Tsukiko approached the old warehouse alone. It still served as the Damascenes' base of operations, as it had for years now. A strange, bittersweet feeling washed over her through her approach, a mix of good memories tainted by bad ones.

The once dilapidated condition of the exterior was now gone. Shortly after the fall of the Shakudos, the Damascenes painted the doors a proud white that practically glowed in the sunlight, with a large, golden motif to celebrate a well earned victory. It was nothing more than gold spray paint and a stencil on some hardware store paint, but what it represented for them was far greater.

As she got closer, Tsuki noticed something odd, or rather, and odd lack of something. The Damascenes were a noisy bunch, blaring music over speakers or shouting at one another, but the sound was gone. The only thing audible from inside was the low drone of the constantly spinning ceiling fans.

The doors were still as heavy as ever, sliding out slowly and painfully. They screeched as rusted metal scraped more rusted metal. It took a while for Tsukiko to finally get a view of what was making the place so quiet.

Many cloaked figures were laying around, scattered on the concrete floor. Some of them whined in pain, others were simply unconscious. Flowers was the only Damascene still standing, her face covered in blood and her body covered in bruises.

"What the hell happened in here?" Tsuki cried out. "Flowers?"

Flowers turned and started limping toward her. "Tsuki, they--"

"Hey, careful." Tsukiko ran up close and offered her a shoulder to lean on. "Are you okay?"

"...I'll be alright." Flowers grit her teeth. "It's everybody else I'm worried about. Thank god you're here."

"...what happened?" Tsuki tried her best to stay calm.

Flowers took a long, deep breath, then exhaled. "...I don't know. A ton of people just ran in and... shit went south."

"Which way'd they go?" Tsukiko turned to the doors on the other side of the warehouse, left ajar.

"No way." Flowers pulled her closer. "They're long gone. Don't go after 'em."

"Why not?" Tsukiko said, before taking another look at Flowers.

"Just... don't." Flowers pleaded. "Okay?"

It didn't take much more for Tsukiko to understand her. Deep down, she felt a bit stupid.

"You're hurt pretty bad..." Tsuki held Flowers up as gently as she could. "Anything broken?"

"Me?" Flowers smirked a little. "No way."

"...don't laugh." Tsukiko scolded her, albeit somewhat lightly. "I'd take you to the hospital, but..."

"Don't worry so much about me." Flowers assured her. "I'll be alright."

"Flowers." Tsukiko only had to say her name.

"...Sorry. I'm fine, it's okay." Flowers lowered her head. "...I'm just worried about everybody else."

One of the Damascenes called out to Flowers, walking over to her, an injured arm held close. "What do we do, boss?"

"Boss?" Flowers repeated. "I'm not your boss. Sylvie's your boss."

"...what're we gonna do, Flowers?" The Damascene repeated. "We're all hurt pretty bad."

"...there's some first aid stuff in Sylvie's boxes. If anyone's hurt bad, send 'em to the hospital. Even if they complain."

"Right." The Damascene nodded, before turning around and walking to an injured ally.

"Everybody else..." Tsukiko watched as the few remaining Damascenes stirred around, tending to their injuries. "...did Sylvie go after them?"

"...No. They took her away and we couldn't stop 'em." Flowers finally admitted. "They just ran in and grabbed her. When we tried to chase 'em down and stop 'em, more of them came."

"Grabbed her?" Tsuki grabbed Flowers and held her up. "They just... grabbed her and took her away?"

"Yeah." Flowers admitted with a bit of shame in her voice. "It happened so fast... By the time I'd noticed she was gone..."

"Did you--"

"No." Flowers cut her off, lowering her head. "I don't know where they took her. There was no way I was going after her. I can barely stand right now."

"Do you know who did it, at least?" Tsuki asked. "Was it Themis?"

"Themis? Shit. You know about that?" Flowers asked, then sighed. "L-Let me sit down, alright? I can barely stand."

"Sorry." Tsuki sighed, before walking Flowers over to the wall. "C'mon."

Flowers lowered herself slowly, her back up against the wall to support herself. "My legs were startin' to get sore."

"...so, about Themis." Tsukiko questioned.

"We've been dealing with them for a while, but..." Flowers lowered her head. "We've been doing it all on our own. We didn't wanna bother you with it."

