Secondary

After scribbling his email down, Dominic passed the crumpled napkin to Olivia. "Keep me filled in on how things are going. And let me know if there's anything I can do to help." He grabbed his backpack and slung it over his shoulder. "Guess I'll be seeing you around." As he left the community center, Dominic couldn't help the spring in his step. It was a rocky start, for sure, but it was a start. He would see revolution sooner rather than later, he was sure of it. His people would finally be free.

---

The flyer came in the mail a week later.

Dominic scowled at the overly chipper form letter that happily informed him how 'wonderful' his life would be in the designated Secondary communities. No amount of handwaving or sugar-coating would change the fact that the bill was a load of horseshit. One step closer to full segregation.

He pulled out his battered old laptop, one of the few luxuries in the sparse apartment. It had taken a long time to save for it, but the more involved he grew with the resistance movement, the more it had become a necessity. He couldn't keep making the walk to the library each time he needed to go online. There had been a problem in his way and he had taken care of it. Like he always did. That thought in mind, Dominic logged into his Facebook account, going straight to the Greater Boston Secondary Rights group.

Eviction notices are officially out, he typed into a new post. Did you get yours? I'm not leaving my home or my life for anyone. March on City Hall tomorrow morning, 9:00. Bring as many people as you can get. Let's flood the streets and show Patel what we think of her generous offer to help us with our relocation.

Dominic shared the event with as many groups as he could before forwarding the link to Olivia's email with a request for her to do the same. He looked again at the letter, which politely requested he be ready when the movers came to 'help' him relocate. Oh, he was going to be ready all right. He already was.
 
The four boys in the apartment squashed onto the couch, poring over their leaflets. Liam, the eldest, was the first to finish. "This is bullshit!" He shouted, throwing the leaflet across the room like a frisbee. He hunched over and buried his face in his hands, shaking his head slowly.
Lloyd sat the letter down in his lap gently. "They're really going ahead with it? We worked so hard for this place!"
"I don't believe it," Alex muttered, having only gotten half-way through the leaflet before deciding it wasn't worth it.

The boys sat in silent for a few more seconds. "It says there's a limited amount of boxes, guys. We should go get some before we run out," Robert piped up, his high-pitched voice as quiet as ever.
The other three in the room turned to look at him, faces all varying faces of disgust, anger and confusion. "We're not gonna need any boxes," Liam said, hitting his huge hand off his knee. "We're not leaving."
Alex nodded, his long brown hair moving dramatically. "Yeah. Like Dominic said the other week."
"Rob didn't come along last week, remember? He was working," Lloyd reminded the others. "Basically, Rob, when they come to take us away, we don't leave. We're protesting. Secondaries all over are doing it."
Robert's saucepan eyes widened. "S-seriously?" He stuttered. "But, won't they just stick us in lock-up?"
Liam let out a huge, haughty laugh. "They won't have enough cells for all of us!" He claimed.

Later on, when Liam, Alex, and Robert had gone to work, Lloyd was given free reign over the ancient PC. He logged onto Facebook, hoping to see a new meeting arranged so that he knew how they could better go about resisting (Should they fight back? Barricade their doors and windows?), so when the new post came up on his wall he clicked on it straight away. What was there was somewhat like a new meeting, but more important. A march? It worked with his work schedule too; he was working late. He wasn't too sure about the others, however. He quickly shared the post to his own wall, hoping that his roommates would see it while they were working, though that was unlikely. 'This is a peaceful protest, right?' He commented, unwilling to be involved in a brawl. He wasn't really able to hold his own, and he hadn't ever learned to fight with magic.
 
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Olivia was restless in the time since the first Real Meeting. That's how she said it in her head, too. Real Meeting, capitol R and capitol M, as it was the first meeting that had any way of making a real difference. Nothing had changed, though, and she really hadn't expected it to, but she was restless. The hard part, she decided, about a rebellion was there were times where waiting was necessary. Sandra had told her roommate to calm several times but the young elf wouldn't hear of it and she'd spent every night pacing the floor of their small living room, going over plans in her head.

She contacted her old friend from Texas as soon as she returned from the Real Meeting and got a reply back almost immediately: "I've forwarded your e-mail along. Hope something helps. You can count on me to follow along; when they come knocking, I'll be holding strong. Love, Alice"

About a week later Olivia received her "welcome" packet. The first thing she did when she opened it and realized what it was, was to dump it in the trash. Then curiosity got the better of her and she dug it out, beside: she needed to know what it was she'd be fighting. Were there going to be police? She skimmed through the pamphlet, her features etched into a scowl. Then she read through it again. By the time she had read through it the second time, Sandra was walking through their apartment door. "What's wrong?"

