Front Office, Silverside

_{Mentions: Adel || Interactions: -}

---

Griffon sat slouched over in her seat, her arms crossed on her desk and her chin nestled in them. She was tired as hell, probably had ugly bags under her eyes but she hadn't checked. She glared at the front door of the offices, the space between the actual office and the gallery, but also nodded to everyone that came or left so they would know she wasn't glaring at them.

She had a feeling something was wrong.

Ever since last night when Adel and Swift had... argued, or whatever had happened, she had this pit in her stomach.

She looked to her left.

Swift was in a spare seat beside her, wedged between the desk and the wall, passed out. She had gotten here even earlier than Griffon had, but wasn't used to all nighters. She also decided not to tell Griffon why she'd been kicked out of the boss' office, wanting to talk things out with the man first. Griffon's eyes went back to the door. She was mad at Adel. Still wanted him to apologize to Swift. But then she thought about how not-okay he'd looked before leaving last night.

She tapped her fingers against her arms.

The boss hadn't been in the office yet.

Technically he could have already come and gone, slipped in and out before she or Swift had gotten in. Regardless, she hadn't seen him. He'd texted her that he was fine some hours ago, in the middle of the night, but that was also the last she'd heard from him. He hadn't replied to any of her other messages, nor the messages of anyone else in the office she'd asked. When she tried calling him, it went straight to voicemail without ringing.

There had been multiple attacks in Nocturnia as soon as day had broken, some right next to Silverside. Information, reports, and requests were piling up on her boss' desk, in his inbox. Yet he hadn't so much as checked in. Wasn't around to take advantage of a situation where he stood to make a ton of money. He hadn't given Griffon any orders besides the vague 'get ready in case of a fight' the day before, even when the rest of Silverside was bolstering its borders, the western side along the river with private guards standing by to ensure the properties of the rich and influential were untouched by the conflict.

Sure, if anyone asked if she and her boss were friends he would probably say no. She might say it depends. But she'd known him for years now, and this just wasn't really like him.

Griffon let out a heavy sigh from her nose, still glaring. She was getting antsy.

Swift stirred next to her. The younger woman blinked her eyes open slowly, looking at the window where the amount of light told her it was already well into the morning. She frowned and looked at Griffon.

"Did he...?" she began, but Griffon shook her head without sitting up. Swift sighed, shifting in her seat. After a moment she stood up, wobbling towards the break room's coffee maker most likely.

"Swift, go crash on the boss' couch," Griffon said. Swift paused to look back at her.

"I don't think he would like that," she said quietly.

"Exactly. If that doesn't summon him nothing else will," she joked. Swift gave her a small smile, but it faded quickly.

"Would you like a coffee?"

"Yeah. Thanks."

Alone in the room, Griffon began tapping her fingers again. She'd sent Eagle out for a practice run at finding and aiding a fellow canary, and Darter, the stupid bastard, was downstairs. Cybersleuthes were tucked in behind their computers in another section, some Omakase men milled around with a few canaries outside of the 'lobby,' and even more canaries scattered across the city, snooping on an individual basis or on assignment from Swift (that conversation had been an interesting one, for sure). There was just one piece missing.

She finally sat up when Swift returned with two mugs in hand, gratefully taking the one offered to her. Swift placed hers on the desk and dragged her chair around to sit across from Griffon. After she sat, she nursed her coffee for a little while without saying anything. Now that Swift was awake though, Griffon filled the silence with one sided conversation. She let her frustration with their boss be known, then her recent frustration with Darter who always managed to get on her bad side. Then she moved on to recapping the latest show she'd been binging, which usually cheered Swift up (or so she assumed as the other woman had never seemed annoyed or asked her to stop), but wasn't really helping at the moment.

"...Ms. Misty will be here soon. We'll have to proceed without him," Swift said eventually, clearing her throat. Griffon let out a heavy sigh, pushing her chair back until it stood only on two legs.

"Well it's not like he can be mad at us for doing it without him since he's still, I dunno, hiding or whatever," she said. She frowned slightly at her own words. "I think he probably would've agreed anyway. "

Swift hummed an agreement. She thought so too, so she didn't feel that bad. Her only hang ups were the fact that the man wasn't around, and that they had parted on such poor terms. For all Swift knew, he still believed her to have betrayed his trust. It didn't sit right with her. Still, she would just have to wait until he returned to clear things up between them. In the mean time, the deal she'd made with the Akula representative Misty took priority.

"As soon as Eagle gets back, I'll collect Darter so we can talk about our next steps. If Misty has arrived by then, all the better."

Both women were clearly uneasy, but being together and having a sort of game plan for the day made them feel a little better. 'Business first' was practically their boss' motto, so they'd focus on that for now, and explain everything to Adel when he got back.

Whenever that happened to be.

---

Riverfront, Silverside

_{Mentions: Adel || Interactions: Martin (in collaboration with @flux)}

---

Martin stalked the waterfront of Silverside. Concealed in a trench coat he reveled in his old cover. A private eye who reappeared after having to go to ground after a ‘bad case’ coming for his blood. His outfit bordered on absurd, his ‘life’ within the city even more so. It just meant few people took him seriously, less so his business, but it meant his wet work often went overlooked.

He found himself gazing across the district. Lights reflecting off every vertical surface in sight. Opulent would be an understatement. There was a sense of functionality here, something that could only be realised by people who felt real pride in their country or state. To Martin that elicited something visceral, something fearful. These people were rallying, coming together to make something more of their circumstances. They were becoming organised, dangerous.

Martin dropped his head down. His next report would suggest posturing a force ready to repel or invade Nocturnia should this trend continue. Even animals could become dangerous when given enough time. He found a bench along his route. Taking a seat he looked over the waterway, spending the good part of an hour just watching the calmness of the flowing water glinting in the morning light.

Letting his guard down he could hear children playing. Not turning his head, just following the sound he also heard parents chasing them down in tow. Nothing sinister, nothing wrong, just a family ready to attack the day. It was a moment of doubt, over his missions, his studies. It happened occasionally within the city. Thoughts drifting to how different his life could be if his cover became a reality.

Then the Gyft. A shout. A rush of energy. Turning his head now the parents guarded their children as someone else in the park began apologizing profusely. Someone who lacked the discipline to control what the city had blessed them with. Someone who could’ve ended another prospective family looking just to live safely. He scoffed. There was no alternative. Control was the only chance these people had for prosperous lives.

His focus returned to the moment, not long after he spotted his target approaching. Martin called out the moment his man passed him. “Private Gonzalez.”

To say that hearing his name came as a shock was an understatement. Eagle - Alex Gonzalez- paused mid-step, frozen for a moment while he thought about what someone calling that name could mean.

He had been on his way back in to work, having been sent out to connect with a canary nearby and confirm their status. And now didn't that just seem so silly, when he was still a soldier at heart?

Alex turned, scanning the area, finding the person who'd called out to him. They looked like an old movie archetype, but upon closer inspection of the man's face... Alex squinted, and then blinked in open surprise.

"...Sergeant? What the hell are you doing here?" He actually smiled at the man, lowering his voice slightly as he approached. "Am I glad to see you, though. I was getting ready to try radioing out soon."

Martin allowed an easy smile. “At ease boy. Take a seat.” He waited for Eagle to sit down before continuing to speak. “It's good to see you made the fall. You got a lot luckier than most, being out on mission in Silverside when it all fell apart.” He paused long enough for Alex to open his mouth but cut him off regardless. “Reports are however that you’ve begun to naturalise into the Canary’s, supporting that fact is that you not only failed to retrieve comms gear but actively declined it.”

He looked to Eagle. “We can still hear what's coming over those, and none of it has been good private.” He paused again, this time without Eagle’s attempt to jump in. Martin smiled. “How do I know you aren’t compromised.”

Eagle's face fell as he took in his superior's words. This was what he hadn't wanted to happen - for his brothers in arms to learn he was alive, but write him off anyway. To make sure his mission in Nocturnia was for life and abandon him here. But he'd figured that conversation, as much as he did NOT want to have it, would have taken place over the radio. Now that he was face to face with Sergeant Luthen, he could explain himself properly. He had to make the man understand that he was the same Private First Class Gonzalez he'd always been.

"I'm not compromised sir," he said seriously, hands gripped tight on his knees. "After the massacre I needed to lay low somewhere, couldn't go back to Yellowbrick with those mafia guys all over it. The Canaries were - I thought they were my best shot at staying alive."

And so far, so good. Adel had even paid for his hotel, shockingly enough.

"I have been working with them, sir, that's true, though with all due respect it's been two days. They're a neutral party. I should have pressed the issue with the comms." Especially since his new temporary boss hadn't done anything with them yesterday. "But if you're here - you didn't come just to relieve me, I'm sure."

Martin nodded, raising an eyebrow. “Resourceful. You're a survivor, I'll give you that, and between us you have my respect for achieving what you have. I see real potential in you. Officials outside though.” He paused again. “You know what they’re like, conspiracy in every corner, contamination in every crevice. They don’t get what war really is.”

Martin cut straight to the point. “So I’ll offer you a deal private. You assist me on my mission and you’ll be out on the first convoy with me when we’re done. You’ll get your discharge papers with honours signed by myself personally if you want, and go back to life outside the wall as a decorated veteran.”

Martin's tone remained the same as before. “If you say no, then you make a life for yourself here on your own. Either way, if you ever sell out your brothers and sisters, I’ll be sure you end up in containment as a control subject for Gyfted studies. Understood?”

Eagle barely heard the threat, he was too focused on the reward. He could get out of this hellhole. He could work with the Master Sergeant himself and get out alive, see his wife and daughter again.

"Sir!" Eagle said, his voice taken by kindled hope. "I would never betray my brothers and sisters, or my country. No matter what happens to me in here, that won't change. Of course I'll work with you. It'd be an honor, sir."

Whatever mission it was, he'd do it. Alex glanced around the area. It was wide open, people went about their business, but no one bothered the plain clothes soldiers. Most didn't even look at them. Even so he asked, "Before I ask about it, is it really alright to talk about all this here?"

Martin showed the first fracture in his composure in a long time waving his hands down at the private. “It is when your not a screaming patriot in fucking public. Jesus.” He calmed the private and himself. He showed enough gumption to survive, but he was still a private, he had to remember that. Once settled Martin returned to Eagle’s gaze. “Yeah it's fine, if anything better. Background noise muffles our words, chatting on a bench isn’t suspicious. Canary’s ask, an old man asked for assistance, thought he was having a medical episode.”

Martin went on. “As for you. Get close to the Silver Canary. Get his trust. I’ll forward you military intel to trade for that trust. Once you have him, we reconvene. If he’s secured outside the wall, then your part is done. I’ll be in contact once I’ve retrieved other survivors. Understood?”

Though Alex had momentarily gone sheepish at the outburst, he faded back into a more serious expression as what the Sergeant was asking him sunk in. At first it seemed that his incredible fortune was continuing. He had survived the assault on Del Guarde, had managed to find a safe place to crash, had learned his current employer had military comms for him to use, and now he'd met with Sergeant Luthen and all the man was asking him to do was cozy up to the guy he'd begged for a job two days ago. If anything he had already planned on getting closer to the Canary, just by virtue of working for him and getting on his good side so he could survive and escape the city.

"Uh... 'have him,' sir?" he asked, a furrow in his brows. Secured outside of the wall? "Why do you need him outside? I don't mean to be insubordinate, I’m just a little… confused."

Martin’s expression hardened having his authority questioned for clarity. He eased back. The private had been through hell. He’d give him a break, just this once. “He’s a subject of interest, both personally and scientifically. So much so we require the security and assets of our facilities to fully dissect. You have your orders.”

Scientific subject of interest? Alex had no clue what that meant. Logically he knew what all of the words meant, what they meant when put together, but... Adel? Subject of interest? It was surprising. Then again, Del Guarde had been briefed on the Silver Canary not long after they arrived in the city; it was how Alex had recognized him when they'd met. Though... 'personally?' Had the Sergeant met the man before?

Eagle could tell that asking more questions would earn him trouble though, and he didn't want to ruin his shot at salvation. "Understood, sir," he said, bringing his hand up to salute but then thinking better of it considering the situation. Instead he moved to stand. "I'll do everything I can."

Martin nodded. “Good to hear. Stay alive private, it would be a shame to die now.” He leant back into the chair. “I’ll contact you when I have further orders. Don’t linger and don’t come back. I’ll leave in an hour or so.” Seeing Eagle’s hesitation he said it in a way he’d understand. “Dismissed.”

They had eyes on the police cruisers the moment they entered Laterdale. However, the men at the Laterdale Jazz Bar continued to smoke and make merry in the hazy air of the lounge, waiting.

Waiting in earnest.

The bouncer at the front of the establishment had his eyes on the road, anticipating they would have company any minute.

Emily(!) of all people walked up to the door giving a pat on the bouncer’s big shoulder before she walked into the bar, heading over to the bartender.

“Hey.” She purred.

As she entered the establishment, the music died, the jazz band on the stage staring steely at her. They weren't the only ones. The entire room filled with hard-eyed Thorned Roses kept an eye on Emily.

Meanwhile, the bartender seemed oddly familiar. He gave Emily a cool, collected smile, idly polishing a glass in his hand.

”If I didn't know any better, I'd peg you as someone wanting a stiff one, Detective.”

He rolled his shoulders a bit. ”We know why you're here. I imagine you're doing a bit of parley before bringing down your hammer?

“Let's hear it.”

“We want you guys surrendering peacefully, let me know how we can get there. Otherwise blood is gonna be spilt pal.” Emily looked over the man squinting at him as if she knew him from somewhere, her hands resting on the bars counter for now.

Eric smiled wryly, placing the cup to the side and setting his own hands on the bar. ”Generous of you, ma'am. But you must know, the Thorned Roses are a proud people. We ain't going nowhere. Now, I could be real nasty and take you hostage right now, but we respect a parley. You'll be fine on your way out, but if you try re-entering without anything but holy intentions, well… it's not gonna turn out so nice, capiche?”

“Can’t say I didn’t try.” Emily stepped back turning into Adam!

“It’s a go!” He said into his radio, some shooting was heard outside as tear gas grenades came flying into the bar - epic style of course. Adam lunged forward, the now hulking man attempted to grab onto the man by his tie to pull him into a tussle wussel.

”Bastard-” Eric let out a cough of a laugh, whipping out a knife from his pocket and cutting the tie that Adam had his meaty hands on. Then, with Eric's free hand, fluorescent violet strings manifested. One twirled down from the ceiling, aiming to find purchase around Adam's neck to hoist him up into the air. Another couple strings twirled their way around Adam's wrists, hoping to tie them behind the man's back so he couldn't touch the wire closing around his throat.

”-You really had me for a second there!” Eric barked out a laugh, flicking the blade in his other hand shut, tucking it in a pocket, and pulling out a gas mask from under the counter, slipping it on his face in one fluid movement.

His men did the same, pulling out masks from below tables and out of bags. Strapping them on, taking cover, and firing out through the windows. Some kept an eye on the back entrance in case the cops had the bright idea to try and flank them.

And outside on the Laterdale rooftop and the rooftop top across the street, men suited up started chucking down grenades from on high, hoping to literally blow away the competition. They aimed at cops and at vehicles.

The goons outside got smoked by the NPD, as rooftoppers showed up the officers were pinned. In move Eve after to save her brother, turns out talking as Emily was not his strong suit. He probably wanted to shift as her because he was a stupid pervert. She kicked the door open to see her brother being strangled, a throwing knife zipped out of her hands to cut down her brother.

She ran over to grab her brother and drag him into cover before the masked goons came shooting, shoving a mask over his face as the gas did it’s thang.

Eric smirked, inhaling through his mask as the room flooded with cops. Fluorescent wires shot down, wrapping around guns and yanking them high in the air. From his cover behind the bar, he attempted to disarm the cops, allowing his men to fire freely from their cover in the bar, tables overturned. Bullets shredded, hoping to down as many officers as possible.

Snipers took positions above the roofs, the armored blood bloods below were SWAT goons laying fire back taking cover behind their trucks. “We’re pinned down!” One of the supervisors said radioing to the snipers who took shots at the goons on the roof, they were precise lethal and accurate - not to be fucked around with it seems~

Meanwhile inside Adam and Eve looked to their next move as their guns got yoinkied. Eve stripped a flash bang off her belt, cooking it she tossed it over with a second and a half left before it blinded the bar. “GO!” She screamed to Adam, they were twins so their twinergy surged together as they both rushed Eric to over power him!

Eric was temporarily blinded, letting out a muffled groan while staggering back. On pure reflexes, he created a barrier of wires around him that would snag, grab, and pull away anything that touched it. It would give Eric precious seconds to recover.

Meanwhile on the rooftops, a few of the goons got shot while others took cover. They attempted to snipe back at the snipers on the opposing roof, thereby taking off their focus from the officers below.

As the gun battle raged outside with no clear winner, Eve turned to the goons inside and started throwing the knives she had on her belt. shing shing shing! they flew out trying to latch their evil metal ways into any body it could embed itself in! Likewise Adam being stopped by the big wall of fuck you by Eric, grabbed a Noc Noc Liquor bottled and poured it over the wall making it flammable. He lit a match book and threw it in full at it, starting a fire!

One Rose fell back, knife embedded deep in their shoulder. Others took shelter behind the overturned tables, knives embedding themselves freely.

Eric, on the other hand, was not having such a good time. As his sight recovered, there was the smell of alcohol and his clothes getting soaked. Then?

Whoosh!

The world was only pain. The strings vaporized as Eric thrashed on the floor, desperately trying to put out the fire clinging to him. The other Roses saw this damn quick, a ripple effect moving through their ranks.

Almost immediately, there was the dropping of weapons and the raising of hands, Roses surrendering while one ran to the fire extinguisher. He ripped it off the wall before running to the bar, eyeing Adam briefly before unloading the foam on Eric.

Up on the rooftops, orders were given through the comms, and the Roses there threw down their weapons.

A victory wasn't worth it if their capo was dead.

So they moved in, the SWAT team member took down the Roses inside ziptying them. EMS came, slowly. The burned man would suffer a bit longer for delaying ‘Emily’s gracious offer. “You okay Adam?” Eve said dusting off his brother.

As the bar was secured and Erik the burned man was wheeled off to be escorted to the hospital and eventually the Noc Noc Cubes in the Jeweled Bank prison Adam shifted into Erik when he was a bartender.

“Sure I’ll be fine, the roses won’t be missing another Capo~” He said as Erik.