These words dug into Tsuki's skin like barbed hooks.

"Flowers, I'm a Knight. If I'm not out there fighting and protecting people, what am I good for?" Tsukiko spoke softly. "If I'd've known... Shit, this never would've happened."

"I'm sorry." Flowers lowered her head a bit. "But it's not like we can rely on you for everything."

"...well, now you're gonna have to." Tsukiko looked her in the eye. "Tell me everything. No secrets."

"Now's not a good time, but..." Flowers nodded. "...yeah, no secrets."

Tsuki looked at Flowers. They acknowledged each other for just a moment, before looking away again.

"So I'm guessing this is revenge?" Tsukiko balled her hand into a fist.

"No clue." Flowers shook her head. "I don't know who we would've pissed off."

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"Huh?"

"It was all... dudes in suits. I don't know a gang like that." Flowers replied.

"Dudes in suits, huh?" Tsukiko said to herself.

Flowers shuddered, filled with an impotent, foolish strength that her injured body couldn't carry through. She wanted, desperately, to start swinging her arms and scream, but she couldn't.

"There must've been... four of them for each of us. Everyone's out right now, so it was just me and Sylvie and... these guys." Flowers looked away, hiding her face. "Etsuko wasn't around when it happened."

"Etsuko. Do you know where she is?"

"No." Flowers raised up a hand. "She took a bunch of the guys with her in the morning, and I haven't heard from her since."

"I hope she's alright." Tsukiko said softly. "If the rest of the gang was with her, she probably managed to fight 'em off."

The two of them went quiet, as if acknowledging that things were probably much, much worse than they could ever openly admit. Still, deep down, they both hoped that saying their prayers out loud would somehow give them more power.

"M-Maybe Sylvie got away too." Flowers smiled a little, staying optimistic.

"...hopefully." Tsukiko forced a little smile of her own. "Let's just... figure out what we're gonna do for now."

The people around them were slowly getting back to their feet. Several Damascenes stumbled toward their more injured comrades. Others tended to their own pain and injuries.

It was a somewhat disturbing sight. It had been a long time since Tsukiko had witnessed such a brutal aftermath to a fight. Blood stained the concrete and some people were beaten black and blue. Not a single one of them had been spared. Shards of broken porcelain and plastic masks littered the floor.

Flowers stirred, trying to get up. "Bastards."

Tsuki motioned for her to sit back down. "Hey, hey. I know you wanna fight, but you're hurt."

"I know I'm hurt." Flowers looked up at her, angry. "But like hell I'm lettin' 'em win. I'm not gonna sit on my ass while my friends are hurt."

"...it's not about winning or losing." Tsukiko glared. "I'm not letting you get hurt any worse than you already are."

"They whooped my ass." Flowers let out a defeated groan. "They ganged up on me..."

"An ass kicking's better than getting yourself killed. You know that." Tsuki scolded her, reaching out with her hand. "I'm not letting you get yourself in deeper shit."

"...c'mon, don't tug at my heartstrings like that." Flowers looked away. "The hell're we supposed to do, then?"

"...Let's tell everybody what's going on now that they're waking back up." Tsuki suggested. "May as well get everyone up to speed."

"Good call." Flowers stirred like she wanted to get up, but then stopped herself.

Another of the Damascenes, still standing, ran over to Flowers, limping a bit as they ran.

"Eh?" Flowers looked up at them. "What's up?"

"S-Someone's coming, boss!" The Damascene sputtered out.

"Boss?" Flowers repeated. "I'm not your boss!"

"But she's out, and--"

Tsukiko took over the conversation. "Who's coming?"

"Ah. W-well, uhh..." The Damascene hesitated.

As the masked man stuttered, the doors at the far end of the warehouse began to move, letting out a loud, metallic roar as they came open. With the Damascenes all either gone or injured, they were completely defenseless if their attackers returned. Tsuki ran to the door, ready for a fight.

However, as the light from the outside came in, Tsukiko let out a sigh of relief. Etsuko before her, alone, removing her mask before the Knight and putting on to the side.

"Tsuki." Etsuko approached. "You're finally here, hon?"

Tsukiko nodded. "Where were you?"

