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**Chapter 02: Crime

Half an hour earlier...**

"So.." whispered a feminine voluptuous tone, "Did you get any more information on Brass..?" Two young fox girls walked through the cold park. One, the more sultry and feminine of the two, was dressed in revealing, but sharp pink-tinted business attire, fur an albino white. The other was a red fox, in mangly street clothes and military boots. The red fox beside her sighed, and looked in the other direction, toward an empty swing, stale. Her white muzzle barelly moved. "No," the red fox put it bluntly. From the scarce clothes the two of foxes wore, it seemed like cold day seemed like it would chill both of them to the bone. The social vixen wore almost all pink, in light tones, full cleavage over a tight-fitting button-up shirt which reached below the waist line of her darker skirt. Instead of wearing heels, she wore fur boots, pink as well. The other and much less social girl wore a dark purple shirt, an upside down neon green happy face between her equally large, if not larger breasts. A short skirt fluttered beneath the curved torso, oddly matched with those military boots. "Patty, are you losing your touch..?" snickered the albino fox, staring up at the red city sky. The white fox's pale eyes reflected the dark purple clouds, ominous of rain. Finger spinning a loose necklace over her open cleavage, her muzzle pursed a modest grin. The other fox was obviously annoyed. She softly growled low, as she stopped walking. "I don't know why you call me Patty. It's annoying, stop.." she continued to stare at the still swing. The wind sighed a bit, pushing the swing toward her, before it was tugged back in place. "I can call you whatever I want, I'm your big sis," the woman stopped too, then turned and strutted briskly back to smile down at Patrice and put a slim paw on her head. The fox twisted quickly away from her older sister, and her green eyes braced against her sister's, her lavendar hair swiftly ending the glare as it fell in her eyes. "I'm not going to get your stupid information if you keep treating me like this." "Tsch," annoyed, the older one's grin faded, looking aside as well, "You do it for me because you're my sister too. For the same reason I tease you, you have an obligation to me. I'd do whatever you asked of me, Patty." The fox looked down at her older sister's feet, then tore her sights away, down the path back into the streets. Cars gently drove down the wet streets, an elderly-looking man coughed as he turned the page of that day's newspaper. "Really?" Patrice's eyes moved to the elderly man, and then to the other bench, "What if I tell you to leave me the hell alone." Softly, she broke away from her sister, and moved on. The white fox opened her mouth, but all that came out was a single noise, before she closed it again. 'Fine,' she thought, turning to the other direction, putting the hot cocoa in her gloved paws to her lips, sipping the top froth away. An eager grin draped across the businessman's black muzzle, "So you'll help with the study, then.." Two men sat in a tranquil coffee shop. One was a scientist wearing a red trenchcoat that doubled as a lab coat, a black turtleneck and green khakis under its large size. The tiger was oddly black, a rare occurence, as well as his green eyes. Green-tint glasses were protecting them from the light and suspision. The other was a mere caucasian human with long raven black hair framing his dulled white eyes, an odd victorian-style crimson cape over his shoulder, and a gold plate armor entirely covering his right arm on the table next to his coffee cup. The two discussed arrangements for bio-alteration volunteering. "Hmm..." his voice of the human was dark, though casual, but it portrayed him extremely gothic, "What does this... ToddTech do, anyway..?" Jared's eyes faltered for a second, then he instinctively pushed the glasses up on his nose to protect himself. "Science.. Mostly," he replied, eyes glancing down at the cocoa on the table. "Hmm?" the human's white eyes looked toward the tiger, though not directly at him, "Mostly..." "Ah-- uhm, yes," answered the tiger with a nod, turning his head silently at the human, wondering what his problem was, "Science mostly. But we buy and sell products as well, and we have some ToddTech-made items, like chocolate, computers.. weapons--.." Todd almost cursed himself out loud. He bit his lip for blurting the word 'weapons' near the same sentence as 'ToddTech' so carelessly. That