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East Otropolis, Canaglia Family Hideout, 16th August 1932.

Don Canaglia, aka Michael Corvi, sat alone in the secluded office that he uses to command his Family's operations. He had sent out a message to his most trusted members, and they should have been arriving very soon. Fortunately, this gave him time to think about the conversation he had with the other Mafia bosses of Otropolis. The table was held in the very early morning, in a smoke room located in the city centre where no one had the home turf advantage. Michael looked over the map he had rolled out onto his desk, which outlined the territories of each family, as well as businesses and important areas of the Canaglia turf, as he thought over the events of the table. It seemed the message was clear, none of the other families were content with what they already had.

This war... it's going to tear Otropolis apart...

The Father thought before his associates entered the room. He waited patiently until everyone entered the room and the door was firmly shut. The morning rays splitted apart through the blinds, illuminating the room in an orangey hue. The smokey, swirling figure stood up and tucked the large chair behind him, twisting his cigar into the ashtray on the corner of the desk.

"My friends, I thank you greatly for arriving on such short notice in a prompt time. It seems the importance of my message was heard..." He greeted in his thick American Italian accent, giving a smile, which the gesture was quickly diminished by his ghostly outward appearance. The Don's red eyes looked over the Family that stood before him before he began to continue his speak.

"Some of you may or may not have been aware, but a table was called this morning between the myself and the three other Dons. The Scharole, Barones, Cosa Nostra and Canaglia had a long discussion about the futures of our businesses and the next steps to keep the Mafia alive and well. It seemed they all had a shared conclusion in mind. Forceful takeover." Michael explained, recounting the events.

"This is far from the situation I had hoped for. This doesn't spell good news for anyone, really. But it is the situation we've been dealt with. There's gonna be a fight coming, and it's a fight that's going to decide who rules over the entirety of Otropolis." He stated, getting out another cigar from his pocket on his coat of smoke. He lit it up and took a drag of the smooth rolled cigar before exhaling out the cigar smoke, seemingly mixing with his own. "Now, we're not hitting the mattresses or anything. I'm not telling anyone to go into hiding. We got no reason to suspect one of the other families is here on our turf yet. What does need addressing is our next steps..." Michael lead on.

"Before we even THINK about how we're going to address the other families, we need to make sure our own businesses are secure and protected. I've had rumours about some shaky stuff that's been happening, including a group of loansharks who are trying to muscle in on our profits. They're start ups. I'm not even sure they really know what they're doing. So I'm not expecting anyone to get iced out there, capisci?" The godfather made clear. "I want the job done right, which is why I'm not sending any solider out there to stomp out our little problem. Kennison, McDowel, DeGarrio. That will be your responsibility." Michael said, beginning the process of distributing tasks and jobs.

"Sinclair, Luciano. We have some business that don't want to pay up for our protection services. One being a very fine jewellery shop a dozen blocks away from here, and the other troublesome business owner being one of the local bars. It's a shake down job, so when they cough up the money, Hishamie, who will be accompanying you, will take it and count up, making sure we get what we're owed."

"Ghirga, Harrison. You're going to go visit a little Junk (drug) shop about half an hour from here. They've got some blow I'm very interested in taking ownership of to redistribute. Our Songbird will do the talking, Cesar is there for when things go sour."

"Donna, Dryder, Felmoth, Drogato. You will stay here. We must discuss our plan of action for addressing the issue I have just disclosed."

Corvi looked upon his family once more. "Any questions?"

~Kat~

"Urgh..." If there was one thing Kat was not, it was a morning person.

It was early, much earlier than Kat would have liked. A small stream of sunlight beamed in through a small crack in the curtains near her bed, conveniently landing right over one of her eyes. An unwelcome guest considering the massive hangover she had from the night before. The blond placed a hand over her face, yawning as she continued to lay in bed, trying to catch a bit more sleep. She honestly felt like doing absolutely nothing except sitting on her ass, listening to some jazz, and drinking. She honestly didn't even want to get dressed. Walk around all day in her pajamas. Might even go outside and strut about like she owned the place. That'd be funny, also get her a few stares and comments.

Those guys can go get run over. Preferably multiple times. While she watched. Also laughed.

"Blegh..." Unfortunately, after a short while of laying in the bed, sleep wouldn't come. With a grunt, the hitman reached over to the table by the bed, trying to find that bottle of whiskey that should have been there. After a few seconds of fumbling around and coming up empty, Kat frowned, opening her eyes and turned her head to the table, seeing the distinct lack of any sort of alcohol. Now, that was a dilemma. She was fairly certain she didn't drink the entire goddamn bottle so where had she put it? She was gonna have to get up, wasn't she?

Agh, damn it. Sometimes, she wished she could just sleep all day and do nothing like an actual cat.

She rolled over onto her side, glancing across the room and grumbling quietly to herself. She really just wanted to lay there but she probably should at least check in with Corvi and well...actually do work. Bleeeeeegh, but she wanted to sit here and do nooothing. Letting out a sigh, Kat finally pushed herself up to a sitting position. A yawn left her lips as she stretched, cracking her neck and rubbing it tiredly. Urgh, she must have slept on it wrong or something. That whiskey would really come in handy right about now...With a dissatisfied grunt, Kat finally managed to stand up and walk out of the room to get dressed.

Well, she would have if she didn't trip over something.

With a uncharacteristic startled yelp, Kat's foot hit something round and cold, sending it rolling out from under her foot as she took a step forward. She slipped, the back of her head slamming into the floor with a curse word loud enough to likely be heard through the entire floor.

"Ugh, so much for not making my hangover worse," She grunted, looking up at the ceiling for a few moments before pushing herself back up, finding the offending object. Well, at least she found the whiskey. Grabbing the bottle, she pulled the stopper out with her teeth as she sat against the bed. "Today's just going to be great, innit?" She grumbled quietly.

