Notes: Only one more chapter to go after this one until the end of Act Three! But there's a lot of drama to cover before we get there.
"It's no use!" Scraps seethed, "We're not getting out of this door until someone let's us!"
"They can't keep us in 'ere fereveh," Badger mused, from where he was sat on the bed, "Eventually someone's ganna ask where we are."
"They've got an auction to keep them distracted," reminded Scraps.
"An auction that the two of us are suppose t' be part of," Badger pointed out.
"It won't take Sycamore two minutes to come up with an excuse," Scraps argued, "You know what he's like about twisting words. All he needs to say is that he sent us out for whatever reason and everybody will believe him. They all believe that man's lies! Even I did..."
"Crow didn't. Crow will know summit's wrong," Badger assured him, "And even if the worst 'appens and they gan through the auction without us, they'll still notice afteh that. At some point 'e'll 'ave t' admit t' locking us in 'ere."
"Yeah, but... if he really is... Descole, then who's saying what he's got up his sleeves," mumbled Scraps. He reached down to pick up a newspaper article. From the photo on the front it looked to be the one about Ambrosia; "It says here that he had people working for him. And we know that in Misthallery he twisted Jakes around his finger. If he wants us gone then... then..."
Badger stood up; "...Then we need t' get outteh 'ere before 'e can do anything t' stop us."
"Any bright ideas?" Scraps asked.
"We're not getting out through that door," hummed Badger, "And the window is locked as well. But there's a chair by the table oveh there."
"Are you suggesting we smash the place up? Desmond's not going to like that," replied Scraps, a wicked smirk spread across his features.
"Yeah, well Sycamore can send me the bill!" Badger proclaimed, sounding braver than he felt. Honestly, he wished that Crow could have been there for that moment and heard him say that. But then the inner Badger took over and he added, "Besides, it's only a window. If we're wrong about all this then it woun't cost too much t' fix."
By the time he said this last part, however, Scraps had already grabbed the chair and was rushing it towards the window. There was no time for Badger to say that they should be delicate about this, to make sure they had the least amount of broken glass to deal with as possible. Because before such a consideration was even a twinkle in Badger's eye, Scraps had hurtled the chair through the window. It flew out with a loud shatter of breaking glass and Badger thought that he heard it smack softly against one of the rosebushes outside. He stared at the panting Scraps part in horror and part in admiration.
"You have no idea how long I've wanted to ruin this toff's house," Scraps stated.
"I could... take a pretteh good guess," murmured Badger. It wasn't as if Scraps's hatred of the rich was a secret to anyone who'd spent more than a few minutes talking to him.
With that, the two of them walked over to the window. It took a few minutes to carefully remove the remaining shards of glass so that they could safely climb out. A process that wasn't made easier by the fact it was already dark outside. Badger looked around. He could see fancy cars lined up all down the road, but the only being in the garden was Catanova, who watched them curiously. It seemed as if all of the guests were already inside. Badger cursed himself that the two of them had sat idly in the room for as long as they had before he'd come up with this idea.
Scaling rooftops and walls was something that most members of the Black Ravens fast became experts at. So it didn't take Badger too long to get down from the second floor and then help Scraps along with them. Once they were safely onto the grass, Badger looked through the nearest window. Although the warm yellow glow of the lights was present, it seemed that no one was inside. They must have already gone down to the basement.
"I guess the auctions started," he mumbled, "We could wait 'til it's oveh..."
"No, Descole is dangerous and they need to know that as soon as possible," Scraps insisted, "That man tore our homes apart, corrupted our whole police force, not to mention our mayor, and let's not forget – killed Loosha! Just because he wanted some flute. I know that you like to take the peaceful way out, Badger, but we can't do that this time. We need to stop him before he hurts our friends!"
"Yer right... I know," admitted Badger, as the two of them headed over to the door, "But I still doun't undehstand what 'e even wants from all this. Mebbe 'e remembehs us from back then and just wants revenge or summit. Or mebbe it's not like that at all..."
Badger couldn't stop himself from thinking of Umid. It had to be something to do with Umid.
"I don't care," growled Scraps, "I genuinely don't care. We're going to go in there, punch him in the mouth and not even for a moment stop to ask- ...Look, Catanova, I know you like me a lot, but you really can't come with us this time."
Scraps forcefully picked up the large cat and put him down facing away from the door, then he ushered him off with a loud shoo. Catanova yodelled inappreciatively and darted off. Badger couldn't help but look the way he ran, feeling sympathetic, even if it was for the best. He watched as the cat rushed towards the gate, where it seemed that an old man had appeared and was looking at them with intrigue.
