"I've heard that before," Goldie sighed as she crossed her arms, her eyes scanning her surroundings to see if she could spot the snipers that were surely waiting in the wings. "You don't have a deal for me. You love playing those games."
"I would never be able to find the time to toy with you in times like these. I need to know if you'll join me or not."
"Fine," Goldie sighed. "I will. Probably a bad idea, though."
"Any idea you've had could be described as such. Please, get in the vehicle. I don't like being outside."
"Is that crazy bitch with you?"
"You're about to be."
"Haha," Goldie laughed sarcastically as she watched Codendra sit back down. "You know who I meant."
Goldie walked around to the other side of the vehicle and opened the door for herself. "Where is she?" She asked as she climbed into the spacious backseat.
"You mean Symphony."
"Yeah, the crazy girl."
"She's around. She's always around."
Codendra reached into a red silk purse that sat in the center of the seat and pulled out special lotion she liked to rub on her delicate skin. She then pulled out a ruby comb and began to run it through her hair, sweetly humming as the car winded through the trees of the United Emblems. Goldie tried not to snort with laughter as she thought of the combs she'd stolen from Codendra though her attempt to keep it inside was mediocre at best.
"What I'd like to discuss can't really wait," Codendra said in her soft voice as she wiped her skin with a smooth silk rag, looking into a compact mirror. "I know you've seen Polite recently."
"Everybody must know that by now. I don't know anything. She took my shield from me, I don't know where she was headed and I don't know where she was coming from," Goldie snipped, annoyed to have to be telling Codendra things she'd told her before. "If I did know, I wouldn't just tell you."
Codendra used only peripheral vision to look at Goldie as she closed her mirror and sighed. "That is fine. You didn't hear what I was going to say, though."
"Maybe I shouldn't be hearing anything from you right now at all."
Codendra could tell she'd done something to discomfort Goldie and stopped speaking for a moment because of it.
The ladies each gazed out the window as the sedan travelled down the mountain they'd landed on and toward the city. They crossed the Yinna Oilslick Bridge, named after Codendra's late mother, and quietly watched the sparkling water as it moved with the boats traveling on the surface. Goldie almost grimaced at the sight of it all; the tall, shining buildings placed closely together with trains traveling through the centers of them, lifted high above the crowded ground.
"It's been awhile since you've been back here." Codendra said, watching Goldie stare out of the window.
"It's been awhile since I've been allowed to speak with you without a gun pointed at my head." Goldie snipped.
"There are a few pointed at your head at the moment, don't worry," Codendra thought now would be the time to strike up the conversation again. "Now, about Polite. She must be stopped, you know."
"Stopped? You're after the same thing, aren't you? What, you wanna kill my mother yourself instead of letting her do it?"
"It's not the action that we need to stop—it's what she's willing to do to make it happen," Codendra touched a glowing blue button on the back of the headrest of the seat in front of her. A holographic screen was projected, showing a map of Olly Lake. "This is where you encountered her, no?" She questioned.
"Somewhere around there, yes."
"And you've already claimed to have no clue of what she was doing, which is fine, but I do have an idea," Codendra made a waving motion with her hand, changing the screen to an image of Polite's face at close range. "This was taken a few days after her run in with you at one of my research facilities. She was searching nearby and was spotted."
"She's only ever spotted purposefully."
"That's correct. You might want to brace yourself for this next image. I know I had to," Codendra waved her hand again, changing the image. Polite stood hovering, the bottoms of her mechanical feet glowing, her arms stretched out wide with her cloak opened. Goldie couldn't look away from what Polite had done to herself, though she tried. She looked at Polite's complicated, glowing metal body and tried hard to find some remaining flesh...but it looked as though very little could be found.
"Are you familiar with who that is?" Codendra asked, pointing to the severed head Polite held in her clutched fist. "He looks familiar but I can't tell through all the blood on his face." Goldie replied.
"That's Commander Armond Getty, he worked directly below Moria. This image was captured just before she burned a United Emblems military base to the ground. I believe she's trying to make a statement."
"A statement?" Goldie questioned, tilting her head.
"She killed him before anyone else and paraded his head around like a trophy. His only job was to locate Heart Grandeur and Polite chose to do this with him—I think she's trying to tell the Emblems to cease and desist."
