Doublecrosses, Triplecrosses, and Monetary Losses (Private- Please Ask)

[Evangeline Topclaw]

November 1st, Year 4

The room felt small to Evangaline, and it was. 1800 cubic feet to be exact, if her dimensioning was right. Being that her time in the room was uninterupted, and that she was fairly sure that her dimensioning had been exactingly precise- bah. She was bored, and reduced to dimensioning the room to make time go by faster.

Evangeline sighed. She stood up, and began pacing the outer walls once more, dragging her talon across the walls as she went. "-four, five, six, seven, eight..." She paused at the eighth foot, and returned her gaze to the cause of her circumstances in the center of the room. She had succeeded, so far, at trying to ignore it's presence, but the need for something to do forced her back to it.

The pile rose from the top of the table- a stack of bound and sealed bricketts, each weighing exactly 0.5 kilograms. This precision was a necessity, and a proven fact, because Evangeline had personally weighed each. The bricks were about the size of a child's fist each, but the combined 40 kilograms amounted to a stack that rose up to Evangeline's chest feathers. And though she had counted them again and again, she decided to do it once more.

"One-set-of-four, two-set-of-four, three-set-of-four, four-set-of-four..."

The hours creeped by, and finally, a knock sounded at the room's door. Eva bolted to consciousness from her nap, and she rose to meet the knock. Through the peephole, the nighttime shade occluded any attempts at seeing who it was. She opened the door, and the mysterious knocker was gone. Whoever was knocking was who was expected though, because the corpses were here. Wonderful, bountiful corpses.

Evangeline dragged the gurneys into the house one-by-one, counting the corpses and assessing their value as she went. 16 gurneys later, she had a total of seventeen corpses- fifteen adults, and a pair of foal twins. Evangaline didn't ask questions, and the deliverer wouldn't have answered it if she had, but she was a bit saddened by the sight of the foals.

She swallowed her brief stint of despair, and resumed arranging the room for the... surgeon that had been invited.

[Guest]

Her day had been slow. Wandering the sewer systems, wandering the streets. Trying to find something to do. Moreover, she was hoping she'd stumble across some of the griffons who had participated in a mass-murder she'd caught wind of. Seventeen dead. Their murders were connected, apparently. There were also foals among the dead.

As Hark emerged from yet another manhole in a back alleyway, she looked around. No griffons in sight, and thus, she was safe. Moving the cover back over the manhole, she trotted out of a series of alleyways, and found herself on the main street. Dear Celestia, it smelled of death.

As she scanned the area lazily, she flipped her hood off of her head and shook her mane out of it. Then she spotted it. An unidentifiable figure moving at an incredible speed away from... a mass of gurneys. Corpses laid atop them. Hark kept to the shadows, watching a female griffon drag them into her building, one by one.

As soon as the door closed, Hark proceeded toward her building, not caring that she was clearly displayed in the moonlight; she could taken any griffon who dared cross her. Her pace was of a slow and deliberate trot as her mind began to race, plans of action as well as anger dancing around. The death of the foals ignited rage within her.

As she neared the building, she turned, heading into an alleyway instead of entering the building. She wished to ambush anyone else who dared enter the building, as they must have been associated with the griffoness inside. She flipped her hood up once again, concealing her features, and let her cloak drape across her. She wanted to be a surprise.

[Thorin]

Thorin wandered down the street, enjoying one of the few nights when he was not required to patrol by his new seargent. The cost of this night of freedom was to perform a favour for an aquiantance of the seargent and earn a bit of cash on the side. He took a small scrap of paper from his armour and looked at the scrawled notes.

Back of the Moonwater hotel, after curfew, burial preperations, medical tools required

Thorin looked up and down the street and spotted the door. Walking up to it, he though he saw a pony shaped shadow in the gloom, but when he turned there was nothing. It was unlikely that there would be anyone around at this time of night, in this nice quiet collaborater rich suburb.

He walked up to the door and knocked three times.

