The Chay Ong Casefiles, Volume One: Always Chasing Rainbows.

Chapter 13: Revelations and Retribution

The first thing they heard when they emerged was singing.

Really bad singing.

After having flowed through whatever exists in a warp in space-time, Chay and Husk emerged into an enormous garage. The walls were brick (and was badly in need of re-grouting), and the floor was dirty, scuffed concrete scarred with rubber marks, scratches, cracks and gouges. Around them were various make-shift tables, filled with various papers, chemicals and cardboard boxes. The Assault Vehicle, the one they had tailed to this location, was haphazardly parked near the corner of the room, its chassis dusty and covered in blast marks. The mini-gun, which had terrorized the denizens of the West Side, laid limp and impotent, crooked on it's base.

H usk whipped his head around, somewhat disappointed. "Well fuck, I thought I was gonna get the claws wet."

Chay whispered in a hushed tone. "You still just might, but we need to do a little reconnaissance. What do we have as far as entrances and exists go?"

"Lemme see..."

Husk and Chay took in the rest of the garage. The only possible exits were a door, and what appeared to be a vent, from which the terrible singing was coming from.

"I'm gonna guess that the door only leads to another part of the hideout. The vent, however, seems to lead to wherever they're torturing cats."

"I'm pretty sure that's singing.", Chay replied.

"You can call it whatever you want", Husk said while scratching his ear. "It's still fuckin murder."

Chay reached into her pocket and produced her gun. She folded the knuckle-duster grip into the gun's body, and folded out the dagger. She stuck her fingers through the rings, and gripped.

"Then our only option is the door. We're still flying blind however..."

Husk grinned and giggled to himself, nodding.

"...What are you laughing at, Husk?"

"Nuthin'...just impressed." Husk flexed his claws. "You really do know your shit. A rookie would have suggested the vent."

Chay looked up at the vent. "Why would I choose the vent? Even if we could fit through it, at best it would lead to a duct, and those collapse under the smallest amount of weight. We'd fall right into the line of fire. Why would anyone attempt that?"

"Why, indeed. But before we go in, I wanna check something..."

Husk walked over to the banged-up Assault Vehicle. He peered into the dark windowshield.

"Looking for something?"

"I wanna check and see if it's unlocked. They might have something in there that could help us"

Husk walked over to the driver's side door and jiggled the handle. The door popped over, easily.

"Wanna have a look?"

Chay tip-toed over to the vehicle and peered inside. The inside of the vehicle was cramped, but serviceable, with seats for both the driver and a passenger, as well as a couple of makeshift benches in the back for transporting additional troops. There was also small ladder that led up to the hatch that opened up to the mini-gun.

On the passenger side seat, was a small piece of parchment.

Chay reached in and grabbed the item, careful not to drop or tear it . It was somewhat brittle, but still stable e nough to have been folded in half like a greeting card.

She looked at Husk and grinned. "Care to guess what's in here?"

Husk smirked. "Easy. It's what they used to get here."