The Dark Crow Smiles (Dubba XP)

Nobody takes a cab anymore these days. Uber had seen to that, and now instead of riding in a yellow cab, one can ride in the comfort of a stranger's private vehicle.

Tonight, Diana sat in the lobby of the hotel she stayed at, having confirmed on the App that a car was coming to take her to her destination, some other, fancier hotel in another part of town. She had changed into the uniform of the waitresses at the hotel's restaurant, the perfect cover. She had threatened Oyuki at sword point that she would not wear another dress, and so the two ladies were now playing the role of wait staff who were heading for their shift. A party in the evening, with lots of upper crust guests.

"Kuruma wa mada tōchaku shite imasu ka? (Is the car here yet?)" Oyuki asked in her usual high pitched anime voice, reclining on the sofa, hair still orange and lip still pierced but otherwise appearing like normal wait staff.

"Let me check the GPS." Diana took out her phone again and took a look-see. Meanwhile, she swiped to messages to call up one more ally of theirs accompanying them on this mission.

Jenna was standing in the back of an elevator, glaring at everyone who was taking a peek at her because of how adorable she was looking with the outfit on when her phone buzzed. Flipping it open, she checks who was calling before answering. "What? I'm on the elevator. It'll be like, a minute." She snaps her phone shut right after answering, cutting the call off rudely and returning to glaring at all the people in the elevator.

The moment the doors open she bolts, her footsteps loudly echoing across the hotel's lobby and she goes to meet up with Diana and Oyuki. Flopping down on the sofa beside Oyuki, she gives Diana a glare too, seeing as how she was the one who picked out the outfits for this one and so far, Jenna wasn't very impressed. "See? I'm not late. No need to get so worried. So where's the ride?"

Pulling out one of her handheld game devices, Jenna starts it up and begins to mess around on some game or another, figuring that at least Oyuki would be nice enough to tell her when it was time to go.

Diana waves Jenna over, and the trio took their seats on the lounge sofas. Her phone rings with her usual Star Wars ringtone. "Oh, you're outside? Okay girls. our ride's here." Diana gets up and heads outside.

The vehicle that awaited them was a tiny little, neon green Volkswagen beetle. Even for the three tiny girls, this car was... tiny. Like, two people would have to climb into the backseat by reclining the front.

"So. I call shotgun." Diana decided on the spot, pushing the two to the back. She opened the car and gestured them to get in.

"Nani? Tondemonai! (What? No way!)" Oyuki objected having to pile into the back, and struggled with Diana for the roomier passenger seat.

"Hello girls. Are you heading to work?" A grey haired, little old lady, perhaps even smaller than Jenna, was their driver tonight. The girls behaved themselves, the driver reminding them of some sweet old grandma.

"Er... yeah. Our uh... shift is going to start soon." Diana said, still gesturing for Oyuki and Jenna to get in.

"My. Are you all waitresses at the Hotel?" She asked, making small talk as the girls work out who would sit where.

Jenna gets up with the other two, easily stowing her game stuff away, but looking annoyed at how she had to stop. Following her two friends outside she notices the car that they were going to be riding in. She stares for a second before sighing and putting one of her hands on her forehead, muttering something about Diana and her choice of cars.

She gives the nice old lady a smile and a wave as the two fought over who was going to be in the front seat before Jenna just got tired of it and shoved both of them in. "We are going to be late because of you two, now get in the back and be good or so help me..."

A glare to make sure both of them knew that an argument wasn't going to be allowed at this stage, she waited until they settled into the back seat before getting into the car and buckling up, giving their driver another smile. "Thanks for taking the time to pick us up, we need to head to the Waldorf-Astoria, if that isn't any trouble."

"How nice. My son works there as part of security. It's such a nice place to work at." The old lady said, as Jenna mentioned their destination. She puts the keys in the ignition."Perhaps you'll run into each other on the job."

Diana looked at Oyuki and Jenna with a pang of guilt. She was going there to murder people, and now she felt like a complete jerk, given the possibility of running into this sweet old lady driver's son. Whose job was likely to stop Diana.

"Well, buckle up then girls. You won't be late with me at the wheel."

The humble little beetle turns out to have a surprise under the hood, as the sound of a much more powerful engine roared to life when the lady started it up. Diana was driven back into the custom leather seats as the car accelerated like a sports car, the old lady taking the shortest route there. The journey was a blur as they arrived at the massive hotel in no time, the old lady kind enough to bring them to the service entrance.

