'STEEL ALLEGATIONS' — The Daily News
'BLACK MARKET ALERT: Demon Artifacts on the Rise' — The Daily Ledger
'RANKERS OR RECKLESS? Civilians Pay the Price' — City Eye News
'26 DEAD, 56 INJURED IN RECENT CLUB CATASTROPHE' — Vice City News
'ANOTHER RANKER, SAME STORY' — The Morning Show
The Headlines were going crazy throughout the week. Mass casualties recorded, and rumours of Compound X use. All the reasons to make the headlines.
'C-RANK FRAUD: Heroes and Drugs' — The Insider Report
'EXPOSÉ: Corrupt Rankers Tied to Compound X Distribution' — The Morning Truth
'WHERE IS DULCAN STEEL?'— Now that headline, was mutual to every news outlets.
The Bureau had still not released any statement, investigations are still going on. Social media boiling with comments. Dulcan's RANKER.COM Account has been Suspended!
"You really need to rearrange your room." Crow comments.
It's been five days since John and Crow came back from the forest. The room wasn't an encouraging environment, but Crow seems to have adjusted quite well.
John exhales, he hurts less now. "I'm waiting on my payment, I'd handle… everything when I get some XPs."
"Oh good, because we'd really need a whole ton of new stuff. Everything in here is either deformed, broken, or—". Crow lands on the workbench, claws crunching into a cluster of garbage tech junk. He tilts his head, staring at a naked battery panel, then taps it with his beak. Spark!! He detonates off the bench in a frantic burst of feathers, screeching like an actual bird.
John watches the chaos, then sighs.
"How much are we even expecting?" — Crow
"About three thousand... wait, we?"
"Yeah, we." Crow shrugs. "I kinda need a tablet."
"You're a bird," John says flatly. "What are you using a tablet for?"
"What else am I supposed to do when I'm bored…like now? And unlike you, I'm actually interested in the world. Hot Gossips. News. Rankers. Awakeners. Shit like that."
John rolls his eyes.
Crow hops closer and perches against John's legs, crossing one talon over the other on the desk. "C'mon. I bet news of that metal-junkie is everywhere by now."
John mutters, "It would be."
He clenches his jaw, then pushes himself up from the chair, pacing once, nervous.
Crow catches it immediately. "You feel he isn't gonna call, right?"
John exhales slowly.
Crow keeps talking, trying to lift the weight. "Hey, it's been a week. A noisy one too. This whole incident—bufff!—probably the alley man isn't—"
The burner rings. Loud.
Both freeze.
An ominous voice cuts through the static.
"Same alley. Same time."
The line goes dead.
They stare at each other for a long beat.
Crow finally mutters, "I guess… let's go pick up our money."
John responds reluctantly, "I guess. But you're staying here." He grabs his regular jacket.
Crow swoops across, blocking John's path to the door. "No, no, John. I really need to see how this dude looks… and plus, you have one arm. Only one arm. What are you gonna do if he attacks?"
John arches an eyebrow. "And what are you gonna do?"
Crow fluffs his feathers defiantly. "Well… three arms are better than one, right?"
John exhales, waving his remaining hand in a resigned gesture. "Sure… whatever."
.
.
.
.
.
They had been waiting for an hour. The ROBOTS© security guard passed by, disposing of trash, giving John a mocking smile.
Crow, perched on the railing of the first floor, muttered, "Looks like you're well-known."
John sighed. "Assholes."
"You know what? Let's go back." John turned his back, leaving the alley. Crow followed, flying a short distance behind.
A figure appeared in front of him.
The man from last time.
This time, he wore a dark coat over his suit, a black hat low over his eyes, hands tucked in, a lit cigarette dangling from his mouth. Smoke curled around his words.
"Last time I saw you, you had two arms and one eye," he said, tilting his head. "Now you have two eyes and one arm?"
John gritted his teeth. "Well, it would've been two arms if I hadn't taken your request."
The man laughed. "Request?… Well, lucky for you, I have another one."
John snapped, "Fuck that! Where's my money?"
The man raised a hand, scratching his hat. "Oh… I kinda forgot about that."
A status window popped up:
[ALERT]
[3000 XPs RECEIVED]
[BALANCE - 3220 XPs]
—Both windows disappeared—
"Well, that concludes that," the man said.
"I'm sorry, but I'm not interested in your new offer."
