"MAUVE!" Grey’s voice boomed.
Mauve’s head immediately turned over. There was a sudden light in her eyes. She had really been worried that Grey wouldn’t come back. Honestly, she had thought that Grey had given her back the journal because it was worthless to him, she had even started to feel a little bitter, wondering if she had overestimated herself.
With all the strength that Grey had just displayed, had she really found something that could add to his strength?
But the truth was a lot simpler than that.
Grey had handed her the journal back because the new Ma Famille was on his person and he didn’t want her to think that he was escaping with both.
He had enough people in this world who thought he was an asshole, he’d rather not add to the list.
"Change of plans!" Grey said with a grin. "We’re going big game hunting."
"Big game hunting?" Brad asked.
"Ah, I guess I’ll invite you too, big guy. Why not? I’m in a good mood."
Brad’s lip twitched. "You weren’t going to invite me?"
"Do you have a pair of glorious tits you’re hiding under there?" Grey blinked, asking seriously.
Brad looked down at his chest and flexed them. They rippled in kind.
"Yes." He looked up and said seriously.
"That’s gay, man."
"Have you seen this economy? You do what you have to for survival."
Grey sputtered with laughter. "When you’re not simping for red heads, you’re pretty funny."
"When you’re not killing people, you can be kind of funny, too."
"Killing is a lifestyle at this point. I’m just trying to survive. Alright people, gather your things, we’re going on an adventure!"
"Amunet."
An unwanted voice interrupted the momentum, though. J Dog, or Jyoti as his real name went.
"Well this doesn’t look like it’s going to go well. Bold move," Hao whispered to Zuri.
"I would worry about yourself if I were you. I hear he killed Alvin before getting into that battle. That probably means he knows about what you were going to try to do behind the scenes."
Hao paled considerably. "Don’t speak bullshit, Zuri," Hao hissed. "You’re going to get people killed."
Zuri sneered. "I’m only warning a dear friend. When you scheme in the background, you’re bound to step on a few scorpions, and his temper seems pretty hot."
"If you cover me in shit, I’ll cover you in shit, too."
"Little ’ol me?" Zuri said with a flirting smile, the rouge of her lips shimmering bright even beneath the misted land. "It looks like he has a soft spot for women, so good luck with that. But hey, maybe you can cut your dick and balls off. That might help."
Veins bulged across Hao’s forehead, but as enraged as he was, Grey never actually looked forward, and Zuri had no evidence for what she was talking about. She was just speculating.
And if Grey thought he was involved as well, then there was no reason he wouldn’t have been able to kill him just as easily as he killed Alvin given the amount of strength he had.
All Hao had to do was sit back and do what he did best. Look for opportunity and use scapegoats.
This world wasn’t built for the kind in the first place.
...
"Jyoti, I won’t be able to lead you all anymore." Amunet said softly. "You’ll be on your own."
"Amunet, this is bullshit!" Jyoti almost barked back. "Is it because of—!?"
Amunet moved swiftly, catching Jyoti by the throat before he could say anything more.
"This isn’t a game, Jyoti. I’ve protected you all as best as I could, but there’s no democracy here, no police officers, no laws—not really. You can’t just say anything you want because you’re angry. You’ll lose your life because of it."
The others of Amunet’s group looked forward with a complicated look in their eyes. They knew Jyoti was about to say something stupid, and they also knew that Amunet had probably just saved him from himself.
If Grey got angry, which one of them was going to be able to stop him?
Even if they all worked together, it would all be useless.
"Amunet..." a young woman who went by Evernei stepped forward when Amunet slowly released Jyoti’s neck. "You’re leaving us to die..." she said softly.
Their strength had been built off the back of Amunet’s abilities. The moment they lost them, while they weren’t exactly back at square zero, they were barely at square two right now.
Amunet looked at them all one by one.
"I told you all several times that just relying on me is not enough. You all took it as a joke.
"Your stats are still there, some of your abilities are still there. You have a better starting position than almost anyone else here. If you find your own Frames, you’ll instantly become several times stronger. I’ve already done my best for you."
Grey didn’t say much of anything as he watched this play out.
Funny enough, he had very little to do with this. It wasn’t his decision just now that changed their dynamic, but instead the fact Amunet chose to give him Mon Frere, which eventually ended up in the creation of Ma Famille.
It seemed that Amunet had probably been getting fed up with them for a while. Taking control of the alliance was her last effort in some attempt to make some returns on having them as subordinates, but after Grey appeared, she realized that even if she became the leader, she wouldn’t be as respected as she needed to be.
Everyone would know she was only the leader because Grey didn’t want to be, and not because she deserved to be. The difference between those two states might as well have been night and day.
Not that Grey would feel bad about it either way, but he most definitely didn’t feel bad now.
"So what does this mean?" Jyoti asked behind gritted teeth. "Just fuck us and the alliance, then? Just let everyone here fight for scraps or die the next time an alien decides to drop out of the sky?"