Archie's Office

Hidden beneath the depths of the estate is Archie "Arcanda" McGraw's lair. Here a single room filled with ancient treasures is collected. A long table that can seat twenty stands in the middle of the room. The walls glitter in their gold construction with tapestries hanging on them. The floor of black marble with gold swirls echoes on someone's approach.

It is here that the "Applications" for Archie's buisness are reviewed.

Maron enters the dark area, her keen eyes taking in the faintest of light as she headed over toward a door that said: "Office". She stood there, leaning with her right hand on her hip like a model as she stood before the door. "So...open says me? Or what?" she asked the air.

Jack panted-tapping Maron's back. "Hey...how long have you been down here? Wow...you look like you dont have a scratch on you...I just came in from the front door-damn Arcanda's a piece of work alright." he said panting heavily.

Maron sighed. "I just got here. I simply slipped my application through the mail slot and got instant feedback. Hah! I feel sorry for you-he's gonna treat you like an intruder." She replied with disinterest as she waited for the door to open-she didnt want to disturb Arcanda till he was ready to meet her.

The door swung open slowly...

A man with balding hair approached with a nervous air saying, "Welcome Ms. Maron you may enter for your interview. Mr. Jack Handy is it? The boss says leave now because one step in that office and only one warning shot will be fired." The man bowed to the two before walking past them hurriedly as if expecting a disaster to occur.

A low voice from within grumpily announced. "I have a limited time Ms. Maron...don't waste it."

Maron held back a giggle. She then headed into the office with a grin on her face. "I wont be a waste of your Time Mr. McGrawl." she stated as she placed a hand on her hip and pulled back bangs covering her eyes with her free hand.

Archie sat his desk a small lantern lit by a candle sat on his desk (a remnant of his youth). Lined against the walls of the office was various tapestries all with intricate patterns distinctive to each continent of Galiavan. Archie was writing on a piece of paper as Maron replied. As he wrote without looking up and barely changing his tone he stated, "It's McGraw. That's 75 points gone...get to zero and you won't be leaving here Ms. Maron."

Archie pulled out a file from a desk drawer laying it on his desk to the side as he continued to write he motioned Maron forward in a quick manner.

She gasped. "Oh dear forgive me, I'm still very unfamiliar to the accents around here-" she said as she complied-getting as close to his desk to where she leaned on it lightly. "Please forgive me Mr. McGraw." she said with a wide grin.

"Much Better...now take a seat and let's discuss your possible employment." Archie said as pushed the file forward keeping his head focused on his writing and only looking up when the file hit Maron's hand on the desk. He smirked. "You're not one for giving up space or your attitude...not too shabby. Inside this file is a mission I'm searching for someone to undertake. It concerns the Beijionese Empress and her royalty papers. Let me know what you think."

As he finished speaking he opened the file with all the paperwork facing Maron. The paperwork held maps, schedules, and even the specific details of the Beijionese Empress' daily life. On the left side of the file was the following instructions:

"Using the following information you are to break into the Empress' palace and steal the Royalty papers and bring them back to me. All knowledge of my existence is unknown to you if you are to fail. This file will be burned after you leave this office. All encounters with someone in your way should be dealt with in the utmost urgency; with enough caution as to leave no trace. This means all opposing targets are to ELIMINATED.

If you accept this mission you understand that the miscompletion or detection of Arcanda's intent, security, or any other sort of betrayal will result in your own assaination. With this understanding sign your name with the pen provided."

As Maron's eyes ran over the last few words of the instructions Arcanda handed her a pen that looked like an empty vial of sorts with a point at the bottom. "The ink is your blood. I work with demons, dwarves, and lunatics blood is the only sure signature." Arcanda states he holds the pen in the palm of his hand offering it to Maron.

She took his vial and smiled. "But of course!" she said as she took out a vial of her blood she had prepared just in such a case. "It's not the first time." she added as she poured the blood into the pens inkwell. She then wrote her name in her elven language-and in english print and cursive. She looked back up at Arcanda and grinned. "So-Archie; can I call you Archie? What else would you like me to do? For my services-" she started as she leant closer to his face. "-can extend to just a simple theft or Assassination..." she said batting her eyelashes.