"This," Olivia growled, shoving her roommates own pamphlet to her.

"Oh." Squeaked the redhead. "Olivia, are we..." The elf looked up and eyed her roommate, suspiciously. Sandra squirmed nervously and Olivia had a sinking feeling. "I mean, do you really think it's the smartest thing, to resist when they come...? We could go to jail!"

Olivia scoffed. "I would rather be in jail that have my home taken from me."

"Liv, it's just..."

"You're scared." The small redhead nodded and Olivia snorted. She honestly should have known better, but she said nothing. "You can do what you want, but I'm not going without a fight." Olivia didn't want to hear the rest; she wanted a fight, but with someone who mattered. Fighting with Sandra wasn't going to fix anything. She disappeared into their shared bedroom and dropped onto her bed. Her phone dinged in her hand. She had two e-mails. One from Alice and the other from Dominic. She read Alice's first and it was a link to the latest Anarchist article. It made her smile and she copied the link. Reading Dominic's e-mail made her smile, too. She replied with the link to the blog post. She shared both, the article and the march information on her own Facebook page. A lot of her friends had shared the same or similar events and she felt heart swell with pride: they were doing this. Reading through some of the comments there was so much support and just as much hate. She ignored the latter, replying to a comment that clarified the event to be a peaceful. "Marching should be peaceful; we are just trying to make our voices heard." She knew that the police might see it differently, but didn't think she'd mention that fact. Obviously this guy was new to the game.
 
Domenic skimmed through the comments section briefly. Everyone was saying the same thing. Peaceful protest, get our message out there, don't bring weapons, yada yada yada. It was easy for casters to say that, he supposed. They didn't need to carry anything to protect themselves, should push come to shove. Not that he really thought it would. People were only just starting to realize they needed to actually stand up for themselves if they wanted change. He wasn't expecting a fight, not from a group of people still scared to show up to a simple meeting. Baby steps, he reminded himself. Patience. Patience was difficult, though, when every day they waited was another day they gave the government control over their lives. It was a gamble to stay patient. Who knew what rights they would lose the next time they checked the news?

"Next time," he sighed, looking over at the box under his bed where he had stowed his mother's old handgun. No, he didn't exactly have a license for it. It was nearly impossible for a Sec to obtain a legal weapons permit, and with his history of activism and minor legal infractions, Dominic would never stand a chance. That didn't exactly matter, though. When he used the gun for what he intended to someday, its paperwork was going to be the least of the laws he would be breaking.

Peaceful protest, he agreed, much as he hated typing the words. Do not engage with counter-protesters or law enforcement. Our time to fight back with our hands will come. This is a warning to the world- we are united. We are strong. And we will not break.

He checked the shares on the event page. Nearly five thousand in the last six hours since he had posted it. Sure, not all of them were positive, but attention was attention. Their message was spreading, and faster than he could have hoped for.
 
Lloyd scrolled through his timeline while he waited for a response. A dwarf he had slept rough with before had shared a link to The Anarchist. As interested as he was in the site, he could never deal with the constant moving around that it had to do. If he was on the site, it was because someone shared it on Facebook or something else. He clicked on the link and - after three minutes of loading - read the article over, a smile musing across his face. Someone had gotten in contact with The Anarchist! How'd that end up happening? He wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth, though; what was more important was that they weren't going to be protesting alone. If The Anarchist really had as much influence as he assumed it did, Secondaries all over the country would be fighting back. This wasn't just in Boston any more.

A notification came up on his screen to tell him his comment had two replies. He clicked off The Anarchist and back onto Facebook, back to his comment. He sighed in relief at the first comment, glad that he wouldn't have to bring a kitchen knife, or something. The second comment put him on edge, though. 'Our time to fight back with our hands will come' was the offending part. Frankly, Lloyd didn't want that time to come. The fights he'd ended up getting into while he was homeless had always ended with him badly beaten and a lot poorer than he had been before the fight. He didn't know how to fight, and Secondaries were already looked down on for being 'violent' or 'uncultured' or some other rubbish like that. They needed to be humans, not animals. 'Good. I'll bring everyone I can. We can't let this go through.' He replied.

