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    1. Cottonmouth 9 yrs ago
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With Raiya's final words, Nemo's expression visibly brightened up. He stood up from the couch and waltz over to the kitchen. "I suppose saying partners is still more appropriate." He said as he reached the doorway. "But maybe this will change your mind." He added as he put his hand behind his back, then pulled it back, now holding a large forest green gift box after spawning it. He extended it out to her with both hands.

On closer inspection, the lid was fastened down with two gold strings of ribbon wrapped around from each side. Where the ribbons crossed on the front of the box, a maroon colored smiley face wax seal held them together. On the bottom right of the box, a vintage looking to and from gift sticker was placed where Nemo had signed both their names in cursive with pen ink. Nemo clearly didn't save time with the packaging.
Nemo sat on the living room couch with his legs kicked up on a stool. He had taken a shower before he returned home, and his clothes were clearly recently cleaned. He had shed his coat, scarf, sneakers, and was wearing a black knitted polo with pastel pink collar, sleeve cuffs and name embroidery now. Nemo was idly spinning his embellished 4 inch birdshead colt revolver in his right hand, reading the paper emitting from the manacell held in his left.

He saw his mugshot, taken back when Felix had captured him. He had a toothy grin on his face despite the lofty sentence he had recently received at the time. His eyes then trailed down at the picture taken from the outside of the building, seeing Gianni hanging by his neck from the window.

The Giarciano Witch Hunter crime syndicate was the largest in Italy, but with their boss deceased, and no suitable candidates left to take over, is soon expected to crumble without leadership. We attempted to contact the Vatican Arcanocracy but they refused to comment.

Nemo heard Raiya descend the stairs, he deconstructed the paper and pocketed his manacell. "It feels good to be back in the papers again, Raiya. In The Clever Magi too, that's a pretty good one." Nemo commented without looking at her. "I don't think anybody will be bothering your gang again anytime soon. Fixing these types of problems is my specialty."

Nemo abruptly stopped spinning his revolver, catching the grip in his palm. He returned it to his holster. "With this, I do hope we can go back to being friends again."
Two boxers sparred in a ring within a vintage looking gym. At the moment there were very few people inside. Besides the two boxers, no more than four people stood on the sidelines watching. The boxers weren't wearing any protection, apparently this wasn't a regulation match. The intense fight continued, both boxers exchanging heavy blows. A man wearing grey sweatpants, a black tank top, and gold box-chain necklace seemed to have the upper hand, beating his opponent into the corner. After taking a few blows to the chest, the opponent pushed the tank top wearing man back with a grunt to put some distance between the two.

"Gigi! Call for you!" One of the spectators suddenly exclaimed.

The chain sporting man briefly looked off to the side where the noise came from before turning to his opponent. The man closer to the corner approached him and threw out a powerful right jab, but then man deftly dodged to the right. He returned with two left jabs to stun the man, followed by an immense right hook to his face. His fist left a red trail in it's wake.

The man who received the magically enhanced blow immediately dropped like a sack of bricks. Blood began to trickle out from his nose and mouth as he lay lifelessly on the mat.

"You didn't have to kill him." Commented a man with short white hair with his arms crossed at the side of the ring. Despite his hair color, he looked rather young, roughly mid thirties. He had fair skin, one green eye, and one white blind eye, clearly caused by a knife scar stretching from his forehead down to his cheek. He wore a black three piece suit, black dress shirt, and white tie.

The victor walked over to the man who first spoke, wiping the sweat off his face with a towel. "Who is it?" The man asked.

"Lorenzo, says it's important." The man replied.

He gestured for the man to throw up his communicator, which he did. He answered the glowing device to stop it's hum. "Lorenzo, what's up."

"Gianni, we got a situation here." Lorenzo's voice replied.

"How bad could it be, huh? You interrupted my trainin' Lorenzo, these sparrin' partners don't just grow on trees you know?" He looked back to see his earlier opponent being drug out of the ring, leaving a bloody streak on the floor.

"We finished that raid on the Crux compound, turns out it doesn't look like Mamushi plans on taking your offer. Got some of her boys to talk, soon after you called, word came in that there's going to be a all out attack, and soon."

"Oh... well, I suppose that's bad enough." Gianni responded with a slight chuckle. "Ain't gonna surrender, huh? Can you believe the nerve of this bitch? I give her a chance to leave, and this is the thanks I get? I could have crushed her and her band of low-lives any day of the week, any day!" Gianni began to lose his temper during his speech.

After a brief pause to think, Gianni began speaking again, this time addressing everyone in the room. "This ends tonight, LaZotta, assemble all the capodecine, we're meetin' at my penthouse as soon as possible, got it? I want her gang in flames by sunrise, and her head on a fuckin' spike by the end of the week." Gianni turned to the scarred man, who nodded in response before walking off and began fiddling with his manadial.

"Good work, Lorenzo. I'll see you there." Gianni said.

The voice from the communicator paused for a moment, then spoke. "I look forward to it."



