_{Webb and Glade are in Collabs so this is just Harriet post!}


Harriet breathed out slowly and closed her eyes for a moment, before she looked over towards Von and Dale.
”Please take these ones off to get their weapons and pins, boys.” She said before she looked towards the Teens and gave a small smile. ”The boys will take care of you now. I… Need to calm down before I get too angry.”

She gave a wave to the boys as the burly men led them off to the room where they kept employment papers, the little feather pins, and at least starter weapons for the boys.
Harriet knew that Von and Dale would be able to get them all sorted out, for now she needed to just… Get air.

She moved up the stairs to the top of the building, stepping out onto the ceiling as she fanned her wings slightly, closing her eyes for a moment as she breathed out. Moving to grab a cigarette box - A gorgeous little metal box with a claw not too dissimilar to Harriets, on it.

Harriet made sure to be away from Calem when she smoked, she didn’t want her little boy to see her do such a ‘horrible’ act. Especially since Harriet didn’t smoke tobacco.
Thank the stars for Nyk… She thought to herself as she lit the smoke and breathed in. The strain of weed that her friend worked on worked quickly, calming her nerves as she breathed out a long sigh before she closed her eyes and enjoyed the quiet, cold day.

---

---

Von and Dale had told her the teens were cooperative and said they’d go to the training sessions that they booked up. Harriet smiled from the dining table as she watched Calem happily chew on his toast with strawberry jam.

Harriets’ phone buzzed, she looked down at it quietly before she stood and excused herself from the table, shooting Von a knowing look before she exited outside.
She was outside alone for less than 5 minutes before the flash motorbike pulled up beside the house and a figure hopped off and took off their helmet.

Harriet moved to hug the male with a gentle sigh.
“Good morning boss.” Emu said with a small smile, pulling away from Harriet as she looked down to him with a caring, loving look. “How’s my boy?”
“Hungry as always.” Harriet laughed, “He’s eaten about 6 pieces of toast this morning. Hopefully he won’t be sick from it, but you know how he is.”

Emu gave a laugh, “He takes after you in appetite.” He said with a sigh before he moved to grab a package from his pocket and offered it over to Harriet, who took it gently with a hand. “Nyk says he wants to see you, Apparently there’s been movement from unknown people in Hamlet; Haast says its’ not worrying since she can knock someone out cold if they try to get to Nykky but, I know you want to know.”

Harriets’ eyes narrowed slightly, she furrowed her brow slightly before she nodded hesitantly.
Emu watched her for a moment, “Harry, what’s going on.” He asked with a tilt of his head.
“Detectives.” Harriet said with a sneer, showing her sharpened teeth, “That Kingsley fellow wants to take me down for my ‘crimes’.” She continued, Emu hesitated before he nodded at her words.
“I’ll let Haast and Nyk know, up the locks on the grow house.” Emu said with a sigh, before he moved to grab Harriets’ free hand. “Just… Just be careful. We can take Calem if you need him somewhere safe.”

Harriet gave a weak smile to her friend before she bowed her head once. “Thank you.” She said gently, “I know I can count on you and Haast.”

---

---

“Please stop leaning against the tables!” A smaller male whined towards the taller, bulkier female. “You’re going to knock things over and if we lose any more product I’m going to lose my shit!”

Haast rolled her eyes and pulled away from the table - filled with modified plants - and gave a grumble.
“You don’t have anywhere else to sit.” Haast replied, Nyk waved his hand towards the myriad of chairs in the room as he focused on his microscope. “You know they’re all too small for me.”

”Then bring your own!” Nyk said, pulling away from the microscope and staring down the taller woman. “Haast, you know I love you. Just, stop messing with my things; please.”

Mentions: @fluxGun Team Clover(Donkey, Snaptrap). Interactions: @EstylwenIceman



Antonio shook Iceman again. “There you go. Some life coming back to those eyes. How are you feeling my friend?”

Iceman blinked, face awash with blatant confusion, his mouth opening attempting to communicate. “brruuueegghh…”

Antonio produced a bucket and placed it atop the bar. Iceman’s hands brushed against it before sending it tumbling to the floor, clanging toward the door. One of the two Akula gunmen present stopped it with their foot while the second sat and raised his hand for a drink. The first gunman shot a look at the second. “What are you doing? We’re security, do your job.”

The second snorted under their breath. “What, against this guy? He’s harmless, aren'cha blue boy?”

The Akula slapped him on the shoulder. Iceman groaned back. “Mmmmmmm…”.

Antonio poured a drink, passing the glass to Iceman then sliding the bottle to the Akula at the bar. “He’s our guest of honour, and for escorting him you get a little bonus with the bottle for the effort.” Antonio looked with hands open to the Akula still standing on guard. “No need to fret. We’re having a little celebration.”

Iceman’s eyes snapped open before slowly closing again. Leaning over the bar he looked to the floor where Antonio stood only to find his legs were roots weaving into and under the floor. The sobering sight allowed his mouth to slur a little more coherently.

”Fuck, am I still high? Could sworn- are you really rooted to the ground?” The man said, rubbing his face with a hand, before glancing around.

”And where the hell am I?”

Celebrations weren't at the forefront of his mind, he felt sore all over, exhausted, and itchy. His hands shook. Fuck. That wasn't good. Instead, his eye was sliding down to the drink Antonio offered him, wondering if it would take off the edge.

Antonio slapped Iceman’s shoulder again, gesturing to the drink. “The Jolly Jalopy my friend! The bar at the end of the world that refuses to die. A place for legends like you. You’ve accomplished so much in one night it impressed even me. Just ask these two, that isn’t easy.” The sober Akula shot a disgusted look at Iceman while the drunk Akula simply saluted him.

”The Jolly Jalopy…” the man echoed, hands reaching around to grasp the glass. Testing its weight, before feeling a little desperate from the shakes, and tossed the whole drink back in one fell swoop, setting the glass on the counter firmly, wiping his mouth and wincing reflexively.

”Shit, that's strong.”

He shivered there, bouncing his legs and rubbing his arms, murmuring a bit to himself, before he started to get off his seat. ”Well, I appreciate all this, but there's someone I gotta go find-”

Antonio poured another drink while speaking above Iceman, gaining his attention while a vine weaved behind the door. “Let yourself warm up first. On the house. If there’s someone you need to find, I know a lot of people. My boys here could give you a ride afterward, faster than walking, surely.”

The man winced, shaking his head. [b]”Nah, you don't understand. I’m plenty warm. Just… got the shakes. Fuck.”

He shook his head again, gritting his teeth as if to try and stop whatever he was feeling, before tossing back the second drink. It tapped the counter firmly, before his eyes glanced to the door. Then narrowed, his jaw setting.

”There's something you want, isn't there, Mister…” His voice hung, staring at Antonio questioningly. Two drinks was quite the payload for him, however, and his insides were certainly starting to feel warm.

Antonio shrugged. “Litwin. What I want isn’t much, I just want to hear about your incredible evening. A place of legends needs stories to tell. Tell me your story of last night, and we’ll call it even.” A small smile grew as Antonio picked up the bottle, gesturing if the Iceman wanted another drink.

The man considered it for a moment, before he nodded, and pushed his glass a little forward. When Antonio had topped him up, he leaned his forearms on the counter, fingers drumming as he recounted the tale.

”I didn't think much of it, at the time. I just wanted a fun night. Get real loose, ya know? Some pushers scoped me out, and they offered me some free drugs. Of course I said yeah. They put my in the back of a van. Had this strange, glowy stuff they injected."

“...And then, bam.” Iceman's eyes lit up, hands gesturing how a firework would light up.

”The euphoria kicked in. The gyft kicked in. I could move an entire blizzard if I wanted to. It was cold, but the cold didn't hurt me. I was the cold."

“I could hear screams, but I didn't care. I just wanted to push how far my ice could go. Then those pushers started shooting at me. I slapped ‘em up real good-” He puffed out his chest. ”-...Before I think I passed out. And…”

He raised a shaky hand. ”No ice. Just the shakes. Those fuckers…”

He shook his head grimly, before tossing back his third drink. Now he was leaning a bit on the counter to support himself. ”So, ya see, I gotta go find ‘em… Beat the shit outta them, and get more of that shit…”

Antonio looked lost in thought for a moment before his eyes shot back to Iceman. “Those fuckers gave you a Gyft…” A chuckle escaped Antonio. “My friend, you have given an old man hope for a future I’ve only dreamt of. Please. Let me help you. Let my two men here assist you to get more of that shit. All I ask is you tell me everything you find on your journey. Do that, and I’ll make sure you have a never ending supply for yourself personally.”

The man's eyes lit up, ”Done.”

The sober Akula spoke out garnering the attention of no one. “What? He’s a murderer, this isn’t how we do things.”

The drunk Akula swung on his chair to face the other. “Don’t be a bitch. You’ve seen dead bodies before. Old mate just had a rough one. We’ve all had rough ones.”

The other responded. “Dude Donkey, Snapper and you were shitting it like me walking past all those bodies last night. Why are you so cool about it now-?”

Antonio handed a key to Iceman and gestured for him to go upstairs while interrupting the sober Akula. “You heard him, what happened wasn’t his fault. Besides, he's an asset who wants to assist our operations.”

The sober Akula shot back. “Yeah, I heard him. ‘I didn't care. I just wanted to push how far my ice could go’. He’s a fucking monster. Does the Eel know about this?”

Antonio’s eyes now gazed firmly toward the sober Akula, a vine once again sliding up behind the door. “Unfortunately I don’t think the Eel will ever be any the wiser.”

The sober Akula scrunched their eyes for a moment contemplating Antonio’s words before they went wide. Turning for the door vines already slammed it shut. A wooden clattering from the bar, the sober Akula spun with hands grasping at their rifle only to be tackled to the floor by the drunk Akula. The Drunk’s hands curled around the throat of the Sober’s. The desperate grapple continued as Antonio raised a phone. Dialing a number he continued onto other business while the grim struggle on the floor entertained him.

---

Mentions: Military. Interactions: @EstylwenFlint Weathersteel

The ringing stopped. Antonio introduced himself. “Weathersteel? Flint Weathersteel. My name is Antonio Litwin. Perhaps you’ve heard of the legends behind the Jolly Jalopy? No matter if not. I have an offer for you.”

”Not many offers I pick up.” Flint said on the other end of the line. ”You've got my ear, though.”

Antonio rested an elbow on the bar, head resting on his hand. “There have been rumours of a project of yours. A project that might not be understood by outsiders, one that might even offend them to the point of violence. I understand you have the manpower to likely complete this project, but I worry the world might undo it. What I have to offer is a solution to ensure the result of that project remains indefinitely.”

Flint scoffed from his office, peering down through the shades at the rabble below. His cell was on speaker phone on his desk, and he had turned his back to it, as if to punish it.

Someone in his ranks had spoken. Someone had the gall to accept bribe money for dropping a secret. Which secret, he could figure out easily enough. For he had more than one project on the go.

But what was more important was letting Mr. Litwin think he had the advantage here. So he simply turned back to his desk, eyeing the phone with a dark smirk.

”And what solution might that be, Mr. Litwin?”

Antonio's expression turned still. “A solution to ensure the wall stays down.” Antonio turned the phone, making sure the struggling could be heard through the microphone and turned the camera on, capturing the two Akula's wrestling for their lives on the floor.

Antonio spoke on. “The best of friends, believe it or not. Meeting a tragic conclusion.”

The sober Akula broke the stranglehold, gasping and spluttering. “Dude it's me! Stop! He's in your head. He's in your-!” The strangling continued.

Antonio turned off the camera. “Now I want you to imagine such dedication to a cause, your cause, from the leaders who think they can decide our fate from outside. I'm aware your talents can achieve such a result, but mine can extend them across the world. That might guarantee you the time to do what you're setting out to achieve, or at least increase your chances.”

There was a hum of intrigue on the other end of the line. ”So let me get this straight. You want to mind-control the military around us. Ensure no one puts back up the Wall after it's been torn down.”

“You do have me curious. Deals go both ways though, don't they? What would you require of me?”

Anontio rolled the phone in his hand. “Correct, as for what I would require? Why-.” The struggling on the floor intensified. Antonio pushed the phone against his ear. “I would-”. The sober Akula broke the grasp again, gasping, screaming. Antonio shielded the microphone, yelling at the drunk Akula. “The bucket. Use the bucket for god’s sake.”

Clanging rang through the room. The clanging continued well after the struggle stopped until a panting approached the bar, shaky hands reaching for another drink. Antonio nodded and put the phone back to his ear. “Sorry. Nothing. I want nothing, only that you succeed. All I ask is that you follow my instructions so your numbers might swell.”

A grin lit up Flint's face. Not at what Antonio said, but for what he could hear in the background.

”Getting your influence may be… interesting. I'd personally love to see how your influence messed with the military beyond the Wall. But more people is always good as well…”

There was the sound of quiet pondering as Flint stepped a little closer to his desk, hands pressed lightly on the wood.

”...I'm listening. What would these instructions be?”

Antonio leant into the phone as he poured the drunk Akula another drink. “Runners will deliver caches of alcohol to the sewers near your home. Present the population with bread and games, win some hearts and minds, let them drink my gift to their heart's content.” Antonio smiled. “For games, I suggest something… Gladiatorial. Find some real champions while recruiting everyday Nocturnia.”

Vines in the room began to drag the dead Akula through the floor, wiping blood away as they worked. Antonio leant against the bar again. “As for how my influence reached our jailors, drink a glass, and you’ll see yourself. It’ll also allow us to communicate in an entirely secure manner.”

There was a light snort on the other end of the line, ”I wasn't born yesterday, Mr. Litwin. If I drink it, there's no guarantee you won't use your influence on me.”

Flint's head tilted, though. Mr. Litwin said reached, as in past tense. Did he… no, did he in fact already have some of the outside military in his grasp?

Antonio laughed. “Is the great Weathersteel nervous of a little drink? Relax my friend. I’ve no use for dominating you when our goals align so neatly. Besides, to dominate someone like you, a man whose will was forged in steel, I’d have to drown you in the stuff. No Flint. I promise you will not be influenced by my presence. If you’re able to pass this test of trust, I will bestow a gift upon you that will allow you to see Nocturnia as if you were the city itself. I’m sure that will make the coming storm far easier to navigate, no?”

Antonio spun around to collect a rag and dry down the bar. “Don’t feel pressured though. You have my allegiance regardless of whether you decide to see me in the Noosea or not. I do suggest you not waste such an opportunity for paranoia's sake though.”

Flint's fingers gripped the edge of the desk as he thought, weighing the pros and cons. It was a good offer. And he was looking for ways to gain more dominance to further topple the empires in this city before he set his eyes fully on that Wall.

Besides, not much got through to his black heart. This would certainly change the tempo, the monotony.

He nodded to himself, and stood, head tilting curiously, that grin back on his face. ”Very well, Mr. Litwin. I'll bite. Send the drinks. I'll try it for myself and spread it around my people. I look forward to a… prosperous venture.”

Antonio slapped the bar grinning ear to ear. “Happy to hear that Mr Weathersteel. We’ll be in contact again when you enjoy that drink. Until then, I’ll begin sourcing an accelerant to these plans. All the best to you Flint.”

The phone snapped shut. The bar gleaned clean again.

A very productive morning indeed.

Mentions: @fluxAntonio Litwin. Interactions: @fluxKhor Kosović



“Where are they dammit.” Donkey bounced his leg sitting in the tunnel, head resting against the old mortar wall, condensation building on his visor. Snaptrap sat beside throwing bits of debris into the canal, seemingly entertained by the variety of sounds echoing through the halls. Donkey slapped Snaptrap’s hand as he went to throw another. “Stop that.”

Snaptrap shook his hand giving Donkey a dirty look, interrupted by the bouncing of lights down the tunnel. Voice low he nudged Donkey. “Hey, contact.” Snaptrap cupped his helmet filters, raising his voice. “Starlight.”

The lights stopped, swivelled a bit, then approached more cautiously. Snaptrap and Donkey shared a look of concern and charged their weapons, pointing them at the approach of the lights. Snaptrap growled. “We’re in a funnel man.”

Donkey murmured. “I know.”

Snaptrap growled again. “Even misses are gonna ricochet and hit us man.”

Donkey snarled. “I fucking know, be ready.”

The lights began to round the corner. Snaptrap shouted. “Starlight!”

Empty hands rose around the corner above the newcomer followed by another. Red helmets, white teeth. They both lowered their weapons, Snaptrap letting out a relieved sigh while Donkey wasted no time tearing into the new arrivals. “What the fuck is wrong with you? Looking for a bullet? Voidout! The response is Voidout, dumb mother…” Donkey looked the two men over more carefully. “You two aren’t Clover, who the hell are you?”

One of the newcomers stayed quiet, the other answered a bit too eagerly. “We’re runners. Antonio took the two Clover gunners with Iceman. Said anyone who volunteers gets a gun and gear paid in full by the Akula's. A bunch of us jumped at it.”

Snaptrap interjected before Donkey. “Kid’s? They’re sending us kid’s now?” Sliding back down the wall Snaptrap pointed at them both. “Jesus Christ do either of you know what you’re getting into?”

Donkey raised his hand to silence Snaptrap without breaking his gaze on the newcomers. “One chance to walk away. We’re hunters today. Killers. Is that what you want to be? War dogs hounding death?”

The eager newcomer responded. “We want to fight for what we believe in.”

Donkey looked back to Snaptrap. The newcomers weren’t going to be deterred, and it was too late to walk them back, the mission too important to abort. Snaptrap shrugged and Donkey looked to the underside of his wrist. “Fifteen minutes left. Long enough for a crash course then.”

Donkey approached the eager newcomer. “Rule one.” And immediately began slapping at his helmet. “Always. Identify. Your God. Damn. Self! No one wants to shoot their own.”

Snaptrap started chuckling. “Here come the rules. Buckle up kids.”

Donkey continued. “Rule two.” He snatched the rifle from the quiet newcomer. “Never point this at me. You do that, I’ll kill you.” He pointed toward Snaptrap. “You can wave it all you want at him, fuck him.” Snaptrap raised his hand twiddling his fingers as a wave. Though they couldn’t see it under the helmets they all wore, they were certain it hid a shit eating grin.

Donkey snatched their attention back. “Rule three. Don’t tell me your…” He trailed off, focussing on the more eager newcomer shifting on his feet. “What the hell is wrong with you boy?”

The eager newcomer shifted awkwardly. “I uh, I need the bathroom.”

Donkey blinked. “We’re in a sewer. Shit in the canal.”

The eager newcomer began to unbuckle their pants before being pushed away by Donkey. “Around the corner for god’s sake.”

The eager newcomer pulled their pants back up at once. “Sorry, Sorry. Um. I’m Dave, by the way.”

Snaptrap burst out laughing while Donkey clenched his eyes. “Three. Don’t tell me your fucking names.”

Snaptrap tried but failed to compose himself. “First casualty confirmed. Gonna be in the big man’s arms while he’s shouting ‘Dave! Dave! Don’t you die on me Dave!’. I’m putting money on this, who wants a piece?” He looked to Dave. “You should go all in. Might as well sweeten the pot for everyone else!”

Dave’s eye’s widened, skirting around. “I- I’m not gonna die!”

Donkey pushed Dave again. “Go shit in the canal before you shit your pants.”

After Dave went around the corner Donkey looked to the silent newcomer. “You’re quiet. Scared?”

The quiet man shook his head. “No.”

Donkey looked back to Snaptrap before both chuckled. “You’re full of more shit than dead Dave round the corner there. You’re terrified.”

Dave shouted around the corner. “I’m not going to die! It’s not funny!”

Once the chuckling subsided Donkey took a softer tone. “Here's the job. Upstart gangers who think they're hard trying to move in. Simple kill house, everyone inside a threat. You see someone who’s not wearing a red mask with white teeth, you give them a greeting in seven six two. We do this and the Brewery District is safe for another day.” Donkey handed the quiet man his rifle back. “You know how to use this?”

The quiet man detached the magazine, flicked a switch, pulled back the bolt and squeezed the trigger to sound a satisfying click within the tunnel. Donkey nodded. “Not useless after all.” His voice became stern again. “Most dangerous part of the job is the first door. Do not hesitate. Clear that fatal funnel, and you’ll be ok.”

The quiet man nodded, jamming the magazine back into the weapon. Donkey pointed to himself. “You call me Bossman. That idiot sitting there, Smallboy.” He then pointed to the quiet man, then Dave around the corner. “You two are Dickhead and Shit-wink.”

Dave called from around the corner. “But my name is-.”

