Soul candy
It was late in the day when Russo finally made it to the head office of the Gambino family. He fidgeted with his fedora nervously as he waited by the office door to meet with the under-boss Ludo. He could hear the laughter and merriment going on in the speakeasy below as Ludo’s office was right above one of his privately owned brothels as Ludo always liked being close to a party; but the cheerful sounds did little to quell Russos nerves as he was about to meet with one of the most feared and dangerous under-bosses of one of the most notorious and vicious organizations in the Under- City. The Gambino family was absolutely ruthless. They made their fortune over the bodies of their fallen rivals, and paid their bills in blood. They had risen to the top of the pyramid by being as cut throat and as blood thirsty as a hound out of hell. And Ludo was the most vile and treacherous of them all. He had gained his high status in the Gambino organization by living his life following the family’s two basic principles: shut em up, and bump em off.
Russo swallowed thickly as he glanced at his watch, It was four 0 clock right on the dot. He then swiftly moved to knock on the door. Ludo was very particular when it came to deadlines, he hated it when people came early or showed up late, either one was guaranteed to get you on his bad side. After a moment he heard a voice on the other side giving him permission to enter.
When Russo opened the door, he saw Ludo leaning back relaxing with his feet propped up on his desk he was dressed in a jet black suit with matching black shirt and black tie, a black fedora balanced on his head over his long black locks which were pulled back into a low ponytail. Ludo let one icy blue eye wander over to the approaching Russo as a wolfish grin spread across his thin face.
“Hello Russo.” He said in an overly cheery tone. “What brings you to my side a town on this fine afternoon?” He continued as he followed Russos clearly nervous form as he made his way across the office with one beady eye. Ludo’s smile seamed to grow larger as he noticed Russo’s injured hand all wrapped up nicely in bandages. Russo mustered up enough courage to manage to maintain a courteous smile as he took a seat in front of Ludo’s desk.
“I actually came to ask a small favor.” Russo replied with as much confidence as he could manage. Ludo raised a steely eyebrow as the wolfish grin grew into a predatory smile.
“Oh really, and what is this favor may I ask?” Ludo asked as he removed his feet from his desk and straightened his posture, leaning over it closing the distance between Russo and himself. Russo cleared his throat as he wiled up his nerve.
“I have uh, run in to a little trouble with another gang.” He began and Ludo cocked his head in interest. “I just need an extension on the loan payment deadline, just till the end of the week.” He said, trying to remain calm as he saw Ludo’s smirk almost double in size.
“Russo, Russo, Russo.” Ludo chuckled to himself darkly. “You know how I feel about deadlines.” He said fixing Russo with a nagging eyebrow.
“I know Ludo, I wouldn't ask if I wasn't desperate. The Pansies sicked there lap dog on me. I got to pay him be the time the weeks out.” Ludo’s grin twitched at the name of the monster organization, before he shot Russo with a carefree expression.
“Hey Russo, you know why they call em deadlines?” Ludo asked still chuckling.
“Uh , no? why?” Russo stammered, confused by Ludo’s sudden odd question. Ludo then reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a revolver. He then cocked it, before aiming it right at Russo’s head.
“Because you end up dead if you miss em”. Ludo replied the grin immediately falling from his face as all humor left his disposition, and his eyes took on a stone cold glare. Before Russo could even get down on his knees and beg, Ludo pulled the trigger and shot Russo right between the eyes. Rosso’s corpse folded like a house of cards heavy on the carpet. Ludo sniggered as he returned his gun to its holster.
“Consider the Flamingo repossessed.” Ludo said with a sneer. “Guess you should have taken your chances with the monster’s lap dog”. He said to Russo’s dead body.
At the sound of the gun shot Ludo’s stationed underling burst through the door, pistol drawn and ready to fire. When he saw Ludo lazily relaxing at his desk with a smirk on his face, and Russo’s corpse bleeding out onto the carpet he sighed and re holstered his weapon.
“Really boss, do you always gotta make such a mess?” He said as he ran a hand through his blond hair in annoyance. Ludo chuckled, and lit up a cigarette.
“If I didn't, then you wouldn't have anything to do all day Ricky.” He said with a smirk. Ricky just rolled his eyes as he approached the corpse. He nudged the stiff with his shoe a few times as he surveyed the scene.
