Prey No More

Chapters

Scene One: Rising Action
Scene Two: All Rise
Scene Three: So Help You God
Scene 4: Exhibit A
Intermission 1.1 - Introductions
Intermission 1.2 - Warm-ups

Scene One: Rising Action

Another night of living off the scraps of others. This is what went through the mind of the young woman who had just walked out the back door of the local bakery. Her bouffant orange hair had lost the volume that it once had, a side effect of not having been able to wash up in about a week. Her lavender waistcoat and leggings were stained and frayed, and her royal purple one piece was faded beyond any treatment. All her faux gold accessories, from her belt to her anklets, went from a lovely luster to something more akin to a rusted-out Oldsmobile. In her arms, she carried four loaves of stale bread, their only source of carbohydrates for the past month or so. That was the fate of Adagio Dazzle and her Dazzlings: from three sirens on the rise to rule the prison they were locked in, to three ordinary tramps living under an overpass, barely able to eat enough to survive.

Thoughts like this passed through her mind repeatedly as she approached their small “camp”. In the center, a fire burned dimly in a vain attempt to keep them warm, sputtering and cracking as it fought off its inevitable death. Close to it was a collection of old blankets and moth-eaten pillows serving as their bedding. Not too far from it all, another person stood leaning on a pillar, head on a swivel before Adagio walked up.

This person’s wardrobe was in a similar state to Adagio, her tube top turned from “light cream” to “old drywall”. Her signature sea foam green vest was curiously absent, but Adagio didn’t pay it any mind. Her violet hair was done up in her usual twin tails, the mint green streak in her hair darkened significantly. This was Aria Blaze, the self-proclaimed muscle of the three.

Adagio walked up to her and breathed out a tired sigh before she said quietly, “Anything happen while I was gone?”, as she handed her one of the loaves. She had assigned Aria to the role of night watch in her absence, making sure that everyone and everything they had left wasn’t stolen or destroyed. She was the most apt out of them, especially considering their sister.

Aria shook her head and looked over at the pile of bedding. She then grumbled out, “Well, nothing outside of the usual. That old guy Fried Fuse came stumbling around here again, trying to tell us stories about his ‘good ol’ days’. Tried to get him to fuck off, but Sonata wanted to hear ‘em.” With a small smirk on her face, she knelt in the blankets, looking at the person sized bump in the center. “After she started to nod off, he told me she was his favorite person in the world. Dunno if that was the drink talking or what, but Sonata loved that.”, she whispered as the lump began to shift. She then said with a full smile, “I’m thinking she found herself a new friend.”

Adagio giggled and said, “Well, good to hear you didn’t have to beat him senseless. And don’t worry, next time he comes around, he’s welcome.” As she said this, she noticed that the blankets had parted to reveal the individual responsible for creating the lump: Sonata Dusk.

Sonata let out a cute yawn as she nuzzled into the blankets, wearing Aria’s vest as an extra layer of warmth. Under it was her standard attire, with her reddish-purple short sleeve jacket and pink skirt with knee high shoes combo. The various shades of blue in her hair were sprawled out from the epicenter of her head.

With a warm smile, she looked over to her two sisters and said sleepily, “Morning guys.” As she rubbed her eyes to wake herself up further, she sat up slowly, the bones in her back cracking as she stretched.

Adagio quickly sat down next to her sister and wrapped an arm around her, saying with a giggle, “It’s still the middle of the night, Sonata.” She noticed that in this new situation, with all the horrible side effects, they had all become noticeably…nicer to each other. Where there was once snark and venom, there was now playful banter and trust. They truly were sisters now as opposed to partners in conquest. As she wrapped her arm around Sonata, Adagio gave her a loaf of bread, which she immediately dug into.

Aria chuckled and said to Sonata, “I was just telling Adagio about that old bastard’s visit.”

Sonata, mouth full of bread, thought for a moment before she gave a look of realization and swallowed the food. She then gave a massive grin and said, “Yeah! He was so nice. Told us all about his life. Oh, did you know that he lived on the street for, like, fifteen years? Isn’t that crazy?!” She was talking a mile a minute, clearly excited about the old man.

Adagio chuckled at her excitement. If any of them could serve as the poster child for making the best of a bad situation, this girl would be at the front of the audition line without question. Adagio could remember many nights where she was sobbing in her sleep, dreaming bittersweet dreams of their power to influence others and how it was lost, when she would suddenly wake up to find Sonata just lying there next to her, holding her, and telling her it was all right. Every day, she woke them all up excitedly to watch the shops open, watching all the people going about their daily shopping with wide eyed wonder. It was this joy at the simple things that kept the other girls grounded during some…dark times.

As Sonata continued her recollection, Aria crouched down next to her and tapped her shoulder, getting her attention. She then said in as warm of a tone as her voice could muster, “Hey Sonata. I gotta talk to Dagi for a bit. You enjoy your bread and we’ll be back in a bit, kay?” After a nod of confirmation from her, Aria stood up and looked at Adagio with a serious expression, jerking her head over to one of the pillars.

Adagio nodded and followed her over to the more secluded area and gave a sigh as she got there. She took one look at Aria, saw the expression on her face, and stated bluntly, “I know exactly what you are going to say…and no, Aria.”

Aria gave a low growl and whispered, “Come ON, Adagio! You can’t honestly expect Sonata to live off stale bread, old fruits, and lukewarm milk.” She then leaned in and said slowly, as if to try to make it clearer, “If we’re gonna survive on the streets, then we are gonna have to steal some shit.”

Adagio pinched the bridge of her nose and said sarcastically, “Oh sure, and maybe when the police catch us and cart us all off to jail, we’ll at least have matching jumpsuits.” She then shook her head and said in a slightly angry tone, “Is that really what you want for Sonata? A life on the run from the police AND the rest of the city?”

Aria rolled her eyes and spat back, “Well, it’s not like it’d be a downgrade if we DID get caught. Least we’d get three square a day plus a bed.” She then walked closer to her and growled out, “Either way, it’s better than your GENIUS idea.”

With a deep sigh, Adagio leveled herself and said calmly, “I told you, if we WERE to go with it, I’d be the only one who would have to do anything. I’d be doing it for the both of you.”

Aria began to pace to calm herself down and said, “Oh sure, Dagi. Sucking some guy’s dick so that us three young girls can shack up with the same creep DEFINITELY won’t lead to anything resembling sexual assault.” She then balled her hands into fists, blood boiling as, venomously, she spat out, “So you’d rather have some perv feeling her up than have her in jail?”

Just before Adagio was about to blow up at her, they both heard that familiar sweet voice come from the other side of the pillar. “Umm…g-guys?” Shortly after that, Sonata poked her head out from behind the pillar and said reassuringly, “I-it’s ok. Really. I don’t mind living like this. I’m not hungry, and I haven’t gotten sick in a week and a half!”

A moment of silence followed that felt like the silence before the first gunshot in a war rang out. That moment before it’s decided whether the two sides are going to hug out their differences or stab each other in the gut. After that moment, Adagio took a deep breath and opened her arms to Sonata for a hug.

The hug was accepted with great fervor as Sonata quickly walked up to her and embraced her tightly. As she stood there holding her, Aria slowly joined in the embrace as well, both holding Sonata between them. They stayed like this for a good minute before Adagio began to speak.

