Board Thread:Role Plays/@comment-5999656-20190205035159/@comment-25389303-20190315145616

Tragoedia fought through the rushing tides of fleeing buyers, clawing and cutting a path through the oncoming torrent as his master walked gingerly behind, stepping over the occasion body left in the machine’s wake. It wasn’t long before the guardian’s disregard for human casualties left a trail of red for the man to follow, even when the armoured figure was occasionally lost in the surrounding chaos.

After what felt like hours of travelling, Diaboli eventually caught up with his newly-forged bodyguard, whom he found standing patiently before a startling scene.

Several prone bodies littered the ground at the robot’s feet, though a lack of obvious wounds indicated it was not the machine’s handiwork. An assortment of customised weaponry lay by their sides, though none of them appeared to have done their owners any good. For crouched over one of them was a stocky man dressed in black and grey, calmly slipping a pair of handcuffs over an unconscious man’s wrists and locking them in place. Further examination showed the other fallen criminals to be in a similar state, and the aura of stillness surrounding their bodies was like a calm in the storm circling the man, as several remaining guests hurried past – each giving the black-clad man a wide berth.

“Five...six...seven...damn, I’m not sure I brought enough handcuffs...” the man muttered under his breath, before looking up at Diaboli and Trago, fixing them with a stare. “Can I help you gentlemen?” he asked in a suspiciously polite voice, though there was a gruffness in it.

Diaboli frowned as he studied the man’s bright golden eyes, and the fierce intelligence that burned there. After a moment, his frown melted into a smile.

“Well, this is a surprise,” Diaboli said, stepping ahead of his silent bodyguard. “Craine, isn’t it? It’s been a long time.”

The golden-eyed man, Craine, rose to his feet as Diaboli approached. His brow furrowed at the younger man’s words, before realisation passed over his face, and he too smiled.

“How unexpected,” Craine replied slowly, “Decadere Diaboli...still alive, are we? I haven’t heard from you in...what? Three, four years?” He pointed at one of his golden eyes. “Missing something, I see. If I recall correctly, this is the second eye you’ve lost. What was it this time? Another bullet? Shrapnel?”

“Traded it,” Diaboli told him, humouring the mysterious man for a moment. “I must say, Craine, this isn’t like you – going around, arresting common crooks like a regular officer. Aren’t you supposed to be behind a desk somewhere?”

The government official shrugged indifferently as he bent down to take the pulse of one of his prisoners. “All members of the MPD have been called in for this. Inspector’s orders. I was in the area, and offered to help out. I have a reputation to uphold, after all.”

“A reputation for being one of the most corrupt men in all of Mistral, if I recall correctly,” Diaboli said, though his barbed comment didn’t have much of an effect on the man, who simply rose to his feet with a sigh.

“What can I say? I’m good at what I do,” Craine admitted, splaying his hands in an expression of openness. “Now if you don’t mind, I have more criminals to arrest. Unless of course, you want me to arrest you instead. I just washed this suit, though, so I’d rather not get any blood on it.”

“On the contrary, I want to help you,” Diaboli replied quickly, noting the look of confusion pass over the official’s face. Talking fast, the crime lord continued. “You want to boost your reputation, right? That’s the real  reason why you’re here. I can help you with that.”

“ So...you do  want me to arrest you?” Craine frowned, not quite following. This time, it was Diaboli’s turn to sigh.

“ No t quite. But I do happen to know a couple of high-value targets on this rock that will certainly put some notches under your belt. Take them into custody, and you’ll never have to worry about your reputation again.”

 C raine mulled over Diaboli’s words for a long while, hands in his pockets as he thought.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%">“ And I suppose in exchange for this information, you want my help getting out of here, no?” he eventually replied with a smile. “Don’t fancy taking on the entire MPD by your lonesome?”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%"> Diaboli nodded. “I want you to escort me back to the mainland. With you by my side, slipping through their lines shouldn’t be a problem.”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%">“ Fair enough,” Craine decided, “with two conditions. Firstly, your friend here won’t be joining us.” He waved a hand at Trago, who had been standing silently through the entire interaction, keeping an eye out for any signs of trouble as the two old acquaintances negotiated. “You I can manage, but I’ll have a hard time explaining why I have a guy in high-tech power armour not in handcuffs.”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%">“ Fine,” Diaboli replied, annoyance and disappointment apparent in his voice. “Trago, go f ind the control room and take out the idiot messing around there, then report back.”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%">“ Understood, commander,” Tragoedia confirmed. “ This unit will request further orders once my communications systems come back online.”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%"> Diaboli nodded, and dismissed his protector with a wave of his hand. Craine watched the large figure continue his march down the corridor, before finally turning back to Diaboli.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%">“ And secondly,” he reached to his side and threw a pair of handcuffs to the young crime lord, who caught them effortlessly. “You’ll be pointing the se friends of yours out to me personally.”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%"> Diaboli looked down at the metal shackles with disdain. “You know I can break out of these in a second, right?” he said, locking the cuffs loosely around his wrists as he spoke. “ I don’t need to tell you what will happen if you fail to hold up your end of the bargain.”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%">“ I wouldn’t dream of it!” the golden-eyed man laughed, raising his hands in mock surrender. “This is purely for appearances. Now then! Why don’t you and I go hunt down these valuable little miscreants, eh?”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%"> Slowly, Diaboli began to smile at the thought of putting that band of traitors and rivals behind bars. He could already taste the sweetness of it. His chance to solidify himself as the true master of Mistral’s underground, stemming from a single impromptu plot. Now,  if ever, was the opportune time for vengeance.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%">“ Gladly,” he said, rolling his shoulders in excitement and anticipation. “But first, I suggest you find some more men...”