Eliza stood beside Weaver and Adrianna wearing casual clothing while they wore formal business wear. The three stood around a round table with ten chairs in it. "Aren't enough words to stress how much I hate being back here." Eliza said with a sour taste in her mouth. "Then why'd you come?" Weaver asked. "Because, I have enough words to tell you this is a stupid fucking idea." "Peter's plan is the best thing we have." "We could always just pay people to join us." "Then someone can just pay them more to betray us. We need a leader and proper followers." Eliza crossed her arms and sucked on her teeth. "Whatever." The door opened up. Ivy entered through the door first wearing a sultry see through green dress. "Oh, you brought a relic with you." She said smirking at Eliza. "I gotta take Adrianna out for her walks." Adrianna turned a glare at Eliza. Kenji and Alistair entered through next wearing well fitted suits. "Good morn-" "Save it spider. We read your email." Alistair said. "This meeting was unnecessary." "What I've been saying." Ivy said rolling her eyes.
"And what did you think about my proposal?" Weaver asked. "Cataclysm Sisters have voted yes to your grading amendments." "And you three?" "We accept it." Alistair said. "I don't."Kenji said. "We agreed on those counts for a reason. A balanced arsenal ensures the Hunter is fully prepared for anything that comes along their way." "Noted, but that's seven votes for it. The notion is passed and we'll publicly announce it right away." The three went to walk out. "This idea to help promote that boy, is going to get him killed." Kenji said. Eliza stopped. "I won't deny he has potential, but he's nothing more than a tough piece of meat, and if he gets in our way again. I won't take it easy on him next time." Eliza turned around summoning Choppy at him. "Trust me Kenji. The next time you face him. It's gonna be one fight you won't enjoy." "Don't threaten him with a good time." Ivy said.
"Unemployment rates are at an all time high amongst Hunters. The reset stopped them from doing the jobs they wanted. This will help to rectify that problem. No ulterior motive whatsoever." Weaver said with a sly smile. "You'll do best to remember your ranking amongst us Spider." Kenji said glaring at him. "Trust me. I remember where I stand. You should do the same thing." He said snapping his fingers. Golden threads scattered across the room. Ivy and Alistair glanced around impressed. "Intend to ignite us all in flames?" "If I have to. Have a good day." Weaver said walking out first. Adrianna quickly followed with Eliza banishing Choppy, she lagged behind glaring at Kenji on her way out. "Did you two have to antagonise him?" Adrianna asked. "Chinky dick bag started it." Eliza spat. Adrianna shook her head adjusting Weaver's tie. "Remember, this is just an amendment update. Do not add any fluff." She said. "Will do."
Weaver walked out in front of a large press meeting wearing a forced smile. He stood behind the podium. "Good morning everyone. I am here to announce an amendment to the grading requirements. In order to combat the rising unemployment rate amongst the recently reset Hunters. We have changed the minimum arsenal requirements for each grade. Approaching the grading system, based on Hunters have utility. Left those with powers that fit those requirements having to search for redundant items. For example Hunters that already have powers that rival any magic needing to have more in order to progress ranks, became too restrictive." "What are the new requirements for each grade?" A reporter asked. "E grade Hunters are required to have at least one item in their possession, regardless of it being a magic spell, armour or weapon. For each consecutive grade, the number of item goes up respectively."
"So under these new rules, a Hunter with say five weapons could now apply to be an A grade Hunter." "Yes." Surprised and startled murmurs erupted through the crowd. "Does this not go against the policy of keeping Hunters, as safe as possible on the other side? Was that not the original goal of adjusting the grading requirements?" "Yes, however a Hunter with the strength to move a mountain, not being able to join a job. Because they are missing a weapon is nothing but a hindrance to that Hunter. Just as a Hunter needing a suit of armour when they are impervious to injuries. They were limiting factors to specific Hunters."
