[https://i.imgur.com/rm2T8w5.jpg]

Tori Docks Abandoned Housing District

September 17th X288

It wasn’t the gun that stopped Florian; it was herself. She refused to leave Ronaldo alone with these criminals. Deep down, she felt it would be the last she would see of Ronaldo if she did run.

The drooling lizard’s eyes sparkled like stars through the night.

Travis pointed his gun away. “Glad you understand. This way.”

The gang escorted Florian and Ronaldo to their hideout. Juke lifted Ronaldo with one hand, throwing him over his shoulder. Irina carried sleeping Sophie on her back. Sticks kept a close eye on Florian.

Blood dripped from Ronaldo’s hand.

They arrived at an apartment building on the shore. The entire first floor, and half of the second, was underwater. They climbed a partially submerged stairway to the third floor.

Tall grass and overgrowth consumed the surrounding area, and moss and vines had overtaken the building. It was genuinely a relic of the previous city.

Travis opened the door to the third floor to reveal a single hallway with two rooms on the left and one on the right. They entered the first door on the left.

It was a large, well-lit room with a few chairs, a table, a few laptops, and a sofa. The table had a map of Tarot Tori City. On the wall were layouts of some buildings. In the corner of the room was a shelf holding a bunch of boxes.

They placed the sleeping Sophie on the sofa.

Florian silently absorbed as much information as possible. The more details she gathered, the better chance she had to clear Sergeant Nowell’s name. She’d messed up before, but there was still hope. She listened to every word they said.

“Irina, stay on the lookout,” Juke said.

Irina stared at the boys for a moment.

“The boss isn’t going to like how much we screwed up. You know he doesn’t like surprises. Make sure there’s no one else snooping around here,” Juke said.

Irina nodded and left.

They placed Florian and Ronaldo in wooden chairs in front of the sofa. Ronaldo went pale from blood loss and started getting faint. Travis wrapped Ronaldo’s hand with medical tape, stopping the bleeding. The drooling lizard spat on the hand.

“Now, then. What did you do to Sophie?” Juke said as the angler gorilla frog spirit stared downward at Florian. The top of the towering beast’s head phased through the ceiling. It had small squinting frog eyes, and its large frogmouth frowned in annoyance. Florian mistook the creaking coming from the floor, thinking the gorilla’s fists caused it. In reality, it was coming from Juke Lucas as he shifted his mighty strength to speak with the two intruders.

He must be the leader.

“I don’t know. This Sophie person just fell asleep in the middle of the road,” Florian said.

“I know you. You’re the kid that was with the mayor’s daughter,” Travis said.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“Wait, the kid on TV?” Juke asked.

“Yeah, she’s the magical girl that knows martial arts and can see through walls and stuff. She put up a good fight. Gahaha.”

“So, she’s the one that tripped you up.” Juke glared at Travis.

“It was her tin soldier bodyguard! He came out of nowhere and started throwing tables. Did you want me to start a shootout with unarmed pedestrians?”

“You burned down my favorite restaurant!” Juke said.

“No one got hurt. I made sure of it. I followed the rules.” He turned to Florian. “Kid, come on, tell me. How did you notice I was tailing you back then?”

Florian remained quiet.

“You can tell me; I’m really good at keeping secrets,” Travis said.

“How the hell did you identify us, let alone tail us to our hideout?” Juke said.

Florian smirked.

“Her name’s Florian Lilly Cobblestone, and the man is Dr. Ronaldo Von Nirvanas.” Sticks shifted through their wallets.

“When did he?” Florian began to sweat.

“Gahaha. Nice pickpocketing, Sticks. What else do they got?”

“She goes to the same school as me. She’s a freshman,” Sticks said. His snake mouse spirit hissed and squeaked. Sticks clenched his fist.

“Where did this third wallet come from?” Travis said.

“The man I tackled at the railway.”

“Nice one, Sticks. However, this chick’s younger than you, and she gave us both such a hard time. She’s like a genius or something.” Travis patted Sticks’s back.

Juke slammed the table. Silence overtook the room.

“Knock it off, Travis! She’s not a genius; she’s an idiot! She’s just a kid sticking her nose where she shouldn’t. It pisses me off!” The lure on his angler gorilla frog glowed bright red.

“How dare you!” Florian broke her silence. “You guys started it! You were trying to kidnap my friend! I was not going to let yo—”

“Shuuuuuut uuuuuuuuuup!” Teeth engulfed Florian, and in an instant, the jowls vanished.

Florian couldn’t tell what just happened.

Juke stared directly into Florian’s eyes. Up close, he glowed red, fuming like his crimson hair. His rage almost popped a vessel. The angler gorilla frog dangled its lure in front of its owner’s head.

Juke paused. He lowered his voice. “You piss me off. The more I look at you, the more you speak, the more I learn about you, the more I want to throw you in the river. Maybe then you’ll realize what shit you’re in. I don’t care how special you think you are; you’re an idiot for coming out here. It’s like you have no regard for your own safety.”

Florian realized the lure wasn’t for her; it was a manifestation of his lingering stress. It was constantly circling his head like a fly that wouldn’t go away.

Dr. Ronaldo clapped his hands. “Outstanding everyone. Let’s talk things out, one step at a time.”

“Did you just interrupt me?!” Juke said.

“Let’s talk this out, like gentlemen.” Dr. Ronaldo mimicked the words Travis had used.

The angler gorilla frog opened its mouth, revealing a row of thin boney teeth spiraling a dark abyss of bowels. Ronaldo’s dark urchin spiked its thorns as sharp as it could, puncturing the angler’s mouth.

What’s he doing?!

“You’re all doing a great job. I’m a therapist, and I’ll do my best to speak with you fine gentlemen.”

“He’s a therapist? Gahaha. We finally found Juke a therapist. Talk with him for a while, Juke. See if you can learn something.”

“Can it, Travis! The boss put me in charge, so let me do my job! Don’t forget you are the one that screwed up in the first place!”

“Hold up, listen, this chick is—”

“Travis! You still fucked up! You can’t brush that under the rug! Right when I was put in charge, almost as if on purpose!”

“Yes. . . Excellent communication. The first step is telling each other how we feel. The next step is forgiving one another. Now repeat after me. ‘I forgive you.’ Go on.”

“Who do you think you are?! This is between us! Stay out of it!”

Dr. Ronaldo slammed his foot. “No! This is a group therapy session. Let’s all talk this out and turn over new leaves. Shall we?”

His soul, the dark urchin, was in the middle of the room, trembling its thorns violently.