POV ALABAST
"Oh? And why do you require my services?" I asked, while I fed the other eye to the snake, which happily gulped it.
"Well… we got a gig that requires us to head into weastbrook, our client wants us to nab a target who's been poking in the wrong spot." He explained, I then looked at the rest of his members, observing them.
Some, were familiar, like the woman in red, the little child, the skinny man, Dorio and Falco were there as well.
"And why should I? As I'm aware, you made a…horrible first impression when we last met." I replied, causing Maine to flinch.
"W-well, it was nothing personal, you know?" He raised his hands, trying to shrug off the mistake.
"Besides, how does fifty fifty sound?" Hearing this, his crew began to protest at his suggestion.
"Maine what the fuck are you saying?!" Shouted the child, aiming an automatic shotgun at his head.
"We don't need this gonk to do our work, we just need to go in guns blazing!" Only to have sparks flying from her head.
"And have some corpo put a bounty on us? Yeah, I'd rather have the snake freak help us." Said the woman in red, who had her handholding a cigarette.
"Oh, and by the way, names Kiwi." I only nodded my head in return, since they already know about me.
"A pleasure, at least someone in this group has manners." I commented, causing someone to laugh.
The person who laughed was Sasha, who was walking towards me with the same smile on her face.
"Mr.Cobra, it's good to see you again." I only nodded in return.
"It is good to see you in good health, Sasha." She then made her way back to Kiwi who blew out a plume of smoke.
"Hello? Maine here, I'm asking you if you want to work with us?" Maine stood in between Sasha and me.
"Right, apologies, as I was saying, why should I?" This question caused Maine to cough and take a step back.
"R-right, well, you can get a-." I then raised my hand, cutting him off.
"Money is not an issue, for I can gain much from other jobs." Maine sighed and began to scratch the back of his head.
"W-well what about joi-."
"I work alone." I countered again, Maine began to think of something else but then slumped forward.
"Damn, I got nothing." He sighed and made his way back to his group, Dorio patting his back.
"Then how about doing it as a favor?" I turned to Sasha, who stood in front of me, leaning down to stare at me.
"Y-yeah, if you do us a favor, we can return it, no questions asked." I hummed at the thought of it as a favor, and I had to admit, it was one worth accepting.
'After all, if something happens to me…' Memories of David and Gloria smiling, and the warmth I felt when I was with them.
"Alright, I accept." This caused Maine and the crew, besides Kiwi and Sasha, to be surprised that I agreed.
"Really? Just like that?" Dorio asked, her eyes held caution, and her hand was close to her gun.
"Of course, I have something to gain after this, so please, explain what I have to do." I motioned at Maine to start
"U-uh, yeah, here." He then offered me a shard, as I took it, I offered it to one of my snakes, which bit it and its eyes began to glow.
Soon, its spines began to open, showing a hologram of a three-dimensional home that is two stories tall.
"Well, our client wanted us to go after a woman named Lily Johnson, rescue her from this rich gonk." He began to explain, as I observed the hologram, multiple red dots appeared.
"I can assume these are the guards?" I asked, pointing at one of the red figures.
"Oh wow, great observation captain obvious." Said the gremlin.
"Why thank you, lieutenant sarcasm." I replied, causing her to fume in anger. Maine raised his hand, signaling for her to stand down.
"Anyways, these guards are armed to the teeth, all having the latest firearm, and implants." Multiple implants began to appear, showing either mantis blades or gorilla arms.
"What makes this a little tricky? Is that there are some netrunners as well." A room began to expand, showing three netrunners, all of them on some chairs with body suits.
"These fuckers are always on a deep dive, checking the cameras and making sure anyone who isn't on their list gets in or out." He explained.
"And you want me to deal with them?" I asked, having one of my snakes bring a few bottles of beer for them, while I have wine for myself.
"Uh….thanks." Maine was hesitant but then grabbed it, flicking the cap off. As he began to drink, the others also grabbed one, while kiwi and Sasha both rejected the offer.
"Now, the way to get there is behind a seven-inch steel door, and to open it, you need a pass from the guards, who always hand it around like a hot potato." The hologram then focused on a small vent that led through the entire mansion.
