Now that the newfounded gang rivalry was no longer just the Prisms’ problem, the members of the Cross Road Kings were ordered to stay low until the leaders figured out a plan. The most annoyed of the bunch was Sumati. She was told she only had to keep up with being Eliu’s date once their ambush on the Prisms succeeded, but now that was on hiatus for an indefinite time. Though, it was a similar struggle for each of the members. For the regular thugs, they were agitated for being confined to their territory only. And inevitably, the anger would only worsen into a power struggle within the gang itself. There was a simple fix to hold off such a thing from happening, but the leaders refused to accept it.

“Uh-uh. We’re not working with them,” Rei objected to Thiha as he rolled a silver marble between his fingers. The rest of the executives stood around the kitchen as they exchanged glances. The kitchen was strangely their most used meetup room.

“The Prisms have the most intel. Don’t deny it because of your petty hatred for Key since you were a kid,” Thiha said.

“You’re one to talk.” Rei slumped against the wall, seated in a bar stool across from Thiha. “The day we team up with them is the same day we’ll be wearing clown costumes for all our members to see.”

Thiha struck the counter with his fist and cut the distance between their faces short. Rei unclasped his fist, letting the marble drop on the floor, but didn’t break his stare at him. “The Mambas are more than double our size. Would you rather die than negotiate?!” Thiha yelled.

“Um, I don’t mean to interrupt… We might have one other option,” Banlue called out.

“What’s that?” Thiha’s seering words cut through Banlue with unintentional vehemence, causing his already soundless voice to drop drastically.

“Sorry, I’ll just say it when you finish!”

“No, no. He’s moody. Go on,” Rei said.

Banlue delayed his words to bring up a website on his laptop, running over to Thiha and Rei to plop down the laptop between them. “The contact info is still up on Sailand Lagoon’s website. Since it all happened yesterday, there’s a good chance Reoni’s phone number still works.”

“Reoni?” Rei’s shoulders lifted, and there his phone materialized in his hand and was already dialing the number.

Thiha covered Rei’s hand with his. “Wait a second, now. What are you about to tell him?” 

“We need to interrogate him, right? I’ll ask him if I can talk to him somewhere out in public,” he said.

He looked to Banlue and Auriel. They both shared a twinge of doubt. “You can’t be trusted by yourself. Take one of us with you.”

His phone slipped back into his lap again, and he released a sigh as he leaned back onto the wall again. “Fine. Line up.”

The small group of three stood in front of Rei in order from tallest to shortest: Thiha, Auriel, and Banlue. Rei pulled a pen from a basket along with a shopping list sticky note which he stuck to the table and wrote their names on.

“Okay, Thiha, you’re first! Tell me why you would make a good interrogator—” He bobbed his head back up, and Banlue and Auriel separated themselves far apart from Thiha. His body radiated a black aura, his face tense with anger or loathing of some form. “Nevermind. Skip!” Rei shouted.

“What?! Ain't you gonna tell me why?” Thiha asked, stepping forward out of formation.

“You’re too scary at first glance. Any kids nearby are gonna cry.” He swatted the air with his hand, his brows pinching the area between them. “Now, out of line,” he said.

“Whatever. I’m pretty bad at keepin’ a straight face anyway,” he said as he sulked into the stool besides Rei.

He marked off Thiha’s name and guided his pen over to the next. “Auriel, why would you make a good interrogator?”

The silence was frightening. At first, he thought Auriel hadn’t heard his question, until he lifted his head up and was shot with a bitter look of ill will. “If he doesn’t talk, I’m successful at making people do so,” he vaguely muttered. Banlue cowered behind the counters, his head only poked above the tops to view the discussion.

Rei’s face quirked to the side a bit. Although he was grinning, it was more so out of worry. “I think you’re taking the term ‘interrogator’ too literally. We’re not trying to make him confess to a crime. Skip!” He analyzed the room, discovering that Banlue had evaporated from sight. “Hmm? Where's Bannie?”

He rose from the stool and immediately saw the straws of pink growing from the countertops behind Auriel. He strode over nonchalantly, then bowed over against the counter to pat Banlue’s shoulder. As if he expected him not to find his hiding spot, he squeaked and squirmed to remove himself from Rei’s grasp, but he persisted. “What's wrong?” he asked.

“You know how bad I am working on the front lines! I’ll mess something up!”

He scoffed, letting go. “You don’t have to be nervous. He’s tinier than you,” he said jokingly before seriously reassuring him. “Our job isn't to be rough with him. You’re an empathetic person, you’ll do great.”

Yet he didn’t get any response from Banlue, so he bribed him a bit instead. “I’ll do all the talking. All you have to do is spectate,” he said, knowing full well that Banlue would later give in to his guilt and help out.

“Okay… fine. I’ll tag along.” He crossed his arms and faced the floor with a troubled countenance. 

Rei smiled, slowly unveiling his phone again. “You’re gonna be more worried than Reoni,” he told him lightheartedly. 

He backtracked in his footsteps to Banlue’s laptop, highlighting Reoni’s phone number on the screen so that it stuck out while he dialed the digits. The rest of the gang drifted towards the speaker, waiting for the phone to be picked up on the other end. It had almost gone to dial the tone when a soft voice broke up the rings. “Hello..?”

“Reoni!” he exclaimed, immediately catching his lips with his fingers to hamper his enthusiasm. “This is Rei from the other day. I want to meet with you to talk about your relation to the recent events… How about a park? Ah, and please don’t tell anybody about us meeting…”