---

Underground, Brewery

_{Mentions: - || Interactions: -}

---

Donkey’s elbow tapped Puddles shoulder. “Gun ready. We don’t know what we’ll find today.”

Snaptrap kicked debris along from behind, some falling into the vicious current of the rushing water they walked beside. “Dude we’re under the Brewery. Relax. Aren’t no boogiemen here. Only boogieman you should be worried about is me.” He started to gently rock his hips to a beat in his head. “Boogie so hard bustin’ moves so fresh your old ass will shrivel up at the sight of them.”

Puddle did as he was instructed, shouldering his weapon but leaving it lowered, moving forward slowly to the side behind Donkey who waved his massive machine gun around every corner ready to fire. They continued along until Snaptrap’s frustration began to boil over. “Fuck it, fuck this. Enough of the drill shit man. Throwing me out of bed is one thing but we take R&R so we’re fresh for the fight, you’re compromising us you stubborn old fu-.”

Screaming. Echoing off the walls a distance away. Snaptrap ripped the bolt on his weapon and raised it ready to kill, pushing past Donkey and Puddle, on point where he belonged. Peeking the next corner he soon leant back to Donkey whose eyes didn’t even carry a sense of ‘I told you so’, he just nodded and Snaptrap led under Donkey’s careful gaze, Puddle bringing up the rear whispering. “What the fuck was that? Only Akula’s are down here, right?”

Donkey nodded slowly, eyes never peeling off his sights. “Yeah, that’s exactly what worries me so much about those sounds.”

Snaptrap soon raised a fist. The three kneeled, listening. Footsteps thundering. Laboured breath. Panic, pure and absolute. The trio’s weapons floated over the corner ready to react. A stumbling fall. Akula red and white. The man’s eyes met them and shortly after his rifle. Both he and weapon screaming. Bullets ricocheting wild through the tunnel. The three dropped flat, screaming back. “FRIENDLYFRIENDLYFRIENDLYCEASEFIRE!”

A dead man’s click. The three raised their weapons in shock. The man just kept grabbing at the trigger with no thought to reload. “Stay the fuck away from me!”

Snaptrap was the first to slowly stand up. “Wha- Greaser? Dude Greaser it’s Clover.” He raised his hands with his weapon. “What the fuck are you doing man? What’s wrong?”

Greaser pulled his handgun. Another wild shot. “STAY AWAY!”

Snaptrap instinctively dropped flat. Donkey shouted next. “Settle down or we’ll put you down! What’s going on?”

Greaser looked over the men with wild eyes. “Just stay away, just…” He swallowed. “Mental, Blaster, Hero. They’re fucking dead man, they’re fucking dead. Ripped them apart. The rest of Gopher tore them apart with their bare hands. Hung him with his own guts…” A whimpering. “Fuck why would they do that man?”

Donkey now began to stand, leaving his machine gun on the ground, both hands raised. “I don’t know son, but it’s alright now yeah. We’ll get you someplace safe and you can tell us what happened. Just walk on over. It’ll be alright.” Donkey’s eyes went soft. “Come on now. We’ve got you. We’re Akula’s. We always have each other.”

The pistol in Greaser’s hands shivered, then rested at his side. Heavy breathing, then what sounded like crying. “Ok… ok just. Slow. Please. Don’t rush.”

Snaptrap nodded. “Whatever you need Greaser. We’re right here. Just walk on over.”

Greaser hesitated, then nodded in response. He took a step and went flying to the side. Another body tackling him. The screaming again. “OH GOD NO-!”

Donkey scrambled for his gun, Snaptrap to his feet, running weapon raised at the interloper. “Get off! Get off him motherfucker!”

The two on the ground scuffled. Another Akula. Munchkin. Greaser found his knife. Plunging it repeatedly into Munchkin’s side. Instead of flinching, screaming, dying, Munchkin just replied without tone, calm and cold as ice. “You have to come with me.”

And as quickly as Munchkin arrived he threw both himself and Greaser into the torrential water disappearing into the depths in an instant. Snaptrap almost dropped his rifle. “Fuck, Greaser. That was Munchkin. Where’d Munchkin take him?”

Puddle started running forward while Donkey called out to Snaptrap. “Doesn’t matter, we have to go. Now.”
Snaptrap picked up his pace to the water's edge. “We can’t leave him-, them down here. We need to get them out they’ll drown. Greaser and Munchkin they’re drowning-!”

Puddle dove and caught Snaptrap as he prepared to reach into the water. Donkey soon caught up and wrestled him well back onto the landing. “You reach into that, and you drown with them! They’re Dead! Gone! Nothing we can do.”

Snaptrap stopped resisting, just started trying to blink through the shock. “He was right there we had him. Munchkin. Munchkin was a sweetheart why would he do that?”

Puddle spoke next, standing and raising his rifle to more sounds down the tunnel. “I don’t know but if we stick around we’ll find out a lot quicker than we’d like to.” He crouched down to offer Snaptrap a hand. “Come on. We don’t need to die down here too.”

Snaptrap focussed on Puddle’s hand. Grounding back into reality he clasped at it to be wrenched back to his feet. The trio ran back the way they came. Donkey hardly slowing down to duck and scoop up his machine gun. Long later the trio hunched over panting through respirators, Snaptrap beginning to unravel. “What do we do? Where do we go? Could be fucking cannibals. Worse even. We’re screwed. We’re so fucking screw-.”

Donkey shot out. “Shut up Snap. We’re not dead. We’re still breathing.”

Puddle shook his head. “He’s right though. We can’t keep running like that. I’m fucked. He’s fucked. Your fucked. We don’t find some friends soon we’re all double fucked to hell.”

Donkey. “Good thing we got friends in high places. Misty’s got a rally point. Silverside. We’re almost there boys. Just a little longer. We have to tell her asap. It’s worse than we thought. Worse than we could have ever thought.”

Puddle’s eyes darted to Donkey. “What? What’s worse than us killing each other?”

Donkey waved off a hand. “I don’t have the breath, focus or time to tell you here kid. Short story? Barman fucked us. Antonio fucked us.” He shook his head. “How he has us killing each other though...” The shaking intensified. “Argh this is fucked. Just keep running. Can’t do anything here. Sooner Misty knows. The more Akula’s live. Fight another day. Come on quick double time lets go.”

The three men took off for another dead mans sprint. Tired bodies begging for rest and threatening to fail, but the terror hunting their kind below ensured boots continued to slap down the mortared halls. To slow down was to die, something the trio wasn’t quite ready to accept yet. So, they ran.

It was all they could do.

---

Front Office, Silverside

_{Mentions: Adel, Webb, Various (in passing) || Interactions: -}

---

The day went on. A little later and Misty had arrived. Swift greeted her at the door and led her into the office proper, though she forewent a tour for the sake of getting right down to business. The underground was the Akula's domain, and the canaries would be hard pressed to find them down there, but a few brave men and women had taken to the sewers to see what they could do. The ones that operated above ground had more luck so far, keeping a close watch on any and all Akula cells they'd located already. These reports came back to Swift, who passed them all to Misty, and left the woman to speak with a few canaries who had returned after confirming the status of cells they managed to find. Some weren’t good.

In the meantime, Swift went into another room where three people waited for her. Griffon, Darter, and Eagle. Normally, Griffon operated from the lobby as a glorified bouncer as she liked to put it, but she did technically have an office, and that was where the four canaries found themselves now.

"This is getting weird," Griffon bit out. Her arms were crossed and she was only barely keeping her foot from tapping on the ground. "He should have been here by now, or at least called and bossed some people around."

The longer the day went with no notice, the more concerned she was growing. Swift seemed to share that concern, but the men were less open if they felt it at all. Eagle had taken a seat and was fiddling with the computer at one of the two desks in the room. Now that Griffon had shown him a little more of the system, he figured he could just... well, check where the boss was. He worked on it as the others talked, discussing their theories, their frustrations. Their plans for the rest of the day if Adel didn't show up.

"Hey, I think his switch is offline."

The room grew quiet. Griffon, previously more animated in her concern, had gone still until she turned to Eagle. Her expression was dark.

"What?"

Eagle had only been part of the team for a couple of days, but the change in Griffon still unnerved him. He glanced at Swift, only to find that the shorter woman had the same expression. The other man in the room with them, the one he'd heard called Darter, brought a hand up to scratch at the back of his head.

"That ain't good," he snickered, then let out a hard oof when Griffon shoved him out of her way as she rounded on Eagle. She grabbed the seat Eagle was in and wrenched it away from the desk, sending the man tumbling to the ground as she grabbed the monitor to confirm for herself.

"What the hell, Eagle!" she said, and Eagle got to his feet as he retorted, "What? I didn't shut it off, I don't know how to do that!"

"They don't shut off."

It was Swift who'd spoken, her voice quiet and cold. She brought her hands up to grip both of her arms tightly. "They aren't designed that way. If it isn't transmitting... then..."

Griffon's hold on the monitor tightened, making the colors on the screen twist. She let go with an angry grunt and smashed her hands to the keyboard, typing away at it. Eagle understood what Swift was getting at. The boss' panic switch should show no matter where it was in the city, so if it wasn't then the only explanation was that it couldn't anymore. In other words... it had been destroyed.

He was starting to feel some of the concern that his "co-workers" were, but for a different reason. He had complicated feelings about the Silver Canary, but generally he didn't wish any ill on the guy. However, having just met with Sergeant Luthen and given the mission to keep an eye on and eventually secure the man, then... if Adel was missing he had kind of already failed, right? Which put his chances of getting out of Nocturnia in jeopardy.

"Can you pull up the last transmitted locations?" He asked Griffon. She growled back at him, likely already on it. Darter rubbed at his chest where Griffon had shoved him and snickered again.

"Don't know how useful that'll really be," he said with a shrug. "I'm sure she already explained it to ya new guy. GPS in the switches are delayed, so if some spooky bad guy happens to get into our system they won't be able to see where any of our birds currently are. Security measure I guess. Only sends live data if the panic button gets pressed."

Darter smiled thinly, turning and pointing at Griffon with one hand in the shape of a gun. "And let me guess, Dawson never hit his switch. Never does."

"Can you please shut the fuck up," Griffon said, pressing the enter key violently. Of course, Darter was right. All canaries that chose to work in the field were offered a panic switch for emergencies. If they hit it, Griffon would immediately go to their location. It had happened a few times over the course of the last few years. Adel had never hit his switch in the entire time since they'd developed the system, despite the situations he sometimes ended up in.

Because he wanted Griffon to stand guard at the office, defend Silverside, protect others.

I'm gonna kill him when he shows up, she thought. How dare he put them through a scare like this, really.

"Last locations... North Side of Silverside, really early. Before that in Brewery just across the border even earlier, before that... Waterfront Vale, last night."

Nothing strange, really. Silverside was the Canary's territory. Brewery was his new biggest fan's, or whatever that relationship was. And Waterfront Vale... actually that one was a little more odd. But it wasn't a secret to them that the Lodestar was their boss' current client. Even the times weren't totally out of the ordinary, since Griffon already knew he'd been awake at those hours. So with no suspect activity reported... how did his switch end up broken?

Swift let out a shaky breath. She held up three fingers. Three possibilities that came to her mind.

"One: it was broken by mistake."

"No," Griffon and Darter both said at the same time. Eagle took a back seat, watching the interaction, clear it was something they'd done before. He, too, didn't think that someone like the Silver Canary would lose a panic switch and accidentally break it carelessly.

"Two: he broke it himself."

"Unlikely..." Darter hummed. Griffon chimed in with, "No. If he didn't want us to know where he was, he could have just left it here."

Which was true. And yet, he'd taken it with him even when he apparently hadn't been thinking clearly last night.

"Three... it was broken by someone else."

The four were quiet for a moment. Unfortunately, that was the most likely scenario. It was also the worst one, as it meant someone had gotten close enough to the Canary to take it, understood the device's use at a glance, and quickly disposed of it.

Swift pressed her lips together tightly. It was looking more and more like Adel had been right, yesterday, when he assumed that Blackheart was leading him around. He normally hated being right, pessimistic as he was. Swift was starting to hate when he was right too.

"So what happened," Griffon said, "someone... snatched him or something?"

Saying it aloud, the theory made sense. Griffon's tension grew.

"This guy can't go two hours without getting into trouble," Darter sighed. "Who do we think did it? Those Akula?"

"No. They came to us for help, and are under the assumption he is present," Swift responded right away.

"Cult next door?"

"We've been working together with them, there's no reason," Griffon said, rubbing her forehead with her knuckles. She really, really didn't like this. Technically it was still just a theory, but even so...

"Sure. But their leader is a literal crackhead, so. I wouldn't be surprised."

Eagle resisted the urge to snort. It wouldn't be appropriate. He also did not mention his visit with the military's Master Sergeant, keeping quiet as the other three went on and discreetly pulling out his phone to collect what information he could for turning over to the man.

"I... have to tell you all something," Swift said. She cast her eyes down as though ashamed. "I wanted to wait and speak with Mr. Dawson myself first, but... I think, I should say. It might be important. Yesterday, when I returned from Smoke Risers, he and I discussed the job he'd given me. It was a success. Much too easy. And, I could tell that he'd come to the conclusion that I was... a spy, or a double agent."

She looked up, catching surprise in their faces. "I'm not. I intended to prove that to him without getting anyone else involved. But... now..." she paused to take a breath. "I don't have all the details, but I know it's connected to the boy we spoke with, the one that was on the run from the Dark Aces. The note he had. It is possible the Dark Aces themselves are more involved now."

It would frankly be more suspicious if she did have more information. Their boss was notorious for being secretive, even with those who were among the most trusted of his staff. For the most part they had no idea whom Adel had met with or why, though there was a clear most likely culprit among those listed. It didn't make any of them feel any better.

"Okay," Griffon said, accepting everything Swift told her easily. There wasn't a hint of suspicion for the other woman in her. "Let's not waste any time and get investigating then."

"Yes," Swift breathed. "Darter, you go check around Brewery–"

"Eeck, no," the man said, cutting her off and raising both of his hands at the elbows. "I don't wanna run into any of the sewer people. You're the one that made a deal with them, you do it, Swift."

Swift closed her mouth, giving Darter a hard look. It did nothing, and Darter raised an eyebrow at her. "In fact... why are you giving out orders? Did Dawson die and leave you in charge? I don't think so. A bit weird, right?"

"Darter," Swift said, her voice cold. She knew what he was trying to do, but she didn't understand why. Why did the man always have to be so combative? Even in a situation like this.

"I'm just sayin', kiiiinda strange that the boss thought you were a double agent and now when he happens to not be around, you start trying to take over the place." Darter smiled. "I mean, logically, who should be in charge if he's gone? Gotta be seniority, right? So, m–"

"Me," Griffon said. She was beginning to sound furious. The air in the room stirred dangerously. "Seniority? Don't flatter yourself. You want whoever was here longest in charge? It's me. And now I'm leaving Swift in charge."

Swift glanced at her, but Griffon just stared at Darter. "I don't care what the boss thinks. She's not a fucking traitor. Do what she says or walk the hell out right now."

There was a quiet stalemate as they stared at each other. Eventually Darter clicked his tongue and sighed, resting one hand on his hip. "Alright, alright, calm down. I'm worried about Dawson too, cross my heart," he said. After a beat he added with a snicker, "he's the one that signs my paychecks."

What an asshole, Eagle thought. He had only been around for a few days and he had more empathy for the Silver Canary than some of his own men did. Eagle felt a chill begin to form on his side and he looked over to see Griffon with a hand pressed to her chest to calm herself down. There was a tight swirl of wind around her, invisible but cold and hissing.

"Give me a reason," she said to Darter. "One reason jackass. I will snap your neck."

Swift stepped forward. "Can we... please not fight," she said. "I have to stay here and coordinate with the Akulas. I already sent some people out looking for wayward cells of theirs last night. A few have already gotten back to me, and I'll be sending more. I don't want them to see us like this."

She had made a deal with Misty and she intended to keep it, but she really, really hoped that it hadn't been for nothing. Of course their actions would be helping people, many people, if the situation Misty described was as dire as she'd said, so it wouldn't truly be for nothing, but... what if it was too late to help the one person she wanted.

Swift took a steadying breath.

"Darter, please."

The man eyed Swift for a moment, then he waved his hand dismissively in front of him. "Alright I said."

"Thank you," she said softly. She turned to Eagle and Griffon. "Eagle, can you please head to Waterfr–"

"Swift." Eagle had been in the process of nodding, until Griffon cut in. Her expression was serious, despite her irritation. "Eagle should stay here and hold down the fort. I taught him how to manage everything already. He can call me if someone hits their switch."

Swift's eyes softened. "I don't... you know Mr. Dawson would have wanted you to stay in Silverside."

"Yeah, well, like this creep said he's not here right now," Griffon scoffed, hooking a thumb at Darter. The man just shrugged.

"I'm alright with that," Eagle said, looking between the two women. "But I mean, I'm– I was only given this job a few days ago. I was with Del Guarde. I'm still a soldier. Are you alright leaving me here alone at a critical time like this?"

Everyone looked at him. Griffon crossed her arms, annoyance passing over her face. "Are you planning to stab us in the back, man?"

"No, I'm not," Eagle said seriously. He wasn't, even with the mission the Sergeant had given him he didn't think he'd have to betray anyone, or so he hoped. "You guys took me in. I just wanted to make sure everyone is thinking with a clear head."

Swift was silent for a moment. Eagle made a good point. But the man had nowhere else to go, as he'd said, and the canaries were short on hands. Every one of them could use a gun, or throw a punch, but they were not a mafia, a militia, or a police force. Eagle might have even more combat experience than either Griffon or Darter, given his profession, and one of them should stay here.

"...okay. I'll have a couple people check the north end. Eagle, please stay and protect the office. Let everyone know how things develop. I won't be far if you need me, I'll be moving between the office and our rendezvous points between us and the Akulas. Darter, please investigate the location in Brewery. Griffon, the same in Waterfront Vale. And Griffon," Swift looked at her. "Please don't take what I'm about to say personally."

"Well I guess it depends on what you're about to say."

"Please control yourself. If you don't find anything, come right back here. If you do find something, come back here. We'll all work together."

Griffon let out a derisive snort. "Don't worry, I won't stick around too long. Place might become a warzone too soon if the fighting spills out down there anyway."

"There is one other piece of business. On this topic, I mean. There are many pieces of Adel's business unattended to, but I'll... delegate." Swift sighed. She finally let her grip loosen, but her arms remained tucked into each other. "That is Webb."