Donkey snapped back. “I don’t give a fuck what your name is Shit-wink. You survive your on-the-job training, then maybe you get a real handle. Might even learn ours as well.”

Dave suddenly stumbled round the corner dragging their pants up in a rush soon followed by another individual. Snaptrap scuffled up and next to Donkey, leaning into his ear whispering. “We don’t get just any captain but the Eel themself.”

The Eel greeted Dave who scrambled at buckling their belt trying to retain whatever was left of their dignity. Donkey leant back towards Snaptrap. “You think that’s good news or bad news?”

Snaptrap shrugged. “Hell of an asset for what we’re about to do, so good I suppose.” He glanced over the newcomers. “Better than just some senseless kids.”

The Eel approached Donkey. “What the hell are runners doing here armed?”

Donkey responded formally. “Barman’s orders. Anyone willing gets a gun.”

The Eel’s eyes squinted. “That’s not how we do things.” Glancing to Dave and the quiet man the Eel winced before shaking their head. “Too late to turn back. We ready?” Donkey and Snaptrap nodded.

The Eel gestured to the access ladder “Show time.”

---

Mentions: None. Interactions: @fluxKhor Kosović



The climb wasn’t high, but it was long. Navigating the technical corridors offered very little room to squeeze through and was made all the more difficult by vests full of ammo and rifles hanging from slings. The Eel led the way with a pistol drawn, not encumbered by so much equipment, waiting occasionally for the others to catch up.

They managed to reach the target floor and pulled themselves through a large vent into a small maintenance office. Donkey and Snaptrap helped the newcomers through while the Eel crouched peeking through the door. Gently clicking the door shut they moved to Donkey. “Entry is good. I’ll find another point to get their attention from. Hit them on my signal.”

Donkey nodded. “What’s the signal?”

The Eel moved back into the vent. “You’ll know. Be ready.”

Donkey pointed at the others, then the door. “Get on that door. I’ll lead. Shit-wink behind me then Dickhead. Smallboy on rear, make sure they clear that door.”

The men arranged themselves in order. Donkey gave their final words. “Remember your basics. Your either moving or shooting. If you’re not doing either your suppressed. If you stay suppressed, your dead.”

Dave muttered under their breath behind Donkey. “I’m not gonna die.”

Donkey replied. “Stay behind me, keep moving and you won’t Shit-wink. Whatever you do, do not hesitate. Clear, the, door. Ready weapons.”

Switches clicked. Bolts clunked. Weapons live. Safeties off. The silence followed, an unbearable moment before hell would break loose, a silence heavier than the armour plates and ammo they wore combined. The quiet man’s lips clenched, mouth full of cotton, finger tapping the side of the trigger. A hand from behind patted his shoulder.

“You’ll be ok kid. I’m right here.” Snaptrap’s hand squeezed. “All you got-a do is get through that door. You go through doors every day of your life. You’re an expert at it.”

The quiet man smiled at that. Realising how dry his mouth was his trigger hand went for the water at his back. Then an explosion. Distant shouting. Bottle falling. Donkey kicked in the door and disappeared into the chaos. The bottle clattered against the floor. Dave went next. Stopped in the doorway. Standing there shocked. Spraying from the hip. Then fell. The quiet man’s eyes went wide. His visor flecked with blood. A shove from behind.

“MOVE!”

He ran. He clenched his weapon. Bullets filled the air. Objects shattered. Boxes tumbled. Tripping behind something solid he wiped his visor. Blood smeared. Vision worse. Bullets thumping at his cover. Some breaking through. Wood chipping all around. A screaming shout.

“Move up!”

Scrambling to his feet. Half blind. A mad dash. Another door. A way out. Charging forward shoulder first it buckled under his force. Falling into the next room he scrambled for his rifle. Whipping it around sights found a man. Fingers seized the trigger. Rounds ripping across the wall. Nothing connecting.

His head jetted blood. The quiet man shielded himself from the gore. The catwalk above stood the Eel. “Keep moving!”

Hands fumbling. Fingers refusing to find the magazine release. Lowering the rifle, he stomped the magazine out. Another rattled into the receiver. Bolt pulled. Clunk. Another man. Roaring fire. Flesh rendered. The corpse fell to the floor. Lost in shock the quiet man froze. Did he just do that? A familiar voice. Donkey barking. “Flank! Flank! Flank! Watch your flank kid!”

He heard the order, but his legs refused. He just killed a man. Ripped him apart. For no reason but for being in his way. He couldn’t have been older than himself. Why was he here? Did he have a family? This wasn’t how it was supposed to go down, but how else was it meant to? Wasn’t this the obvious outcome? Donkey’s voice pierced through the fog again. “Kid! You alive!? Watch your flank!”

Flank. Blinking, he stumbled toward the next door. Stomach sick, thoughts mudded. He got to the door. Oh. The gun was empty. Should reload.

The door burst open into his face. Visor cracked. Body crumpling. Rifle skittering away. Landing on hands and elbows three figures entered. Primal fear took over. Get away. You have to get away. Another two entered. Squirming and palming backward one of the men’s eyes locked with his. “Please. Don’t.”

The weapon raised. Time seemed to slow. He saw right down the barrel. “NononopleaseDON’T-!”

Five shots. Five jets from skulls. Six bodies falling to the ground. Two more entered the room. A body lurched from the boxes. A rifle held like a club. They swung as a blur. Barbaric force splitting the first’s skull open. The attacker stumbled in pain as the first fell and the second decided to act, unleashing a barrage of fire. The attacker ducked. The blur returned. Weaving through tracers. Weaving closer to the target. Grabbing the rifle with a vicious kick, the attacker raised the rifle, roaring as they brought it down. Impacts met with screaming. Again. Again. And again.

The quiet man balled up. The screaming eventually stopped, then the wet crunching as well, the only sound following being the broken rifle clattering against the ground. He could hear unknown clear confirmations being given. Not long after hands grabbed at the quiet man who responded by thrashing, screaming. “Get away!” More hands grabbed at him, trying to restrain him. “Please! Stop! NO!”

His strength eventually yielded to the assailants. Arm pressed against his throat he saw Snaptrap and Donkey. “You’re ok kid! Can you hear me? You’re ok.”

The quiet man’s breathing steadied slightly. Eye’s wild assessing the situation. Snaptrap walked to the side. Donkey spoke softly now. “You hurt?”

The quiet man shook his head, trying not to whimper. Donkey nodded, voice still soft. “Ok. Can you stand?”

The quiet man tried but stumbled back to the ground. Donkey helped him up. Looking to the side Snaptrap held the Eel’s arms checking for injury. The Eel pulled away and gave a thumbs up, helmet obscured by mushed meat and gored spray. Standing up they propped themself along the wall before walking unassisted. The group found themselves looking out the window to the street. Two police officers approached the building.

The Eel spoke through laboured breathing. “We’re too banged up to move faster than them.”

Donkey handed the quiet man to Snaptrap. “I’ve got this.” Loading a fresh magazine, he leaned out the window screaming down at the two officers. “Hey! Badge bitches!” The two officers looked up before scrambling for their pistols, pointing them at Donkey. He simply shouted back in response. “Oh go on then! Give me a little squirt with your water guns! Better yet, get some of mine!”

A barrage of fire erupted from Donkey’s rifle till it clicked. Bullets streaked the street. The officer’s dove for cover. Donkey yelled one last time. “Now fuck off before I bury ya’s!” The two officers took off sprinting from the building. Donkey looked to the Eel. “That buy enough time?”

The Eel tilted their head. “Should do until the heavy’s rock up. Let’s go.”

Walking back to the maintenance office they began from the quiet man froze in the doorway. His eyes locked with the cold vacant ones laid on the ground behind the visor, within the helmet much like the one he wore. He wasn’t anywhere as motivated as Dave, and Dave laid dead in front of him. Throughout that whole nightmare, he was alive, and Dave was dead. Why? Why not me? Words slipped through his lips. “Oh god…”

Snaptrap shook him. “Heyheyhey don’t think about it. Look at me. Don’t think about it. Your alive. That’s what matters.”

The quiet man steadied his breathing again, nodded, and entered vent behind Donkey with Snaptrap following close behind, both guiding him with patience and kindness. Back in the tunnel’s the Eel thanked Donkey and Snaptrap, tried to console the quiet man, then left for whatever else the day would bring. Donkey, Snaptrap and the quiet man trudged back to their barracks below Nocturnia.

Some time into the journey Snaptrap called out from behind. “You survived new guy. Gone from runner to gunner. I'm Snaptrap, that's Donkey, and now you get your handle. You’re a real Akula now.” The quiet man said nothing. Snaptrap pressed the point. “Aren’t you at least curious about your new name?”

The quiet man’s head hung low. “I don’t care.”

Snaptrap feigned offence. “Don’t care? This is a sacred ritual my man! Only fit for brothers forged in blood. What do you think Donkey? What’s the hero earnt?”

Donkey turned briefly, his headlamp and tired eyes scanning the quiet man before turning and walking again. “Puddle.”

The quiet man found his faze thrown momentarily. “Puddle?”

Snaptrap quipped in. “Yeah, that’s esoteric even for me. What do you mean by Puddle?”

Donkey stopped to turn his head. His eyes alone shone a shit eating grin. “Turn around kid.”

The quiet man was confused but complied. Snaptrap looked him in the eye then down his body and tried to hold back giggling. “Oh, Puddle...”

The quiet man furrowed his brow. “What? What do you mean Puddle? Why is that funny?”

Snaptrap pointed down at the quiet man’s waist, the giggling coming through. “Got a sting there buddy.”

The quiet man looked down and found their new handle. “Awwww, shit that’s. Awwwww!”

Donkey was the first to openly laugh. “Poor kid pissed all over himself and didn’t even know.”

Snaptrap let out everything they’d been holding back. “Got a piddy piss puddle~ little pid pud piss puddle~.”

Snaptrap and Donkey found themselves giggling for the rest of the trip, shooting incoherent piss quips back and forth that only made sense to the truly shattered. Eventually Puddle found himself giggling as well, trudging toward his next home in Nocturnia with purpose anew.

---

Khor: W -1, P +3

---

---

---

Sitting in his public office of the skyscraper, Asterion was leaning back in a chair and glancing out the window. It was so odd that Krish was not answering his phone — no one could find him. Everyone was looking everywhere and he checked his room after Hailey left. Nothing. Couldn’t be found anywhere. What happened to his dearest friend? Was he dead? Everyone was beginning to come around again, get cocky, and overly confident. There was a heaviness in his chest as he thought about it — Could he be dead?

No… I should not be thinking like that, he thought while staring out into the daylight while the others talked and sat around the office as well. Elara left Krish a voicemail, a semi-angry one, Varek tried his best to look for Krish around all the regular hangout spots, but no one could find him. It was unnerving that he disappeared sometime during the night right before an invasion was going to happen. An important one at that.

A slight tapping of his fingers began while he glanced at everyone for a second or two as he thought. Could Flint be up to this? Since he held Hailey and Reid. No, he doubted the man would have done that since Krish disappeared sometime in the night before Hailey was released. Maybe it was that odd police officer that he met at the gym, no, he doubted that. Could it have been Emilia? It might have been Emilia,” the thoughts continued to run on the train tracks trying to figure out where Krish could have gone or who could have taken him. There was no reason to continue dwelling on the fact that his friend wasn’t around since the Kairo Empire had more to do. They had to continue without him.

“I will assume that Krish did not leave on his own accord. Whoever took Krish, will pay, but we have to continue the invasion without him,” Asterion broke the half an hour or more of silence while Elara, Zarek, and Varek gave him his attention. There was no reason to have June or Kaela here. They needed to stay out of the crossfire of taking over another district.

Everything felt uneasy from the team since they wanted Krish to be there. He knew that and he wanted him there as well though they could not have their way. The men that he needed for the invasion were already suiting up and getting ready for the attack. Preparations were coming together this morning and they were finalizing as Asterion sat there. Everyone was ready to march to Yellowbrick. Plus, he was going to do his best to have the least civilian casualties possible so his men would be flooding the streets and forcing people to leave the areas that they were attacking… sadly, he knew not everyone would be willing or they would support Glyde and his men. Possibly fight back. There were orders to exterminate with reason.

In the middle of the office table, there was a large paper of a drawn out building. At least the outside. He didn’t send any of his men or Kaela to scope out the inside of the building since he didn’t want her getting caught and put into trouble. She was a wildcard that he was not ready to expose. Not yet. Standing up, he touched the paper while looking at it, “There are five exit points to the building including the garage door. There are twenty-two windows as well,” he began to explain to his team which would go on to explain it to the men as well.

“I want our use of flammable liquids to block all windows. Smoke them out like cockroaches. As the windows are being blocked with flames, men will be there building them up, so the windows will be blocked by fire meaning the only way the rats have out is those five exit points. I want to impede the front door and the garage door because it’s the largest escape route with the most leeway for movement. We will block those off with fires or whatever else. The three other doors, we will have men placed strategically so they cannot just get shot down but whoever is trying to come out will not meet a fate they want to,” Asterion explained. He wanted to keep everyone and everything in line.

Asterion rolled his shoulders back as he thought about it, “We want the least amount of casualties possible on our side though we need to succeed in this. We will do whatever we can to make Glyde and his men surrender or run out of Yellowbrick with their tails in between their legs,” he confirmed that he was not going to stop until Glyde surrendered or ran away. He was going to have Yellowbrick.
Once everyone was on the same or a similar page, the man ordered them to go catch their men up to par with the ideas and strategies that they would be using. Before Elara left, she stopped with her hand on the door, and looked at him. “I think this is really stupid,” she admitted in a plain sort of way that said she was indifferent with a tinge of worry.

“You think everything I do is stupid, Elara,” the man protested slightly to her statement as his eyes looked up and locked onto her.

There was a slight pull down to the corners of her lips, not quite the resting bitch face she usually has, but a slight sadness to it. “Because everything you do is stupid, Asterion,” a punch of emotion was in her voice before she slammed the door on her way out.

Asterion stood there with his one hand in his pocket and the other touching the drawing on the table. He stared at the door in thought. There was a piece of him that wanted to yell and tell her to come back here. That she didn’t have to be a part of any of this and could stay out of it. That she wasn’t being forced to go on the rampage. Biting the inside of his cheek, he only was pulled out of his thoughts when he tasted a metallic-coppery taste, and loosened his jaw and his teeth to stop clenching together. “God… she pisses me off sometimes,” he growled those words out while standing up and going over to the window to stare out of it. Running a hand through his hair as he looked beyond his city limits into areas that couldn’t be made out. The horizon. “Where are you, Krish?” he whispered those words out with a sigh.

---

Everyone was suited up and ready to head out on Asterions’ command. Everyone had the KAIRO name across or on their gear somewhere. Stitched into the uniform to make it clear who everyone was dealing with. The only difference between Asterion’s gear and everyone else is that he wasn’t wearing a uniform that said KAIRO on the front or anywhere on the style — his purposefully was different — JUMPER. That was his nickname that Krish gave him when they first met. Krish described Asterion’s power as if he was literally jumping into people. Street kids. Street names.

With the confirmation that everyone was ready to headout and everyone understood the assignment. A hoard of Kairo’s men including him were heading into Yellowbrick. However, Zarek was informed to take another route — he was encouraged to take a single group of personnel and undo the power to Yellowbrick while they were in it. All electricity would be cut so things that relied on it would not be able to be used during the invasion such as lights.

It was all being setup and timed accordingly so it would be more of a surprise than anything. Asterion was hoping that he could get an upper hand on Glyde and his crew. It was starting to come to a quick climax as they approached the inner parts of Yellowbrick — Asterion’s men shouting at people to move along and clear the area so they wouldn’t be in the crossfire.

Other men were starting to surround the building — Glyde’s Police Department Station — all weapon heavy and armored. In perfect stances to read their guns at any moment, command, or need-be to shoot down anyone through the windows or doors. A group of individuals were picking up five gallon tanks with bundles of burnable items. Beginning to throw that in front of the windows, douse the fabrics and burnables in gasoline, and stepping away while throwing a match on it.

People in the back spilled the tanks over and lit the spills on fire to deter people from using the garage door and the same was happening at the front door. Asterion was not wasting any time with this then he looked up and behind protective glasses his brows furrowed. PARLEY was stated in front of the police station. “Dammit… how did he know?” the man whispered with a chuckle. “Fuck your parley and fuck you,” he commented where only he could hear himself or maybe the one or two people who were around him could hear his words.

“BURN THEM OUT BOYS!” Asterion shouted while small tanks of gasoline were kicked over in front of the main entrance, allowing the liquid to spread under the door, and into the entrance of the place before they would throw matches to light the fire.

Shaking his head, “I did not come here to talk,” it was somewhat unbelievable to him that Glyde thought they would talk. Why would they? That could give him more of a chance to kill him off so the whole invasion would stop and the Kairo Empire would go down hill. There was no chance that he was taking chances with Glyde and his men.

Map Update [+]

The lights shut off, fire surrounded the building. At least their rifles had flashlights, and their walkies had batteries. Glyde spoke into his, glancing back at Krish in the darkness.

”Someone get to the front with the mic, put me up against it.”

”On it, sir.”

A few moments later, a window cracked open, and a megaphone was stuck neck to it and a radio was stuck next to the mouth piece. Glyde's voice echoed across the front of the building.

”You bastard. We got your boy Krish. So you better stand the hell down, or he's dead.”

Meanwhile, some of the soldiers had moved forward with fire extinguishers, tackling the fire that seeped in under the front door.

Hearing the scratchy echo of a voice that was thrown through too many microphones, Asterion wanted to cover his ears, but he didn’t. Hearing the threat. That is where Krish went off to, he thought with a chuckle. No one should have known Krish was gone except the higher ups in the Kairo Empire, so he knew that Glyde and his crew had the man.

Some of the men started calling out to others that the fires were being attempted to put out. Asterion shook his head, “Keep the fire going,” he called out to his men. Gesturing for others to start making molotovs which they gladly and quickly did before handing them off to others so they could throw them at the building, specifically the windows, and attempt to break the windows and get the inner rooms.

Asterion smirked, “GLYDE!” he called out to the megaphone. “If you can hear me. I think you would know it is not smart to threaten me in such a way!” his voice projecting easily as he began to walk towards the front doors of the building.

“If Krish is in there or not, I am sorry, but I know Krish would not want me to negotiate with terrorists and I would never consider it!” Asterion shouted at the building while standing near the flames of the front door. Grabbing a bundle of burnable material before throwing it to the front door and it quickly catching on fire. “You might want to consider abandoning ship!”

That was when two molotovs broke into the Sergeant's office window and the administration windows. Beginning to get the fire into different rooms of the building and having it burn from the inside.

Then another one of them smashed through a break room window and began setting the bed and materials in that room on fire.

Map Update [+]

Just as swiftly as the molotovs were thrown, the fire doors to the administration wing were swung shut. As well as the fire doors to the squad wing. More fire extinguishers were used on the fire at the front to keep it at bay. And the bunk room was also sprayed down with fire extinguishers.

Glyde narrowed his eyes at the Kairo Boss’ reply, before snapping his head at Krish in his cell. ”He made a mistake. And he's gonna regret it.”

With four officers watching the holding cell door, he entered, watching Krish tied down tight in his chair. They had no use for the bomb, no. But perhaps the Kairo Boss would move at the sounds of death?

Holding his walkie's talk button on, he pulled out his combat knife. And, in one simple motion, he applied pressure to Krish's neck. He cut through the first layer of skin, and then some muscle. Going slow enough so Krish would have the chance to scream, before he was slowly, slowly slit through…

Whatever noises Krish would make were amplified through the megaphone.

Glyde only paused for a moment, holding the listen button, to see if Krish's scream of death would awaken something in the Boss. If not…

Meanwhile, eyes stayed on the remaining exits of the station. There was some shuffling of movement, as soldiers moved something from the armory to the front of the building…

Hearing the man’s scream caused him to close his eyes behind the protective glasses. He could feel the small shaking begin to hit his nervous system. How his adrenaline system was kicking into overdrive hearing Krish scream in pain. “I am sorry,” he whispered out before looking at the men near him. “I know it might be too late but go get June and her team,” he commanded while a group of men did just that. They were heading out to go get June, speeding off in vehicles.

Through his communications, he pressed the button, “Shoot out the windows and fill them with smoke,” and without much time in between that command. Bullets started ripping through all the windows, causing them to shatter, and a few screams, and commotion could be heard from the command. “A few of you go through the west entrance,” he stated.

