Who do you want to be today? (Hopeslayer)

[Izzy]

Haddek stalked through the dance club with great urgency. Perhaps it was because he came here to meet with a specific person, or maybe it was merely because he hated all the cheerful people dancing to their terrible, terrible music. The scowl on his face offered a little insight to the situation, luckily.

Doing his best to ignore the crowd, he walked up to the bar. "Bartender, Bottle of whisky, Bushmills, two glasses. I'm expecting company." he said curtly, placing down a wad of cash as he did so. As soon as his bottle was down, he took it, and, with a few near paranoid glances around, found his way to an empty table, near the speakers. Though the bass pumping through him did little to help soothe his mood, the seating was necessary. What he told the bartender was a phrase, and he wanted privacy when his informant came around.

As soon as his man sat down, Haddek surged into his survey. Truth be told, it was more like an interrogation. He was on a job to impersonate a specific person, so it was important to know everything, down to whether or not the man felt self-conscious about that weird mole on his right thigh. As such, he sat with the man for quite some time. He did his best to make the situation seem normal, but a careful onlooker would no doubt notice that, by the time they were done, only two glasses of the liquor had been poured, and neither drunk until the informant left. An oddity, for what was supposed to be merely two guys having some fun at a bar.

[The Hopeslayer]

Hopeslayer truly detested the dance club. All the noise, the terrible terrible noise, that the humans could somehow call music... it grated on his nerves like few things could. It took all his self control not to level the place just to bring about some silence. The stench of the humans was almost overwhelming as well, making him want to wretch. Their movements only added to his disgust and it was nothing short of a miracle that he wasn't already blasting everyone in the place to itty bitty pieces, though that certainly wouldn't do anything for the stench of humanity that assaulted his nose. Thankfully his armor and helmet let him turn down the volume around him and block out most of the smell, otherwise none in there save himself would have left the place.

Oh how I loathe these creatures... these vermin. The entire universe will be better off with the species wiped out before they poison the stars like they've poisoned this world with the mere existence. Hopeslayer thought to himself as he sat in a corner by himself. His holographic disguise made him look like any ordinary fellow with no distinguishing characteristics. Anyone coming near him however would find it uncomfortable to get too close thanks to a little spell he'd placed on himself though, giving him plenty of privacy. His eyes glanced around as he waited to see if the rumors were true about the spy for hire, thus the personal appearance of the villain. This task was too sensitive to leave to his little imps.

Soon Hopeslayer's eyes narrowed on one fellow in particular that approached the bar. He watched the man like a hawk without making it too obvious. Could this be the fellow he'd heard about?

Hopeslayer was having doubts as the man got an entire bottle of whiskey and went to sit by himself. Maybe it was just some drunkard... yet more observation showed that wasn't the case. The man met with another fellow, and neither one took even a single sip of their drinks the entire time they were together. Not much of a social drinker then. The body language spoke of some tenseness as well... though the two did hide the fact rather well, at least the one that remained at the table did anyway. The other seemed a bit jittery to be anything better than an informant at best. Well there was only one way to see if this fellow was the one that he'd heard about.

Hopeslayer rose from his table and casually crossed the room, avoiding touching anyone near him. While his holo-disguise kept his looks and voice changed, it did nothing for touch. Being touched by an armored hand might tip some of these fools off that something wasn't quite right. Soon Hopeslayer sat down in the booth that the informant had vacated a minute earlier. He gazed right at the startled fellow still at the table and smiled, at least his disguised self did anyway.

"Mind if I join you? You don't seem to be having a good time. Then again I can't blame you, this place is absolutely wretched." Hopeslayer commented with a dark chuckle.

[Izzy]

Haddek's face remained rather smooth as the man approached, an advantage of his rather extensive experience. His mind, however, raced. This man had picked him out of the crowd. Was he looking for a partner for the night? Unlikely, the disguise he chose for tonight was rather plain, and the man's body language conveyed a casual nature, but nothing romantic. Perhaps he wished to partake of drinks? Perhaps, but best to keep a mind open to other possibilities. "You may. You are correct, this place is...less than desirable. However, the drinks are...adequate enough." he said. To punctuate his point, he poured himself another glass, and offered the bottle to his new companion. A new thought crossed his mind. This man could have noticed his earlier conversation. Also likely, but if that was the case, there was little he could do for it now.