"Nothing t' see 'ere! Just an 'ouse parteh got a bit outteh control," Badger called over.
"Aye lad, if yer say so," the man replied. Then he disappeared off on his way.
"Do yer think we shouldeh told that guy?" Badger asked, once they were both inside of Sharpace Rest.
"Nah, it would've taken too long to explain and I doubt he'd believe us," dismissed Scraps, "What good could some old geezer do anyway?"
"I guess yer right," agreed Badger.
Somehow, despite Scraps's rage, they managed to walk down the hallway without making too much noise. Beneath their feet was the low rumbling of the crowd talking. Probably the others were down there, not at all suspecting that anything was more out of the ordinary than just two of the Black Ravens not being present for some reason. But it didn't sound as if the auctions had actually started yet. If that had been the case then everyone would have been silent except for the auctioneer himself.
They got near the trapdoor, which was not yet closed, and Badger felt the butterflies make their scheduled appearance in his stomach. Just a few more steps and they'd be in a room full of people, including their friends, with the knowledge that Descole was amongst them...
"There ya are!"
The two of them turned in time to see Crow and Roddy rushing over to them, both looking concerned.
"Fine time you two picked to go wandering off," Roddy scolded, "Sycamore said you'd be back for the auction, but no antique is worth cutting it this fine. Honestly, you're both such a pain."
"I told you he'd come up with something..." growled Scraps.
"Wot do ya mean?" asked Crow, as he looked between the two of them in understandable confusion.
Badger decided it was up to him to take the stage for this one.
He took a deep breath and started; "Crow, I know yer baited Scraps int' looking fer dirt on Sycamore. And it turned out yer were right, but it were... much more than any of us were expecting..."
"As in we-need-to-put-a-stop-to-this-nut kind of more than we expected," Scraps carried on, seeming not to care that Crow had tricked him, "Guys, Desmond Sycamore is Descole!"
Even though Scraps had been the one to say it, Badger felt his own mouth grow dry. The look of stunned fear that came across both Crow and Roddy's faces suggested they felt much the same way. Their hearts might as well have stopped in that moment.
"...Are you sure?" Roddy checked, obviously wanting this to be a bad joke.
"There's tons of evidence up in his room, though he's locked it," Scraps answered, "Which, by the way, is where we've been all evening – locked up in that room. The only reason we got out is because Badger had the sense to smash the window."
"Did ya really do that, Badge'?" checked Crow. Despite everything that was happening, he sounded impressed.
A small bead of pride started to build up inside Badger, fighting through all the butterflies for dominance. He wanted to say that, yes, he did do that and it was so amazing that he wished Crow could have been there to see it, but in fate's usual fashion he was interrupted before anything of the kind could come out of his mouth.
This time it was Umid, coming up from the basement to check what was taking them so long. And unfortunately he was not alone. The taller figure of Desmond walked behind him, his eyes narrowing maliciously as soon as he saw that Badger and Scraps had escaped from where he'd left them.
"I am glad to see the two of you are back," Umid said, as he made his way over, "But we cannot keep the people waiting any longer. They are asking for the Black Raven."
"They can go on askin' then, 'cause I ain't goin' into a den o' Descole's friends!" spat Crow, glaring over at Desmond.
"What are you talking about?" asked Umid.
"He's talking about foolish notions that prevent him from seeing what must be done," Desmond answered, "Isn't that what he always does?"
"Don't ya dare try that on with me!" Crow screeched.
The murmuring from below increased in volume. It seemed that Crow's outburst hadn't gone unnoticed by the crowd. But then Desmond did something that none of them expected, he walked across and put his fingers up to Crow's lips, motioning for him to be silent.
"Now, now, little man, let's not upset the punters, as you'd call them," chuckled Desmond, "Though then again, I suppose you could upset them and cause everything that you've built in London to come crashing down at your feet."
"I didn't build any o' this," Crow growled, pushing back away from Desmond's hand, "This is all your doin'!"
"You're right. It would be unfair to give you credit when all you've done is sit around and sulk as soon as things stopped going your way," agreed Desmond, "But you see, your friends have worked for all of this. Under my guidance, yes, but they nurtured this auction, even without you, and made it into something that has been helping them survive this whole time. Don't let that stop you though, go ahead and shout. Ruin everything that they have, just because you need the whole world to know that you were right."