---

Not long after her incident that morning, Kat managed to get dressed and make herself at least somewhat presentable. A warm bath a shot of whiskey later she was feeling a bit better, too. Hangover was still there of course, but it wasn't anything she couldn't live with. Wasn't her first hangover, wouldn't be her last probably. She left her apartment clearly in not any hurry, deciding to dress in a simple casual outfit that'd look a bit more at home on a man than her, but she didn't particularly care. She wasn't a fan of them fancy dresses. She never looked good in them anyways. Though, the dark bag under her eyes, slouching posture and cigarette burning didn't exactly do much for her appearance regardless. Objectively, she probably looked like hell right now. Felt like it, considering the hangover.

Again, not that she cared. She didn't give two shits about such things. Never had, and she wasn't about to start caring now.

The more important tough, was what could Corvi possibly want at this unreasonable hour? Must have been important enough for him to call her...which, was pretty important. Since, y'know, she was objectively the best hitman in the entire family, heh. Okay, slight exaggeration but she liked to think she was pretty damn good. Good enough to get the job done, at least. Hey, maybe it'd be a fun one and she'd get to beat some poor fool up? Not that she couldn't do things requiring a bit more finesse, but hey, she was a simple gal with simple desires. Beat people up, get drunk, sleep, repeat.

Simple.

After finally reaching father Corvi's office, Kat stepped inside, electing to take a position relatively out of the way near the door. A simple nod to the Father was the only greeting she'd give. Again, she wasn't one for all them fancy greetings between people. They were family, after all, and as long as no one got disrespectful everything would just be peachy. So, she stuffed her hands into her pants pockets, glad for the at least somewhat dim lighting of the place and waited for the others to show up. Corvi would talk when he was ready too, and that was all she needed to know. After some time, everyone finally managed to make it and Corvi started speaking.

A meeting between the families? Kat had to break the silence somewhat by whistling. That was a pretty surprising development right there. She had to wonder why exactly Corvi would have went there alone, but hey. She didn't question the boss. Not seriously, anyways. Seemed like things were gonna go to shit real fast, too. Hostile takeover? That was her kinda gig, but it was also troubling. Meant there would be little rats running in their territory that needed to be exterminated. Corvi was right though, starting trouble themselves without making sure their own territory was secured first was just asking for trouble. The rats would have to show themselves eventually anyways, and when they did...heh. Kat grinned to herself, biting down on the butt of the cigarette with a wolfish grin.

Heh, today wasn't gonna be so bad at all, maybe.

As Corvi began handing out tasks, Kat removed the cigarette from her mouth, blowing a puff of smoke as the Father mentioned her task. A simple shakedown. Easy enough, though she was a bit disappointed she wasn't gonna get to ice someone, but hey. Maybe she could get to break something. Or someones kneecaps. Whatever. The part that was more concerning for her though, was her apparent little partners in this venture. Keeran Luciano and Kieran Hishamie...aside from their incredibly similar sounding names which made her chuckle a bit, Kat wasn't entirely certain as to how this would go. Luciano needed to get fucked in so many different ways. She honestly didn't like him too much. He was a real piece-o-work in so many different ways she didn't want to get into. Hishamie...well, she was of a similar opinion. Compared to her, the two emotionless bastards could seriously work that pole out of their ass and start beating people to death with it. At least they might actually be entertaining and pleasant to be around then.

Not to mention after doing a bit of reading on Hishamie, she had to question whether he could be trusted or not, but that was not her place to mention nor judge. As long as Corvi was alright with him, so was she.

"Got it, boss. We'll make 'em cough it up." Kat replied to Corvi. Should be easy enough to break their stuff or their legs. "Hope you two bloody emotionless bastards are ready, then." She chuckled lightly. She had to wonder slightly how far she could exactly insult them before they might actually get offended, heh. It'd be fun to watch 'em get worked up over nothing, at least...

Bella Dona

Bella sat in an elegantly adorned seat while the meeting took place. A glass of merlot in one hand while Don Canaglia spoke of the future to come concerning Otropolis. When he mentioned the security of the business under the Gang's control, Bella knew it wouldn't be her nightlife businesses in the topic of concern. For the most part, the biggest threat was the South Cosa Nostras. Mainly because the nightlife operations she took up was beginning to rival theirs. Even so, Bella had a somewhat firm grip on the situation. When a Nostra member caused trouble for her casino/brothel/night-club, they would usually meet a grisly slow and painful death. The stories of how victims of "Night Shade" would suffer 5 different types of poisons and venoms before finally dying, spread quickly and the smart ones began thinking twice before messing with East Canaglia nightlife.

Bella had recently assumed the position of a Capo, something that caught her and many others by surprise considering how young she is. So it still catches her by surprise when the Don lists her name among a few others to stay behind. She was also the youngest between the other three called. Despite this, she wasn't threatened by the situation at hand. She was ready to help out the family with anything, it is after all, what they did for her.

Keeran Luciano

Luciano's mornings rarely strayed from his ironclad routine. He awoke as the sky turned to a deep blue twilight, the windows that lined the wall alongside the complex allowed the muted glow to permeate throughout his room. In a methodical but somewhat hurried manner, the soft sounds of fabric echoed silently off the walls as Luciano pulled an undershirt over his head. Loose fitting linen pants drawn to his waist by string completed Luciano's appearance as he quietly entered an empty room adjacent to his own. Although the room maintained the wall of windows, the rest remained unfurnished except for various martial and physical training apparatuses.

Luciano began with a simple body work out and proceeded to the punching bag after wrapping his fists and wrists. With vicious tenacity he unleashed numerous punches and kicks that contorted the bag to his ruthless blows. His sharp movements finally came to a stop with the sound of Luciano's labored breathing. The white haired man propped himself against the punching bag as a faint mist rose from his body in the cool room. He watched the blue skies slowly grow brighter, causing him to abandon the bag and directly wander from the back room to the kitchen of his flat.