“I’m sorry, Sonata. It’s just…it’s been so hard for us.”, Adagio choked out in a pained tone. She then began to sob lightly as she continued. “We are trying so hard to give each other a livable existence, but…without our powers or our voices, it’s…it’s hard.”

Sonata gave Adagio a light squeeze as she thought about what to say. Every possible corny Aesop ran through her head on fast forward, trying to find one that would fit the situation. After deciding that none of them would be any good, she decided to just tell the truth. With a smile, she said, “Well, we were ok after being sent here, weren’t we? If we could go through that, we can go through this.”

Aria gave a chuckle, still completely thrown off by the idea that Sonata of all people was the one to provide them with words of wisdom. When Sonata turned to her with a confused expression, she simply sighed and said, “I dunno what force out there put someone like you with someone like us, but I’ll be damned if I’m not thankful for it.”

Sonata giggled at this and said, “Same-sies.” Just as she was getting comfortable in this little friendship huddle, she noticed something weird off in the distance. Usually, there would be a homeless man wandering through their camp. Sometimes it would be old Fried Fuse, sometimes someone else. This time, however, instead of those usual visitors, there was a tall man in a black suit carrying a briefcase. His skin was an immaculate peach and his hair was combed with artisanal precision, the brown hair complementing the black lensed spectacles. She wasn’t sure WHEN the man showed up, but it looked like he was there a while. Nervously, she patted both Adagio and Aria on the arm before pointing at their new guest and asking, “Who’s that guy?”

Aria looked toward where she was pointing and furrowed her brow. “Good question.”, she said in a growl as she walked forward, her lips quickly turning into a menacing sneer that could stop a charging bear. When she took a few steps forward, she called out to the man in a challenging tone, “Hey, tight-ass! The fuck you starin’ at, huh?”

Adagio hung back and stood in front of Sonata, sizing up this man. From the look of him, he seemed to be a personal bodyguard or representative for someone. Certainly, he was built enough to the point that the lot of them rushing him would be a bad idea. After Aria made her advance, however, she noticed that he seemed to turn his attention to the ground, as if thinking about how to proceed.

After a moment, the man suddenly adopted an attempt at a friendly grin, a vain attempt for everyone but Sonata. He then walked up with robotic rhythm, voice of a trained sales representative as he said, “Good evening Miss Blaze, Miss Dazzle, Miss Dusk. I represent the talent scouting firm employed by the young up and coming internet content producer Red Room.”

Adagio, keeping her cool and staying close to Sonata, said in a wary tone, “Firstly, I have never even heard of this producer, yet he has an entire firm on payroll? Secondly, how do you know who we are?” This almost seemed too perfectly timed. One of the lowest points of their lives, and this scout just HAPPENS to find them and know their names? Almost like it was scripted for them by some cosmic joker.

With a nod of his head, the man said, “Happy to clarify, Miss. In order, he is establishing his presence using his inheritance from his father, former head of Valiant Video Enterprises before his unfortunate passing. Second, naturally he knows you. The Sirens of Canterlot High. There are few people in this city who DON’T know you at this point…for better or worse.”

Sonata, feeling a bit more comfortable, finally spoke up herself, asking politely, “W-what would he want with US, Mister? We can’t sing anymore…”

The man smiled and bent down to eye level, saying in a tone like a parent speaking to a baby, “I’m glad you asked, young lady.” He then straightened up and said to all of them, “He took note of your stage presence during the contest and thought that you would make wonderfully strong female leads in his most ambitious production.” He then tapped his suitcase and said, “We’re prepared to give you a generous ten thousand dollars each as a down payment.”

Adagio looked to her sisters, Aria with her bullshit detector going off the charts, and even Sonata losing what little comfort she had. Ten thousand dollars? For a group of girls only known for almost destroying the world? No way in hell they were buying what he was selling. With a shake of her head, Adagio said, “Thank you for the offer, sir, but we’ll have to pass. Can’t just trust ANYONE who gave us these promises, you understand.”

This caused the man’s friendly smile to immediately fall, replaced with the stoic expression from before. He then lowered the briefcase and straightened his tie. The next words to come out of his mouth would send all the girl’s hearts directly into their stomachs.

“I’m afraid you don’t have a choice, girls.”

Suddenly, two figures came out from the shadows and grabbed Sonata and Adagio, placing rags over their noses and mouths. Aria whipped around when she heard the struggle, playing right into the hands of their attackers. Just as she was about to run to their aid, the representative had pulled a Billy club from his suit jacket and knocked her out with one swift strike to the back of the head.

This caused Adagio to let out a scream, the resulting inhalation sending her to chloroform induced la-la land that much quicker. She looked over to Sonata, already out cold, and felt tears in her eyes as she started to slip away as well. Just before the lights went out, she heard that same stoic voice shout out one more time.

“Get the leads to their places, people. We’re live in ten.”

Author's Note

Please let me know what you guys think! I’ve been working on this for some time, and I wanna see what people think!

Scene Two: All Rise

Pain. That was all that Adagio could feel as she woke up. Pure, unfiltered pain. Like every single bit of harm done to her was amplified to eleven and condensed into a five-minute beatdown. She stirred slightly, deciding that maybe she’d have Aria get the food today…

Aria…Sonata!

The memories of what happened the last time she was awake came flooding back to her. The man in the suit, his offer, and his reaction to the rejection. She immediately flew into a panic, standing up quickly and whipping her head around as she desperately looked for an exit. She saw a door and immediately ran to it. She grabbed the handle and tried desperately to turn it to no avail. It was locked from the outside. Unable to do anything else, she stumbled and fell back, beginning to sob as the tears began to fall. Confusion, anger, sadness, all these emotions and more were flowing freely through her and out through her eyes.

As she was wallowing in her perceived failure, she heard something click on in a corner of the room she was in. Her sight was drawn to the source of it, revealing it to be a desktop computer. It was remarkably new, especially considering the room she was in. Speaking of, as she began to calm down, she noticed that the state of the room she was in was, in the gentlest possible terms, disgusting. The walls were covered in mildew and other muck, and the windows were all boarded up.

She decided to go towards the only functioning thing in the room. On the monitor of the computer, what seemed to be an old school chat window was maximized to take up the entire screen. In the window, a single word was typed in stark white on the pitch-black background.

“Hello”

Adagio didn’t quite know how to proceed. There was a keyboard connected to the computer. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. With a shaking hand, she slowly typed and sent a message.

“Hello”

After a few moments, the screen spat back a response.

“There’s an earpiece taped to the back of this monitor. Go ahead and put it on.”

Confused, Adagio carefully turned the monitor around to find a piece of black electrical tape holding something to the bottom left corner. She removed it to reveal a small wireless earpiece, seemingly turned off. Looking around one last time, she put it in her right ear and turned it on, hearing a faint beep before something else came through.

“Hello? You got it all set up, miss?”, a male voice asked in a polite, if slightly impatient tone. She could not readily tell who it could be from the voice, but whoever was in Adagio’s ear at the moment, she had the strongest indication that it didn’t belong to anyone friendly.

Adagio was silent at first, but eventually forced out an answer. She wasn’t entirely sure why, but something deep in her gut was telling her that it would be a bad idea to be difficult with the man in her ear. Quietly, she said, “Yeah…yes it’s working.” As she realized that this man could know something, she immediately flew into a silent barrage of questions. “Where am I? Where are my sisters? Who are y--?”