"Crow, he's just trying to trick you," Roddy barked, "We've started from nothing before and we can do it again. We don't need this!"
"...But Crow's pride will not pay your family's rent. Nor will it fix the hole in the hotel's roof or let Becky sleep at night knowing that Margaret, Max and Grafton are all safe." It was Umid who spoke up this time; "I do not know what is going on here, but I do know that you need these auctions, if not for you then for those who depend on you."
"Descole killed an innocent creature and destroyed most of our town!" Scraps shouted.
"But Desmond Sycamore did not," answered Desmond himself, "And if you'll excuse him, he has to go now. I will not be coming back, not ever. It is your choice what to do from here – do you follow me and lose everything you've worked for, or do you carry on, maintaining the lives you've become accustomed to and live forever knowing that you let Descole get away?"
"I'll show ya wot-"
Crow surged forwards, but before he could get close, Umid threw himself at him. The two of them tumbled to the ground in a mess of flailing limbs, punching out at each other. The others watched, stunned, which was all the time that Desmond needed to slip off.
"You cannot do this, Crow! Think of your friends!"
"Wot part o' Descole ruined our lives do ya not undahstand?"
"If you keep this up then you will be the only one ruining our lives, not the professor!"
"We don't... need 'im... I won't be the Black Raven... for him...!"
Crow crawled out from under Umid with some struggling. It seemed as if Umid had accepted that no matter what he said, Crow was going to go after Desmond and there was no talking him out of it. He looked as if he was about to cry. Badger couldn't blame him for that.
"Th-then go, be a hero then! But I will not follow you and send us all to ruin," hissed Umid, "I will be the Black Raven if you will not."
"Enjoy runnin' this farce o' a London branch by yaself then," Crow snapped, pulling himself up to his feet, "'Cause no real Black Ravens are gonna stay 'ere!"
With that, Crow took off after Desmond and Scraps followed in an instant. Badger and Roddy hesitated for a fraction of a moment longer and in that moment Umid reached out. He grabbed Roddy's shoulder with a shaky hand.
"Please... I cannot... I can't do this on my own..." he whispered.
Whatever internal struggle Roddy had in that moment, Badger would never know. But the result was that Roddy turned back to Umid and nodded.
"All right, you have me on your side and I'm the one who helped Crow found the Black Ravens back at the start. Not many people know these auctions better than me," Roddy comforted, "Even if it won't be easy with just the two of us, it'll be less of a pain than running all over London and listening to Crow yelling. And speaking of that, what are you waiting for, Badger?"
"R-reet...!"
Without needing to be told twice, Badger left the two of them to get on with it and pelted out of the door after the others. He looked around; the garden was empty but he could just hear Crow and Scraps shouting to each other down the road. So Badger followed the voices, but he didn't very far out into streets before he almost tripped over Catanova.
"Argh! Yer... yer great b-big... cat!" winced Badger. Sometimes just calling a cat what it was could be the biggest insult you could give it, Badger felt; "Get outteh the way!"
But Catanova did not get out of the way at all. He weaved in and out between Badger feet as he ran, meowing loudly as he did. It was hard to get more than a few steps like this, so soon enough Badger stopped to glare down at him.
"What do yer want?"
Having gotten Badger's full attention, Catanova bounded off across the street and gracefully climbed up one of the walls. Then he turned to look back at Badger, clearly waiting for him to follow. And against all logic, that was what Badger did.
He climbed up after Catanova, which caused the cat to jump off ahead, move a little way away and stop to wait for Badger to follow. This kept up again and again. Part of Badger worried that he was wasting time, but he could still faintly hear the voices of the other two, so if this led to nothing then he could just drop it and go after them.
However, after a little while of following Catanova, Badger found himself glad he did. They'd ended up in a part of London that Badger had never been to before. It looked like some kind of yard for small planes and helicopters, as best Badger could tell in the dark. Catanova stopped suddenly at the edge of one of the large shacks and so did Badger. Which was fortunate, as a few steps further and he would have been directly in the eyesight of the exact person he was looking for.
"This couldeh been it, I canae believe yer would throw it all away, masteh."
The man's voice sounded more tired than anything else. As if the owner had put himself through a lot to be here and was almost home free, only to have everything snatched away. Probably not for the first time.
"I was ignorant to think that they wouldn't catch on," sighed a voice that was undeniably Desmond, "Once you've committed crimes they never truly leave you, Raymond. And my life is a trail of lies. Someone like me cannot settle down."
"Honestly I'm beginnin' to doubt that yer wanna settle doon at all," Raymond accused.