A towel dangled from his neck, blending in with his long hair as Luciano cooked, the sounds of pots and pans being shuffled about. Thoughtlessly, he poured the oat meal into a bowl and walked to his sister's bed side, gently waking her by running his hand through her hair. The girls eyes slowly opened as her pupils groggily focused on Luciano's face. A warm smile floated across the man's face and in that moment, he was Keeran, sitting beside his afflicted sister with oatmeal in hand.
"Good morning, Aife." He said has he helped in sitting her upright. Although Aife could control her torso and arms, she still needed help as her muscles were atrophied to the point that she could not lift herself up.
"Morning, brother." Aife answered cheerfully as Luciano placed her oatmeal in her lap for her to eat.
Although Aife made a display to wrinkle her nose at what her brother had prepared, she happily began to eat as she looked out the window to her room. Watching the sun peek above the horizon and splash the sky with a vivid plethora of colors left Aife at a loss for words. After a few moments of silence, she heard a chuckle at her wonderment from behind her and whipped her head about in a scowl, inquiring what was so amusing. By then, Luciano had already composed his features and shook his head, feigning as if he had never laughed.

The two sat in contented, idle conversation until Aife finished her oatmeal. Luciano took her dishes away and lay her back down, his warm appearance putting his sister at ease as he moved back into the kitchen, from there, his voice echoed with the sounds of running water, "I'm going to work in a moment, is there anything else you need?" Luciano asked, to which he received a short 'no'.

Luciano attended Corvi's meeting in his usual suit and tie, his unchanging features maintaining a stoic presence throughout the allocation of jobs. Although he had rarely ever worked with either of his two newly appointed partners, he had no qualms or reason to object. He simply accepted his task with a nod of understanding and watched as Kat replied and addressed himself and the other male of the small group. Luciano's opinion of Kat was simple: Impractical, but not Incapable. However, he added Rough Mannered to her small repertoire just as quickly. Likewise he felt that Kieran was equal parts formidable as he was unbalanced, holding the genius to the limitation that he was very specialized, and thus, not all that diverse in application. Despite his reservations, Luciano only thought on how to complete his task, neither holding his group mates in disdain or reverence.

Nadia's morning, like most others lately, started out early. At the crack of dawn to be precise. She wasn't particularly fond of mornings and was more of a night owl than anything but she had recently been suffering some 'minor' insomnia. She had no idea why this was happening but it was, causing her to be extremely tired most of the day. She couldn't have it, she needed to be awake today, she knew Corvi was meeting with the other mafia bosses today and she knew this likely meant that a meeting would be called for the groups she liked to call the "Inner Circle". There were plenty of people in the East Canaglia Gang, but none of them were as trusted as the few associated with the Inner Circle. She kept this title to herself, not wanting to enflame anyone's ego but she did like the ring it had to it.

Shacking her head she got back to how to wake herself up. Deciding a cold shower would be best and maybe some coffee for the road she went about her morning. After getting out of the shower and dressing herself in things a little more formal than what she is used to. Instead of throwing on a random t-shirt and some jeans she instead pulled out a light blue strapless shirt, a short kind of frilly black skirt with some fishnet leggings, a pair of black heeled boots and a black choker with a little pink heart dangling from it. She felt like dressing fancy-ish, for now. Satisfied with her choices she headed to the kitchen to make herself some coffee before heading out. She put the coffee in a cup and left, headed toward the meeting that had indeed been called.

Once she was seated the meeting began. She seemed to be the last one there, how embarrassing considering she was likely one of the first awake. Shaking it off she listened intently to what Corvi said. She was not surprised by the mention of a fight, she had felt the tension for a while now. Nothing was every enough for the Dons, they were all men of great influence and power, and all of them were strong with fiercely loyal members. Though the upcoming fight was not the most pressing matter it is what rattled around in her head the longest. It wasn't until assignments were being handed out that she let the subject go. It seemed herself and three others were to stay behind and discuss. She silently wondered why she was one of these people. She maybe he just couldn't think of anything else for her to do, after all, most of her skills were infiltration and spy based, none of the other jobs seemed to require said skills. Though the thought that she was one of the oldest members of the gang crossed her mind she ignored it. She likely wouldn't have chosen to join them if she hadn't been born into it nevertheless she loved her family. She mentally shrugged, she would take what she could get she supposed. As the others headed out to do there assigned jobs she remained seated and quiet, watching and waiting, something she was extremely good at.

__________________________
_{OOC
Since I like adding visuals here is her outfit should anybody be to lazy to imaging it.}

Kyle awoke suddenly and quickly, with him sitting upright abruptly. He knew the exact time it was as soon as he opened his eyes, without needing to look at a clock. It was like clockwork with him, being able to wake up at a scheduled time every morning by setting a metaphorical internal alarm. He did this every morning for as long as he could remember, training his body in such a way so that he would be up and ready for any situation as soon as he awoke from his slumber. Kyle thought to himself, "Another day another dollar", and swung his feet over the side of his bed as he rubbed his eyes. He had the same dream last night that he had every night for years. He looked like he currently did but he was back in the day when his parents were killed. He was kneeling on the ground, his hands behind his back, tears streaming down his face as his parents were blinded with a rag and forced to the ground not even a dozen steps away from him. His parents, instead of assuring Kyle he would be fine or trying to be brave for him, pleaded for their lives like cowards. They begged and cried, making promises to do better and to pay back double or triple what they owed. Kyle knelt there, feeling mixed and feeling vulnerable but also like he was made of impenetrable stone. He wished his parents would....well act like parents. He did so much for them and kept them out of trouble for so long that he felt like he failed them for not being able to come through for them this time, when their lives were on the line. He wanted them to reassure him in their final moments, he wanted them to talk to him. He wanted.....them to shut up and stop whining. They were acting like they had lived, desperate and cowardly. He remembered the heat of the moment, the tension, the fear. Down to the very last detail, the very lasts second. His dream always ends the same, with the sound of two gunshots and a force hitting him in the back of the head. Not a bullet but more like a bat.