He looked at the names of those that had replied. Dominic Kingston...wasn't he the half-dwarf that called the meeting the other week? That definitely rang a bell. His mind drifted back to the 'our time to fight back will come' comment. The leader - or something like that - of their movement was anticipating a time they'd be fighting? Lloyd and the others had arrived late, just in time to hear about resisting the move. What had they missed in the time before that? He shook his head and sighed. Maybe he should bring a weapon then, just in case.
 
Sandra had agreed to go to the protest. She was reliable for things like marches, sign waving, picket lines, and the like. Olivia traded shifts with another waitress at IHOP (a caster who had confided in Olivia that she was unregistered). The following morning she was ready for the march; she had her Secondary Pride Flag (self-designed; she hoped it one day be an icon like the rainbow flag), her camel-back (hydration is important, okay), and her marching shoes with the good arch support. Sandra carried the cooler bag with snacks and the first aid kit.

The elf arrived forty-five minutes early and was pleased to already see a small crowd gathering. While waiting she logged onto her Facebook account and was pleased to see that similar events were beginning to pop up in cities and states around the nation. There would be more protests this week. Idly, she wondered if there were any nearby that she could participate in. The more numbers at each protest, the better. If they had coordinated better, they could have several protests going on at once, but she supposed there was time for that.

There were a few people she recognized from the meeting and she mingled, waiting for the official start of the march.
 
Of course, Dominic had to be there early. He still wasn't entirely sure when exactly he had become a public figure, but at this point his influence was clear, and he wasn't complaining. If people needed someone to stand behind in order to show up, he would gladly take that role. The march was scheduled to kick off at nine, so he was there at eight, greeting people as they began to gather and running around to make sure everything was set up properly. This was going to be the biggest protest solely devoted to Secondary Rights on record, if the numbers he predicted off the Facebook event could be trusted at all. It needed to be good.

A large hand clapped him on the shoulder in greeting and Dominic looked up, face breaking into a grin. "Matt! How've you been? I thought you were out in Worcester now!" Matt had been the founder of their old high school's Secondary Rights club, a senior when Dominic had been a freshman. He was a spellcaster, powers manifesting young, but his parents were both full citizens who had long been sympathetic to Sec issues. They had money, so Matt had been able to go off to college, the University of Massachusetts. He'd gone into political science and was one of the few Secs Dominc knew of to actually hold a local political office, no matter how small. Most Secs never received higher education, as there were next to no scholarships available for them. Matt had won the Sec lottery, and everyone in their high school group had known it, but Dominic wasn't jealous. If anyone would make good use of a college diploma, it was Matt Baker. When Dominic gave speeches, even now, he tried to channel Matt's spirit, inspire his audiences the way he himself had been inspired.

"I was. My term ended, though, and I wasn't re-elected. No one was really holding me there, and Boston seemed to be where things were heating up, so I moved back out east a couple weeks ago, right in time to get my eviction notice." The easy smile Matt wore didn't hide the sharp anger behind the words. This was reality, they joked with it as they needed to, but neither man could forget their true purpose at the rally. It was more than a chance to catch up with friends. They were ready to move. "I've heard the regional resistance coordinators here are pretty great, though, so I'm not too worried." He elbowed Dominic, nodding approvingly. "You've been busy since I graduated."

The praise made Dominic chuckle, and he shrugged. "Busier now. I think we may have finally hit the tipping point, where people are more scared of staying still than they are of speaking up. Took 'em all long enough, though."

Matt gazed around at the gathering people, nodding his head at the scene. "I hope you're right."

Dominic caught a glimpse of Olivia through the crowd. She had her Sec pride flag again, which had started to catch on, even if Dominic did privately find it a bit ridiculous looking. "Come on, there's someone you should meet. She's been talking about getting Secs in office. Elections don't start for a couple months, but the two of you should trade some ideas." He started towards her, saying his hellos to the people he passed on the way.
 
Lloyd had never been more glad that he was given a shitty night shift. Normally, he would complain about being given the hardest things to wash and having to have them finished by the time the sun came up, but it was a sacrifice he was willing to make to join in on the rally. Only one of his roommates had been able to get the time off, and that was Robert. He'd only managed to get the day off because the convenience store boss was Secondary too.

"I hope they don't mind that we don't have a sign," Robert mumbled, rolling his bottle of water from one hand to the next. As much as they'd wanted to, they hadn't been able to find any of the materials they needed. Not to mention that they weren't even a little bit creative, and couldn't think of any ideas.
Lloyd shook his head. "We might not have enough money for paint, but we do have enough money for food colouring." He lifted up a small bottle of food colouring. "It's the same colour as the flag, so I think it'll be good enough, right?"
Robert blinked at the bottle. "Good idea!" He exclaimed, taking it. He shook a few drops into his water bottle, then passed it back to Lloyd, who did the same. "We're good to go!" He chirped, though all they had to their names were two bottles of water, a few memorised spells and a defensive spell in the form of a few rings on their fingers.

