City of Beasts - Sarah

(Yeah, I wrote one. I was bored.)

How?

How was she caught?

She was usually so good at this. Sneak in, assassinate, sneak out. Simple as that. But she'd let her guard down, and that's when they'd gotten her.

The eight-foot mantis stood bound in a shimmering chain. One end of the chain snaked up into the arm of a fifteen-foot bipedal mech. The mech led the insect down the street, approaching a mansion that was pretty well taken care of compared to most of the city.

Standing at the door was a robot that looked fairly similar to the one that had captured the bug, except it was noticeably smaller - about the height of a human. It stared straight ahead, unmoving, unthinking. Unlike the larger mech, which was manned, this one was automated, and possessed nothing but a simple set of directions and protocols to follow.

The manned mech spoke. It was the voice of an adult woman. She would sound very pleasant if not for the metallic rasp underneath her voice. Having your dying body fused with machinery to keep you alive can do that to you.

"Let us through, Model 3."

Stiffly, the robot shuffled to one side, allowing the mech to lead the insect into the mansion. As the mantis walked forward through the halls, she glanced back and forth at the paintings and photographs lining the walls. There were many portraits, but the one thing they all had in common was that a certain girl was front and center in every single one - often the only subject. The mantid's eyes showed her disgust and contempt. The self-centered little witch.

As they drew closer to an ornate door, they could hear someone on the other side talking much louder than she needed to.

"-unacceptable. Completely unacceptable. You seriously think you can skimp out on us like that? Listen, it's the full 2000 dollars you owe us or else I release the details on that affair of yours."

"Y-you wouldn't."

The mech stopped short of the door, the pilot unwilling to interrupt. The insect captive listened keenly.

"Ms. Atari, please. Show some sense, all right? I don't wanna ruin your career. Whether you're exposed as the person you really are is up to you."

"I... I don't have it right now, but please-!"

"Ms. Atari, I like you. So I'm gonna cut you a break. I'll give you an extra week. No more. Come back to my office a week from today, 5 PM. If you're late, I'm sending Mommy after you."

An audible gulp.

"Y-yes. Of c-course. Th-thank you, Ms. Triden."

Light, cheery laughter in response. "Please, call me Sarah. Now get outta here and make some money. Don't disappoint me."

The other woman excused herself and hurriedly left, only stopping to glance in terror at the insect and mecha.

"Sarah, sweetie? I've gotten the one you wanted."

"Oh, you shouldn't have, Mommy! Bring her in!"

The mecha strode into the room, the bug in tow.

"Miss Widow Maker! It's been a long time!"

Sarah Triden, the pampered girlfriend of the mob boss Alexander, was sitting behind a desk beaming at her reluctant guest. She broke eye contact to take a big bite out of a donut from a box on her desk.

Widow Maker looked at the pampered girl with disgust. With her white robe and excess pounds, she looked something like an overstuffed pillow. At the same time, she got the feeling that if Sarah had smiled - genuinely smiled, not this sickly-sweet faux cheeriness - she would be quite pretty despite the weight. There were rumors that Sarah Triden sometimes did smile like that - but only to her boyfriend, when nobody else was around. She seemed to be offended by the presence of anybody else.

"Let's get this shit over with, Sarah." the mantis hissed.

"Oh, Widow Maker. Always business with you, isn't it? No time for small talk."

There went another donut.

"Don't you think you've had enough of those?"

The chains around Widow Maker tightened as an electric shock raced through them. The mantis screeched and sank to her knees.

"I don't think you're in a position to be making fun of people, Widow Maker!" said Sarah, her voice still sounding pleasant but with a very slight hint of barely-restrained rage behind it.

For a moment, nobody said anything.

"I still haven't forgiven you for what you did to Two."

"Pff. You should be glad I got to her before anyone else. I do my work efficiently and as quickly as possible. I'm quite certain she didn't even feel pain before she died."

Sarah's tone finally turned ice-cold. "You killed my sister. Stop trying to sugarcoat it."

"Oh, this is rich. Sarah Triden telling somebody to lay off the sugar."

"ZIP IT."

Widow Maker stayed quiet.

"Do you know how I felt when I was told about her death, Widow Maker? I was very upset."

"She was doomed to die anyway. If I hadn't gotten her, someone else would have. What, would you prefer it if Fang Four had gotten her?"

Mention of Four gave Sarah pause. The color drained from her face.

"W-well..."

"She was a marked woman. Too outspoken. Too straightforward. Talking of uniting the city again, like it used to be, instead of getting some sense and moving out. Someone had to shut her up before she did something dangerous. And compared to what could have happened to her, I did her a goddamn FAVOR."

Sarah remained quiet, her chair creaking as she rocked a little and ate another donut, puzzling things over. At last she sighed and shook her head.

"I guess you're right. So I'm going to make you a deal."

"A deal." Widow Maker repeated skeptically.

"That's right. I'd like an alliance. Can you talk with your friend the spy and focus your efforts elsewhere?"

"What do you mean 'elsewhere'?"

"Just leave me and Alex alone, all right? We won't bother you, you won't bother us, and you're free to focus your efforts on Optimus or Erebus or somebody."

"You know as damn well as I do that Spy couldn't keep an alliance if his life depended on it."

"Well, here's a better idea, then! Align yourself with us completely! Break away from his little gang. I wouldn't be surprised if he was planning on backstabbing you right now. Backstab him first, why don't you."

Widow Maker looked thoughtful.

"What's the catch?"

"No catch! You just work for me and Alex and do whatever we say. But stay with them, so they don't suspect anything."

The mantis took a moment to mull things over.

"Fine. You got a deal. I was planning to do something about that guy anyway. Don't trust him. I'd shake on it but I'm kinda still wrapped in chains here."

"Great! All right, Mom, you can lead her out and let her go."

The mech swung around and led Widow Maker away. Sarah watched them go, a smug smile on her face as she took a swig from a bottle of soda.

"Well! That worked out all right, I guess."

Sarah glanced over at the monitor on her desk, which showed a blip moving down the hall. After a moment, two blips were onscreen instead of one. A message appeared at the top of the screen.

"TAG PLANTED."

"Good ol' Mom always knows how to keep track of everybody!"