He stood at the edge of a cliff overlooking a mountain valley. The sky was gray and overcast, but the rain has not arrived yet. There was a cool breeze, but he did not find it refreshing. Instead, he found it cold. There's something odd about this place. He did not know what it was, but he had the vague sense that he had done something wrong.

If only he could remember what it was.

He begins walking along the cliff and was soon surrounded by a light mist. Then, he saw a dark shape in the mist. He stopped, the shape did not. The dark shape came closer and closer until it broke through the mist. He recognizes him immediately.

“Victor.” His old friend looks terrible. He was haggard and exhausted, his eyes red and puffy from lack of sleep. His clothes were rags. “What happened to you?”

His friend looked at him with an expressionless face. “You know.”

Jolly Bar shot out bed, sweating despite the cool morning air. He looked out of the window and saw the sky. It was still dark, but the first light of the morning sun was already evident. Jolly took a deep breath as he realized what was going on.

It was a nightmare. It was just a nightmare.

Jolly Bar rubbed the sides of his head with his hands as he felt the growing pressure. There was a growing pain in his head and Jolly cursed as the pain grew. Before long, it was as if someone has stuck an ice pick into it and the room begin to spin. Another curse escaped his lips.

It was proof that he really should have known better. Jolly knew he was getting too old to be out drinking all night, but he was not going to let Victor win without putting up a fight.

“Making up for lost time, my ass. Bloody stupid mystic.”

Jolly muttered as he waited for the room to stop spinning. When it finally did, he got up, and walked to the bathroom. He brushed his teeth, washed his face, and combed his hair before preparing breakfast. It wasn’t his habit but Jolly knew it was better to take a light breakfast for his hangover.

Eggs, yogurt, and bananas were supposed to be good for hangovers, so that’s what Jolly had after planting his ass on a chair in the kitchen. He was no award-winning chef, but a man will pick up some skills after years of living as a villain. Most crews don’t have a cook on hand to prepare the meals. After the breakfast, he dressed for the day.

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Jolly was never a handsome bastard like Victor, but having the proper attire was an important part of being an information broker. Television and movies had conditioned most civilians to think that people in the business always dressed in coats and covered their heads in hoodies but dressing like that was just begging for attention. To be unnoticed, you want to blend into the crowd. Today, this means a pair of blue jeans with a white T-shirt under a black leather jacket. Jolly put on a pair of old boots, wore a visor to cover his eyes, and strode out of his flat.

The day after an event was always a sombre occasion. During the event, most civilians would be glued to the television, watching the latest updates of the event. Now, with the battle done and the entertainment over, it was time to take stock of the damage. Luckily, the King’s were not affected by the Gaps, but people did die in the Barrows, so the mood on the street was quiet and respectful.

Jolly wandered off down the street with his hands in the pockets of his jacket pockets, but he kept his head high and proud. He nodded respectfully to the few people on the street, who nodded back at him. A small gesture that said, ‘we survived, and we are still here’.

Jolly’s meandering path through the city streets was on purpose, and he alternate his walking speed while checking to see if he was being followed. Within an hour, he was out of the King’s and walking below the towering apartment blocks of the Scimitar District. Named after the first Champion of Velocity City, back when it was known by another name, the Scimitar District was the residential heart of the city with close to forty percentage of the city’s population living here.

Jolly walked into a coffeeshop and bought a hot cup of Pui Espresso. It was overpriced but Jolly always enjoyed the hot coffee made from the beans of Mount Pui. As the only other mystic on Nexus was from Pui, the coffee beans from the region were always popular but even that had been raised since it became widely known that Victor was also a mystic. Jolly had to smile at that. His old friend was like a butterfly that caused waves on the other side of the planet with a flap of his wings.

Jolly paid for the drink and walked to the nearby park. He walked across the park until he reached the other side and sat on a bench near the edge of the park. Jolly took a seat on the wooden bench that was positioned to give him a wide view of the small park and drank his coffee. To any onlookers, he looked like he was enjoying the morning air.

It didn’t take long for Jolly to notice the man. He had dressed well, looking dapper in a dark suit that looks expensive. He wore a pair of glasses and his hair, usually long and wild, was neatly combed. His eyes dart from side to side as he walked toward Jolly.

Jolly took another drink of his coffee as he looked around the park, but his visors could pick out nothing except for the trees rustling in the light breeze. If the man had brought backup, Jolly couldn’t see them. The man sat next to Jolly on the bench and placed his suitcase between them. The man opened the suitcase and took out a burrito. He began eating. The suitcase was left open.

Jolly slipped his left hand out of the pocket of his jacket and moved his coffee cup from his right hand to his left. He placed his coffee cup on the bench and used the motion to drop a small datacard into the suitcase as his hand was over it. With the drop done, Jolly was about to get up when the man spoke.

“Leaving already? I hope I’m not boring you.”