Time to revitalize my rping with a new rp of my own, tough the one`s I´ve set up haven`t worked so well in the past.

Set up:

This rp is set in a fictional, industrial town of Scalvia, approximately inhabbitted by 500,00. Technology wise Scalvia is in the 1930`s, the streets are crowded, tight and dangerous. Massive factories pollute the air with constant feed of smoke and crime runs rampant on the streets. Advanced genetics and whatnot are not allowed nor weirdo experiments running rampant in this rp, but people can have `unnatural` abilities just don`t over do it. A guy who can summon flames can`t go running around all day throwing fireballs etc without exhausting himself etc.

Guns are a bit advanced than the 1930`s automatic weapons like submachine guns exist, but in Scalvia machine guns and assault rifles are very rare. As mentioned before the town is in the grips of crime lords and death is an everyday commodity on the streets. For the last five years relative peace reigned over the streets however as the warring crime lords were oppressed by a man known as Falco, who declared himself as the leader of Scalvias gangs and crime families. However Falco died under mysterious circumstances only a weeks ago and the town has descended into chaos, with gangs picking up their old rivalries and crime families seeking to topple one another. By a mysterious invitation a group consisting of mobsters, killers, drifters and various other lowlives gather in a quiet baar named Targe. How their gathering will change the course of events for Scalvia will be profound. That`s our characters, the rest is up to you, and your character might not even have to be a criminal to begin with.

Rules:

1. NO ONE-LINERS (no one liners!!! NEVER!!!)
2. No content above PG-13.
3. Romance is fine, just nothing sexual.
4. Be serious, people; this isn't a comedy.
5. No god-moding.
6. No controlling other RPers characters.
7. No killing another character without permission from that character's respectful RPer.
8. To improve the depth of the characters, make sure to think of a backstory that fits the setting, how the chaos and death has shook your characters life etc. Would be great if someone even made suggestions to me about my character having met your character in the past or somehow having been involved in their life.
9. Have fun!

Characters:

Name: "Blake"
Age: 22
Gender: Male
Personality: Schizophrenic, passive, unpredictable.
Strong points: Strong willed, fearless, unpredictable.
Weak points: Paranoid, borderline insane.
Occupation: Assassin/A confedant of the Vicante mob family
Weapons: An abundant number of throwing knives hidden in his sleeves, feet and belt. Also a bayonet, which seems to be a keepsake of sorts.
Specialties/Abilities: Skilled in using knives throwing or otherwise and has a seemingly uncanny luck, having survived some near death experiences against all odds.
Appearance: ( in addition has a indigo tattoo, a jawless skull with a cresent moon beneath it facing downwards, on his neck. )
Clothing: Black pants, pair of brown shoes, black suit jacket, black vest, red tie (loose), white collar shirt.
Family: None to speak of....
Theme song: Megadeth - Scorpion

I've been waiting for you to come back! I look forward to not sucking this time (Though it's likely I will rape the rp....as always...) But then again, I've at least gotten better over you absence...

Name: Sid, 'Captain Nutbutter'
Age: 26
Gender: Male
Personality: Spontaneous, Apathetic, Arrogant
Strong points: A master of improvisational skills, Charismatic, Easily sees through people
Weak points: Superiority Complex, Nihilistic, Over-confident.
Occupation: Leader of the 'Sunshine Bunch'
Weapons: The Inside of his coat is lined with smoke bombs and other items that disrupt vision and movement, as well as little 'gadgets' of his. He also has a Rifle under the back of his coat, and a revolver on his hip. His ammo is on the other-side of his hip in a pouch.
Specialties/Abilities: Very good with lights and 'flashy effects', Above Average marksmen, excellent commander, great at building little gadgets with various items
Appearance: White make-up is not needed to Sid's natural pale skin. He holds the distinction of being the only member of his group to have a green mark above his eyes, singling him out as the leader. Sid also has purple make-up around his mouth and red triangles from his eyes. All of his features are sharp and jut out, except for his sunken in eyes.
Clothing: A multi-colored arrangement of cloth is more-or-less Sid's them to dressing. He wears a long, brightly colored orange and red jacket that goes down to his ankles. His pants are ridiculously baggy, with a bright yellow and red color scheme. He wears another jacket under that with a few splashed of green. under THAT is red shirt with eleborate patterns on it.
Family: He considers his gang to be his family.
Theme song: Beach of Nothingness - Yasunori Mitsuda http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPocikm1Ras

(EDIT, A character for later, or perhaps a late entry)

Name: James King
Age: 24
Gender: Male
Personality: Witty, Gentlemenly during business, Rebellious
Strong points: Master Marksmen and Speaker, Charismatic, Sneaky
Weak points: Lack of conviction on most things, Lack of intrest, Lack of conscience
Occupation: One of the Heads of the 'Sixteen Strings', A Guild of Robbers, Pirates, Highwaymen, and Outlaws, with a code of honor within itself
Weapons: A Simple Rifle, Revolver, and a Bowie Knife in his jacket sleeve
Specialties/Abilities: A Dead Eye, Charming, Rather talented when it comes to Vechicles, especally so with Horses
Appearance: A gelled back mahogany pony tail and matching goatee are followed with jutted, green eyes and a small nose. He has a very small underbite and a small beard is growing under his chin
Theme song: Ain't no rest for the Wicked - Cage the Elephant

(*sparkly eyes* Finally!! Gangs and crime!!!!! I've been waiting for this!! ^-^) Hope it's ok :3
I know I should probably change characters but I cant!!! They are awesome and they adapt so easly to any plot!!

Name: Roxanne Angeline Laforet (aka. Fuchsia)
Age: 20
Occupation: Thief/Fortune Teller (Con artist)
Appearance:

Personality: Roxanne is confident, independent and eccentric girl who lacks respect for authority. Though charming, she is outspoken and unconsciously childish. She prefers to live for the moment but ironically she always has time to plot the future. Has a sharp mind and can be very intelligent when she so chooses. Despite the fact she always tries to put a nonchalant facade she can be really hyper and she tends to get distracted easily (90% by shiny objects). When she is not teasing or playing pranks of other she can be a really nice and sweet girl. She loves expensive/shiny things and even when she’ll never accept it, she LOVES bunnies.
Good points: Cunning, smart, fast, charming, knows everything there has to be known about the underworld,her tarot readings have proved to be really accurate (even tough ironically she doesn’t believe in them)
Faults: Greedy (loves money and expensive things) gets distracted and daydreams easily, love to tease people, she is really bossy and she tends to be quite evil and curious/nosy.
Skills: Her primary ability is the manipulation of kinetic energy, being able to charge matter resulting in the violent and powerful explosion of said matter through touch. The objects that she charges explode with a force somewhat proportional to the size of the object, though a playing card (her trademark attack) is as powerful as a hand grenade in her hands, she uses a metal staff as her weapon which can be changed into a scythe.
History: Unknown
Weapons: Her metal/staff and her explosive cards, she always carries 2 decks of cards, the regular ones and the tarot ones.
Curious Facts: Despite her cute appearance she in fact an expert gambler (her forte are cards) but there are many reasons to believe she cheats cause so far she hasn’t lost, and there’s no doubt in the fact that she has connection with several important thugs. Noah has been her childhood friend since she can remember; they are as close as siblings but neither of them accepts it. She always claims she is just waiting the moment he’ll no longer be of use to dispose him. They are often found robbing stores and pick pocketing tourists and cops but once in a while they are also found in their “legal jobs”.
Theme Songs: (Hasta Que El Cuerpo Aguante - Mago De Oz) (You Are Gonna Go Far Kid - The Offspring) (One Day I'll Fly Away - Moulin Rouge) (Everybody's Fool - Evanescence) (Blackbird - Across The Universe) (Ace Of Spades - Motorhead (Diamonds Are A Girl Best Friend – Moulin Rouge ))

