A/N: Okay there was a cross-site tie between two plans so I flipped a coin, and this one won.

  ---

  Gula Invidia: Black Market (IX): A Defenseless Doe, And Something Dangerous

  --- Booker H. Freeman ---

  (Lust: What’s a tsundere?)

  (Pride: I’ve no idea.)

  (Sloth: Does it actually matter?)

  The fact that Beez’el was walking off the punch to his face implied that (probably not.) Especially when one considered everything else going on at the moment.

  “Okay, so if Beez and the kid are going to free the other Inferni then that means you and I are creating the distraction.” V decided, causing the other Inferni’s eyes to go wide.

  “Uh, is that really the best idea? I mean if smile’s plan is to cause a shitstorm, you might get dragged into it. And if they try to hold you hostage or something…” Beez’el trailed off.

  “I could handle it.” Depending on his priorities at the time.

  “Yeah, but I’d rather she be where I can see her and where you can do what you’ve got to do without worries?” The Inferni told him.

  (Sloth: He thinks she’ll get in the way of the hit.)

  (Lust: Well, he does want to protect her but… yeah, that too.)

  “I can handle myself Beez, you know that. I’ve been running these streets longer than you.” V pointed out to her companion unaware of any ulterior motives.

  (Sloth: If he thinks she should go…)

  “Perhaps, but I would feel more assured if Lydia had more protection than a single man in such a dangerous place.” He admitted, in half-truth as he patted the lass’s shoulder. “Isn’t that right, my dear?”

  Lydia blinked at him for a moment before her eyes went wide and she nodded. “Uh, yeah. And besides uh, the Inferni here might be more willing to listen to you guys than they would me.”

  V made a bit of a face at that before shaking her head with a sigh. “Whatever. I wouldn’t trust half-pint alone with the idiot either.”

  Despite their attempts to dissuade her from following Booker, Beez’el still let out an affronted, “Hey!”

  Ignoring him, V continued by telling them that, “If all the serving girls here are Inferni I might be able to convince one of them to help us into the back or take us to where they’re holding everyone. Though I doubt they’ll be able or willing to do much until you get all eyes on you. Speaking of, what’s your plan for that?”

  “Hmm…” He peeked outside of their little alcove trying to find something capable of a proper distraction, before finding his eyes drawn to an old bar filled with drinks.

  (Gluttony: Easiest move is to just walk up to someone and slug them.)

  (Wrath: Starting up a proper riot could draw all the attention we need.)

  (Sloth: Or it could get us kicked out before we finish our job.)

  (Greed: If we really want to irritate them then we need to hit them somewhere it’ll hurt.)

  “I may have an idea…” He nodded to himself. “I suggest we split off here, given the time it takes to work a crowd and the current circumstance, well… I’m sure you’ll know your signal when you see it~”

  With that established he set off in search of the club’s fight pit and with it, hopefully a bookie that was about to absolutely hate him.

  --- Lydia ‘Smith’ ---

  “Is he always like this?” V frowned as they watched Booker wander off into the club, easily sidestepping anyone who happened to get in his path.

  “Like what?” She cautiously asked, unable to deny that Booker was a bit off, even if she hadn’t seen any of that offness here.

  V glanced at her before shaking her head. “Nevermind, let’s just focus on our part.”

  “Getting one of the girls here to help us?” She double checked, feeling nerves similar to when they’d gone to the Smiling Man’s basement, the kind that told her she was doing something dangerous in an even more dangerous place. (But I don’t need to be afraid… Not while Booker ‘s here.)

  “Yeah…” V grimaced as her eyes drifted around the room, where a number of the club goers seemed to be getting handsy with the serving girl. “I hate to pile on someone, but we need to grab them while they’re alone and coming away from these assholes.”

  “Or we can help them get away from these assholes?” Beez’el suggested. “They might be more willing to help us if we help them get away from all this bullshit.”

  “And how’re we going to do that? If you remember, Smiles is supposed to be the one making a scene.” V reminded the other Inferni.

  The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

  “Don’t need to make a scene just…” Beez’el’s eyes narrowed as he licked his lips, before glancing at Lydia. “Mini-Bitch, how sneaky are you?”

  Having been called worse by people she’d known far longer, she ignored her continued annoyance at the nickname, before answering that, “I’ve spent the last couple years as a pickpocket on the streets while running from a gang that wanted me…”

  “And given those lessons we interrupted I’m guessing you don’t have much sinner magic yet?” The Inferni pressed.

  She bit her lip at the reminder of how she’d been so close to power, real power, only to have it slip through her fingers due to lacking an affinity for it. “No. I don’t.”

  “You kill anyone yet?” Beez’el continued, pulling out a knife from his boot.

  (Her breaths came out in shaky gasps, her entire body trembling as she stared down at the too still body in front of her. Blood slowly pooling around them, reaching out towards her as if to stain her more than the blood already clinging to her hands.)

  She took a breath, blatantly pushing that night from her memory, before nodding. “Yeah, I have.”

  Despite her best efforts Beez’el must have seen something on her face as he grimaced. “Right, I’ll take care of that part then.”

  “Beez we can’t just drop someone in the middle of a club!” V hissed, eyes darting to make sure no one could hear them over the music. “Are you trying to get us perma-killed? Or worse?!”

  “All we’ve got to do is take them out and make it look like they had too much of the good stuff. We make it look like we’re dropping them off somewhere to sleep it off, and by the time they get back up we’ll be long gone.” Beez’el explained, before pointing at a pair of men harassing a clearly uncomfortable but resigned pink Inferni. “I’ll kill the guys. A quick knife to the throat and a hand to his mouth to cover up the gasping. You charm the other guy, and then talk the girl down while I deal with the other.”