[Evangeline Topclaw]

The door knocked three times, alerting Evangeline to another guest. She walked past an obese Earth pony corpse, and made her way to the door through the crowded room. She opened it wide, revealing a surgical Griff in light armor. Evangeline straightened herself up and tried to muster a greeting. "Uh, hello I am Evangeline and I think you are here about the bit of work that was agreed upon how are you and what fine weather we have today?"

[Thorin]

Thorin was greeted by a heavilly decorated Griffoness and a barrage of words. Recovering from the shock of this, he withdrew his seargents note and held it out to her.

'My name is Thorin, I was told that there was some... work here for me'

[Evangeline Topclaw]

Evangeline looked to the note, and back to Thorin. Then back to the note. "Oh, the note is for me."

She looked it over once, and crumpled it up, throwing it to the floor. "Come in and make yourself at home and look out for the corpses and the stack of narcotics in the middle of the room and try not to hurt yourself trying to avoid said corpses and narcotics in the middle of the room because then I would find myself overwhelmed what with having to deal with a freshly injured Griffon."

She withdrew into the room, and began seperating the narcotics into seventeen piles. She hadn't looked to see if the Griffon had followed her in but she was sure he would. Why else was he here, if not for the corpses? "Did you bring your medical equipment as was asked and I am hoping you did because otherwise we are without medical equipment with which to work?"

[Thorin]

Thorin entered the room and stopped almost immediately.

'Did... you say narcotics?'

[Evangeline Topclaw]

Evangeline looked back to Thor. "....Yes?..."

[Thorin]

Thorin shifted from side to side, now nervous.

'The illegal kind? The kind that earn you six months in a labour camp? The kind distributed by violent, unpredictable drug lords?'

[Evangeline Topclaw]

".... No?....."

[Thorin]

Thorin smiled sheepishly. He was considering leaving, then remembered the considerable sum of money that was promised to him.

'Okay then... Just dont say my name in any investigations or doccuments or anything, okay?' He said as he unrolled a large feild surgery kit.

[Evangeline Topclaw]

Evangeline nodded, and begin placing the stacks of narcotics near the corpses that were supposed to receive them. "We need the incision to be discrete enough that a rudimentary look-over would not reveal it. Perhaps you are more skillfull in these matters? but I do not know so I suggest that maybe it would be a fortuitious thing to make an incision on the lower back of each of these corpses for the deposit of the narcotics and not anywhere else on their body since more conspicuous locations would maybe attract the eyes of a prying passerby and that would be unfortunate for the use of our operations."

[Thorin]

Thorin contemplated for a moment.

'I could put an incision below the tail and store the packets in the bidy cavity. Very few creatures would look there on a corpse and the tail will serve to hide it' He said as he took a scalpel out of his kit.

[Evangeline Topclaw]

"You are of course the professional and I yield this matter to you."

Evangeline found herself with a lack of work to do, and patiently waited for Thorin to begin his procedures.

[Thorin]

Thorin selected a pony at random, an obese earth pony stallion. He pushed its tail aside and made an incision large enough for his hand. Reaching in, he pushed organs out of the way until there was a small cavity, which he insterted the packet into. He stitched it roughly closed and inspected his work.

[Evangeline Topclaw]

The incision roughly stitched, Evangeline performed a cursory inspection of the work. "This will do very well for our work at hand," she said, in the affirmative.

The rest of the corpses were snipped and stitched in due process, gradually placing the work of forty kilograms between the seventeen ponies. The room picked up a death-stench as they went, so she went to the windows and opened them to the alley. When all of the drugs were snuggly tucked away into their meat-socks, she washed her hands at a bare-bones sink that had somehow managed to cling to the bare walls.

"Now we wait for the pony who is coming to retrieve the corpses though we can not be here for that so we must wait outside on the room so now we leave okay?"

[Thorin]

Thorin nods, having become used to the griffonesses odd manner during his work. He packs up his equipment, washes his talons and waits outside beside Ev.

[°๖ۣۜXarith]

The winds whipped past his face as Xarith skated down the streets of Manehattan. This was a familiar feeling as the zebra had always something to do around town. This time he was on a delivery job for some griffs. They just needed something moved from here to there in a timely fashion. It was nothing the Zebra couldn't do.

