Ethnoentomology: Midnight Rider

by wrongful

Los Angeles, California. July of 1990. A young woman, a petty thief, on the run for shooting an "unarmed" man in broad daylight, accidentally finds her way into a flourishing Hallownest. Prequel to Ethnoentomology.

15. White Rabbit

"When logic, and proportion, /
have fallen sloppy dead."

---

The killer awoke before dawn.

The pale shadow faded back into awareness. No bed. They lived in an elegant broom closet, only a rack for their Pure greatnail and their silvery, silken armor. With long, dark arms that could never be sore, they heaved the polished metal over their shoulders, methodically, exactly how they were taught to.

Strapped and chained into their armor with no chance of escape, the Pure Vessel paused to examine themselves in a mirror.

Would it be such a betrayal, to switch places with their reflection? To step through the looking glass and be replaced with a superficial self, nothing more than the shadow they saw in this very mirror every day? If they could be allowed to think, this may have been routine for them; to stand in front of the mirror and pretend that its reflection was its true self, nothing deeper than what was seen.

But then again, if they could be allowed to think, such a routine would be meaningless. The void in their eyes was all that could be in their head.

A final, cursory glance at their porcelain mask of Greek tragedy. They would never look into those black eyes again.

The Pure Vessel stepped outside.

They walked on down the hall.

Pale cape flowing from pale armor, pale face in a pale hallway, treading pale tiles. Black and pale tiles, like a chessboard. Indecisive. Imperfect. Yet orderly. A knight wandering and weaving through the alternating spaces, they would not look at their feet as they walked.

They walked on down the hall.

Pale arches, pale ceiling. The palace mural was a blank canvas, untouched, its ratio art enough. All they could see was a pale and dead sky. A ceiling of a chaste and artificial law that lorded above them all. Maybe not for much longer.

The Pure Vessel dragged their greatnail, scraping the tiles as they passed by.

They walked on down the hall.

…

These pale and desperate walls clenched around them, claustrophobic, like a warm and friendly hand.

…

At the womb of the palace, The Pure Vessel came to a door.

They looked inside.

…

Do you know how pale and wanton thrillful comes Death on a strange hour?

…

They filed into their father's workshop. Pale surfaces had been stained rust-grey and brown with crumbling ash, slick with the black, eldritch fluids that squeezed through their faux-veins. Silver metal corpses were darkened, as though with cigarette smoke, and cracked ancient stones were carefully fitted back together on easels.

This was a place where the dead were reborn and the new-age children were butchered, all for the machinations of the pale light that existed long before the ancestors, and will exist long after the grandchildren have faded.

Beyond the pale.

The only witnesses to divine sin were the dying Lumaflies, dangling from the ceiling to penetrate the heavy air, and the King's bride.

Their mother.

The Pale King himself was hunched over a table, his breathing strained and raspy. Hours pouring over figures and numbers, researching, spiraling out into an unknowable black hole of misunderstanding. A single pale light in a dark and boundless universe.

They were born of an affair between light and dark. That crown which choked before them, lorded beneath them with its pale law, was that of which was not itself. Only their mask was pale. Alien. Artificial.

With a mouth they did not have, They spoke to their creator.

"Father?"

Lateralus turned. "Yes, son?"

"I want to kill you."

The King didn't move. Setting their nail aside, the Pure Vessel stepped closer. In the calm calculus of their own dark reason, they placed their oversized, chitinous hands on their father's shoulders, and clenched their fists together.

Lateralus didn't struggle, only spasming, their own eyes going dark. Strangled squelches escaped from their throat, their Pale Light flickering. Their child didn't flinch. Didn't stop. Only tightened their grip on their father's throat, killing him in the shadows.

They wanted to see him writhe. They wanted to see that light waver and dim into nothing.

The Pure Vessel wanted.

With a final croaking snap!, their father fell limp in their hands, and they dropped him to the floor with a thud that echoed in their darkness. This backroom of refuse and arithmetic would be the king's mausoleum. The last light in a black and empty sea, snuffed out. Their last chains, broken.

This was what freedom felt like. This was what feeling felt like.

The door creaked open. "Hello? Dear?"

The White Lady stepped inside. She didn't gasp, didn't scream. She only went very, very still, seeing her husband's corpse at the feet of her child. There was no guilt in her knight's eyes; only hunger.

They stepped closer. The door locked on its own behind Edith.

Black claws rendered satin, screeched across bare flesh, and drew enticing ichor. They grabbed handfuls of her body and held her close in their criminal greed. Their armor fell, their mask cracked and broke, and the darkness expanded into a carnal thing that flew against the White Lady, heaving black maw delving into her chitin, their long, viscous tongue running along her nape.

The Pure Vessel smiled.

Lateralus could see it all, from his corner on the floor beneath his workbench, a prisoner in his own corpse.

"Mother? I want to…"

…

…

…

RIIIIIIIIING!

Lateralus startled awake, flailing like a wild animal, unkempt claws and rows of teeth gnashing against air. He slipped off of the workbench he had dozed off on and hit the floor, hissing in pain.

Was there an intruder? Was something wrong? Did–

RIIIIIIIIING!

Just as his senses were beginning to return to him, the cacophony of noise made him thrash all over again, furiously clawing his way back up the workbench and digging his claws into the general direction of the noise. He ended up knocking the handle off of an old and rusted device, ceasing the infernal racket.

He heaved, catching his breath. He… He needed to be more aware of these things. It was beginning to rush back to his frazzled mind; he was examining some particularly notable human artifacts within his private workshop, one of which being a small household appliance that was suspected to be used for communication. There were two large bells encased in its shell, presumably to draw attention when one wanted to "contact" the device. At some point, he had begun to fade from exhaustion, and…

"I want to kill you."

The memory of the nightmare – Were those specs of red Essense at the corner of his blurred vision when he awoke? He may need to address this – crept back to him, and Lateralus's clawed hands clenched. That thing was born of his and Edith's flesh, but it could not be called anyone's child but the Void's.

It needed to stay empty. It needed to stay unconscious. It needed to stay Pure.

Because Gods help this kingdom if he was creating an unstoppable knight with the same hunger as the liquid nothingness that lurked below Hallownest, threatening to swallow them all. Even the Old Light would be the least of his worries then.

…Space. He… He couldn't concentrate like this. He needed space.

Even now, he could sense the Pure Vessel making its morning rounds throughout the halls of the White Palace. No introspection, no staring at its reflection for a moment too long, no dragging its nail along the tiles. Just… being.

Perhaps this was a mistake, but he needed them to do something today, away from the Palace. Just some meaningless busywork, for his own peace of mind.

As he rose to draft orders to his retainers, one of his arms clumsily knocked into a metal vial of liquid Void. The dark liquid toppled over, spilling all over the "telephone" and pooling on his workbench, dripping off the ledge and onto the floor.

"Ah–"

---

"See you in a few days, okay, bubs?"

In one of the visitor's halls of the White Palace, Hornet squirmed in her mother's embrace, greedily wanting both Valleri and Herrah at her side, but she hummed. She was growing on the kid and she knew it. "A-Ahn then we can keep reading more of Alice, right?"

Herrah cocked a brow, an impressive feat under her mask. "'Reading'?"

"Oh, there's this human kid's book we found in the Junk Pit that one time. Been reading it to her before bed."

And so far, Hornet was loving it. Sometimes she stopped and questioned why Alice didn't just bite off the heads of the creatures that got in her way, which was a little off-putting, but Valleri supposed that was just how Deepnest kids were. At least she wouldn't have to worry about any inappropriate content.

Herrah's stance softened. "I see. …You've taken phenomenal care of her. I extend my thanks to you."

Valleri laughed, averting her gaze. "A-Anytime."

(The cross burned and raged against the debt she carried.)

…

Hands jammed into Valleri's jacket pockets, eyes on her feet, roaming the halls of an ornate and extravagant White Palace, its halls and archways like a kaleidoscope over snowy fog.

Well, Hornet was out of her hair for a little while. What now?

At the point she was at, pretty much all she could do was look for more jobs to take. But she hadn't had any big jobs like Marissa's in what felt like weeks, and the best she had gotten were petty thieves for chump change. And all that did was make her feel like a hypocrite, being a petty thief herself. What made her any different than the bugs she was helping lock up?

(A lot of times, she just let them go. Maybe it was the look in their eyes, but what right did she have?)

She kicked her boots across the checkerboard tiles, as if kicking rubble. When all it did was make a sharp squeak against the polished tiles, she sighed, pursing her lips.

Overall, she was starting to second guess this "bounty hunter" thing. Hallownest had criminals like anywhere else, but a lot of them just didn't seem like they deserved to be caught. Not like she could ever be a fair judge of that, though.

Fucking hell, what was even happening to her? She somehow drove a stolen SUV into a different universe where everyone was a bug and they had god-kings. She couldn't even remember how she had gotten here in her panic. It was like she'd fallen down a…

She glanced back up, just in time to catch a shadow moving out of the corner of her eye.

Valleri blinked, startled, and spun. What the hell? I-I didn't hear any footsteps!

