Something slammed on the bar to the left of Kaizen. He popped up and looked beside him to see an extremely hairy, animalistic palm pressing down on the wood of the bar. He slowly tilted his head upwards and started to hyperventilate. A large figure stared down at him menacingly, snarling with two horns on its head. 

The bull monster, from the school?! But how? Here? Now? Why? Was it following him? What should he do? What could he do??!

The thoughts continued to race as he stared at the face of the creature.

"Hey, you pure flesh!"

The creature talked? Kai calmed his breathing and slowly realized what he was looking at. It was a man with two massive bull horns sticking out of his head and two bull ears flush on the sides. The creature was nowhere but in his panicked mind.

"Don't you know this is an Alters-only bar, boy? Where do you think you get off waltzing in here as you please?" The man continued. The alcohol on his breath was so strong it made Kaizen rock slightly. 

"I.. u-uh," Kaizen stuttered, still recovering from his earlier scare.

"ARE YOU MOCKING ME?!" The Alter demanded pulling back his other hand into a fist.

Fwip! Shick! Zzzzzzz!

"ARRRGHHH!!!"

Before Kaizen had even noticed, Alex had pulled out some kind of weapon from nowhere, reached across him and stabbed it through the Alter's hand resting on the bar. Alex still hadn't looked in their direction. Kaizen looked down to see a white handle with a short orange laser blade emitting from its hilt. The blade seared the Alter's flesh and pinned his hand to the bar. The Alter buckled in pain and grabbed his arm as he cried out.

"That's an M1-Razeblade. You'll already have permanent nerve damage but I can take your whole hand off if you prefer," Alex threatened him, vexed and finally looking in his direction.

Snout sighed. 

The bull Alter finally managed to stop screaming and gritted his teeth in an attempt to bear the pain.

"NOW THIS IS INTERESTING!" A voice yelled from behind them. 

The double doors of the bar front swung open, slamming against the inner walls. Through the doorway, a hulk of a man entered.  He boasted an impressive head of hair, blood red, scruff,y and dashed out in all directions. He wore a giant fur cape, even larger than himself, that appeared to be cut from a red bear or some other giant beast. Under his coat was a guard uniform of some kind, not familiar to Kaizen. His skin was a very light tan, making his race hard to assume. He had a gritty, stupid smile on his face and walked in confident strides. But his most notable feature of course, was his build. He was tall, at least 6',7 and had an overly muscular frame. 

Behind the man stood two humanoid robot forms. They were gray and slender and didn't seem very durable. Where there would be a face on their body, there was instead a large glass case with a huge, red cybernetic eye that wasn't very threatening but felt ever watchful. The two were dressed in police uniforms and even sported the accompanying police hats. 

The three pushed their way through the bar and arrived at Kaizen and Alex. The large man sat down on the stool to Alex's right and turned to face him. Alex did not change his focus.

"Mind if you let go of our buddy here so we can enjoy a drink?" The red-haired man asked.

Alex paused for a moment and then pulled the knife out of the Alter’s hand. The hybrid stumbled his way out of the bar, wailing the entire run. Alex placed the knife on the bar as it deactivated.

"Three ginger ales on me, Snout, two cubes of ice in each," Alex requested, sighing to himself.

The red-haired man tilted his head.

"Not much of a drinker, hmm?" 

“A clear mind is a prepared mind,” Alex replied as Snout filled up the three glasses on the bar. 

The man laughed boisterously.

“The name is Magnus Crimson. SHF Lead Agent of the district.”

“And to what do I owe the pleasure of a visit from Special Forces?” Alex responded, sliding the glass of ginger ale to Crimson.

“A valid question. You see, everyone thinks SHF only investigates paranormal events and freak incidents across Astia. But really, it’s not what happens that we care about…”

Alex swallowed his last gulp of his drink and placed his glass back down on the bar.

“So what do you care about?”

Crimson glared his eyes at Alex.

“The people involved.”

“And you’re searching for those people in a run-down altered bar in the middle of Conkledirt?” Alex responded nonchalantly.

A heavy silence drooped over the room.

Crimson turned back and looked at all the scared Alters watching him timidly. The snake-skin lady slowly hid herself below the table as his gaze panned the room.

He exhaled heavily and smiled.