Jack entered the room, a little sooner than he wanted to. "Sir...Mr. McGraw...I know you wont like me for interupting you and also because I'm related to many who wanted to bring you down...but-I was given a map by a fellow gangster of your crew-and he told me I could join you...I want to join you." he said tossing his application on the desk too. "I'll work for it-if need be. I really want this-and I wont leave till you accept me under your wing." he explained, his eyes were fierce.

"The name is Arcanda to you and I don't take well to flirts, Ms. Maron though Mr. Handy may be more influenced." Arcanda said before turning to Jack with his Quicksilver ZERO drawn and aimed at Jack's shoulder. Arcanda slammed a fresh clip of ammo into the weapon, smirking, "Mr. Handy that may be an offer you'll regret." Arcanda emphasized the word regret as he pulled the trigger firing a bullet into Jack's right shoulder.

"Jack is your name, seeking fortune and fame, climbing up the hill, you could become cold still" Arcanda sung merrily in face of Jack's injury.

Arcanda chuckled as he placed the gun inside his jacket. "Mr. Handy if you still want to join...and Ms. Maron is generous you may tag along on her mission. As for that map hand it over." Archie's eyes seemed to blaze with a firey malice as he waited for Jack's response.

Maron blinked at the site of Arcanda shooting Handy. "Wow...that's not over reacting...but then agian if my flirtation didn't get to him-why did he shoot him and not me?" she grinned. "I have no qualms Arcanda-but if you do intend to kill Handy-please spare him his ignorance, and shoot him in the head." she said with a grin squeezing Arcanda's left shoulder lightly before she slid off the desk.

Jack gritted his teath. "So...I guess that was my warning shot..." he said as he held the wound with his free hand. "I'm sorry Arcanda...but if your planning to steal the empire my "Aunt" owns-well all you need is me to waltz right in and I can grab it with the least suspicion against me." he said as he walked up to the desk and wrote his name on his application. "Is there anything else you like-Arcanda?"

"What I want Jack...is for the two of you to leave my office. You will work together on this mission. Consider it your...i guess...initiation. Mr. Marang please escort them out." Archie snapped his fingers after finishing.

The bald man came from the shadows behind Archie and bowed to him. He then grabbed Jack's left shoulder and Maron's right shoulder and pushed them from the room. As they left the office the door slowly swung closed and Mr. Marang simply stated, "You have access to the bunks for the night. You can stay in suite zero. There are two seperate rooms for you there. As for equipment a package will be left on the kitchen table. If you need anything there is an ancient horn system that echoes through these halls just call and i'll be there."

As he finished Mr. Marang bowed and disappeared into the shadows of the hallway next to Ms. Maron.

Jack blinked, searching the shadows with his hands. "That's odd...he isn't here anymore!" he exclaimed as he kept swinging his arms in the air. He then turned to Maron. "Does this mean we're room mates?" he asked blinking as blood began to soak his shirt.

She rolled her eyes and walked away. She wasn't going to stick around babysitting this kid-she was going to get her job done. "Hurry if you don't want to miss the next lift off this place. I'm leaving now." she said, continuing her journey.

Arcanda entered his door with a smirk. His day had been filled with enough chaos and torture that he felt some rest was in order. However, a mob boss never truly has rest until he knows that he is safe. After walking through his office door he closed the steel door and latched it before turning the ten tumbler locks that were also associated with keeping company out of his office. Similar locks were placed throughout his entire estate. Arcanda blamed this security habit on having heard the stories of the Wargods.

Arcanda walked away from the door and sat down at his desk at the far side of the room. The desk was bare of any paperwork just the way he liked it. The blood signed contract from Ms. Maron was already in it's proper file. As he sat down and removed his black bowler hat Arcanda realized that there was one last person to check in with for the day. Ms. Kirei, at the Lonely Wolf in Beijio. Placing the bowler hat down on the desk next to his candle lit lantern Archie turned to a rotary style telephone on the right side of his desk. He picked up the black phone piece and dialed each number slowly turning the metal disk until he was sure the correct number had been selected. The phone started to ring as he waited to speak with one of his newest business employees and managers.