"Ah, spider kid," Darter said, interest piqued. "I didn't get to see him yet. Can I? You want someone to get some answers out of him, right? Me and Griffs here can play good cop, bad cop. If I get to be the bad cop, of course."

Another look of annoyance passed Griffon's face, but she didn't actually argue. "I sent him to Riverbend yesterday, didn't tell him when to check back in though. I don't know when or if he'll come back here. We could call him back?"

Swift thought about it. "I think... we have to assume Webb is someone's agent, perhaps of the Dark Aces themselves. Calling him out of the blue may tip him off that we know."

"I'll keep an eye out for him," Eagle offered. "If I'm going to be here anyway, I can let you all know if he comes by, and keep him here if I need to."

"That's probably the best option," Swift said. Meanwhile, Darter rolled his eyes. From their descriptions, wasn't Webb like, six or something? They were acting like the spiderling was some dangerous spy and not a kid that someone had taken advantage of. The kind that were a dime a dozen around Nocturnia, especially the east side.

"If none of us finds anything, we still have options. There is another info broker in Nocturnia, we have the borrowed men from Omakase and the Akulas, and we have our own information network. So... We'll figure out what's going on."

"And if Dawson shows back up, pissed you used all these resources on a goose chase, it's all coming out of your payroll and not mine, 'kay, temp boss?" Darter asked sweetly. Immediately after he ducked as a stapler was sent flying at his head.

"I'll make sure all the money you saved up gets spent on hospital bills instead, asshole!" Griffon screeched.

"Guys..." Eagle sighed, rubbing at his head. He shared a look with Swift as Darter laughed and slipped out of the room, pretending like he wasn't fleeing the woman's wrath.

Not even two seconds later he was back in the room with a wide eyed woman in tow. As soon as she saw Griffon, the woman blurted out, "Ma'am there's something going on downstairs! Some people-"

Griffon blew by her and Darter, sprinting towards the basement level. The others left behind glanced at each other, and the color nearly drained from Swift's face as she realized what was most likely happening. "Wait, Griffon, it's probably...!"

But her friend hadn't heard her, on top of having a head start. Swift hustled after her, stopping only to grab Misty along the way.

---

Office Basement Level, Silverside

_{Mentions: - || Interactions: Swift, Griffon, Misty, Gun Team Clover (in collaboration with @flux)}

---

A door in the basement flew open. A silent alarm blinked in the lights above, constant and suspenseful. Three heavily armed men stumbled through onto the floor heaving, coughing and retching. Snaptrap’s hands slipped under and ejected his helmet before ending up on all fours to throw up. Puddle’s legs buckled as he tried to slap his way along the wall, trying to right himself and catch his breath but seemingly unable to do both. Donkey stayed upright, dropping his weapon while stumbling toward the first people he saw, gasping between words. “You. Misty. Canary. Where’s they? No time.”

"Wh- I- I-" the young woman stuttered. She was in sweats and a sports bra, holding her hands up like the new arrivals were planning to mug her in the gym. It was where the Akulas had found themselves, an actual gym level. The woman's limbs were still though, prepared to fight back when Donkey got too close. Fortunately for her, and unfortunately for the three men, another door in the basement slammed open. The woman, and a few other people in the area, scooted themselves backward with great haste when they felt the rush of wind surge from the stairwell.

A harsh gust slammed into the gunmen, as powerful as a hurricane, scooping them up and pressing them hard against the back wall. It was concrete but covered in dark gray mats, only a little less painful than it could have been. The nearby equipment rattled, metal and plastic shaking at the force of air.

"I am not in the mood," Griffon growled, her gold eyes shimmering with violence. "If you're thieves, walk out of here while you still can ‘cause if I change my mind you won't even be able to walk at all!"

Puddle just splayed against the wall, Donkey slamming back before falling to his knees. Snaptrap spun upward being blended in the mess he just made before bouncing to the floor, a defeated, singular and continuous sob as he laid face down on the floor. Donkey stayed on his knees, chest still heaving. “Traitors below. Need to know. Warn Canary. Warn Misty. Tell them.” His head fell back so his eyes could finally rest on his attacker, pleading for understanding.

Griffon blinked, her hand raised as though to crush the interlopers with her gyft. Or, more likely, dice their bodies to pieces with her cutting wind. She didn't relax at all, if anything Donkey's words pooled even more tension into the woman.

"Warn him about traitors? What traitors? Explain!" she snapped. She was really sick of hearing about traitors already, and Adel wasn't even here. If these guys were just trying to confuse her then she'd have a field day taking out her emotions on them.

Through the door she'd come from, Swift appeared with her heart beating and her breath heavy. Sprinting was not her forte. "G-Griffon, t-these are..." she gasped, trying to get the other woman to stand down.

Misty was the next to appear behind Swift before brushing by in a furious march towards the trio of gunmen. “What the hell do you think you’re doing? Protocols mean nothing to you?” Her fingers flexed as if anticipating a fight.

Donkey choked then forced more coherent words forward with hands raised. “Donkey. We’re Clover. It’s begun. Whatever barman- Antonio had planned. They’re taking over the underground. Killing or kidnapping anyone still down there. We have to warn who’s left.”

Puddle found his feet, stumbling forward and to the side. “We’re not here to cause problems. Even if we wanted to, we're too cooked to cause problems.” Puddle fell to a knee before looking at Donkey. “What did Antonio do? What’s he want?” Donkey waved his hand at Puddle to quiet down, waiting for Misty to request their report or deal with their intrusion accordingly. For all she knew they could be lying. Though Puddle and Snaptrap mightn’t know it, their lives rested in Misty’s hands.

Misty eyed them, weighing their words and state. If they were here to kill, they’d have come in guns blazing. Not like this. Misty rose her head. “What did you see down there?”

Snaptrap finally rose from his own mess. “Munchkin. He took Greaser. Greaser was ripping his ribs out with his knife and Munchkin didn’t even flinch, just said ‘come with me’ before tossing them both in the waterway.” He shook his head as he spoke, still in disbelief of what had happened.

Donkey continued. “Greaser was terrified. Said half of Gopher murdered the other. Munchkin spoke like he was dead. No emotion, just monotone. Didn’t seem to care about anything but what he was there to do.” Donkey looked Misty in the eye. “How many more of us has he got?”

Misty swallowed, eyes shifting as she chewed through his words before eventually nodding. “Not many, thanks to Canary and Swift’s action we got a line on a good few nearby. They know the Brewery isn’t safe anymore and we’re working to warn more. My team Patron is regrouping on me, and Buzzard, the techie kids, offered to help as well, so we have some more manpower.”

Misty turned to Swift. “I know that all sounds gruesome, but this is good. Those influenced aren’t subtle. Their speech sounds like a dead give away and they only act toward their objective. We aren’t going to have to worry about sleepers or such due to whatever Antonio is using to turn them traitor.”

By then Swift had caught her breath. She nodded, her cheeks coloring slightly when she realized she hadn't even considered the fact that while she'd been expecting a gun team, it could have been an infected one that arrived. It was silly, but Adel's disappearance must have been affecting her more than she'd thought. She couldn't even conceal the slight grimace when Misty mentioned his epithet.

Griffon looked between Swift, Misty, and the three men. Of course Swift had told her what she'd learned after meeting Misty at the Palazzo, but it was just as hard to wrap her head around it now as it was then. She closed her eyes, took a few breaths, and the wind that had been cycling through the area began to die down. She dropped her arm with a rough sigh.

Misty went on. “Other reports are suggesting when they’re working together, they operate in perfect sync using tried and true clearance tactics. It’s lethal, but entirely predictable. We can use that to blunt them, or at least sidestep them entirely.”

Snaptrap arose from his mess. “Tactics? Munchkin rushed blind and stupid and then let Greaser stab the shit out of him. He was a zombie, zombies don’t use tactics.”

Misty winced. “Don’t call them zombies. They’re just not themselves.” A sigh. “We’ll find a way to cure them, until then, the only help we can give is a bullet to the head.”

Griffon turned her head slightly towards Misty. It was a brutal way to deal with the situation to be sure, and a call she wasn't sure she'd be able to make if she'd been in the older woman's shoes.

Snaptrap let a hand fall to his side. “Not themselves, find a cure, can only fix their lead deficiency. That’s a fucking zombie.”

Puddle snorted. “Guess we should check if you were bit, Snap. No wait, they never got close because Munch threw himself and Greaser away to drown themselves, lucky you, dumb prick.”

Snaptrap panicked for a moment slapping over his body before coming to his senses, staring at Puddle. “Oh- Piss off! He was one of the best of us, better than you, and better than dead fucking Dave.”

Whatever strength was left saw Puddle swinging toward Snaptrap before getting tangled in a mess of limbs. “Fuck you! He was my friend! I couldn’t help him but we can help the rest. Stop calling them fucking zombies!”

Snaptrap began to reverse the assault, dropping his knee into Puddle. “You saw what he did! How do you save that? You want to think about the fact you're killing your friends every time you pull the trigger, go ahead you dopey cunt! They’re fucking zombies to me!”

The room filled with shouting as Donkey and Misty went to pull the pair apart, Snaptrap spitting at Puddle before Snaptrap was forced face down into the mat. Struggled for a moment before being completely pinned by Misty, he just laid there breathing before beginning to sob again. “Goddamnit it Munchkin. Why would you do that?”

Donkey held Puddle’s arms back, voice stern. “He doesn’t mean it, he’s just in shock.”

Puddle ripped free and just sat on the mat, head low. “Fuck him. Just.” He paused before looking at Misty, voice weak. “What do we do now?”

Misty released Snaptrap who began to try and collect himself. “We prepare for the worst and hope for the best. That's all we can do right now.” She looked at Swift. “If you’re ok with it, we can get Clover on practicing clearance drills of the building as soon as they clean themselves up.” She looked down at Snaptrap. “The distraction might do them some good too.”

"Oh," was all Swift said at first. She glanced at Griffon, who stared pointedly at her. She had just said earlier she was leaving Swift in charge in Adel's absence. After a moment Swift looked back at the Akulas. "...yes, that would be fine. Griffon and Eagle can run them through."

Misty stood up. “If you have any missions requiring something more forceful, Patron will be here and ready soon to act on your behalf. Clover is well proven to defend your office despite this… poor introduction. They’ll fight come hell or high water, you’ll see that in the drills alone.”

Donkey spoke up. “You can rely on us, ‘fortune favours the bold’, and there aren’t many braver or dumber than us. We’ll smack around anyone who wants this place like an angry god. You’ll see, if you’ll have us.”

Despite the uncertainty of the morning, the night before, the question of where their boss had gone and if he really was in trouble or just laying low, the war and the zombie-making master next door, Griffon's mouth curled upward in a small grin.

"Good, 'cause we're gonna need that," she said. She also didn't apologize for whipping the trio into the wall. "You make sure this place is secure and safe for us, and all your friends we find can be safe too."

There was still a thrum of energy beneath Griffon's skin, especially after Misty mentioned force. She knew that they shouldn't disclose that their boss was missing, not at the moment (if word got out then it could make Silverside look like an easy target, and it might jeopardize their deal with the Akulas), but if she and the others came to the conclusion that the worst case scenario they'd come up with upstairs had indeed come to pass, then she would certainly be doing something forceful alright.

Swift glanced at another wall where the people that had been downstairs in the first place watched curiously. She nodded to one of them, gesturing with her head to have them point the way to the bathroom. Or even the locker room showers. Then she set her gaze back on Misty.

"Thank you. We will continue looking until every cell is accounted for," she said. She left off the alive, dead, or compromised part, but it was easily read in her voice. When she continued she squinted her eyes briefly, trying very hard not to make it sound like she was talking about zombies. "And perhaps develop a... way to contain those already... under the influence."

Misty nodded to Swift then quickly instructed Donkey, Snaptrap and Puddle. “Clover, rinse off, take ten, then follow Griffon and Eagle. Full scenario in complete gear. Drill till you drop.” She looked at Griffon with a shrug. “Train hard, fight easy. If they can do it now the real thing will be a breeze.”

Clover complied heading to the showers. Misty turned to Swift and Griffon with a cautious smile. “I appreciate the care, to contain them, I’ve got some ideas we could implement when Buzzard arrives. Overall though.” She took a breath. “We don’t lurk around the underground and sewers half the time we work for fun, it’s the price that comes with being free and fighting for what you believe in. Those Akula’s down with their minds taken? That’s a nightmare scenario for most of us.”

Misty paused, weighing her words. “So we’ll contain where possible to help who we can, but if it comes to it, we do not hesitate to ease their suffering. We prevent them from disgracing and branding themselves. None of them deserve to be remembered as monsters or terrorists, and more people don’t need to die because of one man’s treachery.”

She got to the point. “So if your canaries make unavoidable contact, unless it’s absolute they can contain them, shoot to kill. You might think it callous, but it’s our way.” Her eyes dropped. “It’s what they’d want before being branded.”

"I'm not about to argue with you," Griffon said, raising one shoulder in a half-shrug. She cut a quick look at Swift, who nodded again. "We'll still focus on finding them and keeping track of where they are, what they do. Leave dealing with them to you all for the most part. If we can bag a couple we will. If we have to cap a couple, well... yeah."

She'd probably want to be put down if she turned into a zombie too, it was the killing friends part that would give her pause. She didn't envy the position the Akula Crew was in at all.

She sighed then, looking over towards where Clover had gone. "Hopefully we aren't gonna need the 'real thing' but with the way this week's been going..." she let out another, harsher breath. "I'll work with 'em for a little before handing them over to Eagle. He's ex-military or something, probably more used to doing what these guys do. I'm just a problem."

She barely chuckled at her own joke. "And we-" she pointed between herself and Swift. "-have a couple of important things to go check out. But the plan's not gonna change. Rally up in Silverside and make sure everyone knows what's going on."

Misty huffed a laugh. “We’re Akula’s, we’re nothing but problems. We get you.” She moved for the door. “I better get back to it. I’ll brief Patron when they get here.” She stopped to turn her head. “Anything else I can do for you?”

As much as Swift wanted to just come out and ask please, help us find our missing Canary, but she was of the same mind as Griffon. The less people that knew, the better. So she just shook her head once. "Not at the moment. Please let us know if anything changes. We will do the same for you."

Griffon put a hand on her hip, offering Misty a quick grin while she could. It didn't last long. It would have been nice to talk with the Akulas under different circumstances. "Maybe keep your guys on standby once they show up, lot can happen in a couple hours."

Interactions: None Mentions: @Yankee Adel Dawson - Silver Canary
Khor looked at a burner phone. It was time and Adel was a no show. Her fingers went to the keypad to start dialing his number but they froze. She knew full well if he wanted to be here or was able to, he'd have least called her. Worst case scenario the Silver Canary had decided to save his own skin and told Vincent everything. Deep down, she hoped he did, knowing full well what the alternative meant for his absence. That and if Adel told Vincent about her plans the warehouse would be that much richer a target environment.

Khor tilted her head back. She could do this without him but now she had to find him and start acting on that immediately. Thoughts swirled on how to go about this new dilemma, taking stock of what was already on the table. She had a fireteam notorious for their excessive force and love for explosives. There was an asset of value to her target likely full of manpower to burn. Maybe the answer was as simple as to turn up the heat and let Vincent come to her.

Khor turned to Grinch and his men checking over their fortifications of the building. Looking over them and their equipment their notoriety seemed to check out. Underslung grenade launchers, heavy support weapons, a bag full of suspiciously shaped cylinders clinking about in metallic cadence when carried. This could work. She called out. “Grinchy~. A word?”

Grinch groaned as he approached. “Look boss, we don’t ever get to use the heavy stuff, and when you said build a stronghold.” He started gesturing his hands to what he was talking about. “The back is barricaded to shit, the front facing the warehouse is prepared with every firing port and murderhole we could imagine. What you described sounded like we’d be starting a siege, so don’t get up me for over prepping.”

Khor hummed. “Hmm? No, I was about to say it’s perfect. How do you feel about a killhouse instead of a heist?” She waved her hand. “Don’t worry you’ll still get rich. I’ll see about stealing a truck loaded with goods. With my Gyft I either blink out in a flash or slow things down and crash through anything in my way. I was just thinking it’d be a shame if everything left in there happened to be a crater, you know?” She smiled. “Plus the cover would definitely let me slip in while you boys rain down shit and hellfire. What do you think?”

Grinch seemed lost in thought for a moment, smile getting wider as he considered the plan. “So we get a target range to drop a bomb on while you do all the heavy lifting? Shit I should’ve brought the boys some beers. We’ll keep ‘em buried under fire. Don’t you worry.” Grinch called out. “Change of plans lads! Firing positions. We cover Eel’s approach and keep laying fire before we get overwhelmed. On withdrawal order, back underground and we lose them in the sewers. Sound good?” A general affirmation or eagerness was heard.

Jeremy gave a hoot, feeling much more in his senses, alive and rearing for the glory of war. ”Hell yeah, Grinch!”

Lucky piped up with a laugh. “Order of the infantry! Diggin’ holes and stackin’ bodies!”

Grinch sneered. “And how we shall pile them high.” He turned to Khor. “We’ve got you boss. Let’s go kick these play pretend bikers teeth in.”

Khor moved underground and came up beside the warehouse to wait at a side door. Indicating she was ready a line of smoke flew from Gun team Frosty’s building before an all mighty explosion chewed into the warehouse walls. An RPG-7, ‘crazy bastards’ Khor thought with a chuckle. Gun fire erupted as the Akula’s went to work, fire returning from the new breaches in the warehouse.

More explosions ensured the occupants had more firing ports so that their full attention would be on the Akula stronghold for the moment. Two reinforced positions pouring tracers into each other over the no man's land the road formed below. A kill zone no one would dare to cross until the weight of fire could be resolved one way or another.

Khor took the opportunity. Quietly breaking through the door her entry was assured. Now time would tell if there was anyone left with mind enough to be checking for someone trying to slip in or if another party would try to take advantage of the chaos as well.

---

_{Collaboration between @flux, @Herald, and @Estylwen}
Interactions: NA Mentions: NA

---

Hercule Squad stayed low as they moved to keep pace with Leon, the Nocturnia Captain already clad in his Nemean Armor and shifted into the full monster his gyft allowed him to become. The members of Hercule squad were well adjusted to their Captain’s altered state, the result of dozens of missions together and countless hours of training. Together, they crouched behind a series of elongated metal crates that were part of the camouflage for the warehouse, taking a moment to assess the situation.

