"New member of Asclepius Four...?" Celeste said to herself with shock, before quickly turning towards the commissioner. "Wait, what? I thought we couldn't take in new members."

Jackson casually rested back on his chair, looking at both of them with a grin. "Trust me. You two should get along! I'm sure it will all work out well."

Narrowing her eyes, Celeste glared back at Terra, giving him a stern gaze. Terra looked back meekly, waving to her. Before he could muster any words however, the commissioner noticed the tension, cleared his throat, and spoke up them.

"So, erm... Want to show him around the precinct Celeste? He will need a guide to show him the ropes, after all."

Reluctant, Celeste finally gave in, walking past Terra and the other onlookers, letting out a scoff of irritation.

"Follow me." she simply instructed, not bothering to stop to wait for the newbie.

Terra watched Celeste walk for a moment, before quickly jogging to her side, not expecting her to be so cold. However, he was quick to notice her looks: beautiful long snow white hair, flowing down to just above her waist, skin as if porcelain, and eyes seemingly glowing like rubies in the sunlight; even in the dark atmosphere of the office. She was wearing a white buttoned shirt, tucked into form-fitting black dress pants, with a pair of leather boots that went above her ankle.

As normal as that attire sounds however, Terra noticed a pair of leather gloves that were awfully tight around her hands. The tops of the knuckles had metallic beads embedded in the top; one strike from that fist could do some serious damage. Above the hand however was strange symbols. Symbols that Terra has recognized in his field of work before. Before he could ask about them however, he was interrupted from his thoughts by Celeste.

"This is the main office. Paperwork, warrants, and briefing. A majority of your time will be spent here."

Terra looked around to see all of the busybodies, walking around with papers and the like, going back and forth. Ceiling fans lined the top of the room, kept at a setting just right to keep the stacks of paper to scatter around. Despite the hectic nature of the room, it has the sense of responsible organization and cleanliness.

"Woah..." he said to himself, blinking twice in awe. "Just how much gets done in terms of litigation here?"

"The entire state." Celeste immediately answered, walking without stopping. Quickly catching on, he went to follow her, but instantly bumped into another person who was running, knocking them both on their behinds. Terra let out a hiss of pain as he rubbed his lower back, and looked up to see a casually dressed man, fitted with a baggy gray hoodie, sweatpants, and running shoes. His hair was curled on the top with fades on around the bottom, as if a chocolate cloud melting into his copper skin. He was fraile, but fit.

"Hey, are you alright man?" Terra worryingly asked, before the man suddenly flipped up to his feet, catching him off guard. "W-What the—?!"

"Ay ay, no need to worry 'bout me niño!" suddenly exclaimed the guy, pulling Terra back up to his feet almost effortlessly. "You must be that new guy, eh? The name is Frenético. Call me Fren for short, eh? Just like 'friend'!"

He spoke with a thick accent, seemingly from the southern region. Fast, but not too fast. Thankfully, Terra was able to catch up, and nodded with a meek smile.

"It's nice to meet you. I'm Terra!" he simply introduced back, grinning more confidently as Fren wrapped an arm around his shoulder.

"Terra? That's a strange name niño! That's like the ground, eh?"

"Yeah. My pops used to say it's cause I felt like I came from mother nature herself, from the amount of time I explored. I— wait, where's Celeste?"

They both hesitated, scanning around the area for a moment, before Fren let out a hearty chuckle while dragging Terra alongside him.

"Ah! Well, she was just taking you on a tour, eh? C'mon compadre, I'll show you the next room right next door."

Terra let out a sigh, nodding a bit. "Alright, alright." Internally however, he cussed himself out in his mind. "Fuck! Shit! Fucking shit! I can't believe I lost such a baddie! The hell did she go?!"

. . .

After a short moment of walking through hordes of busy workers, they eventually made their way to the break room. Large, spacious... Just like the main room the were in a moment ago. Tables and benches were neatly set along the tiled floor, with vending machines along the oak wood paneled walls for both food and drink alike. Such a beautiful cafeteria.

"All of this... just for breaks?" Terra said in awe, seeing workers enjoy their lunches while they talked to one another. "I was impressed already with the main room, but this... This is crazy."

