No more rest for the righteous

[urukhai]

Two thugs escorted a visibly shaken man off a loud Under city street and into a relatively quiet warehouse. Weaving through the stacked crates, various workers gave them grim looks as the passed. Soon they arrived at a smaller stack where three men with assault weapons stood. The two escorts backed off as one of the three by the crates stepped forward and grabbed the now panicking man by the back of his neck, motioning with his other hand one of the bottom boxes slid away with an almost inaudible click. Walking forward with his hand still firmly holding the man the back of his neck they both entered the gap, the hidden door swinging shut behind them.

After walking a fair bit down a dim corridor they reached a reached a dark wooden door. Opening it, it reveled a large room beyond with bookshelves along the walls, a carpet over the clean stone floor, and a solitary desk in the center of the room with two chairs in front of it. Walking into the room the guard sat the man in one of the chairs and walked back near the door. The man was trembling as he looked at the desk, a single lamp, one computer screen, a couple stacks of paper, and what seemed to be a still warm teapot with two cups "There is something I'm missing, I just know it" He thought to himself as he looked.

Seated in his chair on the other side of the desk Marius observed the man as he looked at the desk. Standing Marius broke the illusion, causing the man to almost fall backwards out of shock. Walking around the table Marius took one of the teacups and poured some of the steaming tea into it as he spoke "So, mister Gullvier. How much do you know of history?"

Gullvier blanched as Marius went about this little routine "No..Not Much Sir"

Marius handed him the cup an motioned for him to drink it as he continued "A shame. But no matter, did you know that in ancient Greece there was a philosopher named Socrates . He was well liked and respected as a learned man and a teacher, until the ruling class of Athens brought him to trial on 'Corrupting the youth of Athens' he had two choices, leave in shame or die by drinking poison. Now this is sounds familiar doesn't it? Corrupting the youth, that is."

Marius leaned forward and reached into Gullvier's pocket. Gullvier on the other hand froze in terror as the emotionless mask came next to his ear. Leaning back Marius held up a small, clear bag. Within it a black powder sat. "Shadow Spice, an odd little drug. Take just a bit and you experience a euphoric high, take a large dose and it becomes a hallucinogen, take too much and it becomes a neurotoxin with a kill speed of two minutes. It can be inhaled, or ingested."

As Marius finished Gullvier's empty teacup hit the carpet as he went ridged, foam coming to his mouth. "I gave you one rule, you may NOT sell to the youth no matter how much they were willing to pay. And yet you broke it. I don't care why, I just care that you did. Now pay the price you earned."

Reaching out Marius pushed Gullvier lightly sending him toppling backwards in his chair and unto the floor, where he lay still ridged, foam oozing from his mouth. Waveing his hand once Marius brought the guard by the door over "Take him out to one of the streets far from here and dump him. Let him serve as an example." Stepping back to his chair he sat down "Get a move on, I want this done before dawn preferably."

As the guard left with his grim package Marius turned on his monitor. The sound of the early morning news program filled the room "...as you can see another beautiful sunrise over Neo Roma..."

[Rultaos]

It was early morning in Neo-Roma, with the Canopy sitting above the city, free to enjoy the beautiful view of the star-dotted sky. It was times like these that the residents of the Upper Level were sound asleep, or taking in the fresh morning air. Far below into the Under-City however, a man in ragged clothing dashed through the dark alleyways, clutching a handgun, and running for his life.

He stopped for a moment and scanned his surroundings as quickly as he could. The windows of the buildings around him were all dark, and there wasn't a soul in sight. That didn't make him feel better though, he knew that his assailant was still hunting him down. He raced down an alley to the right, his head darting in all the different directions his neck could turn. Yet, he still didn't know where his hunter was.

A metal scrap fell over from an alley to his left. the man stopped in his tracks and pointed his weapon into the darkness. There were no vermin that made noise from the alleyway, so that meant there was someone there.

He walked slowly towards the pitch-black alley, his hands shaking with fear as he held the gun. "Come out! I've got a gun pointed right at your face, and I'll sure as hell blow it off your neck if you don't drop your weapons now!" The man said, hoping that his bluff on being able to see in the dark would work.

---

Crouching in the darkness, a hooded man wearing protective gear and armed with submachine gun, lied in wait. Croteus adjusted his optical augments. He heard the man's threats, but he knew that he was bluffing; the handgun was pointed nowhere near his head (or Croteus himself for that matter). "Come out now! I'm giving you until the count of three! One..." The frantic man said. Croteus raised his SMG.

"Two!"

Croteus' eyes locked onto the man's hands.

"Thre- ARGH!" The man exclaimed as Croteus' bullet embedded itself into the man's hands.

Croteus quickly emerged from the darkness and hit the man with the butt of his SMG, knocking his target to the ground. The handgun fell a few feet away from them; Croteus kicked it away. The man on the ground whimpered pathetically as the mercenary pointed his gun at his head. "So, this is little Willy. The right hand man of the 'Riley's Rowdies' gang. Or at least what's left of it. You gave the guards the slip when they raided your safehouse, but you and a few others, along with Big Riley, managed to run off with the money you stole. One of your victims wants it back. The Weary Spicer bar I think it was... So tell me, where is the money?" Croteus told him.

"The money's with Big Riley! He and what's left of the gang are hiding out in the southern district." Little Willy replied.

"Be more specific!" Croteus demanded, firing a silenced shot a few inches away from Willy's head. "Oh God! Ok, ok! They're in the abandoned warehouse where the Nightshade Mob got busted years ago. That's all I know. Please, let me go!" Willy pleaded. Croteus paused for a moment. He knew where that warehouse was. It was the same warehouse that his father raided. The raid that caused the people his father called friends to kill him for. He snapped out of memory lane quickly though, he had a job to do right now.

"Let you go? So you can warn your gang ahead of time. I don't think so..." Croteus said ominously."No! I swear I wont tell anyone!" Willy begged. "I know you wont..." Croteus replied as he smashed Little Wily's head with the butt of his gun again, knocking the man out cold.

Hopefully, that'll scare him from getting his hands dirty ever again Croteus thought to himself as he headed back out of the tight alleyways, and onto the main road where his beige motorcycle was parked. He pulled on his jacket which hung from the motorcycle, and concealed his weapons and armor beneath it. He then got onto his vehicle, and joined the cars that sped through the highway as the sun began to rise.

With luck, I'll have the money my client's looking for, just in time for breakfast.