“Easy, Miss Dazzle. I’ll answer all your questions in time. First, let’s at least get you outta that stuffy ass room, huh?”, the voice said in a weirdly humorous tone. This man almost sounded like he was just talking to someone over a cup of coffee.

After that, Adagio heard the door she was attempting to open let out a loud “ch-gunk”. Reflexively, she whipped around to face it, and she saw it slowly creak open to reveal a hallway illuminated by a dim fluorescent bulb hanging overhead. Adagio then gulped down a mouthful of fear and slowly leaned out of the doorway, feeling like a baby rabbit in the middle of a bloodhound pack.

The hallway wasn’t in much better condition than the room. It was stained all the way to the ceiling with piss, vomit, and something fouler. The combination of the smell rolling off the stains and the mental image of how they all got there was enough to bring a feeling of nausea to even the most hardened person’s throat.

Just before she was about to lose her last meal, the voice in Adagio’s ear cut in again with, “Welcome to Shade City. You can consider this the seedy underbelly of Canterlot.” He continued as she walked to the only end of the hallway that didn’t end in a boarded window, “If Canterlot proper is all sunshine, rainbows, and smoothie stores, think of Shade City as darkness, depression, and porno theaters--wait!”

Adagio suddenly stopped when she heard that, stopping just short of the end of the hall and the opening into the next one. She waited for a moment, frozen in fear of the sudden command. The man in her ear then said, “Ok. Now I’m gonna give you this one, given you’re fresh as a daisy. There’s a man at the end of the hall on the right keeping watch to make sure no one comes for you, but he’s NOT watching you. Now, he’s not gonna leave anytime soon and the other hall is a dead end…you’re gonna have to MAKE him move.”

Adagio gave a confused look before peeking around the corner to the right. At the end of the hallway, leaning against the wall with his back to her, was a man in dirty cargo pants and a black hoodie. On his feet were some steel-toed boots with what seemed to be mud or…blood on the bottoms. Along with that, the other distinguishing characteristic he had was what he wore on his face. He wore what seemed to be an old hockey mask, weathered, with his spikey black hair starting precisely where the mask ended.

Seeing that this was someone who’d chew her up if given the chance, she looked around for a moment before noticing that an old CCTV camera was set up in the corner of the hall. She looked back down the one she just came from and saw another. She guessed this was how the man in her ear was watching her. With a somewhat panicked expression towards the latter of the two cameras, she wordlessly asked the question, “How the hell am I meant to do that?!”

It was silent for a moment before he said to her in a slightly patronizing tone, “Well, there’s a broken window with shards of glass all around it at the other end of the hall, and he has some nice, squishy flesh…need I elaborate further?”

Adagio felt her brain process the statement bit by bit, all happening in a split second. When the processing was finished, it clicked for her in the worse possible way. He…he was asking her to KILL that man. She looked to the glass, the man, and the camera quickly, a shocked expression on her face.

After a long sigh on his end, the voice said as calmly as he possibly could, “Look, babe. I know that you’re new to the idea of outright killing. I get it, really, I do. But if you don’t kill him, you can be damn sure that he’ll kill you.” He then said carefully, “This guy and the gang he reps, the Jury, will not hesitate to kill you, are not shy about spilling blood. You’re gonna have to follow suit if you wanna survive.” His voice fell back into a frightfully casual tone when he said, “Now, if you don’t mind…tear him apart…”

Adagio felt all the color drain from her face at that statement. Either she could murder a man and get to leave this horrid place or stay and likely die a painful death. The more she ran the scenarios over and over in her head, the more obvious the answer became. Quietly, she shuffled over to the broken window and grabbed the largest shard of glass she could find. When the weapon was gripped in her hands, she turned back to where her obstacle stood and slowly began to approach him.

She steadied her breathing so as not to alert the guard. As she drew closer and raised up the shard, she could swear that she began to hear a heartbeat thump faintly from his direction. The man sighed and scratched his leg as he mumbled out, “Damn…can’t WAIT for someone to come for this bitc—”

Adagio took this opportunity to strike. She felt her arm swing downward as she planted the glass deep into his back. The glass had missed either of the ribs it could have glanced off, made evident by the sickening squish of the guard’s flesh and the sudden, loud intake of breath by him. Adagio looked up in a frantic panic as the guard slowly turned his head around, a look of terror evident in his eyes. In an act of pure instinct, she pushed the man down onto his belly as she pulled the shard out and crawled on top of him, pulling his head back by the hair and stabbing him in the neck over and over, turning his strained cries of pain into gurgling groans as his legs kicked furiously, right up to his final death rattle. His body went limp under her, his panicked eyes now glassy and half lidded, almost akin to a porcelain doll.

Adagio kept stabbing, letting out strained grunts as she did so, well after his body had gone limp. It was only stopped by the voice in her ear yelling her name. “DAZZLE!”, he said in a stern manner. “For all that’s blessed, he’s fuckin worm food. You can stop now.”

She stopped abruptly, looking between the now broken shard and her first kill before backing away in sheer shock. The smell of his blood, the sound of his cries, the feeling of his flesh resisting the glass as it first went in. The delayed reaction of all these combined stimuli had finally hit her like a tanker truck on full speed, setting off the contents of her stomach to slowly rise from their confines.

The voice continued in a soothing tone, “Now look. I know this is all new and scary for you, but—”

He was interrupted when she ran to the further corner of the corridor, the vomit flowing like Niagara from her mouth as it splattered on the ground. Her eyes were flooded with tears of fear. What had she done? She held her gut in pain as the round of vomiting slowed to a halt. Good thing the only food lost was a chunk of bread.

Adagio heard his sigh through her panting as she leaned against the wall. After letting her slow her breathing, he asked quietly, “Are you all right?” A short nod from her later, and he said, “Good. You’ll be doing that often, so just remember: they are horrible people. Think of a severe sin or crime, and chances are that one of these pricks have done it.” He then took on a more urgent voice and said quickly, “Now, the door out of the building is around the corner. Head on out and we’ll get you through the scene outside.”

Adagio looked around and noticed the small lobby area. It seemed like she was locked in a repurposed storage room of a hotel. She quickly ran into this lobby, immediately feeling relieved at the presence of the double doors, already opened to the street outside.

Author's Note

Chapter 2 for you all! I’m thankful for everyone’s input (especially my first comment, you know who you are XD). As always, further input is ABSOLUTELY welcome

Scene Three: So Help You God

With a few tentative steps outside, she looked around to get her bearings. Celestia wept, it looked like a damn nuke went off outside the city. Ruined complexes lined the streets, clearly showing that this was a residential area. Stark lights from the buildings and street lamps created shadows as black as the night sky, neither very welcoming, but both in abundance.

As she carefully went down the steps, her ears picked up a conversation in an alley across the street slowly growing in proximity. This sent her into a panic, gravitating her to the nearest hiding place she could find, the alley next to the hotel. She crouched down against the wall, blending into the shadows as she listened in.

“Damn, all the jobs we could be doin’ right now, and we get stuck babysitting this whore.”, a young but gruff voice said as two more members of the Jury stepped out of the shadows, similarly clothed to the last, save for the young one wearing an olive vest while the other was built like a brick shithouse, the latter wearing a tight black tank top.

The muscle bound one then scoffed and said, “Ah, quit ‘cha bitchin. We’re keepin’ one of the most grade-A evil pieces of shit under lock and key, AND we’re getting’ paid for it? Fine by me. Hell, I’d give her what she deserves for FREE!”

