Sonic and Tails were on their hover-boards, working their way up to Scrap Metal City. They'd made it into the city border and were greeted by several Scrap Metal police officers as they were let into the city, and as they usually did, they made their way to the police department to meet up with Whitney.

"So, this'll be a fun one," Sonic said as he and Tails parked their boards outside of the department.

"What makes you say that?" Tails asked.

"Well, Speedball is a mixture of cocaine and heroin, right?" Sonic asked. "So it might be harder to find both drugs put into one, especially considering Scrap Metal's typically low crime rate."

"You have a point," Tails said. "It's been a pretty quiet city ever since I was a kid here."

"Must be nice to be home," Sonic smiled as he opened the door to let Tails in first. He followed, and the two checked in with the secretary before going up to Whitney's office, knocking the door."

"Come in," said Whitney, seeing Tails and Sonic walking through the door. "Ah, it's good to see you boys. I hope that you made it here okay."

"We'd feel better with the big lug and the edgy bad boy, but we're fine, thanks," Sonic said. He looked at Whitney's dark beard and smiled. "A bit of grey, eh? It suits you."

"My kids are actually fans of it," Whitney said. "As a result, my wife won't let me shave it. I was going to shave it, but it's really grown on me."

"Wow. A dad making dad jokes. Colour me impressed," Tails said.

"My kids actually find the jokes funny, so," Whitney shrugged. "Anyway, you're here to find drugs to, if I'm getting this right, screw over a notorious crime lord?"

"Exactly, but we are on a time crunch," said Tails. "We need help from your officers."

"You're after Speedball, right?" Whitney asked, getting nods from the two freelancers. "I did some digging after you called in and there's not a lot of places you can get it straight. Hell, there was a big drug bust two months ago. It was a bunch of the Green Hill rioters. But there wasn't any Speedball on them, not even an ingredient. It was just meth."

"So we're going to have to search the city top to bottom?" Sonic asked.

"Not necessarily," Whitney said. "I did send a guy out to patrol a couple of days ago after we caught a crook who we think might have ties to Barrett."

"Shit, is he out?" Sonic asked.

"No, he's still locked up. But he was always pretty sneaky at moving product. I wouldn't be surprised if he had a contingency or two."

"Well, I guess we're going to have to go and have a chat with him," Tails said. "Where is he now?"

"He's in the main prison in the northeast," said Whitney. "If you're going up there, then I'll keep some of my officers ready to help you."

"Appreciate it," said Sonic. He and Tails left the office and eventually the building itself, and the blue hedgehog turned to the yellow fox. "So... from one small prison to a bigger one. Last time this happened, I found out that Nack poisoned me, the riots happened, and a lot of bad shit followed. I really owe my therapist extra."

"I didn't know you were going to therapy," Tails said as he and Sonic hopped onto their boards.

"It's been pretty helpful," Sonic said. "Just not something I like to go on about. I had a lot of packed up shit ever since we became cops. It's been good to unload. Amy knows that I go. Heck, she has her own therapist."

"Huh," Tails said as they started to ride off. "You know, you and I haven't had many chances to talk since the shit with Jem. And plus, while I'm not a trained professional psychiatrist, I'm a good friend."

"You really are," Sonic said. "But you were going through stuff after that too... we both were. I guess that I needed a professional. She's surprisingly reasonably priced considering that I was basically on a delivery boy's wage."

"Ah, see, if you'd come to me, you'd only have to pay me in food," said Tails, smiling. "I guess that... I don't know, I didn't get a lot of time to look after myself. I was so busy working with my parents after the riots because I needed some work."

"You're the youngest of us all," Sonic pointed out. "It might be worth finding the time, especially with Cosmo being out of the hospital now."

"I'll see if I can find the time with her," Tails said.

"Say," Sonic asked, "you don't talk about Mystic Ruins City a lot even though you were born there."

"There's not much to say about it," Tails said. "I was pretty young when we moved to Scrap Metal so I don't remember a lot about it. A lot of orange coloured cliffs, some grass... it was more like a small cottage. I don't even know why it was called a city. But... I've been thinking about visiting there."

"Might be a good vacation spot," Sonic said.

