Yakob burst from the tavern with Shanty in tow. Her cloak flapped in the breeze and she held her runed staff close.
The streets were just as empty as ever - only a few straggling souls braving the cobblestones. Among them was a thin man in a wide, red hat. He was the only customer at the dreary butcher shop across the road from the tavern, and stood arguing with the owner on the street.
"Well, I would," he said in a high-pitched voice. "Except it seems you've left the shit inside the intestines!"
Yakob and Shanty shrugged at each other and made their way towards Vanii.
"Look, cut it open and I will show you. It is filth in a casing."
The butcher grumbled, but cut one of his hanging sausages in half.
"Ha! See!" Vanii pinched the meat in two fingers and squished it, then held it up to his nose. "Coarse. I am sorry, but I would not let even dogs eat such a thing. No scent is a bad sign as well."
"No scent, ey? It smells like Godscursed meat, what else should it smell like?" the butcher replied.
"Ah, an excellent question, fine sir. A good sausage requires seasoning! Do you know this word? Seasoning! It is when..." Vanii searched for words, but faltered when he saw Shanty and Yakob approach. The butcher also noticed Yakob's Trenmir uniform and left his ruined sausage out on the street, then retreated into the shop. There was an audible clunk as soon as the door was shut.
"He mustn't like me," Yakob observed.
"Ahem, well fine sir, you are a difficult person to like," Vanii said, wiping his hands on Shanty's cloak.
"Ew! Vanii, why are you so gross?" she squirmed.
"Gross? Madam, I am a fine diner, a gourmand, if you will. It is an offense to have such wasted effort near me." He took off his hat and bowed to the two.
"You're lovely as always, Vanii. Getting on with the locals?" Yakob asked.
Vanii looked around at the empty street. "I thought this was a secret mission. Should you be seen with us?"
"It should be fine as long as you don't start any fights with butchers. But if I do get caught, I can just arrest you," Yakob grinned.
"And have me killed? Tortured and hanged?" Vanii feigned shock, placing a hand on his chest and stepping backwards. "Yakob, you truly are a villain! An actor!"
"Oh! Yes!" Shanty said, "You should join the theatre Yakob. Something dramatic, or romantic. Comedy wouldn't suit you..."
Yakob cleared his throat. "Shanty has the information. You both need to leave before my unit sees you. I don't want them asking any questions."
"So you are worried about me," Vanii teased. "Shanty's right about the romance!"
"Can we focus? Please?" Yakob said.
"See what I mean, Vanii? Perfect tone for a tragic, mysterious hero, come to save the princess in her tower..." Shanty swooned. "Yakob, my prince!"
Before Yakob could respond, the tavern door across the road opened. Out strode - or rather, stumbled - the final three members of TU-BV14: Jackie, Lauren, and Brutus.
They were leaning on each other and laughing. Brutus had taken another mug of ale out of the tavern; one for the road. It was Lauren that spotted Yakob first. She snapped to attention and led the other two drunken fools over to the reunion of hidden Drai.
"Working hard, Yakob?" she asked.
"Yes, just interrogating these, um, citizens," Yakob lied.
"With honour, I hope?"
Jackie and Brutus sniggered. They clearly hadn't taken his tirade on board. Yakob ground his teeth.
"Mind if I join the interrogation?" Lauren continued.
"Go right ahead," Yakob stepped away and pulled a face at Vanii behind her back. Vanii couldn't control his expression and Shanty giggled.
"Names and occupations?" Lauren huffed.
"I'm Vanii. Isn't this a bit much? We've just been interrogated, after all, madam."
"Not at all, this is standard procedure. Isn't that right, Jackie?"
Jackie burped and gave a thumbs up.
"You only gave me one name and no occupations. Answer the questions," Lauren said.
"No occupation," Vanii said, "and this is..."
Shanty looked at Vanii for help, but he offered none. "My name's, um... Vanii. As well. Also. No occupation too."
"Are you the same people?" Lauren frowned.
"No, twins," Vanii said, giving Shanty an incredulous look.
Shanty nodded vigorously. "Mhm! We even finish each other's..."
Vanii was a statue. After a moment he said "...Sausages?"
"Yep! Seasoned ones!"
Lauren seemed confused. Yakob gave her an encouraging nod, trying and failing to hide his smile.
"If you have no occupations, how do you make a living?" Lauren asked.
Vanii and Shanty looked at each other. They couldn't come up with a single thing.