Thirty minutes earlier, 2:25 AM, at the outskirts of New York.

A black sedan steadily drove down a lonely rode. There weren't any skyscrapers nearby, the surroundings were either abandoned and slum-like or open and grassy depending on the position of the car. Barely any other cars drove in unison at this time of night, with a very rare occurrence of seeing some vagabond hanging out on a sidewalk.

"We need to get the fuck out of here, this place is givin' me the creeps. I mean, what the hell even is that." The man driving the car said, pointing to a dog crossing the street a ways down.

The only passenger in the car briefly looked up from reading a notebook in the adjacent seat. "It's a mutt Henry... you ain't ever seen one before, huh?" He said with a lazy sounding voice, cracking a slight grin at the end when his tone turned sarcastic. The man was older than the thirty-something driver, probably in his late forties. He was slightly heavyset and tall, with combed back black hair and adorned in a suit. He looked to be the driver's superior, being chauffeured somewhere.

Henry rolled his fingers on the steering wheel before taking a right turn. "Whatever Lorenzo, back home those things are in fuckin' kennels or chained up where they belong. Not roaming the street like some Chubacabri or some shit." The driver had shoulder length brown hair and wore a more business casual kind of outfit.

Lorenzo returned to his notebook. "Don't think there are any Chupacabras in New York. Things will go faster if you stop complaining." He stated simply.

"Well then how about you cue me in as to why we are drivin' round here in the first place."

"We're gonna meet up with some of my boys, then go to town on a Crux gang stronghold. You should be happy about that, the sooner the snake is out, the sooner we can stop muddying ourselves in these parts of town."

"Yeah great plan, just great, only thing I don't understand is why we're messing around in New York in the first place."

Lorenzo briefly looked up from his notebook to his partner. "Because there's a lot of fuckin' money in it, that's why." He replied in a monotone serious voice.

Henry sat silent for a couple moments. He shrugged, at a loss. "I suppose that works."

The pair drove on wordlessly for a couple more minutes before a bright flash behind them disturbed their pitch black driving experience. Bright white headlights were turned on, followed by a red and blue police lights and siren. They were being pulled over.

"Oh what the fuck is this shit!" Henry exclaimed immediately, frustrated. He looked behind his seat to see the car. It was hard to make out with the blinding headlights, but the red and blue light was small and on the right side. It must have been an unmarked car with a magnetic beacon stuck on top. "You gotta be kiddin' me."

Lorenzo finally closed his notebook and set it on the dashboard. His earlier quiet demeanor immediately turning to immense irritation. "What the hell did you do, you fuckin' stronzo?"

"I didn't do nothin', Lo. I don't know what the hell this about."

"Yeah, you didn't do nothin', huh? If I find out you picked me up in a hot car tonight the last thing you'll have to worry about is this pig apprehendin' us. P-pull this shit over, we can't afford a chase tonight."

Henry pulled the car off to the side of the road and stopped. "I swear on my mother Lorenzo, this car is clean as a whistle. I leased it in the city from a real nice place. Gazzie's Auto Sales. I... I probably just blew a stop sign or somethin', can't see a fuckin' thing out here it's so damn dark." He tried to explain.

The officer's car pulled up behind them and slowed to a stop. A pause ensued before the driver stepped out of the car, holding a bright flashlight pointed at their car and obscuring their vision.

Lorenzo brought his voice down to a whisper as the officer approached. "Yeah, you better hope that's the damn case, because if this turns south, you're layin' that cop out, got it? Get your piece out, hold it in his blind spot close to the door."

Henry did as his partner told, pulling out a embellished 1911 pistol and hiding it below the window. He looked up, tense, to see the officer reach the window. But he wasn't greeted by a uniformed cop, the only thing he immediately made out was a gloved hand holding a suppressed Luger pistol, golden, engraved, and with ivory grips, pointed at the window. "...oh shit." Henry muttered.

A volley of five hushed shots rang out. The third shot finally shattered the window, letting half the glass fall into the car into bits, and the other half clink off the pavement. The first two eliminated Henry before he could return fire with own his readied pistol. One in the head, and the other in the chest. The next three hit Lorenzo, once in the neck, and twice in the chest.

After the graphic ordeal, an eerily silent pause ensued. Somehow, Lorenzo was still alive, clutching his bleeding neck tightly with one hand. He watched the armed figure lower his handgun, put away his flashlight, and calmly unlock the car doors. The automated click of his door unlocking startled him, and he began to use his free hand to search inside his jacket for a pistol. The figure then slowly walked around the back of the car up to his window. As the footsteps grew more audible to Lorenzo, he began to feel true dread. He looked to the side to see his slain partner bleeding all over the seat. Lorenzo realized the warm blood splattered on his face wasn't his own. A flicker of hope erupted from within when he uncovered the grip of his own pistol.

