It was safe to say that the rest of the night would not be a financially successful endeavor. As soon as the gunshots had stopped, and the Lackadaisy gunmen stood up from behind the bar, there was an exodus from behind the stage toward the exit. The only people willing to stick around any longer either worked there or were dead. After the headcount, Mitzi agreed that everyone she employed was still alive, miraculously. And still, there were no major injuries there either. But that didn't mean that they had won, necessarily.
Mitzi sighed, "This isn't good."
"What isn't good?" Rocky asked.
"All of this, yeah?" Mitzi half-chuckled, quietly, as if the sheer ludicrousness of the situation was comedic. "But there's no time to worry about that yet. There are," she paused for effect, "bodies, everywhere. This is just beggin' for a police investigation. So, first—"
"Mitzi?" Freckle said.
Mitzi turned. "Yes, Freckle?" she questioned quickly.
"That was the guy in charge of the investigation, right?" Freckle somewhat sheepishly pointed to the gunned-down body of Dom and his partner further into the room.
"...Did you do that?"
"Yeah…"
"Hmm," Mitzi thought, "interesting. Regardless, the point still stands; we need to handle this mess as quickly as possible. Just cause that guy's not a concern anymore doesn't mean other cops aren't." Mitzi inhaled, "Well, let's clean all this up." She pulled her eyes away from the set of corpses to look back up at her employees. "Then we can get revenge,"
After a beat, Ivy and Horatio began to move. Mitzi turned slightly to begin working, only glancing back and signalling with her hands, yet again, to begin cleaning up the mess. After that, Freckle began to move, catching up with Ivy. Then, Rocky started off, Mordecai following suit. Finally, with a quiet huff, Viktor went off in the same direction as Mitzi.
With all hands on deck, the café was quickly locked down, and the dead were brought out and carefully staked in the limestone caverns, ready for a potential mass grave. Bleach, quicklime, and all manner of cleaning products were dumped everywhere, at the very least, to clean the blood and mask the smell of blood and gunpowder. But, with miraculous pace, no police had yet arrived, if any were indeed going to arrive, and the establishment was almost entirely cleaned up.
Mitzi carefully rifled through Dominic's ruined suit. There was no badge, no evidence, not even a journal or notepad laying out his grand plans. His partner, on the other hand, had some interesting material, which Mitzi was glad Freckle had caught, purposefully or inadvertently. With that, Mitzi stood back up and turned to the others, rushing hither and thither in the speakeasy, and cleared her throat, immediately commanding the attention of most of the people within earshot.
Dominic had been the thorn in their side for weeks now— he'd restricted business, and had provided the constant chance that they would get caught and jailed. He'd harassed them, especially Freckle. And now, for better or for worse, he was as dead as everyone else who had gone after them tonight. Mitzi felt a tinge of guilt; even after everything, the deaths still presented moral qualms— she wasn't unscrupulous, not yet. But, despite that, ignoring the inherent misery associated with the death of someone, this particular death was something of a victory— a triumph over the speakeasy's enemies.
And in this instance, it was clear that the raid had unknowably negative effects on future business. The near-death experiences many of the patrons had just earlier would be sure to dampen business. Unless, that is, there was a counterblow. With their miraculous victory, with no deaths— not even a major injury— there was a sense of optimism.
"Me, Ivy, and Horatio will stay here; handle any cops, if they come, and finish cleanin'. Close up for the night." Mitzi put her hand on her hip. "And you boys will make sure to finish off the Marigolds."
"What are you suggesting?" Rocky asked.
"Bring them down— however you can. And I assume you'll try to kill as few people as possible."
"I have something in mind," Mordecai stated.
"Then vhat?" Viktor questioned.
"You come back. And tomorrow, we don't have to worry about them anymore," Mitzi explained.
"Are you sure it'll work?" Freckle wondered.
"Yeah. Cause if y'all can do that," she gestured to the stacks of bodies in the tunnels, specifically Dominic and his partner, "then you can do this."
"...Is this the last hit we have to do?" Rocky again asked.
"I don't know. But it'll be the last one for a while," Mitzi answered. Rocky nodded. "Well, good luck, boys." Mitzi had an air of optimism— of being minutes away from finally completing her goals, but also a solemn countenance as she spoke. To the four who would soon be enacting out her instructions, it seemed appropriate.
"What's takin' you? C'mon!" Nico whispered, raising his voice. He was tightly grasping his injured hand with his other one. He stood over the yet to be moved bodies before the stairs into the garage.
"Hol' on," Serafine shut Nico down, holding her hand up.
Nico huffed, "Dis hurts!"
"...Hear dat?"
Nico was quiet. Echoing down the tunnels, Mitzi's call for revenge. "Tell Sweet when we're back. C'mon!"
