There was a lot of shuffling and murmuring as dark and curious eyes glanced around the room. No one seemed to want to make eye contact with each other. No one really cared about anyone else in the room. And yet they all felt a sense of unity that no other person had brought to them. It was perhaps why they'd joined this group in the first place. Somehow that wasn't enough though. They all came when called by their leader but now that they were all here no one wanted to speak. No one bothered to ask anyone else their name or where they were from or most importantly, if they knew why they were all here in the first place.
The Ghouls. The most feared gang in Domino City- no, the world- or maybe just Japan? Some of them weren't even really sure. People feared them though, they knew this and that was enough. They knew it in the way uneasy travelers shifted to avoid them when they came down the street. They could see the fear in other people's eyes and they could hear the whispers on other people's lips. It was enough.
But as some braver souls actually looked around the room it seemed the herd had thinned quite dramatically. Could it have been that the other Ghouls were weak? Or perhaps they'd been dispatched as traitors. Whatever the case, there was definitely less of them than ever before. It wasn't often that they gathered in big group meetings like this but the last time they had there had been too many to count.
Now it just felt like a handful. That was off-putting in and of itself. But the real problem was when their master finally took his rightful spot among them all, higher of course, on a podium-
And he was without his cloak. They could see his face, not an often treat for most, but everyone knew it was him. Worse yet he was without that mystical golden object he always carried so tightly in his fist. Or maybe the real punishment was how sad he seemed. He didn't look to carry the anger and the hatred in him as he once did.
His hands raised to hush the small crowd and as soon as they did everyone silenced and then took the knee.
Malik winced, still raw from everything that had just happened. But this needed to be done. "I have called you all here for one purpose and one only." The crowd stayed silent still but they were at least looking at him now. "As of this moment The Ghouls are disbanded." It had to happen. He was no longer interested in heavy handed tactics, no longer filled with such unmanageable anger and rage.
He could no longer carry these people around like puppets and order them to break at his will. To move on from what he'd done and the past he was finally free of he needed to set these people free as well. He needed them to go away.
The crowd, however, did not take this as well. Where they had been lifeless before, their master had given them purpose. And now he was just trying to tell them to disband like they were some simple rowdy gang of thugs? There were outcries and pleading.
It only caused the Egyptian to frown all the more. He'd taken this up without Ishizu or Rishid as well, making it just as hard. But he'd started this on his own. He could end it. "Stop!" He commanded, perhaps still not as ready as he'd thought to give it up. It pleased him to a small extent that they listened so easily. "This is not the way we need to live our lives." His voice had gone soft in only just another moment.
Before they could uprise again he hushed them once more with a raise of his hands. "I am no longer your leader. I don't wish for you to carry on but if you really can't see past this way of life I've forced you into then choose another and do as you please." It wasn't exactly what he'd wanted but they really seemed close to an uprising.
"As of this moment, Malik Ishtar wants no part of this group." This was as definitive as he could make it, spine straight and voice strong. The group responded, going quiet again and watching him. They were looking for weakness- for any sign that he was fooling them or perhaps testing them. Testing their merits and trust as he always did.
But as he turned away from them they all felt the same crushing sense of hopelessness and despair. Without a true leader like Malik they were nothing. And soon after he'd gone they began filing out into the streets. Some abandoned their cloaks, some held close to them as if they were the only comfort left in the world. Some would wait the rest of their lives for Master Malik's call and some tried to move past and live on.
None of it mattered to Malik anymore. At least that was what he kept repeating to himself for a long time to come