image [https://i.imgur.com/gsNz2Z5.png]
Harker glared at the others as they bickered. Merrun kept pounding the table and telling slender Kernona at the next seat over that Ticosi had been captured and was being interrogated by the King’s secret police and their shadowy leader Azure, who might or might not be the Marchioness deRouche, whose inbred idiocy was the perfect disguise. He was saying the entire Lows organization needed to get out of town while they still could. Kernona was nodding, and several of the others were listening. Priyam was advocating for a wait-and-see approach, thankfully, but Harker didn’t like how he kept prowling at the far end of the table, watching her like a cat about to pounce. If he tried to take her spot as second in command, Bann would back him, and a couple of the others might, too.
Harker planted her fists on the table and tried to look mean and confident. If Priyam smelled so much as a hint of fear, he’d jump on it. As much as she’d have loved to let somebody else corral these grunting idiots right now, the only way she’d ever step down as second in command was if someone killed her for it. The Big Man was counting on her, damn him, and she was going to show these snakes why he’d trusted her all these years.
“Enough chatter,” she barked, quelling the noise. “The boss has left us a time or two before and it’s always turned out fine, hasn’t it? A few of you might have even heard him talking about big plans he was laying with some outlander types. No, I don’t know any more about it than you do, don’t be stupid, but all this panic has got to stop. Merrun, what shopkeep would pay your protection if they could see you sweating and bawling right now? Are you a baby at the tit?”
The fat man bolted up, clenching his big stupid fist around his big stupid hooked dagger that he made such a big fuss over. “Say that again, bitch.”
She’d hoped he’d bite. She stood up straight, let the threat hang in the air and suppress the last of the murmuring in the room, and then kicked her chair back and walked right over to him. She had a good hand of height on him, and it was bone-deep satisfying to loom over his pasty, balding head. He might be a fat man, but she had just as much bulk, and it was all muscle. “Are you a baby at the tit?” she said. Soft. Dangerous.
“You can’t talk to us like that, Hark,” he mumbled, looking down and letting go of his knife. “You’re not the Big Man.”
“Best thank the Twins I’m not,” she said, stepping back and letting the tension fade. “He’d hang you from the Maidenhead Fountain by your guts if you talked to him like that.” The confrontation had done the trick – the others were focused on her, and there was less fear humming in the room. Nothing brought these lowlifes to heel like someone showing teeth. “You know Ticosi leaves me in charge when he’s gone, and it’s on all of us to keep things in order until he’s back. That’s how things work. If you think that needs changing, we can have words.” She very carefully did not look at Priyam, and he very carefully did not look at her as he finally took his seat.
“Kernona, have we cleared the books from the tournament, or are there still outstanding debts?” she said. There was business to be done, and the last thing she wanted was for Ticosi to be disappointed in her when he finally came back. Where are you, you son of a bitch? He might disappear without telling the others, but he always told her when he was leaving town. She hadn’t slept solid in two weeks, and it was getting worse by the day. It wasn’t as if she missed him, but he kept the Lows in line, and even after all these years she wasn’t sure she was up to the task of taking over.
To the others, Ticosi was a mystery, a bad dream wearing a leather trenchcoat who could show up anywhere and who seemed to know everything. Only Harker saw the work he put into it all. He was cruel, yes, and unpredictable, but he bled for it nearly as much as anyone else. She couldn’t count the number of times she’d turned a corner with him after torturing a shopkeep or terrorizing the locals only to have to catch him as he swooned, blood dripping from his eyes like tears as the war between Chaos and Order tore at his body and left him shaking and sobbing. Three separate times she’d had to track down someone who’d seen it happen and get rid of them. At that moment, she’d have gladly murdered a whole building’s worth of lookie-loos if it meant he’d stride through the door and tell them all of the new game he was running up in the Palace district or out among the outlanders.
Most of the others thought she was his doxy and made jokes about his bad taste in whores, but she’d long since grown a callus on her heart. She knew she was ugly; what of it? Ticosi himself had kept the joke going. When he’d seen early on how much it bothered her, he made a point of playing to the rumors, calling her beautiful and patting her ass in public. He only did it if someone was looking. He’d told her he was toughening her up, giving her status – and both of those things were true – but she’d run with him long enough to know that he just liked causing pain.
She’d hated him for that, but she hadn’t let it get in the way. If her pride ever reared its head, she reminded herself of the facts. She was the only one of his lieutenants allowed to have more than five cards. She had the run of the neighborhood and paid a lower rate on her independent scores than anyone else was allowed to even know about. None of the others dared cross her when he was around, not even Priyam. And if Ticosi were to ever get himself killed, the Lows were hers. If that day really had arrived, she would steel herself, step up despite not feeling ready, and jump into action to secure her position. Until she was sure, though, she’d continue to keep the others in line and on task in case he returned. To do otherwise was a sure path to a slit throat.
