Broker

Blackrazor frowned, he hadn’t expected the reaction that the old man had and he hadn’t anticipated his death to be so uneventful. He’d anticipated a battle, a struggle, but the old man seemed to understand just how truly done he was without much argument. He remembered the cold look in the old man’s eyes, that face that had looked so full years ago now looked thin and tired. Yet his eyes were still sharp and cold, though he noticed something else there as well. Something vibrant, happy? Relieved.

“Magnificent work, may I ask you how you made your way back?” The old man asked, looking genuinely curious.

“I took the place of an Adjunct after killing him and identified Professor Crane as his supervisor. I fed her the report about my survival through standard channels. After that I subsumed myself into her shadow and waited until she met with Tenure Smallfoot,” He explained, “Tenure Smallfoot had to return to headquarters with the information to order my execution. I entered his shadow and rode all the way here.”

“Your powers have changed? Is that possible?” The old man asked.

Blackrazor shook his head, “My new master gave them to me.”

The old man’s eyes widened and he slowly nodded with understanding, “In the face of that there would be literally nothing I could do for you in exchange to change this outcome. Masterfully done. You’ve been studying Crane’s techniques?”

“I understood the strategy. My metallic blood now also functions as a poison, I can modify its traits at will. I simply created something that would serve the purpose for this encounter,” Blackrazor said.

The old man inclined his head, “That must have taken some thought to consider how to approach it at least.”

“I had plenty of time to sit and wait, I don’t need to eat, sleep, or breathe while in a shadow,” Blackrazor responded.

The old man smiled, “You’re the perfect killer.”

“I have a long way to go,” Blackrazor countered, “To live up to her expectations.”

“A ruthless master indeed,” The old man agreed, “I don’t envy you,” He turned his head and reached for the phone on his desk. “May I?”

Blackrazor nodded.

The old man picked up the phone and tapped a few buttons before holding up to his ear. He cleared his throat, “Deans, this is the Headmaster. I regret to inform you that I will be dead in a few moments. I have been soundly defeated and bested by a killer beyond compare. He will be your new Headmaster. Challenge him if you like, you will die. Of this I have little doubt. Wait for him to meet with you in chambers. Farewell.”

He hung up the phone. Blackrazor tilted his head and eyed him, “You didn’t have more to say?”

“Do assassins need comfort and condolence?” The old man countered with a wry smile, “They don’t need my soft words, but I can say that I am a proud father to you at least. You did well, boy.”

“I never thought of you as a parent,” Blackrazor said then hesitated, “No, perhaps I did,”  He nodded slowly. “Yes, you took that role when you gave me that order to kill my classmate.”

The old man’s eyes fluttered, “Do you resent me?”

Blackrazor frowned and gave it a moment’s thought, “No, not anymore.”

“Then I am utterly defeated,” The Headmaster said as his last breath slipped from his lips. His body went slack and he shuddered. Blackrazor stared at the corpse for a while, not even reacting when fists began banging on the door. He didn’t look up until the doors flew open and five people stormed inside, weapons at the ready. He regarded them cooly, not bothering to remember or even consider their faces. It didn’t matter. The last orders of the Headmaster were still orders from the Headmaster, they were absolute. Despite how much he had hated the man, his word was still law in the Night Society.

Shadows billowed from his feet and spread across the room, only his eyes glowed in the dark as five people screamed.

He arrived at the doors to the meeting hall a few moments later and pushed the doors open. Eleven figures stood up, their faces covered in hoods. To the right another person stood with wide eyes, Tenure Smallfoot. The blonde man stiffened when he met Blackrazor’s eyes, his expression going slack with confusion and a mixture of horror. “Park Beyol?”

“Headmaster Blackrazor,” The villain corrected him.

Tenure Smallfoot’s expression stilled and calm returned in an instant. He bowed quickly at the wait just as the others did the same. “I greet the new Headmaster.”

“We greet the new Headmaster,” The others joined him.

Blackrazor nodded slowly and glanced over at Smallfoot, “Prepare a fresh thesis defense, you may choose your target so long as it does not cause trouble for the world’s status quo,” He said to the business-killer. “I will need to replace the five that disobeyed my predecessor’s orders. I hope you’ll be one of them. You may leave, I need to speak with the Deans.”

Smallfoot nodded brusquely, “On your order, Headmaster,” He said and hurried out of the room, shutting the doors behind him.