"Maybe," Tails smiled. "There was this one place on a cliff in the east of the city. My parents used to take me up there as a kid and we'd just... watch the sun set and listen to the waves crash. It was so peaceful. For a place where most of the houses were bare bones, it did have some good people and some great memories."

Sonic smiled at his friend. "I've missed seeing you smile like that when you're not around Cosmo. It's good to see you just be happy like that."

Tails smiled back at his friend. "Good enough to be your best man?"

"Oh, come on, we're not doing the thing that we did with Knuckles," Sonic sighed. "That's not a decision that I want to make yet, but you're pretty high up on the list. And you know, I don't think you realise the good that you do some days."

"What do you mean?" Tails asked.

Sonic chuckled. "I think that you know."

"Probably, but I just want to hear you say it," Tails replied.

"During the forced time off, you worked your ass off day in and day out to make everybody's lives better. And I know for a fact that when we get your parents back, you're going to keep working to help them deliver implants to hospitals."

"That's why they were made at first," Tails nodded before looking up ahead. "Looks like we're almost there. There's a cop car waiting."

Sonic looked ahead too, seeing a police officer sat in the front of the car. He looked closer and saw the officer turn to face him with a gag over his mouth. "Tails..."

"I see it," the two-tailed fox replied. "What do we do?"

Sonic sighed. "I've got an idea. I'll need you to hang back, though. I'll take point on it." As Tails went to a nearby alley, Sonic hopped off of his hover-board and put his hands up as he walked forwards. "Okay, whoever's here, we don't want any trouble. We're just going to see someone at the prison. So let the cops go and things will be okay."

A voice sounded on the microphone in the car, the sound turned up. "Prove it!"

"Prove it how?" Sonic asked.

"Drop your weapons and come closer!"

The blue hedgehog sighed, doing as he was told, reaching for his holster and placing his guns on the floor. "Okay, that's it."

"And the board too!" the voice demanded.

"It's not a weapon," Sonic said.

"Do it!"

Sonic sighed and put the board down. "All right, there."

The person behind the voice who was in the car slipped out of the passenger side door and aimed a gun at Sonic. It was a young looking human, and he kept his gun on Sonic as he carefully walked forwards. "Good... okay... I want you to give me your phone! A-And your wallet!"

"Are you serious?" Sonic asked. "You stole a police car just to rob someone you don't even know?"

"Shut up and give me y-your money!"

Sonic shook his head. "Sorry, kid." He put his hands up and behind himself before activating the whip, and he sent it forwards to grab the robber's gun and pull it away from him. As the young robber panicked, Sonic used the whip again to hold him in place as he moved over to him. "What's all this about? Are you a rioter?"

"N-No," the kid said.

"Good lord... how old are you?" Sonic asked.

"I'm... 17..."

"And you stole a police car all by yourself," Sonic noted. "I'm impressed."

"Actually... uh... he was on a lunch break and he left the keys in his car... so I stole his gun when he caught me and tied him up... then I just drove and didn't really have a plan, so I wound up here and now here you are."

"Ah." Sonic nodded as Tails moved next to him. "Well, me and my friend here have some important business, so... would you mind releasing the man you caught?"

"I'm... only going to go to jail..." the teenager said.

"Juvenile detention, maybe," Tails said. "Let the officer go."

The teenager sighed and untied the police officer, removing his gag too before putting his own hands forwards, soon getting some handcuffs put on him as he was guided to the back of the police car. He sulked as he sat in it while the officer that he captured turned to Tails and Sonic.

"Thanks for the help there," the officer said. "I wasn't expecting him to use my gun on me, and I was pretty scared that he was going to shoot me as he's clearly never done something like this before."

"Do you know him?" asked Sonic.

"No, but... this is definitely his first time trying anything. I thought he was a rioter too."

"Well, at least nobody got hurt," Sonic replied. "So... I guess that a convoy up to the prison is out of the question?"

"I think that Whitney sent a couple of cars up to it to help anyway, so you should be okay," said the officer. "But while you're doing that, I'll get this young lad checked in."

The officer got into the car and Tails and Sonic waved goodbye to him as he left with the youth. They both looked at each other before putting their hover-boards back under themselves to keep moving forwards, not wasting any further time in reaching the main prison of Scrap Metal City.