Striding in the opposite direction of her, dark eyes straight ahead and moving with purpose, was a towering bug that stood above Herrah and even Hegemol. A satin cloak floated from the silver armor strapped to their shoulders, carrying a massive greatnail twice her height with diligence. Their body was slim like twigs and dark like a night sky, with two porcelain horns arching high above their pale mask.

For a moment, before her eyes adjusted, Valleri thought she was seeing a pair of giant, snow-white rabbit ears on their head.

Sparing her not a glance, the Knight walked past her across the checkerboard tiles.

Valleri stood frozen in stunned silence. Wh… What the fuck was that?! She felt like she just brushed shoulders with a being beyond her comprehension, some god or demon passing by her in the hall without so much as a nod. With how fast they were hurrying by, she almost expected them to pull a pocket watch out of their cloak.

When the men on the chessboard, get up and tell you where to go~

…She could wait on heading home. As soon as the Knight turned the corner, she snuck behind them, following from far enough that she figured she wouldn't be noticed. It was hard to hide in these pristine hallways, but if they didn't notice her when they were mere inches from one another moments before, they wouldn't notice now.

Eventually, the Knight came across a side gate in the Palace, where they wordlessly climbed into a Stag and sped off.

The Knight was a figure of great importance, of few words. Even at rest, their sheer power radiated off of them in waves. They were too important for committee, too important to be halted.

Nobody would question them if a small human happened to duck into the backseat of the Stag, hiding behind their long cloak.

---

Direct orders were not to be ignored.

Captain Luca eyed the envelope in his hand, emblazoned with the Clan's emblem. The wax seal was untouched, and the messenger had likely been eliminated by now, so the chances of its contents being leaked were still slim to nil.

Allowing himself a rare slouch in a plush chair far too big for him, he looked out over a wide window in the ornate penthouse high over the City of Tears. Endless rainfall poured over the glass, the entire room a pleasant, blue cool.

It wasn't his. He was just visiting a… friend.

He wouldn't let his own home turn into such a mess. Draperies were torn from the walls, flamboyant and skimpy clothing discarded and tossed haphazardly across the floor and furniture. Glass bottles of suspect liquids were laying on their side on whatever tables were still standing upright, the last drops of alcohol dripping away from their rims and into the carpet. The whole room smelled of smoke and sex.

"Well, they'll stone you when you're tryin' to be so good!

They'll stone you just like they said they would!"

He slipped the envelope back into his cloak. He'd already read it several times over, internalizing it. When the time came to execute these commands, it should be a simple enough job, if rather unusual; he was even specifically ordered to avoid killing anyone.

No, this was a theft job. And at the Teacher's Archives, no less.

The Clan had taken a keen interest in the activities of the Archives as of late, especially in their excavation efforts in the Junk Pit below the City. On top of the half-used drugs and torn underwear, the room was scattered with numerous "human artifacts" that their insiders had smuggled out of the Palace's eye.

A rusty, two-wheeled "bicycle" was laying across the velvet couch. A plastic brick of a "laptop" had been shoved into a bookshelf, alongside confidential Clan documents and erotic novels. A "lightbulb" had been thrown against the wall, shattered glass on the floor. Luca didn't know what a "washing machine" was or how it worked, but they'd somehow gotten that massive metal box all the way up here.

From the bathroom, a "radio" was blaring some obnoxious music.

"They'll stone you when you're trying to go home!

Then they'll stone you when you're there all alone!"

Aside from how his "co-worker" treated these valuable recoveries, what was one more artifact? Even if it was the most infamous one in Hallownest, and it was probably locked up tighter than the Queen's own bedchambers.

Who am I to question your orders, Director?

A large, dirty tire rolled out from the bathroom door and across the carpet, where it wobbled, bumped into Luca's leg, and fumbled onto its side. His eyes darted up; from the bathroom, muffled by the jarring music, he could hear his host splashing and struggling, desperately screaming for help as his throat filled with water.

Luca sighed, making sure the envelope was tucked away before he calmly stood up and walked to the open bathroom door.

He's killing himself again.

"BLMMPH–LMCUH! ASUGHBNHBLBB–"

Captain Donovan, still wearing a shiny, loose-fitting golden shirt and with someone else's pink dress tangled around his legs, was stuck in the bathtub. The water was clouded with an unidentified white powder, more discarded clothes were scattered across the floor and on the rim of the tub, the mirror was cracked, and a knocked-over hookah pipe was half-dunked in the water.

His waterlogged wings flapped frantically as he leaned on the circular tub's rim, fumbling with an old cane that he was trying to hook under the handle of the black plastic "radio", lodged into the sink, still blasting that shrill noise.

"Well, they'll stone you when you're walking on the street!

They'll stone you when you're trying to keep your seat!"

Without a twitch out of place, Luca grabbed the other end of the cane and yanked it out of Donovan's shaking hands. His eyes were glossy, and his movements were strange and uncertain; the butterfly was stoned to his very core, yet again.

"Y' realize this device works w' electricity, right? If it gets'in the tub w' ya, y'll blast ri'ht thru' that window. Dead 'n ten seconds."

"B-But you don't understand, I NEED it!" Donovan cried, speaking fast. He reached up from the tub to grab onto Luca's cloak like a beggar, only for the ant to jolt away at the touch, leaving the butterfly to flop half to the ground. He looked like a glamorous wet rag. "There's! There's POWER there! Electric! Thrumming with otherworldly-ness! Can'tchja feel the ENERGY there? That's, that's HUMAN power, Lukey!"

…'Lukey'?

Donovan rolled over onto his back on the rim of the tub, in a position that could only be comfortable to someone pumped full of enough drugs to kill a small child. His hands shook above his face and into the air, staring at the sky with enraptured reverence. "A-Ah owe him, Lukey! I owe that moody egg-sniffer, I do! Even living above us as a ghost, Blue's still got me chained down, dog of the next life!"

Luca froze, tossing the cane to the floor. "...What's Blue have to do wit'it?"

Donovan didn't answer. Instead, he rolled back into the tub, sobbing as he splashed his arms into the water like a pouting child. Luca had to turn to shield himself from the unsanitary splashes, but when he looked back, Donovan was struggling to his feet, fumbling with the latch on a window just above the tub.

Luca jolted, moving to grab Donovan before he did something stupid. Who the hell has a window right next to a bathtub?!

He wasn't fast enough, and only just managed to grab Donovan by the waist as he shoved the window open and into the rainy outdoors of the City. He was laughing like a maniac while he teetered on the windowsill, his entire upper body already outside and flopping out in the open air. He may have had wings, but there was no way he wouldn't just fall to his idiotic death in his intoxication.

"Lo– hic! Lookit' that guy, down'ere!" Donovan pointed down into the streets below, and Luca could barely see him looking at a large crowd in the street markets of the City. It was hard to tell, but he seemed to be pointing at a burly-looking bug in a red cloak, muscling his way through the masses.

"N-Now wouldn't eht be fan-ty-tastic if that hunk just dropped dead righ'now? Wouldn't it, Lukey-boy?"

Luca paused, still grappling with Donovan's waist as he peered down into the streets far, far below them.

Without warning, the bug in red fell to one knee, and then collapsed on the wet cobblestone, convulsing. The crowd of bugs around him began screaming, rushing to get away from the corpse.

High above them all, Donovan reared back so far in his gut-busting laughter that he managed to pull himself back through the bathroom window, before he slumped back in the tub, slapping his knee so that water splashed all over both of them. Luca realized he'd been wading through Donovan's dirty bathwater in an effort to save him from falling to his death, and grimaced beneath his hood. His tear-and-acid-resistant cloak, dirtied…

With Donovan no longer at risk of dying right now, Luca peeked out the window himself, getting a good look at the collapsed bug in red who was being taken away by emergency units. He thought he saw foam frothing from the bug's mouth.

"...Manic Depression." It was an extremely fast-acting and effective poison, manufactured by Donovan's Clan family, but used predominantly by Luca's. One of many transactions between the families to divide power.

"Now – N-Now didn'tcha use that stuff at that, that White Palace ball? On Kingsday, with all the crazy floats and exploding trams? There was that little bee guy ya killed?"

Luca turned. "Wasn't me. We sold'it t' a retainer t' the Palace. His probl'm."

"Right, right, b-but y'know that bee guy was a'part'a Blue's case, y'know? A victim in the new-age war for human power, Lukey."

Luca stepped out of the bathtub, shaking the drenched bottom of his cloak. "The 'War f'r Human Power'?"

"Don't'cha gettit? This stuff's the future! T-Those guys, silly crazy human people, they've got stuff we can't even dream of! Humans, l-like that lady who made Walsh's ass into grass that one time, they're angels from another world, descending unto us lesser beings to grant us our 'next step'! This, this junk?"

Donovan stopped to reach over and grab an example – a dirty old cardboard box for a board game titled "Monopoly" – which he shook in front of Luka's face like a holy scripture.

"This'll put Hallownest lifetimes ahead of where it is now. Magical, absolute insanity. Dreams and nightmare come true, things'ya wouldn't even believe."