The plan was to quietly breach a back door, subdue resistance en route, and confirm evidence of illegal activity before calling in the rest of the units to overwhelm any remaining defenders. Between Leon and Freya, anything shy of bomb shelter doors were really just a suggestion to their breaching practices. Over the last hour, Nocturnia PD officers in plainclothes and unmarked vehicles had quietly begun setting up traffic control points to effectively cut the building and the surrounding half mile from the rest of the city. Thirty heavily armed officers waited in a half dozen blacked out vans tucked out of sight for rapid response if Leon should need them. It was a good plan. Subtle. Effective.

And then the rpg hit the front doors, and all hell broke loose.

Leon’s head buzzed as Hugh’s gyft allowed him to relay the thoughts of the team, words and concepts moving at the speed of thought until entire conversations were packed into mere seconds. The team was already starting to move before the earpiece for Leon’s radio buzzed.

“Adam 9, Ocean 4. I’ve got eyes on one hell of a firefight on the side of the building opposite your breach. Unknown hostiles firing on the Thorns. Orders?,” came the whispered voice of one of his sniper teams.

“All Oceans, hold fire, do not give away our presence. Could just be another gang,” Leon muttered into the microphone taped to his throat. Had Fitzclarence decided Leon wasn’t going to hold up his end of the deal? Had the commissioner brought in outside assistance? He let out a savage growl, irritated at this new presence that was forcing him to change plans on the fly.

“All units begin interdiction protocols. Permission granted to open fire in response to threat to life. Disable all vehicles attempting to flee this area that do not submit to search and seizure. Response units ready up,” Leon ordered, already moving into a sprint along with the rest of the team. Even over this short of distance, only Freya could keep up with him and only while channeling her gyft.

“Eric is asking if you want breach charges,” Hugh’s voice, always a bit fuzzy sounding, echoed in his head.

“Negative, building is going to get even more unstable the more these people fight. Weapons free. Take Hercule Squad and secure the evidence. Roise can tail me for backup. I will breach,” Leon communicated back, pouring on the speed. His armored shoulder collided with the emergency exit doors, buckling them inwards and barely slowing him down. He let his momentum carry him past any guns that might be swung in his direction, slamming through another interior wall and finding himself in some small office or storage space with the lights flickering on and off. Giving an annoyed huff, he unslung the oversized modified M500 shotgun from where it had been sitting on his back and began his own hunt.

“Kill any cameras you see, remember the briefing. At least two gyfted of serious capability are expected around here somewhere. Capture if possible, but take no risks,” Leon’s thoughts buzzed towards Hugh. Tucked inside of his armor and secured with rigged velcro straps was the strange ‘mist diffuser’ a sergeant had delivered to him, claiming it had been dropped off by some weirdo talking about friends in Riverbend. He hoped he would have no need to test it’s use. Matthias could be looking to take out a very gullible lion along with Vincenzo after all.

To say it was chaos in the warehouse was an understatement.

”Zeus, we got more company. A team of cops to the south, a single biker to the north east.” Buzzed a punk over the comms.

Zeus gave a growl of disgust, taking cover behind a crate. He pressed his comms, yelling over the gunfire. ”Team Gutter, Slide, take out these cops. I'll go after the biker.”

Before he snarled impatiently, pressing his comms again. ”Akira, stop sitting on your ass and take care of these bullets!”

Akira didn't hesitate. He stepped out of the office, hand raised as he moved into the line of sight of the holes in the wall. Instantly, the bullets froze up, the punks and the Akulas. For the briefed moment, it was strikingly still. Until Akira flicked his wrist, and all the bullets shot towards the Akulas.

Grinch saw the bullets freeze, eyes wide screaming his command. “GEDDOWN!”

Fire and fragmentation screamed through the building. Shrapnel bouncing off every surface. Hands clasping rifles and helmets. Ricochet’s dying down a man screaming rose above it. Grinch yelled out. “Casualty? Casualty! Lucky?”

Lucky screamed back. “Dancer’s down but not out. Give me a minute I’ll spike him back in the fight!”

Grinch addressed the situation. “Prepare to keep pouring on. Motherfucker can’t keep that up forever.” The building buzzed with activity. Grinch barking orders. “Rudolph! Set tubes array barrage seventy degrees salvo five frag. Range then fire for effect, rain dogshit over that barrier!”

Ruldolph cheering. “Dogshit priming, ten till barrage!”

More orders. “Blitzen, Comet! Rocket ready. Prepare fire the moment they return shots.”

Blizen and Comet affirmed. “Copy!”

Last confirmation. Grinch looked at a man. “Snowy! How you holding up?”

Jeremy was white-knuckling his rifle, but was solid on his feet. ”Bloodthirsty, Grinch!”

Grinch raised his hand ready to give the fire order while eying off who he thought was responsible for the barrier, breathing settling again. “Let's see how much of this you can take you little shit.”

Akira kept his stance, staring through the holes at the opposite building, keeping his shield up.

It was a double-edged sword, as the punks within the warehouse wouldn't be able to hit the Akulas. Instead, they narrowed their eyes and played the waiting game. Some had already departed, Gutter and Slide already heading towards the south of the building.

With the rather absent sound of gunfire, Zeus bared his teeth in a wolfish smile. He scooted off the floor, before he disappeared in a streak of black lightning. Approximately two seconds later, he reappeared, sailing through the air with an electrified punch aimed right at Khor's helmet. The shock would be strong enough to knock her out flat, if it connected.

Meanwhile, there was a rush of spiked combat boots as approximately ten punks stormed the offices. The one where Leon was within, one unpinned a grenade, cracked open the door, chucked it in, and gave it a strong slam before dashing back. The punks around him had their guns trained on the hallway and the door, opening fire on anything that moved.

Across the road Rudolph called out. “Barrage ranged and ready!”

Grinch’s hand fell, his orders filling the room. “Commence barrage all rifles open fire! Fire! FIRE! Hold their focus!” Rifles erupted again with the sound of grenades thunking up into the sky above the warehouse.

Leon watched the grenade bounce into the room, a timer already going off in his head. Four seconds. That’s annoying. If it had been anyone else there might have been some panic, but he had one advantage the gangster didn’t- All of his allies were still outside the building.

“Flashbangs,” Leon thought towards Hugh as the grenade slid to a halt. His options a bit limited, he decided weathering the blast was a better option than trying to get rid of it. He leapt for the corner closest to the door, roaring and plunging a fist through the door’s handle and hauling it inside to provide a shield against the explosion.

Outside, Hugh and Roise pulled a pair of M84s as they sprinted to either side of the hole where the door used to be. With practiced motions, the pins were pulled and each of them tossed them into the hallway on opposing sides from each other. Each of them fire blindly into the hallways to discourage any fast thinking souls from trying to kick or toss the grenades back.

Inside the building, Leon braced the door with one hand near the top and used his other to cover his head. Multiple explosions, far more than just the one grenade and the two flashbangs went off, causing a ringing in his ears that just made him angry. The shrapnel and force of the explosion struck the door and cracked it, but the interior walls of a warehouse mean little to explosives. In the chaos of the flashbangs, Leon ripped the door away and opened fire, diving into the gangsters on one side and taking full advantage of the strength and savagery his gyft afforded him.

Squad Hercule dashed their way inside and took up cover positions, no quarter offered in the face of the firepower they were dealing with. Leon’s instructions had been clear. Everyone on his team was going home today, no matter how many gangsters they had to pile up to make that happen. Their shots were synchronized nearly perfectly, Hugh’s gyft allowing them to designate targets and ensure no moment was wasted.

---

”This is such bullshit.”

Two bikers, sitting idly just twenty paces from the roadblock set up to block their way from the warehouse, were glaring daggers at the cop cars with their flashy lights.

One turned to the other, denoted by the red teeth in her helmet. ”You know we don't have time for this.”

Her partner sighed a bit, before tracing a hand through the air. Instantly, the cement cracked, creating a ramp over the police cars. And the cars themselves sank into the road, wheels trapped in chunky pavement.

Two seconds later, the bikers were ripping down the road past the roadblock, much faster than any speed limit. Beelining it to the warehouse.

---

The shift in the Akula's attack took Akira by surprise, explosions ringing out on the roof. Men dove to the side as cement and bricks fell before Akira shifted the barrier, causing it to shape more like a sphere. His arm trembled a little; holding the bullets and whatever the hell else these people were lugging at them was getting heavy.

One bullet fought against Akira's slipping hold, making it through the barrier and lodging itself in a punk's shoulder, causing the man to fall back. Akira's head snapped to catch the motion, teeth clenching. ”Fuck. Where is he?”

That was when a peculiar sight caught Akira's attention. In the No Man's land between the warehouse and the Akula's, a red-horned biker rolled up, black hair spilling out in the wind behind them. They screeched to a stop, hand raised at the Akula's building.

”Akira, cover me.” Said Merc's voice over the comms.

Akira immediately looked more relieved. He responded by discharging all the accumulated bullets he held, careful that they avoided Merc while raining down on the Akulas. Then, his influence placed a spherical shield around Merc, protecting her from any bullets that these mercenaries might throw at her.

Meanwhile, flames began to pour from Merc's hand. All types of flaming hellhounds began to form, growling and snarling at the building the Akula's were in. Then, a snap of her fingers, and the hellhounds began pouring into the Akula's building, like a wave of living fire, aiming to sweep over the Akulas and turn the entire building into a living bonfire. The hellhounds intelligently chased after targets, but wouldn't actually chase them if the Akulas decided to retreat.

On the other side of the warehouse, there was a gurgle as the last of Gutter and Slide fell to the ground, gripping his blood-slicked chest as the lights left his eyes. Leon and his team made ground, making it closer to the main area where the open floor was filled with crates and a couple trailers. Leon would be able to see from the edge of the offices Zeus about to peg Khor in the face off in the distance. But, before he could take another step, there was a roar of an engine.

The wall gave away to his direct right, literally melting away like water as a shining bike, flying through the air, launched itself directly at Leon at breakneck speeds. At the same time, the ceiling over Team Hercule cracked, and gave way, hoping to drown the officers in cement and rubble.

The culprit stood in the light of the day, hand on the wall as he stood in the gaping hole of the warehouse.

Jackson.

He pressed his comms. ”Focus on those inside the warehouse, priority to protect the Boss’ stuff, especially the lab and the specimens.”

Hoots and hollers crackled over the intercoms. ”Got it, boss!”

Jackson's eyes focused on Leon and his team, walls already shifting to create a barrier between them. Breath held, before being carefully released.

Pain shot through Khor’s chest. Time stood still. Holding the physical toll she tried to take in everything around her as it all went off at once. New bikers, walls coming down, her team ceased firing again and a tactical team of cops breaching in. A man looked like he was bringing a wall down on the tactical team and if they went down all focus would fall on her. She had a plan, a bad plan but it was the best bet she had. First on the list though, Mr lightning bolt.

(Khor : 8 + 6 Boost = 14 (Max 12)
Zeus: 8)


She ducked slightly and allowed time around her to flow again. Zeus’s face met Khor’s fist at full momentum, spinning her to the ground with the now stunned man. Scrambling, she found her feet boosting again. Chest thumping, veins raising, sprinting across the floor as the chaos sped up in real time only around herself before reaching Leon’s team. Moving as a blur she collapsed behind them as their perception of the fight slowed to a freeze. Khor’s hoarse breath shouted out. “Time stop make it count! Go!” {Leon + NPC’s roll buff}.



Grinch ducked the wave of return fire before shouting orders. “Rocket! Rocket! Rocket! Now!”

No shot. “You alive? What’s happening?”

A rocket firing. Comet’s voice. “I’ve got some holes in me but I’m still in it.”

Grinch nodded, noticing the lack of grenade fire as well. “Rudolph? Where’s that cover?”

He looked behind to find Rudolph on his back, blood beginning to pool slowly. “Shi- Down! Man down Lucky! Where the fuck are you Lucky?!”

Lucky came around the corner struggling with a limp. “We’re catching too much goddamn shrapnel, we need to go.” He fell onto Rudolph going to work on the man bleeding out.

Grinch shook his head. “Not yet, dump those rockets then we’ll think about-”

Screaming from below. Dancer. “No. No NO FIRE! OH JESUS FIRE FI-”

His voice devolved into unintelligible panic as a glow rushed up the stairs. Hounds from hell hunting damned men. The first charged down Grinch. Rifle raised too late plasma teeth tore through the suit. Wounds cauterised through blinding pain the man fired his rifle dumping the magazine into the creature. No result. He ripped his knife through the beast swinging without effect. Arms flailing through the ball of plasma, suit failing, hound rearing for one last bite he began to panic until a cloud of white engulfed him and the hound.

Grinch slapped for his rifle as the cloud cleared before firing a grenade at the stairs. Rubble formed an impromptu barrier but they were already clawing, tearing it away, and if not them then the fire growing below. Snowman held a now empty fire extinguisher that saved Grinch’s life. With the red canister in Snowman’s hands being the only one in sight they knew they were doomed the moment the hounds breached the barrier. Grinch roared orders through the pain. “Perimeter on the rocket team! Dump munitions, open those walls, then we fight our way out!”

Ammo began cooking off from Dancer’s machine gun nest below. Lucky pulled Rudolph behind Grinch trying to treat the wounded man while Snowman and Grinch dumped a final wave of fire at the warehouse. “Who’s going for Dancer?” The lack of reply among the frantic defence spoke volumes of Dancer’s fate. Their suits would protect them from the heat to a degree, but the moment the hounds tore into them, they knew it wouldn’t save them. Now only desperation drove the team onward.

Leon growled, barely getting an arm up in time to deflect the worst of the motorcycle strike. He watched the concrete break up and flow to create new walls, his thoughts broadcasting the information to Hugh who could spread the information. The adrenaline in his veins was already surging and he leapt once more to the attack on this biker that was already attacking his team.

Why did things suddenly seem so… slow?

The confusion radiated for the barest of moments, as Hugh immediately ordered the team clear of the collapsing ceiling and taking up new firing positions to expand their zones of fire across the interior of the warehouse.

How many gyfted were in here? Leon’s glimpse of the electric man… this new material mover… a time changer? Had one of Vincenzo’s capos made a mistake and given Hercule an edge by accident? Unlikely. The firepower from the front of the building, whatever third faction was here was at least an enemy of the Roses.

“Change of plans. Give me Freya. We’ll take the biker close quarters. Arthur, Roise, get a flanking position, someplace higher up with eyes on what the hell is going on up front. Hugh, Eric, find me that god damned evidence”, Leon’s orders flowed across the connection.

Without any words being exchanged, Leon and Freya moved with a speed that bordered on the supernatural, their gyfts already enhancing their physical abilities and making the most out of the remaining time dilation as they jumped, slid, and wove their way through the barriers towards their target.

Hugh and Eric split off without another word, looking for any kind of door or stairs that would take them to another part of the warehouse. Roise took the lead in front of Arthur, searching for higher ground that would give them a line of sight on whatever fight was taking place between that lightning man and the other unknown, or the battle for the front of the building.

As Leon and Freya pounded their way towards Jackson, his fist clenched. The concrete underneath them would immediately turn to quicksand, hoping to ensnare them. But would it be quick enough?

(Proof 1 Proof 2 Jackson: 12 Leon & Freya: 5 + 6 Boost = 11)

As Jackson watched, Leon and Freya fell to their waists in gray quicksand. Just as quickly as the concrete was loose and fluid, it hardened, encasing the halves of their bodies in concrete. Jackson was quick to move, attempting to kick the guns from Leon and Freya's hands.

Roise and Arther would easily find the metal grated staircase that would lead them to the second floor overlooking the warehouse. They would see Zeus and Khor below, as well as the ten remaining punks in the warehouse, as well as Akira.

The punks shifted their focus from the Akulas outside to firing on Roise and Arthur's position. Akira, however, had ducked behind some cover.

”Take cover, I can't shield the building anymore.” Akira would say in a pained voice through the comms. It was then that bullets tore through the front of the warehouse again, catching two punks, who fell dead.

Merc, however, was having the time of her life. The living fires within the Akula's building shifted and morphed, coming together to form a caterpillar that stretched out and crawled up the gaping hole in the staircase. Then, they split back into the hellhounds, charging relentlessly towards the remaining Akulas.

Meanwhile, within the building, Hugh and Eric found the door to an unlocked office. However, when they entered, it was much larger on the inside. There was a long, stainless steel table filled with beakers steaming and hissing, filled with pink liquid. There was a cloying smell, boxes of Sugarcrush vials around the room, and more importantly - young adults, some men, some women, chained by their ankles to the floor, obviously being exploited to to brew the drugs. As the cops came in, their hands would throw up in the air, cowering in their seats.

In the main lobby if the warehouse, Zeus was slowly getting up off the floor, his face bloodied from her punch. With a growl, he raised his hand at her, and a massive lightning bolt aimed to strike her. The heat was cranked up - this would hurt worse than a taser, maybe even knock her on her ass.

”Dodge this, bastard.” Zeus hissed.

Khor scuttled out of the way of the collapsing roof, chest heaving to try to recover from the strain on her body. Anymore and she wasn’t sure if she’d be on her feet after this fight. Looking up she saw the SWAT team leader's situation, breath escaping her. “Shit…”

They could be about to execute or capture, she wasn’t sure which would be worse. Looking back she could flee, live to fight another day now that it was getting grim. Her own team seemed to be barely functional from the intermittent firing. It was the rational option. Eyes back on the immobilised captain though, the decision was clear.

A two barrelled flare gun whipped from her jacket. Black smoke followed red smoke through the holes in the warehouse. To run wasn’t in her blood. Not the way of their culture. Now was the time to fight or die. Her eyes caught Zeus again right before the bolt of lightning flew. “Shit!”

Skin pale. Eyes shivering. Cold sweat. Again.

Khor roll: Roll 7 + 6 Boost - 2 Exhaustion = 11
Zeus roll: Roll 7


Her body was running on adrenaline and mad instinct alone. Once the fight settled that would be it. No strength left to even walk away. Gasping and darting to the side she only hoped it would be enough as the lightning bolt still rapidly shot towards her despite the time fluctuation.

Outside team Frosty dumped the last of their rockets into the building, most of the wall now gone. Grinch cried out. “That’s it, we're done! Evac time to-!” Black and Red smoke shot into the air. The men went quiet before Grinch’s voice came out soft. “Change of plan. Snowman, drag Rudolph into that freezer. Blitzen, Comet, Lucky. Bayonets.”

Jeremy bit the inside of his cheek at his namesake, trying to sharpen his own senses. He nodded, ”Got it!” Before putting hands on Rudolph, the man limp in his hands as he tried to drag the man into the freezer.