“What is it?! Eat, drink, the night is fresh and yours to enjoy! I didn't come all the way from Prominence just to spoil the fun!”

Crimson laughed into empty silence.

After the reassurance, the chatter in the room slowly began to resurface until it filled the space again.

“You're a long way from home, agent… what leads brought you to nowhere?” Alex asked Crimson, gesturing to Snout for a refill.

Kaizen looked at Crimson and blinked twice. The Beholders' contacts activated and began to analyze Crimson.

“No particular reason. Honestly, I can’t stand being around Alters, but my bosses in Prominence have sent me here as punishment for…well, that doesn't matter. ”

Crimson swirled the ice around in his glass.

“The real question is, why do I enter a trashy Podshot to see a Pure Flesh stabbing an Alter, with a strange weapon no less?”

“He had it coming.”

“Maybe so, but you’re still very peculiar. No fear, even though you're surrounded, not even shaken by my presence.” 

The hulking man leaned closer to Alex with a maniacal grin. 

“It reminds me of another who used to appear in these parts around this time of night. Have you heard of the Boy in Black?”

The Beholders began to react to Crimson and Kaizen’s eyes widened.

“Anyone with their ear to the street has heard of him,” Alex responded.

“ He’s a slippery one. I’ve never seen him myself, but he’s always shaking something up wherever his name is called. Did you know they even made a verse about him?”

“The boy in black emerges from the night’s storm into the moonlight’s beam. With a flame pressed in his eyes, trailed by a thousand screams,” Alex quoted before knocking back another ale.

“I’m familiar with the lore, but all due respect, what does this have to do with you interrupting my night?” He pressed him.

“Well,” Crimson started, “I don’t have my ear to the street like you, friend, but I do have multiple bowing heads in the dirt for me. Little ostriches, if you will.”

Kaizen leaned back as the Beholders completed their analysis. Crimson shifted slightly and leaned in uncomfortably close to Alex.

“One little bird told me something really juicy a while ago. Their only person I know who's seen the Boy in Black, in this very bar. You know what he said?”

Crimson leaned in close.

“He ordered a ginger ale…two cubes of ice.”

Kaizen stared through the Beholders’ lenses. The blessed items were showing a translucent red shroud covering Crimson’s entire body. It was rigid, thick, and fierce. Kaizen felt as though he was watching someone hold a train up with their bare back…effortlessly. Is this what the others were calling Aura?

Snout slid a glass to Kaizen, breaking his concentration. 

“Drink up, kiddo, leddem dere talk,” Snout told him.

He looked down at the glass. It was empty. Kaizen frowned at what he thought was another act of mistreatment. Then he noticed that there was something in the glass. A piece of paper?

“I guess I should be impressed, agent. So…what now? Here to kill me?” Alexander asked with a smile painted across his face.

“I’d LOVE if this would come to blows, little man. But you’ve cooperated so well this evening, and I'm already in trouble for busting up our last lead,” Crimson said, returning to his position on the stool.

“So I’ll spare you today if you can tell me one thing…The Boy in Black, where is he?” 

“You really want to know?” Alex asked him. He knocked back his last glass of ale and slammed his hand on the bar. Crimson was not phased.

“Yes, little man, tell me…”

Kaizen looked down into the glass. The paper stuck inside read a singular word.

DUCK

He stared at the paper, confused for several seconds. He looked up and noticed Snout was gone. He looked across at the two beside him. Alex adjusted his glasses, the glare now completely obscuring his eyes. He reached into his pocket and placed his other hand on the bar.

“Very well, let me shed some light on the situation.”

Alex turned his hand over and opened his palm to reveal a small white orb. Suddenly, Kaizen understood. He ducked below the bar just as the orb floated into the air and shattered right in front of Alex’s face. The entire room was instantly lit up furiously by a white light. Several Alters screamed and scuttled around as they were viciously blinded.

Crimson rubbed his eyes for several seconds, and slowly, his vision adjusted as his sight returned. He grinned as he looked to his side and saw that the two boys were gone.

“Ahh yess…We’ve got ourselves a hunt!” He kicked his stool away from the bar and crashed into a wall, shattering into splinters.

“Finally!”

Crimson adjusted his fur coat around him as he gestured for the two police droids to follow him. The bots zombily trudged behind, as watchful as ever.