The younger one shook his head and pulled out a butterfly knife. As he twirled it around, he said to the other, “Man, you REALLY take the whole ‘Jury’ thing all the way, don’t ya Homer?”

A hearty laugh escaped the big man and he said with a crack of his neck, “Eh, never hurts to dispense some good ol’ fashioned justice from time to time. You’ll see it before too long, Gasher.” It was then Adagio saw that he had a massive nailed bat resting on his shoulder.

Gasher smiled under the mask and said, “Whatever you say old man.” He then looked at the hotel and scratched his crotch as he said with a growl, “Thinkin’ I might have some ‘fun’ with our guest, though.” With that, he quickly began to walk up to the building.

Adagio went completely pale when he let that thought slip. At first, it was just because of the clear and blatant rape threat, combined with how bluntly he delivered it. He clearly was serious about the idea. Quickly after that, however, a completely different idea chilled her to the core…

The body.

Shit! They were gonna find out she escaped. If they started checking the alleyways for their escapee, it was game over for her. Quickly, she looked around the alley for something, ANYTHING to defend herself with. Her eyes quickly revealed a whiskey bottle, already broken at the bottom. She swiped it up and stood ready, waiting for the inevitable hunt.

“Hey Slapshot! You mind letting me have a go at the--wait, WHAT THE FUCK!?!?!”

Homer’s head immediately snapped to the hotel, seeing his friend come sprinting out of the building towards him. “What the hell happened, Gash?!”, he said with a tinge of worry in his voice.

Gasher panted as he tried to spit out what he wanted to say. “Sla…Slapshot, he’s…he’s DEAD!”, he exclaimed. “His throat, it…fuck, it was like a damn WOLF tore his throat out.”

Homer growled in anger as he looked back at the building and grumbled, “So…little girl wants to play with the big boys, huh?” He then pat Gasher on the shoulder to stand him up and said in a commanding tone, “Look through the alleys on that side of the street. I’ll hit up this side in the meantime. Bitch couldn’t have gotten far.”

Adagio tensed and went further into the shadows. She knew that trying to make a break for it would be a death sentence, especially since the road was blocked off by some old buses. She noticed an alley with an old iron door leading to a staircase that was brightly lit, with a painted arrow pointing at it, but Homer guarded it closely. That arrow almost taunted her, as if daring her to try and make it to it.

“What are we gonna do about this, Miss Dazzle?”, the voice said in almost mock pensiveness. “Two hardened killers…one young woman…”, he mumbled, followed by a chuckle. He then said in a disturbingly joking tone, “Well, I can think of ONE solution that’ll make for a good scene, but they’d probably kill you in the afterglow.”

Adagio gave a quiet growl at this man. This was her guide through this shit, and here he was making jokes about making a sex scene with her? She could tell from a mile off that this was a grade-A, top shelf sicko in her ear, a perverted devil on her shoulder. To keep her mind off that and on the task of surviving, she thought of how she could get these jackasses split up and away from the door. Her gut kept repeatedly growling at her to just kill these two and be done with it. She vehemently denied it for a moment before recalling what the voice said, about their deeds. This made her a lot more…open to the idea. As she looked around, she saw that the alley ended in a dead end and was struck with a moment of inspiration. One last look at the patrols and she went to work.

She carefully walked up to the dead end and lifted her knee up high, keeping it there for a moment as she gathered herself. After a deep breath, she delivered a swift, hard kick to the wall.

“Huh? The flying fuck was that?”

Perfect. It seemed that Gasher took the bait. As she quickly moved back to the shadows near the entrance to the alley, she pressed her back against the wall, lying in wait for her prey. After a moment, Gasher poked his head around the wall and looked all around the alley. When he didn’t see anything, he brandished his knife and stepped in as he approached to where he believed the noise came from, his hand visibly shaking as he walked right past her.

“C-come out here and fight, y-y-you fuckin’ coward!”, he said, his voice shaking like an old bridge close to crumbling.

Adagio took her opportunity when he got to the dead end, positioning herself behind Gasher as she ran full force at his back. Just as he was turning around to investigate the weird sound behind him, she grabbed the back of his head and used her forward momentum to slam his head into the brick wall. His head bounced off it with a sickening crack, indicating something had been broken. This caused the gang member to stumble away, reeling from the impact. Adagio quickly closed the distance and drove the sharp end of the bottle into his inner thigh, the resulting blood gushing into the bottle and out the neck, staining her wrist and lower palm. From what little she knew of human anatomy, she believed she had severed a major artery with that strike. As he fell to his knees and clutched the wound, he could only let out a pained groan with the combination of the blood loss and head trauma. He looked up weakly before Adagio gave him a sneer and said, “Still want to have some fun with me, you bastard?” With that, after Gasher looked up weakly, she planted the bottle into the back of his neck and severed his spinal cord with a twist of it. This caused him to immediately slump to the ground dead.

As he breathed his last, Adagio couldn’t help but look at her bloodstained hands. She still had a slight gut reaction, but it had thankfully lessened. It was a good thing too, given who decided to show up.

“Well, well, well! Little rat crawled out of its shit to play, huh?!”

When she heard this, she immediately grabbed her victim’s butterfly knife and whirled around. At the end of the alley stood Homer, bat held in both hands like a massive battle-axe. They both stood there for a moment, staring each other down. The man with the bat chuckled, confident in his demeanor, as if he had already won. In an instant, he closed the distance between them and swung for her head. Adagio felt her body move independently of her as she dropped into a squat and the bat whiffed over her head. This gave her a burst of adrenaline that she channeled into a full sprint past her attacker, towards the iron door. As she hauled ass up the stairwell of the building, she could hear the door slam open again and Homer plod menacingly up the stairs.

When she got to the top, she saw a door with orange letters spray painted onto it that spelled out the word “ARENA”. Figuring she didn’t have any other choice, she rushed out of the door to reveal…the roof of the building.

Dammit. She looked around frantically for a way off the roof that wouldn’t kill her. She did see that there was a walkway to the next building over, seemingly built from scratch. That option was taken from her, sadly, because of it being raised up on the other side, like a drawbridge into a plague infested city. On the bottom of the walkway, painted in orange spray paint, was a single mocking sentence.

“Earn this, lady”

Adagio closed her eyes and took a deep breath. It seemed it was time to nut up and fight this bastard, face-to-face. As she turned around, she heard in her ear, “Now, don’t you worry, Dazzle. You can handle this prick, no question. Just stay on your toes and go for any opening you see.” He sounded weirdly focused, as though he were actually hoping that she was going to make it out of this.

Confused at the sudden change in demeanor, she slowly nodded her head and said, “Any last-minute advice, Mr. Director?”

With a hearty chuckle, he said, “Don’t be afraid to own your character. In their eyes, you are an evil bitch right out of any demonic folklore…use that. Maybe use some of that innate Siren charm to get in their heads, I dunno. Regardless, get him open and go for his wrists. He drops his bat, it’s good night Irene.” After what sounded like a stretch, he then sighed and said in a friendly tone, “Assuming you take my advice to heart and survive, the name’s Red Room. Sorry I forgot to introduce myself properly.”

Adagio looked around to try to find where the camera was that was watching her here. After finding none, she looked back at the door and nodded her head as she readied the butterfly knife, taking deep breaths to steady herself.