"The name is Richard. Richard Daniels. Might I ask you for yours, sir? Another thing I might ask, if you will humor me, is why are you here, if you dislike this place? It hardly seems a good fit." Haddek asked, taking a small sip, so as to not seem suspicious. Terrible stuff, but if it kept people from looking too deeply at his actions, he would drink any number of foul liquids.

[The Hopeslayer]

"The drinks here seem about one step above sewage." Hopeslayer replied when offered the bottle, waving it away. The kitsune in disguise preferred smoother beverages than whiskey and made no secret about it.

"Anyway Richard," he paused then as if not truly believeing that was the man's real name despite having no proof to the contrary, "I'm only here because I heard rumors of a specialist that might show up here tonight. I was thinking of hiring this specialist for a few little jobs that have been on my agenda for some time. You wouldn't happen to know of this fellow now would you?" Hopeslayer asked slyly, only answering one of the questions that 'Richard' had asked. Hopeslayer did decide to add just a little intimidation to the conversation however, letting the disguise show off his true eyes for a moment. The two golden colored, inhuman spheres shown brightly for a few moments before the disguise there went back into effect. The mark on the table that Hopeslayer's armored claw made on the table's surface also helped to punctuate the threat, as it was obvious that no human finger could have made such a mark with so little effort expended.

[Izzy]

"A specialist could come to such a place, I suppose. I must ask, though, a specialist in what? Knowing that could greatly increase my chances of helping you here." Haddek said, giving one quick, calculating look at the mark left in the table. "Unlikely he could have made that mark. Along with that flash of his eyes...So, we have a disguised man. Customer? Likely, though one can't be too direct here." he thought, racking his brain for who the man behind the hologram might be. The yellow eyes suggested something inhuman, and the subtle threat of violence almost seemed to point towards this 'Hopeslayer' he had heard about, but that didn't make much sense. Unless his info was faulty, which, given the source, it could be in this case, that one wouldn't come to a place such as this without leveling it first.

With these thoughts in mind, Haddek changed his posture. Going from straight-backed and somewhat aloof, to sitting forward, elbows on the table, and hands in front of his mouth. Everything about him seemed to suddenly scream of focus.

[The Hopeslayer]

"Why a specialist in discreet and thorough information gathering in hostile territory of course." The disguised Hopeslayer stated without missing a beat. He knew how to play the game when it came to hiring such people, though that didn't mean he enjoyed it at all. Frankly he found all of this round about quite tedious, but it was one of the small annoyances that he could deal with.

"This would likely be a more long term commitment as well, though said specialist would be compensated quite well for their services of course." He added in an almost bored tone, leaning his face onto one hand and looking out toward the crowd in a bored fashion. In his mind he was picturing the entire place engulfed in flames and it brought a hint of a smile to even his disguised face.

[Izzy]

For the briefest of moments, something close to anger flashed through Haddek's eyes until he could get it under control. So, now it was certain, one of his middlemen had done a poor job. Damn it, they were supposed to arrange a meeting at a neutral ground, then contact him! Well, this was either an example of poorly done work, or this man had put one of his men to the question. It had better be the latter, or Haddek would have to arrange a little 'accident', and that was always costly, both in the act, and in covering it up afterwards. "So, It would appear that you have found what you are looking for." he said, momentarily activating his powers for verification. for about three seconds, the side of him that was not facing the crowd changed from the plain looking man to some sort of hawk man. The change back happened nearly as quickly.

"So, sir, might if I ask you something else? How did you find out about me? I do try my best to maintain secrecy, as few like a freelance spy. I can assume you didn't go through the proper channels, seeing as how the man I planned to meet here just left." Haddek questioned, surprisingly calm given the situation. That was on the outside, of course. On the inside, the contract was the only thing holding him back from making an attempt on the man's life and running. Nobody likes a freelance spy, and as such, a freelance spy can never let himself be caught off guard. Damn it, he would murder, or have someone murder, rather, whoever fumbled their simple, simple job! That was a promise he made to himself.

