– S C O R P I O N –

Against Proximo's insistence to be at my side dealing with Hades this afternoon—this couldn't wait.

Five of my armed guard surrounded me in close formation armed to the teeth with plasma and full fusion rifles on their backs and openly in hands.

This was Sector 45. It was still my territory so being discreet was not considered. I dragged my hood lower as I moved with deliberate slowness as we approached the most oriental area in the city.

Foods from Eastern origin and beyond were sprawled under neon signs and thin bearded vendors. The smell, despite the crowds... was good. I had dined in the finest sky tower restaurants the city had to offer and they still couldn't match the authenticity found here.

Many patrons that eyed customers hungrily on the streets would suddenly stop their loud promises of the best food in the city when I neared. They tended to drop nods and draw their hands behind them in respect until my guard were a safe distance away.

Hades wanted dinner. How sweet. I thought bitterly picturing sitting across from him for however long he needed to inflate his sense of importance.

A nearby couple traded kisses and obnoxiously swayed in front of us, oblivious of who lurked so near.

My guard broke away without even a word, about to yank them from our path but I raised a hand. They stopped inches before the pair, towering over them with stoic expressions.

At that moment the couple noticed the shadow and whirled around. But I watched them curiously. Even when their confusion morphed into terror. Arms linked. Shared food between them. A former Scorpion may have had them thrown to the sidewalk. May have drawn a blade to remind the surrounding crowds part for a reason but...

"Sector 45 is known for its cuisine." I mused glancing at the food they quickly lowered before me. "You must try Jaquin Yuka in the Jade square. Tell him Scorpion sent you." I told them simply.

They stared at me like gawking fish and at all the weapons so close to their proximity. Then the man with a dark fringe that fell into his eyes cleared his throat and wove his fingers through the woman's own.

"That—is very generous of you Scorpion—we would love to."

The woman remained tucked behind his shoulder with timid hazel eyes that were as wide as a young deer. I resisted the urge to smirk at her similar expression that was on Makayla's face when they had first crossed paths.

I dismissed the man with a wave and made a pointed effort to move past. My guard melted away from them in seconds to resume our intended meet point.

"Have a—ni-great afternoon!" The woman managed to call at my back. I let my hood dip lower over my face covering it in more darkness. Makayla never seemed to stumble on her words however. She held herself with the empowerment of her own making and not of the Emperor.

No one was comparable.

The restaurant of nondescript outer appearance was soon upon us. It's rare wooden structure of pillars and tiles blended into the long street of bright and dark metals simply because it did not light itself like a beacon. It relied on firelight alone in lanterns that dotted the outside and lit within.

And Hades stood at its door. Holding it open wide. As if the gates to hell itself were open to us tonight with a vicious smile and promise in purple irises.

If he saw himself as the devil he'd need a good reminder of what he was inviting to dine with him. But when my mind cast itself back to my actions only moments ago... I had to stop myself.

I was not changing. Adapting. Nothing more. Leaders fall the moment they grow too close to compassion and empathy. Hades had none. I must reflect that.

* * * * *

He pushed a black piece of raw fish towards me.

I eyed it in boredom. I didn't even have it in me to list the number of times I'd heard it's origin or even how I had chefs with the skill to prepare it safely for me at a moments notice. But I let Hades' wear a smug expression as if he held all the cards.

As if he really knew anything about the food or otherwise in the city I did not know about.

"It's a Kauwusa vanta fish."

I let the air leave through my nose as I drummed two fingers on the smooth wood of the low square table.

My guards twitched. Uneasy with the confined space and too many unfamiliar eyes in the restaurant. A water feature bubbled nearby into rocks and voices spoke freely.

"Interesting." I drawled, without breaking my eyes off his tattooed face.

"It's deadly, if prepared incorrectly." He informed me with a grin.

"So many novel concepts today." I responded, keeping the urge to drip sarcasm out my voice.

He raised an eyebrow and dropped his eyes down to my plate. "If it makes you uneasy—"

I dropped my pretence entirely and drew a dagger from the inner side of my arm. He flinched. I rapidly sliced two centimetres of skin away from the top and two more down the middle just missing the poison glands of the vanta fish.

