บท 96: Unwanted Monikers #96
Now, what could The Penguin want with me...?' I blankly mused as I turned to Richard, and he just shrugged to show I should do whatever I wanted.
The way the henchman put it made it seem he was merely asking and not demanding, which made me curious, to be honest. I'd never expected Oswald Cobblepot of all people to ask nicely.
My answer would have been an automatic no if the henchman tried to make demands, and I would have probably flipped him off or beat the shit out of him, but you get the idea.
"And what does Mr. Cobbepot to talk about exactly?" I asked as I turned back to the henchman, unconsciously crossing my arms in front of my chest, my paranoia coming to the surface.
"I wouldn't know, sir. The boss merely asked me to request you to see him in his office. That's all," The henchman replied, clearly knowing nothing about his boss' intentions.
"Well, I don't see why not. Lead the way," I said after pausing for a second to think, shrugging my shoulder as I exited the room and gestured for the henchman to start moving.
"I'll see you guys in a minute," I said as I turned to Richard and Benjamin before moving to follow the henchman, and they only nodded in response without saying anything.
The henchman remained quiet as he led me through the club's second floor, making several turns through the fancily decorated halls until we reached our destination.
"Mr. Cobblepot is inside. He's already been notified of your presence," the henchman remarked as he took a step back and turned to leave without saying another word.
I watched him leave and thoughtfully hummed as I reached for the door and opened it, promptly making my way inside, wondering why there were no guards at the door.
I immediately got an answer as I stepped inside, halting in surprise as I saw the Penguin in all his glory smoking a cigar while sitting behind his luxurious desk with a fucking giant humanoid Orca whale standing guard over him.
"Ah, there you are..." The Penguin said with a relaxed smile as he watched me enter the room, only to freeze at the sight of his bodyguard. He didn't bother to hide his amusement at my reaction either.
"No need to be alarmed. Allow me to introduce Orca. As you can see, she's my bodyguard," The Penguin said while gesturing at the humanoid whale, to which she crossed her muscular arms and tried to stare me down.
"And I'm sure she's as charming as she looks," I replied with a scoff as I made myself comfortable and sat on the nearest couch without waiting for The Penguin to offer me a seat.
"Judging books by their covers, are we?" The Penguin said, his tone amused as he raised an eyebrow, seemingly unoffended by my casual disregard.
"Not usually, but when the book is staring at me like it wants to eat me, then there's no other way to judge it," I added as I crossed my legs and carelessly leaned into the couch while Orca glared at me with rapidly increasing murder in her eyes.
"Fair enough, I suppose, but I didn't invite you here to discuss how to judge people properly, Mr..." The Penguin remarked with a nod, trailing at the end of his sentence as he gave me a quizzical look.
"Wraith will do," I replied, perking up as I expected The Penguin to get to the chase, but he seemed to have other plans in mind, much to my annoyance.
"Wraith, is it? I'd hear you found that moniker rather distasteful, so I was hesitant..." The Penguin said with a smile to showcase his knowledge, which might have successfully awed me if I wasn't an expert on bluffing with shit I had no business knowing.
"No more than you hate your own, and simply because I didn't choose it, but it's either that or my real name," I said, chuckling as I shrugged my shoulders, and The Penguin let out a slight laugh of his own.
Meanwhile, Orca scowled at my words, looking as if she was ready to lunge at me any minute now for insulting her boss, but I ignored her as I went on.
"I'm sure you understand why I'd prefer not to share that with a... businessman like yourself..." I concluded as I uncrossed my legs and lowered my posture to lean on my knees to make reacting to a sudden attack faster.
Judging by how furious Orca looked while standing next to the Penguin, stewing in rage, it was the smart thing to do. It probably won't happen with how relaxed the mob boss looked, but it never hurt to be careful.
"Wraith it is, then," The Penguin said, nodding in understanding without prying too deep into the matter. "As it were, Mr. Wraith, I've invited you to my office to discuss two matters," he mockingly added as he waved to the side, and I didn't rise to the obvious bait, merely gesturing for him to go on.
"You see, I have taken liberties with choosing your opponents in the tournament based on the request of one Lady Shiva..." The Penguin explained, trailing off at the end of his sentence as he observed me, waiting for a reaction.
'I fucking knew the bitch was up to something!' I mentally screamed while outwardly keeping my composure to keep myself from giving The Penguin the reaction he was fishing for so clearly.
"The tournament was supposed to be randomized, fair, but you don't say no to Lady Shiva, especially if she asks nicely," The Penguin explained as he flicked his cigar into the gold-plated ashtray.
And holy shit, I just realized this guy's ashtray was actually gold-plated, the revelation causing me to be distracted for a second before I mentally shook it off and focused back on the matter at hand.
"However, there's no need to worry. I'd say the changes were in your favor and were in no way meant to sabotage your progress in the fights. Quite the opposite, in fact," He intoned, prompting me to swallow the flood of curse words at the tip of my tongue.
"What do you mean?" I asked, frowning under my mask as I relaxed and leaned back on the couch after seeing Orca finally calm down, no longer looking as if she'd bite my head off at any second.
"Lady Shiva insisted that you fought the contestant Cassandra Cain, and neither you nor her run into anyone who might eliminate you before then," the mob boss replied, spreading his arms.
"So I made sure that this wouldn't happen and felt it necessary to inform you, as a courtesy, hence why you're here," He said, causally standing up and giving me his back as he turned to look down on the club's bar below from the window behind his desk.
"Then you have my thanks; I suppose," I said, raising an eyebrow at the show the mob boss was putting on and quickly figured he was preparing to ask something of me.
"If you want to thank someone, then thank Lady Shiva. I'm not pleased with this arrangement, not at all," The Penguin calmly replied, putting his hands behind his back as he stared down through the big window overlooking his bar.
"Maybe I will... but what is the second matter you wanted to discuss?" I asked, keeping the part where I break my foot up Lady Shiva's ass rather than thank her to myself.
"Orca, would you excuse us, my dear?" The mob boss asked as he briefly turned to the humanoid whale, prompting her to grunt as she obliged and left without saying a word.
"A bit careless, sending away your bodyguard, don't you think?" I calmly asked as I stood up and made my way to stand next to the mob boss, enjoying the view.
Say what you will about The Penguin, but the man definitely knew how to enjoy his success.
"People still call me a vigilante, you know...?" I added as I looked at the mob boss, observing his expression and searching for a hint where he was going with this.
"I have no quarrel with you, nor you with me," The Penguin replied as he gave me a side glance. "We are both civilized men with nothing to gain by making enemies of each other," he added, and I didn't bother to reply, as he was speaking the truth.
"In fact, I think we'd have more to gain as friends..." the mob boss remarked as he turned back to the bar. "The second matter I called you here to discuss... that would be your machines, the ones you used in the theater to gun down Firefly and the other bottom feeders..." he added, with a smile, finally getting to the point.
"What do you call them, by the way?"
...
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