"As long as we get one I'm sure these rats will scatter."

*** An Unknown Amount of Time Later ***

A room in an unclear part of the city. It could have been downtown somewhere, could have been in the outskirts. Its location was simply not known.

Likewise, while its location shrouded in secrecy, so was its inside.

Ambient lights, if the room had any, were off, a few torches lined the walls instead. But despite the added flames, the room stood too dark to identify. An electric light stood at the top of the room; though its glow restricted, it projected a circle onto a round table. Lighting the circumference of the table, not enough to identify the material or objects present yet, but enough to show that many people sat at this table.

Unseen were three empty chairs as well. The first owner was not old enough to have a seat, the second had voluntary given it up and the third lay sitting in a jail cell, far, far away from this room.

A single light bulb, crowded by a lampshade of a strange symbol hung from ceiling as well, directly in the centre of the round table. It projected a perfect hexagram, revealing the table as being made of some ancient, long forgotten bark. It only further added to the strangeness of the room.

There was a low rumble that was just barely audible to the guests. And the whole place just faintly smelled of sulphur and smoke. Murmurs were present too, but loud enough to discern its purpose.

"Two attacks." A motherly voice spoke, commanding silence. It had a rough tinge to it, but as she spoke they all listened.

"IRIS and The Greater Good." She paused. "I don't mind it; hell knows those people deserve it and worse."

"But...?" A second voice. Sarcastic in tone, it also hinted at curiosity. Unseen it had a smile wider than any of the other participants. Its voice sounded androgynous, gender unknown.

"This recent attack not only damaged our supply lines in the northeast, it also took out a member of this. Very. Council. The nun." The feminine voice continued.

"I've heard that her and that gopnik are going to prison for a long time." A younger voice snickered. It had similar qualities to the woman, but still developing. His voice remained deeper than hers, eliciting a sort of bored, pretentious drawl. An upper classmen, even if he refused the title.

"The nun? She was barely a member. She wasn't one of us." A feminine voice, different from the first one spoke up. She sounded more bratty, words rounded as if she was smiling as she spoke. Unseen, she played with her long nails.

"Wait. Did she give up the council?" The upper-classmen asked.

"Not to our knowledge. She did act alone. We didn't sanction her to go and blow up that spot." The motherly voice responded.

"Yes, yes. But her arrest and church wasn't the only things that happened. It brought those two companies into an alliance." A fourth voice added quickly. He spoke similar to the woman, with authority and security. He had a husky voice and grizzled appearance, a voice deep and with a low bassy growl.

"..okay?" The sarcastic voice, it asked quizzically, not seeing the point in all this. "We'll just rebuild. I've got plenty of friends that want in. Easy peasy."

"Yeah, I mean. Don't we got spies and crap in them too?" The younger voice asked.

"The problem isn't IRIS or TGG or that nun. It's 'who' is doing these attacks that's the problem." The husky man said.

He threw a folder onto the table, a few pictures pouring out. They were all covertly taken, none of the subjects aware of the photographer's presence.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

Six photos were laid out. One of the guests reached across and organized them, knowing to do so without asking. So far, that person had not spoken yet.

One of a robotic butler,

One of a SWAT-team member, fully decked out in combat gear,

One of a digidevil, strange creature who was human in some way,

One of a cat-boy, appearing scared,

One of a 'rabbit-girl' and her human watcher,

One of a man with a goat skull for a head.

It remained unseen but one of the guests grinned at the sight of this goat-man.

"There were others but we believe this sect is the one attacking these companies." He said.

"This 'group' formed some time ago. They've been launching attacks on these places companies. This wasn't even the first one on TGG. There was another one several nights before." A new voice said. Deadpan and emotionless.

The grizzled man stood up, the sound of his chair moving heard. "They're getting bigger and bolder. I don't think I need to remind you all that nearly every single person pictured here has a history with us."

“They do???” The sarcastic voice asked.

“23, shut up. You best not get on my nerves further.”

The grizzled man said. "Several of these chumps went directly against me. They're getting smart. And, I don't think this attack on the Nun was random. They lured her out, kidnapping her child to do so. It's an admirable tactic, I'll give 'em that."

"We're also sure this is the same group that wrecked our concert a year back too." The deadpan voice said.

"So what do you propose?" The grinning being said.

"We need to cut the cancer out before it metastizes. It is just a matter of who to send. After all, you know how much an 'art' this needs to be." The grizzled man joked.

The commanding woman spoke up this time. "Well. Let's get started then. Who still owes us?"

The two bosses of the meeting took charge, divvying up who would do what.

"We'll put a bounty on this one, put it to the League."

"This one we'll call 'big red' to deal with. I'm sure he'd love some roast pig."

"Speaking of pigs, I need to get a few off my back. We'll serve this one up to them."

"I think I should deal with this one personally. I doubt his people would even try to go after us. And I want payback for what he did to our concert."

"This one's mine. He's been gunning for me ever since that prank I did on him. I'd love to see him try and come for me. I'll send that scrawny kid after him, having him bring me his body."

"What about her?" A clawed hand, shielded by a silk black glove pointed to the last photograph.

"Ech. So innocent looking. Do we have any favours we can call in? Preferably on the violent side?" A disgusted reaction.

A maniacal grin formed on the face of one of the guests. He spoke with a high tone, gleaming with excitement. "Weeeeeell. IMP still owes me a freebie." The upperclassman said.

"No. You save that." The deadpan voice said. "Sending I.M.P. is a last resort. That's overkill."

"What about that yellow-headed freak!?" The sarcastic voice practically shouted.

The grizzled man shrugged. "Sure. I'm sure he'd like rabbit stew. And he wants out anyways."

"You sure that's gonna stop her though?" The clawed hand pointed at the other woman in the photo.

"She can come at us if we she disagrees. We'll be ready for her."

"Very well. What shall we christen this fine event?" The leader spoke with more valiance, proud at their actions.

"We'll call it a Night of Fire!" The sarcastic voice bellowed.

"Now is the matter of how many of these acts shall be successful." Two of the younger voices said. They were eager to turn it into a wager.

"Bah, who cares? I don't expect they'll have any centralization. As long as we get one I'm sure these rats will scatter."

"Aw, you're no fun."

"Then that settles it. Oh! I wanted to talk about Vesuvius. Since the Nun is out can we use her as a source?" The younger voice said.

"Huh. That's actually a good idea. Alright. We'll let them get their 'situation' sorted out. We still need one more "

"Ehn give it time pops." The smiling being said. "I'm sure one will pop up."

"Let's wait then. There is nothing more to discuss."

There was a gorgeous sunset outside that was hidden to the dark room dwellers. Not that they would care, of course. It poured through a dirty glass wall in an apartment, two people being lit up by the glow. One stood staring out into the distance, the other looking at a massive set of recording equipment.

The former stood tall, taking up the size of a Christmas tree. She watched, though not looking so much at the sky as she was listened to those last words.

"There is nothing more to discuss." Faded out, static taking over the audio stream.

"That's all I got. The line's gone dead." The recording engineer said. He spoke calm, albeit bored sounding.

A bird fluttered by, knocking awry some of the wires. The machine came to life again, a brief piece of a conversation heard.

"-reater Good was attacked a big ago."

"Good. I hope they all die." Two voices were heard. The engineer shut it off, the audio coming from and irrelevant spot.

"That all you need?" The engineer asked. He glowed a bright green that made the room appear emerald.

She turned to him. "It's perfect. This is going to be so exciting!" She squealed.

The final chapter (of this half) will be called By the Fireside.