"Yeah, c'mon." The two began to rush out back towards the garage, carefully dodging the bodies. And outside, a Wes impatiently waiting for them, still. Wes cursed them out for making him wait, and then they sped away, with knowledge that it was only a matter of time, likely less than an hour, before the front was brought to them.
"You're driving?" Rocky checked again.
"Yes. It's my car; I'll be driving it." Mordecai stated, "You can get in the passenger seat."
"Vhat, I haff to get up?" Viktor questioned from the passenger seat.
"If I'm gonna sit there, yeah," Rocky noted.
"I don't vant t—"
"It doesn't matter." Mordecai interrupted. "Rocky, sit in the back; it's at most a ten minute drive."
Rocky nodded, "Right."
"...So what about Asa?" Freckle wondered as the car started down the road.
"I've got that handled," said Mordecai.
"And the Savoys?" Freckle continued.
"If you want them dead, go ahead."
"Oh… okay."
The car came to a stop, hastily parked near the hotel's entrance. The three stepped out and rushed into the hotel. Muscle memory guided them down the hall. Wes pulled off to head into the Marigold Room, and Nico forced the door to Asa's office open. Asa was staring down at his desk, deep in thought, with his hands clasped together, his thumbs pressed lightly against his lips, nearly in some sort of prayer. As the door was yanked open, he looked up, waiting for Nico to speak.
Nico, his face adorned with a rarely seen tinger of concern, perhaps even fear, simply said, "Dey're comin'." He held his gun in his uninjured hand. His other was hastily bandaged up, having been down so in the ride over.
Asa studied Nicodeme's countenance for a moment. "Was it that bad?"
"It wasn' good," Nico answered, holding up his injured hand.
Asa looked away for a moment, nodding slightly. "How many?"
"I don' know."
"Is… did Wes come back with you?"
"Yeah."
Asa looked away, back down to his desk as he began to grab a cigar. As he lit it, he looked back up. "Well, there's not much time, then. Get the patrons out— all of them. If we're lucky, we can keep from going bankrupt tonight."
"Where d'we go?" Serafine piped up from the hall.
"Hunker down in the Marigold Room. I'll stay here." Asa's free hand went down to a drawer. "If anyone comes in here," he pulled out a handgun, "then I'll at least stand my ground."
"Is dis even worth it?" Nico asked, his brow furrowing slightly. "I'm not jus' gonna die here."
"Nico, if this works, I'll give you and your sister anything you want."
"Why don' we jus run?"
"Well, Nico… you can. If you want to, go ahead. I… I won't stop you." Asa chuckled, "Not like I really could."
"Right," Nico slowly, subtly nodded.
"Ve von't haff surprise element if ve take this long to park," Viktor mumbled from the passenger seat.
"Well, I'm not going to damage my car by skidding to a stop," Mordecai rebuffed. Viktor let out a quiet groan as the car came to a complete stop as the doors started to swing out and the passengers stepped out. Rocky and Viktor went around the car and joined the other two as they converged on the hotel. As they passed through the hotel, approaching the speakeasy in question, they reached for their guns, holding them in their hands, ready to start shooting, once it came to that.
Patrons were presently being escorted out into the hallway, out towards an exit in the back of the hotel. And as a few of these guests noticed the band of four coming down the hall, one let out a shriek, and near immediately there was a scramble out from the Marigold Room, the helpless masses nearly creating a stampede. After a moment, the solid stream of fleeing guests had been reduced to a trickle, and out from the room, Wes peaked out. His eyes widened and he hastily withdrew back into the room.
"I've got some business to take care of; you three do whatever you deem necessary," Mordecai stated.
"Asa?" Rocky asked.
"Yes."
Rocky slowly nodded, "Okay."
Mordecai began to split off as he headed further down the hall, and the other three approached the door to the Marigold Room.
"We're fish in a damn barrel in here!" Wes shouted as he ran to leap behind cover. He was on the other side of the room as the Savoys.
Nico began, "Mais, dere's still a—"
The door to the Marigold Room was forced open as Viktor entered. Inside, there were still a few patrons who hadn't yet escaped. A couple were so drunk it seemed that they weren't even cognizant enough to understand what was happening. And the other few simply seemed unlucky; they were trying to stay out of the engagement, completely hiding behind various bits of furniture and the like.
Quickly, the three Lackadaisy gunmen filed in and found their own cover near the door, essentially guaranteeing no one in the room other than them could escape that way. The Savoys tried to shoot them from the side of the room, where they had some line of sight, but returned gunfire from Freckle made it extremely difficult to land anything.
"Mais, ban' guy, where's your lover?" Nico asked, directed towards Rocky.
Rocky sighed, "This again?"
"C'mon, answer de question," Nico audibly smiled, despite his circumstances.
"Killing your boss."