Fren let out a hearty laugh, patting Terra's back and smiling brightly. "This has gotta be my FAVORITE room in the whole place. Always with great food to grab! Did ya see the hot food down there, eh?" He pointed down to the other wall, showing a line of lunch workers cooking up some food that could only be described as spectacles. Steaming pizza, fresh beans and rice, stew, chicken pot pies; everything. It made Terra's mouth water. Trying to raise his arms however, he realized that he was still cuffed with his hands behind his back. With a desperate scowl, he looked over at Fren with drool coming from his mouth.

"Hey..." he said with a low voice, trying to hide the sounds of his growling stomach by shuffling his feet around. "Uhh... Can you undo these cuffs man? I'm really hungry, and—"

Fren was quick to interrupt him, running towards the lunch workers and letting out an oddly fast high-pitched cackle of joy. "Oh señoritasss! Get me your biggest slices of pizza, yeah? A brother is starving!"

He ran so quick he left a cloud behind him, leaving Terra in the dust. His stomach growled, growled, and growled. "Can you believe this shit, Vio?" he thought, letting his hidden fae companion hear his voice. "That guy left me here to starve! The nerve of that dude!!"

"You should have caught him faster..." Vio's voice echoed in his mind, reassuring him of his unfortunate situation. As he looked around aimlessly, he was suddenly called over by another man's voice, this one a lot more posh. When he looked over, he was greeted with the sight of... a talking skeleton.

"Hey-yo! C'mover here and let me take a look at you, homie." called over the skeleton. He was very eccentric compared to the man he spoke to before, wearing a fuzzy magenta coat lined with white fur, printed like a jaguar's hide. Lime green triangle shades rested over his eyes, shining brilliantly in the light. Despite being a skeleton, he seemed as though the liveliest person in the room.

"Ahem... Wait... IS THAT A LITERAL SKELETON?!" Terra finally quacked out in shock, nearly falling back again. "HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE?!"

"Hey now, if you keep me waiting any longer, it'll make me really look dead. Get your ass over here for a chat!"

With that, a comically large cane came from a midnight blue portal out of nowhere, yanking Terra by his cuffs like a crane machine, tossing him over to the seat across from the eccentric corpse. A loud thud and squeak came from him as he landed, followed by a now irritated grunt.

"I have... so many questions." Terra weakly said, finally sitting up on the bench.

"Well then, shut up and listen! The name's Joker, and I heard you're gonna be joining our crew. Let me tell you one thing: no matter how much this world shuts you out, y'know what never will? Food, drink, and babes all around. Anyone catch your eye? Any food too?"

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

Terra was bewildered, but meekly shook his head. Despite being a swindling criminal, he never really looked at anyone with intimacy. Well, besides one person... but he just met her. To continue on, he spoke up, scratching his chin.

"Well... I guess my favorite food is... I dunno, cheeseburgers?"

"Cheeseburgers? Ain't you a picky bitch?" Joker said with a laugh, before making a steaming burger appear with a tray right in front of Terra. "Well, you're lucky I had some stored fresh. Think of this as a housewarming gift, comrade-slash-hostage!"

Terra stared at it with drool coming from the corner of his mouth, pulling on his restraints to no avail. A defeated groan escaped him, followed by the loudest growl his stomach has done yet.

"These restraints are killing me..." he said with a low voice, curling up on the bench.

Joker let out a laugh, reaching down to the cuffs. Before he could place a hand on it though, a loud yelling could be heard from the other side of the cafeteria.

"OI!" cried the woman's high-pitched voice, followed by the quick stomps of a short, energetic looking girl wearing lazily managed neon clothes. "DID YOU JUST TAKE MY FOOD, JERK?! I PAID FOR THAT!!"

Joker looked at the girl for a good while, then down at Terra with a smile. "Unfortunately for me my friend, it seems I gotta skedaddle. Good luck with the firecracker!" he chirped out, making a portal behind him, and giving a peace sign to the two of them before doing a backwards somersault through it. When the girl went to reach out for him, the portal shut just in front of her hand, making her growl in frustration.

