Shadows and Spiders

While Penumbra regained his bearings and answered her request for a peaceful conversation, Arachna made a few quick and casual motions of her hand over the gun without even looking at it before letting it fall to the ground in it's several different component parts. Even if either of them had more ammo, which it didn't appear that they did, it would be fairly useless without some effort to put it back together.

"Stopping your bank robbery was a method of keeping up appearances as well as giving you a test of sorts. On the surface I need to keep appearing as a hero in the foundation. In the background I work against them to further criminals everywhere. It's a sweet deal and exposes me to all sorts of people that I'd like to recruit for my team. People like you," she finished matter of factly with a spider leg pointed firmly in his direction.

"Ha!" Penumbra let out a short laugh at her statement, then fell silent with a thoughtful look on his face. After a moment, he moves around the room heading towards the fridge. "That can't be easy, 'people like me' aren't the most cooperative. How many people do you have?"

Opening the door, he pulls out two beer bottles, popping one open on the counter top and taking a drink, and gestures with the other one in her direction. "And what kind of work do you do to further criminals?"

"You would be the fourth member of our team if we were to include myself. I'm aiming to keep things small, elite and trustworthy. Everyone who joins does so under penalty of death for leaving our group in any fashion. As a group we're capable of accomplishing much more than we would be capable of doing as individuals... though you are still allowed to operate individually as you please. You're not, however, allowed to speak of our group or the members therein no matter what."

At the offer of a drink, Arachna accepted it as a peace offering, popping the top easily with a mandible before taking a long swig.

"For the moment I'm biding my time and waiting for the right moment to strike. Once we've gathered a sufficient force I'd like to take the vault and begin on a method to begin minting our own currency so there'll be no need for such trivialities as robbing banks later. Teach a man to fish... you know." She waved her hand dismissively.

"Four... How many more are you planning on recruiting?" Well that wasn't too bad. A bit small, but four people working together could do an awful lot. Especially considering how much he could do on his own, if the other people had comparable powers. "And you're the boss?"

The rest of her conditions weren't that important, and the threat of death was a essentially meaningless. If he decided to leave, he wouldn't exactly be alerting people about it, he'd just be gone one day. He took a long drink of his beer. Forging their own currency would be rather nice. "Where from there? Take over the world? Form a nation?"

Arachna offered little more than a small shrug at the question of recruitment. There were no plans for this part and she didn't plan on making any.

"Unimportant. I'll continue recruiting until I decide that our membership is sufficient. And yes, I am the leader. As for future plans, for now my first and only priority is gaining a stranglehold on this city and all within. Total control while living comfortably. That is my goal and the goal of the Legion of Terror and all members by extension."

"Hmm." Well that sounded good to Penumbra. If it worked, anyway. No harm in hitching himself to a group like this and see how far it went. "Legion of Terror feels a bit.. on the nose. But that all sounds good enough." Another sip of the beer. "How'd you track me?"

Arachna smirked at the question of curiosity now presented by the newest member of her legion, taking the time to knock back the last of her bottle, set it on the counter and wipe her lip with the side of her hand before actually answering it.

"You'll know when you meet him..." She'd leave it at that, enjoying denying his curiosity much more than indulging it.

"Hmm." Penumbra frowns slightly, but doesn't voice a complaint. "Alright, one last thing then, to prove this isn't some incredibly bizarre trick. I've got the owner of this place tied up in there," he gestures at the room with his now empty bottle. "you got a problem with going in there and killing them?" He eyes the 'hero' curiously to see how she'd respond. It doesn't seem likely that she actually is a hero at this point, but... better safe than sorry.

"I already planned on it, actually," she mentioned casually. "There's no guarantee that he's not been conscious the entire time and listening to this conversation, after all. ♪No witnesses!♪"

As she spoke, she rummaged through a few drawers till she found the one where the sharper knives were kept. Certainly she could've easily done him in quickly with a mandible, but she didn't want even a hint of evidence that she could've been guilty of this crime.

She walked away, hips swaying as she departed with knife in hand to the room Penumbra had motioned to with the closed door. She swung it open easily to reveal a modest guest room and a man huddled unconscious on the floor.

"Didn't even let him use the bed. How cruel..." she mused playfully as she strolled right on in as if the place were hers. She wasted no time on tact or gloating. This peon was hardly worth it. She only dropped to her knees and grabbed the man by his throat in a tight choke hold that held him down. His eyes flashed open in awareness, only growing wider as he noticed the knife poised above him to strike. He barely had time to struggle or scream before Arachna gouged the sharp object straight through his right eye to kill him instantly, leaving the kitchen instrument as it was as she rose back to her feet and departed the room before stepping in blood began to become a thing and brushing past Penumbra now stood in the doorway... likely to ensure that she didn't do anything heroic to get out of killing a man.

"Satisfied now?" she questioned in her own self-satisfaction.

"Very." Penumbra had followed her into the room to watch. He rather doubted there being any chance of her trying to pull something this late into the game, but you couldn't be too safe, and he rather wanted to watch this anyway. Seeing how someone killed could you a bit about them. And Arachna was to the point, but a bit brutal about it.

As she approached he moved towards her himself, closing in the gap, and held out a hand for a shake. "Looks like I'm with you then. Do we have a base?"

And so rather than passing him to leave the room, she found herself being approached by an extended hand. This had been even easier than she'd anticipated! She offered a sideways grin and extended her own gloved hand to take his in a shake of partnership.

"It's good to see that you're on board. I'll write the address down for you so that you can find it at your leisure. It's only temporary accommodations so it's not a big deal if it gets leaked somehow... but I'd prefer you keep the address to yourself if at all possible. Don't lose it."

This was when she'd brush past him, now on a quest to find a writing utensil and some paper of any sort to write the address of Sinew's factory in a stylish script to hand off to him.

"Right." He'd memorize the address and toss the paper away somewhere safe and non-noticeable. Or just burn it. Whatever. Once he knew where the place was the address wouldn't matter so much as remember the location anyway.

"Here you go." Haven't spent more time in the place, Penumbra knew where to find the illusive paper and pencil Arachna was searching for. "Should I wait at all for you to alert the other members? Don't particularly want to get attacked when I show up." As he talked, he headed over to the fridge to grab another beer.

"Thank you," Arachna took the proffered paper and pencil and quickly wrote the address before handing it off as intended. "You've no need to worry about being an unexpected guest. Everyone will be aware of your presence in our organization within a day. Even if they find reason to question who you are, you should be able to gain entry simply by mentioning my name. ...That's Arachna, by the way."

Penumbra cracked a grin. "Fitting. Nice to meet you, eventually." Having taken the note, he read it over a couple times, then folded it up and tucked it safely into a pocket. "I'm Penumbra."

"I'm aware," Arachna noted casually with crossed arms. His introduction was unnecessary. "I've been following you for a short time. It's how I arrived on the scene so quickly. I caught sight of you scouting the bank earlier in the day. Now, do you have any questions? I should get back to my home for some rest. I have a class to teach in the morning, after all."

"I see." Penumbra replied cooly. That explained that, and if she'd been keeping an eye on him for a few days, that'd be how she knew he was scouting the place and not just a normal person walking by as well. How irritating. He'd have to spend more time watching to see if he was being watched. "No, that's about it I think. Don't let me keep you."

He popped the top off the latest bottle and took a long sip, following her to the window as she left and shut it after her calling, "Until next time then." Working with a spider huh. This was bound to be interesting.