Asterion walked away from the area and grabbed a molotov for himself as he was scoping out the windows, trying to figure out which one Krish was in, or if he could even hear him in the building. His men were starting to throw molotovs through all the windows and a few of them began to kick the door into the west entrance. Ready to disperse smoke bombs and tear gas.

It was exactly what Glyde wanted. The moment a foreign foot stepped into the corridor of the west entrance, there was a shift of metal on metal, and an eruption of bullets from the battling gun, set up in the middle of the corridor, just outside the armory. It fired down the west hallway, killing foreign men in the corridor and past the door.

And it was to Asterion's disadvantage, shooting through the windows. The only windows that Glyde's men had access to now were the ones by the bunk rooms. Only a single man was shot, crumpled in the hallway.

The kill was reported. Glyde's vision darkened. He gave a long look to Krish, blood trickling from his neck. In that moment, he wanted badly to kill him.

But he wasn't a mobster. Not like the theives here.

So instead, he threw Krish back, retracting his knife as Krish's chair fell backwards. The cell door slammed shut and locked.

Glyde, with his men in the processing room outside the holding cells, formed their next move. Glyde raised his walkie. ”Alpha Plan.”

In that next instant, everything changed around the man wearing the ‘JUMPER’ outfit. He was obviously the one calling the shots. And so, Team Alpha made their move.

Anna, Darian, and Snow phased up through the pavement just behind Asterion's feet. Once on ground level, Darian and Snow became corporeal. Darian created a circular energy shield around the group with Asterion inside, protecting them from enemy fire. Snow, meanwhile, attempted, with the use of surprise on her side, to pull Asterion into a headlock, purposefully staying behind him so he couldn't see her. And she pressed her pistol to his head. Darian too, was facing the men outside the shield, and purposefully avoiding Asterion's gaze.

As Phade disappeared back into the pavement, Snow growled out to the Kairo men surrounding the shield. ”Drop the guns or he gets it!”

Outcome 12 - Fail

Everything happened so quickly but he still tried to reach for his knife. Which was something he couldn’t do when the woman wrapped a single arm around his neck and held a pistol to his head. He chuckled, “They will not listen to you,” his voice sounded amused. His eyes glanced at the pistol that she was holding.

Outcome 7 - Fail

Asterion tried to break loose from her grip but he could only make it so she couldn’t choke him out. That was when his hand reached up to his communications, “Play tag. Do not stop even if they kill me,” he ordered before continuing to struggle with Snow and trying to get her off. Taking off his protective goggles in the process to reveal his eyes. His men continued to focus on the building and they started to throw flash bangs and smoke bombs into the building through the windows.

Then he glanced at the molotov that was in his hands. How the flame was still active. A smirk appeared on his lips, “I hope you enjoy burning,” he used all his force to smash the bottle right under their feet.

”Shit-” Snow cursed, eyes narrowing
The flames caught quick, but Jumper must have not been aware - she had been through hell, and this would be just a flesh wound. She didn't move an inch, keeping herself in the flames as much as Jumper. Perhaps this would cause him to beg instead.

Her free hand moved quickly, pulling out and throwing away his knife and his gun, both which clattered against the shield's inner wall. If he wouldn't call his dogs off, it was no matter. She wasn't a Specialist for no reason.

Spiritual energies twisted and dug into Jumper's brain, attempting to overload him.

(Proof 1 Proof 2 Snow: 17 Asterion: 17
Re-roll
Proof 1 Proof 2 Snow: 15 Asterion: 13)

The energies seized his mind. And, all at once, Asteerion would feel a thousand needles stabbing and twisting into his brain. Setting his brain's nerve endings on fire. Immediate fatigue would overtake him, and he would lose sight of his men, instead seeing visions that were entirely fake.

In the stir, Snow threw Jumper roughly to the ground, away from the flames. She slipped a ziptie around his wrists and fastened them behind his back.

Protected behind the shield, Snow, Darian and Jumper were shielded from the worst of what came next. Appearing perched on two adjacent rooftops, Anna and Sylvia shouldered heavy RPGs on their shoulders. They were fired off and reloaded efficiently and quickly, decimating and tearing apart the crowd of Kairo men in front of the station.

Meanwhile, the smoke was beginning to thicken in the holding area. Glyde clicked his tongue dismissively, before gesturing to one of his men. “Patch Krish up.”

The soldier nodded, and, with three other soldiers taking point, he entered the cell and applied basic first aid to Krish’s neck. Then the cell was shut again.

Zarek showed up with the personnel that helped him cut the electricity to the district. Looking at the chaos going around, his eyes sharpened, “What the actual fuck?” Asterion said this was going to be a surprise attack. This didn’t look like a surprise to him. Then his eyes fell onto a group of men talking near the front door before one tossed something and they all ran. An explosion happened at the front doors and he crouched down a bit just out of reaction. That was when he opened his eyes again and noticed Asterion on the ground being bound.

Outcome 5 - Failure

The man went to use his ability and his hands tingle. Looking down at his hands as if they betrayed him, he should not have gone overboard by shooting his own electricity through the box. He would have to get closer and try again.

“Grenade!” One of the soldiers within cried. Men dove out of the way, but the gattling gun could not be saved. It took the brunt of the attack, knocked off its hinges with the explosion, and out of commission.

”Retreat to the holding area, men. We’ll hold this area while Alpha engages.” Glyde spoke in his walkie. Obediently, the soldiers retreated from the corridor to the holding area, rifles aimed to secure the area.

Varek was one of the men that was near the others when the grenades were thrown — he gestured with his hand while speaking over the communications, “Flood main entrance with smoke bombs,” That was when two canisters were thrown into the entrance and rattled around before spraying off. The smoke began to flood the entrance. This was when one of the groups opened up the west door and tossed a grenade in for good measure plus they didn’t care to keep the police station in one piece.

The skinny man with tattoos was looking at men entering the building, “Hey, dumbasses. Asterion is dying over here,” he hissed out over the communications which got Varek and Elara’s attention.

Elara ran over, “I didn’t even notice,” she called out while trying to break the shield. Her vines wrapped around the shield though nothing changed at all.

“I think your vines are useless in this situation,” Varek caught up.

That was when Varek ordered a group of men to come over. A few of them surround Darian and Snow along with Asterion. Asterion looked like he was seizing from all the damage that his body was going through though the mental pain was way worse than the burns that formed on his legs.

Zarek glanced at the guys, “You four, do you have grenades?” he asked while one shook his head yes. The electric man went over there and held out his hands. The man grabbed a few grenades and tossed three of them at a few guards. Everyone seemed shocked that he was being so loosely with them.

“Pull the pin on my call. You will pull the pin, set it down, and run,” Zarek shook the grenade a little bit.

Elara tensed up, “Stop! That is not a toy, Zarek you can blow us all up!”

Zarek waved her off then went up to the shield, gesturing for the other guys with grenades to do the same.

Varek sighed, “I am putting in for backup. This is going way worse than what we thought it would go. How the hell did that bastard know we were coming? Didn’t Asterion make that deal just last night?”

“Yeah, so the only ones that knew were him and Flint Weathersteel and whoever else was in that room when they spoke. Vale. I think her name was,” she commented.

“Someone sounds jealous. You didn’t care for how Asterion commented on her?”

Elara rolled her eyes, “Shut up,”

That was when Varek grabbed Elara and began pulling her away from the shield. Zarek and the men pulled the grenades and set them down. Zarek bolted away from the shield before the timer of the grenade went off.

”Shi-”

BOOM!

The grenades rattled the ground as smoke and fire went up. And, as the smoke cleared, Darian glared, sweat pouring from his face, as the shield fell, despite his efforts, piece by piece, until it was simple, glowing splinters on the ground.

”Any good news on your end, Specialist?” Darian said in a low whisper to Snow.

Snow's face hardened, ”I'm counting at least two gyfts. You know I have to work with them differently…”

Darian cursed again, staring out at the men that surrounded them, and, slowly, raised his hands. Snow did the same.

Sylvia and Anna watched from the rooftops, and, both disappeared.

Meanwhile, it was chaos in the station. With all his men collected in the holding area, Glyde gave the order.

”Everyone out!”

All personnel that could fit in the two patrol vans sat in the loading bay were loaded up. And, revving the engines, both burst through the garage door at the same time, driving through the fire outside, aiming to escape out of the parking lot and down the street.

That only left Glyde with Krish. And, dutifully, he pulled a grenade from his belt, pulled the pin, and stood there with his hand held out for easy visibility, hand pressed on the lever, begging for a reason to be released. If he was going out, he could at least take his hostage with him. However, that entirely depended on how the Kairo men entered the holding area…

When the vans bursted out of the garage and began to drive away, men began firing at the vehicles, as they continued to go. Having no main goal except for filling the vehicles with lead, if possible, and continuing to do so until they were out of range.

The group of men that went into the building were beginning to scout out through the smoke and slowly moving. Beginning to check rooms.

Zarek covered his ears while his back faced the explosion and Varek held Elara behind him. The explosion went off and the dust stayed up in the air. “Do the men know to be careful? Krish should be in there,” she added.

“By the sounds of that scream, Krish is dead already,” Varek commented.

Zarek glared at Varek and Elara. “Krish is dead?” His eyes instantly teared up. He knew they argued all the time but that wasn’t fair. Krish shouldn’t be dead. Then he glared at Darian and Snow while approaching them, pulling out a gun, and holding it to Snow’s head, “Is Krish alive?” he demanded.

Snow stared up at him, her lips pursing into a thin line.

The men continued to slowly go through different rooms and check in them, the residue of tear gas, smoke grenades, and molotovs in a lot of the rooms and everything destroyed. “FUCKING TELL ME!” Zarek shouted. Krish and him were friends or at least he thought of Krish as a friend. Krish’s opinion didn’t matter in that.

A car pulled up and three guards got out with June and two other medics. June’s eyes seemed unsurprised. She has seen a lot of things being a medic but her eyes faltered when seeing Asterion on the ground but her attention was taken by Zarek who was pointing a gun at one of the individuals heads. This was when Elara uses her vines to restrain the two and keep them captive.

Now restrained, Snow glanced up at Zarek. ”Listen, I'll call it in on my radio. You just gotta activate and put it close to my face.”

Meanwhile, Glyde was starting to feel the residue of tear gas in the air, along with the smoke. At least half of the building was on fire. Despite it all, he didn't weaken in his stance.

”Your man is here! And I am armed!” He said.

And, the vehicles that tried to escape, well, they didn't make it far. Riddled with holes, almost everyone inside died instantly or were slowly bleeding out…

That was when a few of the men went to check in the vehicles to see if there were any survivors. More men went into the building through the broken garage doors. Everyone heard a man call out and state that he was armed with the man — Krish — and that caused the footsteps to stop going closer. Everyone knew that Krish was important to Asterion. How were they supposed to go about this?

Zarek was shaking with anger and he wanted to just shoot her, but he didn’t. He waved for Elara to loosen her vines, “Hurry the fuck up Elara,” he demanded while Elara did what he asked with such an offended face.

“You can ask nicely,” she spat out.

“Krish might be dead. He might not be. I am not asking nicely now stop being a bitch. This is serious,” Zarek grabbed the radio before the vines tightened and almost grabbed his hand with it. The man growled a little while looking at Elara before looking back at Snow, “How can I trust you won’t order to kill him? If he isn’t already dead?”

Asterion gasped out of the hold that Snow once had on him, reaching for his head, and closed his eyes tightly because of the light. It felt like he was having the worst migraine of his life and while his brain was trying to process that. His feet and lower legs felt like they were on fire. It could have been worse if he wasn’t wearing the type of gear that everyone was dressed in. Except it did burn through the mid part of his lower legs and got the fabric to burn down to his ankles. The soles of his shoes were messed up but not enough where his feet were burned into rubber. Thankfully.

June ran over to him, “Oh god. Are you okay? No, you are not okay. That’s a stupid question,” she began as she was trying to analyze Asterion to figure out what she should heal, what she could heal, and what she could even do. Her abilities might have been strong but she wasn’t sure the full extent of what he did to himself or others did to him.

Lying there, he looked pissed, and flopped his head over to see Zarek pointing a gun at Snow with a walkie-talkie in his hand. Elara making sure the vines stayed secure. Varek standing there, uselessly in his opinion, and that was when he tried to get up and June pushed him down. “Hell no. You are not getting up. Keep your ass on that ground,” she demanded.

That little push made him realize the extent of his injuries as he whined out but clenched his jaw to try and not make any noises. Bringing his hand up, it was shaking awfully and uncontrollably. “Fuck. Do not touch me right now. Everything hurts,” he put up his other hand to keep June away from him as if to tell her to stop.

Snow closed her eyes reflexively as Jumper spoke, returning back to himself. She was still hyper aware of the gun still pointed at her. Her voice was even and low. ”You have a gun pointed at me, and he has your man. We are currently even. If Krish is alive, he'll kill him, you'll kill me, Sarge’ll be pissed. I'm not gonna play any games with you.”

Her eyes squinted to peek at Zarek's hand, confirming if he had activated the walkie or not, and waited.

Zarek was negotiating which was something that Asterion did not care for, he vocalized it, “You need to sto —” that was when a gunshot went off. It didn’t hit Snow. It did not hit Darian. June jumped out of her skin. It landed right into Asterion’s lower leg, “Shut the fuck up, Asteiron. You are going to risk his life if you keep on your high horse,” Asterion covered his mouth but the muffled scream could be heard by everyone as his whole body tensed up.

The white-haired man turned the walkie-talkie on, “There you go,” he extended it out to her.

June looked absolutely shocked, “He is already in critical condition,” she shouted at the man.

Zarek glared at June, “And he heals. He’s like a doll. And you heal. Put him back together, how about that? Isn’t that your job? My job is to make sure no one dies on this god forsaken crew and he won’t die from that, June.” June seemed to not know how to react to that. She seemed to tense up and kneel down to try and focus on healing the man or at least make sure he was stable.

Snow heard the click of the button, and spoke, keeping her voice even. ”Sir, it's Specialist Frostfare. I've been compromised, as well as Private Slayton.

“What is the status of the hostage?”

There was a pause, before the walkie crackled. ”Alive. I've got a live grenade. My intention was to take us both out… But if they have you, I can't do shit. Let them know they can come in. There is a grenade that needs to be discharged safely. Then they can collect their man.

“We surrender.”

”Copy, sir.” Snow said, before squinting up at Zarek. ”There's your answer.”

Outcome 16 - June has 34 healing points left.

The woman sat there and put her hands on Asterion, near the sites with the most damage, which was his lower legs. “That hurts…” he growled.

“I know it hurts. What happened anyways?” she asked with a side eye.

“I tried setting myself and Specialist Frostfare on fire,” he was beginning to sit up the more June’s hands glowed.

June looked at him like he was a mad man — which he is — “You are an absolute idiot. You know your legs are going to scar, right? You know when I heal you, your body will not get rid of the scars,” she stated as the bullet wound closed up as well along with forcing the bullet out in the healing process. This made him roll his eyes.

Zarek seemed so relieved that Krish was still alive as if he was relieved in a way that said he didn’t fail or not yet, anyways. “We need to be careful,” he took the walkie-talkie away. “We cannot fully trust this man so we will have to be careful with that live grenade,” Zarek informed Elara and Varek.

That was before he realized Asterion was already going into the building. June sounded out in frustration. Zarek turned on his heels to catch up with the boss. “He’s going to get us all killed,” the silver haired man stated while Varek took over watching Darian and Snow. June stood up awkwardly before issuing her two medics out to see who else might have needed medical attention.

Asterion was in the building and noticed all the men stopped in a hallway, “Out now!” he ordered which everyone looked confused. They began to do so. Move out and away from where he assumed the live grenade was.

Glyde didn't move from his position in front of Krish's holding cell. The grenade felt sweaty in his grip, but he thought of his crew. His grip only tightened, and he stared at the closed door that led into the hallway. Waiting.

Once everyone was out, Zarek showed up, “Get out of the building,” he demanded as he slowly moved to the door where he assumed Krish and Glyde were.

“No,” Zarek replied.

“I am not asking, Zarek. I am telling you. Get out,” his voice was more stern.

Zarek paused for a second before his face showed more of what he wanted to say than he did, “Fine,” he began to move out of the building.

Asterion stood on the other side of that door before lightly knocking, “Glyde, it is me. Asterion. I need you to trust me for five measly minutes. Okay?” The man called out.

Glyde blinked, before his face settled again. The two leaders of their respective factions, here together at the end. How fitting.

”As long as you don't hurt Frostfare and Slayton, I trust you.” He said evenly. ”I'm not making a move. The grenade is in my right hand.”

Asterion opened the door and looked around the smoke filled room. As well as he could. The man was healed to stability but there was an uncomfortable movement in his step. Something was still wrong and it is because he needed his body to fully heal itself which June couldn’t do for him. He wasn’t normal in that regard. “I promise, they are safe and unharmed,” A deep inhale could be heard while he noticed Glyde standing there in front of the holding cell, Krish in it, and this caused him to want to throw up. It was upsetting to see Krish in such a state yet there was no emotion in his eyes to clarify anything.

There was a part of him that wanted to kill Glyde but he knew that he needed to save Krish first — they could always fight another day. Kill each other when Krish was safe. “Do not tense your body,” he stated evenly while keeping his eyes on the grenade.

Asterion got close to Glyde, putting his hand on his upper back and taking the grenade in his other hand but not pulling it away from the man yet. That was when he noticed two options — throw it into the garage where he noticed the door was wide open or throw it into the hall. The man then shoved Glyde really hard into the holding cell, closed the door, and whipped the grenade out the door into the garage instead of rattling around in the garage. It went out into the driveway where… not only some of his men were but Glyde’s men. At least they were not the important ones.

The explosion caused a bunch of noise and a few screams and wails and Asterion stood there holding the door shut. “I hope you know I did not do that out of the kindness of my heart,” He didn’t open the door yet. “Now are you going to behave? Walk out of here willingly or do I have to be ready to put bullets into you?”

Glyde's eyes when wide, before his face contorted, and he punched his cell door. ”You bastard! There was an empty hallway, why!?”

He fumed a little more, before shaking his head. ”I'm a fucking fool, that's for sure. I should have just blown us both up when I had the chance…”

A breath through the nose, a hand wiping over his face. Before he bit out. ”We'll walk. No trouble.”

Asterion looked absolutely offended by Glyde’s comment, “Statistically speaking, the grenade would have come back into the room way more likely than it would have with me throwing it out the garage door. Give me a fucking sob story, Glyde or Sarge. You are alive and all your important people are alive,” the man was so sassy sounding with the man trapped in the holding cell room.

Opening up the door, Asterion ignored the man that could be considered a threat as he grabbed a knife and cut Krish loose without much effort. Hoisting the man up over his shoulder like he was a rag doll. Krish passed out from all the pain he endured earlier. A groan could be heard from Asterion on the weight, his body shifting a bit, and his eyes closing for a second. Putting the knife away. His hands were still shaking erratically. There was a clearness of him being in pain. Asterion glared at Glyde before turning and leaving, not waiting for the man at all, and moving into the hallway.

Glyde didn't say a word, following in step behind Asterion. His eyes were already focused on the door, to where his soldiers were being held, his hope still holding on that they were at least treated better than the personnel.

When they came out, June, Zarek, Varek, and Elara would be standing in front of Snow and Darian who were in Elara’s vines — she did not add any thornes to their captivity either. Asterion walked out with Krish and everyone seemed so relieved while seeing Krish with Asterion. “Is he did?” Elara asked quickly.

“No, he is not dead, and he will not die today. Varek take him and June back to Nickel. June, you know what to do,” Asterion ordered. Varek walked up to Asterion and took Krish from him and gestured for June to leave in the vehicle. Her medics followed as well.

Asterion walked over to the individuals who were captured and smirked, amusingly, “I really like you,” he said to Specialist Frostfare. “Too bad that I cannot keep you like a pet. I do not think you would appreciate it or your boss would,” he chuckled a little.

Snow's face immediately contorted into a scowl, but her eyes remained shut.

“Do not make that face. I am teasing. I do not keep humans as pets,” Asterion rolled his eyes while looking over at Glyde. “Even if I want to,” he admitted. Elara seemed offended, a light pink hue of jealousy crossing her face at such a comment from her boss, but she tried to hide it.

He sighed, “I think you should clear out of Yellowbrick before something worse happens to all three of you. O… and leave everyone else. I have plans for all the others. I had plans for you as well, but I guess I will be nice today. You fought very well,” he glanced at Snow when he said this before looking at Glyde. “Now this area is mine.”

Glyde's eyes narrowed, ”I have a right to know what plans you have for the rest of my men.”