“There’s no way in hell I’m gonna be able to get the blood stains out of that rug.” Ricky replied. Ludo shrugged.
“I’ve been meaning to get a new one anyway.” He said. “Tell you what, I’ll make your job real easy this time, you can use it to wrap up the stiff.” Ricky grumbled to himself as he got down on his knees and proceeded to roll Rosso’s corps up in the ruined carpet. When he was finished he got back up and brushed the dirt from his hands.
“I’m gonna go grab another guy to help me lug this thing to the car.” Ricky said as he turned to leave the office, but before he left he turned back to Ludo.
“You should call the boss about this; he will want to hear about the loss of another client.” He said. Ludo’s eyebrow twitched at his comment.
“Another client?” Ludo asked, and Ricky nodded.
“Turns out we lost Alico to the Pansies last week.” Ludo clenched his jaw at hearing the name of the monster organization for the second time that day.
“I thought Alico didn't like dealing with their kind?” He questioned Ricky, fixing him with a dark glare. Ricky just shrugged, not intimidated in the slightest.
“There’s been a rumor going around that the monsters have hired some outside assistance to help move their product with their human clients.” He replied. Ludo’s lip twitched slightly at the news.
“You know those monsters have really started to become a pain in my side.” Ludo said as he got up off his chair, grabbing his grey overcoat in the process.
“Where you going?” Ricky asked as Ludo made his way toward the door.
“I’m gonna go see the boss.” Ludo replied. “See if there is anything we can do about this monster pest infestation we seem to have.” He said, the predacious grin returning to his face. “I think it’s about time we hired an exterminator.”
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Sans grumbled to himself as he walked through the streets of Ebbot coming up again with yet another dead end. Today was not turning out to be a very good one for Sans. It started with the assignment tasked to him that morning. He was not pleased to see that Russo’s name was again handed to him written on the telegram. Sans felt a twinge of anger when he saw the name, he thought that he had made himself very clear to Russo that he didn’t want to have to pay him another visit, but clearly, to Sans annoyance, he hadn't been clear enough. Sans really didn't like having to pay second visits to clients, almost as much as he hated paying third visits. Russo had better have that money wrapped up in a pretty pink bow by the time Sans found him if he wanted to get out of there meeting unscathed, but unfortunately, to Sans irritation, he couldn't seem to find Russo anywhere.
Now when Sans couldn't find someone, it really only meant one thing, there was nobody left to find. Sans felt his irritations grow as he realized that someone else must have pinched off Russo before he had a chance to collect what was owed to the Pansies. Sans rubbed at his temples, now he was going to have to report this to Asgore, and he already knew that his boss wasn't going to be happy about losing the payment as well as a client. Well, there was nothing he could really do about it now except for get the bad news out of the way quickly. Sans sighed inwardly as he prepared to take a shortcut to Asgore’s office. Hopefully the info of the loss wouldn't be too hard on the boss monster.
Frisk walked happily down the main streets of Ebbot, enjoying her day off. The previous week had been keeping her fairly busy with drop jobs as well as the occasional negotiation, which made the free time that she was suddenly granted a very nice treat. Frisk had also received her first paycheck, which added greatly to her now quite chipper mood. She had decided to go to the market and get something special for lunch from the vendors. Normally Frisk didn't like to splurge her money on unnecessary things, but she figured since she wasn't really paying for any of her usual necessities, one spaghetti-less lunch wouldn't hurt her savings too much.
After she had purchased a hot dog from a small cart, and a muffin from one of the bake stands, she decided she would eat it at the park as it was such a lovely afternoon. When she had finished she decided she would take a short stroll before heading home. However, soon after Frisk had started wandering along the gardens in the park, she noticed a figure concealed in a trench coat and broad rimmed fedora following after her. Frisk kept calm not wanting to give her pursuer any indication that she knew he was there. She continued to make her way through the park at an even pace, and would stop every once in a while to pretend to smell some flowers as she kept an eye on the stranger.
When she came to a thicket of hydrangeas, she knew that it was time to make a break for it. She quickly broke into a sprint, as she took a sharp right turn aiming to lose the man in the maze of blossoms. The man hesitated for a moment in slight shock upon being discovered, before he gave chase after her. Frisk hopped over bushes and darted past trees until she was certain she had placed a good amount of distance between herself and the stranger. Frisk then hid behind a willow tree, not daring to come out until the coast was clear. Just when she was about to venture out in to the open again, a hand shot out and planted itself firmly right next to Frisks shoulder, onto the bark of the tree that she was currently leaning against pinning Frisk to the spot.
