Mary sat quietly in the little back room of a shuttered business in the Hill District. A few of the people from the plane knocked out of the sky had torn through the roof of this place and, despite the repairs done afterward, the scene of splattered meat and shattered bodies couldn't be driven from people's minds. This place was one of the site of the most iconic photo taken of the incident and published in newspapers. A Nobel prize for the photographer, a shatter life for the business owner.
A steel chair beneath her and two heavily armed guards by the door were all that this room contained, well, that and trash of course. There was simply no removing all the trash in these sorts of places, and no point to it. After all, it wasn't as if anyone lived here. This was nothing more than the meeting and drop off location of the former North-Side Pancakes, a silly name for a very large and very violent gunrunning gang. Or, it used to be.
Mary had subsumed or destroyed every lower gang in the city by this point, bolstering her Militia's numbers by a non-insignificant number and increasing the safety of the streets of the Pitts in turn. Of course, it was only safe for those who paid to have her people guard their businesses and neighborhoods. Those that didn't pay saw an increase in crime and, subsequentially, meta activity. Which was more destructive depended on who you talked to. Though Mary had to appreciate the metas at least a little bit in her business ventures. She didn't even have to bribe them to pick up activity in the places she didn't run, they did that all on their own.
Related to all that was exactly why Mary sat here now. The Pancakes bought their guns mostly from a mysterious organization lead by a man named 'Obsidian.' When Mary heard about it herself, she nearly pissed herself laughing. Because of course this would be how she met that man again. Conveniently, there was even a business deal scheduled sooner rather than later and Mary obliged herself to attend.
He wouldn't be here, unfortunately, Mary knew that. But when one of his boys came instead, perhaps a deal could be worked out. Thankfully, she didn't have to wait long on that either, as a beautiful blonde haired young man entered into the building to see Mary and her men. Smiling softly at the guy, who had to be close to or around Mary's age, Mary quickly said.
"Please, don't run. I's been waitin' for you's. We have business. Do you's know who I am?"
The first week of January meant ensuring the deals of the last year were to be in place for the upcoming year. Sulphur had been busy ever since New Years, and he was looking forward to it being over. Then, he’d get a chance to go see the grey eyed young woman– Beatrice Waters– and see if he could talk to her. For now, he was onto the Pancakes, one of the more out there named gangs they supplied weapons to.
That was not who was waiting for him when he walked in the door to the building in Hill District.
Sitting there was now Hendricks or Rodrigues or even “Clips”. It was a small woman, with greasy dark hair, grey eyes, and the thickest accent he’d ever heard. A quick glance at the tattoos peaking through on her hand confirmed it. His eyes flicked back up to Mary’s, which he held thoughtfully for a moment. This was a turn of events he hadn’t foreseen. Quite a few of their old contacts in some of the smaller gangs had become unreachable. Obsidian had thought that meant they were starting to wipe each other out, or that maybe Carmen was doing something behind the scenes.
Rowe had suspected, though, that it was Mary, and Obsidian hadn’t had time to look into it. This was confirmation. This was the Mary who Obsidian had met in his bar months ago, rising up and causing problems. Sulphur paused in his steps, then continued forward in the same slow and easy way. They needed more information, so he supposed it was on him to figure out what was happening.
“You’re Mary, correct? I was supposed to be meeting with Clips and Rodriguez today. I take it that they won’t be showing?”
Mary giggled at the man's response, watching his face very, very closely as she did so. It was perhaps a little unnerving, or perhaps it wasn't. Slate's people weren't so easily scared. Snapping her fingers, Mary asked one of the guards.
"Rodriguez, can you's believe this fuck? He's got the au-da-city to know who I's is, but doesn't offer his own nice? How rude!"
"Yes ma'am, you's correct, very rude." The voice clipped back instantly as one of the masked men confirmed Mary's question. He didn't move, even the movement of his lips were covered by the full face mask he wore. Mary nodded at him and continued.
"Very rude Mr. Sulfur. Though you's is correct, ain't gon' be no Clips comin'. Not after he decided to run against me. Real big regret, that one."