The prison's colours matched that of the department and uniforms for Scrap Metal's police, mostly black with silver flecks here and there, and the shield and sword logo emblazoned on the left wall next to the leftmost of the double doors of the building.

And there were a couple of Scrap Metal police cars there as well, with officers giving Sonic and Tails friendly smiles as one of them spoke. "We're here to stand guard."

"And we appreciate it," Sonic said. "But the worst thing about him is that he's a really paranoid horse. He doesn't even have any implants." He turned to Tails. "You ready?"

"Yep. Let's go."

The two entered the building and found that the inside looked similar to the inside, albeit with the prison cells having bright blue electrified bars to them. As it was a lunch hour, many of the prisoners were eating their food in peace, and it didn't take long for Tails and Sonic to spot Barrett as he ate. He looked up at them as they walked over to sit across from him, and he gave a light chuckle. He took a bite of his food, chewing it and swallowing it before addressing the freelancers.

"I've heard that you have use of me," he said.

"We're only going to be in and out quickly, and we need information."

"And you thought that walking in here and addressing me directly in the middle of the lunch hour was the way to go?" Barrett asked. "If I give you too much, who knows who might escape and find what you're looking for?"

Tails turned to one of the guards. "I know that I'm not in a position of authority over you, but would you mind moving us to his cell? He can take his food with him."

"Not at all," the guard said. "Let's go, big guy."

Barrett sighed and nodded, picking his tray of food up and walking to his cell, the freelancers following him before they all went into his cell. The bars closed up behind them and a guard even messed with the control pad a bit before Sonic sat down on the bunk bed and started talking.

"We've heard that you might know where to find Speedball," Sonic said.

"Ah. Nasty stuff, but a necessity if you want to feel the high of two drugs at once. I've not tried it much myself, but I've moved it around a lot."

"Then you've moved it from Scrap Metal to other places, yes?" Sonic asked.

"I have indeed. But my question is, why do two cops who failed at their jobs need to find drugs in the first place?"

"It's not your business."

"Oh, I know that. But I've always prided myself on professional policy. I don't like things going awry any more than you two do. After all, that leads to bad things. Riots, prisoners escaping to other cities, close people dying or getting hurt on days being inducted-" He was suddenly pushed against the wall behind him by Sonic, the blue hedgehog's arm across his throat. "Well, you've gotten stronger..."

"We don't have time to waste and lines are on the line," Sonic snarled. "Tell us where the drugs are."

Barrett sighed. "If you insist. But you won't find Speedball here. It's not readily manufactured. Cocaine and heroin are easier to come by, but just about. Thankfully, I have a contact in the city who stopped making it about the time I was caught. He'll still have his skill, though."

Sonic's arm moved away from the scarred horse's neck. "What's his name and where is he?"

"His name is Erick. He's human, light skin, distinctive tattoo sleeve on his right side that stretches up to his neck. He lives in the west of the city in an apartment. I don't know the floor."

"Will he have the drugs in question?" Tails asked.

Barrett nodded. "Possibly. He went into hiding when I got caught as I was one of his more tenured associates. He prefers to stay anonymous, but I highly doubt that he can walk around with drugs in his pocket in an effort to get rid of them. It's hard to flush as much as he had down the toilet, even after almost two years out of business."

"When did you last talk to him?" Tails asked.

"I think he was my free phone call after I was caught and sent to the police department cells. He pretty much cut off all business with me."

"Good to know," Sonic replied. "Well, Barrett, thank you for your time." He punched the horse in the stomach hard, making him keel over. "That's for the crack against the people that died that day."

"You're... welcome..." Barrett said through gasping breaths.

Tails nodded to the guard to let them out, and he and Sonic left to the front of the building, thanking the officers that had come to help with security before they left in their cars. The two-tailed fox then pulled out his phone and typed in Knuckles' number, waiting a few moments before the red echidna answered.

"Hey, bud," Knuckles said. "How'd it go?"

"Barrett gave us a lead on someone who can make the drug," Tails replied.

"That's good to hear," Knuckles said.

"How far are you two?" Sonic asked.