"By specific Hunter. Are you referring to the Echo Demon?" Weaver paused. "I am not. However a point can be made with him." Eliza shook her head waving her arms furiously at him to stop. "Hunters like him exist all over our world, and have been restricted by the new grading system, when they deserve a higher grade." "What would you grade the Echo Demon, after his recent bout with the Berserker?" "I'm going to murder that fucker!" Adrianna held Eliza back from leaping into the crowd. "In my opinion he is still a C grade Hunter that simply shows promise. The Truth Seeker's recounting shows that Kenji was clearly putting on a show. Clever tactics, skill and grit simply gave him a longer survivable window than most Hunters in his grade." Eliza relaxed at Weaver's statement. "That is all for this amendment. We hope to see more Hunters going through Rifts and the unemployment rate to lower. Have a good day everyone." Weaver waved them off ignoring their torrent of questions. "What was that?" Eliza asked. "No extra fluff. Those three are already steadily climbing in grades. For now we need to work on our side of things."
"Hey guys! I got your new Hunter Licences!" Raven said. Moon leapt over the banister snatching the letter out of Raven's hand. She stared in awe at her new licence. Zeke and Sunny made their way down, with Sunny reluctantly grabbing hers. "Look! Look! Zeke! Look! I'm finally a B grade!" Zeke hugged her, kissing her on the forehead. "I'm proud of you." She squealed and spun around in delight. "How's it feel to be a C grade now Zeke?" Han asked. "Weird honestly." Moon and Skye gave Sunny a smug grin. "What's wrong? Don't like your new licence?" Moon asked. She sucked on her teeth glaring at them. "It's not gonna be like this for long." "Sure it's not D grade." Moon said rolling her eyes. Zeke kissed Sunny's forehead as well. "It's alright, we'll take a job and get you something soon." "Why not buy her something now? I'm sure there's a shop open and with the new amendment it doesn't need to be a magic spell for her." Han said.
"Oh yeah. We can totally do that. Let's go sell your car and have that money." Zeke said. "Woah, woah. I was just kidding. Let's not do anything crazy here." "At this point, we need to look at this realistically. We're 25 million in debt, and we have a three million dollar car." Zeke said. "That's not gonna put a dent into that debt. Please don't sell my baby." Han begged. "I know you that thing-" "Honey." Zeke took a pause. "I know you love Honey, but jobs aren't coming to us that are gonna pay 25 million dollars." "We could start an Onlyfans. We'd make BILLIONS!" Han said. "Han we're not gonna do that. I..." Zeke trailed off thinking about the idea before shaking his head. "We're not gonna do that." "Then do that future prediction thing you've been doing." "What?" Zeke said looking at her confused. "You got some new power, whenever you ask the universe to fuck with you in some way it comes true. Just do that again, but ask for a some million dollar paying job." "Are you retarded? I don't have that kind of power." "I'll gladly suck your dick, if you do it and nothing happens."
Zeke rolled his eyes throwing his hands up in the air. "Fine. Gee! I really hope we don't get a million dollar paying job right now. It would totally fuck me over, and my ability to sell Han's car. Oh it would be a real shame-" A set of rapid and heavy knocks echoed throughout the house. Everyone froze staring at the door and back to Zeke. "That could be anyone." He said frowning at them. Opening the door to a ragged man reeking of booze. His high quality suit wrinkled and crumpled. Zeke stumbled back as the man staggered in. He lit up with joy seeing Raven. "Raven!" "Mister Linette?" "You're here! FIONA! FIONA! ARE YOU HERE!?" Raven held him by the shoulders. "Mister Linette, Fiona's not here." "No! Nononono! NO!" He screamed. "Han, protocol C." Zeke said. Without hesitation Han slapped Mister Linette across the face knocking him unconscious. "Get a hold of yourself man!" "Just how many codes to you four have?" Sunny asked. "A lot." Moon whispered.
"Raven, some context please?" Zeke asked. "Um...This is mister Linette. Fiona is his daughter." "Wait...He wouldn't happen to be the same Mister Linette that helped found the Frost company would he?" Han asked. "Yeah...that's him." Everyone turned to Zeke who wore a stunned expression. "Shit..maybe I do have another power." Mister Linette woke up a few minutes later rubbing his jaw. Raven handed him a cup of water. "He's awake!" "Oh thank god." Han said in relief. "I knew I didn't hit him that hard. Everyone gathered around him. "Care to explain yourself sir?" Zeke asked. "I'm sorry, please excuse my behaviour." "What's happened to Fiona?" "She's missing." "Start from the beginning sir, and don't spare a detail." Sunny said taking a seat and opening her phone. He looked at a little taken aback. "She was recently a detective sergeant in the N.Y.P.D. Give her the details." Zeke said.