"I don't know about that," Goldie sighed as the holographic projection screen turned off. "She does things like that all the time..."
"It seems so very deliberate, though, would you not agree?"
"Why are you discussing this with me again? I don't want to be confronted with the actions of my psychopath serial killer of a sister. I hunt treasures, that's what I do. I don't help governments locate terrorists—no matter how many of them I'm related to."
"I need you for something unlikely, Goldie. Will you hear me?"
"I'm stuck in a car with you."
"I need you to steal something for me."
Goldie felt a twitch in her ears as her heart rate picked up and her eyes widened. She had to dig her fingernails into her own thigh to stop her excitement from taking over. "Really, now?"
"Really. It's nothing major, just a piece of technology that was robbed from me by Polite, abandoned, and taken by an opposing nation that's refused the Emblems' influence," Codendra said. "It's my duty as a member of the Oilslick family to unite all nations into one and grace them with our superior technological advances, but when certain nations refuse that opportunity, refuse to create an emblem for their own land and incorporate it into mine, I can't find enough...respect...for the ways they choose to carry on. With that knowledge in mind, this particular nation has taken a crucial piece of a larger project that I need to complete if I want to make any progress in further defending my nation from Polite Grandeur. I'm almost glad Crescendo begged for your clemency...I see now that you're the only person capable of this."
"Girl, I wasn't listening to any of that. What am I taking and when? It's...been awhile."
"You're going to Greenplain."
Goldie could barely breathe. Greenplain was known to be one of the richest, heavily guarded nations in the world. She hadn't stolen anything from there since she was seventeen and her fingers were itching to touch something extraordinary from there—something more than just jewels or money. Goldie wanted something valuable.
Before Codendra could give Goldie more details, the pair noticed that the car stopped in a sea of traffic. "Why have you stopped the car?" Codendra asked the driver.
The driver pushed a button on the holographic car dashboard and a small drone detached itself from one of the exterior mirrors, then flew ahead of the traffic, its camera delivering a live feed to the inside of the vehicle on a small screen. "We're about to find out, Highness."
"I'm not waiting for some stupid drone to tell me what the hold up is," Goldie said, opening the car door. Above her flew news drones that recorded video of the traffic and played audio of live news coverage as it happened. "The United Emblems rarely encounters traffic," the news reporter said as Goldie walked through, people in their cars shocked by her presence, snapping photos of her as she walked by. "This is a first for many citizens. As we've been told so far, there seems to be a squad of black motorbikes blocking the thru-traffic on Yinna Oilslick Bridge. It's believed to be the likes of Crescendo, leader of the world's largest private army. Only he would be able to cause such a disruption and face no prison time, such is likely,"
"What is it, asshole?!" Goldie called over the sound of cars honking and confused people chattering as they, too, exited their vehicles.
"What are you doing?" Pinwheel questioned, leaning on the singular black sports car amongst the bikes that formed a circle in the middle of the byway.
"Didn't you just get finished trying to kill my sister?"
"When am I not trying to kill one of you Grandeurs?"
"I've got it from here, Pin," Crescendo's voice came from the vehicle's opening butterfly door. He stood up at full height, towering over small Goldie at six foot four, and he sauntered around the vehicle, his chains, buckles, and jewelry jingling as he moved. He wore a tailored deep crimson suit, plain and simple and decorated with his silver accessories, and his shoes clicked against the pavement loudly as he twisted a ring around his finger. The people around him fell silent as his sleek, sharp, dark eyes met Goldie's.
"What's going on?" He questioned in his clear yet deepened voice. His body was as large as his presence was. His skin was a cool toned light brown, even and matte, and his combed back hair was dyed a dark jet black instead of the light brown, almost blond, that coiled out of his scalp naturally. He pressed his plump lips as he stood with his hands folded in front of him, furrowing his well groomed brow. "I thought we had an agreement, Quick Gold."
"I could probably just run right through this blockade you made. You know that, right?" Goldie said with a roll of her neck.
"I knew I'd find you trying to flee me. Again. Why dig the hole deeper?"
"A better opportunity presented itself, I guess. That, and getting away from you is the only thing that gets me off."
"That's not the method I recall, but I doubt telling the truth has become a skill of yours. Get in the car before I get upset."