He came to a stop in front of the addressed location and flipped of his board. Stuffing his spear into his bag, he straightened himself out and made sure his satchel and board rested nicely on his back. Xarith then faced the two griffons in front of him and acknowledged them with a slight nod.

"Hey there. I was told I was needed for something..?"

[Guest]

As she saw the other griffon enter the building, Hark scrambled for the nearest window she could find, which happened to be relatively high for her stature. She searched the alleyway, finding nothing to boost her up high enough. She huffed, enraged by the lack of crates or anything in this alleyway.

She then noticed the black-and-white zebra pull up to the building on a... dirtboard. Okay, that was a rather odd sight. None the less, she moved up in the alleyway, enough to be seen by anyone standing at the door now, her hood still drawn. Her muzzle visible, however, she grinned.

[Evangeline Topclaw]

A beaming grin formed on Evangeline's face at the sight of Xarith pulling in on his dirtboard. It was a wondrous contraption, and seeing him ride it, it was quite the spectacle.

"Oh yes, hello, i am evangeline and yes this is the place you were supposed to be and thank you for being on time and now i must ask you if you are the person who does deliveries because i was told that you are that person and i am glad that you are here but if i am mistaken as to your identity please say so." She somehow managed to speak it all without breathing, or even appearing to breath, as if the words were summoned forth from some unquenchable spigot.

The words out of her mouth, she patiently awaited the response of the Zebra. She didn't notice Hark nor would she had she not been preoccupied. Her mind was far too busy trying to ensure nothing went wrong with this transaction. She sincerely hoped that everything went fine. The handsome Griff doctor certainly seemed too pleasant to wish any harm upon...

[°๖ۣۜXarith]

Xarith just laughed politely as he nodded.

"Yeah I'm that zebra Ma'am. I was told that I was needed for a cross town delivery of some sort? Just point me too it and then a place to go and I'll be on my way," Xarith said as he adjusted his satchel out of reflex. He paused for a moment before laughing again.

"Oh where are my manners. The name's Xarith. Xarith Treviant. Now who do I owe the rest of this greeting too?" With that Xarith awaited the griffonesses response. He had not known what things her had to deliver, but he did know that it was another opportunity to make connections. What better way to do that then to get around town?

[Thorin]

Thorin lowered the visor on his helmet, hopefully disguising himself from onlookers. He knew it would not work, having entred and stood outside without it, but he hoped anyway.

'My name... is not important in this case' he said weakly.

[Guest]

The Highmagus grinned as her horn ignited with a cold, blue energy of the magical sort. She threw back her hood, shaking her mane out as she did this, as her horn would have illuminated her face anyway. The area began to somehow feel colder, the ambient temperature dropping by about ten degrees.

She shifted her position, not saying a word, now up against the building in which the griffons and zebra were gathered. She was hoping to now be unseen, so that she could quickly surprise, immobilize, and eliminate the three.

[Evangeline Topclaw]

Evangeline felt the sudden temperature drop, and began looking about frantically for the source. "Is it just me or has the temperature dropped by what i would guess professionally to be about ten degrees ferenheit?"

She saw the magic of illumination and, though she couldn't make out the source, took to flight assuming the worst.

[Thorin]

Thorin swung into action against the possible threat with all the skill and efficiency that his experience provided. Meaning of course, that he turned and looked blankly at the blue glow emmanating from the alleyway.

[°๖ۣۜXarith]

Xarith frowned a bit and shrugged as the griffoness flew off without responding to his gesture. He did, however, flip out his board when the temperature dropped. He had almost pulled his spear out reflexively, but stopped at the last moment remembering that he was standing in public.

Instead of standing around though, he hopped on his board and slowly rolled over to the white griffons side. He was just a bit curious to see what was up here.

