“It’s just so frustrating, ya know,” Maw was rummaging through the pockets of their latest benefactor, “You work so hard to find the golden eggs in a basket of shit and that sewer rat just runs off with it! And doesn’t even suffer the consequences!” Clips was standing to the side of Maws silently, transfixed by the dripping of blood from his metallic claws onto the formed puddle beneath him. “You’re right Clips, I shouldn’t take it so hard, but goddammit it’s the principle ya know? You invest all that time and effort making connections just to have some thieving street rat run by and take what you worked for.”

“Next?” Clips uttered the word through their mask, the throat rasped and broken up. Maws stood up and patted his knees off of the dirt that it had procured.

“We leave this one as an offering to the Sweepers and skedaddle before a Fixer comes round and makes us their profit.” Clips clicked his claws. Maw gave him a toothy smile. “I know, I know. Fixer’s are fun for fightin’ but you can get that need stated at Blade Garden and make us some money over there. What’s the point of putting in all that labor if ya can’t profit from ya fruits?” Maw waited for Clips to acknowledge his statement with a simple nod before sauntering out of the darkness. This was Maw’s city, District 24, born in the hard streets and raised to overcome. He was a fighter in his own way, nothing like the destructive psychotic power that drove Clips but a cunning mind and a will to overcome the adversity this system threw at him on a regular basis. He also had the good fortune to work with such a partner and have himself such a wonderful workshop tool in his Compass to see him through most troubles.

“Fight?” Clips pointed at the dilapidated sign with the image of a flowerless rose, its thorns jutting out and painted with a crude red at the tips.

“Let’s see if there’s anyone that peaks your interest and we’ll see about setting it up, chum.” Maws was cheerful but was cursing himself inwardly. He’d riled Clips up with that last chase and had to find an outlet for his bloodlust soon or he’d go buckwild outside. “Well, more buckwild than he’d already been…” Maws mumbled. He pulled a red metal card with a flowerless rose to the slit of the door at eye level and knocked. The door slit slid open, revealing a singular eye that was bloodshot and yellow. It scanned the presented card before the slit violently shut. Bolts of all kinds were unlocked behind the other side, unveiling a sea of neon colors obscured by smoke.

“Maw. Clips.” The one-eyed guard curtly nodded before assuming her post to the side of the door, a small desk with loose machinery raised to match the stool she was sitting on. Maw looked at her and gave a toothy smile.

“Oh Bea, don’t be like that. We’re your favorite guests, aren’t we?” Maw looked at her with softened eyes, a playful tone in his voice. She looked at him with her one good eye and gave him a grimace.

“You’re an insincere little prick. Get the fuck out of my sight before you ruin the rest of my night.” She responded before going back to her loose machinery with a small tool in hand. Maw was raised to butter himself up to everyone, even if it meant more unsavory interactions like this one were bound to happen. He gave her an exaggerated sigh and pulled his torso back, gripping his heart in feigned anguish.

“Oh you wound me, Bea. I will leave you to your devices but know you still remain in my thoughts.” His final comment was accentuated with a minor bow before flourishing upwards and towards his intended destination. He didn’t give himself the chance to see her response, probably annoyance or indifference but it was better than not being noticed at all. If the streets outside were his hunting grounds, the Blade Garden was his watering hole. It was filled to the brim with gambling machines, card tables, and an assortment of other games on the upper floor. A bar stretched from one end of the establishment down all the way to the descending stairs on the other end of the building, with teams of four to five waiters attending to customers. The centerpiece on the ground floor was the Bloomed Rose, a raised platform with a piano, a masked pianist dressed in crimson, and the star of the stage, Mee.

“-and I will be that monster because monsters have no homes!” She cried out, the piano carrying somber tunes that wrapped around her voice like velvet robes. Her face, too, was obscured with a large rose bloom mask, her form of seduction coming from her thick black hair, her low cut dress, and a single leg slit that cut up to her thigh with tantalizing appeal. Maw shook his head and walked on. He wasn’t like those suckers throwing their hard earned Ahn at a seductress like her, who promised the world and more to those deprived of hope and companionship. He liked her and her music but he knew any interaction with her would spell disaster to his wit and wallet.

“Come along, Clips. We’ve got to check on your business downstairs.” Maw grabbed at Clips wrist, his partner caught in Mee’s siren song, the only thing that could keep his attention away from the joys of gory violence. The two walked downstairs, being welcomed with the sounds of crowds yelling and screaming with every clatter of steel on steel. Beneath the ground floor of the Blade Garden was the Thorn Bed, a pit set in the center of the room with walls lined to the brim with spikes, hooks, and other jagged objects. There were currently two new players fighting to the death for a sizable prize pool. There must have been some desperation in their situation for them to have taken this prize package. Maw and Clips walked to their booth with a good view of the fighting screen to find a well dressed woman in a black suit, purple shawl, and striking eyes in their spot. To her side was a large black cross with a hilt at the longer end.