Electricity and plastic and fire and metal. Even with his mind frazzled, Donovan was right – Hallownest's findings in the Junk Pit, and who controlled them, would dictate the kingdom's future.

"Tha-That's why I gotta get it, Lukey!" Donovan tossed the box away, the plastic board game pieces breaking free and scattering all over the bathroom floor, colorful fake money flying like confetti and floating to the ground. He really needed to be more careful with Hallownest's future.

Luka stood over him. "Get what?"

"The GUN!" Donovan cried, flinging himself back into the tub with a great splash. "It's what off'd Blue! Whether that- that girl did it 'r not, how can I ever face 'im in the next life if I couldn't find his killer?! I owe 'im that much! I pushed 'im to that brink! He's dead cause'a me!"

He sobbed again, collapsing into the tub, trying to curl up in the water like it was a bed. He started choking again like before. 'BLUBHBLEHBHKALBUL–"

Luca stiffened at his confession. "...Y' were foll'win' orders. Y' don' need th' gun."

Because I need the gun, Donovan. Orders are orders.

"L-Look–" Donovan must not have heard him while he was drowning underwater. He kicked his legs around, a stranger's pink dress still tangled around him. When he tried to rise from the tub again, he slipped on them, nearly hitting his head when he fell back into the water.

"Look, can'ya just, just gimmie a hand?"

Luca froze, his back turned from Donovan. Deep breath in, deep breath out. Reaching under his cloak, he grabbed at his bare shoulder, a lime-green light glowing from under the cloth.

You want the gun out of loyalty to Blue. I want it out of loyalty to Topaz.

And as the Director's personal enforcer, I can't let anything get in the way of my duties. Not even you.

Something flopped into the water, landing in Donovan's lap with a splash.

He stared at it for a moment, before letting out a slow, drawled laugh. "Ah-hah. Ah-hah… Very funny. I dunno what freaky business you get up to, carrying around a fake arm, but…"

He picked up the arm that Luca had tossed in. Neon-green at the joint it was severed from, its chitinous surface was too real, and it was still warm.

Luca's severed arm flexed its fingers.

Donovan shrieked, fumbling with the arm, frantically kicking and splashing to get away from it, water splashing all across the bathroom. In his drugged-up stupor, he didn't have the motor control to escape from the tub, and in his panic, he couldn't stop to throw the arm away. He was trapped in a watery cage with a fucking severed arm.

What a terrible thing to do to someone with a head full of acid.

Luca, looking no worse for wear aside from the missing left arm, calmly walked out of the bathroom. "Rem'mb'r to give it back when y'r done."

Leaving a thrashing, shrieking, waterlogged Donovan behind, Luca closed the bathroom door behind him with a click.

---

As stealthily as she could manage, Valleri had leapt off of the Stag as soon as it stopped and ducked into a shadowy corner. The tall and mysterious Knight had stopped at Queen's Station, and was guided by Palace retainers through the walkways of the Fog Canyon until they had reached the Teacher's Archives, with Valleri following them from a distance the whole time.

The silver-clad Knight had to duck to walk under the high ceiling so their rabbit ears – er, their horns didn't knock into anything. They were almost freakishly tall, easily over ten feet, maybe even twelve.

Tall, dark – and handsome.

As she ducked into a bush, trying to ignore the pink bubbles floating around, she spied two robed Archive scholars gossiping about the Knight that just passed by. For some reason, she found herself wishing that she could squint her ears in the same way she could her eyes.

"The Pure Vessel was dispatched on rather short notice, don't you agree? I heard the order came from the King himself, and through emergency channels, no less!"

The other scholar nodded wordlessly, eyeing the so-called 'Pure Vessel' as it was led deeper into the Archives. Shit, she needed to catch up or she'd lose them, but this guy running his mouth was useful, too…

"I'm not involved with the human artifacts division, but their department has been bustling all morning! It seems the Pure Vessel was sent to guard something, but I cannot imagine what…"

"The gun," the other Scholar mumbled bluntly. The first gossiper seemed surprised by his declaration.

"I… Why, yes, that would make sense! Such a valuable and dangerous artifact, especially with that case still active… Why, I hear that one human woman is still out there! Perhaps the King sent the Pure Vessel to guard the gun from her!"

The second scholar said nothing. Valleri's gut clenched.

Oh, shit,the gun! I'd completely forgotten that the Archives had it! And Lateralus sent some super-elite knight to guard it from… me?! No, that doesn't sound right… Maybe? I-I don't know anymore!

But… If security is being bumped up, this may be my last chance to get it back.

Hidden in the shadows of the Teacher's Archive, hands curling into fists, Valleri suppressed a laugh, grinning to herself.

Enough of this two-faced bounty hunter bullshit! I'm gonna return to my roots, and steal it!It'll be my first true heist!

She could picture it now: a strike of lightning behind a master thief in black, the Dread of Night! The Untouchable Shadow! The Scourge of… Wait, who was her enemy again at this point? Was it just everyone?

Cackling like a true supervillain, ignoring the strange looks the laughing bush was getting, Valleri began to form a plan in her head.

…

Which fell apart almost immediately.

"Miss Valleri? What are you doing here?"

She had to fight the instinct to jump in an incredibly incriminating way at Quirrel's voice, startling her. She'd just gotten across the bridge and hadn't even taken five steps into the Archive proper before she was found.

Maybe stealth wasn't her strong suit after all. But it wasn't like she could just steamroll this whole place, either.

"Q-Q-Quirrel! I was, just, uh…!" She scrambled for an excuse. "I'm here to help with the human artifacts some more! Yeah, I figured I could give it another shot!"

Quirrel's head tilted, concern flashing over his face. "...Really? For free?"

Internally, Valleri was fucking appalled. I-Is that what he thinks of me?! Some gold-digging harpy?! Then after another moment, Well, shit, maybe he's not wrong.

"Uh… we're… discussing payment when I get there," she lied. My only payment is whatever I swipe.

"Oh. Well, be careful getting up there! The human artifacts division has grown dramatically since its formation, and there's that new security coming in today…"

"...You mean the Pure Vessel?" Valleri ventured.

"Ah, you know them! I suppose that makes sense, with how you frequent the Palace." He frowned, an expression far too severe for a kid like him to be wearing. "It's very sudden, their deployment here. The Pure Vessel usually only obeys direct orders from the King himself. I wonder if something happened…?"

Valleri pursed her lips. Was Lateralus okay? She'd normally tell herself that she didn't give a shit about the pretentious monarch, but to send out what seemed like one of his very best…

…Well, it doesn't matter. If I can just sidestep this one elite guard, then that gun's mine! …And probably the bike, too, if I have time.

Walking away to follow the Pure Vessel, she spun a ring of keys around her finger that she'd just swiped from Quirrel.

Alright. Down we go.

Elsewhere, those two scholars were roaming the outer gardens of the Archives. Nobody else was around, not a sound in the air except for the endless babbling of the first scholar.

"Did you hear that laughing earlier? It sounded like it was coming from a bush! How strange! I hope it is not some wild animal. Ah, did I ever tell you of that time that I…"

The scholar trailed off, his voice finally silencing for a moment as he looked ahead. His eyes widened, and his throat clenched.

Lying unconscious on the ground was another poor scholar.

"G-Goodness! Oh, Wyrm, he's injured!" The scholar rushed over, shaking the body on the ground. "I-Is he dead? Quickly, let us find a medic!"

The second scholar walked over, staring at him and the body on the ground. "...I don't think we need t' find a medic."

"W-What are you saying?! Look here–!" He turned away, not noticing the second scholar stepping closer. "He's been injured in the neck! I-Is this a stab wound? And there's some strange fluid here… Not hemolymph. What happened–"

He was silenced. From behind, the second scholar had stabbed a blade into the side of his neck.

Pressing down on the grip, a metal needle protruded from the tip of the blade, injecting a powerful sedative directly into the scholar's bloodstream.

It only took three seconds before he collapsed on top of the other body, still bleeding from his nape. The one still standing wiped the blood off of his syringe-blade, sheathing it back onto his chest.

Pulling down his hood, Captain Luca huffed. "Tch. Fin'lly…"

---

Valleri knew she was supposed to be stealthy, but she was too busy getting distracted by her reflection in the giant glass acid tubes she was passing by. Watching her face warp, stretch, bend, bulge, scrunch up, left her feeling disoriented. As peculiar and fucked-up in her head, as she was in the mirror.

She'd climbed up a few floors and into some newer wing, with seemingly no other bugs around. Judging by the soft muffled murmurs she could hear, all the scholars in this area must've crowded into the meeting rooms.

She seized up, crouching back behind one of the acid tubes. Up ahead, each of their steps careful and restrained, a cloaked shadow.

The Pure Vessel was walking on down the hall.

Shit! If they get to the vault first, I don't know if I'll be able to get in!

"Excuse me!"

Valleri, in her tactical genius, immediately abandoned her stealth approach at the first sign of trouble and jumped out into the middle of the hallway, hollering out for the Pure Vessel. The tall, dark knight paused, and turned in her direction.

That mask, so pale, only two dark holes with nothing quite there where its eyes should've been.