Asterion shook his head, “No, you do not, but you and everyone else will see it on a live broadcasting. It is the price one pays for ever laying a finger on one of mine,” his voice was serious and almost void of emotion when he said this.

Glyde stiffened a bit, but his training had him hide and stuff down his emotions. Asterion meant to kill the remainder of his men, didn't he…?

Glyde glanced at Snow and Darian. Acting out now would only seal their fates. And he wouldn't do that to them.

His eyes shut. ”If you'll unbind them, we'll be on our way.”

“I knew you would understand, thank you,” Asterion gestured and Elara listened. Unbinding them without any hesitation and stepping a few paces away from them just in case. He looked over to the two units and back to Glyde. “And Glyde, you would have made a very big mistake if you killed Krish. I do not have much humanity left and the little bit I have, you almost took away, and that would not hurt me like it would hurt everyone else. I would have not only made you suffer, but everyone else and would have made you watch,” Asterion smiled at the man, grinning, and it showed how far Asterion was gone from regular attachments and human emotions. Something was extremely off with him. How he spoke so casually about things and how his body language and eyes showed an indifference to everything he spoke about.

Glyde stared at Asterion a little longer, before his face grew somber. ”Another cut-throat killer in Nocturnia just makes it colder. Not my business, at the end of the day.”

He nodded to Snow and Darian, who fell in line behind him. ”We'll take our leave, then.”

Asterion stood there and watched Glyde and his two units leave. Glancing at Zarek, “Collect all the living. We need to prepare the broadcasting so everyone can see my face and know that I will not tolerate being fucked with,” he said plainly.

Zarek smirked, “On it,” he went to do what he was told. Gather the men that they still had to go collect all of Glyde’s men who were still alive or slowly suffering to make a point.

There were a few men still alive in the vehicles, the ones who had tried to escape. And there were a number of men in the building, suffering from the smoke or the gas. All in all, they would be easy and no trouble to round up, about twenty men in total.
Another cut-throat killer in Nocturnia makes it colder, he thought about that line again and again before shaking his head in the negative and whispering to himself. “Says the one that kidnapped an innocent man and began to cut his throat,” Asterion had plans to kill Glyde in the future for that but for now… having Yellowbrick would do him good. Now he was just going to have to worry about everyone else in the mixture of business in Nocturnia.

---

Ready! Set! ACTION!

A live feed broadcasting turned on, overtaking all the T.V.s that were on and watching other programs. One could see a taller man, standing proud, and almost an eerie mysteriousness to him. Behind him were men who were all kneeling with their foreheads placed on the ground. No bindings. Nothing to hold them there while a few of them shook from what was stated off camera and others shook from the three men on each side that pointed guns at them. They could not run without consequences. The man stood there and looked at the camera, deadpan, and almost lifeless in a sense. Then a half-crooked smile appeared, “Good afternoon people of Nocturnia,” his voice rang out, evenly, and balanced as if there was no smoke and fire behind him and men being held at gunpoint.

His posture was great, standing tall and proud, though there was something sickly about the way he moved a little bit — was he hurt? Dying? Pushed to the limit of stress? Something was gravely wrong with him but it was hard to tell without being informed of the reason. “Today, I wanted people to learn a lesson. That no one can escape consequences,” his voice was too soothing to a point that it might have made people uncomfortable with how casual he was being.

Stepping to the side, to make way for the men behind him, the ones kneeling in a bow, and gesturing to them, “These men are the current head of Yellowbrick and 93rd which are both mine now. I do apologize for the change in leadership but I promise I will treat the people of these districts with as much respect as I possibly can. If they give me the chance and do not want to cause issues like these men,” he grabbed a hunting knife from a holder on his one side. Revealing the blade to the camera. “And that man cut the throat of one of mine. Now I get to cut the throats of his,” he pointed the knife at the camera with an even smile appearing on his face and a lifelessness in his eyes.

Asterion kneeled behind the first man, grabbed his hair, and made the man’s back arch before slitting his throat and dropping him. Blood was going over where he cut deeply and so easily. There was no hesitation in his form and no hesitation in his actions — he truly did not care about these men. Going to the next man and grabbing him by the hair and yanking him to stand on his knees before slitting his throat. That was when one of the men in the back stood up to run and a crack of a gun firing sounded out. This caused the man to fall to his knees but it was a shot that didn’t kill him, it wounded him, and made it so he couldn’t run away.

The man that was cutting the throats of these men gestured with two fingers and someone off camera came over and grabbed the man that tried to run and dragged him to the side. Forcing him to kneel and watch. Every single man and woman had their throats slit and their blood covered Asterion’s hands. Then there was the last one, the one shot in the leg, and Asterion went over and dragged them out into the middle of dead or struggling bodies before slitting their throats and dropping them with the pile. Going forward towards the camera, his hand and forearms covered in blood, splatters of blood were on his face, neck, and torso. The contrast of red on such pale skin was sickly as he played with the dirty knife. Spinning it in his fingers like it was a toy. “Thank you for watching this video message from the Kairo Empire. We hope everyone understands and cooperates,” he smiled as if he truly enjoyed what happened.

“Remember. Actions have consequences.” he added before the broadcasting cut off.

---

A little more music

---

By the time he stepped into the skyscraper, his body was completely exhausted, but he had no thoughts about lying down and resting. He couldn’t. Going up the maze of stairs and elevators, he found himself higher up in the tower as he walked down a hall. Pain aching through his body but he forced himself to stand tall as his strides took him forward to a double door, he pushed the doors open, and Krish was lying there with closed eyes and looking so beautiful. The monitors he was hooked up to echoing faint noises into the room and that was when he bursted into tears. He couldn’t hold the emotions anymore. A gasp of trying to get his breath struggled in his chest as he walked towards Krish.

Going to the man’s bedside and caressing his cheek gently, “I am sorry. I am so sorry. I should have backed off a little bit and none of that would have happened to you,” June and him had talked over the phone — she was able to heal Krish’s throat so it wouldn’t scar, but she was out of juice. She needed to rest for the night but she was scared that all the smoke that got into his system was going to make it so he would end up getting pneumonia.

Cupping the redhead’s cheeks in his hands, he placed his forehead onto his brothers, and closed his eyes. Tears were getting trapped in his eyelashes as they blinked to push them away and not hold them into his eyes. He couldn’t control his crying. He was terrified that Krish was dead even if he didn’t show that on the battlefield. He couldn’t show that to Glyde or anyone else.

His whole body jumped out of surprise when he felt someone touch him and his eyes opened up to see a shaking hand on his cheek. “We do not negotiate with terrorists,” the man lightly joked before starting to cough a little bit. Trying to hold it back because of how close Asterion was to him. Asterion put a hand over Krish’s and pressed it into his cheek more.

“Would you say that if you were dead?” he plainly asked while his twilight eyes opened and stared down at Krish.

Krish’s eyes were exhausted and tired looking. It was almost as if he wasn’t fully there. He shook his head. “What are the rules?”

We do not talk to cops or cooperate with them.

We never make a promise that we cannot finish.

We do not negotiate with terrorists.

“And the last one?”

“We do not cry over what is to inevitably happen.”

Krish smiled weakly, “Exactly. I didn’t die. Did I? So why are you crying? I didn’t realize you were so emotional,” His voice teased before a hand raised up and he began to cough even harder.

Asterion gave him space as they separated a bit. “Do you need anything?”

“Water would be nice… it hurts to breathe,” his breathing struggled with each inhale and exhale.

“June said you might end up with pneumonia because of all the smoke that was in the building and everything else in it.”

Krish sighed, “We have been in worse situations. A little pneumonia won’t kill me,” he sounded light even if there was pain in his voice and discomfort.

Asterion walked over to a mini fridge and grabbed a bottle of water before cracking it open and helping Krish sit up a little to drink it. “It can,” he argued.

“What if it does? Everyone dies, Asterion,” Krish argued back.

“I do not want you to die. Everyone else can die. You cannot,” Asterion’s eyes sharpened to his friend and claimed brother.

Krish looked up at him and smiled a little, “I can’t make any promises but I will try a little harder not to die. Okay?”

---

In Collaboration with @Estylwen

Front Office, Silverside

Morning, Wednesday, November 2^nd
_{Mentions: Leon || Interactions: messages to Poppy (@evierose), Antonia (@Estylwen)}

---

Following the early morning phone call with Glyde, Adel tossed his phone onto his desk and himself onto a plush leather sofa with a sigh. He had no doubt that today was going to be just as eventful as yesterday. The West side especially was sure to be a shit show. When he'd arrived back last night he was filled in on everything properly, and once again this morning he had a folder's worth of notes to sort through. The most pressing information he'd go over again after his other two early appointments were finished.

The first, meeting up with Matthias FitzClarence to make good on his end of the deal. And, hopefully, get some more business going with the Order. The second... he really didn't even know. After Swift had let him know that she hadn't found anything in Heavy Crossguard (and once more reminded him that if she actually knew what he wanted her to find she could be more help), she'd also brought up the fact she'd met with someone looking for him. A mutant child or something.

He'd told her to send them to the police commissioner instead. Then she happened to mention the stranger's unique circumstances, and curiosity really got the better of him.

Speaking of.

"Anybody made progress on that 'Ig Notus'?" He asked, poking his head out of his office door once he'd summoned the energy to stand back up. He was met with a few shakes of the head. That was alright, he still had time.

Adel didn't like just waiting around, though. It would still be a little while until he met up with the Lodestar, and a while longer until the afternoon news and seeing about whatever Swift had planned. Until then, he went to snatch up his phone again and send out a couple of messages.

I have something of interest for one of your detectives.
Have MacAoidh reach out to me, unless you feel like footing the bill yourself.

The first was to Commissioner Franchesca. It hadn't even been a full 24 hours since they'd spoken, and though he couldn't give her any help on her own personal case yet last night had been a very informative one for Leon MacAoidh's. They'd just have to see if the man would be up for paying for some assistance.

I know you asked me not to look into it, but I couldn't help myself.
Not ruling it out just yet, but I didn't find anything in H. Crossguard.

The second was to Omakase's leader. Poppy would just have to trust him that he hadn't told anyone else about the missing kid. Hopefully this would help her narrow down her own search, as he had no doubt she'd keep looking until the kid was found... one way or the other.

Before a familiar coldness could seep into his skin at the thought, Adel turned his attention to planning out the rest of his day. He didn't get very far before there was a rap on the door frame and Griffon stepped inside. She held a newspaper out to him eagerly. He took it with a raised eyebrow. Right now she looked almost like a kid trying to suck up to a parent - actually, that made sense. They'd had a minor tiff over the whole Cyrus thing once she'd told him what had happened. He couldn't actually be mad at her all things considered, and she found it hard to stay mad with anyone in general.

"Congrats, ya did it boss," she said with a grin. Adel's gaze flicked to the paper's headlines, scanning the multiple big stories. Griffon shimmied closer, letting him know to flip the page and tapping a small little article in the center:

𝚂𝙸𝙻𝚅𝙴𝚁𝚂𝙸𝙳𝙴 𝚂𝚄𝚁𝚅𝙴𝚈𝙴𝙳 '𝙱𝙴𝚂𝚃 𝙿𝙻𝙰𝙲𝙴 𝚃𝙾 𝙻𝙸𝚅𝙴' 𝙸𝙽 𝙽𝙾𝙲𝚃𝚄𝚁𝙽𝙸𝙰.

Adel let out an amused puff of breath. Since when was that a question on the census?

"You know we don't officially run Silverside," he said. Griffon chuckled.

"Sure, alright, whatever. But look - says we got one of the highest standards of living. Best GDP in the city or something. It's definitely 'cause of all the money you pumped into this place."

Now that might actually be true. Ever since moving to Silverside and putting his base of operations there, Adel had invested heavily in the borough. Into businesses, charities, and even criminal elements to keep them docile. He wanted to attract wealth there, and not just his own. If Silverside was filled with the wealthy, it would also be filled with their own security systems. Cameras and guards were everywhere, protecting their employers' assets - and Adel hid in plain sight, just another rich snob with a gallery among them. When every neighbor had hired a miniature militia, the Silver Canary didn't need to worry so much about protecting the entire area. It could protect itself at this point.

"I guess that's something in the news to celebrate, for once."

"Celebrate~?" Griffon's grin turned sly and she turned on her heel, ducking out of Adel's office and shouting, "Boss said he's buying us all sushi tonight!"

A round of cheers echoed even as Adel scrambled after her. "Wh- No!"

---

---

He gave himself that hour.

It was wonderful, but it was not an hour.

Lying on a bed he couldn't sleep in, staring up at the ceiling, his thoughts pointing towards nothing.

But as he daydreamed, a hydra manifested before him, a beast with far more heads than he had limbs. And he could no longer rest. He could only pace. Pace before a wall where a map of Nocturnia laid, a collage of photographs and colored string crisscrossing over all of it until the map itself had become entirely obscured. This was the City of Neon Light, after all. Its colorful hues drowned out even the shape of the buildings and streets, made it impossible to tell the difference between rainfall and blood. Factions, present and past, rattled themselves off in his head, their scattered members reminding him of threats that existed on every corner, every roof, every passing car, every blackened heart.

He wondered, on occasion, whether it'd be a mercy to have a nervous breakdown.

But his Gyft robbed him even of insanity, forcing him to bear with a clear mind the pressure of balancing a tri-branched scale, when the foundation he built was nothing but of hoaxes and delusions, of a promise he could hardly deliver.

It was all he had, Nocturnia.

He could not run away. There was no normal life waiting for him on the other side, not with a head like this.

Military headhunters. Vincent's Sugarcrush. Glyde and his squad. Adel's uncharacteristic charity. Clash's sycophant behavior. Antonio's request. The Commissioner's constant threat. The favor that he owed Cyrus. The ever-present voices of the Order of Enlightenment, demanding their Lodestar guide the way to a paradise within the walls, a utopia of learning and knowledge, where one thought twice before throwing a stone, where the innovation and creativity of the human spirit was not stifled by the demands of crime and punishment, the yoke of capital and servitude.

Matthias looked at his phone. Through a window the size of his palm, he saw beaches and mountains, saw the sun dip below the prairies, saw the white foam of the ocean, saw the Earth from the viewpoint of a bird. Saw meteor showers and eclipses, a sea of stars that forced even heathens to believe in cosmic beauty.

He saw a mother, hugging her PhD graduate of a son.

He swiped to a different app.

"Lenore, gather up your people. We're taking Lougham."

---

Order: W -0.5, Canary: W +0.5
Order: P +3, Antonio: P -3
Del Guarde Assimilated Into The Order of Enlightenment
The Invasion of Lougham Begins

---

Mentions:@Yankee Adel - Canary. Interactions: None



The bar was quiet. Celebrating success so soon would just draw attention. Not that Khor felt any reason to celebrate right now. The morning had been a mess, a needless one at that, and looking to Antonio happily whistling as he moved about his bar only soured Khor’s mood further.

Catching a glare Antonio threw up his arms. “What? It’s a happy day my friend! The new opposition has been put in the ground, with minimal bloodshed to boot. It doesn’t get any better than this.”

Khor tapped their fingers on the bar top. “There were two kids in gun team Clover. Runners. Armed.” Khor’s eyes met Antonio’s. “The two real gunmen say they were there on your order.”

Antonio nodded, still smiling. “That they were. Recent recruitment drive was successful, it’s high time we bolstered our numbers for what’s ahead of us.”

Khor blinked. “One of those kids died. The other, I don’t think he’s going to be the same ever again.”

Antonio almost shrugged at the report. “This life has its risks. We both know that.”

Khor’s head began to bounce. “Yeah, we do. We also know that’s why we don’t send fucking KIDS Antonio!” Fist slamming against the table, Khor now stood.

Antonio stood his ground, his face going neutral, looking almost disappointed. He backed away to retrieve two glasses. Khor sat again, collecting themself as Antonio poured a drink between them. “Those kids made up their own minds. They were given a choice, and they chose to fight for what they believed in.”

Khor rolled their head. “But that’s why we only let them run party favours and messages. Jobs that aren’t going to get those kids killed.”

Antonio raised the glass. “Kids like William? William was on one of those jobs. William got himself killed because he didn’t have the equipment or the training when he decided to fight for what he believed in.” Antonio leaned in, voice low. “Would you deny those kids a fighting chance?”

Khor shrunk back. “It’s still not right. We should just be smugglers, teach people to keep their heads down, how to survive the city without the violence.”

Antonio pushed the drink to Khor. “We both know the violence will come for them though. That the world outside will.”

Khor looked to the drink, contemplated it but went to stand. “I need to think this through, speak to Akir, she can help make sense of this-.”

Antonio interrupted. “Akir doesn’t want to speak to you. You know what she thinks of this.”

Khor deflated, eye’s drifting over the door, hands on the bar chair. All they wanted was her thoughts but after this morning, they couldn’t imagine Akir wanted a bar of them from their last discussion. They slowly slid back onto the bar chair, picked up the drink, watched it swash around as they swirled it, and shot it down in one long gulp.

After pushing the empty glass forward Antonio poured another. “See? Calm the nerves. I know everything is happening quickly, but we can’t stop now.” He finished pouring and pushed the glass forward again. “We’re out of time. We must act. It’s time to take ground.”

Khor tried to shake away the fog in their mind. “What do you mean?”

Antonio’s face lit with a vile grin. “Silverside just became the most prosperous district in Nocturnia. It’s time you crushed the Canary and-.”

Khor stood again. “I’m not a fucking killer. Not… like that at least.”

Antonio laughed. “What the hell makes this any different?”

Khor looked down. “Those guys today? They made a choice. They picked up their guns and came for us. That Canary next door has done nothing but sit in his tower as far as we’re concerned.”

Antonio snorted. “If he was given the chance, I doubt he’d hesitate to pull the trigger.” His voice took on an ethereal tone. “Do what must be done. Kill him and advance our cause”.

Khor’s eyes rested on Antonio, then the drink before them. The glass looked the most tantalizing temptation to ease what would come next. Scrunching their eye’s, blinking the thoughts away Khor tipped the glass over the bar. “Not. How we do things. If the Canary wants a fight, we’ll give him one, but we aren’t killers for the fun of it. No war orders, no recruiting kids, no more nonsense.”

Khor turned to leave, Antonio raised his voice. “What the hell are you planning to do then?”

Khor kept walking. “To have a sit down with the Canary, figure out where we both stand, ask some questions and get some intel like a civilised human being.” Khor exited the door, taking a moment to look back to Antonio before closing it. “This isn’t your crew old man. Get the fuck back in line.”

Slamming the door Antonio’s eye’s glared at the door, threatening to bore through it with his gaze. He snarled and went back to tending his bar. “It’s mine more than you know, little shit.”

---

The morning was crisp, Webb managed to figure out how to make his bed comfortable to sleep in, mainly using blankets and sheets as parts of the hammock.
He managed to get a good amount of food for him before he had headed out back to where he met Swift the other day.
On way. He sent off to Swifts’ phone from his.

He slowly got to the spot they originally met in, his ears twitched gently as he waited and listened to the air.
The little spider-human watched people walk past him in the shadows, tilting his head slightly as his pupils flexed instinctively.

It wasn't much more than a few minutes later that he spotted Swift approaching. This time she used only her eyes to locate Webb, and when she did she offered him a small, plain smile.

"Good morning," she greeted. "Are you ready to go?"

Webb gave Swift a small smile back, giving a small nod to her words.
“Ready.” He replied with a twitch of his mandibles under his lips.

He watched Swift carefully, he hoped what he said the night before was believable enough to not raise any suspicion about everything happening.

But of course, he was dealing with informants. They were suspicious by nature. Even if his story was watertight, it wouldn’t prevent doubt from being cast on it. Still, Swift gave a nod of her own and turned, gesturing with a small wave of her hand for Webb to follow her. She did intend to bring him to see her boss, and if it turned out that the little spider-person was dangerous then her co-worker would simply dispose of him.

It wouldn’t take them very long to get back to the Silver Canary’s offices. The front was part gallery, part studio, with no clues on the exterior that there was an information business behind it… although anyone that needed to know already did. At first Swift stayed quiet while she led Webb through Silverside, but as they drew nearer she suddenly spoke.

“Since you mentioned it yesterday I’ve been wondering. Why is the leader of the Dark Aces hunting you?”

Webb followed quietly, he didn’t feel the need to really say anything as he walked; but he took in his surroundings, trying to add it to his internal map of Nocturnia. He had been around some places of Nocturnia in his time here; but there were still places he hadn’t managed to get to safely.

