Trouble

[Clopin]

February 16th | Open to all Rogues.


Numerous voices bounced off the walls of the Court of Miracles, as Rogues and gypsies milled about, going about their days as normal. They hadn’t noticed the gallows, which sat in front of an empty parapet. The nooses had been sitting there for quite some time, devoid of any prisoners that Clopin saw unfit to live. For the most part, his political enemies were eliminated in…other ways.

But when it came to traitors, the King of France had no ounce of sympathy. When he created his faction, he made sure that every soldier knew that by breaking their agreement to protect the Rogues and only the Rogues, they would forfeit their right to live.

Or so he thought.

His violet poulaines stepped lightly across the floor, followed by the impossibly long train of his royal cloak. A trio of maids followed behind him, holding up the tail end of it. Sure, Castle called it “unnecessary” and “vain”, but to Clopin, it was none of those things. It was a sign of his position. His crown rested heavily upon his head, but he swore to himself that as soon as the sentence was handed down, he’d be able to switch to something more comfortable.

Bringing up the rear were Dante and Virgil. Each shepherd carried a lead, tied to Tramp’s muzzle and neck. The two dogs were larger than him, and had more pull, if he decided to try and stall his judgement day.

Clopin ascended to the very top of the gallows, and cleared his throat before setting off a controlled explosion to get everyone’s attention. He was one for fanfare, after all.

“My dear Rogues! It seems that we have some good noosetoday! A traitor has revealed himself within our ranks!” Clopin announced, with a strange giddiness to his tone. He then nodded for Dante and Virgil to bring Tramp forth on his lead. The king brought out a small scroll from nowhere, and began to read.

“Father to puppies and a mate as well! A typical family dog! Such a sad story, no?” Clopin said, pacing across the wooden “stage”, as he looked down to the Rogues who were down below.

“Whenever a new recruit joins us, they know that as a Rogue, they are never to betray our secrets, or help the enemy. Rogues look out for their own, and only their own.” Clopin said, turning his attention back to Tramp. He then broke into a small ditty, dancing across the stage to the other side, where his dogs were holding Tramp hostage.

“Justice is swift in the Court of Miracles, I am the lawyers and judge all in one!
You will pay for your fateful decision, and you’ll be gone before the dawn~”

[Jenn]

Jenn and Hades stood off to the side, not far from where Clopin paraded about. As two of the highest ranking members, their presence was required.
Cerberus lay not far from them, crimson eyes staring at the pathetic lump of fur that was Tramp. The giant dog couldn't wait to get his teeth on the scrawny traitor, but he would wait until given the command to do so.

Jenn held a stoic face as she watched Clopin, though she had to fight a frown of disapproval at just how lightly he was taking the whole situation. Prancing about and singing, mockingly almost, bringing up Tramp's family who was most likely somewhere in the large crowd below. 
Still, she couldn't bring herself to disagree with his words either, they all knew what the rules were when they swore into the Rouges, and attacking your own to help the enemy wouldn't fly. 

Hades meanwhile, watched the spectacle with a bored expression. It would be a good idea to make an example of Tramp, that traitors wouldn't be spared, but did Clopin have to make such an elaborate show of it? Just kill the mutt and move on. 
Rolling his eyes, the lord of the dead waved a hand, a cigar appearing, and lighting it as things continued on.

[Deleted]

The mood of the crowd was odd. Normally they enjoyed seeing the king's justice. The Rogues would protect their hive against any villain, but they clearly understood what they were doing. 

♫ "Justice is swift in the Court of Miracles, I am the lawyers and judge all in one! You will pay for your fateful decision, and you’ll be gone before the dawn." ♫

"NO!"

One Rogue abruptly broke from the throng and blindly rushed to the platform in a last-minute attempt to save the condemned. It was Angel.

Her heart pounded like a drum as the yellow mutt haphazardly made her way to the dog she called her father. It was a stupid thing to do, and on some level, she knew that. But she had long run out of options. After unsuccessfully begging for Tramp to be shown a modicum of mercy, this sorry endeavor was all his daughter had left.