The necessary affairs of the meeting ground on, all of Ticosi’s lieutenants reporting on their take for the month and forking over the Big Man’s share, every last one of them doing their level best to weasel out of whatever clip and copper they could. She was used to it. This was the business of the Lows. Ticosi often told her that all the ugly pettiness of what they did was feeding a larger plan, and she reminded herself of it now. He said a better world was coming. It might even be true.
Then the front wall of their meetinghouse disappeared.
The noise was so loud it felt like the world was ending, and the whole building swayed and creaked alarmingly, but when the dust cleared, the ceiling hadn’t fallen in, and the last light of day filtered in to where Merrun was sprawled on his back calling for help. The others all had weapons drawn and were shouting in confusion.
A single figure strode in through the swirling dust and debris. It was hulking and dangerous in a spiked suit of armor she was sure she’d seen before, with a glowing amulet bouncing on its chest. The gauntleted hand raised the helm’s visor, revealing a distressingly familiar face.
It was that little shit Hull.
“Take him,” she yelled, pointing at him. Thankfully, no less than half of the enforcers in the room surged forward.
“You don’t want to do that,” Hull warned, shaking his head.
A host of demons swarmed through the obscuring dust, howling, gibbering, and ugly. The roomful of thugs, so confident a bare second before, yelled and scrambled for whatever cover they could find toward the rear of the room. Bann and Merrun were both yanking at the doorknob leading back to the rooms behind, but they got in each others’ way long enough for a flying demon-thing to sail over, toss them both aside, and bar the exit.
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“Weapons down and hands empty if you want to keep breathing,” Hull commanded, his voice cutting through the ruckus. His other demons prowled the room, looking eagerly for any signs of resistance.
Harker knew a coup when she saw one, and she was the only one close enough to the gaping hole leading out to the street to do anything about it. The swarm of demons were all focused on others for a brief second, and she bolted through the dust, already planning how and when she’d come back and ruin the boy’s plans.
A purple, taloned hand nearly as tall as the boy swept out of nowhere, bowling her over and knocking her back into the room. She landed on her ass gasping, nose bloody and mind awhirl. What was that? When her eyes cleared, she looked out where the front wall had been. The dust had settled enough for her to see what had stopped her, and her heart dropped. The biggest Twins-damned monster she’d ever seen blocked the way. Even squatting as it was, its head higher than the second story windows.
“Do stay for a bit,” it rumbled, its basso voice incredibly loud. “I may be killing you in a moment, but meanwhile, we might as well all be friends.”
She trembled at the sound – more like thunder than a spoken word – and looked around, realizing that with a single swipe it had removed the entire front face of the building, all five floors of it. People above were screaming and praying.
“Ignore the big bastard,” Hull said, sounding like the cocky little garbage rat he was. “Or, you know, maybe remember it’s there, but it’s a better idea to pay attention to its Summoner first.”
The icy unease in Harker’s guts that had been growing for two weeks suddenly formed spikes. The Big Man had said he was going to take the boy’s cards when the tournament was over, but she hadn’t seen him since. No one had. She’d assumed he’d gone out into the city or beyond – he’d been back and forth in and out of the Coliseum multiple times a day throughout the competition – but now a thought formed, and it felt like the truth.
“You killed him,” she rasped.
The boy looked as serious as she’d ever seen him before, even when he’d been scuttling around the shadows trying to escape her notice back before it had all gone wrong that day with Skop. The two man-sized demons flanking him raked him with their claws, and a bolt of energy leapt from the amulet around his neck, shattering a chair and making everyone jump. Seven Nether source circled his head, and he had a hand full of cards. If he’d used this army of Souls as his opening statement, what else was he holding? The others were still as mice against the far walls.
Making sure he had every eye in the room, Hull reached into the recesses of one gauntlet and pulled out a card, laying it on the table in front of him. Everyone inched forward to get a look without calling attention to themselves. Harker got to her feet to take a peek, keeping well clear of the demons.
image [https://i.imgur.com/jgcEClF.png]
Her head swam and she clutched at the edge of the table to keep from falling. “You actually did it,” she whispered. “You son of a whore, how did you end up being the one?” The world swam in front of her. Of all the ways she’d thought the old snake would go, she’d never imagined something like this. A month ago Hull had been less than a rat in the walls.
He ignored her words, speaking loudly to the others. “The Big Man is dead. I killed him.”