Name: Anthony “Noah” Russo (aka. Ashes)
Age: 22
Occupation: Thief/Street Violinist (Con artist)
Appearence:

Personality: Noah is an extroverted and outgoing guy. He isn't afraid of drawing attention to himself and he doesn't worry about what other people think of him. He tends to be relaxed and laid back about most things, quicker to joke than to stress. One of the bigger flaws in his personality is his tendency to lack tact or manners. Though there doesn't appear to be much going on in his head, he is very bright, yet he applies this mostly towards schemes and pranks. He has the ability to be very charming when he wants to, and his dazzling charisma gets him out of trouble on many occasions. Despite his easygoing attitude, he is afraid of being alone and attaches himself to those he cares for. He explains his nickname by claiming it alludes to his chain smoking (even when he has never even smoked and he just carries the cigarettes in his pocket) but it is actually in reference to his tendency to burn down things.
Strengths: Powerful, charming, sly, can win people’s hearts easily, impossible to find someone as good with bombs as him.
Faults: Has pyromaniac tendencies (He just loves things going “boom”) he tends to be really lazy and he is too promiscuous for his own good sake: he has found himself several times with angry fathers and big brothers dying to beat the crap out of him.
Skills: He is really good in hand-to-hand combat with both agility and strength. But his forte will always be bombs; he can even build a bomb with his eyes closed. Just as a way of precaution he carries a gun with him (Blacktail)
History: Unknown
Weapons: Hand-to-hand combat plus his bombs and his handgun (Blacktail)

Curious Facts: He has an extensive scarring on his left shoulder from an accident with his homemade explosives when he was a child, he never talks about it and Roxanne is the only one that knows about the incident. Just as his childhood friend he is a really good at gambling but his forte are dices. He always carries cigarettes in his pocket but Roxanne never allows him to smoke. As his trademark attack he makes tiny bombs with great strength in the shape of dices, he calls them “Demons Dices” His motto is "I steal only what I cant afford"
(His violin)


Theme Song: (Hasta Que El Cuerpo Aguante - Mago De Oz) (City Of Devils - Yellowcard)
(Freak On A Leash - Korn ft. Amy Lee) (In The End - Linkin Park) (The Oogie Boogie - The Nightmare Before Christmas) (Back In Black - ACDC)

Name: Minerva Black (aka. Vino – Snake Charmer)
Age: 20
Occupation: Unknown
Appearance:

(That's her)

(That's her dress!! :3)
Personality: After many psychological tests it has been concluded that Minerva Black is a megalomaniac with a personality disorder and an overgrown ego, completed with paranoia. She might be innocent looking, but she is also feisty, precocious, headstrong, evilly cold and has an obsession with revenge. And not to mention her many “tendencies”. One of this is the reason of her nickname “Vino” --Spanish for "wine”-- earning the name because of her predilection for mutilating the bodies of her victims beyond recognition, which usually leaves her covered in a thick layer of blood. Minerva is a thorough-going megalomaniac who believes that the world is a show put on for her, and that she has complete control and power over it. Her love for acts of violence truly shows in the maniacal glee she exhibits while fighting or killing. She isn’t exceptionally skilled in hand-to-hand combat or in the use of firearms but she has proved to be extremely cunning and good at controlling people’s mind. But despite all this, deep down Minerva is just a child who has yet to grow up. She is usually found in the middle of tantrums, which end in someone killed (usually one of her subordinates)
Strenghts: Cunning, fast, knows how to read and control people, extensive number of contacts in the underworld and in the high political charges.
Faults: Easily angered, megalomaniac tendencies, vain (Her love for herself has reached the point were she thinks that if anyone stares at her for too long or directly her skin will be damaged), never listens to anyone and thinks everybody is inferior to her therefore stupid and insignificant (She has come to think everybody’s thoughts are so simple and dumb she can read them) She has an obsession with revenge and also with chocolate truffles.
History: Unknown
Weapons: Katana

Curious Facts: She is usually followed by 4 mysterious figures, all of them dressed in black. She never calls them by the names, she uses numbers. All that is know about them is that they are called the “Deadly Vipers”. She holds a nasty grudge against a group of “certain people” (Who will not be mentioned yet) whose lives she plans to destroy.

As of now I am starting this rp, but this doesn`t mean that those still interested in joining the rp are forbidden to do so. Hopefully someone else will still join, but we`ll kick off with the three of us. You guys are free to choose as to how your characters were invited to the bar, Targe, but your characters get the impression there are ample rewards to be received and the meeting has great signifigance.

---------------


It was a quiet, almost tranquil morning on the Barven street of Scalvia as a young man entered a phone booth in the street corner. He quietly grasped the phone into his palm and placed it against his ear whilst surveying the streets with a grin across his face. His face was covered by greyish hair, which deceived most people about his age and the skin was pale as if he was a walking corpse. His clothes were quite casual and the trench coat, a quite common feature, somewhat tattered. One might have mistaken him for a simple narc or a bum desperately pleading to a dealer on the phone, but on closer inspection anyone would have had second thoughts.

A line of blood trailed it`s way across his palm, slowly dripping red liquid on the booth floor and more of it, tough not his own, stained his multicolored shirt. The man placed the phone between his shoulder and ear as he began dialing a number to inform of his latest sucess. His eyes remained fixed on the streets as he picked a bandage out of his jacket pocket and began to quickly wrap them around his arm. Someone answered on the other end of the phone and Blake answered with a series of mummbles as, if he feared that someone was listening in on their convesation.

"The snake has been wrangled"

He reported and there was a calm chuckle at the other end of the line that concluded in sudden cough. Blake began tapping his fingers on the handle of his bayonet and threw a quick glance over his shoulder to see, if anyone lurked behind him.

"The Targe, 12 o`clock, don`t miss it."

And the order was given, Blake hanged up the phone and left the booth post haste. He slipped in the dark alleyways, switching his hands to rest on his belt ready to send knives flying at possible assailants. Despite his caution, no one dared jump him nor did he even see a living soul as he approached the bar. As he entered his lowered his hands as not to cause suspicion and looked for a quiet table in the messy bar. From the outside it seemed like a normal, sleezy establishment, but inside the decoration was better than your average bar, it even had a clean pool table that customers might play at.