Hades lost his smirk.

When I was finished harmless pieces of raw meat lay before me and I popped each one into my mouth slowly and smiled at him.

"You were saying?" I asked innocently.

He narrowed his ridiculous purple irises before looking down at his own plate.

"It was already prepared."

I barked a laugh. "Please. Indulge me." I said with a grin as I gesture with my dagger. "A single millimetre is the difference between an enjoyable dinner and watching you twitch on the floor. Both promise an entertainment. But I make my own fate."

He now frowned openly. "And how would you have learned such—"

"I have no interest in listing at length the areas I exceed experience. So you can either eat the damn fish or shut up and get down to why we're here."

Whatever games. Whatever gloating he had prepared was now vanishing. Calculation of what sat before him was now taking place. The fact that I had to wait for this moment only pissed me off. It was time I could otherwise spend with Makayla.

"Very well. To the point as usual." He decided to push away the plate of fish much to my amusement. "My people exceed four hundred in number. We took... heavy losses in the conflict between Silver Sun and your own hand." He remarked more dryly, wisely keeping anger out of his tone.

I leant back and drew up a wide rimmed wine glass between my fingers. The deep burgundy hugged the outside of the glass betraying that it was at least drinkable...

"Your numbers are nothing." I deadpanned. He tightened a fist. I rolled my eyes. "I speak candidly and won't coddle your delusions otherwise. Those people are a drop in the sea of the Underworld. If it's an uprising you seek, you cannot seek it through conventional means."

He pondered my words. "And your suggestion?"

"We work with the same agenda but we work apart. Only key information to the reshaping of the upper sectors and his Imperial majesty is at play here. I will not indulge you in my business." I stated as I took a deep drink.

He place his hands before his head and tapped two fingers in a bridge.

"How am I supposed to trust an ally that does not work with me?"

I grinned at him. "Oh, dear boy. Don't make the mistake of calling me out on what you think is a bluff. At my word you are but a memory and your revolution is dead. You will not have or know the inner workings of my business because you are not my business. You are more of a client." I said with a hand flick.

"This client wants that emperors head on a spit." He growled. "This client needs your word you can make good on your word and we can throw that silver spooned heathen from his perch. I do not care for your business. I care that you can deliver."

I gave him a very lethal smile. But I wouldn't stop there. Instead I beckoned over Diego of my personal guard and he wordlessly dropped a holoscreen into my hand. Hades watched with curious eyes.

I turned it to him and our table lit with the bright blue of the hologram. He drew in a sharp breath.

"When was this taken?"

"It's live." I shrugged, taking another sip.

He sputtered and flashed me a look of disbelief before focusing upon the image feed of ten imperial guards strapped to metal chairs and visibly shaking. Words were loose when you had the underworlds supply of men to deal with negotiations.

"How long?"

"A few nights after you decided to send a fusion rifle through my shoulder." I snapped.

The holo feed vanished and my guard collected it. There was fresh energy and caution in those purple eyes. Instead of returning it with a snarky comment he placed his hands on the table and dipped me a nod. "Your reputation precedes you."

"Of course it does." I snorted.

"I can trust you to topple leaders, it is how you sit here now. But I needed to be sure."

"I'll pretend not to be offended. But when this is done. When my word to you is concluded. We are nothing to each other." I placed my glass down and levelled him with the venom I had collected for my worst enemies. "If you get in the way. If I even hear your name in my vicinity again, I will not hesitate to terminate every one of you."

He froze in his seat and returned my cold look with one of more calculation and thought. But he dropped his head. "When our work is concluded. My own is also. You won't see me again." He said with promise in his eyes.

It was enough.

I rose from the table without invitation and my guard already had the doors open and path clear. But I dropped a look down to his fish. I knew it's expense and he had spared none for our brief dining.

So I drew two daggers in hand and had it neutralised in moments. I smirked at him.

"Division 52 tends to make lethality disappear. The fish will tell you."

He returned my smirk and without breaking the stare, plucked the fish with chopsticks and bit into it fearless. I merely nodded and turned my back on him.

"Don't be such a pussy next time!" I called over my shoulder before the doors closed.