Acts of a Desperate Man. (Tyrants)

[Hoch Kreatur]

"The dealings will be left between you and I..." The older man spoke slowly, his words stringing together in a motion that felt like somebody carefully picking their words, yet it was far more likely the man had long lost his motivation to speak as quickly as one may like. "But, seeing as you're accustomed to giving someone a name, you may call me the Dealer."

The 'Dealer' clasped his hands together and stared Morgan directly in his eye. "We were told you wish to make a peace settlement. Is there anything you'd like to say before we move on?"

It was really a waiting game that was unnecessarily unnerving with everyone's eyes trained on them. Asteria's fingers traced along the hilt of her sword that sat strapped to her side. She found this to be a far better end to the conflict, even though many within her group wished to have Morgan's head hung from the walls of Thelotia she would much rather him living under her feet for the rest of his life - ever reminded of his failures.

[Morgan Flynn]

Morgan's eye twitched, his lip twisting as this 'Dealer' spoke to him.

"Yes, actually," he answered sharply, taking a quick breath to try to keep himself calm. He took a moment to stare at the man carefully, a skeptical brow raised at him and he studied him for a long time choosing carefully the best way to approach his major, major concern about this meeting between him and this man.

"I'd like to know then who the woman is in this, then," he continued, unaware that the one he was referring to was very much present in the room, "because you see, 'Dealer', you sit here in front of me insisting that this dealing will be left between you and myself? I would have thought it more professional after all this time that the brains behind both operations here sit here to discuss this face to face..."

He folded his hands together on his knee, his stare quickly narrowing into a glare, his voice raising as he soon found himself letting his anger show just a little bit more than he intended it to.

"Unless, of course, she's just a major nobody in your organization. Perhaps she's just your little harlot, though perhaps more than that considering I distinctly recall having it brought to my attention that the Dust Collection Agency suddenly has eyes for two of my following because they saw someone they weren't supposed to. I didn't forget that part! Oh no! And it really didn't take me too long to figure it out either..." Morgan suddenly broke out into a highly frustrated shout, unable to keep it under control, "I would suggest that if you want the location of one of those two people you quit fucking around with me!!"

He didn't move from his seat or make any other sudden movements, and the moment he spat out his last sentence he took a short, shaky breath and relaxed himself back in his chair. Whatever short moments he had to compose himself creepily enough worked, as soon as it had disappeared his grin reappeared again. Calm, terrifying, and he tilted his head to the side.

"Please, of course," he mumbled.

[Hoch Kreatur]

The Dealer was perhaps too old to be afraid or that maybe he was so afraid that his body absolutely shut down and froze. Either way, Morgan's outburst caused a couple of the Collectors to shake a bit and the other to aim their rifles towards him, ready to blow of his head if he tried anything. The Dealer reached his hand up and lightly combed his gray hair as his wrinkled face twisted into a smile, "Mr. Flynn. One does not speak with their brain, they speak with their mouth that relays what the brain wishes to say."

Asteria gripped the handrail as Morgan yelled out. They knew it was the Tyrants that took those shots at Parker and her all the time ago and the failed assassination attempt on those who tried to take those shot fueled the speculation that they knew who led the Third Agency. She should have held her tongue and let the Dealer speak with him alone, yet her pride demanded such actions be spoken to.

She spoke.

"We do not need the location from you, Morgan Flynn." Asteria was absolutely right, eventually Dust would find them and at this point the goal was making Morgan feel absolutely useless.

The Dealer cringed as Asteria spoke, unhappy that one of the leaders would bring attention towards her. "The demands we make are very simple - the Tyrants must come to a end, you may leave unharmed but you must give up several of your generals and any allies that sided with you. You must transfer all your stakes in Flynn Inc as well and give us one of your children, whichever one you decide they'll be taken well care of. Finally, you must leave Northern Zoi and not come back, ever." These demands made Hoch cringe. Everything he feared would happen was happening and it didn't look good.

He hoped Morgan was smooth with his words.

[Morgan Flynn]

Morgan's attention suddenly shot up in Asteria's direction, eyes narrowing as she spoke. She said very little but enough to make him wonder. Was she who he was looking for? It was hard to tell with all of these damn hoods they wore.

He slumped back into the chair with one leg crossed over the other, closing his eyes a moment as he brought a finger up to sit on his temple as he ran the demands of theirs in his head. He hadn't gotten his answer, they didn't find Currie and Callie's whereabouts valuable enough to give a shit...the man sighed heavily.

"Pray tell," he spoke after another pause, "what is the point of you taking one of my children if you're going to exile me? It's not enough for you people to take everything away, you have to make sure they're entirely out of sight and sound as well..."

He trailed off into some inaudible mumbling, keeping his head tilted downward and with his eyes closed, frozen in his pose for another few moments before grinning widely again. His voice spoke once more loud and clear.