Blake however sat quietly, alone in his table and surveyed the bar from left to right. There was no one there except him and the bartender, who seemed was trying rigorously not to catch any attention to himself.

Suddenly the doors of the bar opened and two excentric figures walked in, the young woman looked around as the young man just played with a toothpick in his mouth. "....hate arriving too early..." The boy mumbled lightly pouting as they sat down. The girl looked at Blake, inspecting his clothes, wondering if there was something worth stealing in there, after a few seconds she just turned around ignoring him. "Well...Val told us to arrive early....here we are, the old man better be happy" She said looking bored as she tilted her head sideway making the bells in her hat chime.

The rear doors opened to the bar. A tall clown with a large, overbearing coat walked through with two other fat jesters on his flank. They each carried clubs and had red stripes down their artifically white faces, covered in make-up.

"Who called me?! Don't they know that I'm busy on Thursdays? I put it up on a buliton board, I made it clear, underlinded, circled it, did whatever to it and still am called! Can't I get any breaks in this city? Jeez!" Yelled the tall one.

"I mean all I hard was 'greatly rewarded.' What does that even mean?! Humph!" Said The leader. This leader's name was 'Captian Nutbutter,' who was rather well known as a mid-level crime boss, and one of the most ambitous at that.

"That seems quite abbrassive of you, Mr. Sid"

Answered a quiet, whispering voice out of the shadows of the second floor balcony that had a straight drop into the bar. Everyone`s attention seemed to fix on the source of the voice as a man in a dark business suit stepped forward to peek over the railing at all those invited to the gathering. He seemed like a normal street peddler, short brown hair, shaved cheeks and clean face. However the stench of superiority about him gave off a faint image that he was no mere commoner, who had wandered into the bar filled with the most dangerous criminals of Scalvia. A faint smile arose on his face as he began to move quietly and slowly descended the stairs to the bottom floor, ignoring the keen eyes fixed upon him.

Calmly he made his way to the middle of the bar and placed a briefcase that he had been carrying on the table, but it was still handcuffed onto his arm. After a quick search of his pockets he unlocked the handcuffs with a small, copper key and laid the briefcase on the table. He quickly looked at each of the participants and motioned for them to approach the table. Blake quickly, unnoticed slit a knife out of his sleeve and left it`s blade resting on his palm with the palm facing forwards as he got up. He took few, slow steps and closed in on the table as the man opened the briefcase.

The contents were no surprise, well not for the most part, money and yet strangely enough it was accompanied by an envelope that the man picked up. The suitman sat down at the table along with Blake and smiled slyly at the others.

"First things first, my name is Barrow, a.... `caretaker` if you will and I sincerely hope you willing to hear what I have to say before starting shoot your mouths off about your recent exploits. You are all impressive I`ll give you that, Mr. Sid or Captain Nutbutter, which you prefer, has made some distressing progress in this city at a rate that makes the mob families gringe with fear.

Mr. Ashes and Miss Fuchsia may not be as famed yet their skill are beyond normal, our people were quite impressed with your merrits and thus you were chosen to participate in this meeting. Last but not least Mr. Blake as you are called these days.... "

Blake threw a nervous, threatening glance at Barrow and for a split second his reflexes almost cause him to throw a knife in Barrow`s smug face. It may not have been a terrible loss, but alas Blake was unaware of whom he was dealing with and could not risk thwarting someone powerful. Life was fleeting and lone, silent assassins could disappear as easily as their victims.

"Has an impressive list of names that he has crossed over during his.... business ventures, I believed today`s catch was well over the hundreth target and the first when you were no less than 14 years old. Scary, but impressive and exacly what we are looking for...."

"In case you wished us to get to know each other, I think all of us would have done that ourselves instead of you sharing our life stories for us....." Blake said with a quiet, almost threatening tone and Barrow chuckled a bit.

"Indeed, however unproffessional of me, but I can`t help hide my excitement as to the contents of this letter.... It`s fairly seismic, I suggest you all have a seat for the paper within this envelope is none other than the testament of Boss Falco himself."

Barrow declared with his eyes glowing in amusement as he read their reactions and allowed them to take in the revelation, Blake however chuckled a bit at his words and stared at Barrow with suspicion reflecting from his eyes. Blake for one was no fool and nor had the man, who had once controlled all of this city`s criminals. How could Falco`s will possibly involve them, complete strangers to a man who was a complete mystery, nigh unknown except for his power and name?

(just post your characters reactions/comments/questions in your next posts about the matter revealed and I`ll carry on with the explenations)

"Ah! The smell of exprience! You don't get that much anymore, I tell you. They generally give out good rewards as well. It's a shame they call so DAMN LATE AT NIGHT!" Complained the clown once again. He noticed the smug nature of this person, and frankly he didn't like it. The smug supreior types usually had a few 'annoying' traits that made life hell for an averge crime lord like the Captian.

Still, he listened to the man. He had to have a reason for calling them down to the bar. And if he didn't his men would club his face in, and the Captian could go back to sleeping. He smirked at the thought.

"Sleep.."

"Not fair at all!!...We arent famous ONLY because our "boss" dosent allow us to" Ashes grumbled, Fuchsia just signaled him to shut up looking pretty curious with all the testament business.
After Barrow finished talking she just chuckled softly "No way in hell...it's too good to be truth...and there's ALWAYS a trick" She mumbled.

"Indeed it would seem so, but alas as the `caretaker` of his unsettled matters I have been instructed to call a gathering of an experienced group to hear the contents of this envelope..."

Barrow said and snapped open the letter, folding open string of documents tightly packed together. He read a few lines in silence before coughing and gazed at those present before starting to read outloud.

"This is what the text says: "If you are reading this, then I, Falco, am dead and my all out war reigns over the streets of Scalvia. It was my intention to leave my legacy to an heir, my son to be exact however his death remains an obvious obstacle. Thus in his, and my, stead I appoint Mr. Barrow to oversee the gathering of a skilled group that can eliminate all those seeking to throw the city into chaos and to acquire certain materials in order to ensure that the rest of the crooks stay in line. The funds and vital information gathered by my organization lie within the briefcase, these should be a start for your mission.

You are not to speak of this to anyone you known prior to this meeting nor will you reveal the existance of the group to anyone, under pain of death. I still have those loyal to me and Mr. Barrow is willing to follow my instructions to the letter. In exhange for your assistance you shall receive half of my worldly possessions and a well respected position in the new administration that Mr. Barrow shall set up once this city bows to the name of Falco, me being dead has no meaning in the matter.

I will not have my city torn up by a bunch of foolish gang bangers and greedy mobsters. Succeed and you shall be rewarded, fail or refuse then you will not be heard of again, never.""

Barrow concluded reading of the will, but remained dead silent as he eyed everyone for their acceptance. Blake grinned widely and scratched the back of his head, pondering whether there was any truth to this will. To him it seemed like the opportunity of a lifetime, to assassinate key players within the city would raise his fame to untold heights however that was also a problem.

