Number 2: countless clouds of violet
A/N: Alright, how this story is going to progress may be a bit different than how it's normally done with Worm fics. Try to guess who this is? Maybe? It will be rather obvious.
BEGIN!
If the media was to be believed, nothing much had happened in the last few weeks.
I saw things differently.
Something in the city had changed.
For now it only seemed to affect the larger gangs, most of all the Merchants.
Their people seemed to vanish.
Whenever they sent out their thugs to sell their 'goods', said thugs just didn't return.
Even we were able to see Skidmark getting annoyed, and we weren't that interested in the merchants doings.
The Merchants seemed to get a lot more aggressive and sent out more and more of their high-as-fuck thugs to 'recruit' new ones; Skidmark was building an army.
Not a very threatening one, mind you, but an army nonetheless.
Only few of his gangbangers were successful, if the Merchants' current numbers were to be believed.
There was spray paint on the walls, stating that the 'coward should come and fight openly like a man'.
"So, who do you think is it? The Empire or ABB making a move?"
"No, the Merchants' thugs wouldn't just vanish if that was the case", I replied.
"It started quite some time ago, right? About a week?"
"Yes, Brian, it started Saturday last week"
"Well, whoever it is, at least the streets are cleaner, now", Brian's looked thoughtful, "I just wonder were all the Merchants went"
I closed my laptop and stood up.
"Anyway, I'm hungry, want something to eat?"
Out of the corner Alec spoke up.
"Let's get some pizza! A new pizzeria opened a few days ago and their only a few streets away"
Everybody else, which were just Brian and me, since Rachel had gone on a walk with her dogs, groaned.
"Please no, we already had pizza yesterday, and the day before, and-", Brian started.
"Alright, alright. No pizza today, got it.", he paused his video game and stood up, "Well, you better have some other ideas"
Line Break
"So you know what to do? If you decide to do it, please do so on Wednesday, I want to know your choice before tomorrow evening", the bastard said over the phone.
"Yeah, sure thing... boss", with that I hung up and went back into the living room, where the rest of the Undersiders waited.
Brian and Alec were playing some video game and Rachel was sitting on a beanbag chair, surrounded by her dogs. While some people, especially second generation heroes, might say that villains were not people, well, let's just say that if that statement was true, we were really good at pretending to be people.
Well, we were a bunch of teenagers.
"So", I began, "the Boss has a job for us."
I waited until I had their attention to continue.
"He wants us to rob an ABB casino near the docks. Lung is unlikely to be there but we might be confronted with Oni Lee."
Brian frowned. "If Lung is there we'll die, unless there is some miracle at work. When are we supposed to do it?"
I grabbed a slice of pizza and sat down on the couch. "Wednesday evening. He says it's unlikely to be very risky. Some of his 'sources' have noticed the ABB preparing to march in on the Merchants; understandable, with the current situation in mind."
"I'm for it. There's money involved, right?", Alec said and Rachel grunted in agreement.
"Yes, the Boss estimates there to be around 30k. And for a low-risk job..."
"Well, if you're sure Lung won't be there, I'm in."
"Alright then, I'll call the boss tomorrow. We should prepare a bit, I'll see if I can find a map of the casino online. I might be able to figure out where the cash is."
"You do that, alright"
Line Break
And like that we found ourselves before the casino on Wednesday.
Rain was pouring down and the atmosphere was tense.
"Now, everyone ready? You know the plan", Brian, now Grue, said.
"Yeah, sure. We just go in swarm it with darkness and let our living tanks do the fighting, no problem.", Alec said.
I wasn't really paying attention to them; my interest lay in the two people who just left the casino. From the rooftop of a building near the entrance I had a rather nice view.
One of them was an Asian man with a demon mask, and the sight made my heart stop; what was Oni Lee doing here?
He and the second person seemed to be talking.
Important business; Alliance? Yes/No, likely; Lung gathering forces, final strike at merchants; assistance request? Possibly.
Oni Lee nodded one last time at the second person and then turned to dust, the clone disintegrating.
The second person, a woman in a fancy but simple white and purple dress and dark, curly hair, opened her umbrella and stepped into the rain, making her way over to a nearby alley.
Before she entered the alley, she turned around and looked up, straight at me.
Follows own goals; not affiliated with any gang; behind attacks the Merchant's debacle; prefers indirect approach; not Pa-
I was suddenly struck with an intense headache; it thankfully only lasted a few moments, but my powers line of thinking was broken.
The gir- woman's subtle smile broke into a knowing grin and I swear that, for just a moment, I could hear her laughter next to my ear.
Then she vanished into the alley.
"Tats, everything alright? You spaced out for a moment", Grue's voice was concerned.
"Wha- um, yeah. Everything is fine"
"Alright then, let's go"
And with that we mounted the dogs, a slightly nagging feeling in the back of my head making me restless.
A/N. Well now, that's done. I hope you enjoyed the chapter. It wasn't very long, I know, but it got a point across. Feel free to speculate or anything. I also want to thank you for the positive reviews to the last chapter; really, thank you.
Alright, 'see' you.
-Azralan