Mia had never hated herself and her own weakness more than she hated herself right now as she watched Rozie stand in front of her, shielding her from the rest of the room, a parent protecting their child. "Get to the house," Rozie instructed, eyes darting between Hilda, Helen, and the other three who had now gotten up from their seats and were advancing on the two of them.
"Are you crazy? Two of us stand a better chance than you alone," Mia argued, her fists tightening as she prepared to fight, the network of black veins slowly crawling up her neck, their emergence followed by a surge of power that had been absent from the previous emergences.
"Mia don't take this the wrong way, but having you here will be nothing but a hinderance," Rozie told her as a spiderweb of veins identical to Mia's slowly spread across her skin, her pupils turning into slits as blue tinged scales grew over her body, fingernails elongating and hardening to claws. "One day you'll be able to fight alongside me," a stream of smoke escaping from her lips as she spoke, "But today is not that day. Now run to the house and don't look back," she growled, muscles tensing as she prepared to fight.
Before Mia could retort, the air in front of her exploded with the roar of thunder which sent her flying backwards as Hilda's fist was stopped by Rozie's palm. "Get the fuck out of here now!" she roared, her free hand smashing into Hilda's face with enough force to send the giant of a woman staggering. Before she could press her advantage, the crack of a whip was heard before a fleshy tendril wrapped around her neck and pulled her away from Hilda. "Don't forget about me love," Helen's sultry voice seeped into her ears as she pulled tightly on the whip, the rope tightening around Rozie's neck. Grabbing the whip, Rozie pulled and swung, sending Helen flying into a marble column with a resounding crack, the pillar collapsing on her.
"You Fay's have been nothing but talk," she chuckled, only for her gloating to be brought to an end by Hilda's fist smashing into her cheek, followed by a hair grab and a knee to her gut which forced the air from her lungs. Letting go of her hair, Hilda's two hands wrapped around her head and brought it down to her rising knee, the sickening crunch of cartilage breaking filling her ears.
The knee came again and again, each sickening crunch a testament of the cruelty and violence that ruled the world that the Arkwrights inhabited. She brought her knee to Mia's face one more time, fully intending to crack her skull with her knee, only to scream in pain as skull met knee. The coppery scent of blood filled the air as Hilda gritted her teeth, veins bulging as she tried to bite back another scream. With a slow pull, Rozie pulled her skull away from Hilda's knee with a sickening squelch, blood running down the curved horn emerging from her forehead. "Now look what you made me do," Rozie sighed as the horn slid back into her forehead, sending rivulets of Hilda's blood down her face, "Thankfully it's not anything fatal," her words were casual as she grabbed Hilda's head between her hands and brought it down on her knee. She repeats it again and again, each hit accentuated by the breaking of cartilage, the blows rattling Hilda's brain in her skull, disorienting her.
Throwing Hilda to the side, she lets out a turbid breath and readies herself for the inevitable onslaught. "So," she breathes out a mouthful of smoke flecked with embers, "Who's next?"
"I told you that this endeavor would be unprofitable," a tired voice comes from the table, the owner hunched over a stack of papers, his pen scribbling across the documents, his shoulders sagging with exhaustion as he worked.
"Both of you get your sorry asses off your seats and help us!" came the angry voice of Helen who had managed to dig herself out of the rubble, her hair disheveled and dust clinging to her body, a look of pure unadulterated rage on her face. "We had a deal!" she screeched at them.
"That was before Hilda was dropped like a sack of potatoes," came the reply as he continues working on the documents in front of him, "If you want my help, you'll double my fee," he told her, pausing from his work as the person next to him whispered into his ear, "And Johnson wants fifty years of free services from your family," he adds.
"Fine, done, whatever it takes to get rid of her!" Helen snarled. With the confirmation, the man stands slowly, opens his briefcase and places the paper into the case gently. Closing the case with a click, he places it on the table and lets out another tired sigh.
"I hope you know it's not personal Rozie," he tells her, taking off his jacket with careful movements and folding it with care as Johnson stood up and took off her glasses, placing them carefully on the table next to Morgan's briefcase.
"I know Morgan, its just business," she replies, her body shifting to a more prepared and aggressive stance as a thick three meter long tail emerged from her lower back, the scaled appendage slamming the ground with enough force to crack it. "Before we start, I have to know, is what you're doing worth inciting Hadin's wrath?" she asked the two of them.
"Nothing is worth risking Hadin's wrath, but Morgans have never turned down the chance to make a profit," he chuckled dryly as he rolled up his sleeves, "And no Morgan worth their salt ever takes a loss," he loosened his tie before completing his final preparation; sliding on a pair of brass knuckles as Johnson retrieved three thin six inch needles from her flowing trenchcoat.
"And you Johnson? Is whatever Helen and the others promised worth it?" she asked, tail waving warily in the air, ready to lash out at a moments notice, only to receive a curt nod in return from the head of the Johnson family.
"Fine then," she stared down the two family leaders, all thoughts of Mia's safety pushed to the back of her mind as only one thought filled her being, one all encompassing impulse that now drove her; violence.