"Now, we could take the vents, but with the damn thing being too small, smaller than Becca here…" He pointed at the girl, who was chugging her beer.
"So that's why I wanted to ask you for your help, since the way inside is through this vent here." The hologram then zoomed out, spinning around until the back of the mansion was show.
Where the wall is connected to the fence, a small vent could be seen. The width of the vent was ten inches, while the height was five.
"I see, and the grill of it makes it even harder." I spoke out, Maine nodding at my observation.
"Yup, so, while you deal with the net runners with your…uh…companions." He chose his words carefully, as a snake brought another beer to him.
"We'll sneak in through the back while our netrunners guide us through, you understand?" I sighed and spun the wine glass in my hand, letting the liquid spin around.
"There are major flaws to this." I commented, causing Maine to cough as he was drinking his beer.
"And-and what are those flaws?" He asked, wiping his mouth, I then pointed at the girl named Becca.
"First off, she is a liability, and don't bother to convince me otherwise." Hearing that she is a liability, she instantly pulled out two energy pistols and fired.
But, before I could get hit, multiple snakes wrapped around me in a large cocoon, deflecting the shots.
"The fuck?! There weren't that many before!" She shouted and began to look around, aiming both guns to her sides.
"Now, now, the adults are talking." The snakes then coiled around her, holding her in place.
She tried to struggle at first, but was then forced fed a bottle. She began to suck it like a child and closed her eyes.
"H-how…?" The thin man tried to speak, but nothing could come out.
"Simple, she is the rowdy type, just give her a bottle with some… sleeping medicine, and she'll be out like a light." I raised my hand to stop him from asking.
"Sorry, I can't have anyone trying to abuse this, so no, I won't give you any." The man then slumped down and began to walk away.
"Now, the second liability." I pointed at Maine, who was confused, but then crossed his arms.
"What? Is it because I'm black?" I then smacked my face and had my snakes open up, I then proceeded to walk up to him, slapping him on the cheek.
"Your size you buffoon! Why does every person always jump to their race?!" I shouted and raised my hands.
"If I wanted to be insulting, I would have said that you have the advantage in the dark, but no!" I then took a deep breath and sighed
"As I was saying, you are too large. The location is in Westbrook, which by the way is located in an open field." The map then zoomed out, showing the location of the house, and the area it was in.
"And with the house having multiple lights surrounding it, you would be spotted if we got to close." Hearing this, Maine began to rub his chin.
"So, what're you suggesting choom?" He was opening his third bottle, cuggung it without a care.
"I alone am enough to deal with them all, and I am not saying this in an arrogant manner." Pilar, just hummed and stared at me.
"I don't know, seems pretty sketchy to me." I didn't bother to look at him and had two closed hold him down.
"Hey, hey, hey, the fuck is this?! I don't consent, I don't consent!!" I just ignored his protests and turned my focus back to Maine.
"So then, do you agree to my suggestion?" Maine placed his third beer bottle to the side, his hands intertwined with one another.
"Maine, you can't be serious about this, we can't trust this guy." Dorio tried to convince Maine, but with the two vulnerabilities I mentioned, he began to think.
"Dorio, he's right, Becca here is almost crazy as a psycho, and I'm too big." Dorio clicked her tongue and soon made her way next to Kiwi, kicking up a small cloud of dirt.
"So, do we have a deal?" I asked and held out my hand, my snakes blocked the two of us from the outside, leaving a large wall around us.
As I stared at Maine, the snakes began to hiss. As if trying to tempt him to shake my hand.
"I swear, I sometimes think your not human." He said and gripped my hand, sealing the contract to our deal.
"Your not the first to think that way…" the snakes began to lower themselves, crawling onto my body, where they began to slowly turn invisible.
"Some call me the devil."
(A/N) Finally, after what felt like eternity, I finished this.
I'll admit, I was loosing my touch, so I'll have to put this one on Haitus now. So, I'll be focusing on the RWBY one again, maybe do my Danmachi story, but that's for later.
For now, peace.