Mordecai stood outside of the door to Asa's office. In a short second, he steeled himself and forcefully pushed open the door, staying in the hall. There was an instinctual shot fired near the doorway by Asa.
A moment passed, with no words exchanged or movements made. Then, "Goddamnit, who's out there!?"
"Asa," Mordecai simply stated.
"Mordecai? What are you doing here?"
"I'm here to see you."
"But, you were locked up, right? I thought you were a prisoner. How did you get back here?" Asa was concerned. "Are you on their side?"
"Have you spoken with Nico?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Did he mention me?"
"No. No, he didn't."
Mordecai, out of sight from Asa, looked down slightly and said, "I pretended to be on their side so they would let me leave. Now I'm here."
Asa was silent for a moment. He then began boisterously laughing, "Mordecai, you're a clever one!" Somewhat quiet, "A double agent!" It sounded like Asa was getting up or moving around inside his office, "Come in here, come in— don't let the Lackadaisy guys see you talking to me."
Mordecai stepped in and closed the door behind him. Asa sat up from behind his desk, hidden down. He looked at Mordecai. "Ah," Asa smiled, "how are you doing, Mr. Heller?"
"Fine," Mordecai declared.
"Dry as always." Asa chuckled. "God, I am glad to see you. Tell me, how did you convince them that you were actually on their side?"
Mordecai came towards the desk. With a stern expression, "I told them that I despised working here, and that I despised you and the Savoys."
"So that they could recruit you to fight against us!" Asa smiled. "Well, I suppose there's a kernel of truth in that, yeah? You were never on great terms with the Savoys." Asa sat in his chair. "Speaking of which, did you see them on your way in? Are they alright?"
"They're fine."
"Good. Right, well you've gotta go help them out. Kill those Lackadaisy bastards."
"Do you know a Rocky Rickaby?"
"I think I met him at a lunch with Mitzi— what does that have to do with anything?" The fear and adrenaline of the past several minutes were beginning to wear off in Asa, and it was clear in his less nervous attitude.
"He's saved my life a couple of times recently."
"How so?"
"Your agents have tried to kill me."
"Oh, well they shouldn't have." Asa half-shrugged. "Sorry."
Mordecai's brow furrowed slightly. "They shot me in the arm. I nearly bled to death."
"Nothing I can do about it now, sorry. Now, can you go—"
Mordecai lifted up his gun and shot Asa straight in the chest, likely striking his heart. Asa stared at Mordecai as the gun in his hand slowly slipped out of his grip and dropped to the floor. Asa tried to speak, but Mordecai simply turned around, opened the door, stepped out into the hallway, and slammed the door shut behind him, having certainly ended Asa's life.
How fitting that his last words would be a disingenuous apology and an order.
"Dis isn' gonna work," Serafine nearly hissed as her and her brother's rounds continued to dwindle.
Nico pulled back behind cover and replied, "...Jus' wait for—" Mordecai came into the room, quickly sliding behind over with the others. "That's a bad sign."
"C'mon, we don' need'a die for the old bougre."
Nico nodded. "I got it." Nico shouted, "Wes, cover us!"
"Really?" Wes yelled back.
"Yeah!"
Wes grumbled to himself before he popped out and began firing on the Lackadaisy gunmen. Once that started, Nico led Serafine along with him towards a corner, pulling out from behind over. Mordecai tried to fire on the Savoys, and one nearly grazed between his legs as he dashed, but none landed. He got back behind cover in the corner. Nico and Serafine began moving something that none of the other gunmen could see, and by the time Wes had noticed, upon dropping back behind cover, the two Savoys had left the room— disengaging from the fight and fleeing through the use of a hidden escape. One that was on the other side of the room from Wes, who was now the only Marigold left in this room.
Wes swore under his breath, both for the Savoys being so pathetic, and for letting himself be tricked. Then, after sighing, he shouted out, "I give up! I surrender! Stop shooting!"
"...Then slide your guns this way," Freckle declared.
Both of Wes' handguns were slid across the floor, roughly in the Lackadaisys' direction. Mordecai took one, handing the other one to Rocky. The four began to stand up.
"You're not… gonna kill me, are you?" Wes asked.
"Nah," Rocky said.
"I think we've got everything we need," Mordecai declared, turning for the door.
"...What's happened to Asa?" Wes shouted as the four began to leave, the other patrons still in the room yet still cowering in fear.
"He's dead," Mordecai stated plainly. And the four exited into the hall, and quickly out the front entrance again, their guns back in the pockets, and the hotel in too much of a frenzied, panicked state for anyone to even notice their departure.
They got back in Mordecai's car, with Rocky in the passenger seat this time, and out onto the road before the police arrived and surrounded the hotel. Mordecai couldn't help but laugh just slightly as they drove away from an interesting conclusion to the most surprising victory of a night.
