Meanwhile, back at the docks...

Corvus was not having a good night. And on that note, the captain, was also not having a good night. In fact, it might also highly unlikely for said captain to have a good night ever again.

"Lee, put him on life support," Corvus sighed as he stepped out of the warehouse. "Starve him for a week. Give him a good beating every now and then. After that, kill him. Oh, and don't forget to document it. Put in online. You know the drill."

He spoke quietly, making sure to keep his voice devoid of any emotion. Amy and Jacob followed closely behind him as Lee gave him a quick nod and made his way inside.

Corvus liked the trio. They've been through a lot together, even if they don't quite get along with each other. And strangely enough, he was friends with the whole three of them. They just don't like each other very much.

They kept things proffesional; didn't let anything get in the way of their work. Something Corvus both appreciated and dreaded at the same time. They worked for him now, but who knows when that'll change.

He didn't enjoy violence, especially torture. Torture was dumb. At some point, people just start singing to make it stop. The pain was an effective motivator. Too effective. It made people dishonest. A bit too eager to please.

So, what was all this for?

Well, crows are crafty little shits. Give them an inch, and they'll take a mile. You can make the rules, but they'll find loopholes. Excuses to screw people over. Things go well enough for a long time and they'll start letting it get into their head. They think they're untouchable and start doing dumb crap. And that's why it's important to show them what happens when someone gets caught. You either make scarecrows, or set a few examples.

Which brings us to our current situation.

"Line up." Corvus walked up to the front of the crowd, his voice even as he watched them all.

They didn't seem to notice how irritated he was at the moment, going by how they moved slowly, still chattering with each other like kids on a courtyard.

What are you, highschoolers? He thought to himself, only to frown as he realized that some of them probably were. He really should raise the age requirements. Just go home already, you bloody junkies.

He mentally clicked his tongue, still trying to look composed as he searched the crowd.

He found his targets;

  -A scrawny man with a thug-ish appearance maybe somewhere around his 30s.

  -A middle aged man, looked like the average salaryman. Somewhere around his 50s.

  -And a plain looking young lady, maybe somewhere around her early 20s.

Sucks to be them, Corvus huffed to himself as he gestured to Amy.

There was a short scream as the frantic popping sound of a taser could be heard. The middle aged man falls to the ground and the crowd quickly forms a circle to make room. The other two targets sank back into the crowd, wearing a very reasonable look of surprise and worry, which was shared by the majority.

A little bit of honesty went a long way when it came to hiding. Corvus knew that very well.

He stood quietly as Amy dragged the man's twitching body towards him and waited for the crowd to quiet down.

"Now then," He continued, pulling a knife out from his sleeve. "Do any of you know why we're here?"

There was silence; he was sure they didn't but that wasn't a problem. At least not anymore. He just got used to it.

"Well, let's go back to the beginning." His voice was flat as usual. It often made people nervous so he just sort of stuck to it. It was a habit at this point, really.

"March 7." He begun as he started toying with the knife on his hand, tossing it into the air and manevering it about with his fingers. "The raid. We retrieved 3 individuals, all with... questionable characteristics, along with some evidence of illegal, unsavory behaviour occuring right outside the city. Two of said individuals currently remain in our custody, and are currently being provided for with the best of our ability."

He starts pacing back and forth, keeping an eye on the crowd's reaction as he did. They seemed somewhat curious, if a little worried.

"And I'll tell you this now; Back off. They're children." He paused and glared at the crowd, dropping whatever semblance of formality for now. It emphasized the point, even if it felt stiff on his tongue. "Keep them out of this."

Not much protest there. Surprising, Corvus thought to himself but continued nonetheless.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"Anyway, I did say we retrieved 3 of them, right? Well, March Twenty. Fucking. Four:" He didn't even try to hide the hate in his voice as he emphasized the last three words, taking a single step for every single one. "Escort gets ambushed, and we lose the 3rd one before he even steps into the city."

He switched the pronouns around, just to throw them off track. It'll buy some time, and it's subtle enough that they won't notice it was intentional. It was probably a bit too convoluted, but a little paranoia never hurt. It's why there were fire exits, after all.

"Would you all like to know who that was?" He shot the crowd another glare. "I'm pretty sure some of you know him pretty well. A few stabs, maybe a cut here and there. Maybe he even killed a few of your friends."

The Crows stirred and there was chattering again. It didn't show on his face but Corvus was satisfied with how worked up they were.

"Now, what if I told you all of that wasn't supposed to happen?" Corvus stopped. He caught the knife in his hand and remained still. He had their attention now.

"I'll get to the point: A certain someone," Corvus shot a glare at the paralyzed man lying down in front of him. The look of pure dread on the older man's face felt absolutely disgusting to him. "Sold us out. Let a few outsiders," He gritted his teeth and practically hissed the last word out.