[Tramp]

Tramp felt himself panic. He knew he was going to die, but it still made him queasy. He snarled though when Clopin mentioned his family. He wasn't gonna hurt them, was he? He felt sick at the thought. He then heard someone yell,
"NO!" He turned his daughter, Angel. He liked to think of her as his daughter, anyway.

He felt at ease, even though he was going die he was glad some of his family was here. He tugged at the ropes, feeling lightheaded.

[Shanty]

Bright, glowing eyes watch the King with a fixed gaze. In any other situation, she would have adored and enjoyed Clopin’s extravagant behavior. He made boring situations all the more interesting. But this...?


Even while the Captain made the passing poke at her own death, this was different. She couldn’t think of what was worse, the idea that his family might be watching, or that they might never know what happened to the canine. They weren’t witnessing an execution. This was a mockery. It sat heavy with her, aching deep in her soul.

-̷.̝̪.̲ ̧͎̬̳͓̜͉-̶ ̞͝.̳̝̭͎̟̝ ͕̯͓ndy, hid.̵̟̩.̢͈̱̦̣ͅ ̣̟̦̜͎͎-̹̬͍͎͝ ̙͔.̸̝̮͇̦̜̣ ̯̬-- ̬̫̞͚o thi^nk, you thought you cou_{ld o}utru-͙͍̲̹̗̮̯-̲͙̙̯̘͇̰ ͚̮̭.̵̲̟̜̖̗̟.̪͖̻̯ ̳̣̯̱͟-̙̩̦͠ ͖̫̜̫̦̙.͙͘eave ^her alo.͔͓̗͚̻̕.̸͇͇ ̨̘̥͚-̶.͚͔̺͎̟͉͘.̡͔̞̹̤̼ͅ ͚̟̻̲ͅey're tak^ing the shi.̙̭̠̹̕.̩͈̳̰͈́ͅ.hese foo̷̦l̤̜̪̲͎͉͠s̰ ̸̙͓̙̻w̹̪͉͕ͅh̙̩̞̱̠͙́a̭̪t҉̖̮̟̲͕ ̩͎̘̯̪̫̮͢b͙̦͇̻͇͖̼e̵ing a ^pirate real_ly mean-͉͢-̙̙̤͚̯̩.̤͕̘̰̕.̘͉̮̦̖̬̕ͅ.̭̲̥̣̙̯.͇̳̤̦̩̻̺

The machine’s optics flicker lightly as she shakes her head, pushing the old, battered memory files away. This wasn’t the same. Tramp deserved this, the crew... they had not.


Shanty pushes carefully from the wall, turning to the others attending. Her sturdy gaze flickers away from the stage, instead turning to the God and the Angel, “Miss Jenn, Mister Hade—“

"NO!"

The Captain visibly bristles at the shout, and her attention snaps forward. There’s a loud clicking from her back as one of the strange, coiling arms shoots from its socket. It darts along the ground, bobbing and weaving through legs like a massive snake, before clamping heavily onto Angel’s back legs. Once she’s secure, it carefully pulls away from the stage and back to its owner, dragging Angel along for the ride.


Finally at the back at the room, the Captain’s gaze turns to the canine. There’s something odd there, in that hard look. Something akin to pain.


“You’ll doom yourself, acting foolishly.”

[Maul]

A spiky beast moved near the front, with very few even remotely close due to her behavior. Maul’s blue eyes stared up unblinkingly as she quickly stalked back-and-forth in a small area. The ever-present grin of broad sharp teeth was stretched wide across either side of her face. She was continually chanting excitedly;

“Cut the fur. Make it bleed. Cut the fur. Make it bleed.”

Maul only paused momentarily at the shout from somewhere behind. Her grin threatened to vanish before the small canine was restrained. Then, that smile only became wider, and her chant became louder;

“Cut the fur. Make it bleed. Cut the fur. Make it bleed.”

~*~

A familiar scent was in the air. Jelly was lurking somewhere. Though, not necessarily because he wanted to, but since he was the mortician: where the bodies were, he was not far away. His usual jolly face had subsided into an idle stare. Jelly was a man who held a great respect for death and the dead. He could be silly, even crack a joke, but he knew at the end of the day, death was to be treated with utmost respect.