Valleri felt shudders run over her spine and her knees turn to jelly, faced with something so far gone from any god or demon she'd ever imagined. Like a long, sunset shadow had crawled up from the earth to walk alongside bug and man.

"U-Uh… Hi!" She smiled and waved.

The Pure Vessel stared at her, still as stone, not even twitching.

"So, uh, I heard you're the new security guy!" Valleri bounded up closer to them, but not too close, so she didn't break her neck trying to look up at them. "Security… guy? Girl? Uh… Thing?"

The Pure Vessel only moved when she moved, their eyes tracking her like a hawk.

"That's super cool, 'cause I'm actually, ah, on security duty, too! Er, wait– Y-Yeah, I'm working with you!" She had zero fucking clue what the best strategy here was, or what the knight might've already been told, or how gullible they might be. "So… Let's go together! Yeah! Yeah."

The Pure Vessel stared at her. Then with a sweep of their cloak, they turned around and kept walking.

Valleri had to jog to keep up with them, unsure of where this was going or what she'd do once they got to their destination. She figured, with nobody else around, she could try some small talk. "So… What'dya do before this job?"

The Pure Vessel said nothing.

"You serve Lat– Er, the King, right? Is he cool, a good employer, all that?"

The Pure Vessel said nothing. Valleri's eyes darted over to the large glass acid tubes they walked past. Her reflection was like an ant's, and the Vessel's shadow seemed to dart and warp across the glass in a way that struck her as wrong, upsetting some primal instinct in her.

"Uh… Where'd you come from?"

The Pure Vessel said nothing.

"Got yourself a girlfriend? Or boyfriend? Or… any friends?"

The Pure Vessel said nothing.

Valleri stuffed her hands into her jacket pocket, pursing her lips and watching the reflections for entertainment.

They walked on down the hall.

---

No kills yet, though he didn't like it.

Not that Luca liked killing, either. But it was just so much cleaner to erase problems than it was to leave them to their own devices. The Director had taught him that, years ago, and he knew it for a fact now. Only knocking people out and sneaking by like this, it left this tension in him, some hyperaware anxiety. The sedative could be too weak, he could run out of time, and problems could start happening.

Though, the ant reasoned, those problems wouldn't be anything more than annoyances, even if the worst did come to pass. He was better than letting one slip-up ruin such an important job.

Besides, the scholars here were innocent, as far as he cared to know. He didn't particularly want to see them dead, anyway.

Not unless ordered.

He crept along the high, dark balconies of the Archive's interior, walking along railings like a tightrope. He knew what he was doing; he'd had this place scoped out days in advance. He'd found every scholar's schedule, marked which rooms were often unoccupied and which areas to avoid, and marked out a secure route to follow.

At this point, the only issue he was still expecting was the Pure Vessel. That thing was a black hole in the Clan's intelligence, with seemingly nobody knowing a single thing about it outside of official, public announcements.

Its capabilities, origins, weaknesses, the Clan knew nothing. But Luca wasn't worried. It wasn't his duty to be worried.

He paused. A commotion in the lower lobby caught his attention.

The few City guards watching the main gates stumbled back in confusion and fear as a crowd of thuggish bugs marched on in, pushing aside anyone who dared to get in their way. There had to have been about two dozen of them or more, some wielding improvised weapons like metal pipes and mallets and daggers.

Luca ducked behind a dark pillar, looking at the scene below him. This… wasn't supposed to happen. Someone was interfering.

Leading the pack, he could spy from here, was a tall, dangerous-looking beetle, and pinned to his violet scarf was a small, red jewel – the symbol of Donovan's family. This army was acting under his orders.

He was probably still high on something when he sent them. Surely, even he can see that there's no benefit in a violent assault on the Archives.

Up ahead, a small blue pillbug was pointing a training nail at the incoming army. He stood firm, but his hands were shaking, staring down the approaching men. Luca's brow furrowed – this was going to get nasty, and quick.

"S-Stop where you are!" the pillbug boy cried out – Quirrel was his name, if Luca remembered the intel right. "By order of Lady Monomon, state your purpose!"

The leader – LeRoy, he remembered Donovan talking about his right hand – stopped right in front of Quirrel, just an arm's length away from his nail. He chuckled back at his group, before leaning over the pillbug. "Alright then. How about you tell me where the gun is stored?"

Quirrel faltered for a moment, surprised, but he quickly refocused himself, his nail inching closer to LeRoy's neck. "W-We'll never give it up to the likes of you– Agh!"

LeRoy knocked the shellwood training nail out of Quirrel's hands, who crumpled over like a leaf to the floor. His hands were shaking so much, he couldn't even scramble back up to his feet.

LeRoy barked a laugh, holding out a hand for one of his lackeys to put a metal pipe in. With a wave, the rest of his men ran past Quirrel, his defense completely futile, and started smashing any appliances and glass tubes they could find.

"I'll give you one chance to tell us where the gun is…"

He raised the weapon high in the air above Quirrel–

A glowing, lime-green blur seemed to spring down from above, a lightning-fast string of limbs flashing past LeRoy to grab Quirrel, before skidding to a halt on the other side of the room.

LeRoy almost dropped his weapon, stumbling backward. "C-Captain Luca–!" His other men turned to see as well, startling, some of them screaming. Like dropping a lion into a crowded room.

Luca hissed. "I d'know what y' were ordered, but I w's told this w's a covert operat'n." I was also told not to reveal myself, but objectives change with necessity.

Quirrel, still standing in Luca's arms, pressed against his chest, looked up behind him to see Luca's upside-down face from an awkward angle. His eyes were wide with amazement and gratitude, not sure what exactly just happened but knowing that he probably owed his life to this mysterious stranger.

"S-Sir… Y-Y-You saved me! Th-Thank you so mu–"

With a quick twist of Luca's hands, Quirrel's neck snapped, and the small pillbug collapsed to the floor in a heap.

…It isn't fatal. That technique should only knock him out for a few hours. He'll be fine… probably.

He stepped over Quirrel's unconscious body, the rest of LeRoy's thugs pointing their weapons at him. …He didn't have time to deal with anyone's lackeys. If he had competition, then he couldn't even give them the chance.

Luca sprung away, bounding high over the thugs and rocketing off deeper into the archives. LeRoy's men stared in horror as Luca rushed past them with all the rushed fury of a tornado, jumping higher, further, and faster than they could ever hope to achieve.

LeRoy recovered first. "S-Shit! After him!" All of the thugs scrambled to catch up to Luca as best as they could, but the Captain left them in the dust easily.

---

The vault was right fucking there and the Pure Vessel hadn't listened to a single word she'd said yet. Valleri was starting to sweat.

What the fuck are they made of?! Are they a robot? I've never seen anyone – any thingas single-minded as this motherfucker before!

The Pure Vessel had inadvertently led Valleri to the vault where the gun was being kept, one of those giant bank vaults you see in movies. For some reason, the only entrance was from a catwalk high above the Archives. It was like one of those bottomless pits that they have in every Star Wars space station for whatever reason, the ones with no guard rails. Acid flowed like waterfalls from the walls and deeper within, several giant tubes lining the platform, fizzing like soda cans. It was a wide, stable platform, but the atmosphere still made her uneasy.

She dug into her pockets, and found she still had a five-dollar bill, from back in America. She dropped it off of the ledge and into the acid, where it burned and smoked before dissolving into nothing.

Valleri gulped.

I-Is this my last chance?

She paused. "Say, biggie~!"

The Pure Vessel stopped, turning to look at her. She had zero clue what they thought of her at this point, or even if they believed her story about being another security guard. They didn't even have the slightest body language.

But maybe she could teach them.

"You must be tired from walking all the way here, huh?" She walked closer, her fingertips dancing along the metal guardrails as she eyed them. "I bet knightly duties leave you stressed out all the time. Nobody's gonna check on us up here. Whaddya say we… unwind a little?"

The Pure Vessel stared down at her, unmoving. Was she really trying to do this shit?

I don't even know what's between their legs… if anything.

She elbowed their knee, giving them a grin. (In hindsight, she'd later be glad that she was wearing her jacket when she touched them – she had no idea what the hell that stuff could do to human flesh.) "C'mon down here, and just relax. I'll show you something you'll never–"

The Pure Vessel's greatnail suddenly twisted in the ground, their whole form tensing on high alert.

Valleri startled back, "HeyheyeheyI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI–!" She bumped back into a guard rail and turned, before seizing up.

The Pure Vessel wasn't looking at her anymore.

Across from the catwalk, slowly approaching, was a figure in a green hood. Their footsteps were almost inaudible, and Valleri could spy a small green gem pinned to their cloak.

She immediately took a fighting stance alongside the fifteen-foot alien Knight that she'd never admit she tried to seduce. "T-Topaz! You're with them, aren't you?!" That badge of his is green… so he's not working with Walsh. But then who…?

The figure paused. "...Valleri, right?"

She grit her teeth, but nodded. "Tch. …And you?"

He stopped for a moment. Digging into his cloak, Valleri feared the worst – a knife, a sword, even a gun somehow – only for him to pull out and shuffle a set of notecards.

