Location: The D.P.S. Company Vehicle (A 2004 Minivan)
Time: 11:15 PM
The getaway vehicle for Squad 4 was not a Batmobile. It was a beige minivan with a "Baby on Board" sticker on the rear window and a smell that suggested a baby had, in fact, been on board at some point in the last decade.
Benji was driving. He was gripping the steering wheel so hard his knuckles were white. He was going exactly 25 miles per hour.
"Benji," GiGi groaned from the backseat. She was upside down, feet on the ceiling, eating a bag of gummy worms she had looted from the destroyed warehouse. "We are moving slower than I can walk. Step on it."
"I am obeying the traffic laws!" Benji shrieked, checking his mirrors for the fifth time in ten seconds. "We just blew up a building! If we get pulled over for speeding, how do I explain the three unconscious civilians in the trunk?"
"We dropped them off at the hospital," Dante said from the passenger seat. He was stitching up a tear in his pink vest with a needle and thread he kept in his pocket.
"Metaphorically!" Benji yelled. "Also, Dante, you're bleeding on the upholstery. That's a cleaning fee."
Dante looked down. The Chimera had cracked a few ribs. His healing factor was kicking in—steam was rising from his chest—but it was slow because he hadn't eaten.
"I'll scrub it out," Dante muttered, wincing as he tied off the thread. "Just get us to the Shrine. I need to clock out."
Location: The Highway Shrine (Bureau HQ)
Time: 11:45 PM
The entrance to the Sanitation Bureau wasn't a grand gate. It was a graffiti-covered maintenance door located directly underneath the roaring concrete pillars of the Central Highway. To the public, it looked like a sewage access point.
Benji parked the van. Dante swiped his ID card. The door hissed open, revealing not a sewer, but a long, torch-lit tunnel lined with Shinto prayer ropes.
They walked into the main chamber. It was a strange mix of ancient tradition and underfunded office space. Wooden shrines sat next to vending machines. Talismans were taped to server racks.
Sora was sitting at the main desk (a folding table), feet up, reading a manga. The "saved" pizza box was open next to him. It was empty.
"You're late," Sora said, not looking up. "And you smell like smoke."
"We blew up the warehouse," GiGi said proudly, hopping onto the table. "And I saved a worm for you." She offered him a lint-covered gummy worm.
Sora accepted it solemnly and ate it. "Good work. Report?"
Dante slumped into a plastic chair. "It was a farm. They were draining people for Red-Eye. We destroyed the stock and the lab."
"And the supplier?" Sora asked.
"Escaped," Dante said. "A woman. Glasses. Corporate vibe. She called herself Eri."
Sora paused. He lowered his manga. For a second, the lazy smile vanished, replaced by something sharp.
"Eri, huh?" Sora murmured. "The Whisper. I haven't seen her since the old days. If she's involved, the Dominion is trying to modernize."
"She offered me dental," Dante added.
Sora snorted. "Don't fall for it. Their dental plan requires you to sharpen your teeth. It's a whole thing."
Benji placed his rugged laptop on the table. "I managed to download the warehouse schematics before the explosion. It wasn't just a farm, Sora. It was a supply depot. They were stockpiling Red-Eye for a specific event."
Benji tapped a key. A hologram projected onto the table. It showed a map of the Uptown Neon District. A massive stadium was highlighted in red.
"The Uptown Dome," Benji said. "There's a concert tomorrow night."
"Who's playing?" GiGi asked. "Is it Gorillaz?"
"No," Sora said, his voice serious. "It's Lust."
The room went quiet. Even GiGi stopped chewing.
"Cardinal Lust," Sora explained. "One of the Seven Sins. The Dominion's pop idol. Her voice carries a hypnotic curse. If she sings to a sold-out stadium while the crowd is high on Red-Eye..."
"Mass conversion," Dante realized. "Ten thousand new Ghouls in one night."
"Exactly," Sora said. He stood up and stretched, his back cracking loudly. "So, congratulations on surviving the warehouse. Your reward is... no sleep."
"I have a shift tomorrow," Dante protested.
"Not anymore," Sora said. "You're going to a concert."
Sora reached into his pocket and pulled out three tickets. They were pink and glittery.
"Front row seats," Sora grinned. "Try to blend in. And Dante? Maybe leave the Hello Kitty keychain at home. It clashes with the idol aesthetic."
Dante stared at the tickets. He looked at his torn vest. He looked at his healing ribs.
"Do I get reimbursed for the ticket cost?" Dante asked.
"They were free," Sora said. "I stole them from a scalper."
Dante sighed, grabbing the ticket. "Fine. But if I have to buy merch, I'm keeping the receipt."