“Wait. What did you say?” said Redizio
“I said, we’ll just have the pleasure of killing La Roca ourselves.”
There was a faint shuffling noise at the front door.“I think we should take this conversation downstairs.” Concluded Redizio. Redizio motioned for the four of them to into his basement. Redizio walked over to a table which looked to weigh 500 pounds, and covered in glassware. With one hand he effortlessly lifted the table, which apparently was attached to the floorboards below. The three visitors climbed down the dark stairs into the basement with Redizio following close behind. Not one second passed between when Redizio slid the deadbolt from inside the basement to when there was an alarming knock on the front door.
“Open up. This is the Onyx Guard. Anybody home? Open up. This is the Onyx Guard.” The man at the door shouted mechanically.
With no response, the guard continued. “This is just a routine safety inspection. If you don’t open up, I’ll be forced to knock this door down. Open up at once.”
Getting no response, the guard proceeded through his pre-recorded script. “This is your last warning. Save yourself the trouble of being written up and me the trouble of filing the paper work. If you comply with our search, I won’t have to find you guilty of contumacy…This is your last warning.”The guard sighed heavily. After ramming the door with his shoulder, he resolved to kick down the door. Sparks erupted from the hinges. A fine purple dust plumed out and coated the guard. He coughed and vigorously. It tickled his nose and his throat. He hunched over for several minutes huffing, wheezing and coughing. Finally he got a hold of himself. Even though he could breathe again, his vision was blurry and he felt light headed. He had to wait for several minutes before the effects wore off.
Eventually he staggered to his feet, palming his head. “Oh I’ll get you for that.”
He stumbled through the laboratory. His boot caught the leg of a table sending all of the glass ware to clink wildly. One of the beakers fell off the table and crashed on the ground. The fluid inside hissed madly as it reacted with the air.. He didn’t care. He staggered from one table to the next sniffing the noxious fumes. None of the concoctions captured his attention. Finally, at the back of the room, he found an enormous pile of coins. It must have weighed several pounds and be worth many hundreds of Lizardarian Silver pieces.“Well, well, well. What is this? What is a lowly shop owner doing with a pile of gold? This is highly suspicious and should be investigated further by the Beureau of Criminal Action. I’ll need to confiscate this as evidence.”
Merrily, the guard hauled the sack of coins over his shoulder and pranced out of the room, back to headquarters.
The four in the basement all let out their breath in relief when they could hear the guard no longer causing a ruckus upstairs.
“That was close, too close.” Whispered Matar.“Indeed,” said Redizio. “It sounds like he took a pile of coins, once that drone goes to the hive, the rest will be back for more. I’ll clean up the shop, but we should leave before they become a problem. But before we split up, let’s talk about plans. Tonight La Roca is having a party on his Yawl. It’s a celebration in honor of a new deal he’s cutting with some merchants from the north. If the four of us can sneak on to the boat before it sets sail, I think we can take him out tonight. Matar, can you get us on that boat?”
“Of course.