Sidekick: Le Negotiator
Even bad guys need to get along sometimes
Hand Snuggling Kitty
Kitten Zoro hugging my hand as I work…
Heads up to new readers:
This story is part of a series. Luckily, you can read the whole Sidekick series for free!
…Time for this week’s story…
Sidekick: Le Negotiator
As Morpho’s gang expanded, their reputation preceded them. This was the new gang that took down the Justice Guild. They were powerful, and nobody knew what to expect from them. Additionally, their second-in-command, Le Fiels, was respected throughout the criminal world. The former hero had long served as a negotiator and a litmus test for new people. This not only gave Morpho added credibility but also made Le Fiels more accessible. Having Le Fiels around generally put the criminal underworld at ease. One city that welcomed Le Fiels and his new gang was Newmoon City, where two prominent gangs had started butting heads, and it was on the verge of erupting into an all-out war.
Le Fiels stood at the back of a large warehouse near Newmoon City’s downtown area with Bullet and Jack. If he needed muscle, he had an energy vampire and one of the fastest men in the world at his side. Le Fiels knocked on a steel door. They could be seen through the cameras hiding in the shadows, so nobody needed to confirm his arrival. The door opened for them, and a muscular man in a suit welcomed them in. Valuing presence, Le Fiels replied with a nod, then walked straight to the head of the table, standing behind his seat smoking a cigarette.
Two groups of men huddled around either side of a long table. Their chatter ceased, and they found their seats. Once everyone had quietly arranged themselves, Le Fiels took a long drag of his cigarette and examined everyone in attendance. To his right was Pelican, an old-school mobster who was well-connected and knew the law as well as the streets. His legal businesses were as prosperous as his illegal ones.
To the left was Crossface, who was in fact two different people. Half of Crossface was a gay former lawyer, and the other half was a battle-hardened mobster. Another villain once merged the best and worst parts of them into two different people who each looked like they were split down the middle, with half their body looking like one or the other. When the decent version of them died, only Crossface remained. The two personalities constantly battled for control, yet had somehow learned to cohabitate. People from all over the eastern seaboard sought out Crossface as a broker.
“Gentlemen. I’ve worked with both of you before, so I expect everyone to be civil. I would like to hear what’s going on from each of your perspectives. No interrupting,” Le Fiels began the meeting. Pointing at Pelican, he said, “You called me, so you first.”
“Right you are. First of all, I’d like to thank our host for providing these… accommodations. In the event of another meeting like this, I would like to offer one of my casinos as our meeting place,” Pelican said.
“Get bent, fatty,” Crossface said with a stern demeanor, staring down Pelican. Then, his voice and energy turned flashy and flamboyant. “Yeah, it’s called discretion. Not that you would know with the atrociously gaudy decorations in your casinos.” Then, Crossface sounded Italian again. “Heh, good one. Yeah, atrocious.”
“I said no interruptions,” Le Fiels said calmly. Crossface sat back and motioned for Pelican to continue.
“Thank you, Le Fiels. I understand things are a bit tense between us right now, but we’ve never had this much trouble before. I recognize that people need you as much as they need me. I provide class, luxury, gaming, and a good time to those who can pay. You make sure dirty work gets done, and even I would seek you out if I had a big-ticket item to fence. So, I don’t see why we can’t come to a resolution here.”
“I understand. Explain what happened, as you see it.” Le Fiels motioned with his hand for Pelican to continue on and stop wasting his time. Although Le Fiels could see clearly that Pelican was genuinely not trying to antagonize Crossface, and wanted peace. This had been more of a headache for him than anything.
Pelican explained how the two gangs had clearly defined territories. While Crossface usually had very good discretion, his gang started doing business too close to his places of work, which started the confrontations between their gangs. He needed to maintain a level of class and civility around his legitimate businesses, and Crossface’s gang was ruining that.
Crossface rolled his eyes and fired back with accusations of his own. Before Crossface’s men started moving in on Pelican’s territory, Pelican’s gang had been doing their dirty business in Crossface’s territory, creating messes they had to clean up or be forced to deal with the police. Things escalated until corpses were found near the edge of their territory with Pelican. Crossface prevented retaliation and reached out to Pelican. Pelican met him with denial, and soon, more dead bodies. Soon, Crossface retaliated, and they found themselves now at the brink of war. Crossface was honest as well. He was genuinely upset about how things had gone, and had ordered his gang to be diplomatic and honor their agreements. They argued a little bit about the timeline until Le Fiels told them to quiet down.
“Okay. I’m going to tell you what I’m sensing. First, I know both of you are going to be surprised by this, but both of you told the truth. Neither of you wants this to keep escalating, and you both genuinely want to resolve things here, tonight,” Le Fiels said. The two mobsters looked at each other in surprise, then smiled and turned back to Le Fiels. “The second part, I’m having trouble figuring out, because someone here has ill intent. Someone wants the tensions to grow. Are you both sure your men here can be trusted?”
Pelican and Crossface looked to their men skeptically, then nodded and confirmed their choices. They praised how long some of them had been with them, as well as their loyalty. Both claimed their men would never act the way they were portrayed by the other. This soon devolved into more bickering and denial. They spent the next two hours arguing until Le Fiels slammed his hand down on the table and brought the fruitless discussion to a halt.