Lorenzo sloppily looked to his side as the assailant reached his window. The unknown man carefully pulled the handle to open the door, and then swung it open, revealing Lorenzo with a readied silver plated handgun. In a last ditch attempt to save his life, Lorenzo fired his gun as quickly as he could at the figure. The man grabbed Lorenzo's gun by it's front at an impressive speed, betraying the sloth like pace he displayed before. He directed the aim away from him before it first fired, and blocked the slide from cambering another round in the process.

The man then forced Lorenzo's outstretched gun toting arm into the edge of the door frame with a animalistic growl, snapping his forearm by the middle. Lorenzo howled in pain, loosening his grip on the pistol and wrenched his arm away. With nothing left to do, Lorenzo focused his blurry vision on the man who ambushed him. He had a hard time making him out, but one feature was striking enough to be unmistakable, the man's pale white skin, hair, and eyes. He knew of this man.

"...il Diavolo." Lorenzo sputtered out with a rasp, his voice augmented by the damage to his throat.

Nemo lowered his posture to see Lorenzo better face to face. He took a moment to examine Lorenzo's pistol before looking up to him and carefully shaking the handgun. "That's the thing I don't like about semi-automatics... more ways to jam." He noted, slightly shaking his head in disappointment before tossing it off behind him.

"I'm going to need your communicator, Mr. Rosario." Nemo announced, using his pointer finger to gently lift up Lorenzo's sleeve. He saw that he didn't use a manadial either, he instead sported a silver chronograph.

"Breast pocket?" Nemo inquired simply. Lorenzo weakly nodded in response.

"Thank you." Nemo responded, appeased by his honesty. He reached into Lorenzo's suit and pulled out his manacell. Nemo flipped it over in his hand to see the inlaid manacrystal. He grabbed Lorenzo's notebook next. "That will be all, Mr. Rosario." Nemo stepped back and pointed his Luger at Lorenzo, delivering one final shot to end his life.

Nemo slowly paced back to his car, a brown 1979 Cadillac Coupe Deville Phaeton. He opened the door and popped the impostor police beacon off the top. Nemo got inside and closed the door, tossing the beacon on the back seat. He set his Luger and flashlight on the passenger seat, next to a retro boombox that was emitting the earlier siren. He cranked the column shifter into drive and then calmly drove off.




3:27 AM

Nemo sat in his car silently. It was turned off, and all the lights were out, not even the street lights illuminated him as he discreetly watched the street. He had been there for a while.

Suddenly, a convoy of three black vehicles turned the into the street. They pulled up to the front of a large skyscraper and parked. Seven men exited the cars, including Gianni himself. "We're late." He noted.

"I think they'll forgive you." The scarred LaZotta said as he followed Gianni and his crew inside the building.

"Welcome Mr. Giarciano, the rest are waiting for you in your room, sir." A male attendant greeted from behind the front desk.

Gianni entered the elevator and turned to his crew. "I'll relay the information upstairs, LaZotta, you and the guys will make sure no samurai sword wielders are waitin' for us down here once we're done, wont ya?"

LaZotta cracked a slight smile. "Yeah Gigi, I'm sure they'll attack us right here on our home turf." He said sarcastically. Gianni fingered a elevator button marked "C.R." (Conference Room) The elevator then closed and began it's trip to the top floor. The gangsters dispersed throughout the lobby, two of them sitting at a table right by the window. One sipped on a cappuccino in a mug.

-

Nemo opened the door of his Cadillac and stepped out, he slowly walked around back and popped the trunk with the key. Inside there was a large leather case. Nemo unlatched it, revealing a gold plated AKM once opened. Nemo picked up the rifle and unfolded the metal stock. He grabbed two magazines and then closed the hatch. He began walking closer to the building with the weapon hanging loose at his side. The guards weren't paying attention to the street. Once Nemo got within fifteen paces of the door, he loaded one of the magazines he brought, a black 75 round drum, and pulled back the charging handle.

-

Gianni reached the top floor of his penthouse after a long elevator ride up. The shuttle came to a gentle, buffered stop before emitting a pleasant ding to signal his arrival. He was surprised to see a pitch black room once the doors opened. Things were much quieter than he expected, he wanted this night to be a celebration, not a simple dim strategy meeting. He wondered how he could have been the first one there if he was already late as well.

Gianni stepped out of the elevator and searched in the dark for the light switch. Once his hand palmed the device, he flicked in on and was met with a horrifying sight that stopped him right in his tracks. He was definitely wrong about being the first one there. What greeted his eyes was the grisly assortment of butchered bodies strewn about the room in various positions. Not just shot, but even bludgeoned and stabbed to death. The cracked open skull of his capo bastone John Scagnotti was enough to nearly part him of his lunch. Gianni had picked out the golden yellow paint himself, but it appeared someone had decided to partially redecorate it red.

-

One of the guards sitting at the table closest to the window looked to the left, seeing LaZotta talking to the front office attendant, and the other three gang members sharing drinks together at a table. He looked to his partner sitting across from him, and then finally shifted his gaze out the window as he took a sip from his coffee. The view of the rifle holding figure made him go wide eyed first, fear began to overtake him, he was caught like a deer in headlights. Strangely quiet seconds drug on, and he slowly let go of the mug until it dropped from his grip and shattered on the floor.