A small helicopter passed by overhead and a drone flew from it, securing itself to Goldie's glove with a clip. Must have been Codendra taking her leave after climbing into it.
"Hm, I already know what that is. Bitch thinks she's sneaky."
"What do you mean?"
"Like I said," Crescendo gave a debonair wink to the news drone filming him up above. "Get in the car."
"I'm tired of getting into cars today, I'd rather run." Goldie joked as she reluctantly got into the passenger seat of the vehicle after the door opened for her.
"Why didn't you wait there for me?" Crescendo said as he drove the vehicle, a few of his men on their motorcycles surrounding him.
"I've already been yanked in every other direction this week, thought I'd make things interesting," Goldie said as she unclipped the tiny drone. "So you know what this is about?"
"I know what everything in this nation is about. You're really going to go to Greenplain?"
"For Christ's sake! I only just now found out about it! You wanna give me a second to think before you jump down my throat about it?"
"Think out loud."
"Okay," Goldie sighed. "She had a fancy way of telling me she needs help defending the Emblems from my sister."
Crescendo laughed heartily, flashing his pearly white teeth, shaking his head. "That's what she told you, then? That's why she wanted to meet us separately. I'm not upset with you about this in particular—other things, though..." Crescendo sucked in air through his teeth as he shook his head. "I could fucking choke you for."
"To death or to satisfaction?" Goldie chortled.
"I try not to take things too seriously around you for this exact reason—you don't care. I don't wanna hear you talk for the rest of the ride. Do me a favor and keep your mouth busy another way."
Crescendo drove Goldie to the closest office he had and though it was his smallest, he knew he didn't need much space for his discussion with the beautiful thief.
"Change out of that slutty outfit while we're here, would you? Should be some pajamas for guests in one of these closets." Crescendo sighed as he and Goldie stood in the elevator, leaving his group of men on the ground floor in the parking garage. "I don't get why everybody's jealous of my outfit." Goldie said with a pout.
"Right. 'Jealous' is the word. Sorry if I don't want to be reminded of the woman that killed my damn father."
"Keep getting reminded, buddy, 'cause my face is just like hers, too. You've got issues."
Crescendo stopped himself from wringing Goldie's little neck—something he had to do often.
"Alright," Crescendo said as the duo stepped into the office space. "Give me that drone, little girl."
"I don't even wanna be here." Goldie said as she tossed the drone.
"I don't fucking want you here, trust me, but there's a lot going on at the moment. We all have to tolerate each other's shit for the time being. I hate both you and that lying bitch equally."
Goldie sighed deeply as she plopped down on a sofa in the expertly designed office. "Who's the bitch this time? You throw that word around so much, I can't keep track."
"The Oilslick bitch," Crescendo put the drone on his desk next to his computer and waited for it to attach and upload its contents on its own. "She's setting you up after all we talked about."
"Fill me in, big boy."
As the information uploaded from the drone, Crescendo stood and stared at the screen with his arms folded. As he did so, Pinwheel entered the room. "Finally got you, Quick Gold," he said as he walked in with a smirk. "Took long enough. Don't mind me, I'm not interrupting whatever you two have to discuss. I'm just grabbing a few things I left in here a few weeks ago."
"You have fun beating up my sister? I heard all about it on the flight here." Goldie said.
"I didn't beat her up. She beat me up, more like. The way she fights reminds me of someone...a few people, actually. Two people." He referred to both Heart and her second oldest daughter, Polite.
"I actually need you to stick around for this bullshit, Pin," Crescendo said as he read a file that was pulled up on his screen. "That snake bitch..." he trailed off, cursing Codendra.
Pinwheel sat down on the sofa facing the one Goldie sat on in the center of the room. He looked at her as he ran his fingers through his long, neat dreadlocks, his wild eyes connecting soulfully with hers. "You're not exhausted from all the crap that's been going on?" He questioned, crossing his arms.
"I don't get tired. Do you? You should be more exhausted than I'd be by now."
"I haven't done anything out of the ordinary. Just chasing Grandeurs."
"Just like everybody else."
"...That's right."
"Listen to this shit," Crescendo said as he removed pins from his shiny hair for comfort, his tight curls boinging free. "Codendra needs Goldie to get into Greenplain and steal a container of pieces for her. The pieces are needed to complete a new defense field that'll surround the exterior of Central United Emblems, then its influence should extend to most surrounding areas."