"My only conclusion is that you engage in criminal activity. Would this be accurate?"
"Listen, madam," Vanii stepped forward, his voice dripping. Yakob realised what was about to happen and shook his head, gesturing at Vanii to stop, just stop. "I'm not sure about you, but in polite society, we refrain from such questions. Or if we do ask them, we do so more tactfully. You are being quite rude, and we do not abide by rudeness."
"Huh. What're you gonna do about it, little thief?" Lauren stepped up to Vanii and flicked the brim of his red hat.
Brutus and Jackie had hands on batons, ready to fight. Yakob's face was buried in his hands. He was too drunk for this.
"Step back, please. Or you may find yourself in a regrettable position."
"Jackie..." Lauren stepped back, letting the Lawkeeper move forward, unravelling the scroll with that grating whir. "What is the punishment for threatening an officer of the Trenmir Civilian Corps?"
Jackie was in front of the group now, pleased to be of use. She unfurled the scroll with a flourish. "Why," she said, turning the page to face Vanii, "none other than execution!"
There was a flash. Vanii had reached out and slapped Jackie's grin off her face, faster than anyone could react.
"Apologies," he said, "I have no glove."
Jackie's face slowly turned purple, the dark colour emanating from the point of contact. It crawled through her veins and spread into her skin from there, like watercolours on canvas.
She dropped the scroll and fell to the ground. Her scream pierced Yakob's soul, echoing through the empty streets. A few curious eyes peeked through shutters, but no one came to help.
The members of TU-BV14 stood in stunned silence. Whether it was the drink or inexperience didn't matter. All they could see was Jackie writhing in pain on the street from a single touch. They were smart enough not to get close to Vanii after that.
Vanii knelt beside Jackie and clicked his tongue. "Unfortunate. I thought I was better than this..."
"What," Lauren growled, taking a step back, "did you do?"
Vanii peered up at her from under the brim of his hat. It was only then that Yakob noticed the hilts of two daggers peeking out from his waist. The gentleman grinned. He stood above Jackie, talking over her screams, "Everyone misunderstands poison. The common folk see it as a byproduct of bad food, mushrooms, drink. Something to avoid. A killer, a pain-bringer, a paralytic. But poison is not that, or rather, not only that. Even assassins, who work so closely with it, think of it as a tool. A weapon."
Brutus made to charge forward, but Lauren held out a hand. "Stop. He poisoned her. We need the antidote."
"Could just smash it out of 'im..." Brutus said, "he's only little."
"But," Vanii was shouting to be heard, "this is foul! Disgusting! Detestable! Poison can be, paradoxically to smaller minds, medicinal. I can numb your pain, just as I can bring it! I know the properties of each and every plant and herb and powder. It is compassion that draws me to poison. Love. True appreciation for an art form that no one else sees, no one else knows.
Think of that man's sausages! Filth! Obnoxious mediocrity! There was no care that went into those, no thoughts for the consumer. A true sommelier thinks of these things - the mixture of flavours, scents, the texture as it slides down your throat. Poison should be the same. It is the same! It is! I mix the concoction with much more care than that man could ever muster, and this girl is part of my art! You are the witness to my compassion, here and now.
But I am sorry. You have witnessed a failing. False art. Imperfection. The poison in that girl's system was supposed to bring so much more pain...
A disappointing first attempt. Still, every mistake is an opportunity to improve. A painter does not throw away a canvas because of a poor first stroke. A chef does not abandon a recipe because the seasoning is wrong.
So please, allow me to try again."
Vanii held up his hand before everyone, their eyes wide and mouths agape. Seeping from his pores came a liquid - green and purple.
The poison.
"You're... insane..." Jackie said in between screams.
Yakob looked at the faces of the people around him. Horror filled their features as they gazed upon the monster of their bedtime stories. They saw the starcursed: A man driven insane by the whisperings of Gods beyond their comprehension, violent and murderous.
Yakob saw only a friend, misguided in his passionate attempt to protect those around him.
Shanty clapped her hands. "That was great, Vanii! I really felt your passion! You should be an actor, too!"
Brutus was clearly done with the act. He pushed past Lauren and extricated his baton from his belt, taking a wide swing at Vanii, who ducked under it. He held his hat so the tailwind of Brutus' swing wouldn't send it flying.
"Careful, Brutus," Lauren said, taking out her own baton. "This thing is starcursed."