“I was wondering if I had gotten the wrong place.” She stated in a curt and aggressive manner. Maw looked to Clips and remained where he was, curiously eying their mysterious intruder. She reached down somewhere, maybe a bag but it was out of view, and pulled out a tower of premium Ahn. “I’ve gathered you’re Maw? My name is Drusillia and I would like to make you an offer. Before I lose my patience.” Maw raised an eyebrow before looking to Clips, gesturing with his hand for him to wait and watch. Clips registered the command and idly played with his fingers. Maw sat down across from his potential benefactor and gave her a toothy smile.

“And what kind of offer are ya looking to give to some small fish like me?” Maw asked. It hurt to call himself a small fish but he had to undersell himself to leave his marks blindsided by their underestimation of his skills. Gives a significant wow factor to a job well done. Her face remained neutral

“I’ve heard that you have a special way of tracking people. I also heard from some bystanders that you were interacting with a ragged looking man in a jacket and jeans with a premium Ahn like this one.” She pulled out a large coin from the top of the pile, having it glimmer in the light before setting it back. “I would like you to find him again. If you do this, you may take half of this stack now and half of this stack upon successfully tracking the man.” Maw leaned in close.

“This is a lot of Ahn you’re offering for this golden egg,” He leaned back and raised an eyebrow, “If you’re offering this much Ahn for a single man, surely that means he’s more important than the current offer, ya dig? Don’t get me wrong, this is a lot of coin but not ‘find my man discreetly and professionally’ kind of coin.”

“I think you’re mistaken. This is an offer. This is not a deal. I am being courteous in extending this opportunity to such an insignificant worm like you but even worms are useful for bait. Either you take my offer or I force an alternative.” She made no other motions beyond her haughty threat. Maw’s grin grew wide and jagged. He enjoyed messing with benefactors like her the most. She looked capable in a fight, but not enough to handle his partner. Maw made a gesture with his hand and Clips rushed the table with his arms outstretched. Maw wasn’t much of a fighter but he was great at avoiding trouble. He tumbled out of the way and onto the floor as Clips lunged with a bladed claw.

“By force then.” She sighed out. Her movements were languid and yet with a mere brushing of her hilt, something at the top of the cross opened up and tore into Clips’s skin. To his credit, Clips made no noise as his arm was torn to mince, chunks of meat sloshing out of bundles of silver wire. He recoiled, gripping at the stump of his lost arm with a manic pensiveness of a wounded predator. She calmly stood up with her cross in hand. It was large and looked so heavy but she held it in one hand with a surprising amount of ease.

“Take out the device you use to find your marks and use it or I will shave off one of your arms.” The woman gave Maw an ultimatum. She hadn’t even made a move before Maw reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a ball of red thread. His hands were trembling.

“H-h-here it is. J-j-just don’t come at me with that thing.” Maw stuttered with his hands outstretched, his head turned away to hide the anger and humiliation on his face. He was going to make this bitch-

“I guess you were just hard of hearing. Maybe this will make you listen.” He felt a burning sensation radiate from his left ring and pinky fingers. His eyes were watery as he watched the two fingers and his Compass fall to the ground.

“AHHHHHH!” Maw cried out in pain, holding his wrist tight, “What the fuck was that for!”

“I will not repeat myself a third time so let me make this clear; your device is out now so use it.” She counted the seconds with a wag of her fingers. Maw scrambled for his Compass, muttering an incantation to the ball before it rose of its own accord. He could only mark a single target with one of the red threads in the ball and had to expend more of it to solidify a connection between him and his target over long distances.

“Fight!” Clips yelled out before once again lunging into the thick of combat. She pivoted to face him in her whirling dome of death but he dipped out of her field of vision. His claw swiped down to cut the silver wire.

“No, Clips!” Maw yelled out but it was too late. Their weapons weren’t anything worth mentioning versus this bitch’s premium workshop weapon. The blades on the claw were neatly sliced along with the rest of Clips’s other arm, viscera and sinews aerating like a fine red mist in their corner of the Blade Garden.

“I think you need to learn a lesson, Maw.” She reeled back her cross and slammed the moving silver wire on his partner. Maw watched as sections of his body slid off of him like gelatin before whirling into a larger red cloud. Clips didn’t let out a word as he was torn apart. She held the weapon there for a long moment before the wires retracted into the top of the cross. “If you do not want to end up like your partner down there,” she pointed at the pool of blood where Clips once stood, “It would be in your best interest to follow directions and not disappoint me.”

Maw merely nodded, concentrating on establishing a connection between himself and this golden egg through the frayed nerves. It looked like it was going to be a long night.