Shortly after that, the door was thrown open, revealing a winded and VERY pissed off Homer, fists balled tightly around his bat. He then began to slowly circle around the arena, Adagio doing the same in turn. They stared each other down for a good ten seconds before one of them spoke up.

“You have no idea how much I wanted you to get out.”, Homer said in an almost gleeful tone. He slapped the center of the bat against his palm three times for emphasis as he grinned at her. He then growled out, “Someone who’s even more of a piece of human garbage than me or the boys? Hot damn, that’s somethin’ to celebrate! I can beat your ass and feel like I’m doin’ a service to the community.”

Adagio thought for a moment before giving a smirk and saying, “Oh, so you’re gonna try to beat a young woman to death?” She then did a couple of basic tricks with the butterfly knife as she said with a raised brow, “What, is what your packing not feeling big enough, Mr. Big Strong Man?”

Homer growled and pointed his bat at her, yelling out, “You watch your FUCKIN’ mouth, girl!” He then gripped the handle and gave a few practice swings, saying in a deep growl, “I don’t gotta take shit from you. You are a worthless piece of shit who DESERVES everything I’m about to do to ya!”

Adagio then gave an evil grin and said in a mocking tone, “Oh I see now! So, it’s DADDY ISSUES huh? I get it. Sometimes, daddy just doesn’t love you enough.” She then gave a giggle, as if to punctuate the insult.

Homer decided that this was the last straw. With an enraged howl, he ran at Adagio swinging wildly.

Adagio immediately dipped under the swings and sunk the blade into his side. As he howled in pain, she immediately hopped back to avoid his retaliation. As he swung for her, eyes wide and wild as a rabid wolf, she turned her attention to his wrists. If she nicked those deep enough with the knife, there was no way he was fighting back. As she thought about this, she saw Homer go for her again. When he swung again, she decided to go bold and try to throw him off with a stab to the back of the ankle. In one swift motion, she reached around and stabbed at the back of his ankle…

And only went far enough to sink a bit of the blade into his ankle. She panicked. She didn’t know what to do. In a snap decision, she tried to go for his thigh next. Just before she could, she felt a pressure suddenly envelop her neck. Before she had time to process what had occurred, she was hoisted up and face to face with Homer, who by now had tossed aside the bat and was growling deeply.

Adagio gasped as he started to choke her. She knew damn well that she’d be dead if she didn’t do something. Her eyes darted around, looking for anything she could use to her advantage. When she couldn’t find any object, she did the next best thing: she delivered a boot to his jaw. This caused him to loosen his grip significantly, which she used to her advantage. She gripped his wrists and used her weight to toss him over her with her foot. In a matter of moments, he was tossed away from her…and sent hurtling over the edge of the roof.

“Ah, AH, AAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!”, was the last thing Adagio heard from her assailant before a sickening crack and squish cut him off.

Adagio quickly rolled over and crawled to the edge, peering carefully over. At the bottom was a fresh corpse with its head at a completely ninety-degree angle. From the break, blood flowed forth like some hellish river as his eyes stared vacantly up at the night sky.

After a second, Adagio suddenly heard a loud cackle. She flinched, looking around in fear before realizing that it was Red Room. She then relaxed and laid on her back for a moment, suddenly exhausted by all that had happened.

On the other end, there was the sound of repeated claps before Red Room laughed and said, “That was AMAZING baby! The ferocity. The ENERGY. THE CONFIDENCE! That shit rolled off you like water off a duck!!” He gave a holler and finished with, “Man, I KNEW that you were the right choice for this role! A combination of grace and brutality. I LOVE it!”

Adagio let a small chuckle at that. She never thought she’d be getting compliments on her ability to kill people. After short moment, she suddenly remembered something as she adopted a serious tone again. “So…there’s still one of my questions that you didn’t answer.”, she said, trying to subtly remind him.

There was a moment of silence before he said, “Ah, yes. Your sisters.” He then said in an even tone, “They’re fine, don’t worry. They’re all in the same situation you were, captured but safe for the time being. Damndest thing, I don’t know where they were taken. I kinda just let my boys run with their job.”

Adagio gave an angry expression and said in a growl, “How the hell do you not keep track of this sort of thing?”

Red Room immediately tried to calm her down. “Hey, hey, hey, babe. Breathe. I don’t know, but the GANGS have a general idea.”, he explained. He then shuffled a few papers and said, “See, these guys are trying to get you all gathered in the same place, so they can collect a bounty on your heads.” As if he knew damn well that she would react negatively, he said, “Now, hold on Miss Dazzle. It’s not a real bounty. Just…giving the antagonists some motivation, you know?” He continued with, “Anyway, there should be someone in the gang that knows about it. Just head on across this walkway and we’ll go from there.”

Adagio saw the walkway come down slowly. As it set down, she took a deep breath and stood up.

“Don’t worry…”, Red Room said in a calming voice. “Just do what I tell you, and I promise that you’ll see your sisters…before the night is out.”

Author's Note

Sorry for the odd formatting. I’ve been transferring all of this from a Word document and it’s been a bit wonky.

Scene 4: Exhibit A

Adagio crouched next to the edge of the roof she crossed to, peering over the edge. She saw almost an entire platoon of gang members combing the streets, carrying everything from bats to knives to old nightsticks. Up and down the streets, past windows, and through alleys, they seemed to be everywhere.

“Now, for this next scene, I want to get a big battle going for you to sneak through, on your way to the next street.”, Red Room stated in a blunt tone. He continued with, “Now on this street, one of the Jury members got laid out by a pair of cops in the brownstone across from you. The boys in blue got off on self-defense, so our hockey mask wearin’ chums are already like burning coals on a fireplace: all they need…is a little fuel.”

Adagio rolled her eyes at the director’s attempts at melodrama before she said in a confused tone, “And let me guess, you have just the fuel in mind and I have to pour it.” She looked at the street again to try to see what he was talking about.

“Exactly!”, he exclaimed in an excited tone. “If you look to your left, there’s a plastic bag with assorted pieces of jewelry.”, he explained, followed by a short chuckled. “Let’s just say that my boys…found a way to not have to pay for ‘em.”

Adagio looked over the street and said with a nod, “I think I get it. I plant the jewelry, get the police over here, and that’ll get the gang riled up and ready to riot.” Shortly after, she saw the bag in the corner of the roof to her left and quickly grabbed it.

“Heh, good to see we got the same thought process.”, Red Room chuckled out. “Now, there’s a couple gang members in the room where their friend went down. Still has the tape and everything. Put it in or around there without killing anyone and call the cops on the burner phone in the bag with the gems. The rest will take care of itself.”

Adagio nodded her head and noted the fire escape into the alley next to the building she was on. She tied the bag to her side and quickly climbed down after making sure the coast was clear. As she went down the ladder, she heard footsteps coming towards the alley from the street. In a flash, she moved to the other end of the alley and pressed her back against the dead-end wall. The shadow made from the street lights was barely large enough for her to fit into, the toes of her boots right at the edge.

The source of the footsteps was revealed as two members of the Jury passed by, talking to each other. “Man, it’s fucked up how they did our guy like that.”, one of them growled in rage.

The other nodded and said, “Yeah, but don’t you worry. The next time one of these pigs tries to put us down, we open them up.”

Adagio held her breath as they passed by, waiting for her chance. As soon as they passed by, she quickly shuffled to the end of the alley and leaned out. With a quick glance up and down the street, she knew that she was in the clear. Aside from the people who just passed, the Jury members on the street were all either drinking or deep in conversation, so no one was paying attention. She gave a deep breath and ran as she crouched, keeping her head on a swivel as she crossed the street to the brownstone, slipping in the front door silently.

