He heard the clinking of the Warden's heavy steps and the sound of his staff echoing in the
halls. Straining his ears, he could hear two other pairs of footsteps. They were much lighter
than the heavy boots of armoured Enforcers. Rising from his paper-thin sleeping mat, he
kneeled in the middle of his tiny cell, hands resting on his thighs. His cell was made of rough
bedrock, and the cell bars were heavily reinforced after he managed to bend them early into
his imprisonment.
"Get ready. Lure them into complacency and strike. Use the small space to your advantage."
said his father's shade, spectral hand resting on his shoulder. He was a tall man, arms
corded with thick muscle. He had worked in the mines for years, but his true calling was
engineering. Reeve remembered the late nights watching him repair everything from small
appliances to body enchantments; he had always been willing to help someone in need even
though they, themselves, were struggling.
Rea began seeing his parents after they died; his father would aid him in fights, while his
mother would occasionally be the voice of calm and reason. Rea knew it wasn't right, but he
found it hard to care; his parents had been his only comfort in this tiny cell, urging him to
continue even when Rea began questioning whether living was worth it.
Shadows blocked out the sparse light that shone into his cell. "387, it's your lucky day. You're
being released." Keys jingled, and the door to his cell swung open. He stayed kneeling as
the Warden's heavy steps slowly faded into the distance.
"Rea?" The sound of her voice caused his head to shoot up. Her hair was as pink as he
remembered, although he could tell she had changed greatly. Her hands were wrapped in
dirty bandages, and he could see a multitude of tattoos poking out of her shirt.
"Tatting your name on your face; that's a little arrogant, don't ya think, Violet." He smirked at
her.
"Tatting your own name on your face; that's a little arrogant, don't ya think, Violet." He
smirked at her.
She could only stare in shock as he rose from his position. He stood around 6'2" and had
long black-blue hair. He was shirtless, and she could see the number 387 branded on his
chest. Twin tattoos of spiked vines wound around his forearms, and he carried many scars
crisscrossing along his body; the right side of his face was disfigured, where a wicked scar
ran along his cheekbone, and she knew it ended where it had split his ear.
"You two know each other?" Caitlyn, the Enforcer who had freed her, asked.
"Shacking up pussy Enforcers now, Violet?" Reeve spat, eyes full of hate as he stared at the
blue-haired girl.
"This… pussy Enforcer is the reason you are now free. You could show a little respect."
Caitlyn said, not being cowed by Rea's glare.
"Caitlyn-" "Ha. Respect an Enforcer, the ones who tossed me down here. Yeah, right." He
sneered as he took a step towards them. "Now, how about you tell me why you are busting
me out of here." It wasn't a request but a demand.
"There were multiple attacks on progress day. My investigation led me here, to Vi. She says
you can help." If Caitlyn were afraid of the seething man in front of her, she didn't show it.
"Vander's dead. So are Mylo and Clagger. The one responsible for the criminal Cupcake
here is hunting." Shock bloomed on his face. Vander is dead… and Vi has been in Stillwater.
"Powder. Where is Powder."
"I… I don't know." Vi's voice cracked. Rea looked like his world had just fallen out from under
him. His eyes began to dart, and his breaths came short and fast.
"No, no, no. I tried. You know I did." Rea's voice wavered, and distress coloured his face.
"Rea? What are you talking about?" Her words caused his head to snap in her direction. His
eyes were glazed and wild. He looked like a caged animal. He kneeled, resting his head
between his knees and taking deep breaths.
"Nothing. We need to find Powder." He rose from the floor, stepped forward, and swept Vi up
in a hug. They clutched each other, and two siblings reunited after years apart. Caitlyn
shuffled her feet as she watched the siblings reunite.
The blue-haired Enforcer slid down a filthy wall onto an equally filthy ground as she caught
her breath.
"Piltie," Rea called to the girl. "Tell Vi I will find you guys." With that, he turned and ran
through the streets of the Undercity.
He traced the familiar path to Benzo's shop; it was as if he hadn't spent years bleeding in
the bowels of prison. He stopped before the ruins of the shop; the windows had long since
been shattered, and the door was nowhere to be seen. He stepped through the broken
doorway, his boots stirring up dust. Ignoring the pain in his heart, he made his way to the
small cellar.