"Jeez! My brother takes advantage too much of that Arcane of his." she huffed out, before looking over at Terra who was giving her puppy-dog eyes. It didn't take long for her to put two and two together. "You want that burger, don't you? You must be starving... Fine, just this once. But you owe me!"

With that, she did a flick with two fingers going up, undoing Terra's restraints effortlessly. Before he could even question it, he didn't waste time grabbing the steaming fresh food in front of him, eating it with a satisfied smile. A muffled "thank you!" briefly escaped him between his desperate chewing, as happy as could be. Such a sight made the girl smile with a toothy grin, patting Terra's head as if he were a dog.

"Aren't you cute... What's your name anyway?" she asked, ruffling his hair with a giggle. "My name is Kinae!"

Terra gulped down his food. "Kinae? That's a pretty exotic name! My name is Terra."

"Terra? You've got an exotic name yourself, you know! Weren't you supposed to be on a tour with our captain?"

Terra let out a laugh, sighing after. "She kinda disappeared on me. I met Fren, then Joker, and now you, while looking for her again."

Kinae crossed her arms, thinking for a moment. "Hmmmmmmmmmmmm... Oh! If she lost you, knowing her she already went to doing her own thing. My best guess would be—"

She was suddenly cut off by the sound of doors slamming open, a Plague Doctor recruit standing from the now open doorway while panting. Everyone was quick to turn to him, quiet enough to hear his quickened heartbeat. He inhaled heavily, before suddenly shouting out to everyone with a deafening excitement.

"CELESTE AND NETZ ARE SPARRING IN THE TRAINING ROOM!!"

With that, Kinae grabbed ahold of Terra's arm, yanking him from the table and starting her trek out of the cafeteria, dragging him along with her.

"I KNEW IT!! That chick loves a good fight! C'mon Terra, let's go check it out!" she announced, running out of the cafeteria along with everyone else in the room; a sea of people were storming through at the thought of the duel.

. . .

Before long, the spectator's area was packed with just about everyone in the precinct, looking down at Celeste and Netz through the glass. They were both battered and cut, but standing tall as if not a bit of exhaustion was on their faces. Terra brushed through the crowd, finally getting a look at his captain and whoever this Netz person was. His eyes were quick to admire Celeste's stance, taking up a firm forward stance, her legs evenly distributing her weight and her fists held in front of her at chest height. She carried her stance strong, but a slight pip in the back foot made it clear she was the aggressor in agility.

He then glanced over at Netz, who seemed like a rather lanky man, his black suit straight and ironed down neatly despite their scuffle, and his hands surrounded in a strange black string-like substance. His hair was incredibly long, put into a loose ponytail that reached down to his waist, jet-black and sleek. His eyes were a beautiful hue of magenta, glowing similarly to how Celeste's did. Skin, olive in tone, but frail. From even how far apart they were, it was clear he towered over Celeste by a vast margin, easily halfway to seven-foot tall.

Terra's eyes narrowed, inspecting Netz's stance. Seeing one hand open like a claw to the side of his face, and the other clawed forward and down in front of his chest, with a lowered and wide stance from his legs... It was clear to him what he was in.

"Black Tiger." he mumbled out, in awe at such a strong stance.

Kinae looked over at him, curious. "Black Tiger? You know what style Netz fights in already?" she asked, tilting her head curiously.

"A strong stance is a strong foundation. With a posture like that, it allows for quick counter attacks. Especially against someone with a straightforward, quick posture."

"You sure know a lot about fighting, compadre!" a familiar voice called out to Terra, wringing their arm around his shoulder. At the same time, another voice seemingly appeared out of nowhere behind them both, letting out a cracky laugh.

"I know right? Kinda suspect if you ask me."

Terra quickly turned around to see Fren and Joker, looking down at him with suspicious gazes.

"Ah! I just used to read a lot of book about martial arts is all! Honest!" he quickly said in defence, holding his hands in front of himself.

The two Plague Doctors looked at each other, then down at him again. In unison, they both raised their brows. Before they could playfully interrogate him any further however, Kinae jumped up and down with exhilaration.

"Look! They're starting again!!"