Another building not even bothering to live up to code. The siren felt this thought run through her mind as she gave a silent sigh. Red Room wasn’t kidding, this place hadn’t seen any public work in years. She had thankfully gotten used to the smell, otherwise she’d be on the verge of vomiting. She looked around for any evidence of police presence: number tags, tape, anything to indicate the room she was looking for. As she walked up the staircase, she immediately noticed something at the end of the hall. There were two doors, the one on the left having police tape dangling from the frame.

Jackpot.

All she needed to do was find a believable place to plant it. Immediately she went for the door across from the crime scene. She remembered what the director said: death waited for her behind that taped door. After a test jiggle to see if it was locked, she smirked when she found that it wasn’t. This was almost too easy. She slipped in quickly and looked around. It was what looked like a spare bedroom. Well, “bedroom” was a bit of a stretch for this place. It was a bug-ridden mattress in the middle of a windowless room. Adagio shuddered to think what happened in this room. She quickly set down the bag of loot and pulled out the burner. Now to set this little charade in motion.

As she stepped down the stairs, doing all she could to muffle her steps, she entered “911” into the phone. She made sure to move to an area near the rear windows before she called, ensuring a quick escape from the building. A few moments after sending the call, she heard a click on the other end, followed by a voice.

“911, what is your emergency?”

Adagio whispered into the mouthpiece, “Hello, miss. I saw a group of suspicious people walking into that old brownstone. The one where that gang member died. They were carrying this plastic bag of jewelry, I think.”

After a moment of silence on the other end of the line, the dispatcher said in an almost bored tone, “All right miss. We’ll have as many available units as we can spare in the area there soon. Thank you for your assistance.”

Adagio nodded her head and immediately hung up, going to one of the open windows in the back. As she crawled out, she immediately heard sirens off in the distance. As she landed outside, she decided to take advantage of how dark the back of the building was and peer around the side to watch her handiwork. After a few moments, she saw a patrol car pass…and another.

And another.

Dear Celestia, there must have been five cars. She didn’t expect this much of a response, but she certainly found it refreshing. Some allies against these bastards, despite the…problems the sisters had with them. She craned her neck to try and hear what was happening. Faintly. She could make out a knock on the door. Followed by a shuffling from upstairs and two doors opening a few moments after each other.

Then a conversation began. She couldn’t make it out through the walls, but it sounded like the gang members were annoyed by the interruption. A few moments later, there were steps leading back up the stairs, less plodding than before, followed by another door opening. She then heard a holler from inside the building.

“Well, look at this! Seems our hosts haven’t been honest with us!”, an older voice called from the top of the steps. “Slap the cuffs on ‘em and take them down to the station.”

This caused something of a commotion inside that quickly got loud. Now she could hear every word that was said.

“Put your hands on your head!”

“We ain’t done shit, officer! Fuck off!”

“PUT YOUR HANDS BEHIND YOUR HEAD!!”

“I ain’t sayin’ it again, cop! FUCK O--!”

BANG

The sound of a gunshot pierced the entire street as everyone on it froze in shock. Adagio covered her mouth to stop a scream from escaping it. These officers went to the guns quicker than she believed they would. She was suddenly very unsure if their presence here was a positive or negative. There was a brief, chilling silence before Adagio heard another voice scream out, “YOU SON OF A--!”

BANG, BANG

Adagio frantically began looking for an escape from the alley. She was not gonna stick around to get shot at by the police. Just when she thought it couldn’t get any worse, she heard the rest of the patrol car doors suddenly open. When she peeked around the corner, every cop had their guns out, and those gang members that weren’t charging like madmen at the officers were running for cover like Tartarus was breaking open in the middle of the street. Officers were beating assailants with their guns while the gang members were trying to clobber the trespassers on their territory. Adagio shuffled along the wall to the street, trying to find a way to escape.

Suddenly, Red Room interrupted her panicked looking by saying, “Head out onto the street and go to your right as fast as you can. When you come to an old sex shop, head into the alley, and keep going along the path. There’ll be a red door at the end of it. Head in there and lock it. Go! NOW!!!” He was notably sterner with his demands, like he himself was worried about the situation.

Not wasting any time, she ran out onto the sidewalk in a mad dash to her right. As she ran, she saw that all along the street, cops and Jurors were massacring each other. By a sheer miracle, any bullets that were shot in her direction in the struggles barely whizzed past her head as she flinched away from them. In her panic, she felt her eyes darting around in her head, eventually allowing her to see the telltale three X’s of a sex shop and the alley just beyond it.

Not long before turning into the alley, she heard someone from the street shout out, “HEY! SOMEONE’S MAKING A BREAK FOR IT!” By that tone, she could tell that the police saw her and were giving chase. She knew that if they caught her, she wasn’t going for a cell.

In a frantic dash, she followed the path the alleys made, the sound of the mob behind her swelling louder and louder. As it seemed to be right at her heels, the red door the director told her about came into view like a beacon of sanctuary on some distant horizon. Any sense of hesitation that Adagio may have had was thrown out the moment the guns rang out, made evident by her immediately rushing into the door without even questioning the validity of the director’s words. As she caught her breath in what she believed was a stairway, she heard a loud “kh-THUNK” behind her. Se whipped around, seeing that there was a massive electronic bolt placed on the door.

With that, she had seemed to escape certain death for the second time tonight. She didn’t know what the hell she was exactly thrown into, but all she could do was take the advice the universe gave her during that chase: don’t look back…

Intermission 1.1 - Introductions

Adagio took a moment to sigh in relief as she heard the cops split up to look for her in the rest of the alleyways, and then began to explore her surroundings in more detail. She looked up the staircase to the shabby wooden door at the top of it. Though she was hesitant to see what was up there, it wasn’t like she had much of a choice, with the mob of cops prowling everywhere their feet could touch outside. She preferred the idea of this Russian Roulette to the firing squad. Taking a deep breath, she stepped up to the door and opened it slowly.

Inside was not as shabby as the door, to Adagio’s relief. It seemed to be a small apartment, barely three rooms made up of a kitchenette, a bedroom, and a bathroom. Everything seemed relatively new and clean, maybe some wear and tear on the cooking appliances. The sheets on the bed were clean and made the bed up neatly, a stark contrast to what she had seen up to that point. The toilet, compared to the ones she and her sisters had to use, was pristine and well maintained, with a small bathtub and sink along with it. There were also some other miscellaneous things, such as an alarm clock and a fan, to make the whole place more…homely.

In her investigation, Adagio noticed one thing that was…peculiar about the apartment. Against the wall just next to the bed, there was a strange specialized desk with a monitor on top, made up of a cylindrical base where the cords to the monitor were being fed that was bolted to the wall behind it. From what Adagio could infer, it was bolted to the wall in order to protect the cords and plugs from any sort of tinkering or unplugging. There was a light on the top border of the screen next to a built-in webcam. With all that was strange about this setup, there was one thing she recognized: that stark white text on the pitch-black background. Now, there was only a pair of words flashing on the screen: “Please, sit.”