-

Not a second after the shattering of the ceramic mug, Nemo let loose automatic fire from his weapon. The seated duo were the first to fall to the mechanized demise, they were riddled with bullets and tumbled out of their seats before crashing to the floor. Broken glass began to pelt their bodies from the now shattered window.

Nemo continued firing from the seemingly endless magazine, walking closer to the window to get a better shot at the rest of the gang which began to scatter for cover. The desk attendant dropped next after being hit twice in the chest. Nemo fired indiscriminately at this point, the bullets were powerful enough to penetrate most of the furniture in the lobby, two more fell to this before the weapon ran dry of ammunition to use.

Nemo ejected the drum mag and tossed it off to the side, immediately replacing it with a standard thirty round that was gold plated like the rest of the weapon. An odd silence fell over the room, contrasting with the thunderous sound of the firearm operating seconds before. The pained groans of a gangster gravely wounded by the assault broke this silence, he began to drag himself through broken glass, but didn't get far before succumbing to his wounds.

-

LaZotta looked around at the thrashed lobby, bullet holes riddled most of the room by this point. He saw one remaining underling hiding behind a booth seat six paces away. He hand gestured for the man to attempt a blind fire at Nemo with his pistol. LaZotta held up three fingers and began to count down by retracting them one by one into a fist.

Three.

Two.

One.


After the signal the man popped his hand up and began to aimlessly fire off his handgun, but after two shots a splatter of crimson exploded out from where the man's hand was. His hand was hit. The gun flew to the floor and slapped off it with a metallic clang before riding to a stop. The man screamed out in pain and rolled onto his side, clutching his mangled hand as blood began to fountain out rapidly. His cries were soon silenced when two bursts of bullets pierced through his cover and into his body, parting the life from his body.

LaZotta crouched in silence behind his cover, trying to not give away his position until he decided what to do.

"Is that you, Matteo LaZotta?" Nemo called out calmly as he stepped into the lobby through the broken window, treading over shattered glass on the way. "It pains me to see you've become a guard dog to a fool now."

"Strange how it is for you people, more than capable of bringing a mage to his knees, abilities to eradicate incantations powerful enough to level entire buildings, but not a trick in your book can stop a little piece of steel?"

As Nemo advanced through the lobby, LaZotta sprang out from his cover and rolled behind a brick support pillar, barely dodging another volley of bullets from Nemo's AK. LaZotta caught his breath before finally replying. "I guess... we haven't gotten that far yet, huh?" He admitted. "But we've still got some tricks left." Before Nemo could fully advance on LaZotta's position, he threw a crude flash bomb on the ground he fished from his jacket. The explosion was small, but powerful enough to hurt Nemo's light sensitive eyes.

LaZotta used this opportunity to rush out from his cover and grab the barrel of the gun, directing it's point of aim away. The two got in a struggle for the weapon, a struggle LaZotta quickly realized he would lose. LaZotta pulled the mag release and ejected the gold magazine from the gun, leaving him with only one round, which was soon accidentally fired in the struggle.

LaZotta knee'd Nemo in the stomach, causing him to let go of the weapon and stumble back with a crazed chuckle. Nemo wagged an extended pointer finger at the gangster. "That was pretty slippery of you, Matteo, I'll give you that. But now we've got no more toys to play with." Nemo stated, straightening his posture.

LaZotta tossed Nemo's empty rifle off to the side. He dug a hand into his right pocket and retrieved a Italian stiletto switchblade with an ivory handle. At the press of a button, a silver four inch dagger blade flipped out from it's housing with a satisfying click.

Nemo grinned at the sight. "Careful now, I might just take that away from you."

LaZotta sprinted at Nemo, jabbing the blade at his chest and kicking him in the side. Nemo made no effort to evade the kick, but sidestepped the knife. Nemo began to backpedal, giving LaZotta some ground as he rapidly slashed at Nemo. LaZotta thrust his blade at Nemo's stomach, this time finally connecting, however he was taken aback when the blade failed to puncture Nemo's fur coat. His knife stopped like he had tried to stab a wall, Nemo must have reinforced the garment with an aethermaterial. Nemo stopped his retreat and grabbed LaZotta, throwing him over and slamming him on the ground with a judo leg wheel, disarming the man of his switchblade in the process.

Nemo courteously waited for LaZotta to get back on his feet. "Ready?" He asked.

LaZotta spat blood from his mouth and then dusted his suit off. "You called me a guard dog, Nemo, but what does that make you? We both know you've never had beef with the Giarciano gang. This is about her."

"You knew she was with me, and your boss gave the order anyways. What did you expect me to do? You people insulted me, and you insulted the natural order of things as well. Giarciano gang had no right to a hostile takeover. You should have stopped him, but you didn't. You've become just as greedy, Matteo."

