I arrived outside of the old, abandoned OceanWay warehouse and dock combo 20 miles out of the city.

The night sky provided a good enough cover for my otherwise very conspicuous costume. The katana was safe in my waist bag. I didn't intend to use it, but I couldn't just leave it at home, considering....

As I approached the mission ground I tried my best to put all of the shit that happened lately out of my mind.

Breathe in. Breathe out. Relax.

When I reached the perimeter wall I followed it to the designated meeting point: A large X carved into the wall shortly after the location was closed down.

I did not have to wait long for my new partner-in-crime to make his appearance.

"Are you the Master Controller? Strange outfit. What are you supposed to be? A miner? A soldier?" a voice reached my ear as a young man stepped into view.

".......A bad guy." I replied without emotion. "But you're one to talk. At least my outfit looks freaky. Well, freakier than yours, at least. What exactly qualifies you for the circus?" I snapped back.

Unlike Boneyard and Alice, the Villain in front of me looked perfectly ordinary. Short brown hair, not mind-blowingly attractive, but not ugly either. And for clothes, he wore a fairly standard tuxedo. Wearing one casually was weird, sure, but not really freaky weird.

"You'll see. Have you been briefed? Or do I have to do it?"

I raised my hands. All business, this guy.

"Hey, buddy. Slow down a bit, yeah? Are you Lone Twin? That is who I am supposed to meet."

He stared into my eyes for a few seconds before sighing and nodding.

"Yes. That's me. Can we hurry it up with the preamble? I want to get this over with as quickly as possible."

I began quietly tapping my foot. His attitude didn't really do anything to calm my nerves.

"Aren't there supposed to be two of you? Is the other twin sick? Or are they hiding somewhere? Because I want to know exactly who I'm working with before I do anything else." I said, ignoring his last statement.

He closed his eyes and shook his head slowly. When he opened his mouth again his voice was a tad softer.

"I....I suppose that is a fair request. Sis. Show yourself."

For a moment nothing happened, but then someone began materializing in front of me.

Teleportation? Maybe, if she and her partner had open communication. But Invisibility seemed more likely.

The first things that appeared were her clothes. Unlike her brother, her attire was a bit more exotic. Yellow-golden garbs that appeared to be fashioned after the stereotypical image of an Arabic princess, complete with veil. But it was what was in those clothes that made her truly deserving of being a Freakshow member.

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Instead of the smooth, beautiful skin I had expected, the body that slowly took back its form in front of me was sickly, pallid, and rotting. Patches of skin were missing entirely and only two or three fingernails were still attached. The nose was entirely missing, and the eyes milky-white and expressionless.

"Now that's more like it. What's wrong with her? Is it a result of her Power, or an attack, or....?"

"She's dead." he interrupted. "But don't worry. She can still defend herself. Now, where were you briefed, or not? With Alice, you never know if she did what was asked of her or got distracted halfway through."

He put his hand on the dead thing's shoulder and nodded. She raised a decaying hand and started to disappear from sight once again.

"I was only told that I needed to be here. That is all."

Lone Twin pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Of course. Of course. Allow me then." he said and gestured to the roof of the warehouse, the only part visible from our vantage point. "Another Villain group has holed up here. It's not a permanent stay. They have something we are supposed to retrieve. A very simple mission, all things considered."

I crossed my arms. He was being pretty vague. Too vague? Probably not. About the expected amount for someone from a group like his. Still, I didn't like it.

"Is it Deep Waters?" I asked. They had been known to use the area as a hideout in the past. "I thought they left ages ago."

He chuckled.

"They did. It's not Tsunami and her ilk, no. The opposite, actually. More or less. It's Midgardsummer."

I raised an eyebrow. Not that he could see it.

"Midgardsummer? Really? They usually keep away from watery areas."

He nodded.

"Yes, and that's exactly why they chose it. It's a very short-term hideout and no one would expect them of all people to be at a place like this. Almost no one."

I uncrossed my arms and leaned against the wall.

"Alright. Okay. I can buy that. So what is it that we're extracting exactly?"

Lone Twin raised his left hand and wagged his finger at me.

"You're not extracting anything. I will. So you don't need to concern yourself with that.

His condescension was a tad irritating.

"Why the fuck am I here, then?"

"The Item is carried by a high-ranking member called Heat Hazard. He is holed up in the warehouse's former admin office on the second floor. Your job is to take over one of the basic guards out here and cause some kind of commotion that draws a good number of the goons away from their posts so I have an easy time nabbing the prize. Can you do that?"

I sighed.

"Sure. I guess. I don't appreciate not being told what it even is I'm supposed to help steal, though. You do all your recruitments like this?"

"Yes. Now get to work."

I looked at him for a minute and shook my head. Considering the other two Freakshow members I interacted with, I had expected a bit less hostility.

I turned my back on him and fumbled around in my bag until my fingers found the touch of the small, red box. Without hesitation, I pulled it out, opened it, and got a weird sensation from suddenly being able to look myself in the face again.

I hadn't used the Third Oculus much since I acquired it, but this was the perfect situation for it.

Slowly, I made the small eyeball float out of its safe, comfy casing and ascend higher and higher until it just managed to pass the wall.

"You got an Oc?" my moody companion said, his voice a bit higher pitched than usual.

"Yeah? It's broken though. Got a discount on it. Now shut up so I can concentrate."

He opened his mouth to reply but then closed it again and gestured for me to carry on.

The outside of the warehouse was mostly empty. Seems the hot ones really didn't want to attract much attention.

I began walking along the wall so as to not reach the distance limit and indicated for Lone Twin to follow. When I made the dive, I wanted my body as safe as can be.

He reluctantly got up from the rock he was sitting on and trotted behind me.

We had to walk almost halfway around the perimeter before my floating eye finally caught someone.

At the back of the Warehouse two guards were talking. They were definitely Midgardsummer. Despite this being ostensibly a stealthy mission these bozos were still wearing all red.

One of them was very likely a woman. Her half-torn outfit exposed a bit of cleavage and a bra strap on her left shoulder. This was my target.

I gave Twin a thumbs-up and began the waiting game.

I wasn't looking at a clock, but it must've taken at least 20 minutes until one of them finally excused themselves. It was the man, probably to go pee or something.

But no matter the reason, now was my chance.

I focused on her body until our minds connected.

Her surface thoughts started to flow into my mind.

'This is god damn boring as hell. I wish I was back at the base. Fucking Fimbis, I swear....'

Another push and the connection was deepened. I entered Thought.

Her boredom was palatable. More thoughts swirled around my head.

She herself wasn't exactly clear why they were all here. Almost none of them were.

I was tempted to stay in Thought longer to extract more information, but upon experiencing that nugget of intel I knew I needn't bother.

"I'm going in. Take care of my body. Grab my Oculus, and put it back in the box. Then put the box back in my bag." I whispered and closed my eyes after I saw him nod.

Well, I closed two of them.

Keeping the grunt in my field of vision and concentrating fully on her I began pushing her mind out of the way. And soon enough I could feel the familiar pull.

A few seconds later my vision swam and everything went dark.

Time to plan a distraction.