“You almost gave me the slip there doll.” The stranger drawled, and Frisk’s head snapped toward him as she recognized his voice. Sure enough one of Joey’s cool grey eyes peeked out at her from under the heavy rim of his hat.
“But you know I’d never let a pretty girl get away that easy.” He teased, shooting her an impish smile. Frisk frowned at him, not enjoying his brand of flattery.
“What do you want?” She demanded fixing Joey with an annoyed glare.
“Straight to business as usual I see.” Joey chuckled as he backed off, and let his hand fall to his side. “I haven’t seen you around much, thought I’d take the opportunity to catch up.” Joey stated nonchalantly, but his probing stare told Frisk that he was interested in much more than just small talk.
“So, want to tell me what you’ve been up to all this time?” He asked, raising an eyebrow at her.
“That’s none of your business.” She replied harshly, fronting Joey’s calculating eyes. His grin widened a tad at her comment.
“Right I forgot, your lips are always sealed.” He said with a shrug. “Well then, why don’t I just make a guess and see how close I get on my own?” Joey continued. “See, I’ve been hearing some rumors being whispered around town that the Pansies have been receiving some outside help.” He began and Frisk stiffened from under his penetrating eyes. “And after I did a little digging, I realized that the unknown person that everyone was whispering abut was beginning to sound more and more familiar. You wouldn’t happen to know why that would be would you?” He asked. Frisk remained silent as she held her eyes firm, not daring to break her stare off with Joey. After a few more minutes Joey let out a sigh.
“Look doll face.” He replied, his voice suddenly taking on a sincere tone. “I’m gonna cut to the chase here, I know that you’ve been running with the monsters.” Frisk pursed her lips firmly, refusing to give any answer confirming Joey’s accusation.
“No one else does… yet.” He continued, and Frisk shot him a look of surprise. “But I can’t guarantee you that it will stay that way for long.” Joey said flashing Frisk a look that actually appeared to be one of concern.
“I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that your other clients, the human ones, won’t be thrilled if they find out about you dealings with their rivals.” He continued. Frisk frowned at him.
“So what, you’re blackmailing me?” She asked with a sneer. “Sorry to break it to you buddy, but I don’t have that much to offer you.” Joeys eyes widened in shock at Frisks accusation.
“What? No, I’m trying to warn you!” He replied in frustration. Frisk was taken aback a bit by his answer.
“Why?” She asked in clear confusion. Joey huffed as he rubbed at the back of his neck.
“Because you’re a nice girl.” He replied. “And you don’t deserve to be placed in the middle of a warzone.” Frisk was speechless as she felt a blush rise to her cheeks. Joey also exhaled noisily in what appeared to be in slight embracement.
“Look just take my advice, and get out before someone else that isn’t so understanding finds out about your situation.” He said the look of worry back on his face.
“You – you didn’t tell your boss about this?” She asked still confused. Joey chuckled.
“No, If I did that then he’d tell me to kill you.” Joey replied sadly. “And that’s something that I don’t want to do.” Frisk was silent after this, not sure about what to do or say.
“I know living on the streets is hard.” Joey continued, his voice going very soft. “But if you came to the Bannaccies, I would have taken care of you, I mean if you wanted nice things I could have gotten em for you.” He said raising a hand and gently taking the end of the black ribbon tied around the collar of Frisks new white dress shirt lightly between his fingers. “You didn’t have to go over to the monsters.” Frisk found herself tentatively backing away, and Joey’s hand fell loosely back to his side, a sad smile now present on his face.
“Look doll, just take care of yourself alright? I don’t think it’d be wise for you and I to be seeing each other again after this, it’s probably best that you steer clear of all the human gangs for a while just to be safe.” He said as he turned to leave. Frisk was still standing dumbfounded when he started walking away.
“Hey wait!” She called, and Joey glanced back at her.
“Thanks Joey.” she said. “I owe you one.” Joey just smirked back at her from over his shoulder.
“I’ll hold you to it doll face.” He replied before he continued down the path.