Nervous what the director was going to do this time, she sat down on the bed and took another deep breath. Just as she did so, she flinched as an image suddenly appeared on screen. There was now a live feed with what seemed to be a man’s dark blue t-shirt obscuring the lens of whatever camera was broadcasting. “Dammit. Never have this shit set up when I NEED it, do I?”, Red Room’s voice said, though now it was coming from the monitor. Adagio felt apprehensive when she realized what was happening. Was she…about to see the director’s face? She didn’t know what to expect, given his obvious line of work. After a few more swears, the t-shirt moved away from the lens to reveal this faceless director, and what Adagio saw on the screen was…rather different than what she expected.

Where she expected to sit an old bastard more wrinkled than worn leather, there sat a person who, given his look, could’ve been at Canterlot High with her and her sisters. His hair was a deep red, slicked back against his head, revealing his pale face. He was a bigger individual, implying a short lifetime of staring at a screen for multiple hours out of the day. He wore a pair of shooting range shades with orange lenses, his eyes darting between multiple different things as he tapped away on his keyboard.

After a moment of typing, the director turned his attention to his webcam. His eyes scrunched up into a squint before he tossed his shades aside, quickly replacing them with a pair of wide framed spectacles. After a few blinks, he looked at the webcam once again before smiling a…it wouldn’t be called the FRIENDLIEST smile. More of a “I’m trying my best to be a real person, but I don’t know how” kind of eerie grin. After a moment of silence, he said to her. “Well…good to finally see you live and in person…or, whatever the fuck a video chat could be classed as.” He gave a slightly awkward chuckle and rubbed the back of his head.

Adagio looked around, not entirely sure how to respond. Deciding that now, she was NOT in the mood for pleasantries, she crossed her arms and tapped her foot impatiently, glaring daggers into the director. “Hate to tell you, Mr. Red Room, but I’d rather you clarify EXACTLY what me and my sisters are doing in this horror show.”

Red Room looked at her for a moment before sighing and rubbing his eyes, as if disappointed by her reaction. With a deep breath he said, “Ok. I’m just gonna try to answer as many questions as that one would infer.” He leaned back in his chair and said as he looked at her, “We talkin practically? Then you were the best candidates I could think of that weren’t old drunk hobos or smack addicts to lead in this thing. Also, a lotta people would pay admission based on your name alone being attached to a Valiant production.” He then leaned forward and said, “But if we’re talkin about from a director’s standpoint? It’s because…I wanna show the humanity you girls have.”

Adagio looked at him with a baffled expression. What was this fat bastard babbling on about? Their HUMANITY? This man had to be more mental than she took him for at first.

Red Room saw the expression on her face and smirked knowingly. “Well…whatever you are, I know for a fact you aren’t a monster.”, he said as he drummed his fingers on his desk. He continued with a serious tone in his voice as he said, “A monster wouldn’t bother taking care of their sisters after such a tragedy left them destitute, barely scraping by.”

Adagio looked at him with shock evident on her face. This was the same man that, not a few moments ago, was making morbid jokes and throwing her into danger. This man was an absolute enigma, to put it mildly. “So…so you know about all that, then?”, she said timidly, unsure of how to take his words…or the fact that he was watching her for a while.

Red Room nodded his head and said, “Yes, ma’am. I’ve paid attention to any mention of you after that Canterlot High incident. I thought to myself, ‘Red Room, how in the hell can something so big and terrible happen, and NO ONE follows up with the perpetrators?’ I wanted some answers to that burning question.” He then leaned forward and said, “And when I started digging around for those answers, what I saw surprised me.” Red Room began to swivel in his chair as he articulated his view. “I DIDN’T see three heartless harlots who were hell bent on world domination. No, what I saw…was a trio of sisters, deeply connected through misfortune, surviving in a world that would see them starve slowly to death.”

Adagio sighed when he said it like that, rubbing her arms with an expression of worry evident on her face as she said, “I do hope that their safe…for your sake.” She said that last segment with a bit of venom, silently warning the director that if so much as a hair on their head was out of place, he would be the next kill…and it WOULD make it in.

Red Room…clearly did not take kindly to the insinuation. His eyes darkened, his brow shadowing them as he angled his head downward, glaring up at her over his frames. With a deep breath, he said in a strained voice, “I’m…going to forgive the implication of that statement. These girls are your sisters, so I fully expect you to be worried about them. But…I can assure you Miss Dazzle, I will NOT allow your sisters to come to harm. I swear upon the grave of my father, you WILL see them again. After all that you’ve given them, I will not have it all ruined on account of some stab happy prick.” He then shook his head and said, “Sorry, it’s just…I don’t like it when people question my integrity as a director. I worked hard to get this

Adagio looked on at the director as he delivered his monologue. She had to admit, she was…awestruck, on a certain level. Anything that she did for herself or her sisters, she always just brushed off as a necessity, or at the very least a courtesy to her fallen sisters and comrades. The way that the director put it, it sounded so much more…weighty. Impactful. Like those actions were some of the most important that they ever took. After a moment of silence, she said in a thoughtful tone, “So…any good deed that I did for my sisters…you knew about?”

Red Room nodded his head and was about to continue before he looked down at the floor and gave a sigh as he said, “Dammit, I just admitted to knowing your life up to now.” He then pinched the bridge of his nose and growled, “Look, it was reported from my firm, mainly. How THEY got the info…I have no idea, I just pay ‘em. Probably best I DON’T know.”

Adagio, beginning to feel more comfortable as the conversation went on, gave a coy grin and said, “Oh? Back peddled rather quickly on that, didn’t you?” She crossed her legs and said, “Are you sure you weren’t just…admiring three ladies from afar?”

Red Room looked at her for a moment, the gears in his head clearly creaking along before he chuckled and said, “Oh, very funny, smartass. You are lucky you are one of my stars and you’re cute. Elsewise you’d be red paint.”

Adagio nodded her head and smirked smugly before swiveling around a bit in her chair in thought. She then said in a contemplative tone, “So…to summarize, you’re saying that you’re doing all of this in order to…prove something to the world? That seems…overly convoluted, if I’m to be blunt.”

Red Room waved a hand and said, “Nah, nah, I completely agree.” He then shrugged and said with an almost guilty smirk, “Honestly, this was the best way I could kill two birds with one stone. I mean, you need to have people discover your humanity, so you don’t have to live on the streets anymore, and I need to produce something before Papa’s old clientele get pissy and decide to skin me…”

Adagio did a double take when he finished his sentence. “W-wait…so you mean to tell me that that company your minion mentioned, Valient…it was--?”

“All a front for a MASSIVE snuff-slash-porno empire.”, he said with a genuine gleeful expression, almost like he was…proud of the legacy. “Gotta say, when I made the tweaks to the policy on who we picked up, damn thing was a lot less…I dunno, gross? Eh, only word I can think of.” After that aside, he looked at another screen and squinted at it for a bit as he said, “Unfortunately, we may have to continue this conversation tomorrow. It’s getting to be sunrise, and you should get some rest. I put you through hell of an audition.”

He leaned back and smiled a…strange smile, at least to Adagio. It wasn’t like that weird one he opened with, nor was it like any of his snarky smirks. It was…genuine. An honest to goodness genuine smile, like he CARED if she got a decent night’s sleep for the next night, truly. She gave him a small smirk and said, “Well, a snuff director who cares about his leads…that can’t be good for business.” She then chuckled and hopped over to the bed, stretching out across it before looking back at the cam and saying in mock accusation, “Are you just trying to film me sleeping for another ‘production’, Mr. Red Room?”