City Hall was a ten minute bus ride from their apartment, and the bus was packed. There were all sorts of Secs onboard, and most of them got off at City Hall. Lloyd felt better about not bringing a sign now. He looked around the large area, at all the people that had joined in, and couldn't help but laugh a little in glee. How many people were there?

"We should find someone to help," Robert suggested, scanning the surrounding area to look for someone who might need the assistance of two somewhat inexperienced spellcasters.
 
Sandra disappeared into the crowd to talk with a few casters she was familiar with and they began talking excitedly. The elf turned, surveying the crowd: There were two boys that Olivia recognized from the meeting. They looked like this might be their first march and somehow that was more exciting than all of the familiar faces. She caught sight of so many casters, elves, and dwarfs. It wasn't even nine in the morning, yet, but already so many were here. When she turned again, she caught sight of Dominic walking toward her, a human in tow. His face was vaguely familiar and it took her a second to recognize the man. He was famous for being one of the few Secs to have an education beyond high school and to make it into office. She was fangirling, just a little.

Sandra was busy gossiping with her on-again, off-again boyfriend (off, currently) and his roommate when she caught sight of two casters who looked a little lost. Leaving Eric to his own devices (really, he didn't even notice that she walked away--definitely off again!), she approached the two casters. "Hi!" She stuck out her hand, "First march, huh? You were at that meeting, a few days ago?" The redhead was chipper and she bounced a little in her running shoes. "It gets the adrenaline pumping, don't you think?

-------

Meanwhile...

Nadia Patel was a woman who required structure and routine. She started her morning every day at 7:30am with a meeting in her office. It lasted until exactly 8:30 when she kicked everyone out of her office, regardless if anything had been solved or not. She had her cup of coffee, a protein shake, and a bowl of Special K cereal with almond milk. She spent the next twenty minutes working on her breakfast and the remaining time from 8:50-9 meditating in order to get her in the right mind set for her day. At 8:45, every morning, she would go to her window to peer out at the city she worked hard to care for. This morning was no different, except when she glanced out her window, the Mayor nearly choked on her coffee. Outside her office a large crowd had gathered and it was ever growing. There must be hundreds of people down there. She racked her brain for any mention in her morning meeting of there being some kind of festival, a marathon, or anything but nothing came to mind. What in the world was happening down there?
 
Dominic caught up with Olivia as her roommate wandered off to introduce herself to two men he somewhat recognized from the resistance meeting a week ago. He was glad to see they had showed up. They hadn't looked entirely sure of their presence at the meeting, and they had been among the first out the door when Dominic had called it adjourned. But they were here, and while probably nervous, they seemed to be excited, too. Dominic remembered his own words from a few moments before. Maybe they finally had hit the tipping point. He made a mental note to talk to them later. The more they could draw new faces in and make everyone feel involved with the movement, the better.

"Olivia!" Dominic raised a hand in greeting to flag her down. "Hey- great to see you." He gestured to Matt. "There's someone I want you to meet." He could already tell from the awestruck look on her face that Olivia knew who his friend was. Of course she would, Baker was practically a celebrity within resistance circles. "Olivia's been great getting everything in order out here," Dominic told Matt, hiding a smile at her flustered expression. "She's the one that got us connected with The Anarchist. Still don't know how she managed that one."

"Well it's a pleasure," Matt smiled, shaking Olivia's hand. "Matt Baker. I've come across your name, I've been reading up on the Boston area political circle. Moved out here from the Worcester area a couple weeks ago, I'm planning on running for District Board of Commissioners next fall. I was a friend of Dominic's back in high school."
 
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Robert visibly jumped at the approacher, having somehow missed her as he was scanning. Lloyd, however, barely even blinked at his friend's jumpy nature. He placed one of his big hands on his short friend's shoulder. "Hey," he said smoothly, taking Sandra's hand and shaking it firmly. He looked around, smiling ever so slightly. "Yeah, it's our first time. I was at the meeting, but Rob wasn't," he told the elf, slipping both his hands back to his side.
"I thought I'd be nervous, but I'm excited more than anything!" Robert piped up, beaming. Lloyd chuckled a little.

