Post by Moonhunter on Mar 17, 2022 6:21:48 GMT
Mr. Underbite straightened his tie as he surveyed the literal den of thieves around him. The warehouse was dark and stunk of exotic smokes. As an orc, his sense of smell wasn't as keen as some other species'. He cast a side-eye towards Mistress Sabina Kali of the Eastside Coven, who was keeping her distance from Shkt of of the Lizardfolk Nest. Shkt in particular would inhale just about anything that could alter its brain chemistry. From the slight glow in their eyes, Shkt had already sampled the latest drug, Evanescence, before coming here. Mr. Underbite shook his head. He, at least, knew better than to get hooked on his own product. The Nest would no doubt be the next to fall under the combined weight of his organization Orc-Gnoll Confederation and the Eastside Coven. Once the Nest fell, Underbite and Mistress Kali would no doubt be meeting again to discuss how they would divide the territory.
"Where is Korin?" Mistress Kali said, leaning up against one of the wooden crates. She was dressed in an a raven-colored skirt-suit--the height of fashion these days, except hers was trimmed with lace for an added lavishness. She looked, as all higher vampires did, cool and calculated, the suit simply adding to the aura of power.
"He is one who called meeting," Shkt pipped up, its nasal voice pitched higher with annoyance. "He is one who should be here first."
"You know the catfolk," Underbite said. "Always fashionably late to everything." He cast a grin towards Mistress Kali, who just rolled her eyes.
Kali sneered, a single fang glistening even in the shadows. "You would not know fashion even if a tailor came up and slapped you in the face. Even for your large size, Underbite, you look like a little boy wearing his father's suit."
"Aw, is that supposed to hurt my feelings?"
"Barbarian."
"Witch."
Shkt burst out in the coughing sound their species considered a laugh and started to clap, clearly enjoying the displays of hostility between their two biggest rivals.
Underbite opened his mouth to apologize, if only to disappoint Shkt, when the vampiress' head snapped to the front door they had all entered through. Then Underbite heard it too--the sounds of scuffling outside. There was a brief burst of gunfire, and then silence.
"A trap!" Mistress Kali hissed, and turned to smoke. She appeared by the back door, staggering into full materialization. She tries to press against the exit--and hissed in pain, pulling her hands up to look at blisters. "Garlic!?" she screamed with outrage. "Someone put garlic oil on the door!"
"Outta da way, then," Underbite said, shedding his jacket and rolling up his sleeves. Garlic didn't do anything to orcs except give them gas. He charged against the door, only to bounce off it and land on his ass. It had been reinforced.
"Korin will pay for this treachery!" Kali screeched, her civilized veneer peeling away like dried paint from an old shed.
"Korin's not the one who called you all here," said a hooded figure as it walked through the front door, carrying a sack. "That would be me."
With surprising unity, all three crime bosses pulled out the single gun they each were allowed to bring to a meeting such as this, and aimed it at the intruder.
Kali hissed.
The intruder pulled the hood down, revealing a face they all knew: white, canine. Shkt suddenly opened fire. And with that gauntlet thrown, so did the other two.
The wolf just stood there, the occasional spark flicking off his bulletproof clothing, but a few shots hit him in the head. Still, he stood, and when the sound of gunfire was replaced by futile clicking, the wolf sneered as the bullets emerged from his face and the holes sealed up. He shook his head--and then spat out yet another bullet and coughed. "Hate it when they go through the throat," he grumbled, and pulled out a wipe to clean his own blood off his face.
"You all know you can't kill me," he said as he scrubbed at his cheek.
"No, but it made me feel better," said Mistress Kali.
"And I am one not to die meekly," Shkt said. "If Moonhunter is come to kill us."
The wolf clicked his tongue and moved the rag up to the top of his head. One of the bullets had definitely punctured his brain, but he seemed no worse the wear for it. "I've told each of you before, I'm not some naive paladin. I know how the world works. Killing crime bosses just leads to power vacuums, chaos, and then just more of the same when someone rises up to claim their place. I've made sure you, and your predecessors, all had an understanding. You keep your organizations relatively civil, no collateral damage, no harming children... and I don't play whack-a-mole with you."
"Whack a what?" Underbite asked.