"We're almost at the city," Shadow replied. "I forgot how far away Spring Yard was from Green Hill. Good thing that these hover-boards run on unlimited energy."

"Well, good luck if you find anything," said Tails. "We've got to head off and follow up on our lead. Maybe you guys can get something quick and we can go two for two with this."

"Maybe. But just in case, we should probably book a hotel," Knuckles noted. "Call you later."

"Say hi to Alec for us!" Sonic said.

"Will do!" Knuckles hung up.

Sonic turned to Tails. "Let's get our asses in gear, best man."

At Marble Stone...

Jude, Bruno, Taylor, and Marla had been waiting at Marble Stone since they got the call from Gerren, and sure enough, the former Green Hill Penitentiary guard had arrived in his truck. They'd all elected to meet in an alleyway that was closed off from the city, and Gerren walked over to the group, looking relieved that all four of them were there.

"So, what's this about?" Taylor asked.

"Jem needs us to watch over Manuel while he's here. He's trying to jack a supply drop."

"And... we're here to stop him?" Bruno asked. "Isn't hitting up supply drops kind of crucial to making sure that Jem doesn't, you know, kill us?"

"We're here to make sure he sees it through," said Gerren. "See, after Manuel held Shadow up to deliver our boss' most recent message, he didn't act on the chance to kill Shadow. That pissed Jem off, so he sent Manuel to go after a weapons drop. The Russians are with him. As far as Manuel knows, we were here before him. We're here as backup."

"So Jem wants Manuel to take a drop on his own with the Russians and yet he still doesn't trust the bull, eh?" asked Marla. "This is interesting indeed..."

"I don't know about this," said Taylor. "Manuel may be sort of... out of it these days, but he's still smart. He could catch on."

"Not if you learn to fucking lie, okay?" said Gerren. "We were here since this morning, and we're waiting for him to find us. And also, I left you guys in hiding while I scouted the city out."

"Is he in Marble Stone right now?" asked Jude.

"I don't think he is. I didn't keep an eye out for him, but I took the alternative routes here so that he wouldn't see me. I had to step on it fast to get here in time."

"Well, we timed the drops," said Marla. "Figured it'd help with the lie. According to the timing, another one should come by at any point withing the next half hour."

"Fantastic." Gerren pulled his phone out to call up Manuel, and he cleared his throat when the phone was picked up. "Hey, how far out are you?"

"Not very," Manuel said. "I'll be there in... maybe ten minutes. Why?"

"Well, you've got about thirty until the next drop comes by." He turned to Marla. "The fake freelancers were keeping tabs on it."

"Ah. Well, I'll be there in time. I've got some hardware in the car, so we should be fine if we need to defend ourselves."

"We're strapped too," Gerren said.

"Where does the supply route go through?" Manuel asked. "The central road leading to the motorway?"

"It starts in the middle of the city," Marla murmured. "Goes through the north and drops a couple of things off before continuing to the main road."

Gerren sighed. "Did you catch that?"

"Middle of the city, drops stuff off on the north side, then hits the main road," Manuel said. "Got it."

"Good. See you soon." Gerren hung up and turned to Marla. "I swear to God, if this plan fucks up, I'll shoot your other leg."

"She's actually right," said Taylor. "Me and Bruno followed Marla's lead on a couple of drops. They followed that same route."

"Well, I hope that you're both right, then," Gerren said. "For your sake." He shook his head. "Have you eaten, at least?"

"We haven't had a chance," said Bruno.

"We'll go get something in our stomachs first, then," the former Green Hill guard said. "I'll go pick it up. Any good places?"

"There's a spot that sells muffins and sandwiches that's not far from here," Bruno said. "I'll take some muffins. And a drink."

"Same for me," said Taylor.

"Just a sandwich and a coffee," Marla said.

"Same as Marla but tea instead," Jude replied.

Gerren nodded. "Got it. And stay put, okay?" He turned to leave them, sighing. "Working for a big crime boss and I'm a glorified delivery boy... fucking hell."

He left the four behind and went to grab the food, even getting himself something, paying up for it and getting out quick. He headed back to the alleyway and handed the food out to the four fake freelancers, and they ate their food as they kept waiting for Manuel. They ate and didn't waste time much with small talk as Gerren's phone buzzed, so he opened it up to see a text from Manuel.

