Eddie's eyes widened as the screen lowered. His brother's newly solidified golden jaw cracked as it parted open, repairing itself in an instant. Nothing could repair the brothers from the shock that gripped them in the sky--for in that moment, the vampire’s cold, yellow eyes were drawn to the sensation of what felt like sweat trailing down his temple. It was actually just a drop of Fearis’ labwater, caught between dead, gray strands of Eddie’s tightly kempt hair, streaking its way down his cheek, dripping off his jawline, and landing on the vent grating.

The reality of what that droplet was would go forever unnoticed, as it, like the blood in the monster’s century’s old veins, began to flow with renewed speed through the drainage pipes.

Returning his attention to the old (or was it younger?) man, Eddie spoke his demands with labored breaths.

"We want [i]double[/i].

"The [i]first[/i] half is for repairs to our business, and the [i]second[/i] will be for lost future gains that will come as a result of these repairs."

Goldman's jaw closed with another chain of cracks, followed by more as he slowly lifted his head up, tightening his tie with his golden fingers in the process. His moment of tidying himself up would have to wait, for as he reached with the goldfinger that was his right index to adjust his new sunglasses, he instead found it sharply pressed to his earpiece in response a voice speaking through a cloud of supernatural static. The owner of the voice possessed a thick, west Texas accent, and spoke his words with full, unironic ease, betraying the complete urgency of the message he was conveying to the brothers.

"Leadahs of th --ite Sy--d-cate. It mig-- b- tim- to consider --sten readyin’ the horse and carriage."

"..."

Goldman rotated his neck to face his brother, who heard everything that was said over the rapidly clearing link.

Eddie looked over at Caldwell, then back his brother, whose partially scrunched brows and pursed lips reinforced the fact that this was not a call to be put on hold. “Excuse us a moment.”

The Texan took the vampire’s request to the stranger on the other end as sign to continue his address. "As Ah’m sure you are keenly aware, the wolves have returned from the wild, and they brought the whole damn forest with ‘em.”

“The angel said there had to be seven of us,” Eddie interrupted, “[i]not six[/i], Jackson.”

“Right you are, Mr.Goldman, but from the way things stand now, we may not have a choice.”

"[i]Don’t[/i] listen to that bullshit," came a different voice, his words tinged with the strain that came with being injured all over, "this requires that all seven Syndicate leaders be present, or we’ll be devoured. So when I said six isn't enough, I meant SIX of you isn't enough."

"Heh heh, calm down, Pawn." Ron coolly interjected, "Ah’m sure they’ll get the message one way or another."

“N-[i]NO![/i]” the right hand of the Red Syndicate shouted with agonized warning. “It’s YOU, Ron who doesn’t understand. All seven demons HAVE to be satisfied. If we don’t satisfy all seven of them, they could get corrupted, turn on us, or even each other.”

The ivory suited monster’s brow rose at the sudden introduction of new and dangerous information. “What [b]exactly[/b] does he mean by six of us isn’t enough. You told us he said we needed seven, and while I am inclined believe him due to what he is, WHY seven? What is the importance of it?”

“He means that if we wake up one of those things, and it ain’t satisfied with our the amount of evil we got festerin’ our hearts, it’ll punish us for wasting its time.”

“Not...entirely.” Pawn said more calmly. “It doesn’t capture the full scope of what could go wrong. They too will suffer for failing to bond with their prospective partners, or rather it’s what they will resort to doing if they realize they are lacking the ‘right stuff’, that will lead to the mission’s failure as well as our collective downfall.”

“Then what [i]is[/i] the full scope, Seraphim. Tell me, before the man standing before me decides not to reimburse me for my losses. Enlighten me [i]nooow[/i].” The end of his sentence came with snarling hiss. The vexing nature of the day’s numerous events had not been kind to a six-hundred year old creature of the night, whose only desire was to be left alone so he could run his syndicate peacefully.

“Listen, Goldy.” Pawn said with an uncanny measure of steadiness. “Demons are not without feelings. What separates a human from a demon is that demons only truly empathize with one emotion, and the nature of that emotion is dictated by the sin that the demon was born from.

“What unites men with demons is the fact that they both seek to bond with that which is most familiar to them, helping them to feel complete. Humans are willing to forsake certain aspects of themselves in order to fit in, and will do it to the point of contaminating their own souls. Demons on the other hand are very bad at this--in fact, they’re terrible at it, for their nature is far closer to that of an animal--driven predominantly by primal instinct, yet still able to convey their feelings with lucidity.”

Eddie couldn’t help but roll his eyes at this. “I don’t want to know the psychology of demons, I want to know why they demand such a specific number.”

“There are seven deadly sins: Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Wrath, Envy, and Pride. These demons only real desire is to bond with the sin that is most prominent within your soul. A demon of Envy will be attracted to one who espouses thievery, under the pretense that stealing somebody is justified because “”they don’t deserve this as much as me etc”” whereas a man who is greedy… though steal out of bitterness in the beginning, should he ultimately overcome by the need to have more, and forgets his about his resentment in favor of riches, then he is ruled by greed.”

“This lecture of yours is growing tedious, Angel. Get. To. The. Point.”   Eddie was now tapping his cane against the floor, exhaustion kicking in.

“A demon of envy will only be able to truly bond with a man who has envy in his heart, but that envy must be strong.” Pawn stated. “The same goes for all the others, but as I said there are only SEVEN deadly sins, not six, not five, not four - [i]seven[/i]. If six people travel to Hell, and bond with six demons, the last remaining demon will do [b][i]whatever[/i][/b] it takes to create a bond.”

“Really now?” The ninja had the vampire uncharacteristically intrigued now. “[i]Anything?[/i]”

“It may try to disguise itself as a different sin in order to match the evil most prominent in one of the Syndicate leader’s hearts.”

“[i]And?[/i]”

“And it would one-hundred percent backfire. We’re talking about the two of you forming a spiritual tether that will bind your souls together. I can tell you right now, that you do not want to be sending false ‘spiritual data’ through a soul-tether, for the tether can only stream truth back and forth. It cannot stream a lie. If you try to stream a lie through it, that lie will be rejected, bury itself within the core of your being, and unlike a curse that corrupts a person gradually... this will fry your whole existence to a crisp instantly--and I promise you--there won’t be any second chances.

“No resurrection.

“No reincarnation.

“[b]Permanent. Karmic. Death.[/b]

“Your own personal omega.”

“Ugh…” The discussion had reached its final stage of exasperation, and by now, Eddie was wondering just how much of it Caldwell had heard.

Then, Ron said something which caught the Ivory Monster by surprise. “Why don’t you go get somethin’ t’drink, boah. Ya sound parched.”