section of the company was a secret, even from most of the company itself. The human sighed, and put both hands on the table. One was wrapped in bandage, scars marking over the places on his arm that weren't concealed, and the other loudly banged the hard wood under the gold palm. "And.. I should trust such a company... with my life?" strangely, his pale eyes still looked straight past Todd, who was getting nervous now, still avoiding eye contact. "Well.. yes, if you want to help shape biotechnology. If you don't, that's fine too, you don't have to do this.." The man sighed and shook his head, more messy hair falling into his face, concealing an eerie and lifeless stare in Todd's general direction. "When do you want me in?" "Oh," Todd leaned back, as he looked back at the human, and in the same action, wished his green gaze would brake away from the white-eyed human, the gaze at him confusing and concerning, "I, uhm, didn't mean right away. We're only in the beginning stages of creating the serum, and the chemicals we're using are extremely volatile.. Anything could happen if we treat you to it right away. We need to calm some of the more violent chemicals.." "Huh..." the man leaned back as well, eyes wandering aside of Jared, letting him go, "So, that's when you'll make me telepathic..?" Todd almost immediately sat up. But the man simply smiled faintly, which seemed like a rare sight, proven further by its fading a second later. "Then it'll be like I have real eyes.." "Vince. Vince, do you hear me?" the grey-beige wolf's communicator vibrated on his pant thigh. He sighed. Vince reached into an inner pocket of his white labcoat, before exploring another pocket, trying to find the voice. His yellow eyes trailed down along the formal and pale yellow shirt he wore. As his eyes caught the thick green khaki jeans that wound to his upper ankles, he spotted his communicator, and slipped it off the small loop on his leg's side. The button on it pressed down heavily from the strong weight of Vince's thumb. "Yes, yes, I hear you. But.." he sighed again, shaking his head to the side, staring at the monitor that listed the chemical properties of something, "I've just started to get a hang of these chemicals you told me to work on.. " "Oh?" Todd's voice paused for a second. Vince heard a soft breath noise on the other end, "That's good news. How long is it going to take to be ready? A month?" "Mmm," he studied the screen, rubbing an eye with a palm, "Maybe... longer. I- I don't know. You know how dangerous this is, we have to be cautious. I don't want to have to ship something off thinking someone's going to die." "Hmmph," Todd snickered, "We deal with death all the ti--" "Jared," Vince's voice was stern as he straightened his sights away from the screen. "Whatever, don't pesker me, I'm going to be doing some ' repainting' here in a little bit," there was another pause, leaving Vince time to study the screen further with the side of his eyes, "I just have to wait for the right time..." As the tiger muttered those words, his green eye caught a certain silky woman crossing behind some cars. She appeared to have the same cup of cocoa Jason Vincent had ordered before he had left the coffee shop. He glanced deviously at the cup he had in his own hand, and began a slow grin, "Too easy." "Is this about the security lapse? You can barely make anything out, the cameras weren't functioning well," Vince's voice sounded under the loud mess of conversations around the street beside the coffee shop, "Don't do anything you'll regret, you hear me Jared? Jared! Jared!!" With a sigh, the red fox had stopped herself in front of the old man.'... Hayden was.... No... Just... leave it alone.'_The elderly man softly coughed as he, in sincere silence, turned the page next to her. Startled, Patrice stiffened up a bit before looking toward the old man. In front of the violet and grey-haired elder, the headline on the front of the paper blared at her."High-Security Company Misses Thief!"Under the headline was a greyed-out and blurry picture of a woman wearing stocking gloves, and a short skirt. She cursed herself softly, stared down at those exact clothes, and turned back toward where her sister was about to go before she tore away. Hayden told her sister the job would be easy and she wouldn't be seen. Jared Todd's organization, ToddTech, wasn't just a company that studied science and sold stupid consumerisms. There was a dangerous side to ToddTech, a side the Verté family could use, extort for their benefit, led by a