The director cackled at that and said, “C’mon, pretty miss. One project at a time, here.” He then shook his head and said, “Joking aside, goodnight Miss Dazzle. There’s a spare change of clothes under the bed when you wanna shower, and I’ll check on you bit by bit during the night to make sure you’re safe.”

After a chuckle at the man’s conscientiousness and planning, she said in a softer tone, “Understood. Goodnight, Mr. Director.” With another stretch, she slowly closed her eyes, the fatigue of the night finally catching up with her. Good sleep on a real bed…finally. A

Red Room smiled as he watched her drift off. He had to admit, he felt rather proud of himself. He was able to give this lady a sense of control, a thing she and her sisters hadn’t had in quite some time. Not only that, but he knew for a FACT that she and her sisters would bond stronger than ever over this, and that gave him a visceral sense of satisfaction. Of course, giving a well earned ten-thousand to each of his new stars wouldn’t be bad either. After yawning and setting his alarm for two hours from then, he instinctively smacked the back of his neck as he felt a…tingling sensation on his neck. He could swear that there was a bug or…SOMETHING. When he pulled his hand away, though, there wasn’t a carcass or wing to be seen on his palm. Damn…that tingling was still on his neck. He shrugged, figuring it was probably just some weird itch that’d go away in the morning. He quickly climbed into his bed to the right of his setup and yawned as the screens of his control center dimmed slowly, putting his first night in the business to an end…

Author's Note

Sorry for the delay! Dealing with school stuff. Also, kinda wanted to humanize my version of the director a bit. Lemme know your thoughts!

Intermission 1.2 - Warm-ups

Adagio stepped out of the shower, rejuvenated from the warm water and various cleaning products. It felt as if she was taking her first step on a path of self renewal, shedding the sins and misfortunes of her past before taking her first tentative steps down a new path. As she gathered up her clothes to change, she looked out the window looking over Shade City. She had to admit, through the filthy high rises and rusted out cars, the overhanging sun had a certain beauty to it. It was like the neon sign over the doors of a seedy hotel, a warm and inviting presence luring hapless fools into its dark corridors. She gave a chuckle, seeing a lot of the siren nature in the city in that moment.

She carefully laid out the clothes that were provided for her on the bed, comprised of a dark fuchsia tee and black skinny jeans. After looking over her outfit, she looked at her reflection in the window. She was the cleanest she had ever been, her orange hair now clinging close to her head as the water dripped off it and down her now immaculate skin. She smiled at her reflection, proud that she and her sisters kept their beauty through all their hardships. Truly, it was the only thing they believed they had left, aside from each other.

When their pendants were shattered, and their voices lost to them, they discovered quickly that they didn’t just lose their conduit for their power. After their time surviving on the streets, their powers mattered less and less to them. What TRULY cut them deep was losing that part of what could be considered their identities. They are three sirens, and not one of them could so much as hold pitch anymore. A siren who can’t sing…in Adagio’s mind, what good was that worth? What good was SHE worth? It was good they had each other and their beauty, for if they did not…Adagio shuddered at the thought of what could have been.

In the middle of her pondering, she was pulled from it with an almost boisterous voice behind her. “Morning, Miss Dazzle! Good to see you up bright and early for another night of murder, stealth, and other such fuckery.”, the voice said. Adagio’s head immediately snapped to the source of the voice, quickly realizing that Red Room was back in his seat on the other end of the feed, twirling a spoon in his right hand as he held a bowl of cereal in his left. He was wrapped in a bath robe and was clearly wet, as if fresh out of the shower as well. Red Room gave a small greeting salute with his spoon before eating some of his breakfast, smiling as he seemed to be waiting for a response.

Adagio, not a modest sort by any means, gave a little smirk and said coyly to the director, “Trying to watch a young lady get dressed, huh? Shouldn’t be surprised, given your…profession.” She then gave a small giggle and sat down on the bed, letting the air dry her out slowly as she relaxed, crossing her legs in an almost goading gesture.

Red Room chuckled and leaned back, eating another spoonful of cereal before saying, “As wonderful as that show’d be, honestly, that shit’s up to you. Change on camera or not, all the same to me. Besides, can’t have myself distracted on a work night.” He quickly finished off his bowl and chugged the milk that was in it before setting it aside and tapping away at a keyboard just out of shot, saying as he stared at the screen, “Speaking of work, I got some info for ya about where to look next. Good news: you won’t have to deal with the Jury much longer. Gang took a MASSIVE hit with that little show we put on at the high rise. Foot soldiers, lieutenants, even the leader of the gang got pinched in that raid.”

With a sigh of relief, Adagio smiled widely and said, “Fantastic. Narrows the field with finding my sisters, I’m guessing.” She began to fidget, thinking about how she’d react to seeing them again. Even after just that one night, it felt like an eternity since she saw their faces. She went through hell, fighting her way to freedom…with a massive amount of blood shed. She paused for thought at the idea of revealing that to her sisters. Despite their…history, both in Equestria and here, they had never directly killed anyone. Sonata never had the stomach for it, so they avoided it for her sake...

…Well, perhaps more accurately for them at the time, they couldn’t stand her whining about how “icky” it made her feel. Adagio could feel herself wince at the thought that they would treat her so coldly.

Red Room noticed her expression but thought it best to not say anything at that time. Best thing for her right now would be to learn how to get her sisters back. Leave playing psychiatrist until they’re all safe and together. He continued his previous line of thinking as he said, “Bad news: the gang seems to have gone to ground. I’ve checked damn near every camera I’ve got set up in their territory and it’s like I’m looking at stills here.” He then clicked on something on another monitor and said, “Wait a sec…ok, I got movement in the old courthouse. If I can guess from his mask, I…I think that’s the gang’s information broker.” Red Room nodded his head vigorously and said, “Yeah, that’s DEFINITELY him. I’ve seen him skulking around some crime scenes during the day. Ones that the gang hit up the following night. He’s inside the courthouse, doubt he’s alone.”

Adagio listened closely, her mind running through every hypothetical way this next little “scene” could play out. If there were others with him, they were obviously staying out of sight, if they were there at all. A straight shot through the front door would be suicide in the best case scenario, so that was completely out of the question.

Adagio thought for a moment more before saying, “I’ll sneak around the building. A former public building of that size HAS to have more than just one entrance, regardless of age.”

Red Room smirked at her analytical tone. “Well, well, look at you killer!”, he said in a teasing tone. He continued with, “Barely a full day of killing and already you’re planning out your next job like a pro. I didn’t…awaken anything in you, did I?” He added a wink on that last statement.

Adagio quickly strapped on her boots as she stated bluntly, “My sisters are in danger. You learn to adapt rather quick in that situation, Mr. Director.” Her head was on a swivel as she looked around the room, lips moving in a silent mental inventory as she placed a hand on her jean pocket, feeling the bump the knife made in it.

Red Room, with that same smirk on his face, reached down and pressed a few keys before turning around and pressing a button on a massive switchboard behind him. This caused another makeshift drawbridge to drop just outside the window. He then gave a deep breath and said, “Showtime, pretty mama.”

Adagio gave a nod and opened the window, turning around and giving him a nod and smile before walking on the bridge into the shadow cast by the setting sun. This caused Red Room to chuckle and crack his neck as he brought all of the cameras up. He said into his mic, and therefore into Adagio’s ear, “Cameras on, quiet on set…speed…and…ACTION!”