"Have you any clue where our help might be needed?" Lloyd asked. "You seem more experienced than we are." He gestured to the cooler with a lopsided smile.
 
"Hey, can you believe this?" She gestured in the general direction to the growing crowd. Her eyes were shining with the excitement. Turning her attention to Matt, she smiled and quickly extended her hand to shake. "Trade secrets," Olivia told Dominic. To Matt she said, "So great meeting you. I've followed your career for a while," she blushed a little but couldn't find herself to be too embarrassed. Surely he knew he was a big name among Secs.

This day couldn't get better. Having actually held public office, he had a chance of getting elected. "You'd be the first in Boston," which would just make it more exciting. "If you need any help with campaigning, I'll give you my e- mail, I'd love to help." No shame, Olivia.

-------

Sandra grinned, pushing her unruly hair out of her eyes. "Um, at the moment nothing. But once things get started," she shrugged. "People tend to get excited and first timers, like yourselves, forget to bring water and snacks. We'll get a few fainters, maybe some who throw up." The redhead glanced around, searching. "There's usually a first-aid tent... somewhere... aha, there!" She pointed several feet away where a white tent was going up with the red cross painted on it. "Come on, I'll introduce you to a few people." She checked her watch, "We'll have to be quick, we'll be starting soon."

-------

Mayor Patel was still standing at her window in disbelief, watching as posters and banners were being passed around. Even from up here she could read some of the larger ones. "WE WILL NOT MOVE" was painted on quite a few. Phrases about retaining rights, phrases how Secondaries were people, too. Suddenly, she realized what was happening. "Gary!" She snapped and her assistant came running in to the room.

"Yes, ma'am?"

"Call Security, I want to make sure the building is secured." She paused, "And call the police, we're going to need a few out this way."

"Ma'am."

"The Secondaries are marching."
 
Olivia's slightly flustered air didn't seem to bother Matt in the least. Graduating from a four year university, with honors, at that, was rare for a Secondary, making it into public office even more so. The attention had made him slightly uncomfortable at first, though he wouldn't have admitted it, but over the years he had grown accustomed the way people talked. Both the good and the bad. "That would be great," he answered, fumbling in his pocket for a scrap of paper and stealing the pen from behind Dominic's ear to write down his email address. "I could use more contacts in the area." He passed her the paper and tossed the pen back to Dominic, who caught it with a slightly exaggerated roll of his eyes.

Dominic checked his watch. "I gotta go, it looks like things are starting to really move and I'm supposed to speak third," he explained, taking a step back. "I'll meet up with the two of you later, though - grab lunch after this?" Without waiting for an answer, he disappeared into the crowd.

A collapsible platform had been set up in front of the steps of City Hall, with a single microphone. It wasn't fancy, they didn't have the resources for fancy, but it served its purpose. Rachel Fitzgerald, a representative of the Greater Boston Movement for Secondary Youth Protection, was speaking at the moment, talking excitedly about the amazing turnout and the beautiful day they had in her usual bubbly way. Dominic wasn't usually a huge fan of her frankly obnoxious optimism, though he supposed it was a natural side effect of spending your whole life working with five-year-olds, but it seemed to fit the situation. The assembly was cheering, everyone was engaged and excited, and he couldn't really complain about that.

Rather than weave through the dense crowd, he made his way out towards the edges, intending to circle around. But he was distracted from his task by three police cars pulling up, sirens off but red and blue lights flashing. He was too short to see over the crowd from the ground, but he climbed a couple steps and was able to see more lights flashing in the distance, at the other end of the sea of protesters. He caught a couple murmurs, a few others on the fringes of the crowd had noticed as well, but the vast majority of the rally seemed not to see. Great. Fantastic. That would show him to think things were going well.

The cars parked in the middle of the street, uniformed officers spilling out. They held their guns in their hands, rather than wearing them holstered on their belts, and Dominic suddenly felt uneasy. That was not a good sign.

"Is there a problem, officer?" he asked the nearest cop, keeping his voice perfectly polite. Peaceful protest, he reminded himself. They had come out to peacefully protest, as was still their constitutional right. As long as he kept his cool, there was nothing he needed to worry about. Everything was perfectly legal.
 
Lloyd laughed, sounding rather carefree. "I guess we've failed in that department, too," he said, lifting up the small black-tinted bottle of water. "All we've brought is water." He looked towards the first-aid tent, and glanced towards Robert. "Sounds good. You're coming, right Rob?"
Robert looked a little more nervous than he had before, but nodded anyways. His eyes drifted to the police cars that had just approached, though his blonde friend hadn't spotted them yet.
Lloyd looked back to the red-haired elf. "Ladies first. What's your name, anyways?"
 
