Lineage

Sitting Alexander down and examining the stab wound to his shoulder, I learned that it had missed his arteries and would leave minor damage at most. The man sitting before me wasn’t a powerful man or an imposing one. He was a medium-build, relatively handsome, short-haired, business man clad in a nice, albeit blood-stained, suit. He was panting with exhaustion and adrenaline, his eyes locked onto the two of us as I stepped back, both of us having removed our hoods to give off a more friendly appearance.

“I must admit,” he said in his posh-boy accent. “You two came in just the nick of time. Another few moments and that would’ve been it for me. So you have my thanks, the both of you.”

“Don’t mention it,” Annerose said, flashing a beautiful smile. “If you really wanna pay us back, you can throw some work our way.”

“I… I’ll admit without shame that I’m not entirely sure of the customs of this part of the world, but surely a reward isn’t busywork, even in this place?” Alexander asked.

“Trust me, pal,” I said, taking over from Annerose. “The best thing you can do to thank us is help you get a better grip on this city. After I took out the Baron, I decided you were the best thing to turn this shithole into at least a shined toilet bowl.”

“That was you?” he asked in an amazed expression. “You who took out over a hundred men on your own? You who chased down that bastard and put an end to him?”

“Indeed it was,” I nodded.

“And it’s you who wants to help me take over this city?” he asked with a wide-eyed expression.

“Indeed it is,” I said with a nod, holding out my hand. “Do we have an agreement.”

“Of course, good sir,” he said with a smile, shaking my hand before extending his to Annerose. “And you, good madam.”

“Huh, not everyday you see someone willing to shake a woman’s hand,” Annerose grinned. “Usually think we’re too frail for something so manly.”

“Not at all,” he said, letting go and resting back in his chair. “To be brutally honest, I think you might have bigger testicles than most men in this city.”

“I appreciate the thought,” Annerose nodded, resting against his desk. “So… how are we going to take care of our mouthy little whore and our brickhead friend?”

“I think the ideal answer is ‘very carefully’,” Alexander answered, standing up straight.

“You good to stand?” Annerose asked. “That’s a pretty nasty papercut you’ve got there.”

“I’ll be fine,” he said, opening his drawer and taking out a business ledger. “Now, onto business?”

Annerose and I looked at one another briefly before nodding at Alexander, a wide smile coming onto the young man’s face as he opened the book.

“I’ll waste no time in telling you that if you pull the head off a weed, another just takes its place,” Alexander began. “McGraw and Khalifa are the biggest weeds in this city, and pulling their heads off will only make another McGraw and Khalifa take their place, but more cautious to the way their predecessors died. So instead of plucking the head, we need to kill off the root. And can anyone tell me what is the root of all evil?”

“Money,” we both answered.

“Exactly,” Alexander pointed. “Money buys weapons, money buys goods, and, most importantly, money buys loyalty. An impoverished man will sell his sister to live in luxury. Money decides every course of action in this city, and whoever has the most money, has the most power.”

“So who has the fattest purse?” Annerose asked.

“Khalifa, sadly,” Alexander sighed. “I’m sure you’re aware of the amount of money men will throw into the fire for sex and alcohol. She brings in mountains of gold, gets nearly every man in the city in debt, and gets hold of information I’d adore having through her girls.”

“Drunk pillow talk is a great way to get some dirt,” Annerose nodded. “Khalifa knows what she’s doing. We going after her first?”

“Not a chance,” Alexander said with a shake of his head. “Khalifa is nearly untouchable through any form of assault.”

“Yeah, I’d have liked to see how she dealt with a hidden blade to the neck,” I growled angrily. “Why the fuck didn’t I kill her there and then?”

“Forget about that,” Alexander said with a wave of his hand. “She’s too powerful to touch because of her magic and untouchable because of the web she’s got on the city’s men and debt collection. No, the one we need to focus on first is McGraw.”

“I’m imagining that the big bastard is gonna have a lot of smaller bastards working for him, right?” I asked.

“Yes, but not just that,” Alexander answered. “McGraw owns the market district and every ten gold that goes through there has seven given to him. Now my original plan was to slowly leech money from him by buying out stall after stall under the prick’s nose, him being too stupid to notice. But after this little stunt Khalifa pulled, time isn’t a luxury I have anymore.”

“So we need to move on his territory fast,” I said. “Are we talking about full-scale robbery or threatening the shop keepers to come to us?”

“We’ll have to focus on robbing the income of the stores,” Alexander answered, flipping through several pages until he came to several schematics for shops and buildings, pointing to circled rooms. “It’ll require stealth and skill to clean these places out, but I’m lucky that I have an associate that’s perfect for thievery.”

“Wouldn’t happen to be a huge-breasted catgirl, would it?” Annerose asked.

“Yes… how did you know that?” Alexander asked after a moment’s pause.

“We ran into her apartment a while back,” Annerose shrugged. “We followed her trail using her calling card and magic and found her in an apartment block full of corpses. Care to explain those?”