Comet stared blankly at the smoke as the fires began to reach up the stairs, the plasma hellhounds about to breach. “I hoped I’d never see those colours.”

Lucky gritted his teeth. “Well they’re there.” He bounced while crouched, ready to launch off the first floor onto the street, hesitating only to mutter something to Grinch. “Śmierć przed tyranią...”

Grinch repeated the words more clearly. “Śmierć przed tyranią…!”

Leaping from the building as hell hounds snapped at heels. A shared war cry. “ŚMIERĆ PRZED TYRANIĄ!”

Grinch landed and ran bayonet first. Blizten went limp in the air as a stray round sailed through his brain. Comet collapsed before scrambling upward and onward. Lucky fell atop a car and began trailing behind.

Three screaming mad bastards, charging forward through tracers and gun smoke.

One last effort of defiant insanity.

Jeremy watched the hellhounds racing towards him and Rudolph, the freezer still several meters behind him. He took in a sharp breath, seeing his life flash before his eyes.

Until…

There was nothing but coldness. Jeremy's slowly opened his eyes. Instead of seeing the hellhounds about to kill him, there was a circle of snow softly falling around him, the floor covered in ice. The hellhounds were pacing around this circle, unwilling to cross it.

Jeremy looked up, giving a shaky laugh. He tried to shake Rudolph a bit. ”Hey, hey hang in there. We ain't gonna die!”

Jeremy raced to the blown hole in the wall, trying to extend his influence. Merc had sent flaming ravens to follow after team Frosty, but Jeremy's icy chills turned them into sputtering embers.

Merc turned to the Akula in the hole of the second story floor, and bared her teeth.

Hugh took stock of the situation, eyes scanning the room for threats. There were so many people here. How many of them were really prisoners? How many were broken so they would view rescue as an act of aggression? He didn’t know the answers and didn’t have time to consider the consequences.

“Nocturnia PD! Everyone get on the fucking ground, hands behind your back!,” Hugh shouted, discharging a single round into the ceiling to let the prisoners know he was serious. This could be exactly the haul the boss was hoping for, but it meant nothing if they couldn’t get out of here, “cooperate, and we’ll get you out of here if you want us to. Understand we are in a goddamn firefight. Any act of aggression will be answered immediately and without mercy.”

The prisoners acted hastily, shakily diving to the floor and placing their hands behind their backs. Some offered little yelps of fear, but were otherwise quiet.

“Eric, start packing a bag. If we can, we’ll get these people out,” Hugh said, then transferred the remaining words to the mental connection, “you heard the boss though. Evidence is the priority.”

Eric immediately began packing a duffelbag with everything he could scoop off the counters, trying to pack it all safely, but speed was more of his concern at the moment as he stuffed it full. He spared a glance for the prisoners, but he knew where their priorities were. If the Captain or Hugh could, they would get them all out of the building, but not if it meant compromising the team.

Arthur and Roise took stock of the situation, setting up their rifles and bracing against the railing. They both knew what each other was thinking as they scanned their available targets, both of their sights settling on the dueling gyfted persons at the end of the warehouse.

“Which one’s the enemy?,” Arthur thought, his forward sight dancing across Khor’s body while Roise sighted in on Zeus.

“They both are until further notice,” Roise returned via their connection.

“Wait. What the hell…,” Arthur’s thoughts echoed as he watched Khor… accelerate and dodge a bolt of lightning? “Time manipulator?”

“Like the ceiling?”

It was a small piece of evidence, but it was enough to decide at least who would get shot first. Both officers opened fire on Zeus.

Leon looked legitimately surprised as he sank suddenly to his waist, feeling the concrete harden back to normal around his legs. He tried to move, but was stuck fast. He cursed loudly and raised the shotgun towards Jackson as he approached.

Leon: 3

Jackson: 2

Jackson’s boot collided with the shotgun, but Leon had seen it coming and knew there was a much better way to secure what he needed. His grip on the shotgun had been light, entirely too light to justify a harsh kick and as the man’s boot passed through where the shotgun had been, Leon’s hands simply twisted and clamped onto the man’s leg, twisting hard to send him to the ground.

Leon knew there was little time, and no mercy to be had so he hauled the man close enough to grip his neck in one oversized grip and squeezed until spots began to appear in his vision.

“In thirty seconds, no matter what you do, I will be free of this and my team will take this operation down,” Leon said coldly, leaning in close and baring his teeth, “Congratulations. You’re too dangerous for me to spend the time breaking you with pain. You have a choice. Release myself and my partner and be taken into custody alive, but unconscious. Or I snap your neck like a fucking twig. I’m ready to kill for my squad… are you ready to die?” Leon was completely serious. If there was even an unexpected twitch at his location of Freya’s, he would simply twist and sever the man’s spinal cord.

Jackson gasped in Leon's grip, hands miniature compared to his, trying to pry at his arm, trying to get a little more air in his lungs.

The mix of being pinned and the threats caused Jackson to grit his teeth, sweat beading on his forehead. But he had to be honest, this was decided the moment he let his guard down and let himself get pinned. I'm a fucking idiot.

He growled out a huff. Unconscious or dead, great. But he'd already made his choice, hadn't he?

”Fuck, fine, fine! I yield. I'll release you, just don't fucking kill me-”

And the concrete around the two officers loosened. It would be a simple matter of walking up out of it.

Leon growled as he stepped up out of the concrete, letting the man take a single breath, though his fingers still remained on his neck. He looked over at Freya, a bit surprised and relieved to see the man had kept his word. Now it was time to keep his.

“For what it’s worth. Sorry, but you really are too dangerous to stay conscious with my officers,” Leon said, then hauled his arm back and struck the man hard in his temple the the flat of his palm. He checked the man over to be sure he wasn’t faking, then handed him off to Freya.

“He twitches, or the goddamn ground starts liquifying again, two rounds to the head. Three to the heart. That’s an order Freya,” Leon rumbled as Freya put handcuffs on Jackson and started hauling him to a safer space.

Leon’s ears twitched, there was more shouting near the giant hole in the walls, but his connection with Arthur and Roise showed they had overwatch on the events. He turned and scooped up his shotgun, sprinting to the fight.

Khor saw the guns flash up above, hell raining down on her adversary. In that moment she saw a boy in over his head, not sure what the hell he was doing here. She felt the pressure build one last time. “Goddamnit you're gonna get me killed kid.”

She charged forward, one last time. Turning herself into a human torpedo hoping to knock them both out of the fight.

Khor: 8 + 6 Boost - 2 Exhaustion = 12
Zeus: 6


As bullets hailed around she felt a slicing burn. Colliding with Zeus and both falling behind something solid enough her sunken deathly eyes met his as her sawn off met his chin. “Enough. It’s done. Don’t die here.” Her hands shook, not quite violently but her state was clearly becoming critical. If he decided, he could probably overpower her before she managed to pull the trigger.

Zeus stared up at Khor, gasping weakly from the fall and from the shock of having a gun pointed right at him.

From what he'd seen, Jackson had gotten pinned. Even now, Akira was screaming into the comms after Jackson, with no response.

It was over, wasn't it.

Zeus gritted his teeth, before raising his hands. ”This ain't worth dying over, eh?”

On the street Grinch didn’t notice the heat or the cold of the war Snowman and Merc waged above him. Didn’t even see the resulting mist surrounding him. All that mattered was the breach in the wall and the first man that stood there. Legs pounding. Lungs Burning. Voice screaming.

1D4 Grinch bayonet charge: 3

His target heard Grinch roaring too late. The bayonet cleaned straight through his throat. The melee had begun. Ripping the bayonet clean through he wielded the rifle like a polearm. Swinging and thrusting until it came stuck in another man.

Another aiming at him. Dead man's click.

Ditching the weapon charging without regard to life his hands wrapped around another target's head as thumbs maneuvered pressing into eyes and slamming until he painted the floor with the man's skull. Then a slam into his chest. Breath blasted from him. Three, he could die knowing he got three more. His breathing laboured as he waited either for the fight to be over or someone to finish him.

Shots rang out.

“Nocturnia PD, all of you get on the ground!,” Roise shouted as she and Arthur opened fire on the gangsters next.

There were about five or so punks left, and it didn't take much for them to cower in their cover, falling to their stomachs. Especially after Akira gave the order in the comms; he too sank to the ground.

That left Merc outside, staring down Snowy. But, as she received the order from Akira over the comms, she too sank to her knees, hands on her head, and prayed the snowman didn't freeze her to death.

The gunfire died out. Khor tried to hold on until someone reached her but her body already started twitching. “Not. Now.”

Letting the gun slip from her fingers she rolled aside Zeus. Body beginning to seize and shudder. Muscles firing without order.

Grinch ripped the dented plate from his vest. Able to breathe properly again he just laughed maniacally. He was alive, somehow. Lucky slammed into him. “Boss! Wounded?” Grinch shook his head grinning like a demon, smile falling away as he spotted a body convulsing. “Oh shit she made- Lucky! Help ‘em!”

Lucky leapt forward without any regard that the officers might take it as hostile action. “Medic! Make a hole!”

Arthur and Roise had both sighted in on the moving man, but the cry of ‘Medic’ was one understood by nearly all sides of conflict, and so Roise kept her sights on the man while Arthur sent over their connection to Hugh that he needed a lift down from Leon. Leon sprinted to the bottom of the stairs where they were keeping watch, catching Arthur as he leapt over the side and then joining him in the run towards the commotion.

Sliding down beside Khor, Lucky looked at Zeus. “You wanna be helpful? hold her down!” He worked without waiting. “Jesus you know better than that. Make your heart explode one day.”

Zeus swallowed nervously, before nodding, gripping Khor's shoulders to keep her steady.

Chomping on the end of a syringe he thrusted it into her thigh. “Muscle relaxant. Just breathe. You’ll be ok. Just focus on not shitting yourself as that settles you.”

Khor began to stutter words between intermittent pained giggling. “Don’t-. Don’t let me shit myself Lu- Lucky.”

Lucky gave a thumbs up. “She’s fine.” He looked back to Khor, head tilting. “Will be fine, at least. Maybe.”

Grinch’s head fell back, eyes shooting open again as he returned to the moment. “Shit- Snowy! You alive?”

”Alive and kicking, you'll never guess-” Jeremy hollered from across the road.

“Neat,” Leon growled out as he moved forward, shotgun held low, but in a position that it could be ready in a moment’s notice. With a nod from Leon, Arthur darted to the collapsed Khor but kept his hands up to show he meant no harm.

“Are they stable? Nocturnia PD Special Task Medic,” Arthur said, looking over at Lucky.

Lucky looked at Arthur. “Stabliz-ing.” He made sure to emphasize the uncertainty of the situation. “Seizing is slowly down but vitals are rough. Breathing staggered, pulse tachycardic, and I mean red lining. Observe for now but I’d recommend some shock pads just in case.”

“I can probably help with that, but she’s your patient. If you want a hand, I’ll be nearby, just need to know the usual. Blood type, allergies, previous history,” Arthur said, though he took an extra look to make his own assessment. Still, it was always better to go with the medic who knew the patient instead of the one who didn’t. Lucky proceeded to fill out Arthurs questions despite Khor’s rambling beneath them. “Gu- Guys it’s fine. I’m fi- fine. Really. I went s- so fast.” Giggling again. “And my he- heart didn’t explode. And kid di- didn’t die.” She looked at Zeus. “It’s a good d- day.”

Zues made a face, ”Lady, don't die cause of me-”

“Captain MacAoidh of Nocturnia PD. Technically, all of you may consider yourself under arrest right now. That might change depending on your answers to my questions. Let’s start with who the hell is in charge of your outfit,” Leon said, gesturing towards the Akulas.

A voice came from behind. Grinch raised a weak hand, still sat down breathing heavily. “Her. But all considered, for right now at least, me.” He laughed. “And they say there’s never a cop when you need one. What can I do for ya.” His smile died again, mouth turning to concern. “Where’s Blitzen? Comet? They make it?”

Trying to turn his head he couldn’t find them, but Blitzen’s huge body rested crumpled out in front of the Akula strong point while Comet laid face down, not breathing.

Leon’s eyes narrowed at the man, doubting he would get any real answers. He reached out through the mental connection for Hugh. “Lieutenant, roll our friends in and tell them to bring at least 5 EMS transports. Likely a half-dozen to a full dozen wounded. Two or three times that many dead.”

“Copy Captain, support en route. Sir… there’s prisoners up here. Working on sugarcrush.”

A very audible curse left Leon’s mouth, but he focused again on the connection. “Double the EMS then, and get me some social workers. We’ve got people to get back to their homes…”

Out loud, Leon said, “You can have one of your men check for your friends. Unarmed. In about five minutes this place will be swarming with over thirty Nocturnia PD officers. I’ll be blunt. I don’t know who the hell you are. I don’t know why you’re here. What I do know is you’re carrying enough ordinance to level a neighborhood, broke at least 26 laws in this engagement, and very nearly killed yourselves or us.”

Grinch called out again. “Fights done Snowy, check the street. Find Blitzen and Comet.” His head rolled forward and down again, eyes blinking, mumbling without interrupting Leon. “26? I think that’s a record…”

“That being said, I suspect I owe your boss a favor. Cooperate, make use of our medic and the EMS when they arrive, and you all might see home tomorrow,” Leon said, as close to a generous offer as he was capable of making considering the situation, “agreed?”

Grinch’s head lolled back again, tired eyes resting on Leon. “With a deal that sweet you could slap me in a dress and call me Samantha and I’d still take it. Sounds good to me.”

Grinch swallowed. “Hope we didn’t hit you guys. For what it’s worth you’re alright.” Grinch’s breathing finally slowed. “Be sure to thank her.” He pointed to Khor. “Without her signal we would’ve just bugged out.”

“I said I ‘suspect’ a favor is owed. It doesn’t get cashed in until I’m sure of what happened,” Leon said. Already, emergency sirens could be heard getting closer to the warehouse.

As Leon surveyed the wreckage of the warehouse, he cursed one more time in his head. He might have found the evidence and even put some criminals away… but Antonia was going to have his ass in a sling for the mess that could formally be called a building.

Grinch chuckled, seemingly picking up on the captain's concern. “Don’t worry.” His head gestured to the building, smiling like an idiot. “You can blame us!”

---

While the mess at the warehouse was bagged up, a certain portal glowed in the back of a mobile van. Out stepped Frankie, looking white in the face and like he had just escaped death. He looked over at Cyrus, sitting in one of the chairs with a hand pressed to one of his sides. Behind Cyrus, the glow of screens of a portable Solaris Eye glimmered.

Frankie took a step towards the screens, ”Thanks, man. We still got a job to do, eh?”

Cyrus gave a wincing smile as he shifted in his seat. ”Rescuing the princess? Yeah. I’ll bring her in, you do all the heavy lifting, m’kay?”

Frankie turned to Cyrus, eyeing his side. Cyrus gave a sheepish smile. ”Things didn’t go so well when I was talking with the Canaries. ‘S fine, I’ll live.”

Images and feeds of the warehouse were seen through the screens. Cyrus hobbled to stoop on the van’s floor, pouring out a water bottle. And, within the warehouse, a portal made in the perfect shape of Khor’s prone figure manifested. She fell through, finally slipping unconscious from the strain prior, and the portal disappeared after.

Within the van, Frankie dragged Khor from the portal, handcuffed her hands behind her back, and shot a gyft negator into her chest, prohibiting her from using her gyft. Not that she was in much of a position to use it.

Frankie looked down at her, mumbling to himself. ”Fancy seeing you again, huh?”

And the van took off, heading to Pennystakes.

Front Office, Silverside

_{Mentions: Ezra, the Doctor || Interactions: Eagle, Puddle, Webb (in collaboration with @flux@Yankee@SporkoBug)}

---

The first half of the day had been a lot. Like a lot a lot. Three years stationed in Nocturnia, and though there had been plenty of instances of violence, none of it had even come close to this single week so far. Eagle sighed.

He putzed around the Silver Canary’s office, trying to see if there was anything interesting, or notable, or that would give him a little more insight into the man. Assuming this whole disappearance thing turned out alright, he had his own mission now, and there wouldn’t be a better time to really look around.

So far he had found nothing. There was an expensive looking desk with an expensive looking ergonomic chair, an expensive looking laptop (that he hadn’t even attempted to get into), two ashtrays (why the hell did someone need two?), a couple of seats for guests, a closet, a VERY expensive looking plush leather couch, and a small potted plant. It was alive, and one of the few bits of greenery he’d seen around the area. There was nothing personal that Eagle could find.

He pushed the door open to leave, nearly bumping into someone else who had raised their hand to knock.

“You! Eagle! I’ve been looking for you - that kid you said to keep an eye out for just entered Silverside. Looks like they’re heading here, but they could just pass on by.”

“Understood, thanks!” he said, taking a print out from the man and slipping around them and out toward the office’s front. He went right out, through the gallery to the street. He shoved the paper into his pocket, figuring it was just a printed copy of what he’d just been told.

A few minutes later and Eagle spotted him, more easily than he’d expected to. He raised one arm to wave, cupping a hand around his mouth and calling, “hey! _Uh, Webb? Webb!”

Webb wasn’t hard to spot, he wasn’t too focused on his normal ‘hiding in plain sight’. He seemed to be spiraling; he didn’t hear Eagle to start with.


Webb almost ran into Eagle as he was calling out to him, the spiderling looking him over quickly - Someone he knew, good. New friend! Trustworthy? Yes, friend. Friend help.
He immediately moved to hug Eagle with all four of his arms, he closed his eyes for a moment and shivered against the male.

”Fighting!” He squeaked, his ears flattened slightly, ”Not built for fighting, big monsters! Danger, no want squish.”

Eagle caught the boy, surprise passing over his face. "Hey, hey, it's okay," he said, not really knowing what else to say at the moment.

Fighting, big monsters, danger, so Webb had likely been in Riverbend right up until fleeing. With Silverside being right next door, it was impossible not to know what was going on over there even if the canaries didn’t make knowing their business. Nocturnia was truly hellish, Eagle thought absently, as he knelt down to Webb's level.

The spiderling was genuinely scared, and not for the first time Eagle saw that Webb was not the evil agent that some were making him out to be. He really was just a kid that probably had no idea what he had gotten himself into.

"It's gonna be alright, you're safe," he said, petting Webb's head before his hands dropped to the spiderling's shoulders, making sure his grip was steady and comforting. It had been years since he'd seen his daughter in person, having to settle for photos and videos that got through to his phone, but his dad voice still slipped through when he spoke like it was second nature. "Take a few deep breaths, kiddo. You're okay."

