"For what!?" She yelled over the baby’s continues waling.

“Do I need to repeat myself E-Z-kiel?” She taunted condescendingly

"Not only is this one not from here, but he bears the cross of the Aeronean. I believe it's safe to say you Scamper Rats have certainly earned your meal. Especially you little Leo. The Arc will send its regards very soon." Said Ms. Black, her eyes locking to that of Lian.

Leo nodded his head in eager approval. Ms. Black’s praise seemingly injected little Leo into a drug induced euphoria; his eyes even rolling white trying to contain his excitement.

“Hold on to the little one Leo.” She commanded.

“Very loud.” She mouthed at Lian cheekily.

“It’s limbs may be the bridge into ending the remaining few Aeronean once and forever more.” She continued, caressing the babies limbs.

Ms. Black hovered her hand over the babies mouth and casually dropped a small yellow capsule into its mouth. Within seconds, a thin yellow smog enveloped the inside of the baby’s mouth and forced him into an instantaneous sleep.

“The Arc believed we extinguished almost all of you. Just like pest you are, they believed your numbers had been reduced to what they would call an innocuous level. Harmless. Lucky for them… I am a perfectionist when it comes to my work.” She said with dangerous conviction.

Ms. Black’s eyes lit-up in a burning rage. Her gaze quickly skewered Lian into telling some kind of truth. However, Lian could hardly muster the will to speak, he became far too consumed with fear and anxiety.

“Ms. Black. Right?! Right?!” Panicked Lian, his voice cracking in panic.

“You will address me as Lieutenant Salem Black!” She commanded loudly.

“Now speak.” She spoke with a seductively alluring tone.

“T-that ba...baby!? H-he…!” Lian tried speaking.

“Shh….the baby is asleep, you don’t want to wake him. Do you?” She smiled while caressing Lian’s lips with one finger.

Lian took several deep breaths and attempted his absolute best to calm down; singing his mother’s nursery rhymes in his head, thinking of fathers amazing collection of city models, picturing the day of the parade, and even tightly grasping the music box in his pocket, ready to summon the enigma if all else fails.

“Now that the volume of this place is more suitable for discussion; Talk please.” She said, breaking her military poise once again, and handing the baby to Leo behind her.

Before Lian could get even mutter a single word out, she pulled out a long lock of hair... his own blonde hair... and sniffed it with disturbing conviction.

“The Scamper Rats have earned their meal! Our business has concluded! Now if your name is not Leo, please leave us, as business must proceed as usual.” She commanded loudly.

The clearing erupted with celebration in unison, roaring cheers blanked the air from every corner in admiration of Ms. Black and ofcourse appreciation of little Leo himself.

Lian’s eyes were locked to that of Ms. Black, her hazel continuing to peer right through every potential move.

“This is it.” Though Lian in a panic.

She appeared unhinged, her body hunched forward and her arms dangled dangerously around her pockets.

"No problem Ms. Black...it was nothing. My intel was correct. I simply happen to find the boy as predicted when he was leaving his Cherubim, and poof, he practically spelled out the word outsider.” Said Leo pridefully.

"This little lickspittle looks 12!" Shouted someone far behind Leo..

"...” Leo mumbled angirly to himself, knowing full well it was insult he is very familiar with.

"More lik-uh uh-wuhh ...eh... 11!" Shouted someone with a thick irish-like accent behind Leo

"Tsk..." Grunted Leo.

"Is it weird to call him cute..." Asked a grunt amongst the background chitter-chatter.

"...What the..." said a majority in a murmur after an awkward silence.

“Like in a cute kid way…” Corrected the grunt.

“Oh. Oooooh?” Said the silotuess collectively far behind Leo, nodding there head in collective disappointment and confusion towards one another.

“Should I need to repeat myself!?” Exclaimed Ms. Black in a fit of rage.

“Move on! The lot of you!” She commanded.

"Scat for brains! Move it!" Shouted Leo.

“That’s not nice…” Faded a voice into the depths of the alleys.