At that, Mary tossed something from her jacket pocket onto the floor in front of Sulfur. They looked almost like two little white rocks, though the noise they made as they hit the ground didn't sound exactly correct. If Sulfur knew his biology, however, he'd know exactly what they were the moment he laid eyes upon them.
For a moment, Sulphur simply stared at the bones. Then, with the tip of his shoes, he nudged them with vague interest. The kneecaps were completely cleaned, starkly off white, and intact. He raised an eyebrow but didn’t comment on them as he looked back up at Mary.
“Given you recognized me on sight, I don’t see a point in introducing myself. So maybe we skip right along to the part where you tell me what you want, I counteroffer, we agree on terms, and we both go our own ways, and I report this to Obsidian so he’s aware of the change in management?”
His voice was dry, but serious. There was no hint of sarcasm or even humor in it. His expression was also nearly blank, with just a hint of interest flashing in his intelligent eyes. He assumed Mary was here to make a deal. It made the most sense. Of course, she could be here to try and send a message to Obsidian, in which case, he was ready to fight if needed. He found it highly unlikely, though, that that was the case. If she wanted to send a message, she already knew where their home was, where the Diamond was. She could easily do something far more pointed if she wanted to.
“Unless there was something else you wanted? I’m sure we can work something out if you’re seeking something other than weapons.”
Mary kept up that little smile while Sulfer spoke. Her eyes watched him so intently it was as if she was memorizing every conture of his face as his mouth moved. The way he spoke was so terribly dry and serious; a businessman through and through.
She had no more patience for this. Her smile dropped like a mask, tossed aside for the dead eyed look of a killer who lost interest in playing with their food. Waving her hand aside, she remarked with undisguised disgust and annoyance.
"No one plays the fuckin' game anymore. I'm bored of this already." Snapping her fingers, she pointed toward the door and decided to get this meeting over with. After all, if Sulfer wasn't going to play the game with her, why bother? At least Rowe seemed interesting under his fake professionalism, this kid just seemed like a silver spoon capitalist.
Her voice, deathly cool and removed of its fake joy, contained a general malice for the world as she spoke, "How'za 'bout this you's boring rock- I'ma lay out how things are gonna be. You's and you's geo-lo-gist leader is gonna stay outta my hair. An' if I catch whiff or looks of you's anywhere near my territory, I'll mount you's volcano glass head honcho on my wall."
A smile, as genuine looking as anything Mary had ever wore before, flashed across her face as she finished with a cheery, "K bae?"
There was a pause as Sulphur mulled over her words. That simply wasn’t going to do. Obsidian wasn’t going to like that Mary was edging in on their territories, taking out the men they were discussing mergers and business with. He rubbed his clean-shaven chin lightly before nodding and sighing.
“So you’re not interested in doing business. I see. Well, I will convey your message to Obsidian. I make no promises as to how he’ll take hearing that someone has been cutting into our business market. After all, this is only one of what I’m assuming is at least ten locations you’ve taken down. I suspect your hand in quite a few things. I also suspect we will see each other again.”
He nudged the knee caps again. He was well aware that if she wanted him dead, he probably already would have been. His gas took too long to spread to act defensively with it. To ambush? Sure. But it was no reactive power. If she wanted to kill him, she could. He clasped his hands behind his back as he looked back up at Mary, a small smile on his face. There was one thing he loved in their enemies more than anything else, and it was the thing Mary was displaying.
Overconfidence.
He gave a slight bow and inclined his head before gesturing with one hand toward the door. “I take it that’s all?”
Mary didn't even seem to be listening as Sulphur continued to speak. Instead, she stood and snapped her fingers at one of the men standing beside her. Wordlessly he handed her an old i-pad tablet. Mary flicked the screen a few times, as if she was looking for something specific, before finding it and typing something in.
As she handed the i-pad back to the man, Mary looked over at Sulphur as he added his last question. Giving him a confused look, Mary asked, "You's still here?"
She crocked her head toward the door, motioning for him to get lost. She had work to do.