He glanced at them before he spoke, his voice droning and monotonous like a high schooler giving a presentation. "My name is Luca. I am a Captain of the Topaz Clan. I am here to retrieve the gun. Move, or die."

Valleri's glare faltered for a moment, eyebrow tilting. Did… Did he have to practice for this?

Suddenly, the Pure Vessel tore their nail from the ground, and launched themselves forward, a silver gleaming blade twice her height charging straight at Luca. They felt like a rocket, the sheer force behind their lunge knocking Valleri off her feet and to the ground.

Luca swiftly dodged a volley of ethereal Soul nails, weaving between the Pure Vessel's summons and strikes. He was a neon green blur of death. He raised his arms high, a glint of a dagger beneath his cloak–!

With a flick of the Pure Vessel's arm, their massive greatnail sliced straight through Luca's hood, decapitating him instantly.

…

Mysteriously, the entire rest of Luca's body seemed to disappear, only the tattered remains of his cloak still caught on the Pure Vessel's nail. His severed head flew through the air in a great and bloody arc, before it landed, like some sick joke, right in Valleri's lap.

She screamed.

The eyes on Luca's head blinked. "Hello."

She screamed even louder, throwing the head as far away from her as she could. It rolled away, before it bounced and hovered in mid-air, turning on its own to stare at her. It was still upside-down when it spoke.

"'s said th't every'ne's Souls 'r unique, and that 'specially potent Souls can lend strange 'bil'ties to their owners. Unnatural 'bil'ties."

Luca's cloak seemed to move on its own, tugging itself off of the Pure Vessel's nail and whipping around in the air. It returned to Luca's head, before swirling around and unfolding itself to reveal an assortment of floating, disembodied limbs.

"Th's one's mine."

(Every single one of them ended in a lime-green glow instead of gore, Valleri noticed.)

The cloak swirled around Luca one more time, and like a magic trick, all of the body parts assembled into his complete body. His cloak now cast aside, Valleri could see that Luca's stature may have been small, but he was armed to the fucking teeth. Several daggers were sheathed across his chest, vials of poisonous-looking fluids were sticking out of a pouch at his hip, and sharp metal chakrams hung around his wrists like oversized killer bracelets.

And most notably, his entire body was criss-crossed with lime-green stripes that glowed against the shadow of his cloak. Along every joint, as well as his neck and torso, was a thin green line that he could detach from his own body and control remotely.

Luca was an assassin, through and through.

He whipped two of his daggers out and held them above his head, like the sharp ears of a cat. Pressing down on the ends of the hilts, thin needles protruded from the tips of each dagger, small drops of fluid leaking out.

Those are fucking syringes!

Luca sprung at her, like a cat hunting its prey, his body seeming to stretch out like a Slinky as his body kept splitting itself along the stripes to reach further. The Pure Vessel swiped at him again, but their blade simply passed through the space between.

He was right on top of her–!

Reflexively, Valleri's fist sprung out and slammed right into Luca's face. He took it well, only, stumbling out of the way for a moment with a grunt, but it still disoriented him.

He can only split his body where those stripes are! He can't divide his head at all, so if I can hit that, then that's a weak point! Plus, being an assassin, I bet he's not used to getting hurt in direct confrontation… But that doesn't mean he's a pushover.

The Pure Vessel shot more of their Soul nails at Luca, but he simply split his torso and head off into three pieces, levitating about a foot apart for the attacks to slip right through. Valleri had to jump out of the way, narrowly avoiding being hit herself.

"W-Watch where you're aiming, dude!"

Luca spun a dagger in his hand and whipped it towards Valleri's neck. She managed to grab onto his arm and block the blow by a mere few centimeters, when his arm split off, leaving Valleri holding Luca's severed hand.

"The fuck–"

In his disembodied hand, Luca spun his dagger around, and stabbed the blade straight into Valleri's forearm. She cried out, feeling the syringe inject something into her bloodstream before she managed to break away. Along with her blood, a purple fluid dribbled out of the wound.

Luca didn't even blink. "'s only a light hallucin'gen. I only want t' ensure y' don't interfere."

Light, her ass. She was already stumbling backward, tripping over herself as the drug took effect almost instantly. She felt sick, her limbs going numb as colors faded in and out of her vision in a kaleidoscope. All she could hear was ringing in her ears. She could've sworn she saw the Pure Vessel's long ears twitch, and she thought she spied Luca giving her a beaming, toothy grin that stretched just a little too wide across his striped face…

Valleri backpedaled into the guardrail, and flipped over it, falling down into the acid pit below.

Down. She couldn't hear herself screaming, or even tell if she was screaming at all.

Either the pit was miles deep, or she was falling very slowly. Or maybe she had no perception of time anymore.

Out of the corner of her blurred and widened eyes, all she could focus on, all she could see, was a single, disembodied hand, launching itself off of the ledge and down towards her.

It grabbed onto her outstretched hand.

For just a split second, she could feel its warmth.

And then, completely careless of her drugged-up vulnerability, swung her down so she just barely avoided falling into the acid, and instead crashed and tumbled onto a lower platform. For whatever reason, Luca saved her life, but she didn't have to be happy about it.

The sudden shock was enough to snap her out of her high; it was an incredibly powerful drug he'd injected into her, but it seemed to only last a minute at most. She'd slammed into a random bug, with several others standing around and looking at her funny.

When I catch that creepy Frankenstein bastard, they're gonna find him behind a DUMPSTER with HEROIN stuffed into ALL HIS HOLES–

Valleri blinked. The bugs around her were carrying human artifacts, and they weren't dressed like Archive scholars. In fact, the ones that didn't have armfuls of junk from a landfill in California were weilding nails and batons.

One of them, seemingly the leader, aimed a metal pipe at her. "Why is she here, too?! Were we set up?!" She couldn't help but notice the red jeweled badge on the leader's scarf.

A-Another Topaz family?! What the hell's going on?!

As the thugs began to approach her, she realized she was still laying on top of one of their buddies, who was stunned. Several human objects scattered the ground around them: an unlabeled spray bottle, a few high school textbooks, a bent switchblade…

She had to think fast–!

"NOBODY MOVE OR HE GETS IT!" Valleri screamed, pressing the nozzle of the spray bottle against the stunned bug's temple. It still had some liquid inside. This shit was probably just Febreze.

The other bugs began backing off, glancing at each other, waiting for someone braver than themselves to call her bluff. They had no idea what this thing was; if she said it was a deadly weapon, did they have any choice but to believe her?

She picked up the squirming bug in her arms, who now seemed aware of the danger he was in, and she dragged him in a chokehold through the room, silently daring anyone to step forward.

She was near the door. If she dropped the guy and held the "gun" out, they'd think it had more range than it actually did, and wouldn't want to pursue her. Leaving them behind, she could make her way back up to the Pure Vessel in no time. Hell, maybe she could even pull this trick on Luca, too.

Nobody here was stupid enough to call her bluff.

"AAAAAH–!"

The leader(She thought she overheard them call him LeRoy in hushed tones?) bellowed a war cry, charging forward in the face of death for the sake of his comrade and honor! Completely ignoring the threat of death, they reared back an arm wielding a large metal pipe, and–!

Reflexively, Valleri pointed the bottle at him, and LeRoy got a faceful of Febreze.

He staggered, but still swung the pipe, so Valleri ducked down and let her hostage take the blow to the head instead, knocking him out cold in an instant.

As the thug he just risked his life to save slumped over by his own hand, LeRoy stumbled in place for a moment, blinking and sniffing the air curiously. He looked how she felt just a moment ago on Luca's drugs.

"Huh. Smells like… Freshly-washed silk. And sewage."

(So this was Febreze.)

The spray bottle slipped out of her fingers and fell to the floor. As the thugs began approaching her again, fury across their faces, all Valleri could do was try to smile sheepishly.

---

A Soul-dagger slammed into a pipe, fading as a spray of acid blasted out into a thin green mist. None of it floated over their arena, thankfully.

Luca whipped his arms around, the chakrams clinking on his wrists. In a fluid motion, he let them fly off of his hands, before grabbing them in mid-air and throwing them at the Pure Vessel.

The sharpened metal rings whistled as they flew through the air, with their target managing to deflect three with their Pure greatnail, before they faded into the shadows to dodge a fourth and fifth.

They reappeared moments later, towering behind Luca.

The Pure Vessel swung their nail down onto him, with no chance of escape. They narrowly avoided smashing the large acid vats lining the catwalk as they slashed at Luca one, two times, the air itself vibrating around their blade with the sheer force of their attacks.

Luca, barely flinching, simply lifted his torso a foot above his hips, the Pure Vessel's greatnail passing harmlessly through the space between. When they tried an upward slash, Luca detached himself along one of the diagonal stripes along his chest; for a moment, it was as though the knight had managed to bisect them, before he pulled himself back together with hardly a thought.

In a furious lunge, the Pure Vessel made a wide, arcing swing, smashing a glass tube filled with lime green acid, the bubbling hazard spilling across the catwalk and dripping off the other ledge.

