Well, this ended up extraneous, but I might as well post it instead of wasting the time.
Evil Be Thou My Good
~~Eyrie Building, Halloween. After the Auction~~
Heinz shifted minutely in his seat as he looked across the table. David Xanatos on the other hand was a picture of cool, calm and collected as he leaned backwards. Vanessa was with Max and Janna, securing the purchases from the auction and getting a chance to just hang out with her friends. It was good that she and Janna had started interacting, now that the walls were coming down incrementally. The poor girl needed some more friends than just Lizzie. Not that Lizzie wasn't great, but an expanded social circle was always better, wasn't it? He shook his head slightly, jostling himself out of his thoughts. Russ... you were sure the Agent was around. Probably best not to dwell on it.
David gestured to the sideboard, where there were a number of bottles of expensive liquor, including a small warming dish for sake. Owen Burnett stood silently by, ever ready to be of service. There was something
off about him... Questions for later. "I'd like to propose a toast to a well-fought auction this evening Heinz. Here's hoping that we're both able to make good use of our purchases." The two of you had settled for first names as a sort of equilibrium. You were addressing one another as peers after all, if not friends. Last names were for enemies. Heinz holds up a hand.
"Thank you, but I'd prefer some orange soda for the moment." Asking if he had any was absurd, of course he would. "I have one last thing I'd like to talk about before we head back to our hotel David. You, uh, may want to wait until you hear what I have to say before indulging." Xanatos quirked one perfectly sculpted eyebrow. Did the man practice that move in the mirror? There's barely a sound as Owen sets down an orange soda, in a frosted glass even! "Ah, thank you."
"Well, you've got my interest for the moment. And we've had a good day. So sure, why not?" He leans forward, resting his elbows on the table and peering at you with sharp dark eyes.
"Right. So, I've come into some very disturbing information in regards to a mutual acquaintance of ours. A certain seemingly unflappable lizard?" David's eyes narrow a slight fraction, a half-a-degree tilt of the head to one side. Otherwise he might as well have been one of the robotic gargoyles you'd passed in the hall. "It seems he's
not from Cape Suzette or Zootopia. According to my source, he's from much farther afield. Another dimension entirely." A microscopic lifting of one brow, but otherwise no reaction yet. Heinz reached into his lab coat. "May I?"
"Of course," David seemed more amused than anything at the request, but one must be polite when in another's home. Heinz produced a palm-top computer and a micro-usb, plugging the latter into the former. "I realize that the word of one source you don't know is hardly proof positive; so I had him looked into." Owen is at your elbow in a moment, and you pass the palmtop to him. David sits up and receives it, quickly reading through the contents. "There have been a number of suspicious disappearances in certain areas that have gone unreported, as well as a number of people who had been opposing his acquisition of their farms, lands and businesses suddenly folding for no appreciable reason. On top of that, the assets that his area of control produces are vastly under-reported. His area of the country has some of the best remaining cattle country; but there's barely any meat exports. I could go on, but it's all in the documents."
Heinz sits back and takes a sip of his orange soda. Oooh orange
cream soda, and this was the
real stuff too! As he takes another sip, David finishes looking through the information. Snapping the palmtop shut, he lays it on the table and regards Heinz with an inscrutable expression.
"I see some odd pictures forming. You have more pieces?" Heinz nods, setting his root beer back down onto the coaster.
"Our reptilian friend is a threat. He's a warlord that's currently engaged in a plane-spanning conflict. And he's formed a beachhead in
our world. He despises magic, specifically in the hands of humans. The allies he's made include a warlock with some rather nasty views in regards to 'mortals'. And Toffee is here for one reason. Because a fourteen year old girl is part of the family lineage that injured him. I remember an interview you gave once David. The reporter, he asked you how you felt when your competitors occasionally got one over on you. You said that revenge is a sucker's game." Heinz tapped the table for minor emphasis. "Toffee's engaged in the biggest sucker's game of all here. He's hunting children for the sins of their ancestors. He's functionally immortal. And he believes that he can win the game by out-lasting everyone else that's playing, while eating our territories one bite at a time. By getting his tendrils into our organizations."
"And what do you propose to do about this?" David's voice was carefully neutral.
"Okay, so hear me out. I want to form an alliance. Not just with you though. With Shego, and Shere Khan too. Each of us brings something to the table here. Shego has some of the best martial assets on tap possible. David, your mastery of PR and all that implies, is ideal to help frame our actions in the best way possible while sowing disinformation to our enemies." David smirked at that, taking the compliment for what it was.
Doof continued doggedly. "Now me? I bring the tech; because frankly out of the four of us I have the greatest number of scientific assets that could be considered 'in-house'. As for Shere Khan? He's a reasonable sort from what I understand, and he has the infrastructure and the logistics to really support this kind of undertaking. Between you and I; we also have the occult aspect sewn up, while you and Shere Khan likely have entire scores of diplomats that would be able to negotiate rings around most of mine. Finally, the four of us together have the martial resources to cover land, sea and sky aspects pretty thoroughly." Heinz pauses. "So... what do you think?"
David leans back in his chair, steepling his fingers; while Owen places a glass of Scotch (two fingers, neat) next to his employer. "For one," he smirked, "don't underestimate your employees. But yes,I see. You're essentially advocating that we become a united power bloc in order to drive out a major threat?"
"Pretty much, yeah. And any other big threats that may pop up? I mean, you watch my back, I watch yours; y'know?" Heinz nods.
David looked at the other man thoughtfully, swirling his scotch before taking a sip. "Quite intriguing."