"I'll smash him good!" Brutus roared, making great effort to turn his wide swing into an overhead blow that Vanii sidestepped again. One of the Drai's hands dripped poison, the other held tightly onto his hat.
Vanii used Brutus' momentum against him and shoved with his poisoned hand, sending the man tumbling. The poison slicked the back of his Trenmir coat, but didn't eat through it to the skin beneath.
"Inefficient!" he declared. "Wasted energy in each attack. You must learn precision, or-"
Lauren stepped up behind Vanii and clobbered him on the back of the head with her baton, sending him sprawling. His hat flew off his head, revealing a glaring bald spot. "You talk too much," she said.
Vanii was on all fours now, Brutus was getting up, however slowly. Lauren attempted to swing her baton at Vanii's back while he was down, but Vanii saw her from the corner of his eye and swept her legs out with a dexterous kick.
He used the small window of reprieve to scramble for his hat and put it back on. It was muddy on the edges, and he wrinkled his nose as he touched it, but he still wore the thing.
Vanii stood back while Lauren and Brutus returned to their feet. He drew one of his knives and slicked the blade with poison from his skin. He was starting to sweat. It seemed that the liquid on his face was a greenish colour as it leaked from his pores, dripping and sizzling in the mud below. He threw his poisoned knife into the air like a juggler and deftly drew the second, then flicked the rest of the toxin coating his hand away and caught the first knife.
"Yakob, the inhibitors!" Lauren ordered. "He's a Scorpio!"
Yakob was frozen. He hadn't forgotten the rage from earlier. The hatred of the Trenmir. He also hadn't forgotten his mission. There were two paths in front of him: self-satisfaction or absolution.
Vanii didn't give him time to decide. Instead of charging forward, maiming with the poisoned knife and killing with the clean, striking purposefully or even slashing wildly, he threw a knife.
It flew true.
Jackie stopped screaming.
Her head lolled to the side and the hilt of the dagger gleamed in the sunlight, pointing accusatorily at Yakob's stillness. Blood dripped from her skull. Crimson red mixed with dirt brown and sickly green. Her body convulsed, but there was nothing behind her eyes.
"Jackie!" Brutus shouted.
"Are you regretting your actions yet, Trenmir?" Vanii screamed, spittle flying. "Are you sorry? The art is over! The piece is finished! There is no more pain for her, but there is still some left in my other hand!"
"I..." Yakob said, unable to tear his eyes away from the corpse in the street. The scroll of laws was still, perhaps for the first time since Jackie touched it.
"There is an order to the world," Vanii continued, falling into a knife fighting stance. "And the one thing I hate most is bottom feeders and philistines who don't know their place. I will show you where you belong."
"Vanii," Shanty tugged on the corner of his shirt, "let's just leave. You've done enough."
Vanii slapped her hand away and beckoned Lauren and Brutus to come forth. Shanty just sighed, unwilling to let her friend fight alone. She threw back the hood of her cloak, revealing the bone white mask. A gust of wind buffeted the fabric around her as she held her staff in anticipation, pushing the sleeves back to reveal skin tinged blue.
Yakob thought the snakes on her mask were more sinister than ever.
"Inhibitors, Yakob," Lauren reminded him. She wouldn't even look at Jackie, but she did reach down to grab her baton. She was smiling, actually smiling. She bounced up and down with genuine excitement, hefting both batons in her hands. "Eyes on the prize."
Brutus took a page from Vanii's book and threw his baton. It was a distraction, probably the only smart thing that man had ever done, even though he ruined it by immediately charging and attempting to grapple the Drai.
Vanii tried to dodge again, but Brutus got him with a meaty hand closing around his wrists. The large man pulled him in and grabbed his other wrist, keeping both the source of the poison and the dagger at bay. With no weapons left, he started to smack his thick forehead into Vanii's.
Vanii's skin split, spraying blood over Brutus' face. Yakob saw Shanty murmuring something and pointing her topaz staff at the wrestling men. The topaz flashed and Brutus slipped in the mud.
Vanii was on top of him and wasted no time in attacking. He pointed the poisoned blade at Brutus throat. Yakob knew Vanii couldn't care less about the mission. He was going to kill them all.
Yakob made his decision then, and began rifling in his bag until he found the stone pins with the Scorpio constellation on the back. He was too far to help Brutus, but he could save Lauren.