After a dial tones, there was a 'click' and then a smooth yet cool voice answered: "Hello?" the seductive and tempting voice asked, in the background another voice could be heard, muffled but they seemed to be a male in quite a bit of pain. "Kirei here, spill it or leave it." she says again before pulling the phone away, causing the volume in her tone to drop slightly as a hard 'smack' could be heard and she screams something in Beijionese to the other man, causing him to whimper and cry out again. "Sorry about that-I'm currently on the job at the moment. So whoever this is 'unregistered private caller', make it fast. I'm working double time over here." she says still with a cool and level headed tone.

"Ms. Kirei, that isn't anyway to talk to your employer." Arcanda said sarcastically enjoying that finally one of his employees can actually do their job. "I'm calling to check up on the Lonely Wolf. How is business going over their in Beijio? How many new contacts do we have?" Arcanda continued after a brief pause to let Ms. Kirei register that it was him. He put a file folder on his desk and opened it scanning the pages briefly while awaiting a response from Ms. Kirei. He was reading the expense and income reports for the Lonely Wolf. Previously, the Lonely Wolf was able to bring a handsome amount of money even though it was located in the supposed "moral" city of Beijio. The current records showed that a 20% increase in profit had occurred and that a couple of new jobs were potentially going to occur if the contacts in Beijio were kept happy.

There was a pause on the other end of the phone...the only sound was that of the whimpering individual before two harder 'smacks' silenced them, following with: "Crap...I hit him too hard...eh, he's still breathing. I'll just have the others put him in the holding cell then." Her volume increased again as she clears her throat and answers again: "Odd for you to call at a time like this Boss." she nonchalantly replies, the sound of grinding could be heard-which was the Chinchilla Beast-Kin filing her nails. "Oh, it's been fine...till the ADN building was blown up. 90% of the income came from lonely soldiers, but since they've gone and gotten themselves killed...we'll probably have a decrease in funds for a short while. That is why I'm beating on poor Ijeki here, he's long past due owing us at least 3,000,000 Gilex...he's agreed to give us his family estate his family has had for generations..." the male voice grumbled again, which caused another hard yet muffled 'pounding sound' to occur, to which Kirei replied: "Ooo, looks like he's still awake. Hm. Well, thankfully the 'Wolf didn't get any damage from that dragon attack either. If that was to happen we'd be in a little crisis here. No worries though, I'm sure these Scardian Foreign Legion troops will take residency till the ADN building is restored. And not to be the bearer of bad news, but Maron is dead, and the Empress is still kickin'. And it seems the Boontai Player has gotten himself arrested. I'm sure he'll be let go due to his connection with the Empress...so want me to send him your way or throw 'em in a safehouse till he can fly back?" She then paused and girlishly chuckles. "How are things on your end Boss? If I may be so bold to ask." she asked

The sounds of a beating occurring in the background was like white noise to Arcanda. To Arcanda there was silence on the other end of the phone that turned into a possible disconnection before Ms. Kirei came back onto the line saying, "Crap...I hit him too hard...eh, he's still breathing. I'll just have the others put him in the holding cell then." Unseen by his employee on the other end of the phone Arcanda smiled deviously and with joy at the comment. He continued to listen as she started to talk again, "Odd for you to call at a time like this Boss." she nonchalantly replies, the sound of grinding could be heard in the background. "Oh, it's been fine...till the ADN building was blown up..." Her voice cut out in his mind at the thought of the ADN building. He had been kicked out of a lot of his old stomping grounds thanks to the ADN and that darn Rufus Tenik. He took a satisfied pleasure at the fact that the ADN had a bit of rebuilding to do themselves. Once again he started to pay attention to his underling, "...we'll probably have a decrease in funds for a short while. That is why I'm beating on poor Ijeki here, he's long past due owing us at least 3,000,000 Gilex...he's agreed to give us his family estate his family has had for generations..." the male voice grumbled again, which caused another hard yet muffled 'pounding sound' to occur, to which Kirei replied: "Ooo, looks like he's still awake. Hm. Well, thankfully the 'Wolf didn't get any damage from that dragon attack either..."