The walls were made of dull gray bricks. On the far left wall, a single brick slightly protruded;
if you did not know what to look for, you would have been unlikely to notice it. He walked up
to it, slowly pulled it from the wall, and let it fall to the ground. Many more joined it as he tore
at the wall.
By the time he was done, bricks littered the ground, and a cloud of heavy dust hung in the
air. However, his prize was revealed: a gray sack hidden in an alcove. He removed a long
black trench coat from the bag and put it on, covering his bare skin. Next, he attached a
holster on his right leg, slotting a gun into place. He mirrored the action with a long knife on
his left leg. Now, only one item remained in the alcove.
"Take them." His father spoke. "Protect your sisters."
"Protect your sisters and free Zuan, " his mother said, which was odd as he could count the
number of times she had spoken over the years on both hands.
"I will. I swear it." His eyes hardened as he reached forward and donned his Father's old
mining gauntlets. Made of cast iron, they were used to mine the Fissures. His Father had
worn them during the bridge riot, but Rea had stashed them away after his death. A noise
startled him from staring at the metal fists.
A masked person stood in the doorway, a metal pipe in hand and what seemed to be a
hoverboard on his back. The figure took one look at his face before he turned and fled.
"Hey!" Rea took off after him, racing through the shop and onto the street, where the figure
had seemingly vanished into thin air. He turned in circles, hands up, expecting an ambush.
"Ignore him. You need to find Powder." Said his mother. Her worried tone brought him back
to the matter on hand. "Someone must know something."
He pondered for a moment. "The Last Drop. Vander had lots of friends; I might be able to
find help there."
"Go. Go now. You need to hurry before it is too late." With that, the shadowy figure of his
mum disappeared. He felt his stomach twist into knots; something about the urgency in her
voice worried him.
The Last Drop changed. Where it had once been a humble bar where Vander handled
business, it now reminded him of a club he had once visited. Stepping through the door
smells assaulted his nose: smoke, chems, and sin—the smell of home. Spotting a familiar
figure sitting at the bar, he made his way toward the empty stool beside her.
"Something strong." He requested as he set the heavy fists on the bar, tossing a coin at the
bartender. Grabbing the glass of amber liquid, he downed it in one go. He gestured for
another as the alcohol burned his throat.
"Been a long time." The brooding woman spoke. "What are you doing back in the Lanes."
"Depends, Sevika." He sipped at his drink. "You gonna put a fight?" Sevika smirked.
"Good." He said as he re-donned the fists. "I've been aching for a fight since I got here."
Sevika stood and threw aside the red shawl that had covered her left arm. It was a chem
tech; he knew that much, but he wasn't sure what the purple liquid that flowed through the
tubes and piping was. With a hiss, a vial popped out of the arm near Sevika's shoulder. As it
retreated back into the arm, its purpose was revealed. Sevika's face contorted, and her eyes
began to glow an ominous pink.
With a yell, they clashed. Rea was quickly put on the defence as Sevika rained blow after
blow on the younger man. She was much faster than he remembered, which he assumed
was the result of the mystery drug that coursed in her veins.
He dodged a punch from the mechanical arm and replied with a strike to Sevika's
midsection. She bent slightly due to the punch's force but quickly recovered, putting some
distance between them. Rea, not looking to give her a chance to recover, chased after her.
They danced around the bar. They traded blows, and neither one could gain the upper hand.
"What made you come back?" Sevika snarled, wiping the blood away from her broken nose.
"I was in Stillwater." He spat out a glob of blood. "Call it a tie, and I'll tell you all about it."
The revelation that he had been in Stillwater shocked Sevika. With a grunt, she grabbed a
fallen chair, set it upright and lowered herself into it. With a sigh, Rea dropped the gauntlets
and joined her at a cracked table.
"So you've been in Stillwater all these years?" At his nod, she continued. "So you don't know
what went down after you went missing?"
He sighed. "I know some. Vander's dead, and Vi was arrested."
"Hmmph. That's barely the start of it. Your gonna need a drink, old friend."