When they finished their attack, Luca was nowhere to be seen.

"Why 'r we fight'ng?"

The Pure Vessel turned their head without moving; squatting on the end of their greatnail was Luca, unnoticed.

"I sense no em'tion in you, no spirit 'r rage 'r fury behind y'r strikes. 'r y' 'ere s'mply 'cause y' were ordered? 'Cause I am."

Luca rose to his feet, balancing on the Pure Vessel's blade. They could barely even feel his body weight, and they had a better understanding of their own blade than anyone else.

"'r we j'st two heartless monst'rs, exist'n only t' be pawns of those controll'n us? Is th's a fight b'tween ourselves, or our masters?"

The Pure Vessel twisted their blade in their palm, forcing Luca to walk along the edge, a clear challenge. Even as blood seeped from his feet and dripped down their greatnail, he didn't scramble away.

"Show me what's left of you."

Running along their blade like a ninja, ignoring the cuts on their step, Luca charged the Pure Vessel again.

---

Decked in the face, one of the thugs flew back into a table, slamming into an old radio that the scholars had been researching before the Archives were evacuated. He must've smacked a button before he fell off the table and into unconsciousness, because after a moment of static, music began to play.

"When the truth is found, to beeeeeeeeeeeee lies–!

And all the jooooy, within youuuuuuu, dies–!"

Valleri slammed one of them into a wall by his head, before punching him in the gut and grabbing him to throw back into another thug who had tried to jump her from behind. Their foreheads smashed together and they both fell down limp.

She reached down to pick up a club that one of them had dropped, having to roll over to avoid another attacker, before tripping them with her outstretched leg. As they fell forward, she slammed the club into his face, sending him spinning in the opposite direction before he hit the floor on his back, bleeding and unconscious.

"Don't you want somebody to love?

Don't you need somebody to love?"

Another thug came charging at her. She threw the club at their face, before running forward to grab them by the collar and swing them into a wall.

"Wouldn't you love somebody to love?

You better find somebody to loooooove~!"

She grabbed another by the throat, punching him in the face before using the same arm to elbow one who had grabbed her by the waist.

She reached down and grabbed the legs of the one behind her, hurling him over her shoulder and into the one in front of her, knocking them both down like pins.

"When the garden flowers,

Ba-by, aaaaare dead, yes and,

Your mind, your mind, is so full of red!"

"Eek! Oh, someone, please, will someone help me!"

Valleri whirled around; one of the thugs was getting in the face of a hooded scholar who hadn't evacuated yet, backing him against a wall with a dagger against his neck. The scholar's face was obscured by a giant, ornate hat.

She ran up to help, raring her fist back to knock him out, only to narrowly avoid being grilled by the eruption of fucking fire that exploded out of the scholar's hood.

Like the wrath of the Devil, the thug that had been threatening him screamed, scrambling back as they smacked at the fire that was burning their face, accidentally cutting themselves in the process with the knife they were still holding.

When the flames finally died down, Valleri wondered how the scholar under that cloak could still be alive, when the hood fell…

"Grimm?! The fuck are you doing here?!"

The Troupe Master grinned, holding his hands up placatingly, his thin body dwarfed by the heavy robes he was disguised in. He tilted his fluffy hat at her, his cherry-red eyes screamed sheepish guilt. "Studying."

"Don't you want somebody to love?

Don't you need somebody to love?"

She groaned, ignoring him to tackle a Topaz thug that had tried to charge her. She picked him up by the waist and kept running, feeling like a football player as the thug kept hitting her back in a desperate attempt to make her let go.

She slammed him into a locked door, blowing it open, revealing another group of startled Topaz men behind it. As she took to taking them out, Grimm casually swaggered in behind her, admiring the architecture while frowning at the damage she'd already caused.

"Wouldn't you love somebody to love?

You better find somebody to love~!"

Valleri grabbed one of them on either side of his head, before smashing her own head into theirs. She grimaced; Human bones were hard, but so was a bug's exoskeleton. She slammed her forehead into theirs another time or two for good measure, ignoring the dribble of what was probably blood from her forehead.

She spun around, punching another one in the face so he staggered back, right into Grimm's awaiting arms. He grabbed at his waist, the mobster starting to struggle when he realized he was caught.

Valleri ran up, and as Grimm lifted the thug off of his feet, Valleri delivered a swift flying punch straight to his jaw. Drops of hemolymph sprayed from his mandibles and he slouched in Grimm's arms, who dropped him to the ground.

"Your eyes, I say, your eyes may look like hiiiiiiis–!

Yeah, but in your head, ba-by,

I'm afraid you don't know where it is!"

Valleri picked up a stool and smashed it over another thug's head, shellwood splinters flying. She still had two legs of the stool in her hands, so she wielded them against one more particularly nimble mobster.

Grimm pulled another enemy into his embrace, and gave him a searing, passionate kiss. When he pulled away, the mobster was screaming, fire billowing from his mandibles.

"Don't you want somebody to love?

Don't you need somebody to love?"

LeRoy, the leader they'd finally caught up to, startled back. He pushed at a thug beside him, ordering him to run out, only for his lackey to get blown into a wall in a flurry of fire and fists that Valleri and Grimm were stirring up.

Just as Valleri was about to punch LeRoy, one of the last remaining mobsters hopped on Valleri's back, forcing her to stumble in confusion. Another two grabbed and restrained Grimm.

"Wouldn't you love somebody to love?

You better find somebody to loooove~!"

LeRoy kicked at his heel, a hidden switchblade shooting out from the toe of his boot. Rearing back, he kicked Valleri in her side, the razor embedding into her flesh as she cried out in pain.

She struggled with the one still scrambling on her, unable to escape as LeRoy backed up, red blood dripping from the blade out his shoe.

That was about the moment when Grimm exploded.

"Tears are running, they're all ruuu-nning down your breast~!

And your friends, baby…

They treat you like a guest!"

Grimm vanished into thin air, an eruption of pitch-black squeaking bats flying out from where he was once standing, his hat flopping to the floor.

The two thugs that were restraining him scrambled, swatting at the air around them as they ran screaming, the bats leaving dozens of tiny bites on their chitin.

The bug on Valleri's back kicked and screamed as he was swarmed by bats, so she heaved him over her shoulder and slammed his back straight into a metal guardrail, denting it and leaving him rolling on the ground.

"Don't you want somebody to love?

Don't you need somebody to love?"

LeRoy was still waving his arms in the air, trying to swat the pieces of Grimm out of the sky, when the cloud of bats suddenly vanished, manifesting behind him.

He only got to see Valleri walking towards him for a moment, bleeding from her side. She approached his front, and she could see Grimm approaching his back.

In unison, they both delivered a swift high-kick to either side of LeRoy's neck, causing him to seize up and drop like a stone.

Valleri couldn't help it; she shot a grin at Grimm, who only flashed his eyes cooly in response.

"Wouldn't you love somebody to love?

You better find somebody to loooooooooove~!"

As the song faded out, Valleri staggered, collapsing to one knee. Grimm was at her side in a moment, actually concerned about something for once.

"Valleri, are you–"

"I didn't know you were a fucking vampire," Valleri huffed, clutching at her wound. Her grey shirt was quickly staining with blood. Grimm glanced around for any kind of medical supplies or incoming scholars he could hand her off to, but they were only surrounded by unconscious Topaz thugs.

Shit, she thought. Now I gotta deal with Frankenstein and Dracula.

"You ought to escape this place," Grimm stressed. "I doubt even you could fight much more in your state."

"Guaaahhh, fuck oooOOOFF!" Valleri groaned as she fought to push herself to her feet. She was still bleeding like hell, but at least she could stand upright without looking like she was about to collapse. "Like I haven't been stabbed before! That was pussy shit, an inch or two deep at most!"

Grimm frowned, but he figured he wouldn't be able to convince Valleri to stand down while she was like this, so he sighed. Being the responsible and logical adult he definitely was, he simply shrugged and walked past her.

"Well. If you insist. I'll be taking my leave." He swaggered away, stopping to reach down and pick up his hat.

Valleri was tempted to ask what he was even here for in the first place, but knowing Grimm, he likely just figured some shit would be going down and wanted to get in on the fun. "What for? We're just getting started! I've still got one more guy upstairs to take out!"

"That swarm trick has a terrible tendency to drain me of my vitality. And besides…"

He turned to face her, his red eyes glaring.

"Unlike you, I know my limits."

A pillar of crimson flame erupted from the floor and absorbed him, before vanishing a moment later. Valleri was left alone with her thoughts, blood still dripping on the silent floor.

---

The Pure Vessel staggered back, clutching at their wounds. Liquid night oozed from their gashes and dripped onto the ground, staining the tiles black. They were struggling to even stay standing at this point, the hand that gripped their greatnail was shaking.

Luca had his own share of cuts, but his condition wasn't nearly as severe as the Pure Vessel's was. His hemolymph had dripped all over the walkway, and his chakrams were scattered all over the floor, but his posture, his stance, all were as perfect as before. Like they hadn't even touched him.

"'r we done?"