"Korin forgot the rules." Moonhunter tossed the sack at them, which bounced, opened up... and out came rolling a feline head, its mane disheveled, its eyes gouged out, its mouth rictored in an expression of agony.
Shkt leap straight up into the air and landed on top of a pile of crates. Kali titled her head and stared at it. Underbite... dropped his gun, the dull clatter of it against the cement floor the only sound that penetrated the horrific silence.
Moonhunter's deep, gritty voice took on a whole new growl to its tone. "I'm sure you all saw the news reports three days ago of the crate in the docks containing over a dozen stolen children. Children who had been BLINDED SO THEY COULDN'T ESCAPE!"
Moonhunter started to pace, his long coat flourishing was he turned. Underbite eyed the front door behind their captor, but knew even in his agitated state--maybe even more so--Moonhunter would not allow any of them to make a break for it. So the only option was to stand there, listen to the wolf's tirade, and hope Moonhunter meant it when he said he saw killing them to be futile.
"It didn't take me long to find out it was Korin who was trafficking the children. Two days ago, he woke up in a cell with his eyes gouged out and two Colossus Wasp grubs injected into his guts. You know how Colossus grubs work, don't you? They eat their hosts alive, secreting chemicals that keep the hosts alive even when they'd long be past the point of death.
"I wanted him to know how those children felt. Helpless. Isolated. Blind. Their bodies... just 'things' to be used by monsters. After just one day, he readily surrendered his client list to me. I gave him two more days with those things inside him before I finally put him out of his misery."
It was at that point Shkt threw up. Mistress Kali simply nodded, accepting all this coldly. Underbite couldn't tear his eyes away from the horror on his former rival's face.
"So. I called you all here with Korbin's signal to warn you. Divide up his territory, his businesses, however you like. But if any of you try to pick up his trafficking 'ventures,' I'll let the grubs have at you longer than just three days. Or I'll figure out something clever with sunlight in your case, Sabina."
Mistress Sabina Kali stuck out her fist and rose the middle finger into the air.
Moonhunter pulled his hood back up over his face and turned to leave.
Underbite finally found his voice. "Wait!" he called out. "What about our body guards outside?"
"Oh, they're all dead," Moonhunter said as he opened the door, the smell of bloodshed finally spilling in. "I said it's pointless to kill you, I didn't say anything about removing some of your muscle."
And then he was gone, leaving the three crime bosses shaken and staring at the head of the fourth... until Shkt leapt off the crates and called dibs on it. Underbite and Kali made eye contact for the first time, silently agreeing not to ask the little lizardfolk freak what they were going to do with it.
"Where is Korin?" Mistress Kali said, leaning up against one of the wooden crates. She was dressed in an a raven-colored skirt-suit--the height of fashion these days, except hers was trimmed with lace for an added lavishness. She looked, as all higher vampires did, cool and calculated, the suit simply adding to the aura of power.
"He is one who called meeting," Shkt pipped up, its nasal voice pitched higher with annoyance. "He is one who should be here first."
"You know the catfolk," Underbite said. "Always fashionably late to everything." He cast a grin towards Mistress Kali, who just rolled her eyes.
Kali sneered, a single fang glistening even in the shadows. "You would not know fashion even if a tailor came up and slapped you in the face. Even for your large size, Underbite, you look like a little boy wearing his father's suit."
"Aw, is that supposed to hurt my feelings?"
"Barbarian."
"Witch."
Shkt burst out in the coughing sound their species considered a laugh and started to clap, clearly enjoying the displays of hostility between their two biggest rivals.
Underbite opened his mouth to apologize, if only to disappoint Shkt, when the vampiress' head snapped to the front door they had all entered through. Then Underbite heard it too--the sounds of scuffling outside. There was a brief burst of gunfire, and then silence.
"A trap!" Mistress Kali hissed, and turned to smoke. She appeared by the back door, staggering into full materialization. She tries to press against the exit--and hissed in pain, pulling her hands up to look at blisters. "Garlic!?" she screamed with outrage. "Someone put garlic oil on the door!"
"Outta da way, then," Underbite said, shedding his jacket and rolling up his sleeves. Garlic didn't do anything to orcs except give them gas. He charged against the door, only to bounce off it and land on his ass. It had been reinforced.