Kyle stood up and stretched his arms. "Fear allows anger and distrust, anger and distrust allows violence, violence allows death, and death is losing. You don't lose. You never lose. " Kyle quickly showered and dressed himself, choosing his usual outfit. He wore a black v-neck T-shirt, black jeans, a red jacket with the small collar propped up. He had his tan backpack shouldered, and as he double checked that he had all of his possessions he sighed softly. Some day he would not have to do what he was going to do, but he would need a lot of money or some how a guarenteed way out. He was smart, but even he couldn't find a way to get out safely.

Kyle left his small one bedroom home and locked the door, almost laughing out loud when he did. He lived in almost a hovel, a small one bedroom apartment where the bedroom , living room, and kitchen was all in the same room. Kyle did not need much, and 75 percent of what he made he saved and would never touch. He rarely every needed anything expensive and only splurged on things that he absolutely needed. Kyle walked on the sidewalk, the same sidewalk every morning, to the same office every morning. Normally he was able to commute peacefully, but today something different happened. As he walked down the street he passed a shop where he noticed a few things were off. It was a slightly popular antique store that was able to keep product that most people that worked paycheck to paycheck, where you could buy a decent clock or silverware at cost that was less than any mainstream store. In the second he passed the store he noticed a few things like how the store sign said closed, except in four years the store had never been closed on this day of the week at this time. How a few antiques in the window were either missing from there spots or fallen over, and how the lights were off. Kyle knew he needed to get to where he was suppose to go, but he almost felt compelled. He knew what this spelled and......Kyle could not explain it.

Kyle tested the door, seeing if it was locked which thankfully it wasn't. Kyle opened and entered to see three men, all wearing ski masks with one holding an old school revolver and the other two wielding a bat and a crowbar. The man with the gun was trying to intimidate the elderly shop keeper, who was having none of their shit. Kyle leaned against the wall, watching the scene unfold.

(Gun wielding robber): Yo man, we know you got a safe. We know you do, we seen it. Give us what you got old man.

The shop keeper simply looked annoyed and crossed his arms. The gun wielding robber pressed his weapon against the temple of the man, trying to scare him into submission.

(Gun wielding robber): Fool does it look like we playin?
(Crowbar robber): Take it easy eh? We trying to make money not trying to kill no one.
(Gun wielder): Man shut your ass up, and let me do my thing. I seen real mafia in action I know what I am doin.

Kyle sighed, alerting the men to his presence.

(Gun wielder): What the hell man you were suppose to lock the door, go knock that fool down.

The bat wielder started to move, unaware of what was about to transpire. In the minute Kyle had watched the scene unfold he had already devised a dozen different ways to proceed depending on who moved first. Kyle kicked his right foot out, sending a small urn that was placed on the floor near to where he was standing. It was sent flying and bounced off the shin of Bat wielder which cracked it when it landed on the ground, who recoiled in both shock and pain. Kyle dashed forward in front of Bat wielder, avoiding the aim of the gun wielder. He struck the bat wielder with the edge of his palm in an upward palm thrust, catching his chin and nose, causing the man to be dazed and have a broken nose. Kyle pushed him forward so that he could stay out of the sight of Gun wielder as crow bar wielder came in to attack. Kyle moved behind a table that had a few items on it, and crouched around it so that he was on the opposite side of the table as the crow bar wielder. He reached behind him and grabbed an antique cane, javelin throwing it. It struck his opponent in the chest, making him drop his crowbar. As a shot was fired from Gun wielder, Kyle slid himself under the table while grabbing the dropped crowbar when it came near. He swung it, knocking out the non unequipped robber by hitting him int he face.

(Gun wielder robber): Enough!

The last robber shot again, barely missing Kyle's face.

(Gun wielder robber): Lucky motha-

The robber was interrupted as the store owner finally made his move. Since the robbers attention was so focused on Kyle, it gave him an opportunity to grab the nearest heavy object and stike unconscious the last robber. Kyle stood up and brushed himself off.

"Thank you, I was almost afraid that I had miscalculated the ending to this little scenario. It would have been slightly uncomfortable for me to have been wrong."

The shop keeper huffed and held out his hand. Kyle sighed again, pulling out his wallet and handing the shop keeper a few bills.

"Of course, I would pay you for the damages and broken items. Have a good day."

The shop owner barely payed him heed after he was payed, already pulling out his phone to call the police. Kyle grabbed his backpack and slung it over his shoulder as he walked out, already putting this memory out of his head.

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Kyle walked through the door to to Father's Corvi's office, he simply found an open space more or less near the closest corner to the door and stood up straight. He scanned the room, half paying attention to the Father, half assessing the situation in the room. Meaning, he was trying to eyeball the danger zone he was in. These were some decent players, and in this game when there are this many players shit gets real real fast. Kyle nodded when his name was mentioned and his task was given, and nodded at his new partners. After Kat spoke, Kyle replied with "If not, it will become apparent soon." Kyle tugged on his bag, and ran a hand through his hair with his hand. He fell in line behind Kat, but not too close.

@gingerboi123@windsoffate@grizzthemauler@kimmininja@lostdestiny@rune_alchemist@silverdawn@blumenk@kiwibaer@saintrice@flamelord@misscapncrunch

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Her finger tips spun the golden band that barely fit around her ring finger anymore. She had lost so much weight since her husband and her had split up, that her wedding ring was loose once more on her slender digits. Ivy hadn't slept very well last night, the letter in her end table from her husband threatening for her to come back, for the sake of her own life. She had shown it to Corvi when she had received it, revealing her ex-husband's hostility to the situation and how easy he'd be to sway with her return. Removing the ring completely she placed it in the bedside drawer along with the letter and some of her other personal items she kept. She tugged the large quilt over her head as she hid herself away into the darkness.

"You have to get up." she told herself.