When Frisk made it back to the apartment she was a jumpy mess of nerves. She had no idea that the work she was doing had been gaining so much attention from the other gangs. She had just thought they were simple drops and negotiations; they shouldn't have put her on the radar of anyone! The feud between the monster and human gangs of Ebbot must have been bigger then she had anticipated if one insignificant human carrier working for the Pansies was enough to set everyone over the edge. She had forced herself to sit down of the brothers lumpy sofa at this point when she realized she was beginning to pace in panic. She couldn’t afford to lose to her anxiety now; she had to think of a way out of this hole that she had dug herself into. Just then Papyruses bedroom door slammed open, which almost sent Frisks heart rocketing out of her chest.
“OH FRISK, YOUR HOME!” He exclaimed happily as he proceeded to make his way through the living room with what looked like a laundry basket.
“I WAS JUST GOING TO MAKE A TRIP TO THE DRYCLEANERS.” Papyrus continued. “IF YOU HAVE ANYTHING YOU WANT CLEANED, FEEL FREE TO GIVE IT TO ME TO WASH.” Frisk paused for a moment as she remembered her street clothes; they had gotten awfully dirty with soot from the roof tops over the week as she had been doing a lot of drop jobs.
“Just a sec Papyrus.” She replied as she went to the bedside table next to the couch and pulled out the ratty cotton shirt and trousers. As she shook out the cloths slightly, she noticed something fall out of her trouser pocket and roll on to the couch cushion. She stared at the round little red sphere as it took her a moment to realize it was the monster candy that she had found in the back seat of the Buick from almost two weeks ago. When Frisk finally figured out what it was, she made a sly grab for it and hid it out of view of Papyrus up her shirt sleeve.
“Just these two.” She said passing the clothes to Papyrus he smiled as he took them, and bid her farewell as he headed out the door.
Frisk slumped back on the couch, and played with the little candy as she let it roll around in her hand. She eyed it quizzically, she had almost forgotten about it completely. She didn’t know why she didn’t just ask Papyrus about it, it was probably just some sort of monster treat that he had picked up from muffets as a snack for the ride home. Frisk cocked her head to the side as she placed the sweet into her mouth. She was curious to see if the candy was infused with some sort of magic like Grilby’s drinks were. She wondered if it would help her battle off her current panic, as she could really use a distraction right now. The candy tasted like sweet cherries as Frisk rolled it around in her mouth. At first there was nothing and Frisk shrugged, guessing that it had been just an ordinary treat, but then she felt a tingling buzz spread over her tongue and through the rest of her body. At first she was excited as she thought that the candy had been infused with magic after all, but the effect seemed different then the magic that she had already experienced. It wasn’t pleasant and warm, but instead seemed to burn hot in her mouth.
Suddenly, a flash of different emotions completely overtook Frisk. They were emotions that she could feel, but she knew that they didn’t really belong to her. Anger, desire, hatred, longing, sadness, bitterness, fear and a few others that she couldn't even name flashed hot through the core of her being. Before she could even comprehend what was happening a wave of dizziness washed over her as memories, memories that weren't hers started playing in her head, being projected in front of her mind’s eye, using her brain as some sort of movie screen. She saw things that she couldn't understand, yet at the same time they were clear as a bell. It almost felt like she was living through someone else’s life. The first thing she saw was her sitting at a table with a cigar talking to another man about some sort of business deal, then it flashed forward where she was with a pretty women who was looking seductively at her from across a crowded bar. Next, she was in bed next to the women, only the women wasn’t sleeping and there was blood all over everything. Then she was in the streets kicking and beating on some poor sap that had missed a deadline. Next she was running from something, as she felt the fear of being chased. She remembered knowing it was monsters that were after her and immediately a spike of hatred ran cold through her blood at the thought of dying at the hands of a dirty beast. Something caught her rough be the shoulder as she felt something else blast painfully through her chest.
Frisk stumbled to the washroom and spit the candy out on the floor, before she buckled over the toilet and heaved. She continued to reach over and over, her body desperate to rid itself of whatever the hell was in that candy. Frisk was so weak at this point she couldn't even begin to try to guess what the hell had just happened to her. She felt disoriented and lost like she was in some sort of very bad dream that she desperately needed to wake up from. Ghosts of the memories and emotions that weren’t hers still played over in her mind making her nausea even worse as she was finding it very difficult to tell the difference between what was real and what was not.