"You realize you've won already, haven't you? I have no money. Do I really need to empty out my medicine cabinet for you people to help you understand that I'm just a frail, dying man? I can't run, I can't hurt you myself, I can barely breathe and I would want nothing more than to just retire peacefully in my own home and just brush this all under the rug. That's why what stakes I own in my own company is actually property of Tanya Flynn and not myself," he wasn't entirely lying, it just wasn't the truth yet but hot hell if it turned their attention on her instead of him for a bit it was totally worth it, "so sorry, you'll have to discuss that one with her. I'll leave you alone and you can take Matthew with you if you really want, but I want my house back, where it was, the way it was before your "interior decorators" showed up! And I want Parker Clermont, preferably bound head to toe as tight as you can with fishing wire."

And again he paused as he opened his eyes, glancing to Hoch and around them at their surroundings and made more motion with his finger to the room they were in.

"Actually I think I like this house. Give me this one instead."

[Hoch Kreatur]

Asteria felt her fingers tighten around the rail as Morgan demanded Parker. He was right about one thing; he was beaten, frail and dying. Morgan didn't have the right to demand anything and he should thank his eight gods that they didn't just kill him here. The Dealer was keenly aware that Asteria's... what was he? Pet, was what many Collectors called him, an he was not on the negotiating table, much to her general's dismay who he felt Asteria was getting too close to him and she should be open to the idea of replacing him soon.

"We'll get you a nice summer home down south. Just not here." The Dealer said simply, "And I'm unsure who this 'Parker' is you speak of. Perhaps I need to remind you, Mr. Flynn, that you are indeed beaten. I wouldn't presume to demand anything but your life at this point. You should be grateful for what we're offering you, this wouldn't go for just anyone."

Hoch gave a nervous cough at this entire thing. Morgan so easily gave away Matthew that he was sure this was some joke. He raised his head and decided now would be a good time to add his own point, "A-Ahem, may I remind you we're here on our own accord, looking for peace that would be best for the entire city. We weren't dragged here." There was no way he'd question Morgan right now, that would show weakness in the ranks.

"You may a right choice asking for peace, but I assure you nobody is leaving until peace has been made." The Dealer said simply. They had walked right into the lair of the Dragon and now they were playing his games.  Wonderful, so much for the code.

[Morgan Flynn]

"And yet!!" Morgan suddenly shouted, raising a finger up at the man behind the desk as he slowly rose himself from his seat and continued on dramatically, "shouldn't you be pleased that I see the error of my ways and come to make nice with you? Morgan Flynn, the ruthless one who crushes all those who dare to step even so much as two feet before him strikes the Dust Collection Agency first, is dealt back a staggering blow.....theee amount of times doesn't matter really but the important thing here is that I realize how much of a foolish mistake it was to give you a shove to begin with. I, truly, wasn't thinking. What kind of volumes does that speak to you? You didn't even have to drag me in kicking and screaming, I came to you like a good little boy and of my own volition..."

He narrowed his eyes again then.

"You really should understand that Morgan Flynn doesn't do that for just anyone, either. Take what and who you want from me otherwise, but the only things you can't have are Felicity and my shares in my company," his eyes trailed to Hoch then after a short pause, "oh, and Hoch as I assume you're done with him. And to think that all I ask for in return is my damn house in Thelotia and Parker! The one man I'm really surprised that you, the 'big bad Dealer' leader--or whatever you'd like to call yourself--don't know considering that he kind of cried to you on your doorstep which then invited a machine gun onto my property. I'd think that's kind of hard to forget, I'd think a face like that is hard to forget as well. Quit jerking me around!"

[Hoch Kreatur]

Hoch took a deep breath as Morgan decided he wasn't worth trading. Taking the sleeve of his suit jacket he lightly dabbed his forehead of sweat before adjusting his view back to the dealer. Was it really so bad to leave Thelotia? Hoch knew it was all Morgan really knew but it couldn't be so bad... could it? Hoch watched as the Dealer took a deep breath and glanced back towards the Collectors before looking at Morgan once more.

"I'm sorry, there is no place in Thelotia for you anymore. Take what family you have left and leave, you will have no residents or this Parker you speak of." The tapped his fingers on the desk and slid a paper over towards Morgan, the peace treaty with all the demands listed. Hoch hissed, they weren't planning to actually negotiate a peace treaty, they were just going to shove it down their throat. 

"Perhaps we should consider leaving..." Hoch said, hoping the threat of them not leaving was complete bullshit. "What do you say, Morgan?"