Webb tilted his head slightly as they got towards the Silver Canary’s Offices; he was surprised it was a gallery-studio for the front, but he didn’t think about it too much as Swifts’ words flooded into his mind.
Huh? He thought quickly before he gave a small shudder, “I uncovered secret.” Webb spoke quietly.

“Midnight Man unhappy what I found.” Webbs’ lower arms were wringing together in fear. “Webb just wishes for calm life.”

"I see."

If Webb did happen to have something on Ezra Blackheart, that would indeed lead to some danger. It would also be a great boon for the canaries though, whatever it was. Assuming that Webb was being truthful. Swift couldn't easily imagine a scenario where someone whose life was endangered by a mafioso -let alone the Midnight Man- would come to someone like the Silver Canary for help. To be honest she wouldn't be surprised if the man sold Webb out. Maybe it was Adel's impartial stance in the never ending war between mafias and city badges in Nocturnia that made him seem like a safe option, though. Or maybe this was all an elaborate set up.

It was hard for Swift not to be pessimistic.

"We're here."

The two of them stepped through the doors. Swift gave a little nod to a woman at the front of the building who stared at Webb with wide eyes. Then she led the spiderling around to a separate cordoned off area. The place was comfortably quiet, although once in the offices proper Webb and Swift were greeted by a boisterous voice.

"This the thing? The... guy?" A woman with short hair and tight black clothes stood before them. She was already a head or two taller than Swift, so she practically towered over Webb. She grinned wolfishly at him. "Huh, weird. Welcome to Silverside little guy. You a troublemaker?"

As they neared the doors, Webb seemed to become a bit twitchy.
“Canary’s know Webb is… Webb, yes?” He asked after a moment, “I do not wish to be killsquished.” There was a soft chuckle from the spider-male, “Others do not like spiders being size of men.”

They entered the doors, Webb gave a weak smile towards the person staring at him before they got to the cordoned off area. Webb relaxed a little before the boisterous voice echoed through the air.

Webb leapt instinctively up to the ceiling at the loud sound, lowing his body against the ceiling as he stared down towards the much, much larger woman.
“No trouble.” Webb said gently, “Friend, promise.” He glanced towards Swift in hopes she would tell him that it would be safe to come down.
“No killsquish please?”

Unfortunately the brunette did not give him any peace of mind beyond a look that she felt a little bad for him.

"I won't kill you or squish you!" The other woman laughed, her hands on her hips. She stared up at the wall crawler. "Well, as long as you really aren't here to cause problems."

Webb watched the two of them carefully before he slowly dropped himself down from the ceiling; using his web as a lay-line before he stood on the ground.
“No here for trouble.” Webb said with a weak smile, “Just for help. Have secrets for Silver Canary.”

Webb looked to Swift, instinctively wondering why she didn’t say anything but she turned back to the taller woman. “Webb.” He moved to offer a hand to shake, tilting his head slightly. “Swift found Webb yesterday, brought here today. Trouble for Webb happen.”

The woman appeared very amused as she took Webb's hand in her strong grip. "Well then Webb. I'm Griffon. Kind of the second line of defense you see. So if you don't want the killsquish just behave and we'll all be friends!"

Dropping the handshake, Griffon looked back at Swift. She then gave the other woman a thumbs up, though Swift only met her colleague with a look of exasperation.

No, this is fine, she thought to herself. Griffon was... a character, for sure, but she wasn't incompetent. If she felt that Webb wasn't a threat then she should trust that.

"Alright," Swift said, stepping closer to the two of them. She pointed to an empty adjacent room. "Wait in there, Webb."

Webbs’ ears pricked up slightly as Griffon spoke, he nodded quickly at her words of behaving.
“No plan to not behave.” He continued before Swift spoke, he looked towards where she was pointing.

Webb gave a nod and moved into the room that he was asked to wait in, looking around quietly.
It was instinct for him to check all new rooms for any ‘informants’, if you will; spiders. It was never a malicious thing to find the spiders and find out if there was anything he needed to know; it was just how he got his main information, if a place was good for living - If his friends needed more food, all of that good stuff.

Yes, he thought of every spider as his friend, even if he knew that if he was their size, they would hunt him for food.
Very warm. He commented on the temperature of the building, it seemed well maintained; so the chances of having spiders here were slim.

But it was never zero.

While he looked for his little friends (and eventually had to conclude that there weren't any to be found in this room), Webb could hear little snippets of conversation from outside the door.

"...o worries. If something hap... ...ould shred him... ...pieces."

"...nfident of tha..."

"I wou... ything happen t... ...oss. You kn..."

"...at about the b...?"

"...timing! This..."

"...hy did you e... ...said to m... omewhere else."

"Wi... ...thing going on... ...oner. Especia... ...Blackheart."

"Swift—"

"...me on! Live a li..."

"...'m trying to do!"

Swift and Griffon's muffled voices were easy enough to pick out, though an unfamiliar third voice eventually joined them - one that sounded near exasperation.

Webb was a little saddened that there were now little critters around the area for him to talk to, remembering what Ezra asked him; plant bugs.
That would be easy for Webb to do, bugs were sneaky when they needed to be - He’d choose things not too out of the ordinary for a house or office in this case; jumping spiders, silverfish, possibly even cellar dweller spiders for something more sneaky…

Sadly Webb didn’t understand that Ezra would have meant bugs as in cameras and microphones; but the little spider-man was simple minded.

His attention returned to reality as he twitched his ears, trying to listen to the words spoken through the wall. He tilted his head to the side, trying to pick up on the words but he could only get little pieces.

Webb flinched when he heard ‘shred him to pieces’, almost wanting to go hide under the table; but that would look bad on him if he did so, so he waited. He was tense, his lower hands gripping onto the table tightly; his little claws digging into the table, leaving little dents.

Finally the door opened, and the man Webb was instructed to meet with was in front of him at last.

The Silver Canary was a thin man, well dressed in fine clothes. His brown hair reached just past his shoulders, but it was tied loosely at the base of his neck. Since his earlier meeting he'd donned a pair of simple but stylish eyeglasses, and his cold brown eyes studied Webb from behind them. He was taller than Swift but shorter than Griffon; and speaking of the women, the latter stepped into the room behind her boss, wiggling her eyebrows at the Spiderling as she shut the door again. Swift was nowhere to be seen.

"You've been looking for me?"

Webb watched as the Silver Canary finally entered the room, his ears pricking up slightly before he moved to rise from his seat, moving to gently offer his hand to shake.
“Webb has secrets.” They started, wanting to make their point rather quickly as to not lengthen more of the fear they felt.

Webb instinctively looked to Griffon, knowing she could crush him with ease; even with his enhanced strength - he couldn’t stop someone just crushing his ribs.

“Was told you can help Webb.” Webb said gently, “Do not wish to interrupt, must be very busy.”
Webb was taking in Adels’ look, he seemed to be a very wealthy man by the way he dressed, but Webb was never one to understand the need of flashy clothing.

Adel didn't reply immediately. He was suspicious - he always was. And this was weird. It was clear to him that something was up, but what it was he couldn't tell. And for some reason, Swift and Griffon thought it would be a good idea to entertain this... person. Clearing Griffon was having fun with it at least. She let the two of them talk, taking a seat in a chair against the far wall and kicking one of her legs over the other. She didn't appear to be hostile, but Webb had heard what she'd said. She was the Silver Canary's office security, and so she was there to secure the room and her boss.

Said boss deigned to keep standing. His posture and body language betrayed nothing to Webb. At the very least, his gaze had softened somewhat. Adel was not good with kids, and he didn't really like dealing with them. Didn't know how to. And to him, Webb looked like some kind of scared spider-kid, who'd probably got caught up in someone else's business.

"It depends on what you need help with," he said, brushing off the comment about being busy.

Webb felt his mandibles twitch under his lips before he was asked what help he needed.
“Webb found, secrets.” They started, looking to Griffon for a moment before looking towards the door for a moment.
He was hoping that Swift would enter as well, she’d be better at explaining everything but he tried to flex his shoulders slightly. “Midnight Man secrets.”

He swallowed, his fear was real; but not from holding secrets from Ezra.
“Midnight Man now after Webb, was told you could help.” Webb moved and pulled out a small envelope, “Webb just want live easy life. No want get in this mess.”
He fidgeted with his spare hands, again; not a lie. He just wanted an easy life where he wasn’t in constant trouble with anyone.

After taking the envelope, Adel didn't hesitate to open it. Inside was a mysterious correspondence, its message typed out in black ink in neat rows. The Canary's eyes read the five sentences, then read them again, then once more. As he did, the woman in the corner sensed tension beginning to radiate off of him. She sat up, confusion set in her brow.

At the moment, Adel believed Webb. He did not put it past Ezra to come after anyone or anything. And if what was written in this note was to be believed...

"Who gave this to you?" he asked, swallowing thickly. It was just an assumption on his part, but he doubted the boy in front of him wrote this out.

“I found.” Webb said with a small nod, “Found while rummaging food; found injured person. Had on them, died on spot.” He drooped his ears slightly before he shivered slightly. “Midnight Man found somehow.”

He moved his arms to hug himself as he almost shrunk into himself slightly, “Not seem he knows where Webb-House is, but… Worried.” he looked to Adel with fear in his eyes. “Just… Just got house, do not want to lose.”
Webb flattened his little fuzzy ears back, “Cannot offer much for safety, only secret.” He said with a small frown, “And strong web-string! Offer strong web-string, good for nets.”

Adel raised one hand to rub at the back of his neck. Man, he really didn't like dealing with kids. How did a spider even pull off a kicked puppy look like that? After a moment he tucked the note back into the envelope, fetched a lighter from his pocket, and set the paper alight. It wouldn't take long for the fire to burn it to ash, and he held it in his hand until the last moment while he spoke.

"I don't really do protection. We aren't soldiers or guardsmen; we're just informants," he explained. "If Blackheart is coming after you, there isn't a lot I could do to stop him."

He couldn't even stop himself from being picked up by the man, as evidenced by yesterday morning's events.

"I can see if I can find you a safe place, but that's about it."

Webb nodded quickly at his words, “Would be very grateful.” He said before he looked to Griffon for a moment, before he looked back to the ash that fell to the floor from the paper.

Admittedly, there was part of him that wanted to see what the secret was, but he wasn’t too phased about the whole thing. He was just glad he was, in a way, accepted.

“If need informant help.” Webb started after a moment, “Good at sneaking, blend to shadows. Many not look up.” He grinned; maybe he could help both sides! Get information for Ezra, and help the Canaries with their work too!

They didn’t seem like bad guys so to say, maybe they wanted to make the city easier too!

Now that took Adel a little off guard. This little guy had allegedly come to him for help, and now was all but asking for a job? On the one hand, having a part-spider person on the payroll did sound like it would be pretty useful. But on the other, this whole thing was way too suspicious.

"I don't think that's a good idea," he said after a moment, his voice carefully neutral.

"Aw, c'mon, he could be our mascot," Griffon chimed in with a chortle. She was still on alert, but she seemed to want to break some tension. Adel closed his eyes briefly to stop himself from rolling them. They did not need a goddamn mascot. The whole point of spying was not to be seen.

When he opened his eyes again, Adel settled his gaze on Webb. Swift had told him that Webb had overheard his name and that he was someone who could help. That was the first strange thing. He'd never heard anyone speak about his business in that sort of context. Webb had said that the Midnight Man was after him because of what was in that envelope, and that he'd found the envelope on a dying man. That was the second strange thing. It was a hell of a thing to coincidentally find, and though it wasn't impossible that the Spiderling could evade Ezra so far it was unlikely, especially if Webb apparently had a home he returned to. The third was how insistent he was. Everything pointed to Webb being someone else's agent, the question was did he even know?

Adel worked his jaw as he thought. At this rate he'd probably smoke through another entire pack, as he'd certainly be indulging his nicotine addiction after this.

"...alright, Webb," he started, the tone of his voice already betraying his next words to Griffon. She blinked in total surprise but wisely didn't interrupt. "I'll put you to work. In return we'll do our best to shield you from Ezra, alright? But that means you'll have to do what I say. And you can't stay in the office overnight."

He would put out a blanket notice to the rest of his men. Keep Webb at arm's length. Treat him like a guest and not a colleague. If he was trying to get access to the Silver Canary's information network, or god forbid about the man himself, he would not succeed. And in the meantime, Adel could find out who had put the boy up to this in the first place. If things went well, he could flip Webb's allegiance - if he was aware of them in the first place.

Webb listened as Adel and Griffon seemed to disagree on him helping them out, his ears pricked up and flattened slightly at the different sides, before Adel spoke again, the spiderling looking immediately back to the Silver Canary.

Webb nodded at his words enthusiastically, “Will do as said.” He agreed before he tilted his head at not staying in the office overnight. “Will leave before sunfall; if make Canary comfortable?” He offered.

Admittedly Webb wouldn’t notice too much if people were told to keep him at arms length; many stayed away from him anyway - Not a lot of people take to a Spider-Humanoid very easily anyway; even if Webb never wanted to cause any trouble or harm.

Having more of a ‘stable’ Job would help Webb pass time, he was happy to be able to at least help someone else; even under the guise of snooping.

"That works," Adel agreed. "I'll let you know when I have something for you. And while you're affiliated with us, if you get into trouble call Griffon for help."

He nodded towards the woman, who stood up at this point. She grinned at Webb once more, then crossed over to Adel and whispered, "you know I was kidding around about hiring him. What the hell, boss? And whatever he gave you--"

Adel tipped his head towards her, murmuring softly, "I'll explain later."

Webb watched as Adel seemed to turn away and talk to Griffon, but he paid no attention to it. He was looking around the room with narrowed eyes for a moment before he waited until he was able to leave.

---

---

Webb got back to his house easily, he collapsed onto his bed-hammock as he shed most of his clothes and clambered into the blankets.

He let out a long sigh before he fumbled to find his phone, realizing he had left it in the pockets of his clothes that were now on the floor. Webb gave a bit of a grumble to himself and moved to spit a web string to grab his shirt back to him.
Stupid clothes. He grumbled mentally before he got his phone and moved to hide in the bundle of blankets and sheets.

It was warm, he needed this. This was comfort; like the silk cocoon that Jumping Spiders make in order to rest when they need to. He moved to start texting.
Hell0. He sent off to Ezra, hesitating after he sent the first message before he continued. Silvr Caneery took sekret. Said I can work 4 them. G00d 2 have time to put bugs.

His stomach grumbled, causing him to look towards the fridge with a bit of a grumble. He did need to eat, but he was so warm. It was the trade off he wasn’t sure he wanted to do currently.

---

Ezra’s phone would buzz after Webbs’ texts came through, a new number.
Someone else was texting him, but who?

Hello Midnight Man, it’s a pleasure to finally be able to text you.
You have some knowledge that I am after.
Do you have time to meet? Preferably somewhere out of sight.
Kind Regards,
The Doctor.

Front Office, Silverside

_{Mentions: Emily, Webb (in passing), Asterion (in passing), Vincent (in passing), Del Guarde|| Interactions: Private Gonzalez (in collaboration with @Estylwen)}

---

As the afternoon wore on, those in the Silver Canary's employ continued to filter in and out of the office. By the time a certain spider had left, there was a skeleton crew remaining as most people left to seek any new pieces of information in and around the city. Adel, Griffon, and Swift remained for the moment.

With the Del Guarde's destruction, any further work Adel might have done for the 'Sarge' wasn't going to happen. At least he'd been paid upfront. Now that he was tasked with looking into Vincent's business, he wanted to prepare a little more. The military was one thing - the Thorned Roses was another entirely. More immediately dangerous, in Adel's expert opinion, so he wouldn't be heading there tonight. The rest of his day would be planning and overseeing his flock, so to speak, if nothing else came up.

Naturally Griffon was tasked with staying put as well. Swift, who'd been listening in outside of the door earlier, joined the pair of them as Adel explained his thought process with Webb. Keep your enemies close, so to speak, or at least keep their strange agents close and let them think they were making progress.

"What about that envelope?" Griffon asked, her arms folded across her chest and her expression serious for once.

"Don't worry about it."

"Like hell. You were pale as a ghost when you read it."

She bristled when it looked like Adel might brush her off again. He wanted to. He had no idea if what he'd read was a joke or a fact, and since he was one to err on the side of caution he treated it as the truth. Which meant there were terrible implications for the city and the people in it.

It also put Adel in a very unique and dangerous position, should that information get out.

He looked from Griffon to Swift, saw the concern on their faces. There was no way he could tell them, or anyone else, about it.

"It was... sensitive information. I'll take care of it, so really - don't worry."

Used to their boss' secrecy, all the two women could do was sigh and accept his words. Griffon scratched at the back of her head. "Alright, fine," she said, leaving the other two to business while she went back to post up in her cozy little desk by the door.

Swift shifted her weight from one foot to the other, dark blue eyes trained on Adel's brown ones. "I sense you have another specific mission for me. Back to Heavy Crossguard...?"

Adel shook his head. He fidgeted with the carton of smokes in his pocket. "No, leave that area be for now. It'll probably become a hotbed soon. This time, I want you to check out Smoke Risers. Try and avoid the Blue Bloods there, I hear they started poking around the place."

The woman grimaced lightly. "I'm not sure I'll be able to, but I'll try. Their captain is..."

She didn't continue, but Adel got the gist of what she was going to say. "If you run into them, I don't think Detective Newport will get rough. She's more pragmatic than that. More than a little crazy, yeah, but she won't turn down the chance to line her pockets."

Which just meant if they had to pay a toll to look around the place, then that's what they'd do. The pair turned to exit the building, one to begin her assignment and the other for a much needed smoke break.

"Be thorough, Swift. Use your gyft, don't leave any stone un-turned."

"Understood. And what is it I'm looking for this time, Mr. Dawson?"

As they passed through the doors, Adel lit up and took a long drag before he answered. "Something big."

---

Gonzalez had been out of the district on reconnaissance when the attack on Yellow Brick came. He had been listening to the radio on his way back when the Kairo broadcast was played, and the sounds of unadulterated screaming of his comrades rang loud and clear over the frequency waves.

The Del Guarde were either finished, or had gone underground. Either way, he had no hope of locating them. And if he approached the Wall, he would be disgraced, likely charged with treason, and executed.

He wouldn't go out like that. So, strangely enough, he started thinking about that Canary that had done him dirty. He sat there in his car for at least a half hour, weighing the pros and cons, before he sighed, turned his car around, and headed to Silverside.

That was when a fake police officer walked into the front doors of Adel's building, hand rubbing the back of his neck.

”Is uh, the big boss in?”

Of course to the regular joes on the Canary's payroll, Gonzalez came off as just a regular Nocturnia badge. Even so, it wasn't often that a beat cop visited - normally Adel would travel to meet with detectives personally. There were only a few people in the office at that moment, and one of them was certainly the big boss, but it wasn't him who greeted the man.

"Who's asking, officer?" The office security person asked as she approached. Griffon was tall and fit, but in contrast to her roll she spoke casually. _{"...wait, I already kind of answered that by calling him officer.} Ahem- why are you asking?"

The man gave a pained smile. ”It's a bit of a complicated situation, I was uh, hoping for a job.”

"Huh?" Griffon blinked. Then she laughed loudly. "It's a regular recruitment fair around here!"

She went to lead the man towards the rear of the building, but Adel met her halfway, intending to see what the noise was about. When he spotted Gonzalez he was caught off guard, a look of plain surprise on his face before he schooled his features back into the unassuming mask he preferred to wear.

"You," he said. "Nothing I got from you helped Kairo take out your squad. If you're looking for revenge or something stupid like that, don't take it up with me."

Gonzalez stared at Adel for a moment, listening to him bark. It did indeed feel familiar.

He straightened his posture and saluted Adel, ”Private Gonzalez, reporting for duty, sir! My squad'd been wiped out and I have no home, sir!”

Before he became at ease, he gave Adel a leveling look. ”I'm sorry my info I gave under duress was no good, but I'm not looking for revenge. It wasn't your fault we got wiped out. And I don't even blame you for shoving me in the back of the car!

“...I'm good with a gun and I can take orders well. Please, put me to work, boss.”

This time Adel couldn't hide how dumbfounded he was by this turn of events. This guy had completely misunderstood what he'd meant when he said the info hadn't helped Kairo, but instead of getting mad he was apologizing?! Off to the side Griffon was doubled over, holding her stomach and failing to suppress wheezes of laughter. She would have removed herself from the situation entirely if her job wasn't to make sure the boss was safe- but hey, maybe she'd have a security buddy now! The thought made her slap a hand over her mouth as not to burst out laughing.