Everyone quickly looked down at the two through the glass again. Seeing their presence alone seemed to make everyone's bodies tremble from the pressure they exerted. Everyone once again, grew silent... That's when it happened.

With a sudden burst of speed, Celeste dashed towards her opponent, clenching her fist tight with a ferocious red fire brimming from the metal weights on the knuckles. As she approached, Netz swiftly weaved to the side, preparing to counter the force of her impact with her own force. She spun her heel, forcing a massive hook to directly make contact with his string-covered hands, causing a shockwave of force to crack the glass slightly in front of the onlookers.

"Hmph. Playing defensive as usual, Spider." Celeste hissed out, narrowing her eyes, and keeping her fist pushing down on his guard.

"I can say the same about you and your aggression, Cat." Netz quickly replied, grinning.

They stared at each other like piercing daggers, pushing back and forth against one another, before finally breaking apart from one another. With the distance made, Netz raised his hands forward, shooting out the black strings that surrounded his hands, and lashed them towards Celeste. With a quick duck to the side, she just narrowly dodged what seemed like speeding black spears, cutting her cheek in the process. She made the steel on her gloves and boots fume out red burning light, dodging more of the strings by stepping side to side, kicking off of them and gaining more and more height. Just as she hit the apex of his assault, she lept above Netz, beginning to flip forward faster. Faster. Faster. Faster, until she was a spinning wheel of scarlet flames.

Noticing her attack, Netz quickly called back his strings forming them together to make a large shield in front of him with a grimace on his expression. He recognized this move all too well.

"Brennender Kreis!!" she roared out, slamming the back of her heel on to the black shield with a thunderous impact, rattling the entire area. Red flames scattered around the room, as if like a tornado of heat, causing Netz to faulter in his defense ever so slightly.

Terra was shocked to see such a show of power, staggering in place from the display. "Just how powerful is our captain...?" he asked with a shaky voice.

"How powerful?" Joker asked back with a hum. "Kid, those two were trained by The First."

"The First?"

All three of them glanced over at Terra with surprise.

"You've never heard of The First? The original Plague Doctor?" Fran questioned, crossing his arms.

"His name was Lorme. Easily the greatest, coolest guy ever! I heard he was so strong, he could take on at least twelve-hundred Afflicted by himself in one fight!" Kinae added on, hopping up and down from behind Joker's shoulder.

"Lorme...?"

Terra thought about that name for a good while, before looking down at the spar once again, now incredibly more intrigued than before.

"Captain and Second-Captain... Both taught by the first Plague Doctor? No wonder they're practically causing an earthquake in here... Their Arcane must be as intense as can be!"

Vio spoke within his mind again, as the two prodigies continued their clash, striking each other back and forth with superb technique.

"It's said that Lorme never once got a strike to his back, wanting to face the corrupted head on in a test of idealism. Despite being hundreds of years old, his physical prowess never once made him fall." her words echoed in Terra's subconscious, as he watched their strikes, as if they were dancing. "That level of dedication has never been matched, until he finally trained two young children to watch over New Baltin before suddenly disappearing. Who would've thought they'd be here?"

The two clashed one more time, before they both slid back a good distance from one another, dropping their stances. The embers they kicked up settled, revealing they were both beaten, but still standing strong. Just like how it started. They stared each other down for a moment longer, before Netz lowered his stance, smiling with satisfaction.

"You still train daily. Good." he said, subconsciously making the black strings fade away into the sky like black snow. "If you miss even a single day, I'm taking command. You know that."

Celeste exhaled in relief, lowering her hands as well and closing her eyes. Her guard was down. Netz, in the blink of an eye, suddenly shot out one last black string like a spear right at Celeste's head. It was caught just before it pierced her, Celeste's eyebrow twitching in irritation as she opened her eyes again.

"What can I say?" Netz shrugged with a laugh. "You never trust an opponent, right? Just making sure you remembered."

"I don't forget."

After Celeste spoke those words, Netz was suddenly pinned to the ground by a barrage of harpoons made of flames, while one last one shot out from the middle of the assault, stopping right in front of his face. Silence filled the room as they had each other restricted.

The fight was over.