[Morgan Flynn]

What was it with all the no's? No, no, no...and the games these assholes played. He knew this well, they were laughably outnumbered and Dust assumed the advantage over them because of it and no amount of ass-kissing or attempting to trick them was going to work. His fists clenched and he gritted his teeth as he lowered his head, his breathing becoming more rapid as he was facing the ugly truth that he was really, really done here. They won.

'Oh no. Oh no. Not unless I...there's still one more option. You haven't gotten the best of me yet...!'

A chuckle escaped him and echoed softly in the otherwise silent room, a low, almost haunting kind of chuckle of a man who was clearly at his wits' end. His shoulders shook and he stood where he was yet, his head slowly raising with a grin on his face, his features softening as he glanced back up to the woman who'd spoken out earlier. Who she was didn't really matter anymore and he hoped with every inch of his being that he conveyed that through looks alone. Nothing truly mattered here.

"Very well!" Morgan spoke loudly up into the Collectors, eyes coming down to face the Dealer again, "you'll have what you wish. I'll leave. You see here."

He approached the desk, snatching up a pen and staring over the contents of Dust's demands in the treaty. With the pen point he motioned to an arbitrary cluster of wording, whatever he could do convince the Dealer to lean in just a little, his hand exposed and laying flat on the surface.

"I'm willing to do this, let's put it through, shall we?" and with a swift motion he stabbed the pen into the Dealer's hand. Just as quickly he took a step back, a hand tearing at his coat to reveal could possibly be easily recognized as a bomb, simply put. Attached to the man who swayed in a way that already dared them to try to shoot him, one of his hands slipped out the detonator and held it up while the other pulled out one of his revolvers.

"On second thought, why blow things out of proportion?! We're here discussing a peace treaty afterall, aren't we?" he chuckled again, waiting for the first one of them to make a move so he could blow this entire house sky high with all of them, "though I believe if you're evicting me, I'd be lonely with only my family. I think I'd much rather invite all of you with me, hahaha!"

[Hoch Kreatur]

The Dealer's scream echoed through the great halls of the mansion as everybody seemed caught off by what had just happened. Rifles were aimed and the bolts pulled back, ready to unleash a hail of bullets upon Morgan... until that is he unveiled enough explosives on him to take out the entire entrance. They held their fingers on the trigger button as others quickly went to block the exits. The Dealer whined an cried as he used all his strength to pull the pen from out of his hand, the pen was snugly wedged deep inside his bone and it was probably one of the most difficult things to handle, pulling that pen out. By the time he got the pen out his hand it was slick with blood, the Dealer fell down to the ground, his whines and cries breaking that tense silence that was held by everyone.

"You piece of shit..." Asteria hissed as her eyes darted between Morgan and the explosives on his chest. "Why did we not search him?" She glanced towards one of the Collectors. Under normal circumstances she might have killed whoever headed security right now but the fact they were mere seconds away from being blown from this world there seemed to be more important things on her mind.

A dying man with nothing to lose. That's what Morgan was; there was no point in making peace with Dust, this war was all Morgan had. Hoch now realized this, Morgan would fight until he won or he'd go out with a bang. 

"Morgan..." Hoch whispered as he quickly slid off of his chair and positioned himself behind Morgan, "T-This isn't what I had in mind when I said we should leave."

"Enough of this, Morgan!" Asteria called down, "What do you expect to accomplish? Blowing us up won't change anything. The rest of the Collectors will bleed your family dry for this, you hear me? Your sweet little son and daughters willl die a thousands death before being allowed to leave this world. Now stop being a fucking fool and lay down your arms!" 

[Morgan Flynn]

Morgan couldn't help but smile wider at the Dealer writhing in pain, unable to contain himself as he laughed, "Oh look, he really does show more than one emotion. Good show."

He ignored what Hoch had to say, giving Felicity a glance as she positioned herself like a wall before him. He enjoyed what he figured was the turning of the tables, suddenly he had power over them. All of them! He laughed even louder as Asteria called down to him, looking up to her with a devilish grin.

"She speaks! Oh, but my darling Harlot what you don't understand is that fooling around is only what I do best! What is it that you do best?" he spoke playfully, giving a glance to the heavily-armed door and then curiousity made him point his gun up at Asteria, "or rather again, who are you, my love? My Harlot! Does that smoky voice of yours possess the influence to clear the doorway for our exit? I do hope you decide quickly enough, this finger feels a little loose on the trigger you see."

[Hoch Kreatur]

The logical move was to let him go, wait until he was nice and far off before putting a bullet in his head. That was the logical move, yet Asteria was so full of rage that she could barely think logically. Her hand tightened around the wooden railing so tightly that her nails dug into it. What could he possibly be doing? Doesn't he realize that this wins him nothing!?

