Rewind

C2 - Sariel Detective Agency (2)

The combination of the hulking figure of Excel, the professional attire of Bailey, and the meek posture of the boy made for a very strange sight indeed. Walking down the streets, however, they seemed to draw no attention- everyone knew not to stare too much in Stellaris City. The closed-off atmosphere was suffocating, but ever since the mafia had essentially taken control of the city, it was nothing less than expected.

Stella offered to join, but for a cabal of five thugs, Excel was more than enough. Bailey provided impeccable intelligence ('Your shamelessness is truly insane, Bai,' Maybelline commented after listening to Bailey absorb praise for all the information Bella collected.) while Excel did what he did best. As an ex-police officer, he joined the Agency after being exposed to the reality of the city.

The buildings and roads looked impeccable. From an outsider's view, it was impossible to tell what was wrong with the city. But it was to be expected- the skyscrapers and skylines were owned by the rich, and nobody could touch their property. Protection fees were the main revenue source of the mafia, and all turf wars were settled outside of the city. 'I suppose even brutes have their own code of conduct,' muttered Maybelline.

'Allright, we're here!' Bailey whispered excitedly. They turned heel to see a massive warehouse with large, private property signs. Every single warehouse in Stellaris was likely doubling as a mafia base. The warehouses store the goods that the mafia protect, or even peddle, and are thus pivotal to operations. It was nearly impossible to raid them, however, because the police remained entirely incompetent and none dared brave the wrath of any gang occupying it.

Well, none before the incredibly divisive Sariel Detective Agency.

It had been founded by Bailey and Maybelline one year after the accident. Maybelline's incredible intelligence gathering abilities were used to grab incriminating information from the most nefarious mafia boss in Stellaris. Their reward for submitting all this information to the police was nearly immediate death- or, at least, it would've been, had May not detected the very same mafia boss in the reception before Bai entered.

Since that day, Bai and May have gone towards significantly less legal actions. The cowardly police force cannot mobilize to stop the vigilante without an identity, and the mafia cannot move unnoticed by May. Every attempt to shut down the Sariel Detective Agency has led to gunpowder exploding in a hidden wall, gunfire being traded, but never an overall loss for the agency.

The last bastion of justice in the city? That title drew in customers. Customers drew in money, and money led to an even larger reputation for invincibility. Every operation was precise and impeccable, yet insane and reckless. The terrifying reputation of the unnamed female Boss spread throughout the city, and this drew in the patchwork group of justice seekers.

'Now, stop your overconfidence, Bai. You know as well as I do that if the Stars or another large group decided to march on us, we'd have to evacuate...' Maybelline sighed, seeing that Bailey paid her absolutely no attention.

'Yeah, that's where they went! Please get them!' The boy pointed at the warehouse and tried to run away. Bailey caught his shirt collar and dragged him back.

'What are you doing? I need to get away from the fighting!'The boy struggled, before realizing the trick was caught.

'You think we haven't been baited by false requests before? We'll take your money, and kill your damned thugs, but you'll need to produce quite the sum to buy your freedom back...'

Excel glanced at the struggling boy, and then shrugged. Another reason to laugh at Strix. The Boss was never wrong in her assessments, somehow.

--

'Where is the boy? He sent a messenger, stating that those kiddies playing detective would be here any time now...' a scrawny man with glassed paced back and forth in the darkened warehouse.

This man was Shifter. He had spent years climbing through the ladder of the Stars, against all odds. His incredible accounting skills proved to be useful enough an asset for everyone to keep him alive, no matter how much the leadership changed. He had been given this one great opportunity to finally cull the dogs pestering his businesses and rise through the ranks.

The doors bust open.

The deafening sound of machine gun fire came before the devastating damage dealt to the door, falling to the ground whilst being riddled with holes. A giant man stood in the opening, blocking all the bullets with a massive riot shield, bearing the giant Stellaris Police sign: A bright yellow star with two guns crossed behind it.

'It's the damn rogue copper! Keep firing!' shouted Shifter. He turned his head to witness the shield soaking every measly pellet. Saving metal on bullets was his idea: by reducing the cost of each projectile, he generates record breaking profits, and you generally never needed thick bullets anyway. What a mistake that was, he lamented.

His lament would be cut short by a bullet in his head.

His body hitting the floor was unnoticed until fewer machine guns continued to fire. The volume dropped as the thugs began dying at rapid speeds, and though the others thought to take cover, it was not before Excel dropped his shield and charged at the remaining thugs left.

Grabbing the closest, fleeing fool, he threw him into the air, where a bullet drove itself into his skull. Excel grabbed his body and slammed it into another nearby thug attempting to draw his pistol. The lights on the facility suddenly turned on, a bullet embedded in the switch. Illuminated sitting casually on the highest window on the right side of the warehouse was a trigger-happy Bailey, using her rifle in the form of a cane to mow down the remaining thugs, with May calling out their locations.

In a few minutes, the gunfire calmed down and silence descended upon the warehouse.

'So,' Bailey drawled, 'tell me where all the money is, or your body will never be found.'

The boy suddenly became significantly more cooperative.