The Fall of the Society

Chapter 12: Assassin?

     Her power flowed back into her now that Tripp was gone, and her eyes flared red as she stared down Carson once more. "If you ever come after me, I will burn your entire world to the ground," she growled at him. "I will be keeping an eye on your operations so watch what you get up too." Without waiting for him to respond she turned, stepped out of the room, and headed back to the elevator. She pressed the button and a soft chime sounded as the doors opened and allowed her to enter. The only noise was the soft humming that accompanied her all the way to the floor where she had fought Void, before the doors opened and everything was silent.
     She made her way back through the labyrinth, which took a while because she got mixed up on a couple of turns, to the hole she had burned through the floor. Expecting an ambush to be awaiting her, she flew up through the hole, but she seemed to once again be alone. She found it hard to believe that the Society would just stand down. The night was impossibly quite as she walked out of the destroyed lobby and looked up at the sky. Cool crisp air breezed all around her. Stars dotted the sky by the millions, not a single cloud in the sky. The horizon was beginning to lighten as morning was fast approaching.
     A soft scraping noise caused Rose to summon her aura as she spun around in a defensive stance. A frightened and surprised Envy stood before her. "Oh," Envy let out a gasp due to being startled by Roses sudden movement. "Sorry dear, sorry," Envy said quickly before smiling at Rose. "I am so happy you have made it out alive, but do not think that because the Society has withdrawn on this occasion that they will let you go. They seem to have conceded defeat tonight, but their network is large and powerful, they won't let this go easily."
     Rose smiled and gave Envy a hug, which Envy returned. "I know. You should know that Carson threatened your life, and he is still alive. You may want to find a new home and employer."
      Envy stepped back and looked at her. "So very bold! Leaving your enemy alive," a smile crossed Envy's smooth features. "I am proud of you for not doing what they expected you to do," Envy told her while beaming. "Do not worry about me, I have plenty of contacts that will make finding a new suitable location an easy task indeed. My talents are divine!" Envy stated exuberantly. "Be careful and let me know if you ever need anything."
     Rose smiled and nodded her head. With a wave she shot into the air surrounded by blue flames which quickly turned white when she was high enough to ensure the safety of Envy. She had no idea what she was going to do, or where she would go. The night air flew past her and a thought crossed her mind that made her smile. Placing her hand on her locket, she thought about Tripp. It would seem he is with her, within her, and she would keep him there always.