“Ah, yes. Unwilling associates that needed to be disposed of,” Alexander answered. “I didn’t want a problem forming, so I nipped it in the bud with what little muscle I have. But, anyway…”

“Continue,” Annerose said with a wave of her hand.

“If we rob the stores of all their income, McGraw will begin to hemorrhage money,” Alexander explained. “He’ll most likely kill off the shop keepers and replace them with newer, much more terrified ones. We then use the gold we’ve amassed from our robberies to buy out both McGraw’s muscle that watches the district and the shopkeepers that are there. We get the on-sight protection for the shops and the shops themselves. And if McGraw attempts to reclaim it like the stupid brute that he is, I’m sure a little interference from the two of you will cut his forces down even further.”

“But let’s not forget his bookies that bring in bank,” Annerose pointed out. “Those guys aren’t easy to rob as their funds are kept in McGraw’s mansion where the things are hosted. I’m confident in my skills, but I do not wanna be caught in that bastard’s home turf.”

“Hopefully, when the time comes to make the play, it won’t just be you and Richter in there alone,” Alexander said with a smile. “We should have amassed enough forces and money, not forgetting that my control of the white-collar businesses in this city give us a great amount of funds to spend on better equipment for our muscle, will allow us to steamroll through McGraw’s mansion and take over everything himself.”

“So then that just leaves Khalifa,” I said with a smirk.

“Who, as much as it pains me to say it, has as the same amount of funding and muscle as myself and McGraw combined,” Alexander sighed. “She won’t be easy to topple, especially with her magic.”

“Wait, hang on,” Annerose commented. “If she’s bigger than both of you, why didn’t she just take both of you out before you became a problem?”

“Because it’s only now the Baron’s forces are out of the picture,” Alexander answered. “He was bigger than all of us put together and made it impossible for any power play to be made due to his ability to crush us. After all, the worst thing a fly can do in a spider’s nest is wiggle.”

“That explains why she’s suddenly nutted up and come knocking herself,” Annerose growled. “Arrogant cunt.”

“Indeed,” Alexander nodded, still nursing his shoulder wound. “But hopefully, if all goes to plan, we’ll be able to topple her before she gets to make a full-scale move.”

“As confident as I am in your estimates, Alexander,” I said, drumming my fingers on the table. “I’d much rather move you to our base of operations, just to keep you safe.”

“Where are you based?” he asked.

“The old war tower the king once used,” Annerose answered. “The place is a fortress, can be barricaded every which-way imaginable… and we’ve got one hell of a guard god there.”

“I’m not sure… can a guard dog scare off a witch like Khalifa and her goons?” Alexander asked.

“Trust me, our bitch can scare off gods,” I said, giving him a confident smile. “Just pack up everything you need and we’ll escort you there ourselves. And once you’re in that tower, nothing is getting to you, we can promise that.”

“If you’re certain,” he nodded. “I know that my home isn’t the most secure place in the world.”

“Just bring your basics and Richter and I will bring anything you need that we won’t already have and the tower, we promise,” Annerose nodded with an honest expression.

“Alright then, let’s get going,” Alexander smiled.

We made our way back to the tower and introduced Alexander to our ‘guard dog’, a term Luna wasn’t too pleased with upon hearing Alexander ask about it.

“Excuse me?” she demanded in an unfriendly tone.

“It’s what your… associate referred to you as,” he said, showing no fear towards the ancient Alicorn. “I genuinely believed that they were referring to a hound of some sort, and not you, Your Majesty.”

“Is that so?” Luna asked, crossing her arms and shooting an angry look at myself and Annerose.

“Might’ve made it seem like that,” I shrugged.

“Just a tall tale, y’know?” Annerose said, both of us refusing to meet her angry eyes.

“Right, okay then,” Luna growled, pinching the bridge of her nose and sighing. “You expect me to sit on my ass for however long it takes you fuck-knuckles to take over the city, just babysitting this prick in case his angry friends come knocking?”

“I assure you, Princess Luna, that they’re a lot more dangerous than you assume,” Alexander pointed out.

“Boy, unless a demi-god or an Ancient Scalesong Dragon is going to be knocking at the door, I can handle it,” Luna growled in response, making Alexander take a step back. “This isn’t a problem for me in the same manner keeping every sense peeled for the most dangerous creatures sneaking up behind me. This is the equivalent of waiting for ants to crawl out of an anthill and smack them with a spoon. It’s not dangerous, it’s a waste of my fucking time.”

“At the risk of sounding insanely rude,” Annerose said, holding up a finger. “Would you mind helping us? From what I know about you, you’re able to vaporise a mountain range with one hand, so surely taking down a couple of gang members wouldn’t take more than a few minutes?”

Luna looked at Annerose with a cocked eyebrow, drawing in a breath before giving a definite answer:

“I would if this whole thing entailed one, single thing,” Luna said. “It being my fucking problem. And since it’s not, you fuckers are on your own. You got yourselves into this mess, now you can get yourselves out.”

“I’m quite surprised you weren’t expecting that response,” I said, crossing my arms. “Luna only steps in if the danger to us is life threatening.”

“See?” Luna asked. “I’m not completely heartless. Just mostly.”