Once again, Arcanda's mind trailed off as the chinchilla-girl continued to weave a tail of instability that the Lonely Wolf is currently in due to the status of things in Beijio. He rolled his eyes as he listened having heard similar reports from all the other businesses that he owned throughout the world. He most assuredly couldn't wait till he had an audience with Mr. Tenik and the other leaders of the world. He would soon show them that he wasn't reduced to nothing and that just by breathing Arcanda could cause them anguish. The smooth voice of the girl came flowing back into his mind, "And not to be the bearer of bad news, but Maron is dead, and the Empress is still kickin'. And it seems the Boontai Player has gotten himself arrested. I'm sure he'll be let go due to his connection with the Empress...so want me to send him your way or throw 'em in a safehouse till he can fly back?" She then paused and girlishly chuckles. "How are things on your end Boss? If I may be so bold to ask." she asked.

Arcanda gritted his teeth for a moment before barking coldly over the phone, "Send that pipsqueak of a Jack Handy to the depths of the ocean...give him the black mark! He is no longer in our community and let everyone know that if he enters a business of mine that the gloves are off. He gets no more favors from us!" His tone became more gentle and returned to his normal business-like tone, "As for Maron she was a factored death...the deed to Beijio was a death mission...she served her purpose to distract the Empress from my other men who had entered her palace and placed a 'gift' for the Empress on her bed." He paused here letting the information soak into his underling's mind before he addressed her question to him, "Ms. Kirei, I appreciate your forwardness and boldness therefore I will let you in on what is to happen next in Beijio. The Lonely Wolf is to be the stage for a gathering of elites. The leaders of the world whether they realize it or not. I have had the pleasure of giving them all a 'gift' that once the wrapping is opened will teleport them to the V.I.P. Access Room of the Lonely Wolf. I have positioned this meeting because of loyalty. Do not let this choice be a mistake. Be a darling and make sure the room is outfitted with the appropriate refreshments and personnel. Can you do that Ms. Kirei?" Arcanda waited with an eager anticipation for Ms. Kirei's reply strumming his fingers on the top of his desk with his torso hunched over next to the phone.

Her voice dropped from the line for a moment, taking in a long pause. "The... Black Mark?" she asked almost confused. "I mean, I know I've been away for a while, but are you sure you want to simply have the kid rubbed from the face of existence like that? I mean, he's gotta be more useful to us in some way or manner. But I really won't question your wisdom Mr. A." she says on her end of the line, a shifting of movement could be heard and she chuckled. "Ah, well I hope you won't put me in the same kind of job you put Maron through. I mean, your methods of 'firing' people are just plainly gruesome if I may say so." she says with another chuckle. "Well if you only want me to entertain a bunch of rich snobs, I can do as much--of course though there is an additional fee if any said jerk-offs touch me. I don't like 'freebies'." she says with a slight snarl. She paused again, but only briefly this time. "So, what exactly are you planning Mr. A? I mean...your just acting so generous to me this evening...are you trying to tempt me with your flattery?" she asked in a sly sarcastic manner. "What else do you want?" she asked him, unbeknown to him, she herself was leaning against the brick layout of the 'Wolf.

Her voice dropped from the line for a moment, taking in a long pause which Arcanda relished. He was always for giving out surprises and collecting the spoils. In this case, he had given Ms. Kirei a large task that would earn her very high distinction in the ranks of Arcanda's employees. He had just entrusted her with having to entertain and host the world's leaders against their will.  He listened as she seemed to be fighting for Jack Handy to stay apart of his ranks before he heard her chuckle before saying, "Ah, well I hope you won't put me in the same kind of job you put Maron through. I mean, your methods of 'firing' people are just plainly gruesome if I may say so." she says with another chuckle. Arcanda smirked while he leaned back into his leather high back office chair. He knew he had reeled Ms. Kirei into accepting the job whether she realized she had a choice or not.