"Maybe so Nemo, but that's all irrelevant now anyways." LaZotta pulled a handful of flashbangs from his pocket. "There's only one thing left to do, right?"

Nemo held the stolen knife at his side, nodding slightly in response. LaZotta then threw all the flashbangs at once, exploding them at Nemo's feet. He then rushed towards Nemo as fast as he could, brandishing a shard of glass he picked up from the ground and concealed. Even though it cut his hand, he didn't care anymore. LaZotta hoped to slash his neck before he could recover from the diversion.

Nemo shielded his eyes with his arm, uncovering them just in time to see the attack. Nemo blocked the strike with his forearm, the glass shattering on his reinforced sleeve. Nemo stabbed LaZotta twice in the stomach with his own knife, pushing him back and slamming him heavily into a brick wall in the process. Three more rough stabs to the neck started a cascade of crimson to begin spilling out from LaZotta.

Nemo stepped back, allowing his opponent to slide down onto the floor, clutching his neck as he began to rapidly bleed out his life essence. Soon his vision went black and his body had gone fully slack.

-

Gianni stumbled back into the elevator, recoiling at the sight in the conference room. He rapidly began to press the button to return to the lobby, ready to leave this place as fast as he could. The elevator doors closed, saving him from gazing upon the grisly scene any longer.

As the elevator descended back down to the lobby, he began to hear immense gunfire from downstairs. Gianni no longer felt that the lobby was going to be the quick escape he had hoped for. The descent felt more like a trip to an impending execution now.

The elevator dinged and began to open it's doors, revealing a similar scene to what he experienced upstairs. The lobby was destroyed, blood stained some of the walls, not quite as much as was seen in the conference room at least. Bullet holes pelted the walls and furniture. He began to count the bodies as he started to peek out. "LaZotta?" He called out, looking around. "Where the fuck are you LaZotta?" He asked again, finally spotting his body off to the right, still oozing fresh blood from his wounds.

Gianni quickly ducked back into the elevator, mashing the penthouse button as fast as possible. "Go you piece of shit, fucking go!" He cursed as the doors delayed to close. Gianni tensely watched as the twice pieces of steel began to shut, but just before they could finish, a pale white hand shot through the opening, stopping the process.

The doors reopened to Gianni's horror, and Nemo slowly stepped inside. "Room for one more?" He asked calmly.

Gianni didn't say anything yet, he watched Nemo intently as he walked beside him and faced the glass viewing panel on the other side. The elevator started up, slowly bringing them to the top.

"That really is a breathtaking sight." Nemo noted.

Gianni reluctantly turned around, viewing the city as they ascended. "It is." He agreed. Gianni put a hand into his grey suit jacket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. He removed one from the pack and then discarded the box on the ground, not bothering to return it to his jacket. Gianni turned to Nemo. "Got a light?" He asked.

Nemo reached into his pocket and pulled out a gold zippo style lighter. He flipped it open with some sort of flashy memorized trick and sparked the flame. "Of course." Nemo said as he reached over and ignited Gianni's cigarette.

"Grazie." Gianni responded simply as he began to smoke.

Nemo flicked the lighter shut and returned it to his pocket. They both began to watch the view in silence for most of the ride up, until Nemo finally spoke again. "I'm going to have to brutalize you, Gianni." He said, now looking at the boss. "I have to make sure something like this doesn't happen again."

Gianni blew some smoke from his lungs and then looked to Nemo as well. "Not the face, alright?" He joked, cracking a grin. Seconds later, the elevator's bell rang. Gianni acted immediately, throwing a wild punch at Nemo.

Nemo leaned back, letting Gianni punch the steel side slab of the elevator, leaving a deep fist shaped dent in it's wake. Nemo grabbed Gianni by his suit, lifted him off the ground, and slammed him up against the glass panel of the elevator. He then viciously threw Gianni through the doorway and into his penthouse. Gianni crashed into the floor and slid to a stop, quickly stumbling back to his feet.

Nemo shed his fur coat and scarf, letting them return to his inventory, and then stepped inside.

Gianni had never been so unhappy to reside in his opulent penthouse. He walked over to the table and began to hurl wine glasses at Nemo. Something that was questionably effective. Most of them either missed or bounced off Nemo and broke on the floor.

Nemo walked over and kicked the table, shoving the edge into Gianni's abdomen and causing him to stumble back from it. Gianni shed his own grey jacket and took a boxer's stance. "Alright then, let's dance you freak!" He knew if he could just get one good punch in, he could end this fight.

Gianni moved up and began to take small jabs at Nemo. Nemo kept his distance from Gianni, backstepping to avoid contact with his fists. Nemo finally grabbed one of Gianni's fist before he finished a jab, but Gianni returned fire with a heavy punch to his gut. Nemo let go and took another left hook to the face before Gianni retreated.

