Alison was standing in the middle of a crowd of people dressed in the same gray robes, each of them bearing a black rose on their chest. She had no idea how Maya managed to procure a set for her, but thanks to them no one questioned her presence there.
The stage was still empty, but there was some commotion behind it, suggesting that the event would start soon.
She didn’t know where her partner in crime - or crime fighting to be precise - went, as they split almost an hour ago, but Alison was quite certain that Maya was lurking about, ready to jump out on her cue.
Left with nothing to do but wait, she decided to listen in on the quiet conversations between the organisation members.
"Do you know what this is all about?" A gaunt man asked.
"I’ve heard from someone in the upper ranks that Boss struck a deal with the mages from the overcity, maybe he’ll announce that?" A short woman suggested.
"Bullshit, the mages would never betray the city for us, what do we have to offer that they don’t?" A bald fat man spat.
"We have mister Trevor in our ranks, so clearly some mages prefer our company." The woman argued.
"Bah, if Trevor is a mage then I’m a knight - you’re not a mage just because you studied at the academy for a year, especially when you get expelled because of how bad you are."
"You haven’t heard?" Someone else joined the conversation, but Alison couldn’t see them. "Boss had Trevor assassinated at the same time as young Lady."
"Well, I doubt anyone will miss him, the smug piece of shit." The bad man shrugged. "It is a shame he decided to go after miss Maya though, we already have so little competent folks, why couldn’t they try to reach a compromise instead of trying to kill each other is beyond me."
"I mean the assassination failed, didn’t it?" The gaunt man pointed out. "The may still try to work out a solution."
"Shut up all of you - unless you want to ’disappear’ like the rest of people who questioned Boss." Someone hissed.
’It seems like the low level grunts are aware of the situation, at least to some degree.’ Alison noted.
Other conversations weren’t nearly as interesting, most people were making small talk or discussing their recent assignments - if she didn’t know it was a gathering of a criminal organisation, she certainly wouldn’t have guessed it.
Well she would have because of the outfits, but other than that it was like any other public announcement.
Finally someone entered the stage:
A blond man with blue eyes underlined by dark circles, he was dressed in a fancy black coat with golden trimmings and holding a cane - he looked regal but frail, like a dying king.
That was the description that fit Mason of the black rose the best.
Alison was starting to wonder why those people were loyal to him - a single slash of a dagger would take this man’s life away, and loyalty in criminal organisation was based solely on fear. She’ll have to ask Maya later, because the speech already began:
"My loyal followers, today is a day of celebration and new beginnings." He paused. "Our organization started out as a little gang almost 30 years ago, and with that date swiftly approaching I decided it is time for us to expand."
He walked over to the edge of the stage.
"We have been confined by this miserable hole too long, and I believe it is time for us to take over." He hit hiv cane against the wood. "People ruling the overcity have become weak and complacent - it it time for a real monarch to take his rightful place!"
He expected cheers and ovation - but that wasn’t what happened.
Oppressive silence met him as dark smoke surrounded him, and he felt a presence so overwhelming his every instinct was screaming at him to run away.
An inhuman voice cold as Ice accused him
"Who are you!?" He yelled, already panicking.
A silhouette emerged from the smoke - a dark specter hovering above the floor, a figure so terrifying he couldn’t bare to look at it.
The creature levitated closer to him, and extended an arm holding a silver sickle - just this motion made Mason lift into air and freeze in fear.
He knew he was going to die the moment his eyes met with the featureless plane of the monsters face.
It stared at him for a while, before curling its finger to bring him forward. When he was face in face with the creature it finally spoke again:
Witness and take my judgement - I pronounce you guilty of all accounts.
One of the creature hands grabbed his hair, while the other slashed with the sickle, cleanly severing the head from the rest of the body.
And all Mason saw was darkness.
Murmurs spread through the crowd as the stage became enveloped by smoke, blocking all view, but they soon fell quiet as the dark fog parted to reveal an astonishing sight:
A monstrous entity was proudly flying over the stage, holding their leader’s severed head for all to see, and pointing a bloodied sickle pointed at the crowd.
Few people gasped, but most stayed silent.
I delivered judgement onto the one who commands you, should anyone follow in his footsteps their fate will be the same.
"It’s the Judge, run for your lives!" Someone screamed, and the crowd began to trample each other in order to escape as quickly as possible.
When everyone left the plaza, the specter disappeared as well.
’guess that’s my cue to go back.’ Alison thought as she observed the stage from a nearby alleyway.
"That didn’t look like I expected." Alison admitted.
"Yeah no, someone definitely helped us." Maya agreed. "Nothing worked out like it was supposed to, but to be honest the final effect was even better."
"Well, for one the smoke produced by smokestones is never this thick - either Piff sold us some sort of a experimental version, or someone juices them up without our knowledge." She paused. "And then there’s the coat, even with how Piff hyped it up, there’s no way it was supposed to the things it did."
"...could you elaborate?"
"Well, let’s just say the hover charm worked well beyond the scope of what it was supposed to be able to do - when I thought of bringing Father closer to me, and he actually levitated I almost shat myself. Good thing the charm makes everything look vague, so he likely didn’t even notice something was off."
"I think the aura charm was also working stronger than it was supposed to." Alison nodded. "I know that seeing your boss beheaded is scary, but those were professional killers, the sheer terror in their eyes just didn’t make sense."
"Do you know anyone who could have helped us?"
"No, everyone refused to help me with this job, since they expected I would fail and get fired."
"Well, mystery benefactor from my side either - I know like three people outside the organisation, and all of them are busines owners, they wouldn’t have helped us."
"If they want to remain anonymous let them, either way we have to wait a couple days and see if our plan bears fruit."
"I hope you don’t mean mindlessly observing black rose’s headquarters." Maya raised an eyebrow. "We can just ask Piff, he’ll know if the organisation survived or not."
"He’s an information broker Ally, it’s much better to just get direct information than observe and try to come up with conclusions yourself."
Alison ears reddened a little at the nickname, but she insisted:
"We can confirm with Piff, but checking whether there’s any activity there ourselves is also important."
"Fine, but I’m telling you it’s pointless - they won’t go anywhere near the headquarters for the next few days."
Alison suddenly changed the topic:
"What you did... you know..."
"Killing my father? You can say that, I won’t get upset." Maya sighed. "Patricide isn’t something I’m particularly fond of, but then again I don’t really think of that man as my father - he was a boss and a jailer, but a parental figure? No, I’ve never considered him to be one."
Her eyes looked slightly sad.
"I think I’m more annoyed that I was stuck with such a piece of shit as my only family."
"I suppose now you’re free." Alison offered a small smile.
"I suppose I am." She returned the smile. "And thanks to you now I also have a job, a new purpose, and a hot friend!"
"I mean we’re not quite a couple yet darling, I think we have have to get to know each other a little better before we go any further."
To her credit, Alison didn’t completely short-circuit this time, but her pink cheeks and bashful expression showed that she still had quite the way to go before she could completely resist Maya’s attacks