Eventually she listened, raising herself from the bed. Her petite body dressed in a small beige slip. Despite some of the dirty work the woman was involved with, she was very feminine and put together. Nothing was more dangerous than a woman with a mission in high heels. Reaching up to her hair, she unraveled the curlers she had put in last night revealing short brown curls. The slip of a nightgown fell on to the floor into a pile. Bruises could be seen littering her body before she stepped into a pair of new undergarments and pantyhose. A bead of black rosary never left her body. A green dress soon followed, and a pair of black heels to match.

She grabbed a small clutch purse, she left her hotel room, and evacuated to the lobby. "Have a good morning Mrs. Dempsey" the front desk man called. She gave a small wave and a smile. With a fake name, you'd think her husband wouldn't have found her so easily, but he had his ways. "To you as well darling." she called back to the young man before exiting, and hailing a taxi.

Ivy knew it wasn't a smart idea for the taxi to drop her right off in front of any place, so as she directed him to drop her off a few blocks from her destination she pulled out a wad of cash and handed it to him. "Keep the change sweetheart. It's a rough world out here and it's not getting any better." he nodded, thanking the woman for her generosity and true words. Parting, she walked towards the office and made herself comfortable in one of the padded chairs while the boss spoke to everyone.

So many young faces surrounded her.

She wondered if some of them knew her son, and what he would say if he were to see her sitting right here at this moment. Her brown doe eyes met with each of them as they were assigned their duties, she gave a little prayer to each of them, before she turned her attention to Corvi as he said her last name. She though about whether or not it would be better to go with her maiden name from now on, but on the other hand she was stuck with it now.

She changed the crossing of her legs as he revealed that her group would be remaining, settling back into her chair more.

Cesar began his morning on one of his less favorite activities: intimidating gamblers to pay. It's not that he didn't like making scum pay their dues, but he was sure that one day he would end up killing one of them in a fit of anger. At the moment he was waiting on the doorstep, playing with some baoding balls while waiting for him to open the door, the man asked a bit of time to dress himself, but it was more likely that he was hiding valuable stuff or trying to find a way to escape.

Seeing that 5 minutes had passed since he had talked to the man, Cesar closed his eyes and entered dead heat, as anger flowed through his blood he kicked the door down, and kicked again and again until he calmed himself breaking the door into pieces.

Now that he was inside it didn't take too long to find the man as he had gotten stuck on the bathroom window of the second floor in an attempt to climb to the roof. After pondering if he should just push him and tell Mr Corvi that he committed suicide, Cesar calmed himself and decided to pull him inside, maybe to see if he what story he had created as to why he didn't had the money in hand. Giving the most smug smile he could make Cesar grabbed the man by his shirt collar and dragged him down to the dining room where he would begin his interrogation.

“Now that I saved your life from that predicament you were in, let's cut the chase and ask the important question, shall I take the money by force or will you I give it to me nicely so we can go on our respective ways” Cesar said to the man coldly clearly wanting to end this quick, a quiet -thud- from one of his heartbeats coming from his chest.

“The M-mo-money? I don't​ have the money You see I had the exact amount of money but-

“You have the money” Cesar interrupted the man “I dealt with guys like you every day, you said you don't have any money but you are willing to give me what little you have” the sounds of his heartbeats started getting louder as his skin turned redder “So I am going to make myself a coffee in your kitchen, and when I get back to this table all the money you owe us will magically be there one way or another, if for some reason the money isn't there when I arrive or you try something funny? You will know how a hot ball of iron feels as it travels in your throat, putting one of the baoding balls- which had heated up from Cesar's body temperature in dead heat - into the forehead of the man.

The job seemed to have going well, given that he has maintained most of his composture when dealing with the man, he just had to collect the money and the job would be done. Returning back to the dining table Cesar found the man seated, patiently waiting for with a bag on his hands. Drinking his coffee, Cesar asked the man for the bag and quickly inspected it's insides, luckily it all was money so his job was done. Saying goodbye to the man he headed for the exit, not before recommending the man to stay out of gambling and loans. As he headed through the broken door the sound of a gun firing echoed behind him, followed by a bullet missing him by quite a margin, the man wasn't a good shot with the gun as he expected. Throwing the bag of money into the air scattering bills everywhere in the room, Cesar managed to distract the man long enough to get a hold of him and wrestling him into the ground and take his gun away from him. “Since you brought the money I will follow my promise and not stuff a ball of iron into your throat, instead I will just beat you out into half dead to release my pent up stress”.

---

After that was taken care of, Cesar washed his hands, took the money of that scattered into the floor, the gun and kicked the man in the face before heading out to Mr Corvi’s meeting. Once arrived there, he became curious on the reason of why he had called all of them, was he retiring or did he discovered a traitor hiding on his ranks? The news hit Cesar like a truck, the idea of a war between the families wasn't something he expected to happen, much less wanting to participate in it, they couldn't just hide it out and Cesar hoped they would come out of it with minimal damage. Upon hearing his mission he remembered what happened earlier “I trust that Sera will prevent things from getting violent” he told Mr Corvi and Sera, and in the case they did get violent, he know had a gun to attack from a distance.

Michael Kennison

The early morning was pretty peaceful, as far as Michael was concerned. He had decided to take the time to walk to the hideout, using the opportunity to enjoy a bit of a drink along the way. He might not specifically be a morning person, but a bit of food never really hurt to get him woken up and ready to go. It was a useful skill, and one that he had drawn upon heavily in the recent years. He certainly wasn't going to complain about this.

He wasn't sure what they would have in mind for the day, but he was sure that it would be interesting. Rare was the occasion when they simply sat around and did nothing, even if there were times when they had to stake some place out or wait around for people. those were boring as well, but at least he could focus on the job that had to be done. He didn't like being left without something to do. At least he wouldn't have to wait too long.

