The UnderGround Syndicate. (Invader Len/Invader Lye)

[Invader Len]

Kachin looked blankly at his computer screen, waiting impatiently for his pictures to upload. He had just gotten back from a trip to New York, on one of his surprisingly rare easy jobs. The only thing he had to do was photograph some ancient fish fossils for the journal. Kachin shuddered. He hated fish, but at least the fish he had photographed were long dead.

Kachin was a photographer for the most prestigious and well known journal in the world, the International Geographic. He was surprised he'd been able to get the job at 19, especially considering his species.
Kachin was a cat-hybrid, with pale skin, grayish black hair, two black cat ears on the top of his head, and a long, black tail. His fingernails were long and pointed, and could retract and detract like a cat's claws. He wore thick, circular glasses that covered his eyes, which were a prominent yellow-orange. He was skinny and wimpy, and currently wore a red sweater, gray sweatpants, and a pair of green froggy slippers, a gift from his sister.

And so Kachin sat in his dark cubicle, having come to work early that morning, so early he'd just tossed his day clothes in his breifcase and taken a cab to the office in his pajamas. It was four in the morning. He'd change in the bathrooms when he felt like it, or when the boss yelled at him. He rubbed his eyes, wondering if he could possibly catch a few winks when the door clicked and in walked a familiar figure.

[Invader Lye]

Roy yawned and stepped into the office, blinking a few times to clear the sleep from his eyes. He was not an early riser and one could tell it from just looking at him. His already messy black hair was even more crazy than usual, and his dress shirt (already stained from a hastily made cup of coffee) was rumpled and only half tucked in to his jeans.

Roy was the other half of the journalism duo that he and Kachin were part of. And, much like his partner, Roy was a skinny, nineteen year old wimp.

He scratched his cheek. "Why'd ya call m' down here so early, Kachin? I should still be 'n bed! It's four frickin' thirty in the morning!" He plunked himself down in the chair next to Kachin and looked at the cat hybrid's computer screen. "Ya' still working on the fish case? I finished the article for that yesterday. What took so long in uploadin' your photos?"

[Invader Len]

Kachin raised one sleepy brow.
"Don't blame me, blame the boss." he yawned, stretching.
"And the reason it's taking so long, Mr. Cranky-Coffee-Stains, is because someone caused our new camera to get a virus while downloading porn, and it wasn't me." he said crossly, his tail twitching back and forth with annoyance. He'd liked that camera, and it had been brand new. Now they had to wait three weeks for it to get de-bugged and cleared. He was very ticked off at Roy about the matter.

Finally the computer finished uploading the fossil pictures, and Kachin quickly sent the mail to the office mainframe, where the tech geeks would take the file and the editor would put it in. The article would be featured in the next weeks issue. Kachin stretched.
"Well, now the easy part's done. You ready to see the boss about our new assignment? I really hope this one has no fish. Why is it that all our cases are either incredibly dangerous to photograph, or have fish? Does the editor-in-chief hate me for some reason?" Kachin whined with a pout.

[Invader Lye]

Roy rolled his eyes.

"The boss probably isn't even here," he said with a dismissive wave, "They boss may have told us yesterday to get here early, but that doesn't mean she has to be. She comes in late practically every day, anyway."

He leaned back in his chair. It was true. Their boss, Maria Ruehaven, was infamous for being spectacularly late to... well... every thing. When he has asked about it she had (while nonchalantly painting her finger nails a bright red) told him that she was not late ever, and that if he said something like that again she'd have him be writing reports on the sewage treatment plant, which, she promised, would be very messy.

Maria was also quite temperamental.

Roy looked over at Kachin, finally realizing something, and was about to point out that the porn had been very hard to find and was totally worth it when the office door clicked open.

Maria stepped in.

Roy looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "You're here early," he pointed out.

"You mean late," she said, groaning, "I had to file some reports. Took me all night! I thought secretaries were supposed to do that!"

Roy simply shrugged. "Any new jobs for us?" he asked.

"Yes, actually. But I think you two should come to my office first. That's where I have everything."

Roy nodded and stood up.

[Invader Len]

Kachin saluted his boss in a mocking manner as he unplugged his camera from the computer, putting it into his bag before slinging it over his shoulder, stretching as he stood up.
"Morning boss. And, may I ask, does Bruce hate me, for some strange reason? Because I've only ever said two words to him, "Hello" and "Yes", but somehow I get all the rejected photography assignments. Or do you just hate Roy and have me tag along to save his ass?" asked, slightly annoyed and perplexed at the constant pattern.