[Guest]

As the female griffon took off into the sky, Hark frowned. Her horn cut off for a moment, flaring brilliantly once more. Bright blue light fell throughout the alleyway, as she conjured not three, but nine slender and sharp ice shards. She turned her attention to the skies once more, letting loose three on the griffon, adjusting her aim for her velocity, thus leading her.

The remaining six shards were kept in a telekinetic field. She began to move at a breakneck pace, out of the alleyway as to get a better view of the others she had seen at the building. As she rounded the corner, she skidded to a halt, shifting her legs into a sturdier stance.

Turning her sights on the masked griffon first, she let loose three shards in his direction, trying to incapacitate him rather than score an outright killing blow. Then, she turned her sights on the zebra.

Her horn flared once more, this time directly affecting her three remaining ice shards. With this spell, she began to bond and shape her conjured ice, into a long, wide shard resembling a sword. She began to speak:

"I have no quarrel with zebra kind. If you wish to associate with the griffons, so be it. However, I am giving you this chance to run, and I suggest you take it."

She glanced between the zebra and the masked griffon, not caring if any of her shards had hit. Her ice blade was suspended above her head, in a telekinetic field, pointing down diagonally. She panted a bit, exhaustion from such intense and rapid spellcasting showing, like a runner after an intense sprint.

[°๖ۣۜXarith]

Xarith narrowed his eyes as he slowly got onto his dirtboard and kicked off with a hind leg, not looking back at the two. However, as he got just around a nearby corner, he flipped off of his board and leaned against the building just a bit curious on to what was going on.

He also intended t finish his job at one point or another...

[Thorin]

Thorin was caught of guard by the attack, unable to move from the path of the frozen shards. Two shattered against his breastplate, but the third struck him in the meat of his arm, penetrating the lighter chainmail. He dropped to the ground with a startled yelp, then scrabbled to get back on his feet.

[Evangeline Topclaw]

(((Oh my, this escalated quickly.)))

A sidelong shard glanced struck Evangeline across the head forcefully. Her head jerked back, and she stopped flapping suddenly, falling into a heap aside Thorin.

Her consciousness buzzed, blurred and incoherent. What was going on? Why did her head hurt? She tried to make mental works in the shape of thoughts, but her head stung and her mind had suddenly dulled.

Evangeline sat up from her pile in the ground, apparently uninjured but very very confused.

[Guest]

A small smile crossed Hark's face as the griffoness fell beside the other griffon. With the female seemingly uninjured and the male injured slightly, Hark decided to take a precautionary action: shift her blade of frost back to herself, and direct it toward the griffons. She then frowned toward them, a simple gesture of displeasure toward them.

"I saw the corpses," she started in her icy tone. "Take me to them, show me them."

[Thorin]

Thorin clutched at his arm around the shard, whimpering a little. As the pony approached, he weighed his options. He was unarmed save his talons and beak, and facing a pony who was clearly a fighting veteran. Unless the pony let down her guard, he would be dead before he could do anything.

He listened to the pony's instruction and nodded, limping towards the door.

[Evangeline Topclaw]

The blade levied at Eva was enough to motivate her to comply. She rose, shaking off her haziness, her neck feathers flaring wildly. She had begun yanking on her anklets nervously, and had locked eyes with the Unicorn threatening them.

When the request was made, Evangeline went ahead of Thorin, placing a body between her and the threatening mare. She opened the door and headed inside...

[Guest]

Hark smiled as she followed the two griffons, still levitating her blade near them in case they got out of line. She tapped her hoof against the ground as she waited for them to open the door, lead her in. She was ready for a retaliation from any of them; griffons were violent, almost one-hundred percent of the time.

[Thorin]

Thorin entered the room and stepped to the side, giving Hark a clear veiw of the corpse bearing palletes. The ice shard in his arm was starting to melt, allowing hot blood to run freely down his arm and pool on the floor.

The wound would heal quickly with stitches, but left unattended he could bleed to death. Thorin started trying to unlace his chain-sleeve to allow him to access the injured area.