When the boy calmed a little he asked, "can you tell me what happened?"

Webb seemed to start to calm down as Eagle spoke to him, pet him and comforted him. He did as he was told, taking a few deeper breaths before he breathed out a big sigh, his ears flattening as he was asked what happened.

“Riverbend dangerous.” Webb said, “Was napping after looking, like Griffon asked. Slept full night; accident.” Weeb winced slightly, he wasn’t supposed to sleep the entire night out in the ‘wilds’ now that he had a house, but he was pretty tired after everything.
“Woke to yelling, big booms.” Webb moved his arms to mimic an explosion, “Scary man, bird mask; big monsters!” He shivered at the mention of monsters, wanting to huddle around Eagle at the mere mention of it.

“Lots of people! Guns, bullets. Scary, not made for fight. Need to hide.” Webb almost grumbled, moving to rub at his face with his upper arms. He also had to admit, he was getting a bit hungry; he hadn’t stopped back at home for a bite since he fell asleep, and he practically scrambled out of there as soon as everything started to rear its head.

Eagle hesitated before saying anything else, thinking of what the best course of action was here. Everything Webb was saying lined up with the reports coming in from across the river still. He had promised to call the others when Webb arrived, but he didn't really want them to scare Webb any further. He was also dubious about letting Webb into the office, but... he figured if someone was watching him it would be alright, even if it turned out the kid was just really, really good at acting.

"It's okay, you're not in Riverbend anymore. Silverside is safe," Eagle said eventually. He offered Webb a smile that he hoped was reassuring, but it didn't even feel genuine on his own face what with how much chaos was going on today. "Want to come inside? Would that help you calm down more?"

Webbs’ ears perked slightly as Eagle spoke after a moment of silence, he looked to Eagle and gave a weak smile to attempt to match his. He nodded slightly at the mention of going inside.
“Would help me calm.” Webb agreed quietly, “Ended up sleeping on roof. Forgot to get food.” He mumbled, more as a dig at himself in mild anger; the fur on his ears prickling slightly before he let out a sigh.

“Silverside won’t get fight?” Webb asked after a moment, waiting to be led into the office. He instinctively turned to look the way he had came and gave a small wince as he could hear another explosion going off; but he wasn’t sure if it was a bomb or an RPG - whatever it was, it scared the poor thing.

Eagle steered Webb inside, away from the not-so-distant fighting. At the very least they were in the center of Silverside, even more unlikely to see any conflict than the rest of the district.

"You didn't eat? Okay, come on," the man said as he guided Webb back in and to the break room. There was a fridge and pantry there, and though the selection wasn't incredible it was a lot better than what Eagle himself had been able to get in Yellow Brick. A few people gave Webb strange looks, but otherwise let the two of them go about their business.

Eagle pulled out a chair for Webb and opened a cabinet, rummaging around it to find something for the kid to eat. He talked as he did. "About Silverside - I don't think we'll get a fight here, no. This place is... super rich. It's even nicer than some cities on the outside. And I'm told every rich guy that lives here has his own mini army, so I doubt anything will happen here."

For now, at least. As the gangs got bigger there would be no telling what they'd do. Eagle resisted sighing, and then something else occurred to him.

"Uh... What do you eat? Can you eat crackers or..."

Webb followed without any hesitation, he relaxed a little as he went through the doors; the idea of having a ceiling above him made him feel a bit more secure, plus being out of the elements was helping his worries.

He felt the eyes on him, his ears pricked up as he thought he heard whispers before Eagle told him that Silverside was safe.
“It doesn’t have many plants though.” Webb said almost absentmindedly, “It’s Rich, but not in the good ways.”

Can't argue with that, Eagle thought.

Webb’s ears pricked up at the idea of crackers and the question about what he eats.
“I can eat most things you can! I like chicken, ham.” He explained as he thought, “I like crackers!” he grinned happily, wagging his thorax.

Webb looked around the area for a moment, his ears twitching as he tried to focus on everything around him; but his stomach rumbled, cutting into his concentration from everything around him.
Mm. Will need to eat before searching. He thought to himself, feeling his mandibles press against his cheeks slightly.

Well then it would have to be crackers, they didn't have a deli after all. Oh, wait, but they did have the leftover pulled pork from the dinner catering last night. Eagle returned to the table and sat down, pushing a few packages of cheese and peanut butter crackers towards Webb, and a little tub of the shredded pork.

"Hopefully this will hold you over for now," he said. He took his phone out, sending a message to Swift and Griffon. Both women were out at the moment, following up on leads, and he didn't actually have Darter's contact. Probably for the best, that one.

Now what to do with Webb. The man seriously doubted that he was a malicious actor in everything, or even anything, that had happened. But if Swift assumed that he was involved somehow, then he probably was. She was sharp.

"I have some more questions for you when you're ready," Eagle said. His tone was serious, but not hard. Finding out the truth from Webb might just be as easy as asking for it.

Webbs’ eyes lit up at the cheese and crackers, as well as the pork. His ears pricked up as he moved to gently take the food, starting with the pork; and started to eat it - As much as he was trying to hide how hungry he was, he was still wolfing the food down.
It didn’t take long for him to have finished the pork before he started on the cheese and crackers, before he perked up as Eagle spoke to him.

“I can answer questions.” He said with a small nod, nibbling on a piece of cheese as he waited for Eagle to start asking. Webb wasn’t sure what Eagle wanted to know - He didn’t know too much after all, but if he was helping by answering, he’d be more than happy to do so.

There was a brief moment of silence as Eagle considered how to phrase things. In the end he wasn't an interrogator or anything though, so he just leveled with the kid. "Are you working for anyone else besides Canary right now?"

Webb listened as Eagle sat in silence before he spoke, he hesitated as he bit down on the cracker he had and chewed; lifting his head with his ears pricked up and checked that no one else was around him and Eagle before he turned back to finish the cracker.
“I’m not suppose to tell.” Webb said softly, moving to grab another cracker with cheese, “But also looking for things for…” he hesitated, trying to remember the name. “Midnight Man!” He said with a proud smile.

“Not a fighter, planted bug-friends to ‘listen’ to things.” Webb said before eating the cracker in his hands, giving Eagle time to think before he swallowed and continued. “He asked look into Riverbend; Griffon also asked look into Riverbend! Two birds, one scone; I think.” Webbs’ ears flattened sideways for a moment, “Didn’t find much for either. Then napped in Riverbend, nap went to night-sleep. Then monsters; and now here!” Webb raised his hands up in a way to motion to everything.

“Good have many friends! Webb like his many friends.”

Eagle let out a breath, running a hand through his hair. Welp, that was that. Swift was right. But it was obvious that Webb wasn't acting in bad faith; he was likely ignorant to the Midnight Man's designs. Not that Eagle himself was much better in that regard.

"Got it. Okay. So we're all friends," Eagle said, trying to find a way to word this. "And your friend Midnight Man asked you to bring bugs here?"

Webb nodded at his words as he chomped down on more cheese and crackers.

After the confirmation, Eagle leaned back and took an apple from a basket on the counter, pushing that toward Webb as well. "You know, some of your friends aren't friends with each other. So if you accidentally hurt one of your friends because of something Midnight Man asked you to do... you wouldn't like that, right?"

Webbs’ eyes widened at the apple, moving to grab it with his hands before he went to take a large bite from it, his mandibles showing for a moment before he bit down on the apple. He looked to Eagle as he chewed on the slightly larger than expected bite, taking in his words as he furrowed his brow ever so slightly, his upper eyes flexing their pupils.

“I wouldn’t hurt friends… But if accident I would try to make up.” Webb said after he swallowed his mouthful, “I…” he hesitated, trying to think of the right words to say. His ears flattened as he narrowed his eyes as he stared to the table; He was often annoyed by his limited common vocabulary, and really wished Viv was here currently.
“Sorry, hard to common speak sometimes.” He said as he looked to Eagle, “Do not think, Midnight Man would… Ask me hurt friends.” Webb continued, his fingers tapping slightly on the apple as he continued to think of the right words.

“Webb not.. Harmful? Not fighter, not harm…er? Mainly watch, talk bugs. Can show Eagle bugs!” He seemed to cheer up on the idea of showing Eagle the bugs he brought in. “Bugs don’t listen common much, but good for details! Remember people, not talks.” He explained awkwardly.

"Don't worry, I get it. You don't wanna hurt anybody," Eagle said. It was pretty much as he assumed then. He pulled out his phone again and updated the girls - the confirmation of Webb's connection to the Midnight Man, and Webb's own situation. It was a little hard to navigate, but at the same time it wasn't the worst case.

"If you want to keep being friends with, uh, us," he started somewhat awkwardly, "make sure you tell us everything, okay? No secrets. And yeah, definitely show me those bugs."

If only so that he could clear them out later. He wasn't looking forward to that.

Eagle pushed up from the table. "You can bring the food with you. C'mon, let's find them."

Webb nodded at the mention of telling them everything, “Do I need to tell that Midnight Man gave me house?” He asked as he stood up, he flattened his ears at the idea of showing the bugs, he could read it on Eagle’s face that things might not work out for them.

“I can get rid of bugs.” Webb said softly, “I not bring many. I can get rid of them.” He stood slowly, taking the apple with him, since the pulled pork was finished and the apple was better than the cheese and crackers.
He stood slowly as he went to follow Eagle before he paused for a moment.

“Will Griffon and Swift be angry at me?” He asked after a moment, flattening his ears back in worry. “I don’t want to be kill-squished.”

"They might be, but if you're honest with them like you were with me then they'll forgive you," he replied. He was pretty sure neither woman would hurt the kid given the truth of his circumstance though. "Let's get your bug friends out of here first, and I'll explain everything to them. You're not in trouble." Right now, at least.

Webb took Eagle into an empty office, pointing to the bookcase before moving to grab a small moth in his hands. “Have one other here somewhere.” He said as he moved to the window to try and nudge it open to let the moth go outside, without talking to them. He did the same with a slightly bigger moth near the desk, before he closed the window and started to lead Eagle towards the bathrooms to get the silverfish.

Eagle followed Webb along until pointing into another conference room. The man wandered over, looking in to find two men sleeping in very different states. Donkey wore his backpack, using it to sit upright and had his arms rested over his machine gun still atop his chest, peacefully passed out but seemingly ready to react the moment an alarm sounded. Snaptrap curled up in a nest built halfway around himself of guns, gear and grenades, backpack as a pillow as he snored, a weapon available no matter which direction he happened to grab flailing out of sleep.

As Eagle moved to flick the light on for a better look Puddle spoke up. “Leave it off. Let them sleep.”

Webb flinched at the sudden voice, he could see perfectly fine in the dark and wasn’t expecting a voice from the sleeping figures.

Eyes moving to the other corner found Puddle, sitting on the ground with one leg up and the other laid on the ground. Hands ready on his lowered braced rifle with a magazine loaded but fingers nowhere near the trigger. His face looked grey, sockets black with stress and fatigue. A hand moved up to wipe something from his eyes before he blinked at Webb. A smile of all things, however subtle, came to Puddle’s face in observing Webb. “Heh. Something new every day. How long you been around here little buddy?” He looked back to Eagle expecting an order. “You need me for something?”

Poor man looked awful. Eagle could relate somewhat - he was sure he'd looked similar after that television broadcast. The memory came unbidden, bringing a rush of residual feelings that passed over Eagle's face for a moment. He tried pushing it down.

"No, we're just doing a bug sweep," Eagle said. After a beat he grimaced. "Pun not intended."

Webb stepped behind Eagle instinctively when Puddle spoke to him, flattening his ears against his hair slightly before he looked between Eagle and Puddle, but Eagle seemed to be okay with the other male.

He admittedly didn’t understand where the pun was, that’s exactly what they were doing, a sweep for bugs.
He poked his head out from behind Eagle as he was talked to, “Couple day?” He looked to Eagle as if he would know the answer, before he nodded to himself before looking over to Puddle again, “Two days.”

"How are you holding up?" Eagle asked the Akula after a moment.

Webb looked around the room instinctively as Eagle spoke to the Akula; unaware of what the men in the room had seen. His ears twitched slightly, moving to one of the walls and pressed his head against the wall for a moment, furrowing his brow.
“You not mine.” He said quietly, more to himself than anything before he narrowed his eyes.

As Webb walked closer to the bug next to Snaptrap a light shuffling of a man readjusting was heard. Snaptrap’s eyes glinted open slowly before he froze, taking in the massive spider before him. He stayed still, eyes unblinking, mouth slightly agape, hand ready to dart for a grenade to find out if this was a nightmare or to escape whatever fate one would meet being confronted by a giant spider. Instead a single inaudible word. “Nope.” Before rolling over, trying to get back to sleep.
Webbs’ ears twitched at the word, inaudible for most but he could hear the exhale of air. He didn’t look down to Snaptrap, simply paying attention to the wall for a moment.

Puddle kept his focus on Eagle. “Yeah. Cooked.” He sat before realising the rifle in his hands, gently bouncing it. “We feel safe, know you guys are good, just after what we saw underground.” He looked at Snaptrap and Donkey, Puddle’s voice a little more quiet. “Someone should watch over them. Just in case.” His sunken eyes closed and snapped open again, trying to shake the fatigue to maintain his vigil.

He chuckled. “You know it’s funny. I’ve only known them for a couple days. Not even a week. And already I’d fight and die for them. I don’t know if it’s because of the shock of it all or this is just how the whole brothers in arms thing goes, but I’d die for them.” Puddle’s face scrunched up slightly. “That much met expectations I guess. I thought it’d be different though. The fighting.”

Puddle’s eyes seemed to become distant. “You know, me and Dave. We were so proud when Antonio said we were going from runners to gunners that day. We’d been running meds and supplies for awhile but weren’t expecting to be taken into the elite for a long, long time. We were just trying to make a difference, and Antonio says guess what boys? It’s your time, and put a rifle in Dave’s hands and mine.”

Puddle’s face shone with pride, soon falling as the recount went on. “But that’s what we were. Boys. Not men. Not yet. Donkey tried to get us to go home, and dumb kids we were, we said no so we could get shot at.” Puddle laughed. “Shit, we were excited to get shot at.”

His eyes went dark now. “Then before we knew it we were at the door. That moment when you realise there’s a whole lot of people ready to kill you on the other side of it. What do you do?” He paused. “I just, fucking ran. I don’t know when or how it happened but there was a man in front of me. I clenched my gun, and he dropped.”

Puddle raised a hand as a finger gun. “Man. Trigger. Dead. I killed someone, just because he happened to be there. Then when we left I found Dave. You’d think at that point I would’ve realised the truth of it. That it was me or that man. But.”

He shook his head. “It wasn’t until we got back I just started rambling to Donkey. He just listened, when I finished he said ‘and that’s a real war story. You know it’s a real one because they’re all shit stories’. Then we just went back on living, like it was another day.”

Puddle put his rifle aside. “I thought it’d be obvious. Kill or be killed. That it’d come naturally. That it’d feel right. The only part of that I found to be true was kill, or be killed. No room for mercy or humanity. No glory or righteousness. Just monkeys screaming till one paints the wall with the other.”

He looked at Donkey and Snaptrap again. “Fighting for them though, getting them home. Not letting what happened to Dave happen to them. Pulling the trigger is as easy as breathing.”

Puddle came back to the moment. “Do you know what that’s like? Am I making sense?”

Eagle listened to Puddle's words respectfully, keeping half an eye on Webb like he would on a wandering child. At some point he had crossed his arms and leaned lightly against the door frame.

"Yeah. A lot of sense," Eagle told him.

He wondered how old Puddle was; the story, everything from the eagerness to put training into action to the sad realization of what fire fights were actually like sounded much too similar to the graduation from boot camp cadet to enlisted soldier. He had noted how militaristic the Akulas seemed to be while running drills with them earlier too. Kind of made it harder to maintain the "us and them" mentality that Eagle had been trying to keep up since seeing it weakened after ending up in Silverside.

"You face hell together and it doesn't matter if you've known someone for an hour or a lifetime. They become your brothers." And sometimes it seemed like hell was happening somewhere everyday in Nocturnia. "I had the same thing until-"

He stopped himself. It was still a raw nerve. Instead he said, "wish I could say the rest of it gets better. But at least you know you're fighting for something bigger than yourself, and you're keeping your brothers and sisters alive. They're lucky to have you, but I'm sure they feel the same way too anyway."

Puddle’s head bounced gently in acknowledgement. Eagle seemed far more acquainted with what he was rambling about despite the man only appearing only five years older than Puddle. He could only imagine how old Eagle thought he was considering how he looked right now.

Puddle tried to find words, something that would make it ok, or at least make sense. Instead he just let Eagle’s response digest, eventually finding something to say to show he was listening. “I’m sorry.”

Puddle’s eyes eventually reached Eagle’s. “And thank you. I’m sure they thought the same of you. Hell I’m sure I will.” Puddle caught himself. “I mean, I hope not. Not because I don’t think you’re- I mean I hope you don’t have to go through that again. You know what I mean.” Puddle lifted his hand to rub his mouth. He really needed some sleep, but his nerves promised that wasn’t happening anytime soon.

Eagle let out a puff of breath. "I got it," he promised. "If you need someone watching your back while you watch theirs, I'll probably be here all night."

He would have offered to take watch starting right then if he hadn't felt movement at his side.

Webbs’ ears pricked back up when he heard the word ‘Underground’, he shivered before he pulled away from the wall and returned quietly back to Eagle’s side, looking to Puddle.
“You went underground?” He asked with a tilt of his head. Stars, just saying the word caused Webbs’ thorax twitch in fear; his hands getting slightly clammy as he twitched his clawed fingers.

Puddle turned to Webb. “Yeah. Not deep. Just under streetside. Why?”

The Underground was [i]never[i] good, at least from what Webb knew; he’d originally woken up under there, it felt wrong there, oh so horribly wrong. He felt like he was always watched there, as if there were eyes hidden in the darkness - Silent, watching eyes, tied to no mouth to whisper. A different feeling to being watched by fellow bugs, they at least whispered to him if he wanted to talk to them.
Webb closed all four of his eyes as a visible shudder seemed to shake his entire body from the memories of the underground.

“Underground bad.” Webb said, more as a sigh to himself then to any words spoken to him, “Beasts lurk underground…”

What was left of Puddle’s energy allowed him to thrust a thumb in Webb’s direction while looking at Eagle. “Is he ok?”

Eagle blinked down at Webb, putting another comforting hand on his shoulder. "That where they came from?"

