Inside a small café tucked into a quiet corner of the city, Noah and Asher sat across from each other by the window.
Asher looked up from the screen and turned to Noah. "So, what should I do?"
"Tell him that you're with me," Noah said calmly. "And we're fighting with other members of Arcane Keepers, so we can't come to help Owen."
"Alright," Asher said with a nod, quickly tapping away at his phone as he typed the message.
"Done," Asher said, looking up from the screen. "Then what are we going to do now?" he asked sliding his phone into his pocket.
"We will meet with some Arcane Keepers members, of course," Noah said as he stood up from his seat.
"What?" Asher stared at him, caught off guard.
"What's so surprising?" Noah smiled, casually adjusting his jacket. "Didn't I just tell you to tell the boss that? I'm not lying, well, technically."
"That's right, but... I don't get it," Asher said, frowning in confusion. "You say we won't participate in fighting with Arcane Keepers, yet we will meet them?"
"I guess we need to start from the beginning," Noah said, his tone growing slightly more serious. He leaned against the table, looking directly at Asher. "Since the organization was founded, do you know what's the biggest accomplishment of Arcane Keepers?"
"Not really," Asher admitted, his eyebrows knitting together as he tried to recall something useful, but nothing came to his mind.
"They successfully captured three pretty dangerous superpower users," Noah said. His voice lowered slightly, like he didn't want anyone overhearing. "And now these three people are being imprisoned inside their headquarters."
"Wait, do you mean..." Asher's eyes widened.
"That's right," Noah said, a smirk playing on his lips. "We will get inside their headquarters and release them."
"That's crazy!" Asher exclaimed. He leaned forward, clearly agitated. "You're not seriously thinking we can just waltz around enemy territory just like that?"
"In a normal situation, sure," Noah said. He folded his arms and leaned back slightly, his voice steady. "But right now, they're busy dealing with Joker Roulette. They won't be stupid enough to not send at least twice the number of people to handle that. Not to mention I've already set up some traps to make them send even more people far from their headquarters."
Noah looked straight at Asher, his eyes sharp. "Now, how many of their members do you think are protecting their base right now? I bet it's the lowest it's ever been."
"Don't tell me... You've been planning this from the beginning?" Asher said, suspicion creeping into his voice.
"Of course not," Noah said with a shrug. "I just made it up on the spot."
Asher snorted, half amused and half skeptical. "Yeah, right. But raiding the enemy headquarters, huh? That's crazier than my wildest imagination."
"No time for imagination," Noah said as he grabbed Asher's shoulder. "We're leaving now."
The world twisted around them in a blink of light and distortion, and then they teleported away.
Noah and Asher suddenly appeared near a building surrounded by high walls and quiet streets. The area was eerily empty, like the calm before a storm.
"Guh, I still don't like the nauseating feeling after teleporting," Asher said, grimacing and holding his stomach.
"Get used to it," Noah said, already walking forward. "We will do that a lot in the future."
"I guess so," Asher sighed. He glanced up at the building. It loomed above them, wide and solid, with thick walls and minimal windows. "So, this is their headquarters? Bigger than I expected. Do you even know where to find the prisoners?"
"Sure, I have a map," Noah said, pulling out his phone and showing it to him.
"How did you even get that?" Asher asked, blinking in disbelief.
"Someone sold it to me," Noah said with a smug grin. "It was pretty cheap."
"I can't believe it," Asher muttered, shaking his head.
Of course, as a criminal himself, he shouldn't be surprised that people were willing to betray others for their own gain. So the idea that someone in the Arcane Keepers would sell maps like that wasn't strange or out of place.
Especially because he was the same. A traitor. Asher couldn't help but smile bitterly.
Still, the Arcane Keepers were supposed to be the opposite of criminal groups like Joker Roulette. He expected them to act more like heroes or something. Turns out he was expecting too much from them.
Noah studied the map for a few seconds, then looked up toward a room with small windows on the side of the building.
"I guess that room is good enough for us to enter the building," Noah said.
"Can't you just teleport us to the prison directly?" Asher asked. "You already have the map."
"I can't teleport to somewhere I've never seen before," Noah explained. "Maps, photographs, or videos don't count. I need to see the real thing with my own eyes."
"Oh, got it. I guess even you have some limitations," Asher said, still looking a bit surprised.
"Yes, but limitations won't limit me," Noah said, smiled. "You just need to be more creative."
"True, I guess," Asher said with a small nod.
And then they teleported into the room.
The air inside was dusty and dim. A quick scan of the space revealed no one else there.
"Safe, nobody inside," Asher said after a quick check.
They moved to the door at the far end and slowly opened it. Beyond was a long hallway lit by overhead lights and lined with blue walls. The corridor stretched on, quiet and sterile, giving the sense that something important—or dangerous—waited at the other end.
"The prison is in the basement," Noah said, glancing at his phone. "There's a hidden door to there at the end of this hallway."
"Okay," Asher replied, his voice low.
They walked carefully, every step silent, their movements smooth and practiced. For a while, everything seemed to go smoothly—until a nearby door suddenly swung open with a sharp creak. A tall man stepped out from behind it, and his eyes landed on them right away.
"Wait, who are you!?" he said, his voice echoing through the hallway.
"Crap!" Asher said, surprised. They got caught right away!
Instead of panicking, Noah calmly turned slightly toward Asher and said, "Can you handle him?" with a smile.
"I thought you'd never ask," Asher said, grinning with a mix of nervous energy and excitement.
---