The essence of the arts that he had been taught was that a good assassin never got caught and an excellent one wasn`t even supposed to exist in the eyes of the world, however in the end he saw only one way to procceed. He was not keen on taking on Barrows hirelings as that would certainly draw even more attention to his existance.

"I`m in, something like this does not present itself everyday and none of us should take such an opportunity lightly, to take out the very best is what anyone dreams of, a chance at the top..... As long as he survive...."

He said with a sadistic glee in his eyes and a smirk on his face, he would surpass his mentors and his employers would no longer name the terms.

And with the, the Captian let out a shrill laugh.

"Oh ho ho ho ho ho! This is too good! Really, I'm in awe of Falco! His greed still seeps from beyond his grave. Ha! Oh my oh me!" Said he. He walked behinds his compainions and sat down on a near by chair.

"So, Mr. Barrow...waving around the banner of a corpse are you? It's a good banner to be under, a fine banner indeed. But still, your castle has fallen. Falco is dead, and aside from maybe a quiant footnote, history will not remember nor care for him. However...."

Then he pulled out his revolver and fired two shoots, one into each of his cronie's heads. He did say that no one should know about this meeting, and he figured that his guards were inculded.

"...You still have got me intrested! The age of Falco, if thats what you want to call it, is over...Yet the prospect of reviving it intrigues me. Fine then Barrows, I'll work for you. I'll be the puppet of the puppet."

(Stupid laptop...I keep making typos from the damn keyboard being so odd...)

"My oh my....aint that something?" A voice asked.
Minerva Black -one of the "big" bosses- walked toward the group with her Vipers behind her, her heels against the floor breaking the deadly silence. "Am I the only one that sees what's going on in here?! This is just a s***ty scheme to get all of you to do as they say and when the road is free from obstacles they'll kick you aside! And you guys wont be able to do anything cause the city will belong to them" She said as she smirked lightly and looked at Barrow "I cant belive so many families are ACTUALLY listening to a DEAD'S MAN words" She hissed as she looked at everybody. "What do you suggest we should do Vino...follow you?" Someone asked sarcastically, Vino turned around just too see Fuchsia and Ashes "What-are-THEY-doing-here?! They are freelances! They dont belong to any family or gang" Vino hissed angrily "Now that's a matter of perspective...technically we came here to represent the..."Thieves Guild" so as to give them a name" Ashes said as he chuckled softly, Vino clinched her fists as she gave them a nasty death glare "You think this is funny?" She grumbled "Well Vino it sure as sh¡t aint sad" Fuchsia said tauntingly.

((Ah, since it's still pretty early on in this one, I think I'll join... I feel this RP could be absolutely perfect for me. *sparkly eyes*

Name: Nathaniel Vera, or also obscurely known as the 'Prince of Lilith'.
Age: 19
Gender: Female (though in general she looks androgynous/male.)
Personality: In general, she's prone to bouts of aggression and seems to switch between this and stoic. Should she gain confidence in you, she opens up a bit more. She can be quite calculating, and shockingly intelligent... if she feels like it.
Strong point: She's loyal to the death, a good ally in battle, and has quick and easy ways to get information.
Weak points: She can be very aggressive, and a bit mean in general, as well as bitter and sardonic.
Weapons: She has one 'customized' bayonet (all she did was tie a little peacock feather to the hilt), two sabers, one with a red cloth on the hilt, and one with a black cloth.
Job: Kill for Hire.
Appearance: Here's a picture. Depending on whether looking at an androgynous, topless, flat-chested girl or not is NSFW is up to you. Her hair's dark brown, her eyes are silver, and she's tan. Oh, and, her right arm is missing.
Height: 5' 3"
Weight: 102 lbs
A little bit of her history: Nathaniel's mother, Gala Feliciano, once began a matriarchal 'family' called Lilith in hopes for women to gain a bit of power among the inner-ring of crime lords, as well as in an attempt to promote feminism. Not a very well known family, rumors stated that instead of a female, it was in fact led by man who used her as a front, but that still didn't attract much interest towards it. However, about 13 years ago Lilith started to grow surprisingly quickly, territorially, and gain exponential power in different regions of Scalvia. As soon as this happened, of course, Gala was captured and executed by a team of well-trained assassins. Until then, Lilith has been commanded by"0a 'steward', since at the time of Gala's death, Nathaniel was only 6. The current leader of Lilith, however, a scarred woman, has turned the family into little more than a shadow of a memory, due to her brutish tactics of command.
Now that Nathaniel is grown, the few people that do remember the family rumor that she may take her rightful place as heir.
Special skills: She has a very keen eye, despite the disability that semi-transparent eyes bring, and her senses are enhanced twofold when she gets an adrenaline rush. She also has a rare bone structure, courtesy of her father, that allows the bones to strengthen considerably, but at the price of being broken multiple times. (Works the exact opposite way in real life, so don't try it ^^;; )
Theme Song: Bored, by Deftones and Closer, by Nine Inch Nails.))

"That's funny... a dead man thinks that he can still hold power over people like us." A voice from the shadows said, its tone amused. "Didn't he foresee that we would all be like small children as soon as he was gone, chaotic, running rampant all around this place, doing whatever we want?" Obscured in shadow, the person exhaled deeply, smoke coming out of the nostrils hidden beneath the hat she happened to be wearing.

Silently, she rose from her seat, keeping concealed from view. "I hope none of you mind my being here... but I have reasons of my own to accept the offer presented, f it means reviving my beloved 'family'."

((shortpostisshort. I hope none of you are annoyed at my cutting in, and I hope I wasn't too straightforward in making her the daughter of a half-dead family of *coughfeministscough*. ^^; ))

Barrows rubbed his forehead with his fingers and sighed tiresomely, after a moments pause his stroke his fist against the table in order to gain everyone`s attention. His eyes were cold as steel and the words came as hisses between his teeth.

"This is most bothersome, people appearing to a meeting not meant for them, obviously some of you were followed and some of you might have even allowed others to know of this meeting. Some of you should known their place and those who do not.... they will not be heard of again..."

After the threat he suddenly chuckled and almost bursted into laughter as he gazed at them all. As a sign of surrender he raised his hands up and decided to make the best of these intrusions.

"Mr. Falco was never one to do it for the power, money nor fame.... Hardly, he simply wished for this city to exist peacefully with regular business going on smoothly, so that everyone would have an understanding with one another. He was born, raised here and he loved this city more than anything.

He did not wish it to be torn apart by a war, no, he wanted to preserve our city for it to exist as a haven for our way of life. As what I might do to ease your suspicions about me backstabbing you... I`ll be frank, whatever remains of mr. Falco`s organization or power is not with me, a mere underling. Whatever remains shall be yours when you accept this job, it`s the final piece that is free in this city for you to take and start to rebuilding the peace that was once shattered.

I am certain mr. Blake can verify this for you, his family after all was once subdued under Falco`s power..."

Blake, who had been more concerned with the sudden appearance of the Vipers and Nathaniel almost left the hint unanswered. There were already four knives in his hands, ready to be flung towards any aggressor or meddler that chose to set off the fuse in this volatile situation. Blake`s long gray covered some of his face, but his annoyance shined through from the words he forced out of his mouth.