Webb looked to Eagle as he asked his question, giving a small nod. “Underground makes Monsters.” He said with a shudder slightly, “Birdman makes monsters.”

Puddle squinted his eyes, trying to force synapses to fire through his brain fog. “Monsters? I mean we talk a lot of shi-” Puddle looked at Webb. “A lot of nonsense. Stuff about boogiemen and monster closets. People going too deep and never coming back.” His eyes went a little wider with realization. “Please tell me those campfire stories aren’t real little buddy.”

Webb tilted his head slightly, he wasn’t sure what a campfire was, he didn’t understand what this ‘boogiemen’ were, or… What a closet was - admittedly.
But he gave a small frown before he spoke. “The underground takes people, the birdman twists people.” He said quietly, “Monsters of underground in Riverbend currently.” He glanced to Eagle as he said so before he shivered.

“Don’t want to ever go back down. The darkness want Webb for something, Webb feel it.”

Puddle just sighed, too tired to feel worry or fear. He glanced over to Webb, watching the little spider and how he guarded himself as he spoke. A slow blink. He could do something about this. He reached into his backpack to retrieve a suppressor almost the length of his forearm. Weary hands slowly wound the flash hider off before twisting the thread of the suppressor onto the rifle.

Afterward he grabbed a handful of magazines and boxes of ammo, laid them out before him, and started pressing bullets into the clips, speaking as the rounds clicked into place. “You don’t need to be scared of the dark little buddy. Not while there's still Akulas around.” He seemed almost in a trance, fingers feeding round after round, filling chest pouches with loaded mags. “You saw a lot of them down there? Darkness, or something, try to take you?”

Yeah, at this point, why wouldn't there be a monster-making birdman in the sewers? Eagle asked himself. He really shouldn't keep getting surprised at the kind of horrors that showed up in this city.

He looked back at Puddle, hoping the man's actions were more for catharsis than anything, because, "you're not going to go back down for monster hunting, are you?"

Puddle stopped for a second, eyes focussed on Eagle before a shrug. “Not doing anything else right now.” He started loading bullets again. “I’ll just sit on the border, bring a friend with me, give Rada a call.”

Eagle didn't think it was the best plan, but he wasn't about to mother hen the guy. Now that drills were finished it might even be another good distraction from the whole zombie thing for Puddle. If he wouldn't be alone then all the better.

"Just stay safe man," he said, rubbing at the back of his head. Then Eagle glanced back at Webb. "See, you got people looking out for you. Just don't, uh, follow him."

Webb listened to the men as they spoke, tilting his head slightly at the idea of a monster hunt. Webb watched as Puddle seemed to get weapons ready, before Eagle spoke to him.
Webb didn’t answer for a moment as he moved to slightly kneel down and gently moved to put his hands - all four of them - on top of one of Puddles.
“Please no hunting.” He said, a slight pleading tone to his voice, “Would like you stay upside. Don’t want to lose new friend.” Webbs’ ears flattened back before he looked up to Eagle.

“Not planning underground any soon.” He shook his head with a shiver, “Want to stay upside, where safe, where friends.”

Renewed purpose and determination brought some life back to Puddle, a nod of confirmation to Eagle. “Not planning anything wild. Just some time on the range, really scope out what we’re facing. If things are as bad as they sound, well, someone should teach that friend of mine how to shoot.”

Puddle then shouldered his pack, checking everything was where it should be in every pouch before picking up his rifle. Instead of moving for the door he hesitated at Webb’s words, then walked to the little spider, kneeling down so he was closer to eye level with Webb. Puddle’s words were soft. “I’d really, really like to stay little buddy. I really would. But things are a bit of a mess right now.”

He tilted his head, eyes looking aside. “One day it’ll be ok again, or at least as ok as Nocturnia gets, but right now some people have to go to work so the upside here stays safe. You just promise me one thing.” He paused to get Webbs full attention. “You just focus on being a kid. That’s all you need to do, all you need to be, and to do that you just need to not do stupid things getting caught in silly fights like me.” He chuckled briefly to himself, then his eyes fell on Webb again. “Can you promise me that little buddy?”

Webb hesitated as he listened to Puddle as he spoke to him, he gave a small nod. “Not get fights.” He repeated quietly, “Promise.”

Puddle gave Webb a gentle slap on the shoulder. “Glad to hear it.” He stood and walked toward the door again speaking to Eagle. “Not my place to say but it might be worth converting a room for him. Seems like a good egg. Somewhere safe around people he trusts might just even give him something close to a normal life.” Puddle shrugged. “ I don't know, would just be nice to do some good without having to kill for it. Little things, yeah?” He walked past Eagle. “If you need me you've got my frequency. Stay safe lads.”

Eagle watched Puddle go until he'd turned a corner. Then he looked back at Donkey and Snaptrap, before finally settling his eyes on Webb. He had to agree with Puddle; if it was up to him, he'd pull the poor kid out of all this business completely. Right now, Webb was caught dangerously between a couple of different factions. He could only imagine what might have happened to the spiderling if Griffon or Darter had been here instead of him when Webb arrived.

Eagle still didn't have a lot of pull with the canaries, but he'd bring it up with them another time. He still had a few things to do, and the others probably would not appreciate the suggestion of housing a Dark Ace agent at the moment.

Holding in a sigh, Eagle ushered Webb out and away from the room. Clover's other two men could keep resting, and if they awoke before Puddle got back he'd tell them what happened.

"Alright Webb, you ever need a place to lay low just come find me, okay?" he told the boy. If the office didn't end up working out, he had a pretty sweet hotel room Webb could crash in. "When you go back to that house the Midnight Man gave you... just, be careful."

Eagle stopped, kneeling down to be on Webb's level before he said his next piece. "Sometimes people tell you they're your friend when they really aren't, just to get something out of you. The Midnight Man? He might be like that. Don't trust him blindly. Actually, you probably shouldn't trust anybody blindly."

Not even us, he thought, giving Webb a weak smile. He stood back up. "You can stick around and eat as much as you want for now though."

Webb didn’t fight Eagle as he ushered him along, he listened to Eagle as he spoke about needing to lay low to come find him. Webb patted his own pockets for a moment before he lifted out his phone and offered it to Eagle.
“Put number, will text if need help?” He asked with a small smile, “Will careful, normally alway careful.” He nodded with a soft smile.

The mention of not trusting blindly caused his ears to flatten slightly, “Have been hurt before, trying not trust everyone blindly.” He admitted before he gave a small shudder.
“If need, or want, hang out. Please call, will happy to hang!”

Clinic, Waterfront Vale

_{Mentions: - || Interactions: -}

---

Where Griffon went, a billowing wind followed. She always preferred being outside instead of cooped up in the office, and the best part about the season changing into winter was that no one could tell whether the cold bluster was her gyft or nature's doing. Sometimes when the winds swirled together, even she didn't know.

She had donned a puffy black coat just for appearances' sake, not that worried about the cold while she scooted around the battle zones into Waterfront Vale. Although she had insisted on going to check the area out, she didn't have any unrealistic expectations about finding something. Darter had already made it to the spot in Brewery by the time she'd arrived and reported back what they'd mostly expected: nothing useful.

That was about what Griffon was finding too. She checked her phone every now and then, little updates from the others as she walked the river bank (and only kind of wished she'd been there to question the little spider herself). She moved backward between the switch's oldest transmissions, from a humble park to a street corner on the south side. She wasn't a detective or anything, but she'd been around the block, had a keen eye. Unfortunately it wouldn't help her if there wasn't anything suspect in the first place.

She shuffled around a little clinic, considering whether to go in and ask some questions. There were members of the Order milling about the immediate area (or people she assumed were part of the Order at least), which wasn't really surprising considering the location. She would have thought they'd have commandeered hospitals and such closer to the fighting, but whatever. Eventually, probably after making herself look suspicious by pacing and loitering, she popped inside and asked if they'd seen a 'skinny, brown-haired white guy.' Not exactly the most unique description, or the most inconspicuous action, but Griffon was doing her best.

They kicked her out, gently, when she started overstaying her welcome with a few more incessant questions.

And that was that. Some fresh air, some exercise, and nothing else to show for it. She really hadn't expected to find anything; she had just hoped she would.

The wind howled. Griffon took a deep breath and turned her face up before just yelling into the air with it. She startled a few passersby who then gave the woman a wide berth. The sound was loud and drawn out, a quick and easy way to vent her frustration. When her breath ran out she glared at the sky before sighing.

Back to the office.

---

Over the Radio

_{Mentions: Adel, Akula Crew, Matthias || Interactions: Martin (in collaboration with @flux)}

---

It was easy enough to slip away from everyone as the day wore on. The canaries all had their hands full with scouring the city, keeping their eyes on every war zone, seeking cells of the Akula Crew and any leads on their missing boss. It was that situation, Adel's disappearance, which concerned Eagle the longer it went on. It impacted his own, new mission.

The backroom Del Guarde's comms equipment was stored in was all but forgotten by everyone save for Alex Gonzalez. He made sure everything was plugged in and working, putting the headset to his ears and dialing in the frequency that his unit had used before their destruction. The Master Sergeant had said that he'd be in contact, but considering what was going on Eagle felt he should probably check in. He only hoped the connection still worked both ways.

"Golf 1, this is Golf 10. Acknowledge? Over."

For a moment there was only static, then a sudden response. “Golf unit? Golf unit was disbanded who-.” The operator stopped, the sound of papers flicking before the voice cut in again. “Gonzalez? Del G- Gonzalez! You’re still alive?” The operator finally collected himself. “Your unit was recorded KIA, what’s your status?” The operator seemed stunned to hear from Eagle.

Eagle did a quiet little fist pump, thanking God that he'd managed to get through. He took a moment just to breathe before he replied.

"Alive, for one," he said, sounding glad to be so. "I got lucky. Sergeant Glyde and a few other officers are MIA. Everyone else... no one else made it, to my knowledge. I'm holed up in the center of the city, safe for now."

It was such a conflicting feeling, the shame of not being there to help the rest of his unit when Kairo had attacked, but also the sheer relief that he hadn't been. He loved his brothers and sisters in arms, but he had a family he had to make it back to. And he would make it back to them, whatever it took.

"What's the situation outside?" he asked. They had obviously sent more men into Nocturnia since he'd met Sergeant Luthen that morning, but he had no idea of the scale of whatever new operation was going on.

The operator sounded somewhat relieved, replying out of order himself forgetting protocol. “Best news I’ve heard today. Only leadership got the reports but the rumours… it’s a good thing you got away Gonzal- Golf 10. Things aren’t great out here, all hell is breaking loose in a couple districts and we just got a report of an armored vehicle opening fire in the city. First time that’s happened in decades. Shame you didn’t message in any earlier. We might've been able to route them through to you but they’re pinned in Riverbend. Don’t think we’ll be sending another aid convoy or anyone else in for a while either. As far as I know, you're it.” The operator paused, his voice returning more gentle than before. “It sounds like you're safe. Just stay safe. We’ll figure something out.”

"Sooner than later I hope," Eagle joked weakly.

He definitely didn't have any plans to die in here. If even aid would stop coming in then the military was taking this gang war seriously. Although, it wasn't just him in here. There was Luthen. It wasn't a surprise that the man hadn't reported finding a survivor among Del Guarde yet, but surely the units stationed outside had sent him in, or were aware of his infiltration.

"What about Master Sergeant Luthen? He still okay with the fighting going on?"

The operator responded after a delay. “Uhm, yeah I’m sure the Master Sergeant’s fine. No casualty reports coming in for him to gloom over. You know something we don’t-?” A distant shout from the operator's side, the operator speaking to someone new in the room. “Sir? A survivor, sir. Dismissed? Sorry sir but-.”

There was a scuffling over the microphone and soon a new voice. “Get the hell out of this room corporal!” The new man sat to address Eagle now. “Communications lieutenant Joshua. Who am I speaking to?”

Joshua didn’t wait, noticing the file in front of him. “Private. Listen to me very carefully. After your unit shit the bed the people’s opinion of us has dropped to a record low. If the populace learns we have active assets within the wall that aren’t flying under a red cross handing out biscuits and blankets they might just start another war. Not this play pretend bullshit they’re having out currently, but a real, goddamn war.”

Joshua took a breath. “No one can know of the Sergeants presence in the city. Not after what happened to your team. Not after what happened in Riverbend. If the people think we’re responsible for what we saw today or it turns out to be transmittable-.” A pause, almost long enough to ask if he was still there. Joshua eventually spoke up. “I’ll give you Martin’s frequency, but he will not be happy to hear you have it. Stick with him, stay alive. If you hear sirens from the walls-.”

A moment as Joshua tried to find the words, giving up after a sigh. “Start praying. Out.”

The line died. A new frequency on the screen to be recorded mentally or manually.

Eagle just stared for a moment, taking in the ominous words he was left with. "What the fuck...?"

This was a mess. Everything was a mess - and every time he felt he learned one thing, something else ended up happening that shifted his view. He had kind of had an inkling that Sergeant Luthen's own mission was a secret one and he wasn't about to tell anyone inside the city about it, but it kind of sounded like it was so need-to-know that Eagle himself shouldn't have even found out. Then again, the man had reached out to Eagle specifically. If he needed allies in Nocturnia then Eagle wasn't about to let him down, especially when he agreed that Martin was his best chance at staying alive and getting out.

Eagle rubbed a hand over his forehead and then looked around for something to jot the frequency down. After a few seconds he recalled that he had that printout from earlier stuffed into his pocket, withdrew it and un-crumpled it, and copied the numbers before they disappeared. He was going to have to commit them to memory soon, but he knew there was no way he'd be able to do it right now.

He also considered not even calling Sergeant Luthen. If the man was going to be pissed then he really didn't want to risk Martin taking his offer back and abandoning him here. But if there's already a complication then he should know about it, Eagle argued with himself.

It was a few minutes before he decided, switching the radio frequency over to the new one. It wasn't like he'd asked for the contact, so if anyone was really gonna be in trouble it was the comms lieutenant for giving it out. He took a deep breath.

"Unknown station, this is Golf 10. Acknowledge, over."

The line stayed silent for a moment before Martin picked up. “I told you to wait until I contacted you.” Martin could’ve slapped his face if they weren’t soiled with his current work. Basic, fucking, orders. Maintain silence until notified. More concerning was how he found his frequency. Someone back at base probably let it slip. He sighed. Things were so much simpler back when you could have a man shot for something as simple as incompetence, but over the years the Military response had gone soft. The world had gone soft.

He gathered his breath, there was no point chewing Eagle out now, he was on the line for a reason. “What do you need, Private?”

"Yes sir, sorry sir," Eagle said first. He could practically feel the other man's irritation over the radio, but it was a bit late to second guess his decision now. No use making excuses either. Still, he winced slightly even if Martin couldn't see it.

"Regarding the objective you gave me, there's already been a complication. Canary's folks recently learned he was picked up by another party." He said it quickly and matter-of-factually, trying not to get on the Sergeant's nerves any more than he probably already was. He still felt the fact that the Silver Canary was not just a subject of interest to Martin, but this other group as well was something the man should know. "Location unknown, status unknown. Working on it, but figured you might want to know ASAP."

Martin stopped what he was doing, scalpel resting in the specimen. This was critical information. His mouth curled to abuse Eagle but he stopped himself. Eagle had the gumption and intuition to circumvent all protocol to ensure he received this report. That took guts. His opinion of the Private was beginning to form. “You made the right call. I wish you were able to keep the target secure but I’ll assume that was well outside any reasonable ability to do so.”

Martin knelt for a moment. Letting Eagle in further on his plans might allow him to better react in the future. The Private was brash, but obviously loyal and motivated. He’d also shown an ability to make what shouldn’t be possible happen, whether that was surviving the fall of Del Guarde or getting classified information such as his frequency. He chewed the thought, settling on taking a risk. “Alright Private. How much do you know about the history of the city?” Something wet squelched as Martin's other hand levered a probe to expose the top of a monster's spine.

The history of Nocturnia. Eagle had learned some about it in school, the story of the mysterious superpower city the government had to wall off. He'd also been briefed before his unit had infiltrated it, though that was mostly on how they should operate and what they could expect rather than a classroom lesson on its past. He didn't know what Martin could be getting at with the question, but after a moment he responded.

"More than I want to, but I'm guessing less than I should," he said.

Martin huffed a laugh. “You know enough to blend in and survive, so I’ll spare you the quiz. This city is full of secrets. There’s one I’ve been chasing for a long time. Something that, if I’m right, could solve the global energy crisis, global warming, stop the rising tensions before we purge ourselves with nuclear hellfire.”

The probe finally snapped back. Martin reached in to retrieve and inspect the amber gem previously embedded while still speaking to Eagle. “Something that could put some goddamn sense into peoples minds, at least long enough to wipe up after the mess they’ve made. This isn’t just about Nocturnia. This isn’t just about your country. It’s about everything Private. Everything we know as real and protecting what that is.”

Martin cut to the point. “Those you know as Akula’s used to be revolutionary insurgents. They went far too deep underground in preparing their fortifications, finding what I’m looking for. There were three ‘leaders’ beforehand, each of them wrote a book regarding what, where and how to control the objective. I have the first book containing ‘where’ it is, acquired after Rebel leader was shot by his own kid. The third book, written by Madened leader, is in Matthias’s hands, containing the ‘what’. The second I know is deep below with the beast and whatever is left of Traitor leader. The ‘how’ is in that book, I’m certain.”

Martin didn’t give Eagle anytime to process. “The Silver Canary is the information broker of the city. He’s the only one I’ve concluded being able to source the missing data before we prepare an expedition of locals. If he cooperates, he will be coming with me out of the city. If not.” Martin shrugged, pocketing the gem. “He comes with me either way.”

It was a lot to take in. Eagle blinked, not saying anything as he tried to wrap his mind around everything Martin had said. He didn't question how the Master Sergeant had so much information -he was twice Eagle's age, and had been involved in Warzone 13 operations for most if not all of his career from what Eagle knew of him- but it was still a surprise to hear. Was there really something that could, effectively, help achieve world stability if not peace in this city? This brutal city?

It must have been related to the people's gyfts, and that's why they'd never gone ahead with a full scale invasion to capture this power. The rest of the story felt almost like someone describing an adventure tale with the mention of beasts and books, but... truth was usually stranger than fiction, right?

"That's... if something like that's here, that's incredible," Eagle eventually said when he realized that his pause was growing long. It also sounded like the Sergeant was getting close too. Now Eagle understood the absolute secrecy the man was trying to maintain. "So as soon as you get the last piece of the puzzle..."