As Arcanda listened to Ms. Kirei talk he was reminded of the days when he had multiple underlings that were of the same caliber as her. Those days however were far behind him and he hated to wallow in the pain of the past unless it was fueling the future. The smooth voice of the chinchilla-girl once again brought his thoughts back to their conversation. "Well if you only want me to entertain a bunch of rich snobs, I can do as much--of course though there is an additional fee if any said jerk-offs touch me. I don't like 'freebies'." she says with a slight snarl. She paused again, but only briefly this time. "So, what exactly are you planning Mr. A? I mean...your just acting so generous to me this evening...are you trying to tempt me with your flattery?" she asked in a sly sarcastic manner. "What else do you want?" she asked him. Arcanda smirked at how unsure of his actions Ms. Kirei was. "The fear of a truly faithful underling." Arcanda thought to himself before replying to the woman.

"Kirei, if any of them touch you they will be causing an act of war, and I'm sure none of them want that." He commented smugly with a brief pause before continuing, "You see they are going to teleport into a room that you will have filled with the normal V.I.P. Access beverages and the like but you will also put together a crew that will keep them there against their will. I have a lot to explain to these important people and I don't want anything getting in my way. That means security on the building being tripled, and your customer service at it's highest. As much as they will be our captives, this will be my type of diplomatic summit, so we still need our guests to be as comfortable, and happy as can be." Arcanda finished explaining, before the sounds of a lighter could be heard on the other end of the line. Arcanda had taken out a cigar, and put it to his lips, and lit it before blowing out smoke with a smirk of satisfaction. Without waiting for a reply, Arcanda started to talk once again, "As a result, you need to get that money from that estate, you need to pull some jobs quick, and you need to recruit. We have a deadline Ms. Kirei, and I intend to keep it. The political climate is just ripe enough for this to happen now...I will not miss this chance. You have two weeks." Arcanda slammed the phone down ending the call before turning to review a new file folder in front of him labeled: "The Summit"

(Start Music: https://youtu.be/jqE8M2ZnFL8 )

Archie stared at the folder in front of him labeled: "The Summit". Underneath this nice crisp clean manila folder was a mangy ripped coffee stained and almost rotting folder that was covered in dust and labeled "The Empire". Archie put the folder notated as "The Summit" was placed to the right side of his desk before he picked up the newly recognized piece of his past. As he picked up "The Empire" pieces of the folder flaked off onto the desk. As Arcanda opened the folder he started to recognize faces of years past each with the red stamp that notated "Invalidated" meaning that they were killed, "Vacation" meaning that they were in prison, and "Missing" meaning they were missing. Flipping through the yellowed and aged pages in the folder Archie noted names such as Diamond Face, Cheeze, Antonio Delrond, Tony Montana, Tijero Harada, Goldmember, Dza Pimpdaddy (he did not know it), and Garabhan Draskoll amongst others. Archie slowly turned the pages with excruciating memories returning to him with each name. Eventually reaching the end of the folder a business card that was almost torn in half with bold letters stating the name "The Jackal" appeared.

Arcanda stared at the business card for a few moments before realizing that he had one more of his original crew to reconnect with his syndicate. However, he had no other contact information, biography, status, or other information like he did for the other members. Archie scowled fact before remembering that "The Jackal" was that hyper kid that was always incapable of not smiling and being stealthy. With regret and remorse Archie picks up his phone and dials the number and waits as the dial tone goes through. A moment later the message appears, "Sorry...the number dialed is no longer working." Arcanda smirks before pressing "#" which brought the message, "If you would like to reach The Jackal press 1, Diamond Face press 2, Cheeze press 3, Archie McGraw press 4, for all other messages related to the Arcanda Crime Syndicate leave a message at the gun shot. BANG!" Archie pressed one and waited listening to hold music of the killing of Dante. He smiled at the sounds before hearing, "You've called Jackson Essentials etcetera etcetera etcetera. Leave your name, digits, height, weight and eye color so I MAY FIND YOU AND CUT OUT YOUR BLOODY HEART AND FORCE YOU TO SWALLOW IT BEFORE IT STOPS BEATING!-BECAUSE THANKS TO YOU, I'M NO LONGER RELAXED!...[heavy breathing with three heavy sighs]...*ahem* You can leave all that after the tone. Thanks for calling." BEEP

Arcanda cleared this throat before speaking in a calm and harsh tone, "Jackal, you're up. You either call back and take the assignment or you'll be retired six feet in the ground. Good day."