"My daughter Fiona. She went through a blue Rift last month. I paid for the highest protection detail to stay with her." "What was the job?" Sunny asked. "It wasn't a job. She just wanted to explore Heaven. She was meant to come back three days ago." "Why did you think she would be here?" Sunny asked. "When she didn't come back, I thought maybe she couldn't handle it over there and came back earlier. I thought she would be hiding with Raven." Han leant into Raven's ear. "Those two were always so inseparable and happy. They were best friends." Everyone shot Raven a glance. She shook her head signalling them to cut it out. "Did any of the protection detail come back?" Sunny asked. He shook his head holding his head down distraught. "What if she's dead? Oh god! What if something's happened to her? I let this happen to her! I'll never forgive myself if something happened to her-" "Han." Zeke said. She slapped him across the face one more time. "Focus man."
"Sir, she's not here." Zeke said. "In missing human cases, the first 48 hours is the most crucial window." "And in Hunter cases?" "The odds of finding them is practically zero." Sunny said glumly. He broke down sobbing in his hands. "Dude. A little discretion?" Moon whispered. "You're talking about finding one person who could be across four different worlds. We've lost three days and have no leads." Zeke took a knee in front of him. "How much money can you spare?" Everyone looked at Zeke shocked. "I would give up everything to get my daughter back!" "I'm not asking for everything. I'm naming the price of finding your daughter." "If you can bring her back, name it and I'll give it to you."
"We have a 25 million dollar tax debt we need paid for. Secondly, I want a visitor charm." "Bring her back, and they're yours." "Raven will give you the contract, pay our deposit fee, and give us a picture to take across. Go home and rest as well." Zeke walked into the living room with the others following him. "Ezekiel. We got nothing. What are you doing promising him something like that?" "We're gonna approach this from every angle." Mister Linette followed them into the room as he wrote on a piece of paper. "Could we get a whiteboard to draw on." "Ooh! I got this covered!" Skye said sprinting up the stairs and back down. She handed him a large whiteboard and several coloured markers. "Sir, the protection detail you hired. We're they all Angelic Hunters?" "Y-yes." "Do you have their profiles?" "I can-I can request for them." "Good. Have all of their known associates and contacts checked for any Rift travel or property assets." "Do you have any idea what's happening?" Han whispered to Moon. She shook her head.
"No, this is actually workable. Great thinking Ezekiel." Sunny said grabbing a marker. "What's going on?" Mister Linette asked. "You're a rich and powerful man. You're going to have enemies." "You think someone is holding Fiona for ransom?" "Potentially, but Ezekiel's thinking of checking off each box." "Check every guard for every known associate and family link, that has access to Rift travel and properties they own. We need to narrow down where Fiona is." Zeke said. "Where did she take this Rift sir?" Sunny asked. "It was in Texas." "Mister Linette contact Camilla Seres and ask for a log of all Rift travels in the last month. Raven you know her. Search her social media for any hints of her leaving. Han help her comb through that data." "I can kinda see why she fell in love with him-" "Han!" Zeke snapped. "Go!" Han and Raven scurried up the stairs. "Sir, please contact her as soon as possible." Sunny said. Moon watched on stunned as Zeke scrawled on the whiteboard with Sunny following along.
"That should help us narrow down the search. Moon, call Edelgard and tell her we want to go through a blue Rift." "Are you thinking it might be a ransom case?" Mister Linette asked. "Can't say that yet. This could be many things, but you spiralling out isn't going to help us. Go help Han and Raven with their information." "I could probably ask Captain to see if he's heard of anything about this." Sunny said. "Do it, and let me know what he says." Zeke was left alone staring at the white board, before noticing Skye. She bounced around giddy. "What?" "Well...don't I get a cool task to help?" "No. Go back and do your studies." Skye dropped her head trudging up the stairs. "Hate this course. Hate studying. Hate it here." She sulked. Zeke looked at the board remembering Samael's last words to him. Find the Black Hammer. 'Whatever you got me searching for Samael. I better not regret it.'
