Corvo didn't have a clue where Cherry had run off to, but he hadn't seen hide nor hair of her since they separated.
He was perfectly accustomed to working alone, though, so it wasn't a huge issue. As long as she doesn't get him caught, or worse, put Emily in danger.
Corvo carefully shut a door behind him after he managed to pickpocket a key off of the Golden Cat's madame. The key went to the attic, which one of the Pendleton twins had offhandedly mentioned in conversation with his brother. He hadn't explicitly stated that Emily was hidden there, but Corvo didn't think he'd randomly bring up a room he had no business with.
Either Emily or something else of import to the Pendletons was up there, and he intended to find out what.
The guard at the top of the stairs was a promising sign. He was snoozing in a wooden chair propped up against the wall.
Corvo did not wake him, but he did drape a rag doused in chloroform over his mouth and nose. It would lull him into a deeper slumber as Corvo went about his business.
They key went into the lock, and with a lock click, he swung the door open revealing the room to him…
Where he found Cherry and Emily playing a card game. Emily didn't hear him, engrossed as she was in the game, but Cherry glanced his way then back down at her cards.
"Come on, choose already!" Emily whispered. "I've only got two cards left, pick one!"
"Don't rush me," Cherry responded and squinted at her. "I'm trying to see their reflections in your eyes."
"Wha-!" Emily shut her eyes swiftly. "That's cheating!"
Cherry leaned forward and looked directly at her cards. When she leaned back, she winked at Corvo. "Okay, fine. I'll just pick randomly."
Emily opened her eyes and Cherry reached for a card. The blatant dismay on her face as Cherry picked the card she clearly wanted to keep nearly sent Corvo into a fit of laughter.
"Oh, I guess I got the last pair," Cherry chuckled as Emily angrily slapped down a joker card. "I guess the joke's on you."
"I want a rematch!" Emily demanded, almost too loudly.
"Perhaps I can play a hand?" Corvo interjected.
Emily whipped her head around so fast that he felt concerned for her neck. "Corvo!"
She rocketed towards him like a tiny human cannonball. It was times like these that he wondered if she knew the truth of her parentage. Jessamine wouldn't have told her, but Emily was a smart girl.
"Let's get you out of here, okay?" Corvo said.
"What about Cherry…?" Emily finally released him, looking around only to find that Cherry was gone. "Where did she go?"
"She doesn't seem like the type who can sit still for long. She can handle herself just fine, don't worry," Corvo reassured her.
"Okay…" Emily didn't look pleased with that. Thankfully her desire to get out of this place exceeded whatever curiosity she had for his newest ally.
…
Cherry didn't know why Corvo left the Pendleton twins alone. Perhaps he was simply annoyed with their brother, his purported ally who was less than loyal than he claimed, and wanted to leave them be to cause issues for him. Or maybe he was just more concerned about the girl.
Either way, Cherry didn't care about Corvo's traitorous 'allies'. She only cared that those two jackasses made a sweet little girl sad.
She wouldn't kill them. No, killing them would be too easy. In any case, death was a tool to get rid of troublesome enemies, not really a way to get revenge.
What to do, though?
Ah, that would work!
Cherry found the twins bickering with each other over some nonsense. Typical aristocratic types. They had some pretty women waiting on them hand and foot, and they still weren't happy enough to just sit back and enjoy it.
"When is the next payment? The next vote in parliament is coming up soon," twin one asked.
"Be patient, Morgan. Hiram hasn't forgotten about us. He sent a messenger just earlier today," twin two replied, though there was a hint of agitation to be found in his tone as well.
"All the more reason he should have already sent the money!" twin one proclaimed.
Cherry didn't really want to keep listening to their whinging, so she dropped down from the ceiling behind them and conked them both on the head.
The prostitutes screamed and ran, which was convenient for her, because now she could just grab them and leave. Corvo was already long gone with Emily, so there was nothing left for her here.
Guards were scrambling to come to their lords' aid, but they were far too late.
…
Morgan and Custis Pendleton awoke in rather dire circumstances. They looked around at the empty warehouse they found themselves in, but could not see any obvious signs of where they were.
Their fine clothes were replaced with what could hardly be called rags.
Their faces ached down to the bone, as if they'd been bludgeoning repeatedly.
Their mouths were thoroughly stitched shut, so they could not speak or call out for help.
Perhaps worst of all, they were both collared with thick steel shackles, which were attached to a chain. At the other end of the chain was the only other man in the room. A hideous man with a scarred and misshapen face, his mouth similarly stitched shut and collar around his neck.
All in all, things were looking pretty bad for the Pendleton twins.
"Hello," a voice without origin called out to the two of them. "Now that you're both awake, it's time to play a game."
Morgan and Custis were furious. Did this lowly criminal not know who they were?!
"A nobleman and a beggar, I wonder which of you has the strongest will to survive?" the voice said. "Let's find out."
Something dropped from the dark ceiling and hit the floor with a clatter. A knife.
Morgan and Custis looked at the man across from them, then back at the knife. It was obvious what the kidnapped wanted from them. Well, neither of them was going out without a fight, even if it meant doing exactly what the kidnapper wanted them to.
They both lunged for the knife. What followed was less the quick stabbing of a beggar, and more of a hair pulling, eye gouging wrestling match. Perhaps it might have ended soon if the collar didn't get in the way of a good old fashioned strangling, but they could only work with what they had.
Eventually, Morgan was able to come out on top, grabbing hold of the knife and slowly pushing the blade into the throat of the other man. Morgan had won.
He wiped the knife clean of blood and used it to cut the stitching on his mouth. "I've beaten your game, fiend! Release me!"
There was a long silence. Morgan was tempted to fill it with more demands, but Custis always chastised him for his impatience.
"Have you?" the kidnapper returned. "Your brother might disagree."
"What have you done to Custis?!" Morgan raged. "Where is my brother?!"
"To answer your first question, I have done no more harm to your brother than I have to you," the kidnapper laughed darkly. "As for the second, maybe you should have thought to free your mouths with the knife first, before stabbing the other guy in the room."
Horror mounted in Morgan's heart as he realized the implication. "H-how could you make me do this-?!"
"I didn't make you do anything. I didn't even suggest that you try to kill each other. All I did was hand you a knife, and you used it," the monster accused. "Have a nice life, Lord Pendleton. If you can still call yourself that, after I changed your face."
The monster laughed once more until it faded into silence.