"True enough, Falco intimitated my and many other mafia families to obedience. However now that he is gone my family does not feel threatened and has gone back to business as it was before him. We are after all assassins, some of the best this city has yet fighting Falco alone would have been suicidal. If tools are not used then what good are they, left to rust in the rain?

I was hardly aware that there were any of Falco`s lackey`s around, but when it comes down to being apart of such an ambitious offer, who of us is to refuse it?"

Blake said with a murderous, even joyous glee in his eyes as he got up, still holding the knives in his hands in order to defend himself. Barrows crossed his fingers and placed his elbows on the table, glaring at everyone.

"So do we have an accord? Or shall this be turned into a wholesale slaughter, personally I am not vividly attracted to death, but it is very commonplace in our city."

Barrows said, seemingly without a worry in the world.

Vino looked around at everybody "Cant anybody see it?! The gates are open and everything is going to change in Scalvia, yes, we like it or not, this times are too dusty to walk alone...so, when the time comes...in which side would you prefer to be?" She asked "With us...or with the ones that still cling to a corpse's beliefs?" She whispered as she smirked lightly "Think about it" She said as she gave Barrow a defying glare before she turned around and walked out of the bar followed by her Vipers. "You do know what will happen now right?...all those "foolish gang bangers and greedy mobsters" you were talking about will now join Vino" Roxanne said as she looked at Barrow while calmly playing with a deck of cards.

"Frankly Mil'lady, I think that you'd be just as likely, if not more so to betray us, so please go back to your elementary school or whatever and let the big boys handle their own dealings and connections." The Captian told the significantly smaller girl with a sigh. He really hated when people tended to be as obnoxious as she was, especally when he was already a bit testy. As she left he let out a laugh.

"So whose the girl in the pampers?"

Suddenly a bullet flied inches away from his ear, Minerva still hadnt left "Watch your words you stupid clown or the second one goes between your eyes and the next time you have something to say...have the guts to say it to my face, I hate to waste my time on cowards" She hissed this time walking away and leaving before he could answer.
"That would be Minerva Black aka. Vino, boss of the Vipers and a vain psycho, after Falco died they took half of the city under their control" Noah said calmly playing with his empty glass of whisky as Roxanne just ignored the clown.

"Maybe things are a bit too tense in this meeting..." she stood out from the shadows, observing all the others carefully, and removed her hat. "If you seem to have opened fire against each other... over mere insults."

Silently, she withdrew two sabers and a bayonet from her overcoat, and the overcoat itself which has several small long-range blade hidden within it in case of emergencies, revealing her clearly masculine clothing. It's definitely not a smart thing to do, disarming myself... but if I don't run my mouth off with these people, chances are I'll have a good chance of gaining some confidence among them. After all, if I really want this to work... I need to be smart about it and get as many allies as possible.

"Maybe we should all just do as Mr. Barrows asks, and try not to turn this meeting into a showdown, but instead ally our forces and restore this land to order, no? After all, the idea of making our world something peaceful again is a rather decent one... unless you're all so magnificently fascinated by the carnage this land is ravaged by that you'd much rather live your lives in false glory and decadence..."

She stated, trying to think rationally. After all, Lilith was as well more of a pacifistic family and at one point willingly served under Falco when it was under Gala's command... until of course, it fell even lower, self-destructing itself by turning into nothing but a cheap mafia that sold drugs and prostituted itself in other ways for money, that just happened to be run by women.

It was enough to break her heart. But, if she had to serve falsely under a dead man's orders for a broken dream... so be it.

"Ooooh, aren't we articulating today. Tell me, did you use the better half of the day learning the words, or do you just have a dictionary on hand?" Chuckled the Captian. "Really, I've never heard anything so rehearsed in my life. That was almost pitiful, and ya know that the last thing a Mob Leader is gonna want us to do is to give peace a chance. The only shooting that was going on was between parties not particually allied with the group, thus has no effect on Barrows. Or at least on 'Vino's' end, thats the case."

"Excuse me for trying to be civilized, clown," she remarked dryly. "Forgive my rudeness, as well as mistaking this 'Vino' for an ally. But to be fair, you did rile her up, and nearly got your head blown off in the process. I think maybe you should keep your trap shut if all you can say is something indecent and insulting."

She scowled and leaned back on the table, intent on keeping her own trap shut during the rest of the meeting; the Captain had riled her up some, and she was really not in much of a position to be acting angry in anyway. She did understand that it was quite hypocritical of her to be preaching peace, but... it was, no doubt, a dream she and her mother also wanted to achieve. As for the comment on on her way of speaking... well, if she wouldn't speak in a 'proper' manner, she'd just sound like your average thug. This was not the image that she was bent on portraying.

"You really don't get it, do you? If she shot me, then frankly, I can assure you that my gang would personally destroy the little worm. And even if they didn't it would make it harder for her to seize power, or whatever cliche thing she's in the mood for." He said.

"Just sit down and shut up boy. At this point-in-time, you are less than worthless. Your like dirt underneath the dirt thats under my boots." Sid added, with yet another chuckle.

Barrows remained silent as Vino fired her gun and made her empty threats, he knew of her alignment in this matter and cared little of what her group sought to do about the city. She was of no consequense on the long run, an overambitious fool admist the sea of warmongerers and sycophants. Barrows glanced at Noah as he made his statement about Minerva and her Vipers, ignoring the argument taking place between the clown and the boy-girl.

"That statement is both hilarious and absurd Mr. Noah, true enough that is the common word on the streets, but truth is the Vipers are hardly that influential. Those who they claim dominance over don`t actually take orders from them, they simply do it out of appearance while they actually wage war against anyone who dares to trample on them, the Vipers for one.

The reason people claim such things is because the most powerful of the mob families, the Marcone, have claimed half of the city in a similiar manner however these are simply for the sake of appearances. Both sides are caught in a war within and beyond their domains... Now onwards to business then..."

Barrows said and quickly distributed copies of a small file to each of them, the file detailed profile of Albast Cromwell, the most powerful smuggler within the city limits. Blake examined the file quietly and chuckled at a bit at whom was to be their first target, it certainly fit the picture. To a city, which was dominated by war, what better way to gain a stranglehold on it than by taking over the traffic of weapons coming from outside? Every had guns certainly, but there simply weren`t many arms factories in the city to supply the war with enough bullets and other kind of armaments.

"Cromwell is, as you all know, a high profile smuggler who makes his money by supplying the war efforts of different gangs and making a monstrous proffit out of it. However as of late he has run a stroke of bad luck, the Marcone whom he was dealing with found out he was supplying weapons to their rivals the Jarcov.

As you can imagine neither side are pleased by the recent development and Cromwell has been cornered despite his continous trade of arms into the city. He has lost his good graces with both families and has only a few small gangs protecting him, making him an ideal target for us to strike at first. The families need him more than they want to admit and we need him to make things go smoothly for us, your first mission is to capture Cromwell and convince him to strand both families of supplies to keep fighting their wars.

