the new old town

The game was all gathered in the room. Their days are staring at the new game already as if expecting some big answer for their new existing problem. with Ryan gone thanks to the duchess, they have no direction on what they can do. if they leave things be they will be further victims to her whims. Breck looks out to the concerned crowd, they are all worried for their future if they stuck around. If Bloody stuck around, her methods were apparent to everybody last night. either meet her expectations or die a disappointment. he tries lifting their spirits.

Breck: listen up guys we all may not be.... in the best situation but we are being presented with a great opportunity. we have to make the most of it. She offered us a career under her leadership, but she requires our loyalty and even provided a test to prove it.

they stood there skeptical of his words. This could make them safe for now but not forever sooner or later she will lose interest in them and have them eliminated just because she can. Breck could tell nobody was into working for the trigger-happy lady.

Breck: how about we give this a try then should anyone, not like the job I'll talk to her to let you leave.

some of the group members started to show signs of willingness. so he prepared to explain the plan, as they know there are 4 gangs in driftwood. this gang is one of them. Duchess wanted this gang to go around absorbing and eliminating the other gangs only one remained. She expects this to be done by the end of the week so 4days. the members looked at each other.

member A: so she wants us to start a gang war?

member B: great so were to die by her hands or by another gang's hands. that's messed up.

Breck puts out a sigh. he's struggling to reason with them.

Breck: she's not getting you to start a war. before giving me this task. she said, "I want less bloodshed handle it as she did." so as long we do what she did to Ryan we are good.

member C: we don't have a weird gun more the location of the other gang's base.

then a clap comes from behind the crowd. they all turn their heads and Bloody moon was there. from the looks of it, she had been behind them for a while now. her position was filled with comfort while she had Buttler hold her tea so she could clap.

duchess: so you guys are taking the job seriously good to know. well then let's get back to your problem. Are you saying that you are under-equipped for my task?

they start panicking unsure of how she will respond to the complaints. She bends over to reach the hem of her dress she grabs under. the crowd flinches expecting the magnum others start to move toward the door. she pulls out a cutlass with a mystifying blade in her left hand. next, she waves over Breck with her right. he walks over unsure of what's happening

Duchess: put out your hands.

he slowly holds out his hands not certain she won't cut them off. she puts the cutlass in his hands. he looks confused

Breck: um what's this for my lady?

he was talking rather formally, though this time she was confused.

Duchess: what do you mean? I hear you guys are unequipped for the job. as your employer I can't let you work unprepared the blade will help you. I'll lend it to you and bring it back to me when you are done.

she takes her to leave giving the crowd great concern for themselves. next, she visited the treasury since it was only just established, they had decided to take up an old bank as their location for operations entering the building. You could see all the papers scattered along the walls and floors. People were separated into groups depending on what they were working on and the one duchess left in charge was at the center of the entire mess.

Dutches: how are things progressing? I will need news on what the next steps are for us in as much detail as necessary.

The individual she left in charge of the makeshift treasury was a mild gentleman who is on the floor with piles of paper in his hand sifting through them looking for something

Mild gentleman: apologies, we just finished texting all of the citizens and we're currently sorting through all the finances of the different groups to figure out what our territory's current wealth is.

She glanced over her shoulders to Butler who had decided to take some time and pick up some of the papers that were on the ground. After a bit of deliberating with herself, she decided to give him further instruction.

Dutches: for now, refrain from digging into invested or hard-to-look-at funds and focus on the funds that you know where they're at. We'll later revisit all financial institutions to decide what to do about the missing funds and for the time being, don't let the financial department anywhere near The funds. the treasury is in control for a reason.

out sounds of gunshots wail out. and people running outside in the opposite direction, the people in the room look out the window. concern fills most people's faces except the duchess who had an idea of what was going on.