A sigh escaped as he breathed in the crisp morning air, enough to refresh and rejuvenate him as he neared the hideout. The suit he wore fit snugly, tailored for his size and adorned with a nice looking glass rose on his lapel, and he walked along with a smooth step. It wasn't like he had anything to worry about, not so deep in the territory of the Family. Aside from random chance, nothing could touch him here. That left him free to enjoy the sights and the sounds of the morning.

But at last it came to an end as it had to, with him arriving at the safehouse. He didn't take long to move inside, heading to the office where the meeting was to be held. Honestly he found himself surprised by the number of people there, since it was a rare time when so many of the Family were gathered in one spot. This must be important then, and he straightened up a bit to treat it as such.

A frown split his features as he shifted to look at the others when the Father made his announcement. War then? That was going to be interesting to see, though he did not not shy away from it. It might be callous to say so, but he was looking forward to matching his stuff against the other Families in an actual brawl. But ultimately it was up to the Father, so he wouldn't go intentionally provoking things without cause.

He nodded as his task was given out, as well as the guys that he would be working with. "You can count on us," he replied with a small grin and a small two finger salute before turning on his heels to leave and get to work. Time was wasting after all, and it would be more fun than being here.

Valoran's morning started off with a fight with his son Vance... "Dad, I can take care of myself. I've got powers too!" Vance crossed his arms, glaring at his giant of a father.

Valoran shook his head. "No, you will stay home. I have been told by your teachers that your slacking on your grades. I won't accept that." He had high hopes for his child. To one day see a Dryder who actually went to college and finished school. "Now I have to go do some work. I expect to see you here when I get home tonight." He grabs his leather jacket from the rack.

Heading to his bike he turns it on and drives to the meeting. He arrives last, due to his fight with Vance, which is unusual. He takes his spot at the seat to the right of Corvo, where it is blatanly obvious he's the Right Hand Man. He stays silent throught the meeting, only voicing his thoughts when people are given jobs.

"I don't want my son caught up in this." He scowls, crossing his arms and leaning back. "I'll have to send him to his grandparents..." A pained look comes to his eyes. Corvo knows how hard this will be for the man. He practically worships the ground his son walks on. He even gave up looking for any kind of personal company to raise the boy. Vance even thought that Corvo was Valoran's father, and still calls him Gramps.

Sera was one of the first to arrive within the Don's office, having actually aimed to be there before anyone else and failed. Inconvenient. With other forces taking thee boss's focus and not willing to show rudeness to the man that kept her in business and in home, she had skirted around his desk instead. She found a perch on a side table that was descent enough. A rather unladylike position, Sera sat atop the surface with her long legs crossed, watching more and more family members work their way inside the hideout. Lips tight, fingers tense against a delicate white box balanced on her lap, her eyes burned with their usual cobalt Bunsen fire. A nervous tension brought a bounce to an ankle, exposed beneath the baggy hem of the trousers she wore. She appeared to be in a worst mood than usual, her approachability dropping.

It had been easier for her than many to wake up this morning; she noted the many tired eyes around the room. Living with and assisting a baker, she was used to an ungodly prep time, internal clock tending to rouse her before Rosemary even had the chance. She soothed herself with memories of the morning, watching her favorite gal work was always a near hypnotic experience. Something akin to the spell she could weave with her voice. Rosie's thin fingers working daintily at dough that was tougher than she was, pushing up on her tiptoes to use her wait to knead at it. Rosie looking up and giving her that sweet, sugary smile, blonde hair tucked behind her little pixie ears. She would explain what she was doing and didn't mind that it fell on half deaf ears. She'd drag Sera in close, pushing her hands into the mix and ignoring the protests as premature bread oozed between well bred fingers. When Sera managed her escape to the nearest sink, she returned to watch the rest of the show. Rosemary guiding thin stripes of dough into a braid, draping each one of the mass of cinnamoned apples along the center. The pastry box on Sera's thighs felt warmer, seeping into her skin and she squeezed it tighter to her.

She might have lit up the Don's office with a rare smile if she wasn't so tense.

Of course, with memories of the morning came an increased bombination of nerves inside her. She had seen the books, knew that the times were affecting the pocket change of the masses and decreasing their customer pool. Corvi's speech brought no relaxation to her spring-locked muscles, only worsening the case in fact. She glared at the opposite wall above everyone else's head as if it might be to blame for all this misfortune. Hearing of an impending conflict brought on a flash of the bakery into her mind-- destroyed. That was not acceptable. The depression really was threat enough to their little shop. She would not allow any harm to come to her one place of peace, would not let another group come in and take what was theirs. Her fingers were nearly crushing the object she held all the way up until he spoke her name. She looked up and forced her hands to release the box, stretching her fingers out. Forced her lungs to take in air again.

Breathe Sera. It won't happen.

She stood up as everyone began to prepare for their assignments, gracefully pushing off of the mall table and making her way to the boss's desk. A swell of pride overcame her as she heard Cesar's comment about her abilities, nodding with restrained smugness. "Of course, that is my function." She placed the small box delicately in front of Corvi, eyes downcast with a respectful smile. "Another gift from Rosemary."

Then, she was falling into step beside her new partner, taking his arm in on gloved hand while she leaned in close. "Do you mind a small detour, dear? If my expertise is to be used, I should change my get up." Things had been a bit of a disaster that morning for the two women. They'd both somehow forgotten their womanly duties to do laundry until last minute, leaving Sera to borrow Rosemary's previous husband's trousers for lack of skirts. It was fitted to her figure of course, but still felt a bit odd on her form. She'd done it before, just not in public. No matter, the laundry they had set out should be dried by now, so she could be more presentable.

Harvey

---

Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise. A great man once said that. However, to Harvey, that man was an ass. His morning started abruptly with urchins banging on his door, something that they did for fun. Harvey lay on his bed, his hands grasping his face. His entire body was sore. Right when he was about to fall asleep once more, the urchins knocked again. This repeated for the most of the morning, and Harvey was forced to wake up.