"And who is that supposed to be defending against?" Pinwheel questioned, listening closely to his best friend and boss.
"Polite Grandeur. This idiot Codendra thinks that Polite could be planning to make a move on the United Emblems."
"Why the hell would she do that? Heart Grandeur isn't here and hasn't been since Goldie was born."
Crescendo sighed and walked to a mini bar at the corner of the room. He shook his head as he began pouring two drinks. "One of those for me?" Goldie called as she stood up, ready to walk around and look at Crescendo's belongings. A portrait of his father on the far wall caught her eye but she snatched her gaze away before the memory could replay in her mind. "No," Crescendo answered her. "You're a bitchy drunk and a lightweight."
"That doesn't sound smart to me, this defense field. How much would it cost for her to complete this unnecessary project?" Pinwheel questioned.
"She'll do it with the willful free labor of the grateful Emblems citizens, remember? Codendra Oilslick's got money pouring out of her skinny Asian ass and the citizens still work for free..." Crescendo groaned as he sipped extremely expensive imported brown liquor from a heavily priced glass.
"Did you have to throw in that she's Asian? Asshole..." Goldie said as she browsed the room.
"Don't tough my shit. If anything goes missing, I'll cut off your little fucking fingers, understand?" For such a polished and well raised man, Crescendo's personality was...brash, to say the least. He enjoyed drinking, fighting, racing fast cars and spending a lot of money. His most enjoyed indulgence, though, was women. He'd melt at the sight of a curve decorated with brown skin, the switch of a hip, or the natural scent of sweetness that women wafted off their skin. His uncontrollable lust, in every sense of the word, was why he needed Pinwheel around.
"Focus, Crescendo." Pinwheel said as Crescendo handed him his drink. "Right, so she gives some speech about giving labor for the good of your nation and has this stupid defense system built for free, then Polite floats in and bombs it with a blast from her chest or something. I don't see how Codendra's current technological phase could defend from Polite, who I doubt is on her way here. It doesn't make sense to me. There's got to be more to it. Is Codendra planning on employing discontinued tech blueprints to make this extra defense system?"
"The file doesn't detail exactly how this thing is imagined to work. She's already got defenses against Polite Grandeur everywhere across the entire nation. It's not like Codendra to act on paranoia but that's what this sounds like—if it's even the goddamn truth. Now, she only granted clemency to Goldie because I asked her to, now all of a sudden she needs Goldie for this? Goldie going into Greenplain is absolute madness—well..." he stopped and reminded himself who he was talking about. "Goldie could get it done. So long as it wasn't a trap, and I think that's exactly what it is."
"Why would she trap me?" Goldie asked, barely listening. "I'm in the Emblems right now. If she wanted me, she could take me. I was in her car, and she knows I have no reason to refuse questioning about anything. Speaking of—when do I get those prototypes?"
"I'm not giving them to you. You skipped my meeting to go get sweet talked by that ghost-looking bitch." Crescendo said.
"What?! But I—"
"You're giving me the boats, though. As soon as we leave here."
"I'm not giving you shit!"
"I already know where they are thanks to Moria. That deal's dead, thanks to you. It should've been dead when your crazy sister with the Afro puffs tried to injure my men. Now be quiet."
Goldie quietly pouted as the men continued their conversation.
"I don't think trapping Goldie would be anything Codendra would worry about. Goldie's right—Codendra's already had the opportunity for that, just in recent hours," Pinwheel said, the gears turning in his mind. "Hm...I need more information if I'm going to get to the bottom of this chick's motives. Let me see that file," Pinwheel stood up and walked with Crescendo to view the computer's screen. He read it again and again, looking for any possible giveaway to what was really going on.
"And what if there is no trick?" Goldie questioned. "What if it's the truth?"
"Oh," Crescendo laughed. "Has Codendra started telling the truth?"
"This wouldn't be the first time she sent you on a death mission, and now all of a sudden you wanna believe this is a good one? Come on, Goldie," Pinwheel laughed, too. "I can come to a conclusion on this once I read between the lines some more in this file. Calm yourself, baby doll, let the big strong men figure this out."
"Why?" Goldie questioned as the men laughed. "Why figure this out for me? Just let me go. You let me go fight Polite when you knew it was possibly a death trap, didn't you?"