Olivia tucked the paper into her pocket for safekeeping; she would input the e-mail address into her phone later. Right now she had signs and flags to wave, and soon enough chants to shout. She maneuvered through the crowd, expertly, stopping a few times to say a very quick hello to familiar faces. Her adrenaline was pumping as Rachel spoke, firing up the crowd. She wasn't used to speaking to adults, and it showed, but right now Olivia couldn't be bothered by the optimism. The crowd was pumped. Faces turned forward, cheering.

Out of the corner of her eye, Olivia could see the flashing lights and she felt a mixture of dread and pride. Good, let them see that they have come. She was confident that they would remain peaceful and people would see that even when faced with those who expected violence, they would stand proud. The feeling only lasted a second before she started scanning for Dominic. She had a feeling that he was not totally okay with keeping this 100% peaceful. He was nowhere to be seen, though.

------

"Eh, the water is more important anyway." The redhead smacked her forehead and grinned, "Goodness. It's Sandra." She moved forward through the crowd, pointing out people she knew as they went. There was Lola, another caster. Thomlin, a dwarf, and so on. When they reached the first aid tent, her good mood had dampened some. There were police surrounding the gathered crowd. No one had moved, yet, but it looked like they were expecting trouble. "Sure, if it was a women's march no one would blink twice, but because it's Secondaries, they already have their guns out. Does it look like we're about to be violent?"

------

The Mayor cleared her schedule for the afternoon, her routine already disrupted. Instead, she continued to watch the Secondaries. She could hear the voice of a very chipper woman talking to the gathered crowd and Nadia tensed. "Any second," She whispered waiting for them to storm her building. Her muscles relaxed, some, when the police pulled up and Gary gave her the confirmation that security had assured the building was secure.

Idly her perfectly manicured fingers tapped the windowsill. "What are you planning?" Even as she pondered the suddenness--how had no one known this was going to happen--she pictured her press conference later, in the after math.
 
It wasn't his fault.

"No problems here," the officer replied coolly, though the look on his face said otherwise. "We're just here to make sure everything stays nice and calm, that's all." The cop spoke in the usual condescending way human citizens spoke to Secondaries. Slowly, like the Secs were stupid children, or even animals, who couldn't understand any faster. Dominic bristled but let it slide. That wasn't the fight right now. He was being incredibly careful not to present himself as a threat in any way to the police officers standing him down. Three of them had crowded in closer around him as the others spread out to the edges of the rally. People were definitely noticing them now. The greener activists looked especially uncomfortable, but no one was thrilled by the presence of armed cops. It seemed every other day there was news of another Sec death at the hands of law enforcement, and they always seemed to go unpunished.

"Well, if there are no problems, may I ask why you have your weapons drawn?" Dominic forced a pleasant smile that felt like it was burning his face. "We're all unarmed, everyone here was checked at our registration tent. This is specifically a peaceful protest." He was telling the truth. Though he sorely missed its weight at his side, even Dominic had left his gun at home. There would be a time and a place to fight, he knew, but he wasn't stupid enough to think that time was today or that place here.

The cop's lip twitched in what could have been a disbelieving laugh. "If you're all unarmed, you have no need to worry about our weapons," he countered.

Dominic managed a deep breath, but the smile was gone. That was too much to ask for. "When guns are out, tensions get high," he said slowly, imitating the officer's condescending tone. "Neither of us wants to see anyone get hurt today, so it's in everyone's best interests the guns stay away unless they're needed." From the corner of his eye, he saw an officer shove a boy who had strayed too far from the dense crowd. The kid, maybe sixteen or seventeen, stumbled and would have fallen had it not been for the woman nearby who caught him just in time. "Tell your people to take their hands off mine. Put the guns away. And back. Off."

Their scene had definitely drawn some attention now, from Secs and police alike. Though Dominic didn't dare look away, not wanting to show weakness, he could feel the energy crackling in the air like thunderclouds on a summer day. It was getting hotter and hotter, and soon lightning would fly. He wasn't the only one willing to fight here, armed or not.

"Are you talking back to me?" the officer asked, voice dropping about a half an octave. He stepped closer, so near Dominic could smell the cheap coffee on his breath. "Because that would be a very, very bad idea. You stupid mutt."