"He's here," Gerren said, sending a text back to say where they were. About a minute later, Manuel pulled around to the alleyway and exited the truck that he arrived in, Grigori and Sacha following behind. "And there he is."

Manuel gave a wave and then sniffed the air around them. "Ooh... something smells nice."

"Just brunch," said Jude. "Got some nice muffins and coffee."

"Huh. Beats a greasy burger and a flat soda, that's for sure," Manuel replied. "So, what's the plan?"

"Wait for the drop to come by and go after it," Gerren said.

"I'll keep lookout," Manuel said. "I may as well make use of myself while I'm here."

"But you just got here," Marla said. "Take some time to rest up a bit before we have to move. I'll keep an eye out. I mean, I did spot the drop in the first place."

"She raises a good point," said Taylor.

"Then go ahead," Gerren said. "Manuel, you heard the lady."

The black bull nodded, letting Marla keep watch and going over to Gerren. "Sorry that I kept you waiting."

"Hey, I'm just glad that you had fun last night," Gerren said. "You owe me, though."

"You paid. Of course I owe you."

"Good. In fact, if you want to pay me back, you can take point when the drop gets here."

Manuel scratched his head. "I am confused as to why Jem needed me here at all with Sacha and Grigori as backup when you and the fake four were here since this morning."

"I guess that Jem wants to test your loyalty," Gerren shrugged.

"Ah. Send the guy fighting off a hangover with two former mafia members to do a job that a sober former prison guard and people with freelancer masks couldn't do." Manuel chuckled. "Do you really think that I'm that stupid?"

"Actually, I don't," Gerren said. "I think that you're a smart guy when you have your head on straight. The trouble is, you haven't had that for a long time."

"You didn't mind paying me to lose my head a bit last night," Manuel said.

"That was a gift. Don't make me regret giving it to you, even with your discount from that glorified whorehouse-" He got a smack across the face from Manuel.

"It's a brothel," Manuel said. "The girls there are just doing their jobs."

"There's no diff-" Gerren started, but a hit didn't stop him this time. He saw the look in Manuel's eyes and paused. "Damn..."

"Lara spent years putting that place together to make people's lives feel less shitty in a shitty part of the world," Manuel stated. "I won't have you disrespecting her memory."

"Yeah, because you spending every night there is totally honouring her memory," Gerren said. "But I want you to keep that look in your eyes because you just might need it."

"Guys!" Marla said. "Give it a rest! There's a drop on the way!"

"Really?" Gerren asked.

"It just passed by," Marla stated. "We'd better get moving."

"We came here in separate cars," Taylor said. "What's the idea?"

"You four take my car," Gerren said, handing the keys to Taylor. "I'll go with Manuel and the Russians. We'll try and cut off the truck from the front. You four tail it from the back."

"We'll save ours for a getaway if we need it," said Taylor. "Let's move."

The four fake freelancers went to Gerren's car, hopping into it outside the alleyway and beginning their drive, with Marla navigating for the others as they moved. While they followed the supply drop, Manuel took Sacha, Grigori, and Gerren to his car, starting it up when they got inside and heading to the middle of the city while Gerren put his phone on speaker, waiting for updates from the false freelancers.

"All right, they're doing a quick sweep," Marla said. "Just small drop-offs. No weapons."

"Why doesn't Jem just steal implants from these supply drops?" Manuel asked.

"Because none of those people have their parents being held hostage?" asked Sacha. "Also, those implants are only used for recovery purposes. They'd be useless for what Jem needs them for."

"All right, they just picked something up in a trade... and they're off. North side of the city."

"We're on it," Gerren said, turning to Manuel. "Get going."

The black bull nodded, stepping on the gas and driving to the north side of the city as quickly as he could. He didn't come across traffic in the lunch hour, but he still had to be careful as he drove, the instructions from Marla letting him know where to go. He soon found himself driving alongside the four fakers who were in Gerren's car before pulling forwards to stall in front of the supply truck while the fake freelancers chased it from behind at a slow, middling pace.

"All right, how do we go about this?" asked Jude.