Silence met his words, and Harker thought she could almost sense a dozen minds starting to calculate just like hers. If the Big Man was dead, any one of them might be the Big Man.
“This is my home,” Hull said, sounding angry. “I’ve been living on these streets as long as I can remember, and nearly every one of you has taken a swing at me a time or two. You may not remember, but I sure as hell do.”
It was Priyam who stepped forward, of course. “Give me the card, kid. You might stand half a chance of waking up tomorrow if you do.”
Hull stared at him disbelievingly, and another bolt of energy leapt from his talisman, blowing a hole in the wall two feet from Priyam’s head. “If you want the card, come take it. I’m right here.”
No one moved.
“I’m the Big Man now,” Hull announced into the silence. “You work for me or you die right here. Who wants to be red paint? Raise your hand or summon your source; we can make it quick.”
If she stood a chance of ever dislodging this little tick, Harker had to speak up now, no matter the cost. “That’s not how it works, boy. You don’t just show up and take over.”
He pointed to the card. “This says I do.” Then he gestured to his team of demons. “These say I do.” One of his Nether balls dipped low and dimmed, and a gleaming hammer appeared in his hand. “So does this.”
image [https://i.imgur.com/mT9BNOU.png]
Harker’s heart burned. She wanted to snatch Ticosi’s card from the table and run. I paid the price all these years; that card should be mine! If she’d thought she had a hair’s chance of surviving, she would have gone for it. She didn’t have Chaos, but she could learn to cultivate it somehow. She’d summon the old snake, use him as an advisor, hear his plans and make them her own. It wasn’t supposed to go like this.
“You can’t expect us to negotiate with these things breathing down our necks,” Kernona said indignantly. “Let’s do business like adults.”
“Oh, this isn’t negotiation,” Hull said grimly. “This is me telling you how the world works now.”
“All right,” Harker said, unable to take her eyes off the card. She could appease the boy, let him think he was in charge. Once she got her hands on Ticosi’s card, it would turn around. The others would rally behind her, and she could kill this little piece of shit nice and slow. “Tell us what you want. We’re listening.”
“I don’t think you really are,” the boy said. “Let’s fix that.”
He devoted all his remaining source, and the Hammer streaked through the air in a purple haze. Harker saw what he was doing and screamed “Wait!” She reached out a hand – too late.
The Hammer landed on Ticosi’s card. The table beneath it exploded, and everyone jumped back with oaths and cursing. Harker fell to her knees, scrambling into the wreckage, heedless of the splinters that jabbed at her hands and legs. There, in the middle of it all, were two large shards – one white, one red, both edged in gold – and a handful of glittering dust. Nothing more.
Ticosi Santhedrus, the Big Man of the Lows, was destroyed. Gone forever. She stared at the shards, numb. All of her plans would have to change, and she wasn’t even sure how yet. The boy had wrecked everything.
She lost herself in thought, and when she came back to herself, the idiots who had run the Lows until five minutes ago were yelling at the top of their lungs, proclaiming Hull a monster and a heretic for breaking a man’s card – as if they’d ever given two shits about the Church of the Twins and its rules. They were clinging to the power they couldn’t yet see they’d lost.
“Things are going to change in the Lows,” Hull was saying, his voice grim and rock steady. “I’m not just a new boss, and you’re not just going to be thugs. We’re going to make this a better place to live.”
Harker stood to get the others’ attention. If they weren’t careful, they’d get her killed alongside the rest of them. She’d be happy enough to watch their blood flow, but she had things she wanted to do yet. Namely, grind this gutter boy into the dirt and proclaim herself the proper successor to Ticosi. She could see, though, that the path between here and there was a twisty and dangerous one, and it would require some play-acting on her part. Fortunately, she knew how to swallow her pride.
Making a show of it, she knelt in front of Hull. “Maybe we need a change,” she said, hoping Priyam and the rest were wise enough to follow her lead. She’d need their help before all was said and done. “I may not be your favorite person, Hull, but I know how to follow and how to help you.”
The armored feet stepped close to her, the shining hammer swinging gently by his thigh. “I thought I’d have to kill you,” he said, sounding surprised. “It’d be real nice not to.”
She swallowed her rage and looked up at the kid. He was just a kid, no matter what cards he had, no matter how he’d managed to best Ticosi. She’d have him in the ground by the end of the month. “I’ll be your best enforcer,” she promised, trying to sound as sincere as she knew how. “I’ll do whatever you ask.”
He peered down at her distrustfully. “How the hell am I supposed to trust you?”
The words came out before she had a chance to think about them, but she knew they were the right ones even as they hit the air. “Because I follow the Big Man.”
“And now that’s you.”