He stretched his aching body and walked to his kitchen. He filled himself a glass of water and got himself a slice of bread. He ate his morning meal by the window, looking out at the city. He didn't live in a nice part of town. He had enough money to get a decent apartment in a nice part of town, but that was never his style. He felt like a sore thumb whenever he was in those parts of town. They were much too fanciful for his tastes. Besides, that money could be used on better things.

He finished his bread and took a large sip from the glass. The urchins knocked once more. Without so much as an ounce of hesitation, Harvey opened the window and dumped the rest of the cup out, emptying its contents upon the urchins that had decided to play around by knocking on the door to Harvey's apartment building. The children shrieked and ran, laughing as their day had been a fraction more interesting.

He put on his usual attire - a nice dress shirt, a vest, and dress pants. Jackets were never his style. He left his apartment, somewhat prepared for the day ahead of him.

---

The meeting was much more eventful than most. An all-out war? Harvey wanted no real part of it. But, such a conflict would be inevitable. As such, he would just have to deal with it when it gets there. His assignment was to go along with Valoran and Michael, neither of whom he particularly had a fondness of. Valoran was like speaking to a wall sometimes, but he could at least respect the path he took. Michael was, however, an ass. He never liked his attitude, no matter how nice he acted.

It would be the three of them on a rather simple mission. Just convincing a group of people to step off. Simple enough, Harvey thought. He nodded at the don before leaving the room. "So," Harvey propositioned to his compatriots, "I suppose we start by checking with our sharks?"

Michael Corvi

---

Michael nodded at each member of the family as they exited the room. He smiled at Sera as she left a box on top of his desk. He lifted it up and took a peek before giving her a warm smile. "Meraviglioso, Songbird. My compliments to the baker." Don Corvi said. He could tell that the new issue he had presented the family was troubling for them. Most of them was young, however, and when Valoran mentioned his son, it got the Don thinking. Sera, Keeran, Valoran. They had things to lose because of this. Keeran's sister, Valoran's son, Sera's lover. He would not let that happen to his family. He put a hand onto Dryder's shoulder.

"That might be for the best, Valoran. It pains me to say that so. But those fuckers are going to use whatever leverage they can to turn you into a rat. I'm going to tell the others that too."

Michael peered through the window blinds, looking at everyone dividing into their groups and veering off to their destinations. The Crow pulled a chair up for his right hand man before looking at those who remained. The Ex-Wife, The Capos, and The Spy. Corvi took his own seat as he put his cigar down to talk properly. "Thank you for coming here. I understand the news is... pressing." Michael started to explain. "Which is why I've kept you guys behind." He pressed his finger on the south of the map. "Our first target. The Cosa Nostra." Michael looked at Nadia. "Our first target. Rub them out, get the night operations, circulate more Junk throughout the city, yada yada." He explained. "Ulric Drogato. The head of the snake we have to cut off." He looked at Bella, being reminded of the pet Taipan she owned. "No offense..." Michael added. He opened the drawer of his desk, rummaging through paper and a Colt M1911 pistol he kept there to pull out a pen. He pointed to Nadia with the pen to gesture to her. "You're going to case their operation." He then moved his pen to Ivy Drogato, offering her the pen. "And Miss Ivy here, is going to tell you where to start."

---

Ivy raised her eyebrows at the box of baked goods that were left on the desk, her stomach pained her. She hadn't had good food in ages, let alone something sweet from the bakery. The woman nodded and smiled as everyone besides her group left the room and went on about their assigned missions. This was hard on ever single one of them, some more than others.

Michael began speaking as Ivy once more switched her legs to be crossed over to the other side. She reached to twirl her ring around her finger but quickly remembered that she put in the drawer back at the hotel. She watched carefully as Corvi spoke, placing his finger on the southern side of the map. Though they had been divorced for a few months now, hearing her ex-husband's name made her stomach sink. She shifted in her seat feeling slightly uncomfortable.

A pen was handed to Ivy as she took it within her grasp. Standing up she leaned over the table as she began making various marks on the map. "I've circled every business we- he owns. The Faded Ivy is my namesake, but also our- his biggest club to date." she stopped talking a moment to regain her composure. She needed to stop referring things as her own. Things weren't the same.

She pointed to a circle with a star on it. "Here is the location." Drawing a line towards a business a few blocks away, she continued speaking "This is where our supplier of most things is located. It changes between these six warehouses monthly as to not catch up to any hints of where things are. Knowing Ulric it's changed even more so since I've left, but it's most likely still in the area."

Ivy crossed out with large x's of places that had been since let go since her son's death. "We sold five business since my son died, mostly to a man named Edward Lombardi. I didn't know too much about him but he took up our business for the exact price with no questions asked." Ivy nodded, placing the pen back down in front of Corvi. She didn't know too much else besides that, or at least she couldn't think of what else she could give for information without digging too deep into her past.

"As long as it helps you to use your ability better I don't mind, but let's make haste since there is no time to waste, and I don't know about you but I would like to end this a soon as possible” Cesar preferred to have to deal with gamblers every day than participate in a gang war, at least he sometimes had fun with the latter.

He clenched his fists and took a deep breath, Cesar had to remain calm and collected when they met the owners of the shop. They might get nervous or aggressive if they notice hostility and that's the last thing they needed. Cesar began thinking of possible threats and ways to defend from them, but before he could tell his partner about then he wanted to clear a few things about the nature of her powers.

He had heard very few things about it, only knowing that it was some sort of hypnosis and that didn't clear a few questions like its effectiveness or how many people it can affect at once. “May you tell me a the nature of your power as we walk Sera? Knowing what we can and can't do will help us if things go south, to start first mine can be summed up as that the more time I am pissed off the more strong and fast I become”

~Kat~

"No reaction at all, eh?" She grunted. Jeez, at least react in some way other than doing nothing? Why'd she get stuck with the un-fun people? Fuck it, today was turning out to be pretty bad after all if she had to work with these morons. At least she'd be getting to rough someone up in a good-ol-fashion shakedown soon enough. As soon as these guys got their butts in gear, at least. With a sigh, Kat straightened her posture and looked at the other two who were apparently intent on staying around for a bit.

