Board Thread:Role Plays/@comment-25389303-20160708180726/@comment-25389303-20160713220941

When Diaboli heard the long beeping sound which signaled the end of the call, he couldn't help but feel a slight pang of disappointment.

Turning to face Blanc, he gave her a look of mock surprise before saying in a exasperated voice:

"She hanged up on me!"

And then he dissolved into a violent fit of laughter - one which even Smiler briefly turned to watch as he silently slunk by. After what must have been a full minute of sporadic giggling fits, he eventually wiped a red-stained tear from his swollen eye and composed himself, although the ghost of a smile still lingered on his face.

"I was hoping she wouldn't take my little joke so seriously, but I guess people like the Dragons don't have time for fun these days," he said, as he began processing the data collected by the de-scrambling dish and converting it into coordinates.

''Of course, it wasn't like I was going to go: 'Oh hey! I'm Decadere Diaboli - leader of the greatest threat to the stability of your criminal empire! Want to meet up?'''

The response he'd received was an interesting one. Interesting indeed - but flawed. Diaboli knew that the only way his number would be acquired by the police would be if they successfully arrested Hector and that he'd decided to flush all future mercenary contracts for him and his men down the toilet by becoming a rat. She also made the error of saying the call was being traced - which would have been a stupid mistake on his part when giving Hector the Scroll in the first place. After all, nothing said 'amateur' like broadcasting your location so openly.

After several minutes of calculations, the computer finally updated with the details of the caller's location.

"Hmm...only the street number...not ideal, but nothing a few quick database searches can't handle."

As he set off towards the archive building, Blanc continued to shadow him with every step.

"So..." she began hesitantly, "...does this mean war, then?"

Diaboli glanced at her, stopping in his tracks once he realised from the shake in her voice that he'd accidentally made her worry. He'd never really felt uncomfortable around women, but he couldn't help but feel guilty whenever she looked at him with those fearful, ice-blue eyes of hers. In the end, he placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder before pulling her into a light embrace.

"You need to stop worrying about me," he said softly, eventually stepping backwards slightly so that he could look her in the eye again. "I don't intend on starting a war if I'm not going to be around to win it. But until our order arrives from Vale, I have a responsibility to my men to make sure Smiler doesn't get them all killed - and that means making sure that Miss Dragon and her cronies realise just how much of a threat I really am."

Blanc was obviously expecting such an answer, but nodded confidently regardless.

"So you're going to stay here?" she asked hopefully, only to be disappointed when Diaboli shook his head.

"Quite the opposite, actually..." he said, one of his sly, trademark smiles creeping across his face.

"...I'm going to turn Smiler in."