They vanished into the shadows, reappearing behind Luca in a second, brandishing their greatnail. Luca simply let them swipe between the gaps in his body, before spinning around to backhand them with a dagger, cracking their chitin and sending them stumbling into the guardrail.

"Hm. I doubt the drugs 'n these things 'r strong 'nough to 'ffect som'ne of y'r stature. What 'r'y ev'n made of…?"

The Pure Vessel clawed to their feet, only to stumble back down and collapse entirely. Luca walked closer; they couldn't hurt him anymore.

"I could kill y' here," he explained, kneeling down to whisper to them. "But I ought not t'. I was ordered t' avoid takin' 'ny lives, and even if I wasn', killin' the fam'us right hand o' th' King 'mself would 'ttract far t' much trouble."

He rose up, stepping over their quivering body as he approached the locked vault. The gun he had been ordered to retrieve was inside, but how to open it…?

"WHY DON'T YOU PICK ON SOMEONE YOUR OWN SIZE?!"

Luca spun just in time to see Valleri, bleeding from the gun, storm in and grab one of his chakrams off the floor. She threw it with all her strength, careless and wild, and the circular blade spun through the air towards an acid vat next to him.

Stretching his arm out into floating pieces, he caught it from the dull inner ring before it could shatter the glass. She couldn't master his specialty.

Luca eyed her; Valleri was heaving, her whole body shaking, either in exhaustion or rage. Crimson blood was seeping into her clothes and dripping on the floor from a wound in her shirt. And worst of all, she was laughing.

"I bet you're wondering how to get in that vault, huh?" Reaching into her jacket, she pulled out a ring of keys, spinning them on her finger as they clinged against one another. "Well, I've got the key. If you want in, you're gonna have to go through me, first!"

Luca spun the chakram on his wrist. "... Y' don't 'ntend t' leave me alone, do y'?"

Valleri grinned like a fucking maniac. "Nope! Bring it, catboy!"

…'Catboy'?

Valleri took off running, as if her wounds weren't slowing her down at all. Luca dashed forward to meet her, when she jumped onto a guard rail and kicked off of it to flank him with a flying kick.

Luca's upper half detached and shifted off to the side, floating in mid-air so Valleri's kick would miss. She stumbled on the ground, briefly staggering.

Luca whipped a dagger out of the sheaths strapped to his chest, and swung down at the distracted Valleri. Like last time, she caught his arm before the needle could puncture her, but she suddenly ripped the arm away from him.

"Wha–"

Before Luca could stab her with his disembodied arm, she grabbed it by the end, and smashed his own fist into his face.

The sudden blow made the dagger fly out of Luca's hand. Wielding his own arm like a club, Valleri grabbed onto Luca's cloak and beat him in the face, over and over.

"Why're you hittin' yourself? Why're you hittin' yourself? Why're you–"

With his remaining arm, Luca caught his own fist, and smashed it back into Valleri's own face. She grunted, letting go of his arm and stumbling back. Quickly putting his arm back on his own body, Luca's whole form quickly broke apart into individual pieces, all of them shifting backwards to retreat a safe distance.

He lifted his arms and began spinning them in circles, letting the chakrams on his arms gain momentum. Three on each arm, he had six shots to fire at her.

Just as Valleri recovered and began to run after him, his right arm broke apart into pieces, and the chakrams flew through the gaps, all three launching towards Valleri at max speed.

Valleri's eyes widened. She jumped to the side, dodging two of the blades, but getting scraped by the third on her arm. She cried out; the thing cut fucking deep, and blood was already starting to run down her leather jacket.

He still had three shots left–!

Just as they launched out, a flash of moonlight erupted from behind her. A row of Soul-nails blasted out from the Pure Vessel's shaking, outstretched arm, the ethereal blades clashing against the metal chakrams, both of them flying apart and clattering to the floor.

Valleri only shot a surprised glance at the Pure Vessel; she didn't realize they still had strength to fight, though they seemed exhausted now. Loyal to a fault.

She leapt to grab two of the fallen chakrams off the floor, wielding them as weapons while Luca drew two of his own syringe-daggers. Instead of running closer, he stretched his floating arms nearly the full length of the walkway, blades in hand, keeping Valleri at a safe distance.

She had to defend herself, and she couldn't counterattack with this much space between, and with her only targets being too small and too risky. Luca's best defense was a damn good offense.

Valleri froze. She took a deep breath, letting her focus wash over her.

The cross around her neck burned frigid against her chest.

She could hear old memories ring out in her mind.

Relaxed. Flowing. Unyielding. Like water.

Pinching the chakrams between her fingers and thumbs, she let her muscles relax, focusing only on the blades in her hands and the ones in Luca's. Their blades connected, and sparks flew, Valleri's whole body seeming to sway in an unheard rhythm. She parried his strikes, even catching his own blades within the circular chakrams she wielded.

Luca's breath hitched in his throat. What is she doing? What is this… this focus?

Before he could withdraw, Valleri managed to catch both of his detached wrists within her blades, and smashed them together against the bladed edges. Luca hissed, the pieces of his arms dropping to the ground limp as he lost control.

Now without his arms, Luca detached his torso, and sent his disembodied legs to run after Valleri.

Valleri's surprise at seeing a fucking pair of pants assault her made her lose focus, dropping the chakrams to the ground. Luca's legs tried to roundhouse her in the face, but she managed to block, grabbing onto his ankle to flip him over.

His foot simply detached itself, letting Valleri's grip fall through and leaving the legs to flip in mid-air before floating in front of Valleri's face.

"Wha–"

A swift kick to her mouth sent Valleri stumbling onto her back, blood running down her nose. Her stagger gave Luca enough time to reform himself, grabbing a dagger and running over to pounce Valleri and end this.

Groaning in pain, stars in her eyes, Valleri opened her eyes just in time to see Luca above her, dagger in hand.

She pushed herself onto her upper back, compressed her legs, and slammed her whole body force upwards into Luca's side. The blow was so strong, his entire body broke apart into individual pieces, whatever force that was holding them together breaking down and needing to recover.

Body parts rained down around her as she scrambled up, many of them still writhing and crawling. She would've vomited if she wasn't still in the middle of a fight, as she found Luca's decapitated head, and stomped on it.

Hemo splattered out of Luca's mouth as she grinned, blood trickling down her own face. She rubbed her heel into his temple, "Yeah? You done yet, you creepy piece of shit, you–"

She was too distracted to notice Luca's headless body reforming on its own until it grabbed her by the shoulder to spin her around and decked her in the jaw. She stumbled away, dazed as she tried to put her fists up to defend herself.

Headless Horseman is here, too? Got a whole fucking Halloween jamboree here to jump my ass!

Managing to catch and deflect a few fists, Valleri tried to punch back, but Luca grabbed her arm and twisted it. Ignoring her shouts, he pulled her back to restrain her, before kneeing her right where she just got stabbed in the gut.

She cried out in pain, the force of the blow knocking her head back into an acid vat, cracking the glass. The onslaught of pain made her ears ring and her eyes blur, wanting to clutch at her everything as she scrambled back, falling on her ass.

Luca picked up his own head, fastening it onto his neck and picking up a discarded dagger off of the floor. He gently pressed down on the edge, a drop of some unknown poison dribbling down the edge as he approached, cloak flowing as green Death stood over her.

Valleri blindly pawed around her for something, anything, before her hand landed on a chakram. Without even thinking, she cried out as she threw it in Luca's direction.

The blade completely missed him, Luca's body breaking apart again to make it pass through, so it instead smashed right into the heavy glass crack that Valleri just made with her head.

The acid erupted out in a giant, arcing spray, the pressure not strong enough to shatter the glass completely but forcing it out into a fine, deadly mist all around him. Luca quickly wrapped his cloak around him, crouching down to minimize his contact with the deadly acid that surrounded him.

His cloak was acid-proofed, so it would protect him, but he couldn't escape while it surrounded him on all sides! He couldn't even break apart to move, it'd still burn him alive!

Something creaked, and the cracked acid vat tilted an inch. Valleri turned; the Pure Vessel was shoving their whole weight onto it, trying to push it over.

With a metallic snap!, the vat toppled, with Luca directly under it. It smashed straight into his side, glass and acid washing over the walkway. The blow sent him flying out of the acid cloud, and off of the walkway, a pit of acid below him.

Valleri didn't even catch a glimpse of what must've been a priceless expression, before the green cloak fell down into the acid with a splash, hissing and bubbling into nothing.

…

A silence fell over the walkway, only broken by the dribbling of acid off of the ledge. The Pure Vessel finally collapsed, their massive form shaking and heaving, struggling to keep their own head upright.

Valleri rushed over to them, taking their giant, porcelain head in her arms. "Hey, hey hey hey, you–" The sweet nothings cut off with a realization. "You… You probably just saved my life."

Their wide, dark eyes bored into hers. They were actually kinda cute like this. She pulled her hand away, grimacing at the red, bloody handprint she'd left on their mask, but they didn't seem to mind. Sitting up, she held their head in her lap, gently stroking at their horns.