Vanii swung the knife down with glee, aiming for the jugular. Lauren was running forward, but she wouldn't make it. Then, she realised she had two batons, and desperately threw one of them. It landed on Vanii's knife hand, making his muscles spring open, dropping the knife and having it clatter to the ground.
Then she was upon him, a tiger finding its prey. She swung her baton in an upwards arc, landing a blow on Vanii's chin. His smile dropped and he lurched backwards, off of Brutus, but then Shanty was there.
She just... appeared from the other side of the street. The runes on her staff were glowing - Yakob recognised Vas, Ir and Junik: Amplify, Self and Speed. Before Lauren could react, Shanty tapped the runes for self and speed, disabling them, then enabled Krax: The Cutting rune. She left Amplify enabled.
She spun her staff and swung at Lauren. When the topaz connected with her stomach, it flashed and opened a thin line, splitting the uniform and skin to open her stomach.
Lauren fell to her knees, bleeding onto the pavement. She dropped her baton and clutched at her wound. It was only shallow, but shocking. Yakob began circling around them, moving out of sight of Vanii.
Brutus tried to grab Shanty but she smacked his forearm with the butt of her staff, then spun it around to cut his hand open. Yakob shivered in fear. Shanty was always better at runes than he was. It seemed even then that the Amplify rune alone wasn't enough force to take a limb off, but a higher ranking Drai...
Shanty left the two Trenmir clutching their wounds and walked over to Vanii. "So, she said as he helped him up, "that was fun! Ready to go now?"
"I won't leave this unfinished," Vanii said.
Shanty rolled her eyes and disabled all remaining runes on her staff. She used it to scratch her back. "Have fun then," she said, "I'm leaving."
"No!" Lauren screamed. "Come back here, you bitch! I'll kill you for what you've done!"
"If you're gonna kill me, then why would I come back?" Shanty tilted her head. She pulled the hood over her mask and turned her back, walking away from the fight. "Weirdo."
Yakob saw what was happening. Vanii was frenzied. Shanty was cutting her losses, preserving the mission. She was giving him an opening to win this fight.
So he took it. He was behind Vanii now and made a final mad dash with the Scorpio Inhibitors held business end forwards. Vanii turned at the sound of his footsteps and his eyes widened at the sight of the pins. He held his hands up, poison welling from the skin beneath as he channelled his mana. He wasn't going to go down without a fight, even against a friend.
They collided like two tidal waves. A clash of limbs, gripping, striking, looking for an opening. Vanii slid a hand across Yakob's neck, coating it in poison. The pain was instantaneous. Almost unbearable, but Yakob gritted his teeth and used Vanii's attack against him. He was close enough now to use the Inhibitors and jabbed them both firmly into his chest.
Suddenly, Vanii's mana channels were blocked and the painful poison stopped flowing from beneath his skin. He fell to his knees, trying to pull them out, but Yakob used his baton and hit Vanii hard over the head. The Scorpio Drai slid to the side, out cold.
It was over.
Yakob screamed as the poison infused itself into his veins. Everyone was down and out. Vanii was unconscious, Lauren and Brutus tending the severe wounds Shanty gave them, Jackie lying dead, and Yakob mirroring the pain she felt before Vanii killed her.
There were two ways to end the pain: Wait it out, let your system flush the poison away. Rank One Scorpio Drai were incapable of producing killing poisons from their mana, so it was an option. But the pain. Oh, the pain. Needles pierced Yakob's nerve wherever the poison spread, and it was beginning to spread far. His throat constricted, blood thinning as it mixed with the toxin.
The second option was to use his own powers to manipulate the liquid. Without a second thought, Yakob chose this over the pain. Mission be damned if Lauren and Brutus saw, but one more second of this pain and he would rather kill himself.
He focussed and channelled his mana within himself, rather than on an outward source of water. He pushed, forcing the liquid out of his body. Beads of the poison began appearing on his skin. It was a slow process, but Lauren and Brutus were focussed on themselves. They couldn't see what was happening, just hear the screams. Anyone with a mana detector would assume Yakob's mana traces were from Vanii, thanks to his Eclipse Modifier.
Eventually, the poison was out. Vanii was captured. Lauren hauled him to his feet and spat in his face while he was unconscious.
"Bit late, Yakob," she said.
"I saved your ass," he responded, averting his gaze from Jackie's corpse.
"Yeah well," Lauren didn't even mention Jackie. "I owe you one. Let's get this mother fucker to Darian."
Yakob felt his chest twist. The cost of the mission. All he could do was nod.