"What'cha think about that?" Gianni said as he tested Nemo with another quick jab. He grew more confident after landing some hits. Gianni moved back up and punched Nemo twice in the chest. When Nemo threw back his own strike, Gianni dodged to the side and threw two quick lefts to stun him, and followed up with one heavy right hook, the same red trailed enhanced attack he used to kill Raiya's gang members and the sparring partner before.

The punch connected, causing Nemo to lean back, nearly falling over. He was in an awkward stance, as if time had stopped for him halfway to the ground. Be he somehow refused to fall, defying gravity. Nemo straightened his strange posture back out, facing Gianni once more with a blank expression on his face. Nemo corrected his jaw with one hand before speaking. "You're going to have to do better than that if you want to win the next championship, Gianni." He said, growing a sadistic grin across his face afterwards.

Angered, Gianni stampeded towards Nemo and threw out another empowered right hand, this time Nemo caught it with his gloved palm and cancelled out the ability. Nemo viciously headbutted Gianni, stunning him. And then threw him behind and into the dinner table. Gianni crashed into the wooden table, knocking it over and spilling all the empty plates and glassware onto the floor.

Nemo approached Gianni as he struggled back to his feet, cutting his hands on the broken shards in the process. Gianni threw out a wild punch while on his knees but missed. Nemo responded by brutally kicking him in the chest, knocking him back to the floor. He was yanked back up by Nemo's hand, and bludgeoned twice in the face with his other to stun him. His eyesight went blurry as he nearly blacked out. Next Gianni felt himself get lifted up fully, unsure of what was happening anymore.

Nemo picked up Gianni by the front of his jacket and walked him over to a long brick ledge, one with various boxing trophies set on top. Nemo then slammed him down onto the edge of it by his back, brutally cracking the bones instantaneously. Gianni cried out in pain as he flopped onto the floor like a ragdoll. His groans didn't stop as he began clutching his back, unable to get to his feet any longer. Gianni began to curse wildly at Nemo as he walked away.

Nemo stepped over to a punching bag Gianni had suspending from the ceiling by a large chain. With a flick of his wrist the chain telekinetically unhooked and spooled onto the floor. Nemo picked it up with one hand and looked to the windows of the penthouse. The entire room was lined in giant glass windows to view the city. The windows spanned from the floor to the ceiling, and only had breaks in the near perfect view for long thin bars to house the glass. Nemo reached out his hand and began to channel magic.

Two of the large windows began to vibrate, growing in power and emitting an increasingly louder resonating sound as they began to visibly wobble and shake in their holdings. Eventually they both shattered, leaving only the slim support rod left.

Nemo walked back over to Gianni with the chain. He picked up Gianni by his collar and started to drag him over to the window. Gianni's curses suddenly started to turn to pleads as he realized his situation. "Wait, Nemo! Wait a minute here, you fuck! Whatever that bitch is payin' you, I'll fuckin' triple that shit! You coulda just came to me first huh, what do you want huh, what do you want?!"

Nemo started wrapping the chain around Gianni's neck, fastening the carabiner back on the chain to make a makeshift noose around his neck. Nemo latched the other fastener onto the support beam and then lifted Gianni up so that they were face to face. Nemo paused for a moment as he dangled Gianni out from the window.

"I want to see you fly, fly fly away."
Nemo narrowed his eyes. "Georgio's son?" Nemo sounded surprised, the sting from her earlier comments about him faded into worry. "Raiya, you can't just wage a ground war on the Giarciano gang, if the person you say is in New York, it means his entire overseas operation is with him as well. It's like fighting two gangs at once, with one of them being the most influential crime syndicate in all of Italy. Not just that, but the Giarciano gang has allies Raiya. The entire Yakuza would have to get involved for you to have a chance in that type of battle. And in my experience, I'd say your boss would probably rather just fork over their New York territory than get into a crusade over a foreign installment." Nemo tried to explain, but Raiya began to walk away from him.

Nemo got up himself and followed after her, continuing to talk. "But I presume you've already thought of that, meaning what you're really planning is a duel with Gianni. Which is even more insane, considering that the Giarciano family has historically always been a clan of extremely experienced witch hunters. They first sprung up in Sicily by travelling town to town and killing local magi for the townsfolk. You'd be walking into a deathtrap Rai-" Nemo was cut off when she shut the door in his face. "-ya." Nemo sighed and returned to his room, shutting the door behind him.

After returning to his room, Nemo paced back and fourth, sputtering curse words under his breath. After a while he began beating himself over the head with a fist for every utterance, his force only grew as the tirade went on. Eventually he walked over and turned the room's light to half power. It was then he noticed the burn marks on his pink robe, causing him to go wide-eyed.

Nemo used a couple small spells to repair his robe, doing the menial task had settled him down and cleared his mind. He then turned his attention to the more pressing matters. Nemo knew what had to be done now, he shed his robe and pajamas and opened the closet, looking for a more suitable outfit for the night.
(See updated character sheet for full details)
Nemo already had his socks, boxers, and tank top on, and he rarely ever took off any off his jewelry or glove. He found a pair of black wool trousers and slipped them on, followed by a black leather western belt and revolver holster. He pulled a cream colored cotton textured knit polo shirt off a hanger and put it on. It had a black collar and sleeve-cuffs, as well as his name embroidered on the left part of his chest in black cursive lettering. The shirt fit rather loose, with the short sleeves nearly reaching his elbows. Nemo seemed to dislike skinny type fits in his wardrobe. The shirt looked rather vintage as well, like something out of the 60's somebody's grandfather would wear.