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     Silently he slid the grate to the side and pulled himself out, moving soundlessly into the shadows. Looking on, he could see the large conference room that they were all in, he could hear them talking. Hiding from view he listened while thinking about all the intel he had collected while the Society was focusing on Rose. In truth he kind of felt bad for using her, but he did what needed to be done in order to complete his mission. Completely veiled in shadow, he could hear Carson talking to Rose, before shouting in surprise. A familiar woman came into view from the room while Carson shouted orders. The sound of death and chaos ensued, followed by the woman vanishing from sight, which told him exactly who she was. Carson's shouting continued as the power in the room continued to swell to immense powers, so much so the air around him was getting thin as the oxygen in the area was becoming scarce. Then it all vanished, and a new presence appeared.
     Stepping slightly from his hiding spot, he could hear gunfire. Then silence once more, with light voices. Something amazing was happening, he watched as a form made of fire moved around the conference room. This was a power that the world had never seen, one of immense power. He is alive within her power; the thought swam through his head. A few moments later, the form disappeared, then Rose exited the room and entered the elevator. He continued to wait before Carson appeared.
     "That did not exactly go your way did it," he said amusedly. "The Society has gotten beaten by a single hero. A lot of good all that power did you today."
     Carson glared at him, "Who the hell are you? How the hell did you get in here?"
     He laughed, "Lacking on the intel, are you? You would have been able to buy it from Maldion had you not forced him to fire me, now he doesn't have an investigator."
     A grimace was plastered on Carson's face, "So you were his blood hound, too busy sticking your nose where it doesn't belong to realize some things are better left unseen. What do you want?"
     "I already got what I came for but decided to pop in and check up on my decoy. Seems she didn't need my help after all," Sid replied, his smile shining brightly in the dim light.
     Carson glared at him, "What was it you were after? Trying to expose our secrets?"
     Sid laughed. "No sir, I could have done that at any point since I started investigating your organization, but I want to destroy you from the inside. You could just explain away anything that hit the media, if they would even print it."
     "Got us all figured out, do you?" Carson laughed. "What are you fishing for? A payoff?" Carson stopped laughing and returned to glaring at Sid. "What amount are you wanting? I am very busy and have a lot of things to do, just spit it out already."
     At these words Sid returned his laugh. "I do not want money, especially your blood money. Money is something I have plenty of, I want locations. I want to know where Scion is and where all his current laboratories are located. The secret ones, not the general study Society labs."
     "How do you know that name?" Carson replied with a look of disbelief on his face, how had he known about Scion or his facilities.
     "I am a professional, something the Society lacks these days. Now answer the question," Sid's smile faded slightly as his eyes portrayed slight anger.
     Carson was completely taken off guard by the sudden change in the man's demeanor, "I do not know their locations and even if I did, I would never tell you." He contemplated for a moment before continuing. "Do you have any idea the bag of snakes you are trying to open? It is a veritable Pandora's box. Nothing good will come from your investigation."
     "That is none of your concern, besides you do not know what I intend to do, so how could you know what I consider good," Sid replied with his smile back in place.
     "Maybe we can come to an arrangement," Carson said, smugness starting to return to him. Business was what he did best, and he would make this another one of his deals. "What if you came to work for the Society, put your talents to much better use and maybe in time you will prove your loyalty to the point that you will be allowed the knowledge you seek."
      Sid's reaction was not what Carson expected as he was now glowering at him. "How dare you even try to persuade me with your ill-gotten fruit, there is no way I would ever work directly for your organization and I will never again work indirectly for it either. You are a disease, and I am looking for the cure, I will never find it with you lot looking over my shoulder, skewing my results."
     Carson squared to face Sid, now taking a stance that would allow him to attack or defend. "Well then I guess we will just have to eliminate you from the equation altogether."
     "Careful, you have already lost once today. Can you afford a second one? I do not have anyone here to make me refrain from doing what Rose was capable of doing," Sid replied with a smirk.
     "I can handle you," Carson said with a smile as he removed his gloves again.  "The real question is how much can you handle?" He lunged forward and reached both of his hands for Sid's face. Sid calmly spun his right arm from underneath and batted Carson's outstretched arms to the side. Following through with his momentum he spun his whole body and brought his right foot around, slamming it into the right side of Carson's ribs. Carson stumbled forward, coughing and gasping for air. "I guess you have a little skill, I did not expect that." Catching his breath, Carson lunged forward again, swiping his right hand high, followed by a low left. Sid easily dodged the attacks. Carson then threw a kick with his right leg, which Sid blocked with his forearms, before sliding his right foot behind Carson's left and pushing him hard. He fell and landed hard on his back but quickly rolled and came up to his feet in one motion.
     "Are you having fun yet? You should be a little more careful about the fights you pick," Sid told him, his smile spreading across his face. "Have you realized yet that you have no chance of winning?"
     "Go to hell!" Carson screamed as he once again lunged forward, throwing blow after blow that Sid either dodged or blocked. Carson's attacks were becoming easily predictable, and Sid caught both of his wrist and held them in the air. He tried to kick Sid in the leg, but Sid easily checked it, causing Carson to grimace in pain. An expression of pure disbelief spread across Carson's face as Sid placed both of Carson's hands onto his face. Sid simply smiled at him as nothing happened. "What the hell?"
     "Has that never happened to you before?" Sid said with a smile. "You have picked two fights with people that you did not fully understand the extent of their powers. Unfortunately for you, I kill anyone who discovers what I can do, and you now know."
     Carson snapped his hands back and started to backpedal. "I concede, you are free to go!" he cried suddenly.
     Sid shook his head and moved forward quickly. Carson tried to attack defensively but Sid easily sidestepped and hit him with a heavy hook to the body, before landing a hard straight to his jaw, causing him to stumble backward and into the wall. Sid continued forward as Carson brought his arms up to block. A sudden pain shot through his abdomen as Sid stopped in front of him. Looking down, Carson could see Sid's blade planted into his abdomen. Shock spread across his face as Sid removed the blade slowly and he fell to his knees. "All your power and money has done nothing for you here," Sid told him. "Die knowing that you wasted your life." He stepped around behind the man and placed his blade below his left ear and slid it hard and quickly to beneath his right ear.
     Carson gasped and clutched at his throat while blood poured between his fingers and down his front, before slumping forward and collapsing onto the floor. Sid wiped his blade on the back of Carson's suit jacket and replaced it into its scabbard. Then without another sound he walked quietly back to the grate he had come from. His presence in this place would be a complete mystery to the Society, they would never know he had been there and that was the way he wanted it. For now, Rose would be safe, the Society would have to remove her from the suspect list, seeing as she never had a dagger in any footage they may have from her entering and exiting the building. They would have to focus their efforts on finding the one responsible for one of their Governors deaths. Sliding the grate back into place, Sid disappeared into the night.