[Evangeline Topclaw]

Evangeline took to talking loudly and in a rushed manner. "This griffon is a doctor and we were performing medical inspections to determine the cause of their death which is presumed to be plague but of unknown variety and these corpses are all here legally and with written permits by the Inspector General and if we don't get these corpses to the mortuary soon they may become virulent and infect us as well."

Ninety percent of what Evangeline had said was complete bullshit, but she had hoped that it was semi-intelligible bullshit. She wasn't even sure if there was an Inspector General in Manehatten anymore. That was old Equestria- but perhaps this pony was fidgety.

[°๖ۣۜXarith]

Xarith, seeing that they had entered the building, trot quietly forward making sure not to attract any attention to himself. He was still a bit worried since all of this happened quite suddenly and violently. Yet, with everything happening the way it is, Xarith was still snooping around just a little too curious on to what was going on. In retrospect he, should of probably left the first chance he got, -

But today was a little slow, so, whatev's.

[Guest]

Hark quirked a brow, detecting the hurried and odd manner in which the griffon spoke. She prodded the other griffon with her blade of ice, right in it's ass. "Open the corpses. I want to see this myself."

After that, she promptly entered and closed the door behind herself, keeping her back against it, so she would not be overwhelmed from behind if these griffons decided to attack.

[Thorin]

Thorin stopped trying to unlace his sleeve, seeing what was possilby his only chance of survival. He walked slowly towards one of the corpses, an obese earth pony and unrolled his surgical kit. Taking a scalpel, he cut along the pony's belly and pushed a talon through to the concealed packet of drugs. He began pulling it out, carefully cutting the packet open as he did so and waited for the pony to come closer.

[Evangeline Topclaw]

The Griffoness had begun hyperventilating and pacing about in circles as Thorin went with his work. The room was racing around her, spinning in circles, a prism of color and rot. She felt like she was going to be sick, then not, then lucid, then suddenly out of it again.

Evangeline collapsed on the floor suddenly.

[°๖ۣۜXarith]

Xarith looked away for a brief moment as the griffon cut open the deceased pony. It wasn't a pretty sight, even from the zebra's low angle. Nonetheless, it was still a bit disgusting. Xarith moved ever so close to the group, moving silently around the building after slipping through an open window some place farther into the building. One would think they would of cracked a window when dealing with the deceased.

[Evangeline Topclaw]

(((Addendum post, for Xarith.)))

Xarith dropped into an abandoned office space, likely some drafting room or some such thing. Large rolls of paper hung tattered from brackets on the walls, and drafting tables sat in round little cubicles in three corners.

The room had a single locked exit, one of those old-timey doors with the opaque window glass and stenciling on the window.

Notes and Notaries,

---

Enscribing office, Senior;

---

Room 134  

Aside from the desks, assorted pens, pencils, scribing tools, and inkpots lay lying about, the room seemed unscavanged save for what appeared to be a small warren of rats in the corner...

ADDENDUM:

Outside the door, if one looked, one would find a pitch black hallway totally without lighting. Navigating down the hallway, you would find offices in various states of dishevelment.

On of the doors connects with the room bearing the corpses. The door connecting them has its glass blacked out by a poster taped over it. The door is locked.

[°๖ۣۜXarith]

Xarith landed neatly on his hooves as he looked around the room. He moved over to a nearby table where he had dropped his things earlier. He threw his things over his back as he though quietly tom himself.

'Stars... I must be either really bored, or--really bored... Why did I come in here in the first place.'

Though with everything, Xarith was curious. He at least wanted to know what was going on. He quietly trot over to the door, opening it slightly and allowing it to swing open on it's own. However, he wasn't met with much as the door only revealed a vast darkness. The zebra sighed. He silently made his way down the hall, peering into each of the windows. Most were empty, but one had been been covered by a poster.

The zebra thought this a bit peculiar as he leaned up against the door and carefully placed an ear on it, hoping to hear anything that may be going on in the room.

[Guest]

Hark grumbled as the other griffon had what looked to be a panic attack. Seriously? She still wouldn't feel guilty about killing her if she had to. As she shifted her blade around to where it pressed firmly against Thorin's neck, she approached the corpse, looking inside. "... Well? What am I looking at?" She asked in a harsh tone.