The methods you wish to use are entirely up to you and imagine whatever Cromwell is stocking up would prove useful in taking the fight to our other targets in the future..."

Barrows explained without pause, hoping that everyone followed his explanation so that there wouldn`t be any confusion as to what was their first mission or where to start. He reached into his pocket and placed two keys on the table.

"These should also prove useful, the first key is to the black car waiting outside as a means of transportation and the second is for a warehouse number 82 at the docks, which should serve as a place of gathering and safe shelter for the time being... I shall contact you at appropriate times to hear of your progress, I wish you luck in your endeavors. Now if you excuse me, I must be off, I cannot move without notice in this city and my presence is required elsewhere..."

Barrows said before getting up and putting on his coat that a man, bodyguard presumably, was holding ready for him at the entrance. Barrows turned to gaze at them with a smirk and tipped his dark fedora, that he took it from his bodyguard, at them as a sign of goodbye.

"I leave the rest to you, have fun...."

As the door slammed shut, Blake spun around in his chair and flung a dagger across the room straight into the forehead of the bartender. The man did not even see his death coming and died with an obliviously absent face, falling behind the counter with a crash as he took down some liquor bottles with him. Blake made his way behind the counter to retrieve his dagger and to ensure the man did not have any items that might give them away. Nothing, maybe he was innocent, but that hardly mattered at this point. They simply could not afford to have the man telling anyone of their intentions and the Vipers only knew they were a group, but not of their intentions or first move.

Blake finally got up and stared at the rest of them quietly, with an absent stare in his eyes.

"I suggest we do as Barrows told us to, we have a place to hide, let us gather there to make our plans and then move onto the task at hand."

Blake said with cold tone, awaiting for someone`s approval.

"I'm in," Nathaniel replied smoothly, ignoring the clown, and hardly fazed by the sudden murder of the bartender. She was desensitized to that sort of thing due to early exposure.

Without turning her back to them, she swiftly picked her things up from the table, and eyed the profile. So, their first mission was to capture a smuggler, huh? Judging by his status, she figured he'd likely be in some isolated hiding place, watched over by several bodyguards, and might even resort to suicide if they succeeded in capturing him. Not a tough a job for her, considering her level of expertise, but she'd have to wait and see over several of them... well, Blake perhaps was at a level closer to hers, maybe higher, maybe lower. Only time would tell.

"Barrows does seem to have it all worked out for us, now doesn't he? I don't like it." Yawned the Captian. He then reclined in his chair. "So then, What do we got to work with here then? Two thiefs who dragged in the prissiest girl in James Madison High, An androginous teenager who wants to feel abit fancy, and guy wearing an inside-out multi-colored dream coat. Now that I've given you all a sarcastic comment assigned to each of you, perhaps introductions are in order."

Roxanne grabbed the keys "I drive" She said clearly not expecting anyone's aproval as she then just jumped behind the counter, grabbed some bottles and throwed them to Noah who put them in a big bag "Always comes in handy" He said as he smirked "So...introductions??? Well, we are the S.A. Mainly thieves, con-artists, swindlers...anything we want and anything that gives us money...and we are also street performers: fortune telling and music" He said as he gave them a mock salute "My name is Roxanne, people call me Fuchsia, this is Anthony my own personal burden" She said as she chuckled softly "Noah or Ashes" He added "As for our abilities...well....you'll soon see" Roxanne said as she smirked.

Blake threw an amused glare towards the captain, but had no desire to comment on his sarcasm and hid his knives in their original places within his jacket.

"Biagio Vicante, but for the sake of appearances let us stick to Blake, lest my real name exerts your tongue too much."

He presented himself as he walked from behind the counter, back towards the the table. he glared at the others as one of them still had not presented their idenity. If he were to work with these people he could not afford any mistakes nor to place too much trust in them. They might screw up or worse, seek to further their own momentary gains by taking part in their missions.

Certainly the rewards were already ample enough as they were, but what of the risks? If they succeeded in their first mission they would be angering two powerful mob families, but then again they would at least one card to play in the endless power struggle that the city was entraped in.

"Blargrio Vermote? Alrighty then, that tells me absolutly nothing, except of the possible I-talian liniege. And even then, thats likely an alias. So tell me Bluargo Vinrote, can you provide anything substaninte about yourself?" Asked the clown as he got up very suddenly, and dashed to the counter.

Blake sighed, clearly displaying his frustration at the clowns antic performance, however he did not wish to be pushed around. Certainly he could be informative about his skills and profession to this dastardly annoyance, why not? He might as well make it very clear as to what might be their fate should they ever cross him or even plan to threaten him in any manner, physical or otherwise. Blake suddenly answered the clowns stare with a polite smile and nodded to him in order to his displaying his willingness to collaborate.

"I can tell you that I have trained all my life in the arts of stealth, poison, persuasion, knives and I have been, on several occasion I might add, praised for my talent of causing people to die excruciatingly slowly. All it requires is a simple stab in the abdomen, first of course one must specify the organ he wishes to disable. Lungs, liver, kidneys etc or simply go for an artery for a preferable amount of blood loss.

If you wish for an immidiate death, then I suggest we target the throat, not even a sound and no one lives with a slit throat for too long, makes breathing rather hard wouldn`t you say? Or we could simply throw one from a distance, as you just now witnessed, the human skull can be a very fragile thing, a knife alone with ample force is enough to penetrate it.

And that is just scrathing the surface, oh I could go, believe me I wish I could go on, but I shall not bore with the details of my work. Ah... yes also, my entire family? Assassins, a real family enterprise. Grandfather, now there is a man who knows how to handle a blade, was kind enough to find the time to pass down his skills to me and off I went, onto a life of joyous elimination of the filth that trample this city`s fine streets....

With my body count scaling up to a hundred after two years of being in the business, here I stand before you, modest and able to serve our `noble cause`. What of you my hilariously pale and painted friend, is there anything substaninte about you, with the exception of your hilarious demeanor?"

Blake explained with a certain eerie fascasination gleaming his eyes and he seemed to enjoy the very idea of killing as, if every kill was a work of art that should not go unnoticed. His words also served as a warning to the clown, the Vicante`s were good at what they did and should he cross them, then he would be the one in trouble. Truth be told, the situation with his family wasn`t all that simply, but any tie that remained was enough to make him an eligible family member.

And with that, the Captian clapped, a let out a chuckle.

"Alright then Blake. You've impressed me, throughly and utterly. You don't anger as easily as I would have thought. Frankly, I find it very relaxing to have compitance on my side. I was under the impression, that as I tested you with the 'Blargo Vionte' buisness that you'd have gotten angry, and threatened me with force, or just punched me in the gut, or whatever you would have prefered. You also just showed frustration, not anger, and didn't allow me to make a mockery of your name. You have cemented yourself in a position of respect from me..." He noted.

"My name is Sid, though you can call me the Captian. I am a master of improversial skills, and of people. In other words, I make everyday objects, as well as words, into a weapon, and can be a rather useful interrogater among....other things." Sid said, chuckling once more at the end of his sentince.