"I... You..." Adel tried, completely at a loss. His brain scrambled to catch up with everything. He recalled that Gonzalez had family outside of Nocturnia that he could get home to, if only he survived, and with Kairo decimating all of Del Guarde and Glyde MIA maybe the man's best bet really was to stick with the Canaries. Especially now that Adel had Glyde's military contacts.

"...fuck, fine," he said eventually, coughing to clear his throat as he quickly put himself back together. He might have thought differently if his morning and afternoon hadn't been one shock after the other already. Adel jabbed a finger towards Gonzalez. "Newbies don't get to crash at the office. Go find a hotel and report back here in the morning."

Gonzalez's face lit up a bit, and he saluted once more, ”On it, sir!” Before he turned heel and exited the building, hope already putting a little skip in his step.

Glade turned around to the Midnight Man, sitting in his kitchen - at his table, as if he hadn’t just walked into his place without invitation.

He bit his tongue on swearing out loud, and he could feel Bard rumble at the back of his head; but the meds were working and keeping him under wraps, at least.

”That admittedly sounds like something I would do.” Glade admitted when Ezra mentioned that he had left the door open, he came inside pretty hastily.

His eyes moved down to the cups of coffee and muffins, he was surprised he had clean cups to serve coffee in in the first place but he gave a small sigh outwards.

”I’m… technically not a psychotic.” He spoke outwards as he moved to sit across from Ezra at his table, he wasn’t sure how to explain Bard and everything, nor did he really want to give up one of his biggest secrets.

”A job hm?” He asked before he nodded once gently, ”I won’t turn down an ability to get money at the moment. Plus if you’re offering breakfast, I can’t really refuse.”

Not with how bad my bread is right now. He thought to himself tiredly, Not having to pay to eat sounds good…

Ezra's fluorescent eye curled up at that, and he gestured to the food. [color=lightgray]”Why don't you take a few bites then, and I'll… explain, what I'm looking for.”[color]

As Glade would begin to settle, Ezra leaned forward in his seat, gloved hands interlocking as they rested on the table.

”I'm aware of your talents. I'm also aware of your gyft.

“I have a gig for you tonight. However, you'll be hooked up with a Bluetooth device. While you perform, I also want you to look through the CCTV you'll be connected to, and see if you can find any secrets for me. And you'll dine in respectable company, of course.

“Does… $20,000 (2 Wealth) for the whole job sound fair?”

Glade reached for one of the muffins as Ezra started speaking again, taking a bite as he started to explain what he wanted. He took a sip of the black coffee and winced slightly; he admittedly was never used to black coffee.

”20k?” Glade almost choked on the final bite as Ezra offered the payment for the job. He was surprised that he knew about his Gyft, but didn’t question it at this point, he was still baffled by the offer.

”That… That’s much more than an over-payment for a gig, honestly.” Glade offered with a small chuckle, ”But with the added need to look through the CCTV, I can definitely give it a go.” He paused for a moment, ”Will the CCTV contain sound as well? It will be a bit harder for me to perform while looking, but admittedly I have done it before.”

Ezra nodded, ”Yes, there would be sound. And the fact you've done it before makes you the perfect man for the job.”

He pulled at the inside of his suit jacket, procuring a cheque book and a pen. The sound of a pen scratching paper suffused the room momentarily before Ezra tore off the page and pushed it across the table to Glade.

”Ten thousand now, ten thousand when the job is complete. I’ll expect you to be dressed in your finest for the Golden Palace later this evening. I'll have a limousine pick you up at 5:45 PM.”

The Golden Palace. Just to get a reservation to the place was at least three months booking in advance. Not to mention the extravagant prices.

Ezra stood, adjusting his cuff before eying the table. ”You are welcome to my helping as well. A little extra coffee is good for the mind, after all.”

He placed his card on the table. ”If you need anything meanwhile, that's my number. Good day.”

And with that, Ezra opened Glade's front door and stepped out, shutting it softly behind him.

Ezra left, Glade sat at the table still half in shock. His eyes moved back to the muffins as his stomach rumbled. He looked at the cheque, he’d be able to cash it quickly and get some things for the house and himself with this money.
Gods, even another good month or two's prescription to keep Bard down until he was needed. Fuck, things were going good…

---

After the battle at Yellow Brick had concluded, perhaps some time in the afternoon, a letter embossed in gold leaf and perfumed with Versace was delivered to the receptionist at the Kairo Skyscraper.

”Please see this reaches Mr. Kairo.” The well-dressed and well-meaning courier would say before they left back out the door.

The contents within the letter were hand-penned in elegant cursive one would expect to see in Pride and Prejudice.

Mr. Kairo,

May I extend my most sincere congratulations on your victory today. Your thirst for power has caught my eye, and I feel that we might be able to benefit each other.

I would invite you to dinner, the Golden Palace, at the edge of your Nickel district. I will provide the entertainment and the company. You're welcome to bring a plus one.

See you at 6:30 PM.

~ The Dark Aces

Reading that letter along with Juniper already harassing him about going out was unsettling. The Dark Aces were clearly watching him and he was wondering why. A clear statement of his thirst for power but there had to be other reasons. There was always another reason in the equation of why’s.

He couldn’t bring Krish and he doubted the man would want to go — getting dressed up was not that ex-street kids thing. He thought about Varek but he knew Varek was usually busy and he was pretty sure the man had a big family of sorts. Always something going on so he didn't bother him. Elara would think it was a date or something more and he didn’t want to lead the poor girl on. That left Zarek and Juniper for the most part — Zarek instantly said no. He was not interested in going somewhere fancy or somewhere at all that night. Juniper had been begging all day so he caved in. “Let us go to the Golden Palace, we have an invitation with another district leader,” He showed her the letter.

---

At approximately forty-five minutes to six, a limousine was parked outside Glade’s apartment. The chauffeur stepped out, buzzing Glade's suite number. He would wait patiently for Glade to arrive, and then open the back passenger door for him.

Glade was still flabbergasted on the entire thing happening, he was in his dingy bathroom as he fixed up his hair and his clothes.
The money Ezra gave him got him a better set of attire for the Golden Palace, he couldn’t show up in his normal raggedy gear that he normally worked in! Not for something like this, this was big.

He donned a dark blue suit shirt, covered up by a smart looking light grey vest; he had his guitar over his shoulder as gelled his hair and got ready. He breathed out slowly, this was insane. Not just going to the fucking Golden Palace, but working for the Midnight Man?

He could feel Bard chuckling in the back of his head at the mere idea, the Midnight Man was known all across Nocturnia, and if he wanted Glade to stir up some trouble, then Bard would be more than happy to let him do so.

Glade leaned down to fix his shiny dark blue shoes and cover the tops of them with his black suit pants. He pulled himself up from the leaning position and looked at himself in the mirror. He hadn’t been cleaned up like this for a while, but dayam he was feeling good looking.
He couldn’t help but grin to himself before his door buzzed.
Shit, that time already?
You spent all day shopping, idiot.
Fuck off, we have a full fridge and pantry currently, AND new digs! You can’t complain about that!
Hopefully blood will be easy to wash off these ones then, hm?
Suck a dick.

He moved to the door, smiling softly to the Chauffeur as he was led to the car, hopping in to the seat offered to him and placing his guitar beside him.
“I can’t believe this is happening.” Glade spoke, unable to stop himself from saying it out loud. He could hear Bard laughing slightly at his words.
Once in a lifetime, don’t fuck it up kiddo.
Oh shut it, Just don’t try anything tonight.
Unless we run into trouble, then you’ll plead for me to take control, right? Hah, I’ll be on my ‘best’ behavior.

”Mm, yes, it's the big leagues, isn't it?” Said a sweet, melodic voice from across the car floor.

The limousine back had the seats facing each other. So, it wasn't entirely impossible for Glade to miss noticing a woman relaxing on the seat opposite of him. In the low light, it was possible to see that her skin sparkled, and her dress was incredibly high-class, with a long trail that she had collected to the side of her high-heeled feet. The fur scarf and fascinator hat further added to her look. She smiled as she looked at him.

”My name is Ayla Sephone, I will be working with you tonight.”

She leaned over, handing him a small black device with a tiny blinking blue light.

”Put this in your pocket. Tapping into this with your gyft will connect you to the site we want you to scan. Don't start until we have our guest well and relaxed - it is uncertain whether their system can detect… anomalies.”

Glade flinched when Ayla spoke, “Holy fuck-” He caught himself before he breathed out slowly, “Sorry, I wasn’t expecting anyone else in here.” He smiled sheepishly.
Holy shit she’s Sparkly.
Hopefully she’s not gonna try and take your blood. Bard added onto his thoughts with a soft chuckle, Glade glanced to the window with furrowed brows to see Bard grinning back at him as his reflection.
You’re a fucking idiot.
I came from your head, I know what you read growing up. He winked from the reflection before Glade gave a heavy sigh and looked back towards Alaya.

“I don’t believe we’ve been acquainted.” Glade said gently, offering her his hand to shake, “Glade Brey, it’s a pleasure.”

She gave him a gentle but substantial handshake back, ”Charmed, Mr. Brey.”

He hesitated for a moment, “And I guess if you meet him, the other guy is Bard. He’s a psychopath when he wants to be, but he’s generally tolerable.” He gave a laugh, “He won’t be here unless we run into trouble.”

He took the little device that the woman handed to him, looking it over with a slight raise of his eyebrow before he nodded with a smile. “Cool. I’ve only done bluetooth tapping once in the past, it’ll be interesting to do it again.” He admitted with a grin, “I assume that Ezra has told you everything he knows about me?”

Ayla nodded smoothly, ”I know enough, and don't worry, your talents are a secret on these fastened lips.”

He raised an eyebrow as he looked up towards Ayla, “You have impeccable tastes in shiny things, by the way.” He said with a smile, “Whoever does your wardrobe may need to get ready for me to come pester them for some deals on some work clothes.”
Fucking Magpie
We like to be flashy! It catches attention!
And the crystal collection that you refuse to sell to get more money then?
...No comment.

There was a small smile on Ayla's face, as if she was touched. ”I have an in-house stylist. When our evening is complete, I'll give you their contacts.”

Ayla leaned a little forward in her seat, as if she was about to tell Glade a secret. ”I know you're a natural, but tonight, the more relaxed and ‘in your skin’ you are, the more successful we will be.

“And I hope you don't catch star-struck-ness easily. Our guest we'll be entertaining tonight is none other than the Asterion Kairo.

“So, when you’re looking through his Kairo Skyscraper via the device, any hints you glean into his affairs would be… most delightful.”

Glade winced slightly as Ayla leaned towards him but nodded as she spoke. “Relaxed, I can do that.” He said with a small smile, “I’m not too nervous about things at the moment, I’m well dressed, Ezra gave me some cash up front so I was able to stock my house full of food.”

He leaned back into his seat as he was finished saying his sentence, “I don’t think I’ve been ‘In my Skin’ as much as I have been now really.” He looked at her as she spoke about the guest they were entertaining.
He raised an eyebrow as he let out a bit of a whistle, “Mr. Kairo? Wow, I’ll have to pull out the good songs then.” He gave a bit of a cocky grin.

“Normally I do originals, but since Mr. Kairo hasn’t asked for any specific secrets from anyone else, I might have to rely on covers. But I’m sure no one will really mind that, will they?” he asked, “Unless, of course there’s something that Ezra wants me to sing about?”

Ayla softly shook her head, leaning back in her seat. ”He would have had a busy day. Love songs, anything sweet and down tempo. Those will do the trick.”

---

Ah, yes. The Golden Palace. One of not just Nickel's gems, but Nocturnia's, attracting people from all over the city.

As the time wound to 6:30 PM, the restaurant, with its refined air and posh atmosphere, waited for its star guests of the evening.

It took about three hours to talk Asterion into going out and another two or three hours before they would actually get to the Golden Palace though they still arrived on time, at least the stated time the letter had. The man wanted to stay curled up and hidden in his penthouse at the top of the tower but Juniper would not leave him the hell alone. It was about half an hour of ignoring the woman until she got too annoying, then about an hour of arguing with each other on why or [/i]why not[/i] about going out, before getting into more pleasant conversations and Asterion agreeing to go out.

“I am so glad you said yes. You need to get out more,” Juniper was excited that Asterion agreed even if he wasn’t feeling well or one-hundred-percent. “Plus, I have wanted to wear this dress since my mother gifted it to me but it is too fancy for most things,” she continued to talk while they walked by each other. Her dress was green velvet and mesh fabrics.

Asterion glanced, “You look very pretty in that dress,” the tone of his voice sounded slightly tired along with hints of pain under the surface. After the raid of Yellowbrick, he was out of energy, and he truly did not want to do anything else. He didn’t want to come out in public and play pretend… he sighed while walking through the doors with Juniper. Being greeted by someone who instantly knew it was him and leading them to a table. He tried matching Juniper the best he could with his suit though he had nothing that hit the spot. She seemed happy that he was at least coming out and she was surprised he got dressed up for it — June truly didn’t think he would do much.

Pulling out her chair and letting her sit down, he pushed her chair in so she could sit at the table properly, and he sat on the other side. A table for four, interestingly. They were also located on the second floor, overlooking the ground floor and the round stage below.

The waitress came by quite quickly and asked if they wanted anything to drink and any appetizers while setting down waters for the both of them.

“Do you have any Hundred Acre Ark Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon?” he casually asked while gently smiling at the waitress. The woman nodded and wrote it down on her pad before looking at June who seemed surprised, overwhelmed, and unsure. “Thank you, I will just have water,” she quickly said.

Asterion rolled his eyes, “The bottle of wine will be fine, thank you,” the waitress smiled then left them to their own doings. He glanced over to June and chuckled slightly, “You wanted to go out so badly but you seem so starstruck,” he teased.

“I didn’t know we would be coming here,” she whispered a little bit aggressively. “It is nice to wear this dress and it is nice to get you out of your cave but now that I am here. I feel like a fake. Like I am dressing up for Halloween except with higher stakes and everyone knows I shouldn’t be wearing this dress or sitting here,” she admitted her anxiety.

He shook his head negatively while looking around the restaurant, “You have every right to be wearing that dress and sitting here as everyone else in this place has. Stop worrying and just relax,” his eyes went to look around before getting distracted by June again.

“I feel like a fake though,” she kept her voice low.

Asterion’s dark eyes glanced over to her, “Just tell people you are a prostitute and you wanted a fun time,” he joked which caused Juniper’s face to twist and redden.

“That is not funny, Asterion. Do not say that, someone could hear you,” she was trying to keep her voice low as he chuckled while looking around. Nothing was looking off balance or out of the ordinary for the Golden Palace. He was scanning for assassins or other dangerous situations.

”Yes, someone could.” Said a soft voice with a humorous lilt.

From their left side, coming up the spiral staircase was a waitress guiding the third guest of the night: a woman with skin like diamonds and a flowing mermaid dress where, interestingly, the greens matched those of Asterion's and June's.

The woman took a seat opposite of June, adjacent to Asterion. She adjusted her trailing dress so it was tucked neatly to the side, and pulled her fur scarf a little closer as it lay around her arms, smiling softly.

”You’ll have to excuse our fourth guest. They will be performing tonight before they join us.”

Then she raised a little out of her seat, extending a hand to Asterion. ”Ayla Sephone, I'm honoured to meet you in person.”

Asterion seemed to side eye the woman when she sat down adjacent to him — he didn’t care for it but he said nothing — his eyes glanced over to June who seemed a little nervous. Then he looked back at the unfamiliar woman, “Hopefully, they do not take too long, because I am not planning on being here all night.”

His twilight eyes looked down at her hand before reaching out with his own that was gloved at the moment with brown leather gloves. He shook her hand with a pleasant squeeze, “Asterion Kairo.” Sadly, he could not say the same for her or the fourth guest. There was no understanding of this meeting except for the desire to meet and the possible interest.

Ayla turned to June, her eyes gracing up and down her features. ”And who is the lovely lady you've brought with you tonight?”

June glanced at Asterion as if she was asking for permission to speak before he let gentle curls shape a faint smile and she looked back at the woman, “Juniper, but you can call me June. Like everyone else does,” she smiled almost shyly. It was odd being out of her element — the medical field.

The waitress returned with the bottle of Hundred Acre wine, resting in a wide vase of ice. It was placed gently on the table. And, with the upside down wine glasses already set on the table, Asterion had everything he would need to enjoy.

The waitress turned to Ayla, pen and pad at the ready. ”Macallan Speymalt, please. The bottle.”

The waitress nodded, turned, and left, leaving the table to enjoy the luxurious atmosphere. Ayla turned her head slightly, sparkles glinting across her cheeks as she appraised Asterion.

”I appreciate you meeting with me on such short notice. I understand you've had a, let's say, busy day.”

“Mhm…” the broadcasting might have alerted everyone of how busy a day the man had. Only hours ago, he was covered in blood, and brutally executing people on a live broadcast that overtook the T.V. stations people were watching because he wanted to make a point. Now, he was sitting here, freshened up, and looking like he never committed a war crime in his life. He was not in the mood to socialize or talk very much. The day had put him into a difficult situation personally and impersonally.

Before her attention turned to June. ”Now, what is you do for work? Unless you're here as Mr. Kairo's eye candy for the evening?” She said, softly teasing.

The darker woman shrugged, “I am a doctor, a lead medic at the clinics in the Nickel district,” she sounded way more confident and less shy when she was talking about her profession.

Ayla nodded. ”Impressive. You lead a noble life, Miss June.”

Asterion glanced at Juniper because he did hint that he wasn’t sure who they were speaking with or why. That she needed to be careful about answering questions and giving too much away though he said nothing about that now. Glancing at the woman, “And what do you do?”

An intrigued glint shone in Ayla's eyes, and she nodded, prepared to respond. She, however, heard the soft footsteps of the waitress returning, and fell into silence, merely smiling as her bottle was brought. It was a beautiful amber color, with a crystal whiskey glass to go with it.

”Are you ready to order, sir and madams?” The waitress asked.

Ayla turned her head up, nodding, ”I believe we are. Our fourth guest will have the steak. I'll take today’s soup. And, you two?” Her head turned to Asterion and June.

The man glanced at June who smiled and looked at the waitress, “I will have the house salad with grilled chicken, please,” she looked at Asterion who seemed disinterested in everything. His eyes moved to the waitresses face who was smiling and his own was plain and expressionless, “I will not be eating tonight, thank you,” he lost his appetite when he was joined at the table by a stranger that wanted to do the fake appraisals and talk business. This caused June to frown. Ayla tilted her head, before she canceled her own order.

The waitress nodded, and withdrew. In the moderate silence that followed, Ayla opened her bottle and poured out a bit of liquid honey in her glass. The aroma was rich with notes of brown sugar.

She swirled the viscous liquid in her glass before glancing back at Asterion. ”Yes, where are my manners. I am the Midnight Man's consigliere, I work closely with him in endeavors that could prove… profitable, to the business.”

She raised her glass gently. ”A toast! To your good fortune, and to a profitable evening.”

Asterion was beginning to feel like he was in a mood and he stared at the woman as she raised her glass and requested a toast. “We have different opinions about good fortune, I will politely decline toasting over such events. It was a tragedy more than anything,” the man looked away while looking over the lip and down at the stage. To the performer, specifically the individual who he assumed was the fourth guest of the night.

“I’m sorry about him. He didn’t really want to come out at all,” June forced a light smile before looking over to Asterion who seemed lost in space. The music was not really his thing so his eyes ended up going other places in the restaurant.

”Understandable.” Ayla said smoothly, before her eyes turned to the stage.

The lights dimmed, and a spotlight was shone on the stage below. The performance was about to start…

Glade had used the extra time to get properly ready as he ruffled a hand through his hair before he stepped out onto the stage, the little device hidden away in his suits inner pocket - He was glad he decided on getting that, he was originally gonna have it for smokes or his pills, but it was coming in handy even more.

Ready? Bard asked quietly in Glade’s head as the lights started to dim as he stepped out on stage before the spotlight shone down on him.
As ready as I ever am. He thought back, giving a small smile to the scene in front of him, moving his hand away from the neck of the guitar to grab the mic stand.

”It’s a Pleasure to see all of you here at the Golden palace tonight! I am Glade Brey, and I am extremely happy to be entertaining everyone tonight.” He spoke into the mic carefully, shifting his voice into his stage voice; it was softer, calmer and more suave than the voice that Ayla had heard from in the car.

”I just wanted to remind you guys, while the shows’ going on; I’ll unlikely hear you guys, so any requests will have to be after the main performance!” He spoke, his usual explanation to when he was using his powers, it definitely kept his Gyft on the downlow unless someone knew what he could do, but he kept his Gyft hidden for the most part.