Sans then strutted into the apartment, tired after his long day of getting absolutely nowhere. He wanted nothing more at this point then to lay down for a few minutes and take a nap before his brother and the kid got home for dinner, when he suddenly heard someone moaning in pain from within the bathroom. Sans felt his shoulders slump as he made his way over. Hadn't the kid learned her lesson from the first time she had tried to please his brother by eating all of his spaghetti? He did appreciate the effort the kid was making to make his brother happy and all, but by his point she was going to end up giving herself an ulcer. Sans made a mental note to teach the kid a couple of tricks on how to get rid of the pasta from her plate and make it look like she had eaten it without Papyrus finding out. However, when he rounded the corner and saw Frisks ghastly state he knew that it wasn’t caused by his brothers bad cooking.
“Jeez kid, what happened!?” Sans asked as he rushed to Frisks side. Frisk tried to lift her head to meet his gaze but she could barely hold it up as she continued to dry heave. There was now nothing left in her stomach for her body to force out but it refused to stop, adamant of ridding itself of whatever poison had been in that candy. Sans brow bones furrowed in concern as he racked his brain trying to figure out what to do, he knew almost nothing about human sicknesses, and had absolutely no idea where he would go to get human medicine.
“Frisk, just tell me what you need, tell me what to –.” He began but cut himself off as he saw the bright red candy sitting on the bathroom floor, only a few inches away from him. His eye sockets widened in shock at the candy, before he turned back to the human girl curled over the toilet seat, his previous feelings of concern melting into anger. Sans then grabbed Frisk roughly by her shoulder as he turned her forcibly to face him.
“Where did you get this?!” He demanded holding the red candy in front of her face. Frisk grimaced at the sight of the sweet and tried to weekly move away from it, as just the act of looking at it was sending new waves of nausea crashing over her, but Sans held her fast.
“Answer me!” He commanded, tightening his grip. Frisk tried to form words but her mind was still a jumbled mess, all she could do was whimper at Sans contracting hold, it was starting to hurt. Sans growled as he pulled her closer, shaking her roughly as if trying to snap her out of her delirious state. Frisk let tout a tiny sob as she tried to break away from him, but she was still too weak. Her arms weren’t cooperating as they felt like limp noodles, all she could manage was to put her hand on Sans chest and attempt to push him away.
“Kid, I said answer me!” Sans repeated, not even registering her desperate plea for him to back off. This was too much for Frisk, she was terrified. She felt like she was dying, and the dangerous dark eye sockets that Sans was staring at her with, made her feel like even if the candy didn’t kill her then he certainly would.
Frisk began to feel her body grow numb as her vision became spotty around the edges. At first she tried to fight it off, but soon she found that she couldn’t resist the pull of her tired mind. Frisk felt the last of her strength finally drain away as everything went black. Sans stared down at Frisks limp body, as she was only being held up by his arms.
“Frisk?!” He demanded again trying to shake her awake, but it was too late she was already out cold.
“Dammit!” Sans grumbled to himself as he scooped up the rest of her limp form and carried her over to the couch. He laid her down over the lumpy sofa and threw the woolly blanket over her, before he got a chair form the kitchen and placed it in front of the couch, he then sat down and proceeded to wait for the effects of the candy to wear off. The kid had some explaining to do.
At this point, this day could not get any worse. Sans felt his frustration build as question upon question started to form in his mind. Sans knew that the kid was supposed to be kept in the dark as much as possible when it came to the inner workings of the gang, and now she had managed to somehow get her hands on one of the Pansies biggest secrets, and she had done so from right under his watch! He had been keeping such a close eye on her, the how the hell did she get a soul candy? What was she planning on doing with it? Was she going to sell it to some human gang?
His anger and frustration were quelled slightly by the sight of the state that Frisk was in. The kid’s skin was ashen and pale and covered in a sheen layer of sweat, her breathing was also unsteady and labored. Sans sighed as he decided he would give the girl the benefit of the doubt, and give her the chance to explain herself when she woke up. Sans knew that the candy wouldn’t really do any real damage it would just give her one heck of a bad time. A human couldn’t absorb another human’s soul after all.