The congregation had not yet arrived at Azrael's court, as Nikolai, Kusanagi, Sharptooth and his men came in. He was seated at his throne, in discussion with Yuri and some others. Matthias was notably absent. Nikolai's suspicions were confirmed when Azrael caught sight of them.
"Matthias is dead, along with his men." he told Nikolai. "They had betrayed us. It was only the three of us present when I gave him his orders, and yet somehow out friend on the surface got wind of the information. A shame... he may have always been too soft, but he was a good negotiator, and I always thought he of all people would be too clever to dare defy me. It makes no matter though, by tonight, we shall have no need of negotiators."
"Sticks has managed to mass both the Aryans and the Crips against us at least," said Yuri "whether the Zulu have joined them is unknown, as we have no informants in their camp. The Dragon, and he is now truly singular, is with them, but all parties consider him disposable. He is not worth our concern. I'm also getting reports that there's another running with the Aryans, although he's supposedly not one of them. Some kind of infiltration and martial arts protege."
"An empty pantomime." Azrael dismissed. His face still showed little, but he was more cheerful than Nikolai had ever seen him. "If Sticks wants to show how much strength he can marshal against us, then let him. He will find himself wanting. Even in the worst case scenario we overpower the Aryans, the Crips, and the Zulu all together in sheer force of numbers; and even then, behind the cannon fodder we have men with better weapons and better training. If they attack, they will break themselves against us. We are too strong, and about to get stronger.
When Orphan lies dead all The Pit will see me as the vanquisher of men that no-one else could touch. Our ranks will swell immediately as new recruits seeking protection or glory will flock to us rather than our rivals. Other gangs, wiser gangs that Sticks has no currency to trade with will stand with us. Finally, as I told you before Yuri, mutual goals do not make fast friends. Sticks may have been able to get the Aryans and Crips to share a common enemy, but that does not truly make them friends. On the battlefield, if the Aryans look like they're about to break and run, do you really think the Crips will move to support their line, the line of the gang that would see them all dead and desecrate their corpses in a heartbeat? Do you think the Aryans are truly prepared to lay down their lives for a gang they see as dirt? Some of their more hard line branches are starting to desert them at the news even now. No, when they break, they will break apart from each other, and that is when our victory will be absolute.
Besides, the whole point of betraying the Aryans was to eliminate all our competitors for Stick's trade. By sending them all to die, he's really doing our own work for us. When the fighting's done, our numbers may have taken a dent, and Sticks may try to spin himself as the victor, but really, he'll have left himself with only one customer for his business. Us. Rather a hollow victory wouldn't you say?"
Azrael now turned his attention towards Kusanagi.
"My dear, I trust the night's meditations have left you in a more humble mood than yesterday. Don't worry, as I'm sure you've already been informed, we require very little active participation from you. Provided you can comply with the simplest of instructions, you will get your brother back as whole as he's ever going to be, and our business will be at an end. Now, let us welcome in our guests."