"To continue as we always have been would not be fair to you. You're not... as young as you once were," replied Desmond.
"None ah this was done fer my sake, was it though?" Raymond pressed.
"I had... well, it wasn't as if Umid could ever be family to me. Time and time again I've been shown that I cannot have family... But I had wanted... to pretend. For a while. All I wish is that I could have said goodbye to him properly," Desmond confessed. In that moment he sounded even more weary than the old man he was talking with.
"Gotteh 'ave that dramatic exit, aye?" said Raymond, with an empty chuckle.
"Please, tell him that I wanted things to be different."
"What do yer mean, masteh?"
"I mean that I need to leave this place, but you do not," Desmond explained, "And don't try to argue with me, Raymond. We both know fine well that you can't follow me forever, as much as I would like to keep your company. Your back is not what it use to be, ancient ruins have lost their appeal to you and I see you look longingly off into the distance, wanting a place of your own. Don't make me drag you along any further than I already have."
"Masteh, I canae..."
"My mind is made up."
That was all there was to it. Whatever happened next, Badger didn't know. He heard footsteps, thankfully they headed away from him and then a long silence. There was a sigh from the person Badger presumed to be Raymond, but that was all he heard before the loud whir of an engine started up. It sounded as if something noisy was taking off. And sure enough, a few minutes later Badger watched as a fat red craft came out from next to the shack he'd been hiding behind. The craft made its way down a landing strip, before it began to ascend up into the night's sky. He'd never seen anything like it before and his mouth hung open as he watched it leave. In that moment, Badger knew with certainty that there was nothing he could do to stop Descole from leaving.
"I'm surprised that engine didnae scare yer off, wee kitty."
Badger turned around again to see the old man scoop Catanova up into his arms. He'd been caught now. The shock of this made him stumble back and fall to the ground. His mouth continued to hang open like it had done when he'd watched the plane, since he didn't know what he could say or even what this Raymond person might do to him.
However, Raymond did nothing more than scratch Catanova behind the ears. When he spoke to Badger it was in a calm tone.
"Yer did a good thing t' let 'im git away," Raymond praised, "That man will neveh be back 'ere and yer birdie friend will neveh get the peace ah mind to knae that 'e stopped Descole, but 'e weren't at the front ah that queue by a lang shot."
And with that disheartening conclusion, Raymond walked past him, still carrying Catanova, and left. There was nothing else that Badger could do. Why would he even stop Raymond, when he had no idea who the man was? His only crime was to be talking with Descole and at this point none of them were free from that crime any more. It seemed as if, whoever Raymond might have been in the past, right at this moment his only concern was to sort out the retirement that Descole had forced onto him.
Whereas Badger's only concern was now to find Crow...
He wandered back out into the streets without the resolve he'd had previously. It did indeed look like some sort of aerodrome that Catanova had led him to in his quest to find Descole. Which also meant that because this wasn't any place that Badger had ever been to before, it took him a while to find his way back into the more familiar parts of London.
Eventually he made it back to Sharpace Rest. As he passed the house, Scraps was waiting outside of the gate. The two of them exchanged a wordless glance, then Scraps shook his head. He pointed further down the street. That was where Crow had gone. Badger simply nodded to Scraps and then went after Crow.
Their leader was at the end of the road, hand resting against a lamppost and panting heavily. Badger saw him reach up his other arm to wipe away his tears onto the sleeve of his jacket. Somehow Crow knew that he had failed.
So Badger came to him, making no attempt to hide his presence. Crow looked up and in those eyes everything was said. Between them passed the acceptance that Descole was gone, they would never get closure on what had happened all those years ago in Misthallery, that Crow had ran out on the other Black Ravens and left them to get on with the auction without him. Which was fine, since they didn't need him here and he couldn't hold onto this place. London had defeated Crow.
"Badge'... I really... really messed this one up..."
To this, Badger could have lied. He could have told Crow that he hadn't messed anything up, that it was just the heat of the moment and the others would understand. The old Badger definitely would have done that. Even the Badger from a few mere weeks ago might have done it. But this Badger, the one who stood here right now, knew what he needed to say. He knew what Crow had to hear.
"...Yeah. Yeah, yer did mess up, Crowlo."
With that, Crow released his grip on the lamppost, hobbled weakly over to Badger and shakily placed his head onto his chest. As Badger gently put his arms around him, he could hear Crow sobbing quietly against him. What Crow needed right now, was for Badger to hold him.
London was over.