Nathaniel observed the others, silently. Of course, leave it up to the clown to point out her androgyny and make fun of her for it. "My name's Nathaniel Vera," she said softly, hoping no one would hear her. Her name wasn't the most well-known at all... but if they were so well-informed, there was a chance they'd know, and likely berate her for letting her mother's would-be legacy go entirely to waste. Either that, or call her a weakling.

She wouldn't want to be seen as a weakling from a decadent family; if there was something she was sure she was, it definitely wasn't a weakling... short to temper, yes. Weak, no, never.

"I'm just... an assassin."

Nathaniel`s remark did not go unnoticed by Blake as he glanced her way with a certain degree of interest as to her origins, if she would not speak more of her ambitions or past then he would simply have to dig them up somehow. As it was apparent that every had introduced themselves, they could get underway and secure their base of operations, for now. Blake shut the briefcase resting on the table after placing the documents within and grabbed it in his left hand. He began walking towards the exit and made waving gesture with his right hand.

"I think that`s enough, there is nothing more for us here to do, let`s get going..."

Blake said as he left through the front door and made his way to the black car waiting outside, out of caution he checked the bottom of the car and the trunk for explosives or other harmful devices. Having confirmed that the car was indeed safe, he sat in the back with the briefcase resting on his lap, but he hardly even noticed it anymore. Certain it held money and valuable information, but he was not one who craved money nor wished to pilfer through every detail.

Roxanne got in the driver's seat while Noah sat next to her. "Warehouse Nº82" He reminded her, she just smirked lightly as she looked at everybody from the rearview mirror "Seatbelts please...safety always comes first" She mumbled sarcastically before she started the engine "Let see what this baby can do" She said happily.

She twitched a bit, wondering why the guy with gray hair was looking at her... well, for a moment, anyway. Could he happen to know she was actually a girl? Nah, that seemed unlikely, considering her name was... well, a boy name.

As she got to the car, Nathaniel eyed the designated driver, and smiled a bit as she boarded the vehicle. How nice to see someone who considered safety like that... she would've likely forgotten to wear the seat belt. It wasn't terribly easy or comfortable to put it on with one arm, but after 3 years of having lost it, it wasn't like she could complain.

Loss of limb aside, she had to wonder what a warehouse looked like... she'd only ever heard of them. Most of her work consisted of killing corrupt low-lives in... 'fancy' places. Nowhere terribly seedy; they were always too busy trying to keep up appearances. She considered asking, but she didn't want to seem stupid... if anything, sheltered.

"Excuse me...Please get off of me..." Said a voice, from the drivers seat, that Roxanne now inhabited. "...You arse is on my face..." He countied as he attempted to push the woman from off of him. The man word expensive clothing, that still had a bit of a 'homey' sense to it, and had a taned complexion about him.

"SPY! Has another person been followed?"
"Not quite...I'll explain if the woman gets off of me..." muttered the man to the crazed clown.

Suddenly an angry fist slammed against his cheek and before he could react, HE was the one out of the car "f*!@ing perv" Roxanne hissed as she pinned him down with the heel of her shoe, still sitting in the driver's sear "Who the hell are you?" She said as she raised an eyebrown.

"My name is Tom King, one of the several leaders of the 'Sixteen Strings', and hired by Mr. Barrows as your chaufer, marksmen, and ally...and no, I am no pervert Milady..." Said King, with both hands raised.

Roxanne just gave him a wary look before she got her heel off his chest "Fine...but I'm still driving" She said stubbornly as she sat down again and shut the door in his face, Noah just chuckled softly which only earned him a nasty death glare.

"Ah..." she was... confused, to say the least. Very confused. But, since the events turned out to be rather amusing, she let out a small laugh. It was hard to believe that a man could blend so darn well with the furniture of a car, but she thought nothing of it. As long as he was on their side, she wasn't intent on whipping out any of her weapons... or so much as twitching, really.

The tip of a knife appeared unnervingly close to Tom King`s face as Blake reacted to his sudden appearance, he eyed the man quietly listening to the brief conversation that took place before he was able to present this shady character with his own questions. He claimed to work for Barrows, but why hide in the car like an assassin? Tough if he was an assassin set out to take care of them, already, he must have been the sloppiest one in the whole city and would not live past the day.

"Why did you hide in the car when everyone else gathered in the bar? It seems to me that you are unexpected and unpleasant appearance, thus your life may be hanging by a thread lest you wish to collaborate?"

Blake insisted whilst making a poking motion with the knife towards King`s right eye.

"I was order to stay in the car. Thus I stayed. You should know that if you don't follow orders, your likely to be shot or hung. Either way you'll die if you don't follow them. Unfortunatly, my orders stated to stay here, and introduce myself when you came in- your lady compatriot is the reason for my silence: she sat on me, thus making it rather hard to speak up." Said Tom, as he stared at the knife intently. For a moment, his face turned stone-hard as he looked at the weapon. However, the moment he had finished the sentince, his demenor changed, to the one exhibited earlier: One of a polite, yet light-hearted manner.

"Of course if you'd rather stab me, you'd have to clean up my mess from the car, and i'd say that you'd enjoy your ride more if your face wasn't covered in my bodliy fluids." King said, chukling to himself a litte bit.

The blade withdrew from threatening King`s face and disappeared into the sleeve of Blake, he simply grinned a bit at the explenation he had been given, it sufficed for him however. Barrows was a slimy guy, he had to give him that, having someone come along to keep an eye on them, no doubt. At first he had thought they would have had a bit more of a free reign to their actions, but it seemed that Barrows would not be content with anything he did not explicitly agree upon.

"He could have at least given us a heads up, it does not help us that we have allies appearing out of nowhere, under his orders or not."

Blake commented dryly and leaned back whilst staring out of the car, the streets were quiet despite the sound of gunfire out in the distance. On worst days you could not hear your own voice and the streets were literally a battlefield, you might actually slip on some blood that poured from a dead corpse out on the street as they had been abandoned or simply had gone unnoticed. It was the calm before the storm, once every got a breather and resupplied themselves with new weapons, hell would be unleashed again until someone stood supreme or until the whole city tore itself apart from within.

The police tried to desperately hold their ground against every criminal within the city, they were more of a nuisance these days and cop killings were every day life. The value of a cops life was equal to dust, albeit almost half of them were on the payroll of the mobs. Those that weren`t, the one`s that concerned themselves with justice and honesty, had a hard time avoiding bullets that had their names on them.

After 15 minutes of driving, they arrived at an abandoned warehouse in the docks. Blake gazed up at the number of the warehouse to ensure they were at the right place, 682. The outside was dirty and even the numbers were stained by some unknown substance. Blake exited the car and made his way to the side entrance, he slit the key into the lock and entered what appeared to be an office. There were a number of empty desks that had been put together as a gathering table, otherwise the room was unremarkable, a few cabinets and shelves against the walls. Blake put on the lights and placed the briefcase on the table before sitting on a chair, awaiting others to come in. He grabbed the files, concerning the smuggler and his operation, and spread them on the table.