Dutches: back to work nothing. their nothing worth watching out there.

she sighed shuffling her hand around looking at documents and placing them in stacks. after three hours she stood up and looked around. the room was looking better most people had been sorted into groups organizing different documents and at the center, a group separated the documents. She looked over at the one she referred to as Butler he appeared to have been standing idle. she decided it was time to move on and gestured it to him. The next stop was the town square. with her going around executing people the other day many people were unsure of how to go about operating moving forward. in response to this dutchess set up a meeting to discuss the next step. lots of people showed up even people who didn't need to and, those who had no reason to. with all of them gathered around the fountain. her thoughts fell in line with. how many people did I kill that night the numbers? having a hard time remembering her action she decides to roll with it, however, she was not aware people showed up out of fear they would be next.

dutches: ok I don't have a lot of time, and all your loafing around and making my job hard.

she scans the crowd looking for possible problems. in the left corner of her eye, she sees an unfamiliar group of people running and shooting at a very familiar group of people chasing after them; she mentally note checks on the progress of the project she gave the gange. she thought to herself. besides that searching through the crowd she spotted mostly locals but also a few traveling merchants had gathered as well.

dutchess: locals stay if you are a traveler looking to do business there will be a separate meeting for you all tomorrow. so leave now while I'm asking.

an odd number of people got up and left.

dutchess: okay now on to business anybody out of a job due to my actions? will the treasury tomorrow depending on the state of your current business you may stay in your line of work. since is here I will also state ill have my people do a home inspection to see building conditions.

before she could finish talking a loud explosion went off somewhere behind her.

dutchess: that's all see you tomorrow.

she then looked at Buttler

Buttler: the gang war seems to be going on all over but we are near one of the main points of the fight.

she looked pleased with his answer but was clearly fighting off frustration. the two of them made a detour in their schedule to check on the side project. moving down the streets she could tell it was the correct path, because of all the property damage and injured people they spotted along the way. her hand had moved on its own to her forehead she again looked at Buttler.

Buttler: ill split up with you here do a damage assessment report it to treasury and get a few doctors over here. and meet back up with you to report.

he then departs fairly quickly. She turns back around and continues looking for the problem she feels she played a hand in. Moving farther and farther down the roads she finds her anger rising more and more till she spots familiar faces. the group of gange she employed fighting an unacquainted group and at the center was the guy she lent a weapon and demon to she strolls over to him and random thugs from opposing sides try attacking her but are repelled by her backhands causing them to fall down. over time more gang members started noticing her and avoiding her when she reaches Ihim she taped him on the shoulder. he reacts slowly as his eyes meet her he could feel his death. in that, he knew he messed something up, but before he could save the situation he was cut off.

dutchess: this some kind of rebellion, I asked you in good faith to take care of a job. yet it has not been a full day and you're making more messes. I mean I expected resistance. but this is flat-out a betrayal of trust. was the idea of working for me that upsetting?

in that moment everyone around them stopped moving, not willingly but by an unknown force. just by looking around one could see the trembling parties resisting it. Breck included his shoulders were getting heavy, and his legs seemed to be pulled before his feet. he was definitely having a hard time staying upright. everyone was looking at the two of them since it was the only choice they having not being able to move.

dutchess: thought I was treating you well. perhaps I was wrong? do you have anything to say?

she places her hand on his scared face. he was sweating greatly, and his eyes were shaking thinking is this his time to go? struggling to breathe he spoke.

Breck: it's my fault I should not have been so reckless.

dutchess: reckless huh what a funny word. using that means you knew, your actions were problematic.

she drew her face closer. to make her dissatisfied expression obvious to him. she gestured around to all the injured people laying on the ground and some that were struggling to get away.

dutchess: since you knew that you must know who's at fault for all this.

Breck: mine (*trembling)

dutchess: NO MINE (*shouting)

a microearthquake stuck to the area. Breck almost fell to the ground. the shaking was so bad pieces of the street came loose.

dutchess: your actions are my actions your faults are my responsibility. when you are messing up it makes me look bad. so now I have to clean up our mess. do you understand now why I'm mad?