Below The Surface - A Lackadaisy Fanfiction

You're Here to Serve...

No amount of cigarettes will calm Lacrimosa down. Her hair, fur, and clothes were soaked in water, stained with charcoal, and smelt like smoke. Her ears flicked, scowling at her Brigade with disdain.

"We tried—" Silas was the first to speak up. Lacrimosa slammed her hand down on the desk.

"I don't give a rat's ass if you tried!" She yelled, eyes flaring. Silas flinched, and Mandisa put a hand in front of him.

"There were complications. It's normal for complications to happen." Mandisa shot back.

"I expected them to be dead!" Lacrimosa yelled again, her voice bellowing. James' ears flattened on the back of his head.

"Wouldn't it be better for us to be alive than dead?" He asked her.

"I don't care if you came out alive or dead, what I wanted was those rugrats dead!" Lacrimosa bared her fangs.

"Well, it didn't happen!" Raquelle exclaimed, her French accent slipping through more. It always did when she was frustrated or defiant. Her sudden outburst caused Lacrimosa to slowly turn her head towards her.

"...care to run that by me?" Lacrimosa stepped out from behind her desk, towering over her. Raquelle yelped, stumbling back. James put his arm out in front of her, protecting her.

"Miss Ambrose, this is getting a little too heated." He told his boss calmly. Lacrimosa only raised a brow, cocking her hip out to the side as her patience began to run thinner.

"I assume you know how to run a Brigade?" She clicked her tongue.

"That is not—" James frowned, when Roxanna cleared her throat. She stepped out from the corner, and all eyes turned to her.

"If I may," She began, clasping her hands, "there is a suggestion I would like to share."

When Lacrimosa had her back turned to the Rose Brigade, and she was looking at Roxanna, Raquelle, Mandisa, Silas and James were waving and gesticulating to cut off the conversation, looks of panic on their faces.

"...go on." Lacrimosa urged. Mandisa silently threw her hands in the air, walking off to pace back and forth.

"Considering the former goal of tearing down the Lackadaisy speakeasy in its entirety, it was too ambiguous." Roxanna stated, hands on her hips. Her ears flicked, blue eyes narrowing in a pensive manner. "We should have gone smaller. That way we could work up to a bigger point of action."

Lacrimosa raised an eyebrow, slightly intrigued. "You say 'smaller'...how so?"

Roxanna stuffed her hands into her slacks pockets: she was given this uniform by Lacrimosa. It was a standard white dress shirt, black slacks, and a rose pendant. Granted, she could have worn her normal dress, but considering the constant movement and commotion, she needed something more durable. She shuffled her foot once, twice, digging her hand into her pocket to fiddle with a match box.

"Cigarette, please." She extended her free hand out. Curious, Lacrimosa went back behind her desk and opened the drawer. She rummaged through it, things clattering and thumping against each other. She pulled out a pack of cigarettes, sliding one out and handing it to the peachy gray cat.

Roxanna put the cigarette to her lips, then held onto it as she pulled out a match. She flicked it against the box, the flames now roaring. She placed it to her cigarette to light it up, and she puffed in some smoke. After painful silence, she puffed out the smoke, running her tongue across her teeth.

"So," She said, pacing over to a window near a pot of flowers: marigolds and daisies entwined with roses, which was ironic, really. "We pick them off as a group. Those six are too occupied with stopping us, yes, but if we have newer distractions, it can divide their attention from us to said distractions..."

"Then it would be easier to wipe them out." Lacrimosa finished. Her amber eyes lit up, and she leaned forward.

"That's how we win. Then, when they're in their last lives, everything will come crashing down on them." Roxanna exhaled more smoke. "By the end of this all, we will reign superior within the speakeasy business."

"...this is devious." Silas mused.

"He gets it." Roxanna shrugged. "Use their weaknesses against them."

"And that would be...?" Mandisa raised a skeptical brow.

"The orange cat's weakness is the jazz baby, Ivy." Lacrimosa chimed in. "Ivy's weakness...I'm not sure..."

"Heller's is Atlas and the explosive cat: considering how inseparable they've gotten." James nodded.

"Serafine's weakness...if you give me time, I'll figure it out." Raquelle announced, giving a close lipped, sadistic smile.

"Nico's weakness is his sister: he would protect her to no end." Mandisa recalled.

"The explosive cat's weakness is Mordecai~" Silas smirked.

"There we go." Roxanna gestured to them all. She looked out the window, noticing clouds darker in the already ink black sky. Thunder rumbled gently, and raindrops pattered against the window. "Giving it some thought...we have to do this, even with all of the Feds in town."

"So we'll be careful." Lacrimosa smiled at her: it seemed a bit genuine in a malicious way. Roxanna watched in the reflection. She tapped her cigarette, the ashes descending onto the petals of the marigold and daisy. The petals shriveled up at the contact with the embers, and she watched in satisfaction. Then...she finally smiled. Granted, it was small, but it was still a smile nonetheless. She finally whispered to herself, as a personal little victory,

"...time for an encore~"

Silas grimaced, holding his arms. He, Mandisa and James exchanged worried glances, fearing, yes: fearing that this isn't going to go well...

This is going to fail tremendously.