  “Wait, won’t blood glow under all these black lights?” She interrupted.

  V shook her head. “Blood doesn’t glow under club lights, not without spilling other stuff on it at least.” The older woman turned a glare on Beez’el. “What we’d really have to worry about is that I can’t talk the girl down while keeping that guy Charmed.”

  “If we’re quick enough then it won’t matter.” Beez’el tried to argue.

  “We won’t be quick enough if the girl screams the moment you or I stab these assholes.” V disagreed.

  “What if I do it?” She asked, before steeling herself as both Inferni turned towards her with mixed expressions. “What if I kill the other guy while V handles the girl?”

  The older pair looked at each other and seemed to have a silent conversation between them, with several vague gestures and expressions both towards each other and her before V leaned towards her. “Are you uh, are you sure about this Lydia? You don’t look like you’re… I mean I know Sinners tend to be rough, but… Killing someone like you have and like this are two completely different things.”

  She looked at her hands, ever so briefly seeing the blood from that night, before taking another breath and letting it out as she also remembered killing the Smiling Man with Booker. Two kills that were under completely different situations, situations that assured her that, “If we have to kill him to protect people then, that is completely different too. Especially if he’ll still get back up after.”

  While V didn’t look convinced, Beez’el gave her a grin full of fangs and light punch to the shoulder. “Good of you to step up kid.”

  “This is still a shit idea.” V grumbled, before admitting that, “That describes this whole night so… Let’s just get this over with. You two stay a step behind me, and move fast once I sit down.”

  “R-right.” She nodded, a moment too late for V to see as the older woman started towards the other pink Inferni.

  “Don’t worry we’ve got this.” Beez’el assured her with a pat to her shoulder.

  (I hope so…) She grimaced before following after the Inferni pair, only stopping when Beez’el motioned for them to split around the seating arrangement while V made her way to the table proper.

  With a pounding heart, her eyes darted around the room, unable to help but try and find whatever security they had here. Hoping that the smoke, lights, and music would be enough to keep the guards from noticing what was about to happen.

  “Do you boys mind if I join you?” She barely made out V asking, the older woman with a seductive smirk on her face as she looked at the two Sinners who couldn’t look away from her in turn.

  The pair of sinners glanced at each other, as both Lydia and Beez’el pressed themselves against their respective walls trying to keep out of sight, a knife in each of their hands.

  “Of course we wouldn’t say no to a little more company.” One of the men nodded, a skeevy tone to his voice.

  V’s face didn’t so much as falter, even if her eyes did briefly dart between Lydia and Beez’el as the pair made room for her.

  Knowing the time had come she took a deep breath before creeping towards the sitting area, trying her best to keep out of sight as V took a seat and wrapped an arm around the other Inferni who was now close enough that Lydia could see how much thinner she was than V or Beez’el.

  Her hand tightened on her knife, remembering the things she’d seen in Ira Invidia, the things she’d pretended weren’t happening around her…

  When one of the Sinners reached for V, Lydia was the first to move, driving her knife into the man’s throat and wrapping an arm around him to hold his mouth shut.

  Across the way she idly noticed Beez’el, doing much the same, if quicker and cleaner as the Inferni also hopped over the couch to sit next to his victim.

  From beside her V reached over with a playful laugh to cover up the fact that she was helping Lydia hold the struggling Sinner in place. A struggle that was halved when the Inferni’s eyes flashed pink as she looked into the Sinner’s eyes.

  “Lydia! Why don’t you take a seat and join us?” V smiled, her face straining as her eyes continued to glow.

  She glanced at the serving girl next to V, remembering that was why V hadn’t killed this man herself, and found Beez’el had wrapped his tail around the other woman’s. The pink Inferni taking several shaky breaths and looking mere seconds from a panic attack.

  With no small amount of trepidation she let go of the man’s neck, leaving her knife in place as V slid her hand over Lydia’s, before walking around and sitting next to the man she’d just stabbed.

  Her eyes darted to the man’s face without any real thought on her part, and she saw his eyes were glowing the same way V’s were, a trail of black slowly flowing out from the man’s nose. And from so close she could see as the glow slowly faded, leaving the man glassy eyed, and her without any doubt that he was no longer ‘alive’.

  Something that was only underlined by the rush of Sin flowing into her, more than she’d felt in a long time from anything she’d done on her own. The sudden rush of power leaving her heart pounding from more than simply the anxiety of what they’d just done.

  “Who… Who are you people?” The serving girl practically whimpered.

  Needing something to distract herself from the blood on her hands and not wanting to be herself she did her best to channel a certain madness she’d been growing increasingly familiar with these last few days, and told the defenseless little doe, “I believe we’re the start of something dangerous. A metamorphosis~” She couldn’t help but smile.

  A/N: So to be upfront, based on your choice of having Booker enter the fight pit, you cannot win this without using Sinful Boost. (Hence the side quest to give you some Sin earlier.)

  With that in mind… Choose your sin to fight with:

  []-Pride (I’m more of an intellectual really.)

  []-Greed (Uh, can we bribe someone?)

  []-Lust (Ooh, let’s dance~)

  []-Envy (An eye for an eye.)

  []-Gluttony (Let the beast feast~)

  []-Wrath (So be it.)

  []-Sloth (Nope.)

  Okay, choose the sin that’s willing.

  Oh, and feel free to share your thoughts on this chapter. I’d love to know what everyone is thinking.

  Choose a sinful boost for the coming fight.