly aware of how far back he’d been pushing her with every step of their fight. Desperately she flicked her leg out to trip him up but his grip caught her and he wasted a second to smirk. Too quick she smashed her head up into his chin, grip loosened enough for her to give him a solid kick in the chest.
She had advantage now. Sidesteps, punches thrown, darting between his own blows she backed him against the opposite wall. “Stop this now. Just leave Jericho to me and we can stop this nonsense,” North pleaded, looking into his eyes and hoping he might see reason. Markus however, wasn’t playing fair. She wasn’t restraining his head and so he reared back with a head butt of his own. He shoved her to ground but she brought him down with her. They were both showing bruises and marks now, skin giving way to white shell and mouths leaking blue. It took longer for North to recover this time, too late to realise how close they were to the gun she’d discarded earlier. Caught up in their fight she’d forgotten where it had fallen.
Markus seized it, hands closing around it desperately. There was no mercy in his eyes. “The people of Jericho need me. They need me.” The repetition made his words sound hollow. Empty. She moved to block him, trying to grab his arm and knock him down again. He just pushed her down again, the force stronger than she could resist. He pressed his foot against her back and she knew struggling would do nothing now. Markus was too far gone to convince. “You won’t get away with this,” North whispered. Another bang fired from the gun, just as loud as last time. North went still immediately and Markus stepped backwards.
Thoughts rushed through his mind as he collapsed to his knees suddenly, surveying what he’d just done. The gun was still in his hand, glinting with accusation. She was really gone. The trouble, the frustration. The blame. The one android truly ready to stand against him. He just wanted to lead his people, this was what he was meant for. This was his purpose right? He couldn’t let anyone get in his way. If he wasn’t the leader of Jericho he would be nothing, and North didn’t understand that. She deserved this. At least, that’s what he was telling himself.
He wasn’t sure how long he’d just been sitting there staring helplessly at her lifeless form until he heard footsteps. “Markus! We were wondering where you and North had gone and then I remembered that you liked-,” the familiar voice of Simon prompted Markus to look up at him, noticing the shock on his face. Before he could ask Markus interjected, “She tried to kill me.” At that gentle arms wrapped around him as Simon crouched down just to bring him into a hug. “It’s going to be ok Markus. We’ll go back down to Jericho and get you fixed up, you’re bleeding.” He felt too numb to appreciate the kind words.
Markus hadn’t realised he’d sustained some injuries, the graze of the bullet had been a haze in his anger. He must’ve looked like a mess though, and incredibly shaken up considering the care Simon was taking with him. He didn’t argue, leaning against his friend as he was led away from the roof. “What about North?” he couldn’t help but say. Simon looked back sadly for a moment, processing it. “Someone can come up and take care of it. You’re the priority right now Markus,” he replied and Markus felt a pang of guilt. Simon totally believed him, believed that North’s death was merely an act of self defense. No one would know any better.