The last-minute change of date for Amarterasu's party created an uproar in the upper circles of Neo Arachnis. A crowd of luxurious hover cars rushed towards the Palace Needle as the sun began to set. Only the most wealthy and important people received invitations, except in the case of one man.
Oscar Ernest lounged in his apartment, softly singing to himself.
"I'm gonna rip you limb from limb, I'm gonna crush all your bones, I'm gonna turn you black and blue…"
A loud ringing interrupted his song. Oscar let out a huge groan when he saw who was trying to contact him. Oscar rejected the call, forcing the secretary of the president of Neo Arachnis to call back five times. Oscar let out an evil giggle, and finally accepted. He was greeted by the furious face of Kaneda Bones.
"Well if it isn't Kanny! Please tell me the president is finally tired of you so I can kill you!"
Kaneda took a deep breath and glared at Oscar who happily grinned back. "If I wasn't working for the president, I would come there and kill you myself."
Oscar laughed, "I'd love to see you try, secretary boy. Ha ha ha!"
"Try to control your disgusting murderous impulses for once, Oscar. President Cybers would like to invite you to a political gathering at the Palace tonight and he wants most of his guests to leave alive."
"Awww…" Oscar sighed. "That's no fun…"
Oscar heard angry grumbling from the phone, a very amusing sound. "This isn't a joke. The president wants Thrysitor Dongleface dead. He's bound to be under extremely tight security. You'll get more than your fill with him."
"Oooooh, sounds tasty!" Oscar laughed.
Oscar hung up the phone and stretched. This was going to be a great evening!
***
Kaneda Bones sighed as he hung up the call. He strode to a window and gazed up at the multicolored city with great neon spires reaching for the sky. It was a complex city which required a firm, strong hand to rule it and an arsenal of deadly weapons. It would be to President Cybers' benefit to establish a personal black ops force. Oscar Ernest was far too unpredictable. Kaneda resolved to bring up the idea next time he spoke to the president. The sooner he never had to work with Oscar again, the better.
He hadn't even brought back any good leads from the assassination of Fangtastic Teslamancer, except confirming that Amido Amdahl had been a member of the Children of Obscurum. It had taken his own investigations to uncover any new information.
Looking at Amdahl's past records, it seemed he had done many jobs for the Vandorious family. With the information coming out that Amdahl was a member of the Children of Obscurum…was there a connection between Thurian Vandorius and the cult? That would certainly explain how difficult it was to track done…and it would also elevate the cult's threat level significantly.
But Kaneda could not dwell on these thoughts for long, for it was the time of the banquet. However, it wouldn't be too entertaining for some, including himself. However, the reasons why the other guests wouldn't enjoy the banquet would be different from his own…in the deadliest possible way.
Kenada had never enjoyed banquets, however his job forced him to frequent them. He walked stiffly towards the banquet hall, each step feeling heavier and heavier. Normally he mildly disliked parties, however since Oscar would be there it would be many times worse. He glanced at his watch. He was just one hour early. Kaneda sighed. He had already spent far too long aimlessly walking through the halls so he wouldn't be two hours early.
He pushed open the doors leading into the banquet hall. No one was there except for a few servants giving the finishing touches to the tables. Then, right beside the huge tables laid out with countless plates of food, was the exact person that Kaneda had been trying to avoid: Oscar Ernest.
"How did you get here so early!?" Kaneda hissed at him through gritted teeth.
"I should be asking you that! I came early so that I could get all the best food before everyone else." Oscar said, giggling.
Kaneda glared at Oscar. "What are you, a child?" He desperately wanted to leave the banquet, however he knew he could not. He just had to ignore Oscar for one hour. He could survive this.
Oscar ran up to Kaneda holding a glass of bright orange punch. "Here, Kanny!"
Kaneda took the glass and hesitantly sniffed it. Without a second thought, he dumped it onto the floor. "It's poisoned. You truly thought I would fall for that?"
"Teehee, you got me there Kanny! How about this delicious cake?" Oscar said, holding up a small chocolate cake.
"No, go eat it yourself." Kaneda said.
"You're no fun Kanny~" Oscar said, clasping his hands behind his head. He walked back towards the tables, whistling.
Kaneda glared at Oscar. He should slip some poison into his drink and finally eliminate that useless assassin. But Amarterasu wanted Oscar here, and Kaneda would rather die than disobey him. So instead, Kaneda crossed his arms and stood at the back of the room, watching over the servants. He would simply have to try his best to pretend Oscar didn't exist.
This was going to be one of the most unpleasant parties he had ever been forced to attend.