He moved his hand away from the Mic as he started to strum his guitar, using his feet to press the buttons on the sound system to get the rhythm in from the other instruments he had recorded before. He was proud of what he was able to do to be his ‘one man’ band.
Love songs. He reminded himself as he strummed his starting song, it wasn’t a love song, but he knew that everyone loved it.

Glade closed his eyes and breathed in for a moment, clearing his mind as he started to strum a bit more; starting his first song.

It was a warm up song for Glade, but it did hold a bit of truth behind the lyrics. He waited until he was in the first verse before he tapped into the bluetooth system in his pocket, his eyes glimmering an electric blue for a moment; but he had special contacts in so most couldn’t see it happen unless they were properly looking for something like this.

His eyesight darkened slowly, before opening up to the camera feed he was hooked up into. It was a strange feeling, being away from his body like this. He admitted to himself he was happy to have a ‘co-pilot’ in his body when he used this gyft of his, Bard knew all of the cords, lyrics and everything needed to perform while he was watching the cameras; but of course Bard couldn’t see or hear while he was in control when watching either, but he knew the ins and outs of Glade’s body.

One of the first things that Glade would have been able to see was the entrance cameras to the Kairo Skyscraper — Mitzie was at the desk. She smiled and waved to two individuals who were walking in. Voices were lower on the security recordings but if one focused in they could definitely hear the majority of what would be said. “Hello you two! Welcome back!”

Elara smiled, “Thank you, Mitzie,” and the man she was with, a blonde who had a better physique than most. Varek. They walked through the public area before entering a stairwell which had no recordings in it. Though a few floors up, he would have noticed them come out of a door. The woman’s hands moved as she spoke, “[color=ffffff]I think Flint Weathersteel, the man Asterion met with the other night, he set us up, he had to, because who else would have been able to say anything? Asterion’s plans were all last minute, made after ten that night, and somehow by noon — Glyde was ready and knew we were coming? Plus, he captured Krish and almost killed him. There is no way we are not being double crossed by that man and his crew,[/cololor]” she was bitching up a storm to Varek as Varek nodded and stayed silent for the most part.

“I do not know Flint Weathersteal and I don’t know what they talked about, but I can’t say for sure that he set us up or not. If he did, Asterion will find out, and he will pay for it, but I doubt the man did. Maybe Glyde got Krish to talk. They probably tortured him all night,” Varek explained as they continued to walk down the hall.

Glade felt his eyebrows raised as he moved through his songs, he tried his best to focus on the words being said through the cameras.

He did his best to remember everything said, moving to finish his final song; he usually finished off with a much softer song than this one, but he was feeling a bit spicy tonight, and he needed a bit more time to get the last bits of information he needed.

This is weird.
You’re telling me.
You think they’ll give us food for performing?
I could only hope so, I’m starving.

Glade wasn’t sure about any of the names he was hearing, he understood Asterions name of course; but this ‘Glyde’ and ‘Krish’ were people he didn’t know.

During the last song, more secrets were uncovered.

The more that Glade would have looked around, the more he would have seen. He would have noticed workers that looked more like scientists entering an elevator on what appeared to be a higher floor but unsure how high of a floor and they seemed to be going down instead of up. They were talking about something though their voices were so low that one could possibly only make out something that included Asterion’s name and whatever “state” he was in.

Elara would have separated from Varek, she would have gone to a floor and a double door before opening it. It looked like a comfortable room that was fashioned into a private hospital. Through the double door opening and closing, one would see a man who was asleep in a bed with long red hair. He looked like he had a rough time. Bandages were around his body, padding in certain places to keep him comfortable, the echoing sounds of monitors recording his vitals could be heard, and he was definitely in recovery — “Are you awake, Krish?” Elara called out before the door closed.

Another group of people would be able to be seen hanging out in a common area on one of the floors of the Kairo Skyscraper talking about a “broken” gatling gun. How they were all curious and wondering what the Kairo Empire would do with it. Someone jokingly said the science nerds would probably rise up and take them all out.

Earlier in the day, Asterion would have come back from the invasion, talking on the phone with someone. Keeping his voice low and almost soundless. He would have entered another elevator than Varek and Elara did — getting to the same place in the end. Ending up walking up to those two double doors and opening them up. Asterion wouldn’t have been able to control his emotions at all and would have begun sobbing seeing Krish in such a state and knowing he was stable before going into the room.

The night before, Glade would notice two fancily dressed individuals showing up to Kairo Skyscraper a little before ten in the evening and being greeted by Mitzie. They would have been led to another elevator which would have taken them into a stairwell before taking them to another elevator before they disappeared for a while. He would have noticed that a younger woman would have been escorted to the same hallway and elevator by Elara before they returned her to an unknown floor after a while. Then he would have noticed the two fancy guests leaving.
An hour or so after those guests, a woman wearing very selective clothing had shown up, and talked to Mitzie — introducing herself as “Emilia” — and a quick conversation on the phone got the woman to go up an elevator, the same one Elara and Varek took when talking about Flint Weathersteel, and she went into the same placed for the most part before disappearing for hours before being led out somewhere else by Asterion himself. They continued to have flirtatious banter and talk to each other.

Shit, this is a lot Glade thought to himself, he wondered if the bluetooth device would record what he saw as well, but he knew he’d be able to get most of what he saw out when asked about it.
He couldn’t help but feel a bit sorry for Asterion, he seemed so hurt by seeing this person injured like he was. Why was there a hospital in the building like that?
Did they have permission to do stuff like that?

Fuck, did they need permission for that?

The scientists, what were they there for? Shit, what kind of operation was Asterion working?
Fuck, what was he getting himself into?

As the performance concluded, Ayla gave a standing ovation, clapping her hands delicately. The room was in a roar - the audience was thoroughly impressed.

After a few moments, she waved down a waitress and gestured to the stage. As Glade would head to the back of the stage, the same waitress would find him. When he was ready, she would guide him to Ayla, Asterion, and June on the second floor.

Glade gave a heavy sigh as he finally got off stage, disconnecting from the Bluetooth Device and almost slumped onto the nearby couch, before he spotted the waitress out of the corner of his eyes.
Oh, Food! Bard said as Glade rolled his eyes and moved to put his guitar down, taking off his gloves as well.

Glade followed the waitress without question, his stomach giving a soft rumble as he walked past everyone's tables with food before he was offered a seat where Ayla, Asterion and June were.
“Good evening, fine ones.” He said with a bit of a grin before he turned his attention to Ayla for a moment and gave her a silent ‘thank you’ for the standing ovation.

The musician turned his attention back to the ‘main event’, giving a soft smile towards June before he offered his hand towards the two of them.
“A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mr. Kairo.” He said gently, bowing his head before he looked to June with a small smile, “And I don’t believe I’ve met you, young Miss. My name is Glade Brey.” He moved to offer his hand after Asterion would finish shaking his.

Ask if we’re getting food.
We have to do formalities first!
I hate you.
Ditto Bard, Ditto.

Asterion glanced at the man that was on the stage that was now before him — holding out a hand — and an exhausted sigh of understanding came from him. June shook Glade’s hand first with a pleasant smile before Asterion shook the man’s hand as well. His twilight blue eyes wandered over to June as she was the focus. She smiled slightly awkwardly, “I am June, a doctor,” she added. “It is a pleasure to meet you, Mister Brey.”

“What pleasures bring me into your interest tonight? That question is for the both of you,” he spoke casually while glancing at Glade and Ayla. “Requesting a last minute dinner definitely has my interest but that attention span is very short tonight,” and it was because he barely could think straight. His mind kept going to Krish being in the hospital bed in the Kairo Skyscraper and everything else that was going on. His eyes glanced at the duo again.

Ayla nodded, gesturing for Glade to take his seat across from June. Before Ayla could get into the details, however, dinner was served. A waitress set down steaming chicken salad for June and a steak for Glade. That left Asterion and Ayla to talk business empty-stomached.

Asterion held up his hand for Ayla and Glade to be quiet for a moment as he grabbed onto the waitresses wrist before she walked away. June was too polite to say anything. “That is not what she ordered,” he stated while the waitress seemed to move back towards the table.

June seemed instantly flustered, “Oh, no, it’s fine! It’s perfect,” she began to protest.
His eyes sharpened, “I will pay for this one and the next one you bring out. Bring her out a grilled chicken salad,” the man’s voice was stern as he let go of the waitress. The waitress nodded, wrote it down, and scurried away. He watched as she went away before lowering his hand and looking over at Ayla.

Ayla didn't delay, once the waitress left. [b][color=lightgreen]”The Dark Aces specializes in technological solutions for the modern man's problems. We would like to offer you a sample of one of those technological solutions, an EMP that causes gyft-users to fall unconscious.[/b][/color]

“We also had a target in mind for you…”

Ayla tapped the table, as if visualizing a map of Nocturnia.

”We would like you to use it in your take-over of Riverbend.”

Already expecting resistance, Ayla gave a soft smile, ”We're willing to pay you $200,000 (20 Wealth) to get the job done.”

“My team and the technology systems that we have are fine,” he spat those words out as if he was not interested in dealing with a door-to-door salesman. Did they really request a dinner to try and sell his products? That was a little much. His eyes could truly not roll any harder while he looked back to the stage while another performer was beginning to play the violin. That is better music, he thought to himself.

His eyes glared when they brought up taking over Riverbend — Matthias — and he stood up. “I have no interest in going south. Why would I want to take over Riverbend and why would I do that for you two and for such little reward?” his voice was accusing with an unsettling annoyance.

Ayla merely tilted her head, stared a moment, before bowing it. ”Then please forgive me for bothering you on this auspicious evening.”

“You did not only bring me here for that. Did you?” Asterion felt like there had to be something more. That couldn’t be all. His eyes glared at Glade before looking at Ayla again. That was when he began to reach for something though it was hard to tell what he was doing and he felt a hand be placed on his thigh and gently squeeze while June looked at him.

Their eyes met and he stopped going for his gun. His shoulders relaxed, “I hate my time being wasted for pathetic reasons,” he stared into June when he was saying that. Starting to ignore Ayla and Glade’s existence.

“I am sorry that I made you come out,” she gave him an apologetic smile. He shook his head. “It is fine,” he sighed while looking at Ayla and Glade. “There has to be more on why you called me instead of just that? Or for someone who is so smart and specializes in technology does not plan on things going south?” his eyes got serious.

The tensions were at an all time high. Asterion appeared highly suspicious, but Ayla still felt she had all her cards in a nice, neat row. There was no way he would figure out the actual game being played here.

She waved her hands, denying the accusation, ”No, my good sir. We were merely interested in highlighting your victory and furthering your conquest. It's a shame this meeting didn't go as planned, but I do hope there are no hard feelings.” She smiled pleasantly.

“No,” he stated firmly. “You were not highlighting my victory or coming here to be friendly and boost my conquest unless that would benefit you just as much or more than it would benefit me,” Asterion didn’t care for the pleasantness of the woman and how she was downplaying all of this as a ’congratulations’ to his victory.

The man leaned in towards her, reaching out and grabbing her chin, and staring into her eyes. Forcing her to look at him but she could take her face away if she wanted to protest. “We are not allies with each other. There is no reason for you to be happy about what happened unless it benefits you and you clearly want something. Do not play dumb with me, Ayla. I am not in the mood,” the more he talked. The more his voice sounded less and less human. It was losing emotion. Losing care. His eyes showed it too. When she first sat at the table, his eyes looked at her like she was a human, and now… his eyes looked at her like she was a toy or an object. Something that wasn’t human.

“And there are always hard feelings when I can tell something is afoot and people are hiding things from me, Alya~” he spat her name out like it was poison on his tongue. June seemed to sink into her chair.

Ayala stared for a long moment, not resisting his grip nor moving her face away. Before a hungry light shone in her eyes. ”But I haven't finished my tea yet-”

Those were the code words. The signal. Men and women disguised as guests in the neighboring seats suddenly stood and rushed their table. A man grabbed June roughly, pressing a gun to her temple and dragging her away. Two men grabbed Glade, guns pressed into his ribs, and began carting him to the stairs.

And Ayla? Her gaze was full of hunger and fire, the itch to use her abilities now on full display. Her gaze locked with Asterion's, and she funneled her energies into him, filling him up with the Curse of Addiction. At the same time, she slammed her eyes shut. Unlike Asterion, she didn't need eye contact to make her abilities work.

(Proof 1 Proof 2 Ayla: 7 Asterion: 3

It was a success. Instantly, Ayla became larger than life in Asterion's gaze. Looking away or even thinking of taking a single step back would cause near physical and mental anguish. Her words would carry the cure of the world, like ethereal lips touched by divinity.

”Asterion, why don't you s i t ?

Asterion felt his body betray him as he sat down and his body seemed to relax even though it didn’t want to. He didn’t have full control over himself but Ayla might have noticed that he was clearly trying to fight everything internally not to listen to her. He was stubborn. “Let go of June,” he demanded. Depending on how Ayla’s control worked, she might have noticed how shot his nerves were from everything that happened today and how his body wasn’t off from an adrenaline boost either. He came to the restaurant in such a high state of stress and intensity.

She merely chuckled, blindly and gently removing Asterion's hand from her chin. Her touch was like a livewire, and when she deposited his hand back in his lap, it almost seemed to shine with heat. ”As long as you cooperate, June won't be harmed.”

The sound of screams and surprise echoed up from the bottom floor as the men tore through the lobby and dragged Glade out the front doors. A second later, Ayla felt a buzz on her smartwatch. It was done. And that was her cue.

Slowly standing, she shifted so her back was to Asterion, and her eyes opened, peering the staircase.

”This has been fun, but I should get going. Please, s t a y p u t .”

Her effect would not be as potent the second time around, she knew. Would it be enough?

Asterion wasn’t very good at listening nor was he afraid of pain. He forced himself to look at June who looked horrified. He went to scream but clenched his teeth as his one hand came up to grab the side of his head while his whole body began to shake uncontrollably. That was when June pressed a button on her mobile device and Asterion’s phone began to vibrate at a certain frequency as if it was saying “June is in danger”. It didn’t just call Asterion. It called all his guards to alert him something was wrong and where their location was.

His other hand came up to the side of his head as his face twisted and turned and he could swear he heard some of his teeth crack under the pressure of his own clenching. A pained gasp could be heard as he tried fighting her hold even after her second command.

Outcome Roll of 8

Response Roll of 3

That was when he opened his eyes and fire looked like it unleashed, Asterion stood up and whipped out one of the guns he was hiding. Shoot every single person that had their hands on June. June was surrounded by dead bodies within a second and he looked at where Ayla was looking, he saw someone that looked scared, and he focused in on them.

Outcome 6
NPC Outcome 9

A shredding pain flushed through his body as he grabbed his head again. God dammit that fucking hurts, he internally screamed while his body felt like it was on fire still. He pointed the gun at Ayla, “Take another fucking step and I will make sure you look like the newest piece of abstract art,” and his voice didn’t sound like he was playing at all with the woman.

Shit.

Ayla could hear the gunshots behind her and had to assume Asterion had freed June, and had that same gun trained on her back. He had broken out of her grip surprisingly quickly, she had to give him that.

Well, the main goal of this little game was completed. She would play her part as well.

Slowly, eyes still focused on the staircase, her delicate little hands rose up, the picture of surrender.

”...Did you enjoy our game, Mr. Kairo?” She asked, that soft smile still somehow on her face, despite the sudden turning of the tables.

Asterion stood there and kept looking at Ayla, he stepped closer to the woman, and when he got the glimpse of that soft smile with the question. He purposefully shot the gun off, right by her, and another one of her men right in front of her fell down, causing her to involuntarily flinch. “And it looks like you will be playing my game from here on out,” that was when the restaurant flooded with guards. They began to check everyone’s I.D.s and the majority, if not all, of the people on the bottom had scannable I.D.s that informed the guards they were citizens of Nickel.

Everyone else was getting either arrested or checked on their level. More people than they should have been arrested on the second level and he shook his head, “What is your ability? It seems to be by word of mouth?” He went over to the table and grabbed a cloth napkin before coming behind Ayla. “Do not play games with me especially when I am not in the mood,” he wasn’t nice about it when he made sure the majority of fabric went in and around her mouth before tying the cloth tightly around her head to keep her from speaking.

He pushed her towards one of his guards that caught her. “Make sure that doesn’t come off and put a better gag on her when you can and if she tries to command any of you. Shoot her in the head,” Asterion ordered. “It sounds like we have another date tonight, later, but you will be going with Jonathan for now,” Asterion forced a smile before putting his gun away.

Ayla dared a glance at Asterion, fear colouring her eyes for the first time that night. But she didn't resist and she didn't attempt to use her gyft. Nor did she try to remove the gag. This too, was part of the game.

So, that's what she thought to herself, keeping her breath slow and steady, trying to be the picture of decorum, even as she felt the weight of her role bearing heavily on her. She had no idea what the rest of the night would bring, but alas, she was now playing Asterion's game now, wasn't she?

The guard named Jonathan would take Ayla away with other guards. Before they put her into a vehicle, they put a bag over her head and tied her hands behind her back along with tying her ankles together and putting her into a vehicle. They didn’t want her to know where she was going.

Asterion stood there in the restaurant, his body shaking as he stared where Ayla once stood before the guards took her away. He was lost in space and violent spasms were attacking him without pattern. That was when his body jumped at the feeling of a hand against his arm and he noticed June beside him who was shaking too. “Are you okay?” she whispered as if she would get in trouble if heard.

He looked at her as if he didn’t recognize her for a second before closing his eyes with a long blink and looking into her eyes that seemed so worried. “I am fine. Fine,” his body was shot with nerves and stress. He was more worried about June being hurt at all than anything else. “They did not hurt you, did they?” he started looking over her body, especially her arms.

“No, I am fine. Just scared and a little traumatized…” she admitted since he shot multiple people dead around her. She wasn’t unfamiliar with death but it was always shocking when it was death like that. Unnatural and forced. It was upsetting as tears started streaming down her face when the realization that she was okay, not hurt, and safe for the moment.

Asterion frowned a little when seeing how June’s face went from worry and concern to emotional overload, “Come on. I will get you home,” he placed a hand on her back as he led June out of the restaurant to get her back home and away from this mess. Before they entered his vehicle, he gave the orders, “Find that Glade Brey, alive. I have a few questions for him.”

A group of guards nodded, “Yes, sir!” They set out to do exactly that. Start hunting down Glade Brey.

Well, the ride in the darkness did no help for Ayla's nerves. At least it gave her time to think. She had to give herself at least somewhat a pat on the back. Glade got out. He was probably living it up in the back of a limousine with Ezra at this very moment.

That means she did a good job, like she always did. Though, being tied up like this, it really didn't let those encouraging words reach her core, which felt icy, itchy and uncomfortable.

Instead, she imagined her happy place. As the vehicle jostled her, turning left and right, and thoroughly confusing her, she thought of rivers of honey and wine, sitting on the river bank, digging her toes in the grass, the warmth of the stream easing her core.

Anyone watching would note Ayla's posture as she was tied turn from frigid and fearful, to something far more relaxed. At least for now. Now there was only the question of where they were going.

Ayla would have been moved to a room in the basement of the Kairo Skyscraper but it would have been hard to tell where she was being led since they knew they needed to take a round-about way to get wherever they were told. To confuse people on if they were going up and down or all around.

They would have checked her for any weapons or anything else that could be used or important. Taking everything from her except the bare clothing she had.

She would be placed into a cell and chained by the neck to a hook trapped in concrete though her feet and hands would be unbound. They would have changed her cloth gag out for something she wouldn’t be able to take off unless she had a key to loosen all the straps. “Asterion will be with you when he is able,” a man stated before a heavy door was closed and locked. Two guards outside of it.

And there she waited, sitting against the wall, waiting for the next phase of the game to be played.

---

Glade was rushed out of the Golden Palace and shoved into the back of a limousine. The men smacked the top of the trunk, signaling to the driver, who peeled out of the parking lot with great speed.

Glade would find his guitar and any other personal effects already beside him on the seat as he adjusted. And, across from him, languishing in his own seat, was none other than Ezra.

The lights outside flicked through the cabin as their limousine soared across streets and alleys, though it seemed to be completely absorbed when it passed over Ezra.

”So, how did it?” He said, his rich baritone voice hinting a nonchalant pleasantness.

He had barely gotten into his steak before everything went to shit, Gods fucking damn it. Being shoved around was something he was admittedly used to, but not this rough.
“Jesus fuck-” He grumbled to himself as he moved to properly get in his seat and buckle up.