The tricksters looked around as they walked inside "We could've saved all this "suspence" and just read the damn papers in the bar with a nice glass of whisky" Noah mumbled while chuckling softly as he sat down.

"Dank, dark, and dreary." Nathaniel spoke softly, almost to herself, looking about the warehouse. "Why, it's just like being home again..." she sat in the chair furthest away from the table, and promptly put her feet up on said table, of course, wary not to be shoving her feet in anyone's face.

She glanced over at Noah for a moment; despite the fact that the searing alcohol was a challenge to drink, it wouldn't do very well to be inebriated while trying to figure out how to snatch the guy.

The whole whiskey deal was quickly forgotten by her, though, as she was more interested in other things. She looked over at Blake, seeming rather bored. "So, what's the plan?"

Blake sighed and scratched his head as he hadn`t truly thought this through, but alas the files that Barrows had provided them were littered with hints as how to procceed. The info indentified a man by the name of Opher as Cromwell`s most known contact, a fact that made him certainly valuable to anyone, who wished to communicate or get a hold of Cromwell. Cromwell`s operations and their location were shady at best thus they couldn`t simply go to him, even investigating some of the warehouses that were marked on the papers to be under Cromwell`s ownership would not ensure that they could find any trace of the man himself.

The last thing they wanted to do was to frighten Cromwell, his future being uncertain as it was, otherwise he would disappear underground permanently and it would take a lot of effort to smoke him out. For what they knew Cromwell was still running business as usual, albeit with a healthy ounce of paranoia and guns protecting his hide. Thus they would have to lure him out into making a deal with them and disable all of his guards in order to capture him intact.

"According to the information we have on Cromwell... the only way we can contact him is to have him believe that we want to make a deal with him, otherwise he seems to have cut himself off from the outside world, fearing for his own life no doubt.... So I`d guess our best bet is to make contact with some of his cronies and set up a meeting, then capture him. That however is simply the whole operation summed up in a few words, we need someone persuasive to make the deal, someone who can pass themselves as a valid buyer for the goods he is offering.

Payment for the goods we have covered... as he no doubt will want to see that we are indeed attempting to make a deal. The money will work as a bait as we spring an ambush, catching this guy off-guard will be our only chance to capture him alive. So we need to split our team in two, those that masquerade making the deal and those that ambush Cromwell`s underlings."

Blake reasoned as he placed his shoes on the table and leaned back in his chair whilst inspecting a paper, that underlined Cromwells apparent contacts, in front of his eyes. He slit the paper in the middle of the table and eyed the rest of them quietly, pondering who of them might be able to pull of the charade to deceive Cromwell. The clown, despite being a crime boss came across as too unstable, he might actually prefer to be a part of them ambush. Nathaniel had no reputation whatsoever, the duo actually represented someone as did Blake himself. Not forgetting the latest addition to their team, King had said that he had belonged to some group and might also be able to pull it off. However he was not going to dictate their course of action without hearing from them.

"Any thoughts? any of you willing to make the daring attempt to fool this smuggler when he has half of the city`s mobs rattled?"

He inquired with a quirk smile on his face.

The dame scratched at her own chin, pondering. She never considered herself a good actress, though, then again, she was going to 'inherit' a family anytime soon. Perhaps this could be good practice? Pretend to be an aspiring heir while the others devised a way to trap the man once and for all... but, then again, she was hardly a shadow in a world of giants. How was she supposed to pass off as a crime boss?

Of course, anyone other than herself was a much better candidate; she wouldn't say it, but she was quite the worm among them.

...

Well, she'd never get anywhere with that pessimistic attitude, would she?

"I'm willing to try," she said, rather casual about it. "It shouldn't be too hard, and I'm a sturdy gal. Should I get caught, which I doubt I would, I can take whatever this guy decides to throw at me..." she smiled a bit, though she didn't exactly expect anyone would bother to second that... either that, or they'd be distracted by her casual reference to being, in fact, a female.

"We are up for the deceiving part as well...after all, we are con-artists...lying and cheating is our thing" Roxanne said as she smirked lightly "Sounds good to me" Noah said as he leaned back on his chair looking excited about the idea of so much danger "And we are freelances, he'll never suspect anything" Roxanne added.

"You all are so STUPID! UWE-HEE-HEE-HEE! Don't you know that a single person or small group will not make a big enough deal for a man to come out of hiding, when he has the city split in two trying to kill him? No no no! It'll have to be a representitive of a gang. Like me. Or Tom Queen."

"My name is Tom KING and I do believe th-"

"Shut up Nancy boy, no one wants your tea and crumpets." said an irritated Captian he gave a raspberry to Tom and walked forward.

"As such, If i'm going to make a deal, without killing anymore of MY men, you'll all have to dress up as my men. You take the order, I'll stand lead making decisions, and then when we get in private, or at least some seculded room. Mr. and Mrs. Slutty-Grimey-Street-Theives can find us an exit if we assassinate him. However, the more likely outcome is that he won't be stupid and meet us out-right, and send a co-worker. If thats the case, we should do one of two things."

"No. 1: Make an Unfavorable postion with him via another gang (Psst, King George, this is where you come in) or some other way of causing dis-order.

Or, we can take No. 2: Finding out his information from the place we make the deal, but I doubt the deal-maker will leave around incriminating things for us to take, so we might have to interrogate him. So the choice is yours." Said Sid as he pointed to the group.

"HELL NO!! What did you just ca..." Noah hissed as he got up but Roxanne just pushed him down again "Ok. 1º The fact your brain capacity isnt good enough to remember our names is NOT our problem and despite the fact that it is true -in Ashes case- it dosent make it any better you f*!@-face!! 2º Do you ACTUALLY think he wont be suspicious of you either? Havent you thought about the possibility that MAYBE, just maybe, Vino already told everybody who are involved in this?" She said calmly yet poison dripped out of her words.

"If the case in point is to stand as a recognizable family to try and lure him out, well, none of use are exactly qualified," Nathaniel remarked, frowning a bit. "And if, as Roxanne says, this 'Vino' took the opportunity to inform the target of our existence, wouldn't be pointless to even try to pull off this charade?" She rested her head on her remaining hand, which was propped on the table by the elbow.

She had to wonder, though, if she could be grouped up with them; after all, she was not exactly invited to the meeting, and it's not like she came from a recognizable family or was recognizable in any way herself. In fact, she was so out of place with a bunch of representatives and a crime boss that she was surprised no one bothered to ask her anything as of yet; or worse, suspect her of some foul play.

She tried hard not to think about this. "Though, there's a chance that, seeing as the whole lot of us are rather 'harmless', he'll meet us in person and try to convince us to back him up and sacrifice our hides for his; not to mention, the chances that the wine lady actually was able to recognize every single one of us and expose information over our little group is, in fact, pretty low."

"If your little friend told them about us, this would all be pointless. We are opperating as though she did not, I'd like to think. Further more, I am actually the LEADER of a gang. Therefore, wanting weapons is REASONABLE. Get it though the skull lady!" said Captian condesendingly.