Which was what he needed Adel for. Eagle hadn't heard any of the canaries mention anything even close to what Martin was describing, but then again it had only been a few days. It was possible the Silver Canary already knew, or likely could find out. "...I'll get him to cooperate. As soon as we find him."

Martin nodded. “Glad to hear it Private. You’re putting humanity first. You should be proud of that.” Martin went to close the line, stopping to reflect on Eagle’s will to assist without hesitation. Maybe there were still real soldiers out there after all.

He made one final comment. “You ever need me, don’t hesitate to make contact. Good hunting son.” And with that Martin went on to his next objective, eying an access ladder back to the surface.

He spoke quietly to himself. “Alright Matty you crazy bastard. Let's see if you and me can have a chat without killing each other.” He stopped. “If we can have a chat.” A shrug. “Eh, worst case, recon.” He began to clamber up to the surface again.

---

Front Office, Silverside

_{Mentions: Adel, Vincent, Ezra || Interactions: Cyrus (in collaboration with @Estylwen)}

---

A black car rolled up in the sunny afternoon, right in front of the gallery that concealed the offices of the Silver Canary. As it idled, a familiar face stepped out. Cyrus, a grin on his face and a cigarette in between his teeth.

He walked over to the back door, opening it for a little kid with fiery red hair - none other than Noah. He seemed fairly well-kept, and only a little apprehensive.

Cyrus wrapped an arm around Noah, steering the kid gently towards the big, bright building, and walked into the lobby.

”Afternoon, fellas! You'll never guess who I found!”

The sound of Cyrus' familiar voice drew people's attention to him as he entered with his charge. Of course, none reacted as strongly as Griffon - she sped around a corner into the room as soon as she'd heard the man, and there was relief plain on her face.

"Cyrus Levine I could fucking kiss you right now–" she started, her eyes tracking him, and a spot near him in the open air, until she paused in confusion and her gaze fell a few feet down to the boy Cyrus had with him. "–never mind. Who the hell is this?"

The few Omakase men in the room snapped to attention, taking in sharp breaths. ”It's little Noah-”

“Oh my God-”

“I'm fuckin’ seeing things now-” Came the blurted outbursts, one immediately reaching for a phone, obviously to inform Pops. The other two had hands eager to snatch up Noah, but were very wary of Cyrus.

Cyrus merely chuckled, nudging Noah toward them. ”Go on, kid.”

Noah gave a wide-eyed stare to Cyrus, before he walked ahead, right into the arms of Omakase’s men, who held him like they'd never let the kid go.

Cyrus gave a light whistle, before his eyes rolled towards Griffon. ”Hey hon’. Not who you were expecting?”

"Uh, not really," she admitted, coming to stand beside Cyrus to give Noah and his 'family' space. Her brows were furrowed, but with the happy reunion in front of her she couldn't stay that upset.

She was quiet for longer than she normally was though, her arms crossed over her chest. She was thinking. She could be a little smart when she tried to be. She recalled that last night after Omakase got here, her boss and theirs had locked themselves in Adel's office for a while. She hadn't known what they talked about, but... maybe it included this? A missing Omakase kid? Among other things, she assumed. It might be part of the reason why Omakase had integrated with the canaries in the first place, because otherwise she had no clue why they’d agree to it. Naturally, the only two who did know hadn’t said a word.

Griffon cut a sideways glance at Cyrus. "Who told you about the kid? Did that Mother Goose hire two different info brokers to find him or something?"

Cyrus still had that easy smile. ”Like I said, Griffon. I found ‘em.”

She let out an amused puff of breath. "Whoa, sorry, I forgot sugar baby doesn't like it when people question his methods."

Her slight smile faded quickly. She tapped her fingers on her arms, thinking something else over. Eventually she shifted on her feet and looked at Cyrus again.

"Hey, actually, can I talk to you about something? We can use one of the rooms."

Cyrus gave an easy shrug, hooded eyes already glancing over the offices, before returning her gaze. ”Sure, hon’. Lead the way.”

The two of them stepped out of the lobby into the same side room they'd used before, when Cyrus had come to sell his information on M.PHAT. He wouldn't be getting any coffee today, as practically the canaries' whole stock had been drained. Griffon closed the door behind her after one last look at the Omakase. She took a breath. She looked at Cyrus.

"...okay, so, remember you said to come to you more often if we have questions?" she asked, not really remembering how he'd phrased it figured that was close enough. She crossed her arms again, pacing a few steps one way before turning and doing it again the other. "Well I got a question for you."

It felt really weird to be asking it though, which is what made her hesitate. Swift had actually mentioned Cyrus as a possible source of information if the canaries' leads turned up nothing, and so far they had, although.... It hadn't even been twenty four hours. Then again, the situation was just so strange that none of them wanted to ignore it for long. So, Cyrus. And the man was right here. But... god, really? Not only was it weird, it was embarrassing. He was kind of like their business rival.

"But first. You have to promise not tell anyone else about what I'm gonna ask. Okay? For real. I'm serious. Don't sell it to anyone else. I will find you, boytoy."

Cyrus leaned his back against the table, arms folded across his chest. Eyes on the floor for a moment, digesting Griffon's words, before he met her gaze. ”You have my word, hon’. What's discussed in this room does not leave this room, eh?”

His gaze softened a bit. ”What's on your mind?”

Griffon held Cyrus' eyes for a moment longer, just making sure he was telling the truth. She decided that he was, and her shoulders slumped slightly in relief.

Despite the teasing, occasional bullying, a few fights, and the rivalry (mostly on Griffon and a few other canaries' parts, Adel rarely entertained it), Griffon actually liked Cyrus. He was fun, and she trusted him. Like her boss, he made good on his deals. If he said he wouldn't tell anyone else, then he wouldn't.

...and if he did, she was pretty sure she could break a few of his bones before he could portal away.

"Have you... spoken to Adel lately?" she started with. Even though she trusted Cyrus, she didn't want to just jump right in to admitting that they thought he was missing missing. "He stormed out of here kind of pissed yesterday and I haven't heard from him in a while."

Cyrus looked at Griffon, really looked at her. He couldn't lie to her, that wouldn't sit with him right. But he also couldn't tell her the truth.

So he took a breath, jaw jutting out a bit. ”I can't say.”

That was not the response Griffon expected. She blinked in surprise at Cyrus, then her expression turned upset. It was all too clear that he knew something.

"You can't say?" She repeated, taking a few steps closer to the informant. "That's your job, Cyrus. Wh- do you want money or something?"

She controlled her tone, trying not to be angry with the man in front of her. With the scale of the battles breaking out all over the city, she was sure information brokers were high in demand. The canaries were, with the calls and requests piling up. Cyrus was probably just covering his ass, and she couldn't blame him for that, but this was Adel, her boss, the one she liked, who paid her good and treated a ruffian like her well.

She searched Cyrus' face, her voice dipping lower with concern. "Is he in trouble? ...are you in trouble?"

A pause before Cyrus responded. “...When someone wants something in this city, what do they do? …They take it, yeah?”

Cyrus gave her a pained look. “Trust, me you're better off forgetting about the Canary, and waiting.”

Griffon seized the man by his collar, inhaling sharply. As she breathed the air in the room moved with her, pulling at their clothes and hair. The temperature dropped slightly. She had never been very good at controlling her gyft, and now Cyrus' had all but confirmed what she and the others had feared.

"What happened," she demanded, more protective than angry. He knew she couldn't just wait around. "If someone's threatening you not to say, I'll help you. I'll whip up a tornado and rip them apart, or fling them halfway across the country. If you really can't say then point me toward someone who can!"

Cyrus’ only movement was to slowly unfurl his arms, not resisting as Griffon had him by the collar. He didn't make a move, even as the air whipped around them. His only real response was for his easy smile to harden into something that betrayed a lot of emotional pain in him.

”You think I want to be in this position, hon’? You think I want to be the one to tell you, ‘oh, he’s dead’, or ‘oh, he’s gone forever’? Trust me, the less you interfere, the better chances your man has of getting out of this.”

His voice dropped a note. “...Lemme go, Griffon.”

Instead of letting him go, Griffon's grip tightened. Her fist shook. The wind chill turned biting. Behind her eyes there was a maelstrom of emotions. Someone had gotten to Cyrus, and that already was enough to piss her off. As far as she was concerned, she was the only one that should be allowed to mess with the people she took a liking to - which included her boss, because worse than someone getting to Cyrus, someone had gotten to Adel. And it had already escalated to the point of real danger, if she was hearing Cyrus right.

"Do you really expect me to sit around with my thumb up my ass if something happened to him?" She said. "Give me anything, Cyrus. Please."

A grimace crossed Cyrus’ face. Not from the wind chilling him to the bone, or the grip Griffon had on his collar. No, it stemmed from the pain in Griffon's voice. He wished he could help her, really. Hell, he'd do this one job for free.

Before a dark look crossed his face, evidently remembering something entirely unpleasant if he even thought about opening his mouth.

So, instead, he grit his teeth a little, voice pained. ”I'm sorry, hon’. I can't.”

This isn't happening, Griffon thought. Who the hell had spooked Cyrus this badly? Adel so badly last night? She tore her eyes away from Cyrus' face as she sorted through what she knew. There were a lot of people that Adel was involved with recently, but not all of them could have pulled this off. Someone with resources, and the power to back up their threats. Someone that would stand to gain something, probably someone involved in the war that had just kicked off. So was it the Order? The Thorned Roses? Or was it actually the Dark Aces as Swift had thought…?

Griffon cursed under her breath. Adel rarely told her, or anyone, much of anything and she was unlikely to get anything out of Cyrus if she couldn't back up her own promise to help him out.

Just then the door clicked open softly. A man stepped inside, one that usually stayed away from the face work of the canaries. Tall and fit, with tanned skin and a dark smudge of hair, he didn't seem the least bit surprised to see the situation in front of him as he closed the door behind him and leaned his back against it.

"Lovers’ quarrel?" he asked, his tongue poking out slightly between his teeth as he smiled. His eyes slid to Griffon. "You're scaring the people out there, Griffs. The draft's fuckin' cold."

Griffon's hold on Cyrus loosened, but she didn't release him. She didn't even look at Darter when she acknowledged him. "This isn't the time, Darter. We'll be done soon."

The man seemed amused at that answer. His bright eyes fell on Cyrus. "Want me to take a crack at him? I didn't get to play bad cop earlier when that spider kid was here, I'm really missing out."

Cyrus’ eyes slid over to Darter, ”Darter, why am I not surprised. Hate to take you away from your work.”

He was very aware of Griffon’s lack of release. And with Darter in the room, Cyrus could feel the tingle of trepidation enter his system. But instead of leaning into it, he instead fixed Darter with that easy grin of his, only the clench of his teeth betraying the muscle tension in his body.

”Whatever you're gonna do, get it over with.”

Darter's own smile widened. Griffon finally looked over at the man, snapping at him, "stay out of this!"

"Whaaat, but he just gave me permission himself," Darter pointed out, slinking toward the two of them. He took in what was going on with a glance, his movements loose and casual, hands in his pockets. "You're trying to see what he knows about Dawson, right? It's all over your face. Your problem, Griffon, is you're a big softie. And you, Levine, well you made the lady here upset. Can't just let that go, right?"

In truth, Darter could not care less about if Griffon was upset or not. He used it only as an excuse, and Griffon knew that. She was seething, and actually jerked Cyrus away from her fellow canary. "Fuck off," she warned. She could hardly deal with the current situation, she didn't need Darter to make things worse and make her blow the roof off the building.

But Darter was already too close. He slipped his hand, and his knife, out of his pocket and pressed it deep into the ferryman's side. Darter's eyebrows were drawn up in mock surprise, as if he hadn't meant to just stab the man out of nowhere. "Whoops," he chuckled, holding the blade there, a quiet threat. "One wrong move and things could get really messy."

Cyrus let out a strangled cry through gritted teeth, one hand gripping on Darter's sinful wrist, the other clenching the lip of the table behind him. His breathing was laboured and shallow, immediately attempting to move as little as possible.

Griffon stared at Darter with half a mind to tear the man's head from his body. But she didn't move. If she moved with Cyrus he could be hurt a lot worse. If she let Cyrus go, he might run, and she'd lose her chance to find out what was going on.

"You little snake," she spat at Darter. The man ignored her insult, because there was satisfaction rolling off of him. The snakebird was, after all, his chosen namesake.

"This is how you get info, Griffs. No bribery, just the old fashioned way," he said, keeping his stare on Cyrus. "So? Have something to say to her, Levine?"

A bead of sweat dripped down Cyrus’ face, teeth clenched, trying to stifle the moan of pain that wanted to tear its way out of his throat. His hand on Darter's wrist was strong, but it certainly wasn't strong enough to stop Darter from cutting more, or heaven forbid, doing that again. Griffon would be able to feel the tremble of muscle and bone under her hands as Cyrus desperately tried to think past the pain.

His squinted gaze landed on Darter, trying to catch his breath before spitting out, ”You're… a real bastard, ya know that… Darter?”

His teeth gritted. ”I fuckin' said I can't talk!”

"I have been told that before, yeah," Darter said around a smile. "And, I mean, you're talkin' right now, aren't you? So what's the problem? More scared of what's in store for you in the future than being filleted right here and now?"

The wind picked up. It was unlikely Griffon would allow that to happen, but it wasn't impossible if Darter was too quick. Griffon's rage was struggling against her concern, for both info brokers, and she trembled with barely contained emotion.

"Keep this up, and since Adel's not here, no one can stop me from finally putting you in the ground," she hissed at Darter. He snickered, eyes flicking back to Griffon briefly.

"It's since he's not here that I get to have some fun for once." Who really liked playing by all those rules anyway? Certainly not Darter. Violence was like, his second resort, and he rarely got to indulge anymore. Although, he did actually have to worry about Griffon coming after him now. Maybe he should have put some more thought into this. Oh well. Time to try and guilt trip her into forgetting about him. "You're not letting him go, so you're on my side, Griffon! Come on, he knows something, don't he? Aren't you worried?"

Anger flared in Griffon, but Darter's words had the intended effect. She looked back at Cyrus, torn between wanting to set him free and wanting to help Adel.

"Cyrus, I'm sorry, I-" she said, but swallowed the rest of her apology. It really didn't mean shit, since Darter was right. "Just give us anything, I promise we'll let you go and I'll have someone look after your wound. We'll help you too, just, please, whatever you can say."

Cyrus sucked in another ragged breath between his teeth, his grip on Darter's wrist wavering a bit. He could feel his shirt getting soaked around the wound, worsening with every beat of his heart.

His eyes pinched shut, considering his options. Getting filleted really sounded like a terrible situation. Yeah, I'd be a goner, huh. Darter already had the blade sticking in him; it would take surprisingly minimal effort to slide it one way or the other.

When he opened his eyes, he was looking at Griffon. Lips parted, teeth clenched, before he sighed, and finally spilled the beans.

”It was a job. Moving Adel from one place to another…”

Another shallow breath, wincing at the ragged pain in his side.

”Vincent wiped my mind of the location. All I know… is that Ezra has him… M'kay?”

And just like that the blade disappeared from his side, sliding out easily if not gently. Darter stepped away, looking smug as he stashed the knife back into his pocket. "Now was that so hard–"

Cyrus was released just before there was a hard thwacking noise and Darter stumbled backward, clutching his nose. Blood gushed out between his fingers, and he glared at Griffon. She pulled her fist back for another go until Darter's eyes pointedly flicked to Cyrus, and she spun around to face the red head.

"Cyrus," she hissed, her hands hovering over the man's abdomen. "I'm so fucking mad at you, I can't believe you would– ugh, shit, I'm sorry, we shouldn't have– but then you wouldn't have–! Fuck! Fuck!"

Griffon tried to calm herself down as the wind whirled around the room. She couldn't believe what she was hearing, but she knew it was the truth. So now she had to figure out how to find her boss and launch a rescue attempt. And she should probably punch Cyrus too for good measure considering the part he'd played, but since he was currently bleeding it could wait.

"We got a little medical office, I'll stitch you up, okay? Or I'll get someone else to. Just– God damn it, Cyrus!"

Cyrus relaxed a bit, now that the knife was out of him. Somehow smiled too, as Griffon's punch made its mark. He was leaned up the desk good now, as if he would seriously struggle standing if it weren't there. A hand pressed against his side, hardly stemming the blood that now freely flowed, soaking his fingers.

He cursed quietly, before setting his eyes back on Griffon. ”...I'm sorry, hon’. It's a real shitty situation. ‘S why I didn't wanna tell ya. Suppose I deserve a little stabby; been a while since I was on the receiving end…

“Yeah… stitches sound good… I'll uh, follow you…”

Before his gaze slid over to Darter. Had a few fiery words on his tongue. But restrained himself, and instead shrugged it off, focusing instead on Griffon.

She ushered him out, blustering wind following her as she steered Cyrus out the door and down a hall. The gusts only died down a little given how amped up Griffon still was, and they pushed at anyone that so much as looked at her or Cyrus. Needless to say, most people scattered. Behind them Darter did not dare follow to the tiny office infirmary, choosing instead to go plug up his nose in a bathroom after clicking his tongue after the two of them.

The canaries did not employ a dedicated nurse, though it was something they'd talked about before. Griffon sat Cyrus down on a little stool and dug around in the cabinets for the suture needles and thread. She practically radiated tension, her shoulders still shaking with anger and frustration. She wanted to thank Cyrus for telling her, but she also wanted to cuss him out. And worse.

She flung a packaged antiseptic wipe at him instead.

“None of them are gonna know you told us,” she said, her back still turned. As far as peace of mind went, the fact that they weren’t going to advertise that Cyrus had made his piece in this abduction known probably wouldn't amount to much. “Your life better have been on the line though, if you did this for money then I swear I…!”

She stopped, squeezing her hands around a few bandages she’d dug out.

Cyrus was already attempting to shrug off his bloodied suit, free hand unbuttoning the dress shirt.

”When you're dealing with those two… Your life is always on the line.”

A harsh breath and the cabinet doors in front of Griffon rattled dangerously. She took a moment to force her gyft and her feelings back under her control. She had a lot to do now, a lot to think about. How to find out where Adel was and make sure he was okay, bring him home preferably in one piece. And Cyrus was right, of course. All the stories she'd heard... if it had been anyone else involved, she wouldn't have blamed the man for what he did. But it wasn't.

She turned and sat down in front of Cyrus, helping him undress and patching him up with steady hands. The rest of her quivered in angry anticipation.