Blackrazor turned his attention to the others, “It’s a brand new world, and it is time for the Night Society to adapt.”

–

Sonya hummed brightly to herself as she practically pranced through the Mall, her smile wide on her face and bags in her hands. She stopped at a kiosk and admired some of the jewelry on display. Most of it was fake display pieces, but there were a few real gems inside. She peeked down at them and looked back over her shoulder at Marta who was wearing her usual maid cosplay, her hair tied up in a bun for todays outing. Sonya grinned at her and waggled her eyebrows. Marta returned her smile with one of her own and Sonya picked out a few things.

They were back to walking a few minutes later, another bag clutched in Sonya’s hands.

“Shopping therapy is the best,” She sighed.

“I’m glad you’re feeling better,” Marta said.

“Oh I feel great, blew off some steam, our new friend has done really well for himself, the radars are already being activated across the globe, and I get to go shopping with my best friend!” She breathed out a huge sigh and slumped against Marta’s shoulder, “I needed this.”

Marta smiled and nudged her with her arm, “You’re heavier than you used to be, remember?”

Sonya gave her an aghast look, “Marta!”

Marta raised an eyebrow as if daring her to argue.

Sonya pursed her lips, “Okay fine, maybe a little. It’s not the snacks, I swear!”

Marta laughed, “Yes, yes, I know. Spare your precious snacks.”

“Speaking of snacks,” Sonya said, raising her eyebrows, “I noticed you’ve been going out on days off without me pestering you anymore. Something interesting going on?”

Marta flushed, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Liar!” Sonya laughed, “Oh come on! Tell me!” She whined and leaned against Marta again as they passed a Lucci clothing store. Sonya glanced inside but turned her eyes away as soon as she looked at the counter. What, were you expecting her to be there to say hello? Don’t be an idiot.

“What about you? You seem to be dreading this meeting coming up,” She said, careful about her words but Sonya knew what she meant. The Vegas meeting with the International Team, with Chunhua.

Sonya pouted, “If I could avoid it, I would. There’s someone in the group that I really don’t think I’m ready to meet or talk about why,” She said.

“That Chunhua woman from the news?” Marta asked, “She doesn’t seem like your type. You usually go for women a little younger than yourself, are a bit on the submissive side, and have cute faces. She’s a hardened soldier. So it isn’t a crush.”

Sonya whipped her head in Marta’s direction, “Do I really have a type?” She blurted, trying to avoid responding directly.

Marta nodded, “Oh yes, very much so. Mikayla, sorry if bringing her up is a raw spot, Jean, Alice, Donna, Yumi, Laurie, Colleen, Carla, Bethany, Heather…” She trailed off and glanced in Sonya’s direction.

Sonya felt her face turn a bit red and she looked down, clearing her throat, “W-well, yeah I guess, um… maybe I do have a bit of a type,” She paused and sighed, “And I’m fine about the whole Mikayla thing, what happened was a good thing ultimately.”

Marta chuckled, “Alright, I’m done teasing you and I won’t push you on whatever’s going on with that woman,” She tilted her head up a little and looked at Sonya from the side, “As a reward for putting up with it, yes, I have been having dinner with Mister Logan on occasion. Though you probably already know that, don’t you?”

Sonya smiled at her friend, “Maybe, okay just the bookstore incident, I left well enough alone after that,” She admitted.

Marta scoffed, “I knew it, you brought him up out of nowhere that night.”

Sonya grinned a toothy grin, “I’ve been good since then!”

Marta rolled her eyes and nudged Sonya, Sonya nudged her back and the two of them burst into laughter. They continued along, arm in arm, for a while before Sonya glanced over at Marta, “I’m happy for you.”

Marta nodded, “Thank you, Sonya.”

Marta’s phone rang and she answered it, “Hello? Oh Hi Amos. She’s right next to me.”

Sonya winced, she’d set her internal phone to block calls while in public so she could get a little downtime with Marta. She sighed, she supposed it was too much to expect to get a breather for long. “I’ll call him,” Sonya said and waved her hand.

Marta nodded, “You heard that? Okay.” She hung up, “Says he has news about a taxi driver?”

Sonya raised her eyebrows, “Already?”

She mentally unlocked her phone and called Amos.

