Rhaegson gasped, left hand clutching dramatically at his heart as if he'd been stabbed. "Emilena, that hurts. Alright, let's be honest here. Had I thought about killing each of you? Slowly? And painfully? In increasingly elaborate ways? Yes. Fuck yeah I did. But..." He took a drag. "I'm a reasonable man. Pretty reasonable, at least. And I think a little quid pro quo would be beneficial to everyone."
He eyed Emilena's mangled hand. "That's pretty goddamn gross. And I don't think a band-aid's gonna fix it. You'll lose that hand if you don't get someone to fix it, you know that right?" Rhaegson told her cheerfully. "Luckily for you, I can be that someone. I can get you fitted with an aug hand before you head out. State of the art. Shiny. Helps to kick ass. You'd like it."
Axel snorted.
"Something wrong, Geek Patrol?" Rhaegson turned to the rat.
"Purifiers fitting someone with an augment? You think we'll believe that?" Axel sneered at him. "Fuck you." The rat noticed the doberman, Marcus, clench his jaw when Rhaegson mentioned the augment.
"You think we wouldn't know how to do that?" He grinned. "You'd be surprised. And besides, know your enemy, right?" Gesturing to Emilena, he continued. "I want to make sure she's capable. If she's capable, my odds of getting what I want are better. She still gets to eat with a knife and fork. Win win."
"Short Round," he announced, looking at Soren. "I haven't forgotten about you. I know your workshop got blown up in Lanthae. Well, I blew it up, but the past is the past. You wanna start up your little business again? You help me, and I can help you with that. Actually, I already have. There's a place up in North Seryet, 45 Benworth Avenue. It's a little smaller than your last place, but... fuck it, I'm not Santa Claus. When you get outta here, go check it out. It's yours. And I give my word, my guys won't touch the place. I should know, I bought the fuckin' thing."
Rhaegson glanced at Anne. "For you, your royal Highness - you say yes, and you might as well be in one fuckin' massive drug candy shop. You want cocaine? Weed? Meth? You got it. And I don't mean any of that cut shit.You're gonna feel like Hercules. You're gonna feel like Wonder Woman. You're gonna feel like the fuckin' Terminator."
"Now you, my ugly companion. I've seen that shit pit you call an apartment. I gotta ask you... how the hell are you in debt over that piece of crap?" He sat back, apparently enjoying the baleful look Axel was giving him. "Hey, I'm not here to judge. Spend it all on booze if you want. But if you join up, I'll give you enough to pay it all back. And then some. Hell, you'd even be able to move into a new place where you don't have to wonder if your neighbour's gonna sneak in and cut your throat for a carton of milk. And you'd even have enough to find your way back to the bottom of your whiskey bottles."
He was interrupted by a banging on the door, the metallic thumping resonating through the room. "Just in time!" Rhaegson waved a finger at the door. "Marcus, why don't you see who that is?" As the doberman stalked across the room, Rhaegson smirked at the group. "Before you say anything, I wanted to give you a show of... let's call it good faith. A happy reunion!"
Axel stared at the floor as he heard the door creak open, then a muffled grunt of pain. Shuffling foosteps. A moment later, Marucs reappeared in his field of vision, pushing a handcuffed person before him, the figure's wrists secured behind his back. He wore a sweat stained, blood streaked white T-shirt and grey sweatpants. His head was covered by a large paper bag with a smiley face drawn on it, preventing Axel from seeing who it was, but he could see it was some kind of wolf. Marcus pushed him to the left of Rhaegson, his hand digging in to the person's shoulder. Wait a second...
"Well, come on! Take the bag off!" Rhaegson urged. Marcus ripped it off, and before them stood Kojuuro. His face, beaten and cut, was swollen from the beatings he'd sustained. A gag was tied tightly in his mouth, reducing any attempts at speech to desperate mumbles. His bloodshot eyes looked at them in a daze.
"I'm sure you remember this guy. He was your buddy, one of you... up until he put bugs on each of you to get as much dirt as he could, then fucked off." Rhaegson shook his head. "That wasn't very nice Kojuuro. But you know what really wasn't nice? The moment - and I really mean the moment - that video of you got released, this guy was tearing ass around the city trying to sell everything he knew about you all to the highest bidder. Not nice... and not smart. So." He gestured, and with a brutal kick to the back of Kojuuro's leg Marcus forced the wolf onto his knees. At the same time, he reached under his jacket and withdrew a large revolver, thumbing back the hammer and pressing the barrel to the back of Kojuuro's head.
"As a gift to you all, viola. You get to decide what happens to him. I can kill him right here, or you can take him with you. Turn him into Coco the fuckin' clown if you want." Rhaegson grinned. "So... death. Yay or nay?"