"Sorry, this is important." Etsuko walked past her, approaching Flowers instead. "Flowers."

"You're alright..." Flowers forced herself back onto her own two feet. "Etsuko. We got hit really bad while you were gone. Sylvie's--"

"I... I know where Sylvie is." Etsuko said bluntly.

"What? How?" Flowers narrowed her eyes.

Etsuko sighed. "...well, I... got here earlier, but I saw that everything was goin' real bad for us, so..."

"So..." Tsukiko urged her to continue.

"I stood outside and watched. I watched them take her, and I followed 'em. They took 'er to some... abandoned building nearby." Etsuko stared back.

"Watched? C'mon, look around." Flowers stumbled forward. "We were in here, getting killed, and you were outside standing around?"

"Hon, I ain't about to walk into a fight I can't win." Etsuko kept firm. "But I had to do somethin'. I wasn't just standing around."

Flowers let out a sigh, her balance wavering a bit. "Well, at least we know where she is now."

"I'm sorry. Rest, darling." Etsuko spoke with her strange accent. "You're gonna need it."

"Yeah." Tsukiko nodded in agreement.

"You too, hon." Etsuko crossed her arms. "We're gonna need all hands on deck if we're gettin' Sylvie back."

There was a sudden shout, from a very familiar voice. Tsuki looked up and found her sister and her husband. Haruka stepped forward quickly, her eyes frantically scanning the place. She approached Tsukiko with a strange look on her face.

"Is Sylvie okay?" Haruka grabbed Tsukiko by the collar.

Flowers answered with some hesitation. "No clue."

"God..." Haruka held a hand against her chest.

"Haru, are you alright?" Tsuki broke away from her sister's grasp.

"She's... scared, to say the least." Kazuo answered for her.

"Hey, hey." Etsuko tried to reassure her. "Sylvie's gonna be fine, hon. She's tough. Don't take it out on your sister."

Haruka wrapped an arm around Kaz. "Sorry."

"It's fine." Kazuo pulled her a little closer. "Just try to stay calm, okay?"

"...I've never seen Haru so upset." Flowers spoke quietly, as if hoping she wouldn't hear.

"Sylvie's... well, they're practically best friends, right?" Tsukiko explained. "We've gotta do everything we can to get her back."

"Right." Flowers nodded.

"So, what happened here?" Kazuo finally got the chance to ask.

"It was a raid." Flowers said. "A bunch of dudes in suits ran in, took Sylvie and beat the rest of us down."

Kazuo took a moment to think. "Dudes in suits, eh?"

"Yeah." Etsuko continued. "They ended up taking her to an old abandoned hotel not too far from here."

"Abandoned hotel?" Kazuo repeated, then turned to Tsukiko. "That old hotel?"

"Huh?" Etsuko stopped to look at them both.

"There's only one abandoned hotel I know about." Tsukiko hesitated. "...if it's that hotel, it's an obvious trap."

"What hotel?" Flowers was confused too.

"When Tsuki took down the Shakudos, her, Haru and Shizuka went to an old abandoned hotel. It was the Shakudo base of operations near the end." Kazuo explained.

Tsukiko added. "I fought Morgan on the roof and beat him. Fair and square."

"I'm gonna take a look around, alright? Maybe they left something behind?" Kazuo took a few steps away from the group.

"Go ahead." Etsuko agreed. "Be my guest. If anyone's gonna figure this mess out, it's gonna be a real detective."

There was a short break in the conversation as Kazuo bowed his head and turned away from the group. He started walking toward some Damascenes nearby, presumably to ask them questions, but they didn't seem too interested.

"Well, even if it is a trap, it's not like we can take any chances." Flowers sighed. "We'd be running head first into hell."

"I'll go." Tsukiko declared.

"Not alone, you're not." Haruka turned to her sister. "We're going together. Sylvie's in danger, and I don't want you ending up in the same situation."

Tsukiko took a deep breath. "Fine."

"Thanks." Haruka said.

"Hey!" Kazuo's shout broke through the conversation, his hand held something up. "Did you guys get into some trouble with the cops?"

"Cops?" Flowers was even more confused. "What're you talking about? Of course not!"

Kazuo approached, holding a metal baton in his hand. "Then who dropped this?"