"Urrrr… you backing out?"
"Yes!"
"Come on, I thought we were friends. At least hear me out." he placed his hands on John's left shoulder missing an arm.
John chuckled, brushing it off. "First… we're not friends. Second… fuck you. I lost an arm because of you."
He raised his good arm. "How am I sure you didn't set me up in there? Who sent those guys?"
The man laughed again. "You're naive. I have no interest in you. No offense, but you're… F? E?? I have no reason to care. As for Dulcan… that was just business. And those men? Friends we meet along the way, in this line of business."
"I no longer want to be part of this business," John said.
"Come on…."
"No!"
The man raised his arm, and a folder popped out of his dimension pocket. Black. Mysterious. Radiating danger.
"This one is fun," the man said.
"No!"
"It comes with triple the payment… No, for you, I'll make it five times."
John froze. Silence.
He continued, "Fifteen thousand… I'm not just being generous. I'm committed to our future… partnership."
John hesitated.
Crow swooped in from nowhere. "Partnership, my ass! You're baiting him!"
"A talking bird?"
"Yes! And a seeing one too." Crow snapped back.
The man chuckled.
Crow continued, "See, you wanna talk about future collaboration, but you're not showing interest in my partner's safety. We need repercussions, and you need guarantees for our work."
He frowned. "Huh… go on."
"First: don't do business with someone whose motives you don't know. Second: my partner has only one arm left. He needs to protect it."
The man smiled, mischievous. Silence followed.
He dragged his cigarette to the edge of a garbage bin and quenched it. "My friends call me JUMPER. I guess you can too."
He looked at both John and Crow. "You see, our world has become nothing more than a game. Everyone dances under the system. Society, filled with awakeners, and those who chose to become Rankers. At first, they pitched it as a system to help awakeners grow while contributing to society…"
His stare intensified. "Now… it's nothing more than a leech. Used to keep power-hungry awakeners in check and maintain a hierarchy. A good thing, huh? Until you realize those who fight against evil… aren't different themselves. An order for chaos. Chaos itself."
Crow released a low whistle. "Damn. That's some deep villain monologue shit."
He chuckled.
"See, Mr. Jumper, we don't care about your chaos. We just want to protect our own interests… like staying alive, or not getting screwed."
Jumper pressed the folder against John's chest. "I'm not that kind of guy."
Jumper steps away, turned his back, facing the alley walls.
"The mission this time," he continued, "....is an Extraction. Black-lock briefcase. It's in the custody of a former associate—THE DANCER. B-Rank! Strong. Real strong. Your job: extract the briefcase and deliver it to me, by any means necessary. The content? Not your business. The target meets potential clients at Lincoln Hotel, Room A308, Next week, Saturday....
I won't lie, it won't be easy. But you must succeed at any cost."
Crow whistled. "Damn! B-Rank! This ain't a fifteen-thousand-XP mission… it's a million-XP mission. And I'm serious!"
Jumper sighs, "You know what? I'll raise my offer to twenty-five thousand…"
"Fifty!" Crow countered.
"Thirty… and I'm being generous."
"Forty-five… and we're being considerate."
"Thirty-five!"
"Deal," Crow concluded.
"And the weapon?"
"All I can give you is this." He handed over an Energy Crystal—a white one, a product of demon subjugation raids. Higher energy than the rest.
"What are we supposed to use this for?"
"Use it… buy a blade… something."
The man turned to leave.
"Parting gift???" Crow shouted.
He chuckled. "What?"
"We just officially became partners. There needs to be a gift."
"What would you like?"
Crow grinned. "One of those shiny rings."
"I thought I gave you one last time?" he said, staring at John.
John turned away in embarrassment.
He chuckled, removed one of the five rings he wore, muttering, "I'm being milked by a bird." He tossed it to John.
"And… you guys didn't share your names," he added.
Crow cut John off. "No!"
"No??"
"Yes. Heard me."
John stared in disbelief. Crow had gone rogue.
Jumper tilted his head toward Crow. "Why?"
"Safety reasons," Crow replied.
Jumper laughed loudly, his voice echoing across the alley. "Good, good…"
He looked back at John. "You could learn one or two things from him."
He walked out, halfway across the street, then turned back.
"Oh… And, You won't be the only one searching for the briefcase."
A van passed.
He vanished.
"That bastard!!!" Crow screamed.
"Enough, Crow. Let's head out."