In a moment’s notice, the clearing was yet again almost emptied with nothing but pockets of green shrubbery, lined up brick, and an echoes of the festival dying afar. Ms. Black stood at the center with Leo, eagerly anticipated Lian’s next move, however desperate.

Ms. Black rubbed the lock of Lian’s hair on her neck, letting it run down her neck and into a small opening at the top of her breast.

“I used to have long locks of golden hair. Not blonde...but gold!” She said, walking ever closer to Lian..

“Everyone wanted my hair Ezekiel. When the Aeronean couldn’t have it in all it’s beauty, they got the second best thing... they got me.” She pressed her cheek to Lian.

“It’s the reason I was hired back then… an envious ploy justified by Aeronean entitlement. If they couldn’t have my beauty, then they would burn it! After some a doctor visit or two, it never grew the same. Black and charred is my color now. Burned.” She continued.

“Why? Did they burn it Ezekiel? Why…?” She asked, whispering in Lian’s ear like in a wind-up.

"Because the disgusting hypocritical hogwash Aeroneans wriggle into the heads of the weak! They demand freedom where there already is! They demand change but refuse to enact on it’s aspirations, they demand appropriate worship rights yet lash it out in a collective mute to silence those who differ from there many antiquated ways." She spoke in a passionate fury, growing increasingly agitated with each word.

“The Aeroneans teach the weak to whine and to snap at anything that disagrees with their own frail conceptions of rules.” She said, her breath growing hotter.

“Seek out the Aeronean God, and riches will be rightfully yours, for there always a unique beauty in the hearts of others.” She said mockingly.

“Entitled Hogwash! Pathetic weakness in the mind! These idiots take these rules as truth and birthright. These sheep cannot have anything left to interpretation, less they begin burning anything they wish they had but cannot obtain!” She shouted while shoving her hand around Lian’s throat.

“My hair! My life! That fate is for no-one to decide! While I live, no one before me will ever be subjected to the dangerously pretentious, SELF IMPORTANT, and POMPOUS actions of an Aeronean. When you accept there religious mantle of ignorance, you revoke your right to be considered civilized! Thus, you and your ilk Ezekiel are labeled dangerous… a disease for New Dwarden… and must be excised!” She explained as her hand traveled from Lian’s chest to his neck.

"Allow me to demonstrate something Lian as you gasp for air." She whispered.

Lian heard a loud whip and crackle like sound emanating from deep within her armor, almost as if the armor itself was ready to pop off her. The loud noise was accompanied by a cacophony of locking and twisting noises. Just as Lian went to reach for the music box down in his pocket, a burst of steam rushed out from below an opening in her elbow and thrusted her arm towards Lians throat. Her left hand gripped Lian's throat with violent force, almost instantly lifting him off his feet. In that swift motion, Lian felt all of her rage bursting through her fingertips whilst her grasp buried itself deeper into his throat twisting and retching it like flimsy rubber. Any attempt of Lian to call for help were drowned out by groans of pain.

“I’m not...Aer…..” Lian tried saying.

“Witness justice being served!” She declared victoriously.

Her face was a hair’s distance away from Lian. He could feel her lift him with ease, as if Lian was a toddler.

“... strong...” Thought Lian.

She had effortlessly lifted him off his feet with nothing but a short lived grimace on her face. Despite Lian’s desperate thrashes, his body quickly grew limp, unable to even reach in his pocket.

“Perhaps if I just pretend to be dead… it might actually happen this time.This is pathetic...I can’t...be done... ” thought Lian, his thoughts fading.

“I’m...no-t...not…” He gasped desperately, giving himself one last attempt to defend himself. Unfortunately, his voice was far too weak for even he himself to hear.

"I won’t kill you yet, O’ so brittle and frail Ezekiel! You have much to tell me. But first, allow me to provide you an incentive." Said Ms. Black, her military guise seemingly coming back to her. Lian merely dangled in her grasp, despite it loosening significantly.

"Oh! This one is weaker than the baby, he’s going straight to sleep.” She mumbled at Lian’s limp body in disappointment.

Ms. Black had not realized it, but Lian had already been pushed to the cusp of being strangled. She was disappointed with Lian’s lack of resilience, as if he had already given up while being choked.

