The Dragon was on
a conference call, and he was not at all pleased. “What do you mean, Mr.
Vulture? Are you saying your ingenious plan had failed?” he asked.
“No, no, that’s
not what I meant,” said Mr. Vulture’s voice, his accent thickened by agitation.
“Just some complications arose…”
“Did the job get done?”
asked the Dragon, his voice lowering and softening with every word.
“If you mean the targets
were blown to pieces, then yes we did. But one of our people got unfortunately…apprehended.”
“By who?” asked
the Dragon, with some surprise in his voice. “I watched these men run, and it
seems quite interesting someone would’ve been able to catch them, especially if
my…patron over there ensured that there was no one who would be comparable.”
“Well, from what
I could glean from one of those who returned, it was one of the guests…they
believe it was a male companion of Theo North…”
“Someone with
Theo, hmm?” asked the Dragon, mostly to himself. He leaned back in his chair.
“Yes, someone
with her,” said Mr. Vulture, his voice revealing his relief at not being the
target of the Dragon’s infamous rage. “I can’t say for certain, but do you have
anybody in mind?”
The Dragon
thought for a moment, spinning his knife on his desk absentmindedly. He closed
his eyes and thought back to all the people who would be capable of doing
something so He suddenly jolted up, and stopped the knife with the blade
pointed towards him. “Was this mystery man dark haired and have a very lean
build? And was he whistling to himself?” he asked.
There was some
muttering on Mr. Vulture’s side of the line as he spoke to his men, and then he
got back on the line. “Yes, to the first two, and they think he was humming one
of those popular Western songs.”
The Dragon let
out a short bark of a laugh, and leaned back in his chair again. “I thought
so,” he said. He smiled, and dialed some numbers into his phone.
“Thought what?”
asked Mr. Vulture, slightly confused at the sudden change in attitude. “What?”
“What now, Mr.
Dragon?” asked a gruff voice. “You always call for me at the exact wrong
times.”
“I apologize Mr.
Wolf,” said the Dragon rather sincerely, ignoring Vulture’s questions. “What
exactly are you doing?”
There was a
whimper in the background, which was quickly silenced by something. Or someone.
“Nothing much, just in the middle of tying some loose ends.” There was a
muffled shriek of pain, and the Dragon grimaced.
“Could you maybe
do that somewhere else? I would rather speak to you when there aren’t any
distracting noises in the background,” he said.
“Just give me a
second,” said Mr. Wolf. He said something in a foreign language, spoken to
quickly to be identified, and then a gunshot rung out, punctuating his sentence.
There was a silence, and then the Dragon cleared his throat and spoke.
“Finished, I
see.”
“Yes, indeed. So
what do you want me to do? I don’t have all day.”
“I’d like for you
to gather as much information as you can on the activities and whereabouts of
everyone in the North household, all the workers and Justice League men as
well. I also want you to keep especially close tabs on Theo North and Charlie
North. Vulture here will help you, am I correct?”
“Yes, of course,
whatever you need,” said Mr. Vulture, speaking for the first time.
“Why do you want
me to do this?” asked Mr. Wolf suspiciously. “Ms. Scorpion would’ve been better
for this job as a young woman, or even that bastard Shark with all his ties in
that world. What do you want with me, a human trafficker?”
“Let’s just say I
trust you with this more than anyone else. As you’ve displayed earlier, you’re
quite efficient at getting things done. Plus, you know how to convince people
quick enough for my needs,” said the Dragon.
“How much am I
getting reimbursed for? I have a lot of work to do you know…”
“However much
you’re satisfied with, but that’s after you do the job. Got it?” asked the
Dragon. “You either take the job or don’t. Better choose.”
There was a quiet
lull in the conversation as Wolf pondered, and the Dragon could almost hear Mr.
Wolf lick his lips at the possibility of the reward. “Fine, got it.”
“Great,” said the
Dragon. Just before Mr. Wolf could hang up, the Dragon said “This little deal
will stay just between the 3 of us, ok? Don’t seek help from the others, don’t
say a word about your activities or there may be some…consequences.” Before the
other 2 could reply, he hung up on them.
There was a
scuffling noise behind him, and some coughing. “You surely have a way with
people,” said Damian North in a dry voice. “Manipulating them to your every
need.”
The Dragon spun
his chair around to face him. “You’re not any better,” he said. “The Justice
League…how would you have gotten to the top and gain the trust of every single
man?”
“At least I
didn’t step over my family to do so, not like you,” Damian hissed, and he could
tell he had stepped on a sore spot as the Dragon narrowed his eyes. Foolishly,
he decided to continue with it. “Your son was thoroughly neglected, oppressed
and was denied the love that you should’ve given him. And Laura, poor sweet
Laura, she tried her best to help you, but you closed her off. What else could
she do but leave you?”
“You know
nothing, Damian! Nothing!” shouted the Dragon.
“I beg to differ,”
replied Damian, and a little bit of a smile crept up onto his sore face. “Laura
says hi, and hopes you’re doing well.”