"Alright, well lets get going then." She grunted. "I got a date with a cheap bottle of vodka and some tacos so lets get this over with." With that, she turned and left making sure the other two were following her. She knew where they were heading well enough. Jewelry store and a bar. Easy enough targets to shakedown and make 'em cough up the money. They just had to decide how they were going to do this before getting there. Oh sure, it was easy enough to waltz and and smash some stuff for intimidation and maybe break his kneecaps, but a plan of some sort always made things a bit easier.

"So how do you two wanna do this?" She asked, glancing towards Hishamie. "You're countin' the money, make sure we got it all right? Anything else you can do or are ya just as strong as a wet noodle?" She had honestly never really worked with these two before, so it'd be a good idea to gauge their abilities and see how well they worked. "And what about you, Ice face? Got anything useful?"

@GingerBoi123@dabombjk@SaintRice

[Luciano]

---

Luciano listened silently to Kat's grunts as he followed her out of the meeting alongside Kyle. He hadn't found the tasks at hand especially interesting and far from his forte, thus he planned to leave most of the heavy lifting to Kat and Kyle. Although Luciano had never worked with his group before, he had of course done his research on the circle closest to Corvi. His findings were generally common knowledge among his peers as the job differences between the three of them were quite severe. He understood Kat was bulletproof muscle, making every excursion like this a low risk endeavor; however, he didn't believe her to be especially intelligent or quick witted. Kyle easily filled in Kat's weakness as she covered his, Luciano had received a good deal of education growing up and was successful in his studies under the close watch of his parents, but he couldn't compare to Kyle. That's why he felt like auxiliary, his lone wolf nature and ill fit abilities landing him in a bit of an awkward position as far as placement went. Luciano debated what he could do when Kat turned to him and asked him of his abilities, drawing him from his reverie.

"I specialize in murder, not thuggery." Luciano answered curtly. A small caliber bullet rolled between his knuckles idly as he walked, the piece of metal flipping about his fingers as if it had a mind of its own, disappearing and reappearing in the other hand as if it were an elaborate magic trick. "However, I have food if you find yourself hungry." Luciano offered, his emotionless countenance making it difficult to tell whether he was joking or not.

@Rune_Alchemist@dabombjk

Michael Kennison

Leaving the Father's office, Michael noticed that at the moment he was only joined by one other member of their trio. He wasn't overly worried though, specially since they hadn't made it that far. DeGarrio could catch up with them if he moved fast enough. Otherwise he'd miss all the fun, not that Michael was too horribly broken up by the prospect. It just meant more for him to do.

Overall Michael didn't mind being partners with McDowel that much. The man could be something of a downer a lot of the time, but he was still pretty reliable. At least from what he remembered of the guy. They didn't work together that often.

Headed outside, Michael listened to the proposed plan with all the seriousness that it deserved. They hadn't been given a location to work from and they didn't know how these new guys operated, so finding them would be a good place to start. After that they could give them a persuasive chat, one way or the other. He was willing to give peace a chance, but if it turned violent then he wasn't going to cry over it.

"Sounds good to me," he replied with a nod. "They give us the location, we can get on our way. Then we don't have to waste a lovely morning like this one."

@SilverDawn@WindsOfFate

@gingerboi123@saintrice@rune_alchemist

Kyle scoffed slightly at Kat's words, hoping that this mission would be over sooner rather than later especially if he was going to have deal with people of this caliber. He hated his criminal activities, mostly, and hated how he was basically an indentured servant to the Don. So being sent out into the field like this with someone who was so clearly his opposite was beyond irritating. He preferred people of a simple and sound nature, someone who was more inward than vocal and someone who used more tact with their words. While he realized that at times he himself could be less than smooth with his word choice. Kyle had no official thoughts on Luciano. Unlike most everyone at the meeting, Kyle chose not to research everyone around him. He felt that if he had looked into the others, he would pre judge them before hand and it would affect his judgement. Kyle would rather let actions speak louder than words on paper. When he had this thought again, he nearly smacked himself mentally. He was of course pre judging just from words, in person rather on paper but still, and he should not rush to judge. If something went amiss on the job he would need to have a sound mind and he needed to stay clear of judgements. So Kyle put on his most convincing smile.

"I prefer observing rather than fighting but rest assured that when it comes down to it I will not be a burden. If trouble does arise please rely on me for strategic input, even though I do see that you are more than capable than of defending yourself."

Kyle gave Kat a once over, choosing to forgo any kind of observation out loud. He did think she was quite attractive though. Kyle turned to Luciano and raised an eyebrow.

"If...if you do have food I would um...well I am hungry."

Valoran listened. He visibly bristles at the thought of hos son being used against him. He made a note to have him start packing tonight and knew there would be an upset reply, but Vance would do it. Especially if Gramps said it would be best. He knew his father dealt with some shading things. And he grew up learning about the killer he used to be.

Taking the chair offered he studies the map. In his mind he notes all the safehouses and caches they have all around their sector. When the Cosa Nostra is mentioned, he audibly growls. Everyone here has heard about that horrible night. When Valoran lost the man he loved in an attempt to break him. To "Reap the Reaper" they'd said. He'd caused so much terror that they decided to attempt to remove him. They almost succeeded. Valoran searched for hours befre Corvi forced him to go see his infant son and sleep. When the body turned up a week later Valoran swore he would paint their sector with blood. But his bloodlust was culled, as he focused on pritecting the one thing he had left of his family, his son.

"I want that worm Alexi's head." His eyes burrowed into Corvi's." I want him to pay for what he did. In blood." Valoran's face was dark, a bit of the old fury at the world creeping in. He had a chance to finally strike back. And he would grab it by the proverbial balls. And crush them. "I wamt revenge, Corvi."