mysterious man named Brass. But if either one of the siblings slipped up, the cruel house of spies would go Queen of Hearts on the two of them. Patrice could even imagine Brass, despite knowing nothing about the assassin king, screaming "Off with their heads!" now that she knew she was caught. Her heart was racing. She could barely keep herself composed, restrained steady walk turning into a fumble to hurry, which then evolved into a desperate sprint into the streets. "Fucking.... ugh...!" she pumped a fist down through the air and used the same paw to push past a group of people standing in the middle of the sidewalk. As she bolted out into the street, she was nearly hit by a few passing cars, which angrilly honked at her despite making it safely onto the opposite sidewalk without disturbing traffic. Glaring down the walk, she tried to distinguish Hayden's shape, and nodded vaguely upon seeing her. Hayden couldn't be more than ten feet away from her, and was turning down an alley, coffee cup in hand. "Hayden..!!" She recieved no response. Sighing, Patrice moved past the milling crowd in the streets to get to the alley Hayden escaped in. "So... You're the newspaper girl.." a dark voice replied to a light figure, a mere two feet ahead of Patrice. As the red fox's eyes fell into the street, she saw Hayden leaning over a garbage bin, coffee cup over the opening, coffee straw in the side of her mouth. As Brass - the man who they were hunting, the man who Patrice had stolen from, and the man Hayden made a fool of on her newspaper - made his presence known with his calm, yet accusative voice. The cup dropped straight into the bin. "... Yes, I publish the Daily Dragoon.. Would you like an autograph?" Her eyes turned on Brass. The vixen's hands, Patrice could tell, were shaking with anxiety, but Hayden hid them from the tiger's sights. Even as she played it smart, she made the mistake of playing dumb to Brass. "You're also the woman on the front page.." Brass shook his head, "You should know who I am. You stole files from me, stole video from me, then tried to make a fool out of me in front of the entire city.." "I-I don't know what you're talking abou--" "Hayden Verté, publisher of the Daily Dragoon. She's going to have a grand show for Sphere's first Invaluables Museum three days from now. She's also a fierce competitor to get top story with three other publishing companies," Brass glanced to the side, to a huddled couple, then back at at Hayden, "and soon, she'll mark her peak in her fame and public carrier, because the day Hayden Verté dies, all her competition will have a field day reporting on it." A loud gasp immediately escaped Patrice, who then put both paws over her face, and hid behind a dumpster. Jared took a glance toward the dumpster, raising a brow. This gave Hayden ample time to start a quick get-away - or so she thought it would be. The vixen whirled about, fled down the alley she she screamed loudly and theatrically. "Eeeek..!! Someone..!! Help meee...!!" shrieked Hayden at the top of her lungs. Patrice thought to herself frantically. There were at least five people in the alley. How was he going to kill her so fast-- The bangs of a rapid-firing gun echoed throughout the alley, reverberating through the dumpsters, shaking the onlookers and the apartment walls connecting to the alley. The red fox covered her ears, and as quick as the gunshots came, a gasp of breath struck through her heart as a fleshy slam onto the cement showed her sister's upturned face. Bloodstained, locks of hair scattered over her agonized eyes. Hayden gazed aside to Patrice, making a gurgled plea for the fox to run. Soon, death made its solid claim, and Hayden was gone. Only Patrice remained with the five strangers, and the master assassin. It was too late for it to matter, but the fox quickly realised why Hayden had put the picture on the family newspaper. The image was blurred, black-and-white. More importantly, if Hayden had the videotape, ToddTech wouldn't. The ultimate public humiliation, and a story only they could get. Patrice cursed herself as she stared toward Hayden's body. She wished she didn't have to die as well. "What the hell is he doing..?" Vince's jaw almost dropped off his muzzle, "There were six onlookers standing around the alley when he shot her!" "Vince, haven't y'seen the papers?" Grandon's soft voice sounded from the front of the front chair. ".. What about them? I don't see any excuse he'd have for doing something like this and blowing his cover." Grandon released a soft