If there was one thing Damien had learned about Marcus in their very short time together, it’s that he liked to talk. He liked to talk a lot. For each question Damien had asked during their drive to the Skull hideout, he’d received answers to five others, and in a way, he was grateful for that.

After dealing with Kat’s tight-lipped secrecy for so long, Marcus’s willingness to overindulge in details was a breath of fresh air. And the honesty and openness with which he spoke gave Damien the impression that he was someone worth trusting. This, in turn, resulted in more rounds of questions and answers.

Sprinkled throughout the big man’s lengthy responses were golden nuggets of information about the strange world that Damien had found himself in. The price for this knowledge however, was having to sit idly by as half the talking points diverged into rants about all the types of people that Marcus hated. Even then, it was more than worth it.

The most important thing Damien had learned about was the city’s outline. Neopolis was broken down into five distinct regions, based on their cardinal direction. The east side, the region they were currently in, was filled with industrial zones, and featured few spaces for residential or commercial areas. It was also the home of the largest gang in the entire city; The Kingslayers.

The west side was the party region, as Marcus so plainly put it. His descriptions made it seem like a picturesque place filled with palm tress and sandy beaches. Mixed in with all this, of course, was a good dose of gang violence.

In fact, this was also the home of the only gang that Marcus explicitly warned him about: The Royals. Out of all the topics that he’d touched, this was the only one he didn’t elaborate on. Instead, he’d paused briefly at their mention, then moved on to his next rant.

Standing opposite to one another in more than just name, were the north and south sides. The north side was, simply put, the home of the elite. Apparently, upscale houses and institutions stood along the mountain side, from which the wealthy could quite literally look down on the masses. In contrast, the south side was filled with impoverished slums; the worst of what the city had to offer.

In the middle of all this was downtown; the city center. The place where all these worlds blended together. Where the lives of everyone from the street urchin to the corporate elite could collide. Where those with big enough nuts, as Marcus put it, could make a name for themselves.

For Damien, this kind of information was extremely valuable. Succeeding in this next job would mean that he’d no longer be indebted to Roger, and he’d finally be free to carve out his own path in this universe. Thanks to Marcus’s never-ending musings, he now had an idea of how to plan out his next moves.

Even now, as the duo leaned on Marcus’s truck on the evening-lit sidewalk, he ranted about the Skulls in between drags of his cigarette. Not the smartest idea, according to Damien.

Around the corner stood the target they’d be hitting; another Skull hideout in the form of an abandoned warehouse. They’d drove by it earlier, but the presence of tattooed heads blocking the entrance meant that they couldn’t stop and have a look, else they’d seem suspicious. Instead, Kat had decided to go out and scout the area on her own.

Even though Damien didn’t get a look inside, he know one thing was clear: this hideout was much more heavily guarded than the last.

Marcus finally ended his rant and brought the conversation back to the task at hand. “I know this job isn’t ideal,” he said, “but she’s too cautious.”

“What do you mean?” Damien asked.

“I’m talking about Kat. She’s a tough cookie, but she likes having the full picture before acting. Part of the reason she’s so good at infiltration and espionage is ‘cause she can’t stand dealing with incomplete information.”

That makes sense, Damien thought to himself. I didn’t notice it earlier, but it’s clear now that I think about it. Her hesitation isn’t about confronting the Skulls, it’s about this mysterious Zero person who she knows nothing about.

“You can’t prepare for everything,” Marcus continued. “One way or another, life will find a way to fuck you over.”

“That’s true,” a voice from behind said. “Doesn’t mean you can’t fuck it back once in a while.”

Damien turned to see that Kat had returned from her reconnaissance mission, her arrival catching him completely off guard.

Marcus took one last drag then flicked the cigarette on to the empty street. “So, what did you find?”

“It’s just as it looked from the outside. They’ve beefed up security all around the place. It’s probably a response to what we did when we broke Damien out.”

“That also explains the oncoming ex-military,” Marcus said.

Kat nodded. “I managed to get a peak inside. The warehouse is filled with shipping containers splattered all over the place. Probably straight from the dockyard. They got a mixture of Soldiers and Brawlers patrolling the lower tier.”

“Brawlers?” Damien interrupted.

“Fighters,” Marcus said. “They don’t use traditional weapons, just enhanced fists. But they’re no joke. Take them lightly and they’ll knock your teeth through the back side of your skull.” He turned to Kat. “Find anything else?”

“Yeah. A route we can break in through the back. That’ll give us two points of entry. I opened up that comm channel with Zero so she can give me the details once the mission begins. I’ll open a separate channel for the three of us.”

“Are we gonna split up?” Damien asked.

Kat brushed her raven-colored hair back behind her ear. “That’s usually our game plan. With missions like this, Marcus goes in with a bang and causes a ruckus while I sneak in and secure the target.”

“But now we got an extra member,” Marcus said. “He should stick with one of us for now.”

Kat turned to Damien. “He’s right. Take your pick; you can sneak in through the back with me or barge in through the front door with him.”

Marcus flashed a cheeky smile. “Rolling with me is riskier, but it’s a lot more fun.”

Damien didn’t need to think about it for more than a second. He’d already done one covert infiltration with Kat, but he’d yet to experience a full-on fight.

I really wanna be in the thick of action for this one, Damien thought to himself. Besides, I got a new Skill I’m dying to try out.