The city was already getting to him. Everything outside seemed so goddamn stupid and pointless to him in comparison. All the petty squabbles got into his nerves. It used to be much quieter around these parts.

"Get the drop on us and now there's 32 people dead, and that's just us. But as if that's not bad enough, we also had to deal with a fucking Ghost for a whole. Fucking. Month.

"And now the fucking idiots try some flashy crap and now, all the eyes out there, well, they're all on us. Center. Fucking. Stage!"

He crouched as the chattering grew louder, just to get a bit closer to the man's face before continuing. Their voices grated at his ears, and it irritated him to no end.

"So, here's the deal." Corvus said, sinking right back into the calm blankness he always wore as he pressed the tip of the knife against the man's forehead. "I'm going to let you go."

Shouting. Protest. It was all so predicable. Corvus raised a finger to the air, signaling them all that he wasn't done quite yet.

"But I'll have to gouge your eyes out." The crowd settles down. Some looked unnerved, the others seemed satisfied. "And I mean both of them."

The look of absolute dread on the man's face felt absolutely disgusting to Corvus. He thinks he doesn't deserve any of this, does he? The thought pissed him off more than he thought it would.

But he made sure to keep it from showing in his face. A bad temper made you look emotional. Stupid. Malleable. He had to be cold. Unpredictable. A little anger every now helps, as long as it doesn't go too far.

"But I'm feeling nice today, so I'll give you a way out." He turned towards the other two marks, still hiding in the crowd, and made eye contact.

"I know who you are." There was confusion amongst the innocent, and panic amongst the guilty. Same as usual. A bit more panic than expected, and a few overly exaggerated looks of confusion. He took note of all the reactions and set it aside for later. Better a false positive than something straight out of the blue. "He's your friend, right? You can step up right now and I won't blind him. Not totally anyway."

Nobody moved, only a few accusing stares here and there. Typical.

"Of course, I'll have to take an eye from you too. Collective responsibility and all that. Depending on how much of you step up, who knows, maybe I'll just gash your face for a bit. Scars are pretty cool these days, aren't they?" Of course he might rub some salt into the wound but he didn't say that.

Still nothing. Corvus sighed, it was always like this. But then again, it's less about about confessions and more about keeping them in line. He waited, before continuing.

"Really? No one? You must all be really nice people, getting a few criminals killed." They stirred again at that one. "And left your friend here hanging while you were at it too."

He chuckled humorlessly as he pressed the tip of his knife against an eyelid.

"Ah, whatever. I won't judge." He faced the man, even as he kept addressing the crowd.. "Just know that I'm watching. And you're all next on the chopping board. And don't try to hide. I'll find you. If not today, then tomorrow. Or the day after that. Or the day after that. Or the day after... you get the point."

He sighed, relaxing a bit as he stared the man right in the eye.

"Looks like you're on your own, bud." The man screamed as the tasers started wearing off. It hurt Corvus' ears but he continued anyway.

It had to be a show, otherwise nothing would come of it. He had to carve the memory into everyone's heads before they got any bloody ideas. A scarecrow and an example.

Good enough. He thought to himself as he gave the knife a little push. It slowly made its way, piercing through the eyelids, and then scraped against the eye socket. The knife squeezed at the eye as Corvus made a few attempts to scoop it out.

Screaming. Cringing. And someone crouched down on the floor, covering their ears. Nothing out of the ordinary.

A few tries and the eyeball pops out, still connected to a stretched stem. He took his time slicing through that. It was wet, slimy, and slippery, so it was actually quite hard to cut it off. There's also the fact that throwing knives weren't particularly good for cutting.

The body twitched wildly every time he sawed at the stalk, so he had to reposition himself a few times. He didn't really mind the struggle. It was natural. The man didn't deserve blame for that. But punishment is still punishment. If not for him, then for someone else.

Corvus let his mind wander as did his work, completely uninterested in any of it.

He still had to make plans. June was a welcome change, even if she did throw a few months worth of planning down the drain.

Keeping Seven and hiding her from the rest of the Crows was a stupid idea anyway. Unlike the twins, the Crows didn't have any reason to hunt her down. At the very least, he's got their attention off of her for now.

The eyeball falls to the ground with a splat. For a moment, he was tempted to kick it away but decided to pick it up for now. The screaming didn't stop, and he could still hear muttering. The man was still conscious. That was good, even if all the yelling was annoying. It made Corvus look more ruthless.

Well, time for the other one. He sighed as he tossed the knife in his hand away; it was already too slick with blood and slime to be useful.

And so, he pulled out another one and went right back to work. The screams wouldn't stop. Of course they wouldn't.

Corvus was not having a good night.