Diana emerges from the car visibly shaken. There were things she was not yet trained to survive, it seemed.

"Soredewa, futatabi sore o yatte mimashou! (Let's do that again!)" Oyuki cheerily said, but Diana had a strong retort.

"Shut up Oyuki. So... Jenna, take the lead and do your thing. Let's not run into the old lady's son." Diana said, clipping an electronic I.D. card Oyuki prepared for them. Jenna had one too, which had an old, unflattering I.D. picture of her. The rear entrance awaited, guarded by well armed and armored guards.

Jenna, who is off to the side now, holds up a hand as she attempts to stop her last meal from deciding that it didn't like it's current living arrangements. After a minute, she manages to make her way back over to the other two, still rather pale from the trip they just went through. "Diana...you suck."

They make their way to the door, Jenna just holding up her badge as she still has some stomach problems, trying not to speak in case something does decide to work it's way back up.

"Are...are you okay?" One of the guards shows concerns over how awful Jenna was looking, which she, as sick as she is, still uses to her advantage. "I...I need the restroom."

The guards wave them through with just a minimum amount of checking, not wanting to have to clean up after someone, not to mention how they'd feel if some of it got on them.

As soon as they get inside Jenna leans up against a wall, out of sight of the guards, and gives Diana her best glare. "Seriously?"

Diana and company swipe their I.D cards and biometrics on the scanner- Oyuki's technical knack meant they were really registered as workers at the kitchen. Diana blinked a moment when the laser scanned her eyeball. "Ow..." Once inside Jenna glared at her, for some reason. maybe their transportation.

"Hey, it's Uber. Can't be picky if you're in a hurry. Anyway... let's get to it" She said, dialogue limited as the receiving female guard inside checked the girls' pockets and bags.

They were eventually in the staff lockers, the sound of a very busy kitchen not far beyond. Diana looked at her phone, then searched the place for the dead drop. "I'll go look for the Dead Drop for tonight's job. You girls should try to act normal. Locker... 044... here we go." She opened the designated locker and found a sealed envelope. Inside, tonight's target profile. Diana immediately went to Jenna to show her who they were going to be... dealing with.

That was when Oyuki was stopped in her tracks in the employee locker. The giant mirror made the Genin stop in her tracks so she could start posing in front of it, then started taking selfies instead of keeping watch outside.

"WHERE'S THE F@#!N WAITSTAFF! I HAVE THREE DISHES READY TO GO TWO MINUTES AGO!" A loud, angry voice came from the busy kitchen. People were moving frantically to meet orders on time.

Jenna sighs when the yelling reaches them, hoping that the head chef was one of the people she managed to grab. As they enter into the kitchen, the chef turned towards them, puffing up as he gets ready to yell at them for being late. Jenna quickly cuts him off before he could start giving orders.

"I'm not here. I don't exist."

She breaths a sigh of relief as, instead of demanding for the three of them to start taking the trays of food out for the guests, he completely ignores Jenna and just tells Diana and Oyuki to get to work. Jenna gives her two friends a giant smile before they leave, waving at them mockingly. "You can't be picky in a hurry, right?"

Chuckling to herself, she wanders around the rest of the kitchen, making sure to stay out of the way of the staff, but telling each of them to stop until one finally obeys her orders. Forcing them to tell her where the main security room is before telling them to return to work and heading off to get started. First, however, she'll need to go get her own dead drop. A change of clothes is needed for her to pull off her own part of the plan after all.

"Gomen'nasai! Watashi wa sugu ni hajimemashou! (sorry! I'll start immediately!)!" Oyuki apologized vehemently in japanese as usual. She heads into the kitchen and looks at the orders on screen, and heaps the food onto trays to serve them.

"...Immigrants." The head Chef comes over to Diana. "And you, what are you standing around here for?"

"I'm just... putting my things in the locker." Diana excused herself rather well, looking inconspicuous compared to an orange haired japanese speaking biker chick.

"Whatever. I've got an order for the penthouse. And make it snappy." The head chef hands Diana the slip of paper. She looked at it, and realized it was meant for her target's room.

Diana confided to herself. "Well... this job's easier than I thought." She goes along with the work and eventually passes by Jenna, telling her of the penthouse order which would take her directly to her target. No fuss. "You gonna be alright down here? I'll be gone... ten minutes tops." she asked quickly, grabbing the food cart prepared for the penthouse and eyeing the kitchen's service elevator.