<What’s up?>

<Hey boss, found the owner of that puppet you met driving taxis around.>

She frowned, <That was really fast, are you sure it’s him?>

<Oh I’m sure, it explains a lot. You would not believe who it is.>

Her eyebrows rose higher, <Do tell.>

–

Sonya was cracking up in the back seat of the car, kicking her feet and holding her sides. If she could cry, she would have, it was just too funny. Across from her, Kingshark was holding his head and hiding a look of amusement on his face. She rolled onto her side, trying to take a few deep breaths. She stopped, snickered, and started laughing again. “Wait, wait wait wait,” She tried to breathe, holding herself up and clinging to her helmet. “I gotta call Blackrazor.”

Kingshark looked up, his eyes wide, “Blackrazor will kill him!” He blurted, his amusement still plain despite the protest.

“Naaaah!” Sonya laughed, and connected her internal phone to the cars speakers, She dialed out, barely able to hold in her laughter. “Come on, come on, come on, pick up!” She willed the newly anointed master assassin to answer. 

A faint click came through the car speakers followed by Blackrazor’s voice, “What can I do for you mistress?”

“Blackrazor! Glad you answered, boy do I have news for you,” She snickered. “You’re on speaker by the way, its me an Kingshark.”

“Kingshark,” Blackrazor grunted.

“Hey new guy,” Kingshark grumbled back.

“What is this news, ma’am?” Blackrazor asked.

“Okay, so, you remember that cab driver you killed while tripping out on Pandora Sickness?” She asked, her lips trembling.

“That is not something I want to relive, an embarrassing time, but yes, I do remember that poor man,” Blackrazor said hesitantly, “What about him?”

“I’m heading to his apartment right now,” Sonya said.

There was a long pause, “Why?”

“Because he’s a fucking zombie!” Sonya burst into laughter, “Looks like he has some kind of ability that brings you back as a zombie if you die. No idea on the details but Amos got a good look at him and there’s no way it isn’t the same guy just pale.” She explained between chuckles, “You picked the one guy to kill who can’t actually die!” She cracked up again.

Across from her, Kingshark was barely able to contain his laughter. On the other end of the call, she heard a small chuckle, then an outright laugh. “Alright, yes, I admit it, that’s pretty funny. So what do you want to do with him?”

“Oh! Right, apparently this guy is running some sort of small time taxi service for villains. I figure I help him expand a little, it could come in handy to have ready transportation for villains when needed,” She leaned forward, “Get this, he can make more zombies. They actually drive the cars for him.”

“You’re kidding, isn’t that an apocalypse scenario?” Blackrazor asked, the dignity in his tone that he had been trying to maintain melting in the face of pure curiosity.

“Oh I can’t wait to find out what the name of his power is, any bets boys?” She asked.

“Zombie,” Kingshark said, “Most abilities have pretty straightforward names.”

Sonya nodded, “Blackrazor?”

There was a pause, “T-Virus.” Sonya and Kingshark looked at one another. “What?”

“Nerd,” Kingshark chuckled.

“By knowing that it’s nerdy, you expose yourself, Kingshark,” Blackrazor bit back.

Kingshark blinked and frowned, “Ah damn it.”

Sonya laughed again and then let out a sigh, “Anyway, just wanted to let you know about the situation. His villain name is Charon apparently. Pretty appropriate,” She leaned back in her seat, “Just letting you know so you don’t find out about him on your own and decide to finish the job.” A long pause followed. Sonya raised an eyebrow, “You were going to if I didn’t tell you to back off, weren’t you?”

A heavy sigh, “Yes ma’am.”

She snickered and reached for her helmet, the car slowing down, “That’ll be all, Blackrazor, keep up the good work.”

“Of course,” He said and she ended the call.

Kingshark shook his head, “That guy.”

“Now that he’s got his head out of his ass and made something of himself, he’s not half bad,” Sonya agreed to his unspoken comment.

Kingshark nodded, “A king of gangs and king of assassins, what next?”

Sonya winked at him, “I suppose we’ll see, won’t we. I have big plans, Kingshark, and we’re gonna need a full crew if we’re gonna make it happen.” She said and pulled her helmet over her head.

“You’re the boss,” He said with a nod and a smile.

They got out of the car and looked up at the rather quaint apartment building. She put her hands on her hips and let out a raspy breath, “So…” Sonya said, still not ready to slip into Ishtar just yet, she leaned towards him and grinned, “You and Handmaiden huh?” She said with her eerie rasp, the joking tone sounding a little odd.

Kingshark let out a groan and started up the stairs.

 

---