He would tell Olivia later- it wasn't his fault.

Before Dominic could really process what he was doing, he had thrown himself at the officer, using his short stature to his advantage as he landed a strike with all his stocky weight right to the liver.
 
Lloyd smiled. "Lloyd. And this is Robert." He clapped a hand on his short friend's shoulder before following Sandra through the crowd, smiling and waving at anyone who caught his eye. He could notice the crowd starting to bristle a little, though he guessed it was from the speeches. It was only when Sandra mentioned the police that he noticed them. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, eyeing the guns. "They're not trying to kick women out their houses, though," he pointed out, spinning one of the defensive rings on his finger. "Nothing's gonna happen though. It's a peaceful protest-"
Robert suddenly elbowed Lloyd's side. "Lloyd. Look." Robert pointed off in the direction of a whole lot of jeering and shouting. He was too short to really see any of it, though Lloyd easily could.

He winced. "A dwarf's gotten in a fight with an officer," he muttered to Robert. He looked over at Sandra. "We should step in, right?" He asked. He wasn't going to fight, but he didn't want to just watch someone get killed.
 
The police started shoving in the back and Olivia was searching: she was looking for her roommate or Dominic. Onstage Rachel was pausing, distracted by the commotion in the back. Olivia bit her lip and then hurried over to the microphone. "Rachel," she called up and, worried, the representative peered down at Olivia. News vans were already pulling up and she wanted to see them resisting the call to violence. "Remind them that we are protesting peacefully as we have a right to do so." Rachel nodded and began speaking about their right to peacefully gather, still so chipper despite the worry in her eyes. With the news here, they would show the police making the first moves. Not that it would do anything, Secs were always to blame.

From the fringes of the crowd, Olivia heard a commotion and after pulling herself up onto the stage she saw a dwarf and an officer throwing punches. Oh, Dominic. He wasn't the only one, either. There were a few getting in there, keeping the cop's buddies away from the young male. She worried about her new friend's safety and about the safety of those they had gathered there. The news stations were already filming, many of them having made their way over to where the fight was beginning to grow as more got involved. She was pretty sure she heard sirens in the distance. What would they bring? Riot shields and tear gas, most likely. From the corner of her eye she saw a few people trying to sneak away and she couldn't blame them. She was not going to leave her people, though. She gestured to Rachel who handed over the mic. "Make revolution for the Secs of the world, for the Secs of the world: REVOLUTION!" She repeated it again, this time holding the mic out and the crowd yelled back, "REVOLUTION!" It was cheesy, but it was an easy chant and it got the crowd hyped and maybe those on the fringes would see their chant, their intention for peace but change. Now that she had some attention she tried something else. "Secs united will never be defeated." She yelled at the crowd and they cheered back. "What do we want?"

"Rights!" The crowd yelled back.

"When do we want them?"

"Always!"

She whispered a few more phrases to Rachel and handed the mic back over before jumping down from the stage. Rachel didn't have the anger, but she did have the energy and she could keep the crowd going. More fights were breaking out and that was the issue Olivia didn't know how to resolve.

-------

Sandra looked over to where that dwarf from the meeting had begun a fight and she shook her curly head, a little. "Um." She was not a fighter and Olivia had promised peacefulness. Of course, she couldn't control everyone but... Sandra didn't want to get involved. She was all for lobbying for new bills and the marches, too, but fighting with the police? She didn't want to go to jail. "I..." Someone else stepped in, throwing a punch at another officer who was going to take a swing at Dominic. "He's got help and they're probably going to need help, here." She gestured to the first aid tent. Truth was, though, she wanted to leave. The redhead gave a quick scan of the crowd and spotted Olivia over on the dais, but Olivia couldn't see her. If she just... "I'm going to go find another Caster, he's pretty good with first aid spells." Very quickly she blended into the crowd, looking for her exit. Surely there was a place the police weren't suddenly guarding.
 
Harrison sighed as he stood along the pavement of the road, watching the crowd march their way down towards city hall. Looking left and right, he saw that while he was generally relaxed, his coworkers definitely weren't. Many of them had hands on their weapons and he was pretty sure Floyd was about to throw up. Poor guy always was scared of Secs. But they weren't who Harrison was keeping an eye on right now. Just to his left stood Thomas, his partner and notoriously hot headed. While the guy wasn't exactly racist against the Secondaries, he certainly wasn't their friend. Always picking fights with the more hot blooded of the Secs. Having been placed in charge of the officers on the ground, he needed to make sure that everything was going smoothly, which was a part of the reason why they were nearer to the rear of the parade.

