Post #4784 of main thread

Please send your orders to Issakhaan ONLY. Do not send them to GeneralHankerchief


"You wake up believing this day will end by evening
It's taken for granted that seeds of life are planted
But nothing prepares you for nature's acts of virtue
It's Doomsday, ascending, the world you know is ending

Seas will rise and the mountains will stir
With the power of creation
We will end in a fiery rage"
...Doomsday
...Globus


The Director called the meeting to order. It seemed much quieter today, as if all the fight had gone out of the Committee. The events of the previous day must have shaken them. The votes were tallied and it looked as though Ironside was the chosen one on this particular day.

Ironside stood up, looking a bit disgusted by this turn of events, turned coldly toward the Director. Hardly anyone spoke up in his defense. Resigned to his fate, he was ushered away by the men in red suits, who confiscated his sidearm, and pushed him into a waiting limousine. The Director quickly followed, and the vehicle sped away.

The men sat in the car in silence, as they approached the Hotel Abbatoir. Soon they were riding the elevator to one of the top floors.... to the rooftop cafe. There, sitting at a table, was a man sipping his coffee, facing away from the approaching men.

"Do you know why you're here, Ironside?" began the Director.

Ironside said nothing, and stared off into the distance blankly. "You were part of the Insurrection. If you hadn't joined up, you wouldn't be here now. Things would have been different."

"You tried to kill me for no reason." said Ironside.

"Nothing personal," said Askthepizzaguy. "And besides, you survived, didn't you?" the Director chuckled. Ironside was not laughing.

"Ironside, I want you to sit down and have a drink with me. I have to explain myself, I feel. Let me tell you a story."

The two men sat down with the third mysterious stranger, who was staring into his drink.

"A long time ago, there was a fox living near a vast desert, with a river running through it. The fox crossed the river regularly in its travels in order to find food. Well, along comes the fox's mortal enemy, the scorpion. The scorpion said good day to the fox, and asked if the fox would be so kind as to give the scorpion a ride across the river. 'Why should I help you across? How can I trust you not to sting me, as we are mortal enemies?' asked the fox. 'Why should I sting you? If I do, we will both drown and die.' said the scorpion. So the fox thought about it and he agreed. And the fox allowed the scorpion on his back and began swimming across the river. When they reached the halfway point, the fox felt a sharp stinging sensation down its back, and realized he had been stung by the scorpion. The fox cried out 'how could you sting me? We both will drown now!' The scorpion replied, 'whether you realize it or not, we're mortal enemies. It is in my nature to kill my enemies.' And the fox and the scorpion drowned." said Askthepizzaguy.

Ironside rolled his eyes and replied that he understood the story, but that he was never the Director's mortal enemy.

"This might be true. But I know of someone who is your mortal enemy, and he happens to be a good friend of mine." the Director motioned toward the man stirring his coffee, whose face was obscured by the brim of his fedora.

Ironside peered at the man sitting across the table from him, and noticed that the man was not stirring his coffee with a spoon. When the man looked up, Ironside recoiled. "It's you.... the one I've been looking for all this time!"

The man sitting opposite just smiled as he stood up. The Director aimed a golden Luger at Ironside.

"Hoist by my own petard, Ironside? Indeed, if you had been successful I would have been the victim of my own scheming. But now, you shall become a victim of your own plans to destroy one of my own. Do you wish to do the honors, sir?" Askthepizzaguy held the golden Luger outstretched, allowing the other man to take the weapon, but he just shook his head, and lifted the red knife out of his cup of coffee, and licked the blade clean in a long, slow motion, staring at Ironside the entire time.

"Very well, do what you do best." said the Director, as he stood back to watch the carnage unfold.

The man with the red knife tossed the table out of the way and began advancing on Ironside, who had nowhere to run, with the Director's goons standing all around them. The Director wanted to see a good show, perhaps a struggle for power, one last battle between rivals.

Instead, what the Director saw was gut-wrenching. The assassin moved with such speed that it was hard to follow exactly what was happening. What the Director was certain of was that the man had no regard for human life and was extremely adept at taking it. The quick, vicious, precise cuts were meant to inflict pain, but cause a limited loss of blood. The assassin avoided all the major arteries and focused on nerve endings. Within seconds, Ironside was on the ground being cruelly butchered by the sadistic psychopath, and it wasn't a pleasant sight at all. The screams were horrifying, and the Director couldn't even bear to watch it continue.

It was senseless.... devoid of emotion or reason. The Director pulled out the Italian flag he had been saving for this occasion, and threw it over the railing to be taken away by the strong, cold wind. Taking one look back at the man with the red knife, he motioned for the goon squad to join him.

"That's enough. He's quite dead by now, I'm sure." said Askthepizzaguy.

But the groan which escaped the lips of the disfigured man caused the Director to turn back. He aimed the golden Luger at Ironside's head, and put an end to the torment. "Satisfied?" asked the pizza guy. The stranger with the red knife only nodded, licking the blood from the blade, and disappearing off into the night.

"I wonder what he'll do now..." said the Director. "Keep an eye on him, would you? Something isn't right with that one."

OOC

Night 21 orders due in:


Please send your orders to Issakhaan ONLY. Do not send them to GeneralHankerchief

Lynch Vote Tally:

Ironside: 9 (autolycus, Krill, Diana, Daveshack, nightbringer, lazy, Hero, Double A, Niklas)
abstain: 2 (beefy, DiY)