"Do it yourself, I got security to mess with. Unless you want your picture out on every news site within a day?" Jenna quickly switches her clothes to something more comfortable and less stupid looking before disappearing out into the hallways, heading straight for the security office.

It didn't take her long to get there and after knocking once and look very official, the door is opened for her. "Shut up and stop moving like good puppies." Jenna cuts them off before any of them could react, making them all freeze in place as they waited for her next order.

"Close the door. Okay let's see here..." Plopping herself down one of the chairs, Jenna checks out all of the different cameras, smiling as she relaxes.

"Oi, you, you can talk now. Go get me something to eat. Oh, yeah, don't tell anyone I'm here." Sending one of the guards off to get her something to eat, Jenna turns back to the cameras, disabling them all with the press of a few buttons before texting Diana that she wasn't being recorded anymore and was free to go wild.

"Oh, I forgot to ask for a drink...oh well." Shrugging off her mistake, she has the guards delete all of the recordings they already had of the whole day, more to cover her own tracks then anything else.

Diana enters the kitchen elevator and headed upstairs in short order. She moves the cart to the room, the security in the hallway checking the contents of the cart. One obnoxious hall monitor helped himself to the deviled egg.

The target or rather, targets, were seated in a private conference room with a small, round dining table. Five seats, with a bodyguard apiece. These targets were all older men in suits, except for the strange figure wearing a Crow mask. The other four were mob leaders, diminished in power due to the empowerment of the police .

"Oh about time, We've been waiting half an hour now for the appetizer! You'd never wait this long at my place." A large, rotund man said, his Italian heritage obvious.

"Yeah, whatever Tony. So what did you have for us, mister bigshot?" The black Brooklyn gangster asked.

"For hors-d'oeuvre, I ordered caviar, salmon cracker dip, bruschetta, Charcuterie.... though I think you are familiar... with our server." He said, making no move as their attention turned to the previously nondescript asian waitress bringing them food.

Diana locked the door behind her and pushed the cart to beside the table. Then she drew her sword from within the dark place in her disguise. Eyes widened and faces went pale, as the mob leaders stood up from their seats, except for one aging leader bound to a wheelchair.

An argument erupted among them immediately.

"Holy shit that sword... You're that nut I hired to off the Irish!"

"You hired her to attack my guys? I hired her to off the Russians!"

"Filthy Italian mongrel! Don't you see? Someone arranged to bring us all here!"

"I'm not here for any of you. Just him." Diana pointed to the masked figure seated at the head of the table, quiet and brooding. "Of course, you can all try to stop me." She offered.

"Fools! Protect me or our deal with be null!" The leader said with some great urgency, but remained seated.

"Get her!" Bullets begin flying from the bodyguards' handguns, about as quickly as the hands flew off the bodyguards and blood began repainting the walls and floors. Diana weaved through gunfire with her usual abandon, mutilating the bodyguards with her sword.

And all the while, the masked leader sat there unmoving, just watching the massacre unfold.

Jenna got a nice bird's eye view of pretty much the whole thing that was happening, munching on the smacks that was so generously brought to her by her new, though temporary, minions.

Speaking of them, now that she has everything that she needs from them, time for a reset. Spinning in her chair, she faces the lined up guards. "Oi, you lot, when I snap my fingers you will go to sleep. When you wake up in, you won't remember anything that happened and will continue on like you never met me." A finger snap later and they were all passed out on the floor.

"Ha, too easy." She spins back to keep watching, but what she just said started to nag at her. This was too easy. They had only been here for not even ten minutes and Diana was already wrecking the crap out of everyone in the room.

"...Oh shit." Jenna pulls out her phone, attempting to call Diana and tell her that this whole thing was a trap, but stops halfway through the number and sighs. A quick button press and then a new number was typed into the phone, a moment later the call connected.

"Hey? Yeah it's me. I might have a problem over here on my end, how long before plan B can get going? I get this feeling we are going to need it. Right, seeya soon." Jenna snaps the phone closed and leans back in her chair while watching the blood bath, muttering to herself. "What did you get us into Diana?"

Diana held her sword coolly, feeling like she didn't even break a sweat this time. The mob bosses and their bodyguards were strewn all over the floor, missing hands and/or feet, and quickly losing liters of blood. Some attempted to crawl away. Others just cursed the torment. Diana didn't bother with killing people not on her contract. The slaughter unfolded to soft classical music playing in the background.

"You bitch. you crazy bitch..." One moaned, the others echoed similar sentiments. The carpet was thoroughly soaked through.