Moon held the phone to her ear. "WHAT!? I'M VERY BUSY RIGHT NOW!" Edelgard shouted. Moon jumped almost dropping her phone. "Hey...Edelgard it's me." "Moon? Eugh....what the fuck is the point of hiring reception if they can't even transfer phone calls properly." Edelgard said pinching between her brow. "Um..We need to cross a blue Rift, could we get a notice when one opens?" "Moon, I'm not just the head of your agency. I can't play favourites anymore?" "Aww, we were your favourites?" "Don't sass me. If you want passage, you'll need to go through the proper channels. WENDY! WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT SENDING ME CALLS WITHOUT NAMES!" Moon winced pulling the phone away. "Couldn't you make one last exception for us?" "Moon, I have six screens in front of me, and each one has 30 tabs on it. I've got so much paperwork climbing up my ass, it's coming out of my mouth." "Why don't you just hire a bunch of secretaries and assistants to do all the reading and then you just sign off on it?"
Moon looked at her phone hearing no response but heavy breathing. "Hello? Edelgard? You there?" "You're a very smart woman Moon." Moon blushed and smiled. "I'll get your names down, this includes Sunny?" Moon sighed. "Yes. It includes her as well." "Consider it done. WENDY! HIRE ME THIRTY SECRETARIES! I DON'T CARE IF IT ISN'T IN THE BUDGET! GET AS MANY AS YOU CAN!" "Bye..." Moon awkwardly said slowly hanging up the phone. She returned to Zeke with a smile. "Rift's booked." "Good."
"What'cha thinking about?" She said hugging him from behind. "This entire thing screams ransom, but who would wait this long to make their demands known?" "Uhhhh-" "Ezekiel." Sunny said coming in from the other room. "What'd Captain Carter say?" "Firstly he says fuck you for stealing me away, with Jones and Stevens also wanting you to eat a bag of dicks." "Fair, what else did they say?" "That they hope the best for us, and that this isn't a ransom case." "What is it then? A kidnapping?" Moon asked. "I'd expect a B grade to know more." "I am going to hit you." "Sunny, continue please, without the sass." "Captain thinks its Surge related." "Surge? You mean that Mana boosting drug?" "Keep up sweetie." Zeke stopped Moon from lunging at her. "Sunny." "Sorry, it's a habit at this point." "Can you two try to get along around me. I can't stop you from fighting each other all the time." The two locked eyes. "Yeah, we could do that." Moon said. "Sure thing." "Mmm, let's hope Han and Raven got something."
Han leant over Raven's shoulder while Mister Linette paced nervously on the phone. "Are you gonna tell him, that you were eating his daughter's fish taco?" Raven startled tucked Han under her pit nearly crushing her head. "SHHH!" Han thrashed and screamed trying to free herself. She pulled herself free taking a gasp of air. "Shit! Will you people remember I'm human!" He looked to them confused. "Nothing to worry about. Keep calling, we're still looking." "He doesn't know alright! So shhhh!" Raven hissed. "You've never mentioned her, and since Zeke or Moon don't know about her. It means she wasn't at Chiron Academy. So what's the story there?" "There's no story. We dated and then we stopped talking a year and a half ago." Raven said looking at Fiona's pictures glumly. "Oooh, she looks fiiiiiine as fuck! Wow, she's totally up Zeke's alley." "What, because she has white hair?" "That, and she's got a killer body, and what a cute face. Oooh! She's got those killer cheekbones and fierce eyes. Are those contacts?" "Will you focus?"