"You did so good today… I'm sorry I took so long. Thank you. You can rest now… Just relax, and fall asleep…"

The Pure Vessel's tension slowly eased, faded, and they fell asleep on the hard floor. No longer shaking, only an easy, rhythmic breathing rose and fell like a tide in their dark form.

…

Looking down at the Pure Vessel's sleeping body, Valleri smiled.

Then chuckled.

Then laughed.

Then she had to cover her mouth and clutch at her gut, restraining the wicked, maniacal laughter that wracked her whole body, villainous hysteria welling up in her and driving her crazy.

That's it! Every obstacle is finally out of my way… The gun is mine!

Gently crawling out of the Pure Vessel's sleeping embrace, she swaggered over to the vault, spinning Quirrel's key ring on her finger. It had been anything but "smooth", but she could hardly believe how lucky she'd gotten! Not one, but two different Topaz factions attacked on the same day that the Pure Vessel was assigned, and by extension, the same day she decided to pull off her impromptu heist! If she'd been just an hour late, she may not have ever seen the gun again!

Plugging the key in, the heavy mechanisms in the vault door undid themselves. Giddiness rose in her chest as the massive door swung open to a small, dark room, illuminated only by a single Lumafly lantern.

Several objects and records lined the walls, all priceless, she was sure. But right in the center, on a pedestal, was her trusty Python, metal gleaming under the silver light.

Stepping inside the shadowy room, Valleri reached for the gun without stopping to examine the rest of the vault around her.

She seized up.

Something sharp had been embedded in her neck.

Pressing down on the hilt, a powerful sedative in Valleri's bloodstream causing her to faint, Luca pulled the blade out and caught Valleri's body before she hit the floor.

...Hmph. Waste of a good cloak, but getting knocked away like that gave me the chance to slip under the platform unnoticed. The spray of green acid must've hidden me, and from there, I only needed to wait.

And now, finally, every obstacle is out of my way.

He laid Valleri's bleeding body down on the cold floor; she'd put up a hell of a fight. Luca preferred to avoid direct confrontation himself, but as the Director's personal enforcer, he needed to be ready for anything. And those flowing, relaxed movements from before… Where had she learned that?

He'd kept hearing from lower ranks and even from his fellow Captains that Valleri would make for an incredibly valuable member of the Topaz Clan, and now he could see why. He also heard that she usually responded to offers of employment with a kick to the face, but maybe if she survived long enough to meet him again, he'd bring it up.

The infamous Valleri in our Clan… Hallownest would be beneath us.

Turning, Luca picked up the gun on the pedestal. It was heavier than he imagined, its grip fitting comfortably in his hand. Realizing he had very little idea of how to operate such a deadly weapon, he instead weighed it in his palms, examining it. He accidentally snapped open the cylinder, noting the brass casings inside, pulling one out to examine it.

Some of them are hollow shells, while others still have a metal "cap" and seem heavier in the body… Considering the explosion noises reported at incidents where it was used, it's likely that something within these casings combusts to break the tip off and propel it through the barrel as a projectile.

He breathed, finding himself mesmerized by the alien weapon. The intel we could gain from this, the power, is immense. It's evidently one of the most dangerous and powerful items in this kingdom. I can see why Director Topaz wants it…

…

And after a momentary pause, he discarded it.

But there's something else that you want even more, right, Director?

The interference of Donovan's men, including one of his higher-ups, LeRoy. The deployment of the Pure Vessel. The appearance of Valleri. The fact that such a carefully-planned operation was completely botched from the beginning.

You set me up for failure, Director. You knew this would happen – no, you plannedfor it. Because you wanted the whole kingdom to see my family clashing with Donovan's in such a severe incident.

You don't want this gun at all. You want a war.

His instructions from the Director, now obliterated along with his cloak in the acid pits below, said as much. Topaz was a masterful manipulator; controlling people wasn't just a science, it was an art form for the Director. By putting so many powerful figures in one spot, all with a common objective, Donovan's men would surely report back that they saw Captain Luca himself interfering with such an important mission, which would be grounds enough to start an inter-Clan war.

But for the whole operation to work, he needed someone to clean the whole thing up, someone to look the other way. Someone loyal to the Director above all else, even their own life.

Someone like Luca.

He thought back to past conflicts within the Clan, and how all of them seemed to benefit the Director even when everyone else suffered. Because at the end of the day, the Topaz Clan was a business, and nothing made bank like competition. Warring families, in a desperate bid to out-do one another, would strain themselves to their limits and beyond, working to get more money and more resources to combat the other side. All the better for the Director when it came time to pay their dues.

Luca knelt down to set the grip of the gun in Valleri's sleeping hands – the sedative he gave her was powerful, but it would not last much longer – before he stepped out of the vault, picking up all of his discarded chakrams and daggers along the way.

He calmly and briskly left the Archives, having taken nothing, but accomplishing everything.

War, is it, Director? If you insist. I'll do my very best.

And we'll see how Valleri fits into the crossfire…

---

"Unbelievable! Such wanton destruction, such violence in these sacred halls of learning! So many precious records and artifacts, damaged and destroyed!"

Lady Monomon, now out of her tank and floating in the air, looked around the lobby of the Archives, and at all the scholars working on cleanup. Her whole form quivered with anxiety and rage, though she did a good job at keeping a calm face.

They'd already evacuated all injured scholars, including the Pure Vessel that they had sent back to the Palace, so all that was left was sweeping up the junk.

One of the scholars had dropped a recovered radio, and now it was blasting music through the lobby, but it helped motivate scholars to work so nobody had bothered fixing it yet.

"WAR! Hoh! Good God, y'all!

What is it good for? Absolutely nuthin'!

Say it, say it, say it–!"

Quirrel was at her side, running through several lists in his arms of injured persons, damaged or destroyed artifacts, and lost records. They'd actually suffered fewer losses than he had feared when he saw those dozens of bugs storming in, but it was still frustrating. Especially so that only a scant handful of the mobsters were arrested; many of them had managed to flee, including their apparent leader.

He thought about the strange man in green, and how he had saved him. He must've blacked out, as he couldn't remember anything past that, but he hoped he would be able to thank him one day.

"WAR! Hoh! Uh-huh, yeah!

What is it good for? Absolutely nuthin'!

Listen to me!"

"I am immediately petitioning the Palace for doubled – no, quadrupled defenses, and after such a catastrophe, I doubt they'll turn down my demands! Topaz headed this attack, did they? Then we will launch an immediate investigation and apprehend all the criminals responsible for this–"

Quirrel seized up, his eyes stopping on a certain item on the list of missing artifacts. "U-Uh, Lady Monomon?"

A ripple of electricity went up her tentacles. "What will be making my day worse this time, Quirrel?"

"The gun is gone. And…" he peeked under the paper, "So is the bike."

---

As the Archives quaked under Monomon's electric rage, elsewhere, the explosive Soul backfire of a motorcycle echoed through the deserted caverns of Hallownest, the revving engine speeding away.

Valleri laughed like a hyena, the Python jammed in her pants hip, still bleeding all over. "I GOT AWAY WITH IT!" she howled to the darkness. "THOSE SUCKERS NEVER KNEW WHAT HIT 'EM!"

She zoomed all the way back home, hair whipping and laughter deafening in the wind, nobody stopping or catching her after her first successful heist.

Valleri Crowes, master thief, was back in business.

---

Chapter name and summary are a reference to White Rabbit by Jefferson Airplane.
Other musical references in this chapter include:
Rainy Day Women #12 35 by Bob Dylan
Manic Depression by Jimi Hendrix
Bad, Bad Leroy Brown by Jim Croce
Somebody to Love by Jefferson Airplane
War by Edwin Starr
And it wasn't actually referenced but I'm adding The Stains of Time from the Metal Gear Rising OST anyway lol

Luca: THE MEMES
Valleri: you are Decapitated

Holy shit, this was probably my favorite Midnight Rider chapter yet. In case you couldn't tell, most of the major characters in this chapter directly allude to a character from Alice in Wonderland, cause that's the metaphor I'm running with in this fic, I guess. I had planned to give Luca abilities similar to the Cheshire Cat, which would suit an assassin very well, but then Piston DM'd me a picture of Monsoon from MGRR on Discord, and that got my gears spinning, so Luca basically has Monsoon's powers now. Except instead of magnetic power, it's Soul or something. I don't need to explain magic

The hopefully-creepy scene with the Pure Vessel at the start was inspired by the Oedipus section of The Doors song "The End", as well as Jim Morrison's poetry in general, but I may use that song later in Ethno so I'm not gonna add it to the playlist yet. I tried to treat is an an exercise in suspense and poetic prose, but I'm not sure how I did.

The scene with Donovan in the bathtub was also heavily inspired by the bathtub scene in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, in which "White Rabbit" was playing in the bathroom. Donovan's style of speech was also inspired by the character Raoul Duke (played by Johnny Depp) from that same movie, though I don't think I did a very good job mimicking it.

There's going to be a short "interlude" chapter for Midnight Rider in a few days, so expect that. Afterwards, we'll return to the main Ethno fic :)

Please leave a comment (very few do), and thank you for reading!