"You're no man..." She hissed as her eyes dug into Morgan's, "You're a jester playing for a shrinking court!" She raised her hand into the air and for a moment Hoch thought she was going to order them to be shot. Instead with one quick movement to the right the two Collectors blocking the door stood to the side, allowing the three to exit. "Even if you manage to avoid us sooner or later that court you play for will be empty and there will be nobody there to laugh at your stupid little jokes."

[Morgan Flynn]

Morgan giggled uncontrollably as the doorway cleared up and he watched Asteria from the corner of his eye. As he looked back up at her his whole demeanor changed into something dark as night but he grinned ear to ear, perhaps embodying the 'jester' she'd labelled him and able to haunt memories with that creepy, twisted smile.

"My sweet Harlot, it matters not to me who is left at the end of it all, just that I take you down with me!"

He pulled the trigger on her, tapping Felicity on the arm quickly to signal her to move onto 'emergency exit'. Morgan had never intended to play nice with Dust tonight to begin with but it appeared they'd been thinking the same thing. He sure as hell wasn't going to let them even have the chance to try it again if he had the ability to control it.

Felicity scooped Morgan up in one arm and instinctively so grabbed Hoch in the other, letting out a wild roar that probably rattled even the thickest windows in the mansion as she charged out towards the door.

[Hoch Kreatur]

The bullets snapped into the air and hit their target before anyone could have realized what Morgan had just done. The bullet hit Asteria right below the collar bone, fracturing into it and flying out the other end before lodging itself in the roof above them. Asteria fell back with a shriek. It wasn't a clean entry and exit, the bullet had torn out all the surrounding flesh in such a way that some of the fractured bone was now visible. Collectors around her rushed to pull her from harms way while the other Collectors prepared to fire back.

"Bring me their heads!" Asteria's general roared as the Collectors put Felicity and Hoch in sight and fired. Hoch was swept from the ground by Felicity too quickly for the bullets to make their mark, so while he was in cover behind the giant woman the Collectors put her in sight and kept up a steady fire.

Outside the Collectors prepared for Felicity, Morgan and Hoch. Lining up carefully they brought their rifles to aim at the door, just waiting for them to come into sight. They no longer seemed to really care - or knew - about the fact Morgan was holding explosives. They were ready to drop them dead the second they appeared.

[Oíche Kassilas]

Oíche Kassilas had been fairly certain that he needed to be somewhere at some point today, hadn't he received some message saying that there would be some kind of peace talks between Tyrants and the DCA..? Either way, whilst on the way there, Oíche had been involved in a rather interesting altercation of his own. Whislt he had been walking down the street, pale hands plunged into his pockets, a motorcycle had pulled up at the nearest traffic lights, right next to the fist-fighter. The rider was a big, burly man with a massive brown beard, and he proceeded to pull on the throttle of the bike, launching it into a loud roar as he chuckled to himself. Oíche stopped and looked across at the biker and his chosen ride... It was a nice bike...

With a single swift movement, his right fist jutted out and caught the rider right on the jaw, sending him sprawling to the floor. Oíche's left hand grabbed the handlebars of the bike, preventing it from falling over with its rider, and then, as soon as the punch had landed, he leaped onto the bike and roared off into the distance.

Super simple stuff, really.

As Collectors stood with weapons aimed at the door, waiting for the arrival of Felicity, Morgan and Hoch, one of them noted the distinct roar of an approaching bike. When the guard turned to the sound, he noticed a man clad in plenty of black and blue clothing riding towards him with what could only be described as a look of murderous glee on his face. Before the man could bring his rifle up, the bike roared past him, Oíche's fist outstretched to nearly take the mans jaw clean off.

It was party time.

[Morgan Flynn]

"Nnnngh!!" Felicity growled as bullet after bullet clipped at her. She'd staggered her path as she ran, bullets that would have dug into her instead bounced off of the floor but for the short amount she took she was still feeling the effects already and they'd hadn't even gotten outside the door yet.

Skidding towards the front door Felicity dropped Hoch on his bottom abruptly and swung Morgan around in such a way that he ended up landing on his feet and had to work to maintain balance by doing a slight jog to the side. The behemoth then kicked open the door with a mighty crash and then gripped the side as she expected and awaited another barrage of bullets from the front. Albatross was supposed to be out here somewhere and she knew he wasn't one of the more stealthy of gunmen so it'd be obvious the moment he struck any of the guards. Neither was Oíche, who conveniently dropped on in at the right moment. With him on the scene she was more willing to charge out, a short, sharply shouted, "Morgan!" come from the woman which might have seemed arbitrary or confusing unless one noticed that the moment she snarled, Morgan immediately placed himself right behind her and followed her out the door.

If that wasn't enough, several steps outside she pointed down the stairs and grunted another quick, "Down here, nothing funny, stay behind me!" The man had no room to argue even as she reached behind her and grabbed his sleeve, yanking him harshly behind her and they inched their way down the stairs.