"Still haven't gotten up I see. Not gonna fight me?" Diana asked, circling around the table to get to the boss.

"I have already won, slayer. I am not afraid of your blade, and I am not afraid of you. Plunge your sword into this heart, and it will not make a difference in the world."

Diana was cocky tonight, that was for sure. The gunshots and grazes on her healed up quickly. "I don't see why someone wants you dead. But I don't care... So... get up. Make this sporting for me."

"I will not stand. I do not have to. You and your little friends... your family. I will find them. I will torture them." The boss said calmly, adamantly.

"Okay. Now you've done and said it." Diana walked over to the annoying bird masked final boss who didn't do anything. Without skipping a beat she slowly slid the katana into the boss's chest. Past the ribcage, into the heart. Something felt a bit off though.

"It is done. Well done, harbinger." The boss said. It was clear to Diana the person seated was struggling against the sword, but acted like she was... tied to the chair.

"Still... talking?" Talking while being stabbed in the chest did not sound like than. Diana took a closer look. Some razor wire, invisible in this room's warm light. Diana Quickly removed the mask.

"Like I said Harbinger. I have won. My master WILL be free." The voice came from the mask itself. Diana looked at the man- no, the woman, seated. Her mouth was taped over. She had long, wavy brunette hair, and fair features.

It couldn't be.

Diana removed the duct tape. "Cess... My Little Princess... You're... you're alive..." Monica Rossini Mendoza said weakly, blood pouring from her lips. She reached out to caress her daughter's face one last time, before death- before the sword- claimed her blood and her soul.

Diana's eyes went wide. She cradled Monica's limp form. The wires undid themselves from the chair. Horror. Despair. All the emotions she had shut out, that had been shut out from her, rushed to the surface. The darkness, the veil of insanity that hovered over her mind, lifted, and only now revealed to Diana the horror of her actions tonight. Of her actions of the past year.

Diana was not the blooded killer, but once again a lost, runaway 16 year old. Only one word escaped Diana's lips. "Mom?"

"...Ah, shit." You know what they say? if it feels like a trap and it looks like a trap, then it's a fucking trap. Jenna was already moving towards the elevators while texting Oyuki, trying to at least get their forces back together. Jenna was mentally cursing up a storm as she repeatedly slammed the button for the pent house.

The moment the doors opened Jenna was looking down the barrel of a gun while another person was trying fruitlessly to kick open the doors. "Sleep."

A simple command later and she was stepping over the bodies of the now passed out guards, though the normal amusement of being able to command people to do anything wasn't with her right at that moment. "Oyuki, get the door please. Thank you."

Stepping into the blood soaked pent house room, Jenna crosses over to Diana, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Diana, we need to go."

Oyuki was knee deep in orders, delivering entire tables worth of food in one trip. She gained quite a following for doing this, but the head Chef was shouting his lungs out telling her not to. When Jenna told her that Diana had run into trouble, the Kunoichi quickly follows behind.

The room was quiet when they reached it, Oyuki having the key to the door (just in case.) Oyuki saw Diana cradling a woman's body, which had a sword run through it. She wondering what happened that would cause this one to regret her action.

Before anyone could say anything, Monica grabs the sword and snaps it halfway down the blade, throwing it away. The darkness that made it black poured into Monica's body, reverting it back to a normal looking, albeit broken katana.

"Mom?" Diana muttered, and the dead woman suddenly decided to be undead.

"Foolish girl. You could have been a god. You could rule over these lesser beings. Instead, you content yourself with temporal wealth... but I must thank you for giving me the power to free myself."

"Get out... get out of her." Diana clenched her fists in indignation, but hitting her mother's dead and now possessed corpse was not exactly a good idea.

Her hesitation amused the demon greatly. "Hahahaha... No... You should die." The... dead woman... undergoes a nightmarish transformation where corvid wings emerged from Monica's back, and feathers growing all over her, until Monica was replaced by a giant demon bird.

Giant claws emerged from the ground to try and grab Diana, but she reacted instinctively. Her training was real at least, and she saw the broken hilt of her former blade. A broken sword was better than nothing, so she grabs it and follows Jenna's advice.

"We really need to go!" Diana said, the room getting filled up with giant demon bird feathers that animated the dead bodyguards and mob bosses into crow zombies. Oyuki flung firebombs at Diana's now demon mom, while Diana demonstrates that her athleticism was her own by hauling Jenna on her shoulder and still sprinting faster than the ninja toward the fire exit. She blocks the door with her sheathe.