[The Hopeslayer]

"Well I admit that finding you took a bit of effort and was a bit of a mistake actually, you see my own sources were looking for someone else entirely and they just happened to stumble onto one of your informants. My sources mistook him as someone else since he was doing a bit of work, and well he sort of cracked when the pressure got high enough on him. Thankfully he wasn't a part of whom we were looking for so he didn't suffer too long, but he did give some insightful information on a neutral third party. I figured that this third party might be a help to me and decided to make the effort of hiring it before my enemies did. Thus, my arrival here." Hopeslayer explained briefly after seeing the little transformation. It was always easier for the kitsune to relax around non-humans... or at least those that weren't entirely human.

"Anyway, that weak link has been snipped out for you now so need to worry about him anymore. As for you, well I need you to infiltrate a certain organization so that I might more easily eliminate them before they become more of a bother to me. My own sources while adequate are taking a bit longer than I'd wish for due to some of this organizations... countermeasures. Quite annoying really. As a third party with your unique set of skills... well I do believe that you'll have an easier time infiltrating this group." He only gave this much of an outline, letting the spy know a bit of what he might be signing up for. Since this fellow didn't appear entirely human, Hopeslayer was willing to deal a little less harshly with him.

[Izzy]

Well, at least this man knew how to clean up after himself. That was good, but he would definitely have to work at giving his men a bit more protection in the future. Finding even mediocre help was difficult, and his informant couldn't have been any better than acceptable, seeing as how he cracked at all. Nothing worth worrying about at this point.

"Well then, sir," Haddek began, seeming to not miss a beat at learning that this man had killed one of his, "I take it that, since you have come into this in a rather interesting way, you don't know all too much about how I operate." It was an assumption with little evidence behind it, true, but sometimes you had to assume.

"Rest assured, I can do this job for you, but there are a few stipulations. First is the contract. You see, I can't work without one. It comes with what I am. The contract can be spoken, written, or created electronically, but it needs to be made. The contract needs to include the finer details. What I am needed to do, what information is required, how I am to acquire it, and so on. Second, I cannot violate the first contract. I will tell you if your contract is unfulfillable, but unless there is a problem, I shall not tell you what the first contract contains. Lastly, I require payment, either upfront, once I have finished my task, or some combination thereof. I accept money or information, if it is sellable enough. We can work that out later, however." It was a rather brief explanation, seeing as how Haddek hated explaining these things. They felt too...personal. He wished that this man had made an appointment with one of his connections, but if wishes were cars, beggars would ride. No sense fretting over it now.

[The Hopeslayer]

"Well I would expect a contract from a professional such as yourself. Since I don't like leaving little paper trails or even electronic ones, I suppose a spoken one will do fine for this case." Hopeslayer stated with satisfaction.

"Alright, I'll try to make this as specific as possible for you so that there are no misunderstandings. The group I want you to infiltrate are known as the Dragon Slayers. They're a relatively recent group to take up inside the city. I want information on their membership, mostly the officers and other high raking members. Names, family members names and locations, schedules, weaknesses, all that juicy stuff that they tend to guard so dearly. However you go about collecting that information I leave entirely up to you as long as it's accurate. Information on their bases of operation in and around the city would also be appreciated." Hopeslayer was grinning now.

"Under no circumstances are you to reveal that you were hired for this. As for payment, well any information you provide that leads to one of their bases being wiped out by my forces will net you a nice one million dollars, US. I don't care how you want the payment, cash, gold bars, jewels, whatever is fine with me. Any of the top ten officers of their organization that your information helps my forces to take down, well I'll pay you two million for them. If you manage to help me take down their leader and thus the entire organization I'll pay twenty million along with the other bonuses you've managed to rack up. Fair enough?" The ludicrious amounts of money that Hopeslayer was casually offering made it clear that he was very serious with this, willing to pay top dollar for results.

"So as you can see I reward those who do well. I'll pay you one hundred thousand up front for expenses, as well as a show of good faith since I came to you through less than proper channels." He smiled and waited to see if his hired spy would want to negotiate things further. Of course the subtle threat of forces large and powerful enough to wipe out such an organization made it clear that negotiating for more money may not be the best course of action. Hopeslayer simply wanted to make sure that they ironed out any kinks in the contract now before things got started.