He was glad to see his guitar and his hidden bag he normally carried with him. Everything was fucked right now.
“It would have gone great if I got some FUCKING FOOD.” Glade started before Bard cut through, the musicians eyes glinting in colour as Bard glared down Ezra.

”What the FUCK was that about? You didn’t tell us we were gonna end up in a fucking scuffle! I could have taken some fuckers down, I could have killed someone! And you take me out of there like that, I don’t get ANY fun!” Bard went off towards the Midnight Man, before Glade clawed his way in control, even physically grabbing his own head to pull himself back into his seat.

“Jesus fucking-” Glade grumbled, holding his head and rubbing his temples, “Sorry. I’m just so confused about what happened. Is Ayla going to be okay?” The anger had settled down from Glades body, but deep down Bard was burning aggressively - He was stopped from causing Chaos and he was not having it.

Ezra stared for a moment, before he tapped the glass barrier between them and the driver. The glass rolled down, and Ezra glanced over. ”Have us stop by a Noc Noc before we stop at Glade's apartment, mm?” And the window rolled back up.

Ezra's tone went a little flat as he stared at Glade, like a parent chiding a child. ”You were the priority. Ayla knew that, you knew that. She sacrificed herself so you could report back to me, don't let the success of the mission be marred. There was nothing you could have done anyway.”

He leaned forward in his seat, giving Glade his full attention. ”I have a plan to rescue her. Don't fret.

“Now… tell me what you learned.”

“My apartment seems like an unwise place to go, I have a feeling Mr. Kairo is very fucked off with me.” Glade said with a shake of his head, “I just wish I brought more meds with me. I should have thought this through.”

He shook his head for a moment before he breathed out shakily.
Was Ezra this calm for a reason? Could he get Ayla back? Glade didn’t know her for too long, but he had a feeling she wasn’t the worst person out there; Hell, he’d even offer to take her out for a drink sometime.

Glade breathed out and moved to pull the device from his pocket and offered it to Ezra, “I don’t know if it recorded anything I saw and or heard, but I can tell you anything otherwise.” He said; he rubbed his temples again.

“Asterions’ on edge to say the least right now, one of his men got into a fight and seems pretty fuc- messed up.” Glade started, “He went in earlier today, or late yesterday, and saw him and completely broke down. I’ve seen sadness and fear like that before; he was afraid he was gonna lose whoever it was. ‘Flint Weathersteel’ was someone that Asterion met with last night.”

He ran through what he had seen, “Someone called ‘Glyde’ and I think the one hurt was ‘Krish’?” He wracked his own brain, “There were scientists? Mentions of a broken gatling gun, Medical Floors. A woman called Emilia, Asterion seemed to be flirtatious towards her? They had a younger woman too, before 10pm; brought by two well dressed people and greeted by the receptionist.”

“I…I didn’t catch many names, the audio was muffled for the most part; the camera’s were up a bit too high to catch anything good, you know?” He asked nervously, he was hoping it was enough for Ezra; he didn’t need to anger another man of the Mafia - Especially one so… Unphased by his workers being in possibly deadly trouble.

Ezra studied Glade's face for a moment, before pocketed the Bluetooth device, nodding to himself. [b][color=lightgray]”That's plenty already.”[/b]

He reached into his inner coat pocket, pulling out an envelope and handing it to Glade. ”The other half, $10,000. You did an excellent job.”
Glades’ eyes widened as the envelope was handed to him, he took it gently and moved to put it in his suit pocket. He knew he was going to get that much from the get go, but due to everything he grew up with, he always expected to get shafted somehow.

He also gestured to the small bag beside him. Glade would recognize it as one of his bags from his apartment. It had been filled with an extra set of clothes, some amenities, and the remaining bottle of Risperidone. ”You'll have everything you need to crash at one of my safehouses tonight. You'll be guarded by my men, and tomorrow, or the day after, we will endeavor to get you home proper, when the heat has died down.”

Glade gave a nod, “Thank you.” He said gently, fidgeting with his hands slightly. “You really thought everything out huh?” He opened his bag slightly and checked for a few things and relaxed a little.
Bah, that damned medicine. Bard hissed mentally, Glade giving a small wince.

The limousine took a turn to an eventual stop. It was hard to see through the windows, but the bright neon lights of a Noc Noc Burger could be seen just outside.

Oh Food!! Bard added in as he noticed the neon lights outside, Fast food! No dishes, no need to cook! Oh this is fantastic.
You’re a child. Glade told Bard as he laughed in response.

The little window rolled down again, and Ezra glanced at the driver, ”Two Veggie Noc Noc's, two large sides of curly fries, two vanilla shakes, two cokes, two crispy creme treats.”

The driver nodded and stepped out of the vehicle. It only a few minutes later when the driver opened the back passenger door, handing Ezra a large paper bag and a tray of drinks, before shutting the door again. As the limousine drove off again, Ezra handed the food to Glade. The tantalizing aroma of fast food filled the vehicle.

”That should be enough for dinner tonight and a bit of breakfast tomorrow.” Ezra said with a nod, as they moved into Elysium Heights, where Ezra's particular safehouse was located.

Glade took the food bag gently, moving to place it on top of his other belongings. “Thank you.” He said, he kept his voice low as he was now realising how hungry he was. Using his Gyft drained him, and he hadn’t managed to taste that gorgeous steak that he was given before everything went down.

Plus, being in better shape; fed, hydrated, rested - all the good stuff, helped keep Bard back with the medication.
“I just hope they don’t destroy the place.” Glade added with a bit of a laugh, “I already can’t get the caution back, thanks Bard, so the less damages I need to pay will be good.” he sighed as he closed his eyes for a moment.

Ezra shook his head, ”The Dark Aces will be covering any damages and expenses occurred at the Golden Palace.”

Maybe it was something about the Midnight Man being so kind to him, or just the calmness of the limousine.

“I’m trying to do bigger jobs, trying to get more money in my savings. I… I’m planning to do something to the military. They have… They have my sister. Once I get her back I’ll need a bigger house; and god knows how much money for whatever therapy she’ll need for everything.”

Ezra stared at Glade for a long moment before nodding. ”That’s grievous. How about I keep you on my payroll, then? When I have jobs for you, I’ll let you know. It’ll be dangerous, but I think a part of you doesn’t mind that…”

Glade watched Ezra carefully, he gave a small nod. “Yeah.” he finally said after a moment, “That would be fantastic. We might be able to help each other.”
Bard rumbled in the back of Glades’ mind, if he was in control he’d narrow their eyes at the Midnight Man; it was interesting to see this man like this.

After a few more passes of dialogue between them, they finally arrived at the safehouse. Armed guards opened the door and helped Glade with his things, ushering him inside the small townhouse quickly. The place within was incredibly sparse. A couch, an empty fridge, a small TV. However, it was clean, meaning it was in use and used for its exact purpose - a place to lay low, safely.

Wherever Glade went within the house, except the bathroom, an armed guard would follow. Others kept their eyes on the window out into the street, and ensured the security of the place. For tonight, Glade would be safe, come hell or high water.

Glade gave a weak smile to the armed guard that followed him to the couch, as he put the food down and gave a heavy sigh before he started to chow down on the noc noc burger food; he savoured it but he couldn’t relax, he was being hunted.

---

Asterion did not go home right away and he took June to her apartment, her place of safety, as they entered the fenced in community, got through the protected front doors, and up to her apartment. She was shaking from what went down at the restaurant, “I am sorry that I begged you to go out. I didn’t… I…” she was trying to apologize and talk.

He shook his head and cupped her cheeks in his hands, “Do not do that to yourself. None of that was your fault,” he protested her apologies and that seemed to settle her emotions a little bit. She began to cry again. She kept sucking up her emotions and letting them out. She wasn’t built for the art of war and she was in the beginning of one at the Golden Palace tonight. He felt awful.

“If I didn’t beg for you to go out. None of that would have happened and you would be at home resting. You need to be resting,” she argued with him. Her hands began to move as she talked as if she was trying to get nervous energy out of her system.

Asterion stared at her and shook his head, “Come on. I am not leaving you at your apartment alone. Grab a set of pajamas and a change of clothes. You are coming home with me,” the man did not pose that as a question but as an order.

June went to say something but he had already pulled out the key fob from her purse and opened her apartment. Going in to grab the things for her. She stood quietly at the doorway as he went and grabbed the things that he requested her to grab before coming back to the apartment, grabbing June, and leading her out.

---

There was a thickness in the air as he walked into the Kairo Skyscraper, he was not in a good mood at all, and that dinner with Ayla and Glade put him into a worse mood. I wonder who Matthias pissed off, he chuckled to himself while waving at Mitzie. “Good evening, sir,” she sounded so cheerful.

June was right beside him and looking gravely upset. Mitzie went to say something but Asterion gave her eyes that told her not to press. She quieted right up and moved on with the conversation as he led it.

Asterion dipped his head in respect, “Good evening, Mitzie. Why are you still here?” He stopped in front of her desk while looking at her.

She smiled, “Susan called off and the new hire, Thomas, never showed up for training,” she informed him positively.

Nodding his head, “I will send Elara down here so you can go home,” he informed her before continuing to the elevator that it would be the quickest way to his penthouse. Grabbing his phone and calling Elara to get her or her to get someone to replace Mitzie for the rest of the night. Then he hung up the phone.

Reaching the penthouse, he groaned in pain, as he was able to instantly begin relaxing from the events of the day and the busyness of it all. Instead of jumping to any more business or anything — Asterion went and took a shower. Making sure he was clean. He took a shower earlier but he wanted to be clean again and felt dirty.

Wrapping a towel around his waist, securely, he grabbed his laptop and put it onto the kitchen counter and opened it. Letting it boot up as he turned the oven on and put something in to warm up since he didn’t eat at the restaurant because of his mood. He began to make himself a mixed drink, mixing a few ingredients together, as he went over to his laptop, logged in, and went to call Matthias on Skype. Watching as the video call was ringing to be picked up. It was later at night, so he wouldn’t be surprised if the man didn’t pick up, but he wanted to talk.

But the man did pick up.

Matthias emerged on the other side of the screen, dressed in a three-piece suit, his head filtered out by the camera as always, his background a virtual fog.

“Congratulations on the acquisition, Mr. Kairo,” the prophet intoned. “I had expected you’d require, or at least appreciate my help in taking Yellow Brick, but by the time I turned my gaze in that direction, you had already toppled the Del Guarde.”

Asterion glanced over to the living room to see June was out of it at this point. She was sleeping on the couch, tucked under comfortable blankets, with nice pillows, and she had passed out when he was in the shower. He sighed while looking at the screen when it came on, showing Matthias dressed so nicely, “If you did come to the rescue, I would have definitely praised you for it,” he teased the man but showed he would have been thankful.

Making up the drink, a Basil Gimlet, and taking a sip of it. “You must have pissed someone off, Matthias, could you think of anyone?” he sounded playful even though it was serious. He wanted to know if Matthias could think of anyone or anything that he might have pissed off at the moment. The man leaned on the counter, waiting for his food to get done cooking, and he stared into the camera. He only had a towel around his waist which exposed the shape he was in, muscular and toned, and he took a sip of his drink while his wet hair seemed to not want to stay out of his eyes or curl around his head.

“What brought this on?”

What he really wanted to ask, of course, was why Asterion had called straight out of the shower, but maybe he was just that sort of person. Matthias himself could probably do with a shower himself; he still stank of blood and rubbing alcohol. Pain in the ass to have to bandage himself back up afterwards though. Spritz on a bit of cologne and call it a day.

“I’m not a mob boss, but I wouldn’t be surprised if you could fill an auditorium with people who’d clap if I was gunned down.” He leaned back against his chair. “Same for you really.”

Asterion shrugged, “I went to dinner tonight with June knowing I was meeting two unfamiliar faces. I have a suspicion more went on, but I can tell you what happened. The woman named Ayla, she is from the Dark Aces, and offered $200,000 (20 wealth) for me to take over Riverbend. Clearly, I did not accept or even entertain the idea of being interested. Then they held June at gunpoint, the woman, Ayla, was able to control me with just a voice, and I ended up breaking out of her hold and shooting multiple people dead at the Golden Palace. Ayla is being held somewhere in my Skyscraper,” Asterion was straight to the point and up front with Matthias.

“I was hoping that you might have had an idea, but I know. Our lines of work tend to get eyes on us,” he chuckled at the man’s words. “It seems like the Dark Aces want us up against each other. I rather have an ally than a little bit of extra cash in my pockets. One is much more valuable than the other,” he continued to sip on his drink before a timer went off. He leaned over and turned it off. Going over to the left side of the screen for Matthias and taking out something from the oven and turning it off. Putting it on the stove and turning back towards him to let the food cool off. They looked like pizza bites.

“You mentioned two faces. The other didn’t show?”

“The other one did show, he performed on stage, then joined us only for a moment before he was dragged away in the whole thing. His name was Glade Brey or at least that was the name he gave me. I did not figure out if he had a gyft or not, but I assume he did. He was there and protected for some reason,” Asterion admitted. “I will be having a group of men hunt him down. I have a few questions for him.”

It was concerning, no doubt. The Dark Aces were an enigma, one of those shadow organizations that didn’t hold any overt territories, but were still powerful and wealthy. Matthias thought back to the map of Nocturnia, to those ever-shifting territories, the lines drawn between friend, foe, and self. Where could the Dark Aces hide, except in East Nocturnia? And if their intent was to drive a wedge between Asterion and the Order of Enlightenment…was Cyrus associated with them?

Still.

“You should’ve just taken the deal and then handed me half the Wealth after I hand Riverbend over to you nominally. Or take the deal, ask for a deposit, and split that instead.” The smoke-faced man shrugged. “In either case, the Dark Aces would’ve been pissed, but we’d both be a good bit richer outta it.” As it were, Asterion had just ended going through a shootout, and now had the security risks associated with keeping a member of the Dark Aces within their territory. “Still, glad you’ve interest in remaining a friendly neighbour of the Order. It’d be a waste of our efforts to war against each other.”

Asterion stared at the screen like Matthias wasn’t thinking about all the variables, “There are too many variables that could have happened there. They would have twisted it or something. You would have probably been pissed if I took that deal even if I shared it with you. It would have caused doubt in our alliance and everything else,” he spoke evenly about this. “I rather not cause any doubt.”

“My understanding, we want the exact same thing for our people or something extremely similar, Matthias. That is more valuable to me than a little extra money when I can claim more land. I plan on expanding.” he confessed.

Then he thought about it, Emilia and that conversation, and he looked at Matthias. “And I am not interested in cooperating with terrorists. Once they put a gun to June’s head, an innocent doctor, I had no plans to be pleasant with them. They showed me that I shouldn’t give them the light of day,” his eyes closed as he began to feel his muscles begin to twitch and spasm.

A painful sounding groan could be heard from the man while he set down his drink. His body began to aggressively spasm and he grabbed onto the counter to support himself, “And I had a late night guest last night. They want me to meet with their district leader to talk about opportunities,” he grabbed onto the counter tighter before going off screen and a drawer could be heard aggressively opening as he dug through it. Grabbing a muscle relaxant that attacked overactive nerves before taking the amount he needed, going over to the sink, and bending over to sip out of the running water before he took the pills without issues. His body continued to shake from his overactive nerves and the pain it was causing him hallowed the emotions in his face and damped the light in his eyes as he looked back at Matthias. “I am not going to work with people that do not want the same or similar goals. I do not believe the Dark Aces have goals anywhere near mine,” a hand came up to rub one of his temples.

“I’m a man of faith,” Matthias replied. Well, he wasn’t really, but it was what it was. “Forgiveness comes with the position.”

Still, it was hard to tell, one way or the other, how he truly would have felt. His emotions had been distant from his thoughts for a long while now, enough so that he hadn’t truly felt fully swept away by his emotions for a while. All that it required of him was to stay still for a moment, then act on thoughts alone. He hadn’t imagined Asterion to have taken this temporary alliance as a possibly permanent one though. A ceasefire, sure, but an alliance…

Silverside was the most livable district in Nocturnia, but Nickel was close, despite life there behind more like a state within a state. Ruled by someone who thought himself as the head of government, with the ability to declare his enemies as terrorists. It was a touch more zealous, a touch more authoritarian, than even the police death squads that roamed Eastern and Northern Nocturnia. Smoke curled as Matthias watched Asterion medicate. He doubted there was a successor in place, if Asterion died from overdose.

“I too, am expanding. Specifically, I intend on taking White Pine.” A pause. Was it worthwhile to let him know? Yes. Let it be a sign of good faith. “I’ve heard that the military have not only sent Gylde’s detachment into Nocturnia. They’ve brought headhunters along as well, and our recent actions will likely bring our heads into their scopes.”

Matthias passed a hand through where his head was.

“Now, I don’t have a head, but you and your family do. So keep them close and get some proper rest, Mr. Kairo.”

“I try to forgive,” he ran his hands through his hair while breathing out as if he was trying to self regulate the internal pain he was feeling. “It is hard to forgive when you see people doing such horrible things for a little extra money,” he confessed which is what he could grasp from the Dark Aces — he was going to find Glade Brey one way or another and ask his questions. Plus, he loved playing the cat and mouse game. It was so fun.

He shrugged his shoulders, “Depending on how this meeting with a certain someone,” his eyes flicked towards Matthias. “I was going to do the same thing. It all depends though that is being setup so if you go after White Pine before that. Tell me, if you want any help,” he offered casually.

Asterion laughed a little before grabbing his alcoholic drink and pouring it down the sink, rinsing the glass out, and putting water into it. He took a drink of that, “I wish I had a family. Sadly, men like me do not get those privileges or we do then they get destroyed because of us, so I will try my best not to have one,” he laughed a little more thinking it was so amusing.

Taking another drink, “And if they kill me,” he shrugged. “I guess, I die, right? Nothing more to it.” he leaned back on the counter as another shrug from his shoulders could be seen. He stared passed the camera and towards June who was asleep on the couch. He thought for a few seconds, “I do have a question, do you know anything about Bella Delacroix? She is from the neighboring district and I have heard some things about her. Is there anything in particular that you have heard?” he wondered.

“Ah, so you’re meeting the Red Rose Syndicate.”

There was no doubt in the Lodestar’s tone. It only made sense, after all. The police were not the leaders of any district, and the Iron Rose had been far too quiet as of late for a woman who held the reins to one of the oldest crime families in Nocturnia. And the only reason for being quiet? Well, that was to build up one’s assets in preparation for large-scale action. A late night call, an individual that spoke on behalf of a leader, and similar plans to encroach upon the Thorned Roses’s territory…

It could only point towards Delacroix.

“As her neighbour, I do hope you know more about her than I do. The only thing that stands out to me would be that she has been far too quiet as of late. Perhaps she’s feeling the pressure of the Lion’s presence, or perhaps internal power struggles have kept her busy, but…while the rest of Nocturnia wars, her gang is fresh still.” Ivory Tower was right beside Nickel, after all. If her intentions were violent though, was the meeting meant to extract a lesser reward in exchange for the promise of some degree of peace? “Ah, but her Gyft, as you ought to know, is one built for close-quarters combat. Any face-to-face meeting with her, I imagine, would carry the risk of the Iron Rose simply changing her mind.”

After all, Asterion may think little of his death, but the fallout would still be quite troublesome, regardless of the opportunities it’d bring on the table.

Asterion smirked, “I am fishing, Matthias,” he admitted. He waved his hand, “So we pretty much know the same things…mhm…” he seemed indifferent about that. There was the regular knowledge of all the leaders and what not. He knew he was playing the downlow for longer than he should but people were learning his true face even if they didn’t know it was truly his or not.

Tapping his fingers on the counter as he took another drink of water, “I want to see your district, Matthias. Before I begin meeting with more people. I want to get to know you. Your people. What type of district you have created,” Asterion confessed. “I want to see if I should continue being friendly with you, in a truce, or whatever we have going on.”

“You don’t need to get to know me.”

It was an immediate response. Firm in the way that his more measured, thoughtful responses weren’t.

“But in the name of this truce we have, I would not mind if you took a gander through the districts I control and draw your conclusions from there.”

Asterion’s eyes sharpened with such a response. There was a flick of something dark and ominous. Something that showed he didn’t care for such an answer when he was being friendly. “I will put a rain-check on it,” he seemed completely disinterested in the topic now. The instant response and such wording showed him that Matthias wasn’t looking to keep this going or being anything more than not personal with him.

“I hope you have a nice night, Matthias, like you said, I should get some rest, mhm?” he completely changed the topic. He didn’t want to speak about having a truce anymore… if you could call it that but he would keep that to himself.

“Good night, Mr. Kairo.”

---

Collaboration with @ERode