Nemo left the closet to come to a wooden cabinet with drawers. He pulled the first one out to reveal a bunch of fancy looking boxes. He opened a green one to reveal a golden watch, a Rolex Datejust 36 mm He put it on and then opened the next drawer, revealing a collection of customized revolvers sitting next to each other in order. Their angle and spacing in the compartment was so precisely identical that one would guess Nemo had O.C.D. He picked out his heavily modified small engraved black revolver and spun it into his holster. The 3.5 inch barrel and birdshead handle made it the easiest to conceal and draw.

Before moving on, Nemo grabbed a small rectangular object that looked like a ornate voice recorder from on top of the cabinet. It was what Nemo preferred instead of the standard issue utilitarian manadials that took the place of a classic timepiece, a manacell type communicator. At first glance it was silver, engraved, with a white mana crystal inlaid on the upper half, and a few different analog buttons and small knobs on the lower half. Manacells were the second most popular way to access the mananet.

Nemo dropped the communicator in his pocket and returned to his closet. He put on a brown double breasted faux mink fur coat and black and white wool polka dot scarf with fringe. The last thing to do was footwear. On the other side of the closet, shoe boxes lined the floor in order. He crouched down and opened one of them, pulling out a pair of Air Jordan 5's.

Nemo flicked the light off, closed the door, and left his room. He softly walked downstairs and put on his shoes by the door before leaving. He found them to be much more cushioned than his boots were. Nemo clearly had them for a while, despite being in immaculate condition, the side netting and out-sole were slightly yellowed. The shoes were probably original from the 90's.

Nemo walked off in the direction of the woods once more, taking in the night sky as he did so. It was a long walk into town, but he was going to have to make it to find a portal master.

Nemo wasn't too surprised by Raiya's sudden entrance into his domain, given the muffled scream he overheard seconds before in the other room. But regardless, he still wasn't prepared for the immediate confrontation. Nemo nearly spilled his coffee all over his robe and seat when she grabbed him. Nemo gently set down his drink on a stand next to him before any damage could be done and paused his western movie. He raised his hands up in fake surrender. "I assure you Raiya, I haven't the slightest clue on the Crux gang's misfortunes or how I've apparently caused them. The past few months I've been here. So how about you calm down and tell me what's going on here, If you keep sparking like that you might short circuit some of the delicate electronics I have in here. They're antiques." He replied, feeling a small shock.
"Yeah... that was me, but that second part is odd, because that's exactly what I thought about you when I heard you skipped town and expected to still remain top dog in a city you aren't even present in. Now that my friend, is a bit bold of you. Che palle, Mamushi! Che palle! Frankly I was a bit insulted. I heard the whole incident was a bit embarrassin' too, one guy walks in and makes you bend the knee huh? How do you think that makes me feel? Certainly ain't scared." The voice paused for another brief chuckle.

"I suppose I should introduce myself though. You're probably more familiar with my cousin Vincenzo, leader of the New York branch of the Giarciano gang, second biggest gang in town. But the truth is that ole' Vin just hasn't been tough enough with ya Mamushi. That's why I'm here now, Gianni Giarciano, The Don, capo dei capi." Gianni paused for a couple moments before continuing.

"Giarciano gang been number two for too long, but that's soon to change. Let me tell you how this is gonna go amore mio, you're gonna tell your stand in back there to pack all your shit up, and take a fuckin' hike. 'Cause you're all done in this city Mamushi. Boom, it's over. Your territory, mine. Your operations, mine. See where this is going yet? Hell, if any of your boys want a job I'm fuckin' hirin' here. Otherwise you all can fuck off with your tail tucked and find a new shit-hole to run. Got it?"

Gianni suddenly added on before Raiya could get a response in. "Because let me tell you what's going to happen if you don't. What went down at the pier is just gonna be a little appetizer for what's to come. Me and my boys are gonna run a train on you junkies. Crux gang ain't got the muscle any more, especially when I have all my homeland assets in town with me as well. You're outnumbered, you aren't even here to lead your own gang, I'll squash every last one of you tattooed greaser rats until there ain't one left. And I even hope you show up yourself so I can cave your skull in myself with my bare hands like I did your buddies at the pier. You aren't the first magi I've tangled with."

"I'll give you until midnight, tomorrow, to give me an answer. Otherwise there's gonna be bodies in the street." Gianni finished after a short pause and then hung up.
While watching his movie, Nemo was stirred from his concentration by the racket going on outside his room. He leaned to the side and grabbed the vintage looking remote control that paired to his television and paused the western. The silence allowed him to better eavesdrop on the conversation. After pulling his blanket to the side Nemo stood up with his coffee cup in hand and walked to the door. He unlocked it and peered outside, taking a sip as he looked around. By this point Raiya had ended the call and entered her room. I guess that explains Miss Grumpy. He thought before closing the door, forgoing locking it and returning back to his movie.




