Board Thread:Role Plays/@comment-25389303-20191221164519/@comment-25389303-20191227131555

Diaboli stopped in his tracks when Zanipher spoke. For the longest time he was still, staring at Zanipher in silent thought. Then, with an exasperated sigh, his shoulders sagged.

"No, that's not...ugh, I didn't mean it like that..."

He massaged his temple wearily as he considered his next words, turning away slightly as he did so.

"I didn't come here to fight with you, Zan. But you don't seem to understand what you've done by introducing those Bluthardts into your ranks." Raising his head, Diaboli turned back to face her. "They are a plague. A swarm of locusts that assimilate and devour everything they encounter. These past seven years I've avoided conflict with their kind - specialising in petty larceny and drug trafficking...the ugly jobs they won't touch. I even tried to expand to Vale to escape their shadow, but..."

He resumed his pacing, eventually stopping at the edge of the rooftop and peering down at the street below. Ever since his battle with Smiler atop Borbeck Tower, just after Beacon Academy fell, such heights invoked a sickening queasiness in him which he tried to avoid. It took a mental effort to tear his eyes away from the tarmac below, and gaze instead across the distant city skyline.

"...Mistral is my home. And seeing it overrun and drained dry by pompous aristocrats like the Bluthardts has become too much to bear." He glanced back at Zanipher. "Do I want more? Of course I do. But despite what you might think of me, I've moved beyond power and money. What I crave is change. Real change. I want to create a future for my people that's greater than the shit one they've always known. But that future isn't something that can be bought, traded or stolen. It can only be won. And that's exactly what I intend to do."

Slowly, Diaboli's hand reached into the folds of his coat, and when it retracted it was holding a sleek chrome pistol. Turning it over quickly in his hand, Diaboli stepped away from the ledge and faced Zanipher again - holding the handgun out in front of him, handle-first.

"There are many barriers between me and that future - and the Bluthardts are perhaps the greatest of all. You can stand with them if you choose, but sooner or later they will tire of being simple business partners. Mistral and Atlas have already fallen to their blight. Their landfall here is only a matter of time."

He raised the weapon, offering it to the Dragon.

"If that sounds like a dream come true to you, then go ahead. Shoot me now, and spare us both the trouble. I wouldn't blame you. But I'm trying to be as straightforward and honest with you as I can, Zanipher. Even if you won't afford me the same luxury."