"Wait until we're near the motorway and we'll stop this truck and take all that it has," said Gerren.

Taylor looked in the rear view mirror at that and saw a car driving behind them. "We've got civvies."

"So?" Gerren asked. "If they get hurt, that's not on us. They need to learn to stay out of the fucking way."

Taylor nodded and grew more curious as he saw the vehicle disappear down a different road. "Huh. They just left."

"Focus up," Gerren said. "We're almost there. Blow out their tyres."

Taylor nodded, pulling his handgun out and pulling his Knuckles mask down as he peeked he leaned over the passenger front side door, aiming his gun at the wheels of the supply truck. He popped off a few shots before the car slowed down, the frost on the road making it slip up as it turned sideways, its back end careening and almost making it spin out before it hit a lamppost, stopping it in its tracks completely.

Manuel and Taylor both stopped their cars instantly, going over to the now stopped supply truck, Gerren walking up to the driver's side door of the truck and indicating the driver to roll her window down. She complied and sighed, putting her hands up as Gerren opened the door and gestured for her to leave the vehicle.

"Please, don't take too much..." she said. "It's just guns and medicine..."

"Oh, we only want the guns," Manuel said, appearing behind Gerren. "Keys, please."

The driver regrettably handed them over, and the bull went to the back of the truck and rubbed his hands together. He went back to his truck to grab a couple of bags, handing one over to Bruno and Jude so that they could help him pack the guns up while everyone else kept their weapons on the people in the supply truck.

"Don't kill us..." said the co-driver, a man who was about fifteen years younger than the woman. "Please..."

"We don't like to leave witnesses, but I want this to be a clean operation," Gerren said.

"S-So, you're the leader, then?" the co-driver asked.

"No, he isn't," Manuel said from the back end of the truck.

"Mum, I'm scared..." said the co-driver.

Manuel paused up, folding over a bag quickly and turning to Jude and Bruno. "All right, we got what we came for. Even ammo too. We can let them go now." He walked back to the front of the truck, seeing that Gerren still had his gun trained on the people in the truck. "Gerren, come on."

"We can't just leave them when they know what we look like," Gerren said.

"There's a fucking kid in the car," Manuel said.

"Do... do you have kids?" the mother driver asked.

Manuel nodded. "Two girls. One of them's deaf." He gestured to the other kid in the car. "How old are you?"

"I'm 16... I should be at school but I offered to help with the supplies after the riots..."

"In that case, I'm... really sorry..." Manuel said. "Gerren?"

Gerren huffed out. "Fine. We'd better leave before cops show up." He put his gun away and looked at Manuel, then past him. "Another truck's on the way."

"That's... weird..." Marla said. "It's supposed to take a lot longer."

"Want to jack it?" asked Bruno.

"Hmm..." Gerren thought about it. "We don't need to get more, I don't think."

"Let's head back, then," Manuel said as the weapons got loaded up. He kept his eyes on the supply truck, expecting it to stop and help... but it didn't. He then expected it to go to the motorway... only for it to completely ignore it and drive down a different road. "That's... strange..."

"It might just be dropping stuff off in the city?" Jude suggested.

"We should look into it," Manuel said.

"You can if you want to," said Gerren. "I'll head back with the Russians. The fakers can stay with you."

"Good thing I brought my own mask," Manuel said, getting into his car. "Come on, let's tail that truck. Quick."

"See you later," Gerren said. He gave another glance at the family in the truck, shaking his head and heading to his own car with Sacha and Grigori following him before he drove away, pulling onto the main motorway. "Jem's going to have a fucking field day with this one."

Manuel, meanwhile, had his mask pulled up to cover his mouth and nose as he drove, trying to keep the other supply truck in his field of vision as Marla gave instructions. The four fake freelancers all wore their own masks as well, and there wasn't a lot of traffic as most of it cleared to let the supply truck through, with Manuel taking advantage of the openings as well as he kept following the truck. They found the truck heading to the lower end of the city, and they carefully followed as the truck drove onto a smaller road which led to an abandoned looking building.

Manuel pulled his car up and sighed. "All right, you four stay here and keep lookout."

"You're going in alone?" asked Taylor.

