A Search Through A Rabbit Hole

“My oh my, what do we have here?”

Sharp footsteps sounded as someone walked into their vicinity, Boston with his white hair and porcelain fox mask, the collar of his black jacket popped up, hands deep in its pockets. For what reason was his mask made so exquisitely? Rei assumed that there was probably some technology inside that allowed him to see things similarly to how her helmet did, but the outside looked quite traditional, hand-painted, with small chips and cracks lining the edges. She would have loved to have taken it off and see what was lying underneath, perhaps some sort of hideous scar or tattoo. But that was the least important of her concerns now.

“Boston, eh?” Aries let out a scoff. “Here to make our lives difficult again?”

“I really can’t seem to get rid of you tonight, can I, Miss Rei?” Boston twirled a rather elaborate throwing knife around his hand. “And you, Aries… The boss said not to worry about you, but I don’t believe him. What are you trying to do here?”

“I could ask you the same thing.” Aries raised an eyebrow. “Where’s that map that you took from me earlier?”

“Took from you? When you took it from me first?” Rei scowled.

“Either way, it’s still thievery,” Aries said, rolling his eyes. “So? Give it back?”

“Afraid I can’t. Though even if I did, it would be far too late for you to do anything.”

“I never liked you from the moment I laid eyes on you, Kitsune.”

“I could say the same.”

Rei was not ready to pocket her gun, but she slammed her free fist against the power box. “Boston, I want you to tell me exactly what you did to this and how to fix it. If you don’t - ”

“If I don’t, what are you gonna do?” Boston gave a short laugh.

“You know, you could just kill both of us right here and now. Why don’t you?” Aries turned his pistol on Boston.

Boston let out a long, exasperated sigh. “Because Boss won’t let me, aye? No clue why not, but he wants you both ‘alive’. Certainly not alive and well, but - “

That was all Rei needed to hear. She ducked underneath Aries’s arm and ran for her bike, vaulting over it and roughly pulling her helmet over head. “See ya later, suckers. Have fun fighting.”

“You can’t do anything anyways!” Boston called after her.

“Says who!”

“Says me!”

“Well, screw you!”

She could still hear Aries and Boston bickering in the background, and a couple of shots rang out. Sheesh… Well, even without the map, she could go find Atlas again. The info broker ought to have a backup stored somewhere…and that was probably the best and only plan she had right now.

The city was darker than she had ever seen it. Evidently the Sunset Eyes were working hard and working fast, cutting out power to each district one by one. She wished that Calix was here with her, for she could sense the cold, nervous dread enveloping her heart as she sped along the city streets.

What did Haze want anyways?

Thankfully she was able to map out directions to Atlas’s house on the motorbike, and in a short time she arrived, and the house was still completely dark, the window smashed from where Aries had come in earlier. She went up to the front door and knocked, but to no avail, so she went around the side and attempted to climb up through where Aries had. Using a trash can she managed grab hold of the window-frame and pull herself over, but there were still shards of glass left over. She winced, wiping blood off her hand onto her jacket.

“Atlas? You there?”

She looked around the room, though she could barely see anything. Everything still seemed to be in the state that they had left it in. Maybe she could find another copy of the map somewhere around here…?

Ducking under the table, she found a handwritten note, and she tried to find some light to hold it up to. Faintly, her barely adjusted eyes read:

I’m with Vice, if you need anything.

Vice… Ugh, the fight club again? Why would she go there? Wasn’t the power also out? Unless they had some sort of emergency generator or something…

Rei found the roll of bandages and disinfectant spray that they had left on the couch earlier, and quickly tended to her cuts, before heading downstairs and out the front door, mounting her bike again. Back to Vice’s fight club, eh? This night seemed to be taking her around in circles…

Hm, perhaps Vice had sent a proxy to find Atlas? It wasn’t unlikely that they knew each other; after all, info brokers ran around in the same underworld that everyone else did. Hopefully she wouldn’t be fighting; Rei doubted that that rabbit-like girl could even last for two seconds. But she had a feeling that she wouldn’t be finding her in the ring.

Not with the lights out.

It seemed that the crowds of people had subsided around the streets of the fight club, and Rei found the door knocked down, the way lit by old-fashioned lanterns, flames blazing within them. A couple of guards stood around, and she cautiously made her way inside, feeling their eyes on her back.

“I’m looking for…Atlas…”

“The purple-haired girl? She mentioned that you might come. This way.”

They took her to the carpeted room where she had first met Vice, and the woman was still there, lounging on her chair, Atlas nervously standing to the side. Heron, Aretha, and Dionysus were there as well, Dionysus sitting next to Vice, Heron pacing the room opening and closing his fan, and Aretha sitting in the corner, seeming listless for an android.

“Rei, our third newcomer for the night, has returned.” Vice gave a smirk. “Welcome back to hell.”

“I’ll see you there when the last of the lights have gone out,” Rei replied. “What are you doing with Atlas here?”

Vice tilted her head and smirked. “You ever heard of bait? I’m afraid you’ve fallen right into a trap, my little wolf.”