“No fire.” She thought in disappointment.

Ms. Black quickly reached her right hand into her pocket and grabbed a handful of fine brown powder. After briefly shuffling it between a couple of her fingers she threw a clump of it into Lians face.

Lian awoke with what felt like a loud stinging poof. His eyes bursted open while he staggered in confusion and shock, as if he had awoken from a horrifying nightmare where his eyes were being dipped into acidic salt. His face felt like it was boiling, and his nose felt as though he had two powerful mints shoved into his nostrils. Lian coughed in a panic as he quickly began recollecting what was transpiring before him. After examining the dust in Ms. Blacks right hand, he quickly shook the mysterious brown dust from his face and quickly lined his eyes to that of Ms. Black. She smiled in return as she knew she had finally attained his full and undivided attention.

"When I begin to ask questions, I do not repeat myself." She warned aloud.

Ms. Black loosened her sadistic serpent like grip, laughing as if she caught her prey far too early. Lian fell hard to the ground, his face almost crashing to the floor. Lian coughed and retched while attempting to a semblance of composure. After catching his breath, he could only crawl backwards in a terror fueled panic.

"Whom does the baby and pet belong to?" Said Ms. Black .

"T-the baby is...my brother! The fox is my pet!" Said Lian, grasping his throat from the pain.

"Foxes...well that's odd. These creatures live in the outskirts of New Dwarden, they are also usually rather larger. Where are you exactly from Ezekiel?” She said, riled in suspicion.

Lian could feel sweat drip from the top of his head, brush down his eyes, and drip off his face in a dramatic splash. He felt as though he could count every nauseatingly slow second creep by.

“Stay with me boy! Les I kill you right now!” She commanded, noticing his weakening daze.

“What were you doing in that Cherubim? 929 was it?" She continued, stepping closer to Lian.

Lian peddled backwards in fear, too shook to stand on his two legs and too scared to speak clearly.

"I-I don't know where I am from…” Coughed Lian uncontrollably.

“I woke up in an alley somewhere near that Cherubim... and someone mysteriously took me in. I was- " Said Lian, gasping for air.

"Who took you in!?" Shouted Ms. Black with unbridled authority.

"I-I..." quivered Lian.

Ms. Black grew increasingly frustrated with Lian's inability to recover from his spurts of violent coughing. She knew she had squeezed him a little further then she wanted to but his cross continued to mute her of reason.

Ms. Black’s paralyzing gaze crumbled nearly any cohesive thought Lian had barely mustered. She only grew agitated as communication fell quieter and quieter, until Lian’s shivers and the foxes shuffling was the only sound heard.

Ms. Black charged towards Lian staggeringly fast, so fast even, Lian could see the ground crack under her as she launched herself towards him and in an instance, she had her fist at his heart with her index and her middle fingers threatening to touching his chest. Right as her two fingers were going to touch him, a tremendous wind exploded from the gold knuckles of her gloves. Golden compartments hidden in her knuckle cracked open a blast of hot air. The blast was powerful yet harmless, just enough to further back Lian into a physiological corner.

Lian peered at her gloves with extreme caution, as if any pocket could potentially open up and kill him. Ms. Black’s gloves appeared to be made of a mixture of dark leathers with various unknown metals imbued within them. Like her uniform, her gloves appeared reminiscent of a bygone era with a touch of mechanical ingenuity. There was even a large gear pattern wedged on the top of her hands to match her uniform.

"Leo. Please hand me the fox." Commanded Ms. Black, gesturing to Leo behind her.

"Right Awa-" Said Leo before being interrupted by a loud crashing noise.

"Hm?" thought Ms. Black.

Lian heard a familiar popping, slurping, and crashing sound echoing through the alley like a choir from heaven.

“Cannoli.” Thought Lian, his eyes fixated to the alley far behind Leo.

"Ms. Black! A rogue Ignorpa is attacking us!" Said Leo, peering into the alley.

"Rogue!?" Questioned Ms. Black.

"A sewer dweller. It has no saddle!" Yelled Leo.

"A sewer dweller? Attacking now…?" Yelled Ms. Black.