Giving normal cops an allowance to break out some of the bigger guns also wasn't exactly what Harrison would call smart. He wasn't sure what the people in charge were thinking when they had declared it, but there was something about knowing that you have snipers backing you up that seemed to increase your level of courage. Then again the same could be said for the Secs. Having this many around was a completely novel experience, even for Harrison, and it showed when the Dwarf that had been in charge of this rally, Dominic he was pretty sure the file said, walked up to Thomas and promptly started a fight.

Now don't get him wrong, Harrison was 100% sure Thomas had something to do with it. He had been on edge all day, nervous about the potential destruction that could be caused by an out of control group of Secondaries, and it had not helped when he had seen other officers forcefully manhandle other Secondaries (officers that were quickly reprimanded by Harrison).

Looking at the fight, Harrison hesitated in helping. This was all that the Secondaries needed as a chant of 'REVOLUTION' seemingly erupted from the center of the mass, carrying it's was down and through the crowd and spurring more fights. All over the street fights were breaking out. It wouldn't be long until gunfire would be heard. He had to act fast.

Dashing forward, Harrison points his taser at an elf that was about to join the brawl between the two men before grabbing Dominic by the shoulders from where he was on top of Thomas, bodily hauling him off of his partner who quickly scrambled up, reaching for his gun. "NO!" Shouts Harrison, putting a hand towards the two of them, both to stop Thomas from going any further and to try and dissuade Dominic from ruining his chances any further.

Turning to the Dwarf, he opened his mouth to speak. "Get back in there you bloody moron! You had a real chance get some more support in order to fix this and now you've practically ruined it! The media is just going to use this as further evidence you stupid dolt! Get back to the centre and get them to stop shouting revolution quickly before they start gassing you!" He roars at the Dwarf before grabbing Thomas by the shoulder and bodily drawing him away, talking into his radio. "To all officers, resolve all fights as peacefully as possible. Should belligerents continue, taser and detain. I repeat, resolve all fights as peacefully as possible. Should belligerents continue, taser and detain."
 
Yanked from the officer he had tackled, Dominic found himself held back by another. He was fully prepared to fight both at once, he was drawing back his fist, but the newcomer's words made him stop cold. Son of a bitch. The anger and adrenaline faded as fast as they had risen, and Dominic found himself seeing the scene around them with clearer eyes. Their peaceful protest had turned into a riot. And he had started it.

It wasn't that he didn't want revolution, of course he did, but now was not the time. Not when they were all unarmed, completely vulnerable and unable to fight back. There was strategic fighting and there was stupidity, and Dominic knew where this situation stood. He wasn't a total idiot, even if he hadn't been able to control his impusivity. Unarmed and unprepared, the Secondaries wouldn't stand a chance against the police force of the city. The battle had been lost before it had even begun. All they could accomplish through this was needless injury, a further destroyed public image, and of course, the momentary satisfaction Dominic had gained from acting on his anger. When he had thrown that first punch, Dominic had only been thinking of one of the three.

Leaving a slightly shocked Dominic staring after them, the cop who had broken up the fight pulled the first officer away. He was shouting something Dominic couldn't entirely make out into his radio, somethig about peaceful conflict resolution. That wouldn't be enough. They couldn't defuse the situation from only one side. If the Secs kept fighting, the police would, too, orders or not. With that realization, Dominic turned and rushed back into the crowd. He had to get to the microphone.

He didn't bother stopping for most of the brawls around him. There were too many, it was impossible to end the riot by approaching each individually. The best shot he had lay with the microphone. Pressed for time, Dominic only stopped to break up the worst of the fights. Anything not urgent could wait. Through the shouting and the chaos, he tried to explain the situation to the Secs he pulled away, saw understanding on some faces, but it wasn't nearly enough. The ball was rolling, and it had momentum. Dominic tried not to think about the fact he had been the one to give it a shove in the first place.

His plan was derailed by a scream of pure pain off to his left. That wasn't the sound of a fistfight. He shoved his way through the surging crowd in time to see a cop standing over a spellcaster woman as she curled on the ground in agony. The cop aimed a kick for the woman's ribs even as she screamed protests, and Dominic's blind fury was back. "Get the hell away from her!" he roared, grabbing the handle from a fallen protest sign and swinging it like a baseball bat into the man's stomach. He felt hands grabbing him, trying to hold him back, but he ripped away from them with a snarl.
 
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