After a few moments a voice emitted from Raiya's manadial. "I presume you've already gotten most of the bad news?" The man sounded rather young, probably in his mid thirties. His voice sounded confident and condescending, with a slight accent to it. It was definitely Italian, but he had clearly worked hard to minimize it. "Well... I hate to break it to ya, but that's only the half of it amore mio." He added with a slight chuckle.
Nemo took a bite out of one of his cookies as Raiya began her response. His somewhat upbeat demeanor rapidly began to sputter out as she spoke. His chewing stopped altogether as she started the second half of her mocking response, leaving him with a blank deadpan expression after he swallowed. It made him look sad in comparison with the mood he just had. His cheek impulsively twitched once when she finished. Nemo remained silent as Raiya left the kitchen. After a brief silence he finally spoke quietly, clearly to himself. "...I'm not annoying."

Nemo took a sip of his coffee and left the kitchen. He briefly observed Raiya in the living room watching her show and took note of her hostility levels towards him being above the norm today. "I'll be in my room if you need me, Raiya." He commented with a less chipper soft tone while rolling his fingers on a backrest of a nearby chair. He then turned and left.

Nemo walked upstairs slowly and entered his room. He popped another cookie in his mouth and then closed the door behind him and locked it. Despite the lack of excitement for him in the last few months, Nemo had clearly kept himself busy. He had totally renovated his room, however since he was the only one to enter his room nobody would have noticed yet. He seemed to have a mish-mash of retro technology and Victorian-era or funky-style furniture in his room mainly.

Nemo set his plate and drink down on a end table and walked over to the window, now dressed in flashy tyrian purple velvet fringe curtains. He pulled a small silver chain, causing a grey blackout cover to slide down, completely blocking any light from entering the room. Now that the room went from dark to pitch black, the only person who could still see in it was Nemo. He pulled the curtains closed to hide the cover and then walked over to his own television set. It was a medium sized metallic-grey and black colored retro set clearly dating back to the 80's, next to it sat a silver-grey VCR. Both were positioned on top of a wooden stand with two small cupboard doors. He opened them, revealing a large VHS movie collection inside. A good 85% of the movies inside were either old western's or horror movies. Nemo removed one from it's resting spot and took the tape out and fed it to the machine.

Nemo turned on the television, which sprung to life rather quickly as if it was glad to still be functioning. It only softly lit up some of the room, keeping the rest dark. He walked over to an ornate Victorian-era loveseat and sat down. The piece had a vintage looking floral pattern, which gave it a sort of grandma style kind of look to it. At his feet there was a expensive looking Persian rug, and at the top of his seat rested a colorful Navajo blanket. He pulled the heavy thing down and covered himself with it as the movie started. The movie he picked was "My Name Is Nobody", an old western. He picked up his small plate again with his coffee cup and cookies and sipped and munched idly as the movie played, careful not to spill or get crumbs anywhere.



Nemo moved from the living room to the kitchen, holding a small plate with a ornate coffee cup in it. Among his usual accessories, he wore his pink robe with a pair of heather grey sweatpants, a vintage looking white t-shirt with a large faded yellow smiley face decal on it, and a pair of house slippers and white crew socks.

"Hello there Raiya." Nemo commented, taking a sip of his coffee. "Fixing yourself a bite to eat, I take it?" He added as he swung open a pantry door with a flick of his finger and a basic spell. He reached up and pulled out a box of small German cookies. He grabbed a handful and placed them on his small plate before returning the box.

For the most part Nemo had remained reclusive in his room for the three month break. With no fighting to do he only conversed intermittently with the group. This was especially true for Raiya, who still seemed to be upset with him.
Nemo looked down at first, seeming somewhat apologetic. "I'm sorry Raiya..." He said, before clarifying on what he was sorry for. "I ran out of explosives, I just couldn't fit it into the performance. It was a really great spell though." He finished. "You shouldn't move marionettes with your hands Raiya, it's just improper form." Nemo continued. "Also that doesn't sound like me at all... but I appreciate the creativity." He added with a quieter tone that before. It was left up into the air if he was joking or not, given his own voice impressions of the rest of characters in his play.

Before Nemo could speak any further on the matter, Felix started to explain his predicament. "It's not like I've ever given up on a task once I've already started it, but I presume that whole leaving for free courtesy doesn't extend to me, does it?" Nemo asked with a slight grin. "Do you have any idea how to release yourself from the curse, or are Raiya and I going to likely remain the muscle for the remainder of this campaign against the four largest magical organizations in the world?"

"Also, I'd like to announce that I really like the word clandestine. It's got a nice ring to it, ya know? Honestly, it isn't used nearly enough."
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