"Her pussy must look like a roast beef sandwich after you." Han dodged Raven's lunge, taking her seat. Raven looked up awkwardly smiling at Mister Linette and quickly returning to her chair. Han scrolled through the photos downloading several of them. "What are you doing!?" Raven hissed. "Giving you some things to sample for your next DJ session." Raven readied herself to leap at Han. "I'm kidding." She said printing off the photos. "Gonna need all the angles to get a good sketch of her." Han snatched the photos, noticing Raven staring at a peculiar photo. "You see something?" "Yeah...She's got a tattoo on her neck." Han took a closer look. "What the fuck is that? A hammer? Who gets a hammer there? I guess if she wanted someone to hammer her throat, but I mean she's into the buns not the dog." "Will you stop!?" Raven exclaimed. "Make me." "Do you butt into everyone's relationships?" "Just the ones I can fix." "Wait. Where are you going? Shouldn't you help her look?"
"I got to draw a picture of your daughter. You keep making that phone call. Also, you should know one thing." "Han don't!" "You need to take a shower. Fuck you smell bad." She sauntered out. He gave a wry smile. "I suppose I should take a shower before stinking up your room Raven." He left her room. She slumped into her seat taking a deep breath. Raven came down the stairs after thirty minutes finding everyone gathered around the whiteboard, except for Han and Skye. "Did you find anything Raven?" Zeke asked. "Not much. Her last post was about how excited she was about leaving for her first Rift." "Anything else? Even if you think it's stupid or inconsequential." Sunny said. "Well...she got a tattoo. Not sure why that design, but I haven't spoken to her in about a year. So I don't know if it's anything-" "It's a gang tattoo." Han said walking down the stairs with a piece of paper. "My daughter isn't in a gang-" "With all due respect sir. You can't even tell your daughter is gay. So how about we shut the fuck up?"
He scoffed in disbelief shaking his head at her. "Fiona isn't-" "She loves pussy more than Zeke." "Why me specifically?" "She doesn't know what she's saying sir. You can just ignore her." "Raven, I love you girl, but why are you defending this piece of shit?" "Han, care to explain?" Zeke asked. Han handed Zeke a picture of her Facebook posts. Zeke sighed handing the piece of paper around pinching between his brow. "What? What are you showing them?" "You sent Fiona to a Conversion camp." Han snarled. Raven snatched the post noticing the geo-tag. "You didn't send her to Heaven for a look around. You sent her there because that camp didn't work." Han said clenching her fists. "I-I-" He stumbled back seeing everyone glare at him. "I HAD TO! She was confused! I was helping her like any good father would have!" "Mister Linette...when did you send her to this camp?" Raven asked her hands trembling. "What does that matter now? She's missing and we need to go find her."
"Raven, what kind of Rift is she from?" Sunny asked. "A green one. Like me." Raven snarled. "Answer her question, and answer it right. It might save your life." Han said. "I don't know!...maybe...maybe a year and half ago." "Han you can-" Raven startled everyone letting out a visceral scream. She shoulder tackled him to the ground, shattering his jaw and nose. She took his leg snapping it like a twig. He reeled back letting out a scream of anguish thrashing in her grip. Everyone took a step back staring with wide eyes. She snarled grabbing his other leg and snapped his femur like a glow stick. The wet crunch and spray of blood made everyone wince and shutter. She threw his legs down. "YOU'RE THE REASON SHE DISAPPEARED! DID YOU KNOW ABOUT US!? IS THAT WHY YOU DID IT!?" His eyes glazed over and he began to convulse. Raven raised her fist. Zeke caught her wrist. "Let me kill him!" "After we find Fiona, and after he's paid us. You can do whatever you want to him, and more when his bones have recovered. For now, we need him alive." Raven spat stomping off.
Han stood over him. "Is...is he dead?" "He's going into shock. Moon can you keep him warm, but not on fire." "Fine, but he deserves more pain." "You can reset what's left of his bones. For now we need more information, and he's in no state to give it. Red, take first watch on him." She saluted Zeke. "Um, are you sure Red is the best person to leave guarding a piece of shit like him?" Sunny asked. "His legs are practically jelly. What's he gonna do?" Moon said dragging him. "I heard screaming. What happened!?" Skye said panting atop the stair case. "Good fucking god! What happened to him?"