[Invader Lye]

Maria smirked. "A mixture of both, I imagine. And Bruce has never been very fond of hybrids. I think a rat hybrid picked on him when he was a child or something." She walked into her own well decorated office and sat down in a leather chair.

Leaning forward, she slid a folder across the desk towards Roy, who picked it up and began to flip through it.

"The assignment that I'm giving you is a high ranked one," she began, "And could quite possibly be very dangerous, for the writer and the photographer."

Roy nodded. From what he could tell by glancing at the papers in the folder, their job had to do with underground criminal activity and the like: something which had steadily grown for the past few decades.

Maria continued. "I want you two to interview a fellow named John Gambino. He was former member of one of the cosa nostra's main families on the east coast."

"He's one of the Five Families?" Roy asked, leaning forward. This was interesting. He had always been into the crime articles, although they were the more dangerous ones.

Maria lowered her head. "Yes, he is. The Gambino family is the most powerful of the five at present time. John escaped from his role as third in command a few years ago. I want the interview to be about his experiences, what he thought of the other members, etc. Try to include a lesson in there somewhere too. Something that will show kid's that crime is not cool, or hip, or whatever they're calling it. I want them to see that it's dangerous, harmful for one's mental and physical being, and not at all glamorous in any way."

Roy nodded. He had been expecting something of the like from Maria. "So where and when do we meet him?"

"You're going to be doing the interview here, and it's going to be in two days, so you better have a number of good questions for him," Maria explained, "Now, aside from the interview, I want you to write up a report about the current activities of the underworld, including actions that we can take to prevent it and what problems there will be in doing this. And I want you two to get close to these people. Not too close, but I want you to have a real understanding of what's going on. More so than any of your other articles. This is going to be front page stuff. It has to be good. That's all for now, boys. If you need anything else answered about the case, I'll be here."

Roy grinned and took the folder and stood up. "Thanks, Maria."

Maria smiled and nodded, then paused and looked over at Kachin, "And you might want to do better with your photographing on this one. The fish article's looked a bit blurry. It was like you were shaking or something."

[Invader Len]

Kachin scowled.
"It's because I'm terrified of fish, as I continuosly remind you after each and every fish themed job you give us. But yeah, next time we go on a fish-related job, I'll bring a stand." he said bitterly. He stood up an yawned.
"Well, If it's all right with you, I'm going to go change out of my PJ's and into some decent attire. Roy, what do you think about starting in little Italy, downtown? I hear there's been an increase of theft and gang violence in that area."

[Invader Lye]

Roy nodded that sounded like a plan to him. One of the main increase of criminal activities had been in little Italy. Which made sense, considering the amount of interaction between them and the Italian mafia. Which Roy supposed made sense as well, seeing as the little Italy was basically just an extension of Italy itself.

He grabbed his coat and grinned at Kachin. "Yeah. I'm not too sure how the mob bosses would react if they found one of the top photographers in the biz wearing frog slippers," he said with a laugh.

[Invader Len]

Kachin stuck his tongue out.
"Hey, they're a gift from my sister! And considering what's happened to her, I'm willing to do whatever it takes to keep her happy. Even if that means wearing froggy slippers, mister messy-emo-hair." He said proudly as he strutted out of the office, totebag in tow.

He walked into the bathrooms, and quickly changed into his regular clothes. A black t-shirt, some green/tanish cargo pants, red bandana around his neck, and some gray converse. Top it off with his short, spiky white hair pulled back into a tiny ponytail, and his very thick, round glasses, and he looked like an indy kid. A nerd obsessed with bands. Kachin sighed. Who was he to be thinking about labels, at least he didn't look goth. Besides, being the cameraman meant that he could dress casually unless the mission or a special event required actually decent attire. And unlike Roy, Kachin wasn't one for clothing formalities. Kachin fixed his glasses before stepping out of the bathroom, smirking at Roy.
"Voila! Fresh and stain-free. How does he do it, ladies and gentlemen, I do not know." he said tauntingly in a radio announcers voice, to further tease Roy about the large, slightly duck shaped stain on the front of his shirt.

[Invader Lye]

Roy rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "You laugh again and you get a coffee dumped on your head," he said angrily. Stupid coffee maker... stupid coffee... stupid froggie slippers... He humphed and looked over to the door, "Okay, let's go then." He grabbed his laptop from the table along with a recorder for the interview.