“Okay, that’s enough! Someone is giving me a massive headache. I need a break. Let’s come back in half an hour.”
The group dispersed, with Crossface offering a bounty of snacks, including meats, cheeses, jams, crackers, and chocolates as well. Bullet fixed Le Fiels a plate and took it outside to where he had retreated to get away from all the ruckus. Some of the bodyguards stood outside the building for a smoke.
After a little over twenty minutes, all hell broke loose.
Some of Pelican’s men came into the building on one side, some of Crossface’s men entered the building from the other side, and both groups opened fire. Everyone took cover, flipping the table onto its side and shuffling behind boxes. Pelican’s gang fired back at Crossface’s men, and Crossface’s gang fired back at Pelican’s.
From one of the entrances burst a man in black with red accents on his armored suit. His glowing red eyes were known to many. He was a villain named Deathbolt, who had the power to spawn any weapon he needed into his hands and control their properties, as well as a ridiculous healing factor. An excellent tactician, he exploded onto the scene with a flying kick. He spawned swords and pistols, slicing through Pelican and Crossface’s men as they unloaded their clips and shuffled their bosses behind them.
A wind swept through the battlefield as they fired, and Deathbolt went flying. The men who entered the room firing, collapsed, their guns vanished. Deathbolt was swiftly back on his feet. In his hand, he spawned a small sphere, then tossed it into the room. It exploded into a flash of light, hurting nobody except Bullet, who went flying into a pile of boxes. The explosion brought a stop to the gunfire, as the gangs let the people with powers sort it out.
Bullet went to stand up in a daze, but Deathbolt was already on top of him with a sword, ready to drive it through his throat. Before he could, Jack jumped on his back and bit into his neck. Deathbolt’s weapons evaporated for a moment as his power was drained. Then, he manifested a flashlight and pointed it behind him at Jack. When he turned on the flashlight, Jack hissed and recoiled, backing away from the beam of sunlight as quickly as he could.
On his feet, Bullet rushed to pull Deathbolt away. He ran him to the far wall and slammed him into it. Deathbolt spawned a short sword to stab Bullet, but a hand rested on his head, and he relaxed, then passed out, falling limp in Bullet’s arms.
“This guy heals fast. We need to hurry.” Le Fiels rushed to grab an infinite bag from his pocket and toss it over Deathbolt’s head. But, Deathbolt regained consciousness too quickly. He manifested a pulse grenade and let it fall from his limp hand. The explosion sent Bullet and Le Fiels flying back, and a concussive blast through the rest of the room, knocking the others to the floor. Deathbolt stumbled outside, trembling onto the pavement. He manifested a drone with handlebars and flew away before Bullet could get back on his feet and grab him.
Pelican and Crossface’s men came out of hiding, pistols still drawn. They were surrounded by dead bodies. A few survivors called for help while the uninjured tended to their wounds. They rushed off to get first aid kits, cutting their clothes, and stopping the bleeding. Crossface and Pelican looked around the room in dismay.
“What did he hit me with?” Bullet asked, still wobbling and shaking his head.
“Light grenade. Gets speedsters every time,” Le Fiels said.
“What the hell just happened?” Crossface asked. “Was that Deathbolt?”
“That was Deathbolt, alright.” Le Fiels lit up another cigarette.
“Did you actually knock him out?” Pelican asked.
“Barely. A consequence of having your mind cleansed. Although, I think he was willing.” Le Fiels found the guys who had walked in shooting. One by one, he touched their foreheads. “Yes, it’s all of them. This is Fearmonger’s doing. Their minds were clouded with fear, and they were seeing illusions. Your men who have been causing problems have probably been experiencing the same thing. Fearmonger has been pulling your strings to get you two to fight. Having you both here at the same time was a great opportunity to wipe you off the board.”
“Why would Fearmonger be messing with us?” Crossface followed up. “Much less working with Deathbolt.”
“Fearmonger has been working with Cackling Clown to wreak havoc in this city. You two represent pillars of stability in the criminal world, at least around here.”
“How do you know Fearmonger’s been working with Cackling Clown?” Pelican asked.
“I have my ways. I think Cackling Clown and Fearmonger are your real problem. If you two can work together and look past a few things, I think you’ll be alright.”
“I think, given what we’ve learned here tonight, we can figure things out.” Pelican waddled his round body over to Crossface and reached an arm toward him. Crossface put away his pistol and grabbed his hand firmly.
“Damn right we can. We’re going to teach that ugly clown a thing or two.”
“Ah, there we go. See? A common enemy can solve any problem,” Le Fiels said. “You both know how to pay me. I expect it by Friday.”
“Won’t be a problem, Le Fiels. Thank you for your service,” Pelican removed his bowler hat and gave Le Fiels a bow.
Le Fiels, Bullet, and Jack departed through a mirror, leaving Pelican and Crossface to enjoy their newfound peace and clean up the mess from the battle. Their feud was over, but their war with Cackling Clown had begun.