"Korin will pay for this treachery!" Kali screeched, her civilized veneer peeling away like dried paint from an old shed.
"Korin's not the one who called you all here," said a hooded figure as it walked through the front door, carrying a sack. "That would be me."
With surprising unity, all three crime bosses pulled out the single gun they each were allowed to bring to a meeting such as this, and aimed it at the intruder.
Kali hissed.
The intruder pulled the hood down, revealing a face they all knew: white, canine. Shkt suddenly opened fire. And with that gauntlet thrown, so did the other two.
The wolf just stood there, the occasional spark flicking off his bulletproof clothing, but a few shots hit him in the head. Still, he stood, and when the sound of gunfire was replaced by futile clicking, the wolf sneered as the bullets emerged from his face and the holes sealed up. He shook his head--and then spat out yet another bullet and coughed. "Hate it when they go through the throat," he grumbled, and pulled out a wipe to clean his own blood off his face.
"You all know you can't kill me," he said as he scrubbed at his cheek.
"No, but it made me feel better," said Mistress Kali.
"And I am one not to die meekly," Shkt said. "If Moonhunter is come to kill us."
The wolf clicked his tongue and moved the rag up to the top of his head. One of the bullets had definitely punctured his brain, but he seemed no worse the wear for it. "I've told each of you before, I'm not some naive paladin. I know how the world works. Killing crime bosses just leads to power vacuums, chaos, and then just more of the same when someone rises up to claim their place. I've made sure you, and your predecessors, all had an understanding. You keep your organizations relatively civil, no collateral damage, no harming children... and I don't play whack-a-mole with you."
"Whack a what?" Underbite asked.
"Korin forgot the rules." Moonhunter tossed the sack at them, which bounced, opened up... and out came rolling a feline head, its mane disheveled, its eyes gouged out, its mouth rictored in an expression of agony.
Shkt leap straight up into the air and landed on top of a pile of crates. Kali titled her head and stared at it. Underbite... dropped his gun, the dull clatter of it against the cement floor the only sound that penetrated the horrific silence.
Moonhunter's deep, gritty voice took on a whole new growl to its tone. "I'm sure you all saw the news reports three days ago of the crate in the docks containing over a dozen stolen children. Children who had been BLINDED SO THEY COULDN'T ESCAPE!"
Moonhunter started to pace, his long coat flourishing was he turned. Underbite eyed the front door behind their captor, but knew even in his agitated state--maybe even more so--Moonhunter would not allow any of them to make a break for it. So the only option was to stand there, listen to the wolf's tirade, and hope Moonhunter meant it when he said he saw killing them to be futile.
"It didn't take me long to find out it was Korin who was trafficking the children. Two days ago, he woke up in a cell with his eyes gouged out and two Colossus Wasp grubs injected into his guts. You know how Colossus grubs work, don't you? They eat their hosts alive, secreting chemicals that keep the hosts alive even when they'd long be past the point of death.
"I wanted him to know how those children felt. Helpless. Isolated. Blind. Their bodies... just 'things' to be used by monsters. After just one day, he readily surrendered his client list to me. I gave him two more days with those things inside him before I finally put him out of his misery."
It was at that point Shkt threw up. Mistress Kali simply nodded, accepting all this coldly. Underbite couldn't tear his eyes away from the horror on his former rival's face.
"So. I called you all here with Korbin's signal to warn you. Divide up his territory, his businesses, however you like. But if any of you try to pick up his trafficking 'ventures,' I'll let the grubs have at you longer than just three days. Or I'll figure out something clever with sunlight in your case, Sabina."
Mistress Sabina Kali stuck out her fist and rose the middle finger into the air.
Moonhunter pulled his hood back up over his face and turned to leave.
Underbite finally found his voice. "Wait!" he called out. "What about our body guards outside?"
"Oh, they're all dead," Moonhunter said as he opened the door, the smell of bloodshed finally spilling in. "I said it's pointless to kill you, I didn't say anything about removing some of your muscle."
And then he was gone, leaving the three crime bosses shaken and staring at the head of the fourth... until Shkt leapt off the crates and called dibs on it. Underbite and Kali made eye contact for the first time, silently agreeing not to ask the little lizardfolk freak what they were going to do with it.