"Easy. I don't want to give Codendra the satisfaction of doing whatever it is she's doing. Plus, if it's to cover up something bigger that has to do with Polite or Heart, I need to know about it. I want to kill Heart just as badly as Codendra does. After I do that, I'll deal with you and the rest of your sisters, but like I said...we all have to tolerate each other for now," Crescendo answered as Pinwheel sat down at the desk. "But if you want to just run off to Greenplain and dive into this little mission Codendra so honestly curated for you, you think I'll stop you? You haven't been nice to me for quite some time, so you think this is something I'd do to protect you? Go ahead. I don't care if you come back in a body bag."
Goldie looked into Crescendo's eyes just to see if they'd falter or shake. She gazed hard, her arms crossed, watching him think about his own words in his head. "You don't mean that." She said slyly.
Crescendo paused for a moment and blinked. "I'll be back." Pinwheel said, taking a hint to leave the room as the tension built within it.
Crescendo and Goldie stood, staring at each other in silence. "Are you trying to be tough in front of him?" Goldie questioned, breaking the silence.
"I hate you, Goldie. I really do."
"I know that," Goldie said, approaching Crescendo behind the desk. "I know. It would be odd if you didn't. I swear, we've only known each other for two years but I can always see through your bullshit. Codendra isn't the only one with the lying problem, stupid." She lifted herself onto the desk, her feet dangling, and leaned back onto her hands, staring at Crescendo with her inherently kind eyes.
Crescendo looked back at her, unable to break free from her alluring expression, smooth skin, and wanting aura. She knew what she was doing. He knew that she knew what she was doing. She knew that he knew.
"I haven't seen you in a long time," Crescendo said, resting his palm on Goldie's thigh. She began to part her legs as he slid his hand upward, inhaling sharply through his nose. "Don't do this to me right now, Quick Gold."
She pushed herself forward quickly, leaving Crescendo's fingers nestled against her warmth. She took his hand in hers, pressing it against her vulva as she bit her lip and looked into his eyes, her other hand gripping his strong arms. "Don't do what? Remind you of what it's like to defy your father?" She whispered.
Crescendo took Goldie by her throat and began to squeeze, his free hand trembling. She gazed into his eyes as her lips parted, her mouth struggling to breathe. "You're..." he tried to shake his thoughts clear as he looked into Goldie's familiar gaze, his pants bulging as he listened to her gasping for air. "You're just like your mother." He said, pushing Goldie away and setting her neck free. He shook his hands and head as he quickly walked away from her, ready for another drink...or a few more.
"Sometimes, I guess. I'm not enough like her to kill you, though, so for that, you're lucky." Goldie chuckled, feeling her sore neck and thinking about the bruises Crescendo's grip would surely leave.
Heart Grandeur killed Crescendo's father years before he and Goldie had officially met, but she was there. She'd seen it all.
"I won't get into the same tired ass conversation with you that we did the last time we saw each other," Crescendo said, refusing to look at Goldie behind him. "But I mean it when I say I'll let you go to Greenplain if you're itching for a score that badly."
"I liked the last conversation we had better than this."
"Because it ended in me fucking you so hard you told me you loved me and asked me to put a baby in you," Crescendo laughed as he reminisced. "I'm not going down that road with you anymore."
"Just go down normally, then." Goldie joked.
"Listen to me, Goldie. You can take that file and leave right now if you want. Go. Or you can play it safe and let me and Pinwheel handle it."
"I don't play things safe, Crescendo," Goldie said, shaking her head and chuckling. "It's been months since I've had a real thrill, a real adventure. You may be afraid of Codendra's bullshit but I'm not—I've been dealing with her long before I had to deal with you. I know her better."
"That doesn't mean—"
"I owe her more. I've played her just as many times as she's played me. You wanna have some code to crack? Crack it, I don't care, but don't make it my problem. I'm not a puzzle solving kind of girl."
Goldie began to take her leave after taking the drone in her palm as Crescendo stood with his arms crossed, silent in thought. "I can take away your freedom of choice in this shit if that's what I'll have to do, Quick Gold."
"Is that a threat?" Goldie asked, her hand reaching for the doorknob.
"Walk through that door and find out."
A. Goldie stays behind and listens to Crescendo.
B. Goldie listens to Codendra and leaves.