Not… this.

He hummed disapprovingly, closing his eyes and shaking his head.

[Buster]

Half-flopped ears perked at the sound of Clopin's jaunty and enthusiastic tone of voice as he made the announcement that a traitor had been discovered in their midst and a smug smirk came to Buster's maw as he approached the makeshift 'stage'. Angel's scream of objection caused the Doberman Cross to turn his attention to the small Pomeranian Cross and a small frown crossed Buster's features before he noticed that another in the crowd pulled Angel away.

Maul's chant growing in volume caught Buster's attention next and the Doberman Cross turned his head to look at the spiked beast and a small shiver of unease ran down Buster's spine. He consciously took a few steps back from Maul, incidentally bringing himself closer to Jenn, Hades and Cerberus. Silently, Buster settled on his haunches beside the giant three-headed canine's gigantic paw, his eyes set on the 'stage' where Tramp was being held in place by Virgil and Dante while Clopin paraded around the 'stage'.

[Deleted]

While the singing, parading, and chanting was not Dobson type of flow he couldn't help but be remotely giddy over the fact Tramp was about to be executed in front of the public. It reminded him of the old days when things were a lot more black and white, where people would simply murder each other over the simple mention of witchcraft.

It made him reminisce. That's when souls flowed in like an actual flood to hell. Sure, it happened nowadays too, but when there was that long few years gap with barely a few souls flowing in it did something to a demon. Made 'em a bit, ya know, stir crazy or whatever it is those humans called it. Either way though, Dobson was giddy.

His odd colored paws guided him to sit beside Buster, grinning wickedly at the sight he was met with before he leaned on the buffer dobbie mix with an all too wide sharp tooth smile. "Hiiii Buster~" He greeted with a little demonic giggle of content. "You excited?" He questioned, the chants of Maul barely breaking his focus on his boyfriend.

[Clopin]

Not even a mere second after he’d finished his ditty, the king saw Angel pushing through the crowd, screaming a loud “NO!” in response to her adoptive father’s impending execution.

It broke the King’s heart to hear the familiar pain in a child’s voice, but at the very same time, he could not allow a traitor to simply be let go. Tramp had willingly protected the enemy—he had to be made an example of.

“Angel…cherie, I didn’t want to have to do this. But you must know that this is the price that a traitor pays. We are in this war for a reason, and that is to win against the Blackbloods and Freedom Fighters. There is no place for mercy when someone decides to betray their own army.” Clopin stated.

“For betraying the Rogues, the punishment for Tramp has been decided. He will be executed by his own kind.” Clopin announced, turning back towards his dogs and Tramp.

“Any last words?” he asked, with a hard stare towards Tramp.

[Deleted]

Gelid clamps snapped down on Angel's hind legs, and the hard stone flew up like an eagle taking flight. "Argh! No!" Flecks of blood speckled her paws. "Let me up! Damn you!"

The king then addressed her:

"Angel…cherie, I didn’t want to have to do this. But you must know that this is the price that a traitor pays. We are in this war for a reason, and that is to win against the Blackbloods and Freedom Fighters. There is no place for mercy when someone decides to betray their own army."

Now lying on her belly, Angel could only glare at Clopin. She no longer saw a man of the people but a cruel tyrant. Her lips curled in a feral snarl. She was a house dog through and through, but maybe the junkyard dog in her had never truly left.

"How?" Angel seethed. The fur on the back of her neck rose. "How exactly did Tramp betray us?" she challenged. "By saving a puppy? Really? What, are we fighting puppies now? Is that really what we're up against?!" 

She shook her head in disappointment. "Maybe we've made a mistake. I see no Rogues here." Angel made a show of looking around. "No, you know what I see?" She met Clopin's dark eyes unflinchingly. "I see the Blackblood Legion!"

Angel had the satisfaction of hearing a few horrified gasps. Good. They needed to see! They had to see what would happen if they chose to go through with this. "Yes, we must have joined the Blackblood Legion by mistake! The Rogues I know would never stoop so low!"