exhale. "V, there was a tape stolen from here while I was in the bathroom. The tape had a chick hired by her, stealing files on all our guys." Slowly, the wolf took a step forward, ".. She took the staff list? Wh.. why..? How would she even know where to look?" "I'd think instead of finding the tape, I'd find the thief and the reciever, and off both of 'em before they had a chance to give it to anyone else," Grandon sighed, "Well, you know, that's what I'd do anyway." "You're not a strategist..." Vince quietly put a paw on the back of his chair. Softly, Brass sighed ahead of the fox. She felt his eyes turn toward the dumpster. Patrice's body tightened, and her eyes lidded. His footsteps began to start again, but as he walked past her, Patrice realised they were leading him out of the alley.'What the..'_ she watched Brass appear, and then walk back into civilization, _'.. he's.. getting away. No , I can't let him get away..!'_She sat up quickly, but took only a single step forward before a queited groan interrupted her. "N..ngh..." Patrice turned, and looked down at Hayden's body with wide eyes, "Hay..-!" "Shut up.." Hayden's voice said hushedly, grogilly. Brass' footsteps were unnoticeable now, hidden amongst the rest of the crowd outside, too far to hear. No one was in the alley anymore, all had dissapeared in fear. ".. Hayden, you're.." Patrice softly stared down at her, "... but.. your heart stopped.. I heard it.." A slow grin grew on the white fox's face. Vince's beige paw slammed into the table in front of Grandon, on the wide screen. Grandon knew whenever Vince doubted himself, he would slam his paw into the lab table. He knew from experience. " Ugh..!!" Vince's ears dropped after raising his voice. The wolf's voice was rough and digital on the screen, and low in volume at that. "Vince, keep your cool.." Grandon shook his head. His voice was very soft, but didn't suit his appearance. Grandon was a robust red dragon. He constantly wore an orange-yellow hoodie, sleeves rolled up to the elbow. He wore green shorts, and sneakers without socks on his rarely-seen lower half, covered by the heavy control panel in front of him. He appeared fatter than he was in reality due to build, and his clothing didn't help, since it covered the thinner parts of his large scaly body. He sighed as he glanced across the monitors, mostly mundande scenes, but his eyes stopped before a separate computer on the side from the huge mount of monitors towering over each other. An odd sight to see, and obviously something exceedingly important, though it was obvious the machine wasn't taken care of. A thin and naked beige form moved on the machine. "He thinks he's so powerful.." Vince's muffled and computerized voice said on the far left. The door behind the dragon opened, and eyes appeared on him. The lonely monitor shut off. "So do we have the tape yet..? It wasn't on her body," the coarse and self-important voice wasn't hard to mistake. "JT, you have to give me more time," said Grandon with a shake of his head, "'Sides, how would you know it in't still on her body?" The tiger smirked softly. "Well, I got a chance to see up her skirt when I shot her the first three times.." he somewhat looked up at the ceiling slightly, "and... well, you saw her clothing. There'd be no other way to hide it." "J.." the dragon sighed, and turned the monitor back on from in front of his chair, "Don't you think you're maybe enjoying your job a little too much..?" Gently, Jared nodded. "If my life is my job, and I don't enjoy my job," he hesitated, then glanced to the door, "Well.. That's personal." Grandon stared at the floor below the trashy side computer carefully. "Yes, boss," the dragon sighed, and closed his eyes for a second, "So.. what about that video? We can't just leave it to chance for someone t' find it." "Yeah," Jared said, "Well, there's more important things to worry about, Grandon. You know how to work with chemicals, right..?" The dragon perked up in his seat more. "I.. yeah, J, but just a little, not a whole lo--" "That'll be enough to help me and Vince out. I want you to come up to the lab in maybe... ten minutes. Me and Vince need to talk about what we're working on first." "Yes, boss," Grandon smiled, turning back to Brass just as the door opened. "Ten minutes or sooner. Come when I tell you to. Otherwise ten minutes!" The cold metal door slammed shut as if it were a vault. Grandon sighed, and turned the monitor back on to stare at the naked form again. "Whatever gets your rocks on, boss.." he scoffed.