Ms. Black turned to Lian, gritting her teeth at him as if he had come up with some sort of escape plan.

“What is this!?” She shouted at him.

“If you think this changes anything, let me just break one more leg! You will talk!” She slapped the center of her chest taunting in fury.

All of a sudden, she heard a faint whisper just from behind her where Leo is standing. Without completely turning around, she turned her left eye to just enough to get a glimpse into Leo’s general direction.

"It does now.” Said a mysterious voice from behind Leo.

“Speak rat. An aeronean here to save his friend no doubt.” Muttered Ms. Black as she slowly turned toward the mysterious voice.

“He has the child, yes miss Black. Took the child right from between my fingers and threatened me with another. Miss B-black I-I-, He-he commands an aeronean SNNIPPER he whispered and the Egnorpa in the alley. ” Said Leo with a vicious stammer.

“A sniper? All for this boy?" She said in an air of suspicion.

“If you’d just turn around, you would of seen the person behind you is just a boy. A child with an electric toy.”

“To think I trusted someone so...cowardly. A rat like the rest. New Dwarden may need to consider it's use for scampering rats.” She said with a weighted stare.

“Ms. Bl- I” Leo tried speaking before being interrupted by a zapping sound.

A welcoming robed individual emerged from behind Leo waving a iron rod and smiling awkwardly at Lian, as if knowing he had clumsily fallen into a trap. He held the baby in one arm and the fox stood playfully on the ground beside him. The creature instinctively, clinging near his leg.

Taylum had arrived wielding some sort of small golden pipe with a electrical arc hovering at it’s tip. He appeared shaken after using the weapon, as his hand trembled with fleeting confidence. To Lian’s surprise, Taylum and Cannoli had seemingly arrived to his rescue, although he could not help feeling he doomed them either way.

“Bitter sweet.” He thought to himself, his eyes widening in fear as he gazed at Ms. Black, eagerly anticipating her next move.

Liam had seen Ms. Black’s vengeful fangs, they only seemed to grow sharper the more he resisted. She was to obtain her justice no matter what. A baby, a fox, nor a teenager such as Taylum, qualify as a obstacle. Her gritting teeth, cocked fist, and predator focused eyes, merely reflected that.

Lian shook his head at Taylum in disapproval. He was partially in disbelief as to why Taylum had come to his aid but also guilty as he had certainly led Taylum and maybe even Cannoli to his death.

“Why are you here!” Lian mouthed in terror, his eyes frantically bouncing between Ms. Black and Taylum.

"Lian wasn't lying! He isn't Aeronean! And uh... I can't let you hurt those two innocent creatures sooooo... I think we have a problem here." Said Taylum in a cocky undertone, his voice quivering under the weight of his words.

Ms. Black merely glared right through his facade, easily crumbling Taylum's heroic bluffs to the wind.

“I have snipers! Back off!” He shouted in a panic.

"Hand the baby and fox over and you live another hour. I have no mercy for your type." Commanded Ms. Black.

“Dammit.., I can’t... .” He said, fumbling his words.

“It’s my duty. It’s who I am.” He said, looking Ms. Black in the eyes.

"An Aeronean." She replied with satisfaction.

“Yes.” He nodded nervously, swallowing enough spit to feel like a boulder.

“Not him nor the baby.” He responded firmly.

“Give me the child and fox and I will arrest your friend and only kill you. Well, I suppose I do have something of a mercy in mind.” She smiled with deviant conviction.

"Either way, the city of New Dwarden will have no arrest for an Aeronean from me today." She continued, pointing at an intriciate triangular New Dwarden emblem on her chest, peering right from above her heart.

“To protect this city, you must relinquish your life and your brethren’. Society can only be incubated within its rules.” She said while approaching Taylum.

Taylum tried cocking his foot to run in the another direction; even so much to contemplate leaving the fox behind and saving the child but... to his surprise, he could not move. No matter how heroic he thought he’d be, now matter how hard he tried, he appeared to be frozen stiff. The only moving part of his body was the mind, spiraling into something unknown, something he had met merely once before; it was the cold embrace of fear.