"I get the feeling that I just got a lot more expendable in Gerren's eyes, which means I'll likely be really expendable to Jem soon," Manuel said. "I don't know how long I'll be. Jude, take the wheel."

Before anyone could respond, he left the car, looking back as Jude went to the driver's seat while he carefully stuck to the wall by the building. He reached for his holster, taking a breath as he peaked around a corner to see the supply truck being emptied. He couldn't see what was in the bags, so he waited to try and get a closer look, only seeing a couple of people wearing grey hoodies, having an obscured stone design as well as what looked like a yellow M on the back of the hoodies.

"What the hell are these guys? A gang?" Manuel waited a few moments for the people to finish unpacking the truck, and he only just noticed about three more supply trucks surrounding it. "Those must be empty too..."

After the two truck thieves were done, he sneaked closer to see them open up a wide rolling door, starting to carry whatever it was that they'd taken in. He saw a couple more doors, and he practically glued himself to the nearest wall, seeing an open space to sneak into. He didn't see anyone near the area, but he did hear voices speaking, so he walked into the building properly.

He saw some graffiti on the walls, hearing some underground hip-hop music playing, and he continued moving further in before he heard a scuffle behind him. He quickly turned around and aimed his gun, the dim light showing a human looking woman. Caucasian, with auburn looking hair, and a brown right eye. Her left eye appeared to be whited out, and on a closer look, Manuel noticed that the left side of her face was scarred massively.

"Take it easy, stranger," she said. "My name's Alina. I mean you no harm."

"Kind of a strange thing to say to the person who sneaked into your... home?" Manuel asked, seeing her grey hoodie. "And what the hell are you wearing?"

"This is more a headquarters, but it's a home for those who need it," said Alina. "And I'm wearing the symbol of the Monument Gang."

"Monument Gang?" asked Manuel. "What, do you protect ancient architectural landmarks from falling to the government?"

"We try and lure bad people in and put them away so that people don't know that they ever existed," said Alina. "Did Nack not tell you about us?"

"No," Manuel said.

"Well, that's good. We're supposed to be dead to him. Set up a thing with some severely misguided freelancers."

"Ah. Well, you don't have to worry about that," Manuel said. "Nack was killed almost two years ago."

"He... he was?" Alina said, sounding relieved. "Thank goodness..."

"Did... how did you not hear about it?" Manuel asked.

"We don't exactly go out and about," Alina answered. "We do get access to news and so on, but we've been sort of busy after the riots."

"How did you know Nack?"

"We used to run guns for him, but the freelancers attempted to stop us and kill me. They found out that we weren't such bad people and have been protecting this city. We have access to security cameras and so on."

"But you mentioned the riots."

"Yeah. A lot of our members have been wounded. When the supply drops started, we've been sparsely stealing them for medicine. No implants, though. We made that a hard rule." Alina chuckled. "Which leads to the question of how the hell did you wind up here?"

"I guess there's no use in hiding the truth." Manuel put his gun away. "I work for Jem, the guy who stepped up after Nack. I was sent here with some others to steal a weapons drop from a supply truck. We were supposed to head back, but we saw the truck that your people just stole. One of our people is really good at timing the drops, so it seemed suspicious. And then we followed you here. So... here I am."

Alina smiled. "For someone working with someone who's on Nack's level, you don't seem like you belong in that crowd."

"I used to run guns for Nack," Manuel said. "Now I steal them for someone else." He looked down. "I don't exactly know why."

"Well, that's bullshit" Alina said. "But I don't have time to pry. I have people to look after and you probably have police looking for you."

"Then I'd better get going," Manuel said. "Sorry about all of this."

"Go before I change my mind."

Manuel nodded, leaving the building and heading back to his car quickly. He got into the back and put his seat belt on. "All clear."

"Did they have anything?" asked Bruno.

"Just medicine that they needed. Wasn't worth stealing. We need to move, though."

"On it," Jude said, pulling away from the building and going as fast as they could to the motorway.

Yep, I brought Alina back for this one. I had fun writing her in The Black Market, and I had fun writing this chapter. Next will be a one-shot request, and maybe more after that, and then maybe more of this after those. Until then, take care, and stay tuned.