[Thorin]

Now or never.

Thorin moved suddenly away from Hark and hurled the opened parcel of drugs at her face, filling the air with white powder and hopefully giving her a dose of whatever it was.

'Run!'

Thorin bolted for the door, ignoring the pain in his arm and hoping to the gods that the drug was fast acting.

[Guest]

Hark watched out of the corner of her eye as the griffon moved swiftly, hurling something at her face. She dodged, but by mere centimeters, as the air filled with the white, powdery substance that was inside. She breathed steadily, controlling her magic to send her blade wherever she thought the griffons were.

Oh gods, she thought as she cut off her own supply of air. I've INHALED this shit! As she stumbled about in the room nearly blinded, she hit a gurney, knocking it over as well as the cadaver that lay upon it. The substance in the air began to dissipate, having gotten on damn near everything in it's general vicinity. She was breathing heavier than usual, coughing a bit from the inhalation of the narcotic substance.

She stumbled out of the door, the effects of the drug beginning on her. Standard effects: she felt much more active, twitchy, and most of all, paranoid. She was constantly glancing around her, blade out, jumping at the nearest sound. She was intent on sprinting, sprinting far away, to water, to wash herself of this compound. And that's what she began to do. Run, very very fast. Away from the building. Away from the drugs.

[Evangeline Topclaw]

Evangeline snorted as some of the white powder fell into her nostrils, rising up from the dust with a *poomf*. The white powder had settled all over her and the room. A tickle alighted in her nose, forcing a riotious sneeze. White powder drifted up and settled again, forcing yet another sneeze. She inhaled roughly, and again, another violent sneeze.

Again and again this went. Sneezing turned to wheezing turned to coughing turned to hacking. A red, velvety sheen had taken root on her eyes, leaving them bloodshot and veined. She gradually lost control of her senses, and collapsed to a knee...

[°๖ۣۜXarith]

The zebra jumped back form the door as the hear someone scream a command to run from the building.

'Well, might as well find out why.' were some of Xarith's last thoughts as he grabbed the handle with a hoof and smashed his body into the door. He collided with it, busting the door open and sending the white powder flying across the room. Xarith reacted quickly, being used to having spills and accidents happen around his shop. He swiftly pulled a handkerchief from underneath his cloak and presses it against his muzzle to loosely filter the surrounding air.

He looked around the room for a bit, squinting due to the particles of the drug still floating in the air. Xarith took a couple steps into the room, disturbing the fine dust that had collected on the floors. Suddenly, in the corner of his hearing, Xarith finally noticed some sneezing coming from another part of the room. He turned and saw a familiar griffoness from earlier on a knee, coughing and wheezing from breathing the chemical. Without thinking twice, the zebra trot over and tied his own handkerchief around head to secure it in place. Then he pulled another and spoke through the dust.

"Hey..! Miss, are you alright?" he asked as he dropped down closer, trying not to disturb any more of the powder. He pulled out some water he kept in a small, metal canteen and offered it wordlessly to her.

[Evangeline Topclaw]

Her coughing as so rough that she could barely make out the words. She groped around, trying to find the person speaking to her but to no avail. All her hand fell upon was a metal canteen, that sloshed around like it was full of something.

She desperately hoped it was water, taking a few swigs- yep, it was water. Her throat relatively clear, she began pouring the water on her eyes, desperately trying to remove the agitants.

Goddammit, she couldn't see anything, she thought. She stood up and tried to find her way to where the door was supposed to be, accidentally tackling Xarith...

[Thorin]

Thorin looked around as the dust settled, his mask keeping out the worst of the narcotic powder. He felt... good, despite nearly being murdered by a drug lord and an ice pony and the drug lord was going to murder him for spilling all her drugs and he should probably leave or help the drug lord who seemed to have breathed in a great deal more of the powder than him and had run into the zebra who was probably also a drug lord.

He shook his head, trying to stop his runaway train of thought, then moved over to Ev.

[Sponsored content]