In the depths of the sewers, an ambiguously illegal crime was being hatched between a monster and a blind man, with the minions born of death as their servants.

  The newly acquired newspaper in all its yellow stained glory, was opened out to a specific page that had the attention of Bob and Marlo. A list of the richest and most influential men and women in each District, a monthly staple that those people cannot get enough of when it comes to bragging rites.

  All of the names had up to date pictures beside them, and only a handful of them having non, with them being reclusive and secretive. For instance, the person at #1 on the list for District 6, he did not have a picture, only his name, Joseph Vanadra. Unfortunately for Marlo, he needed a picture to go along with a name if he wanted to do a tarot reading for them.

  Bob and Marlo had been sat down for several hours, diligently making their way down the list, and constantly striking out. The people were either not dying anytime remotely soon, or when they did find one, the woman was going to die by being thrown into a meat grinder, obviously not leaving a body to manipulate after her death.

  Poor Marlo had been using his powers that often, that he had to rely on smoking his blue crystals to give him enough energy to carry on. The deck of tarot cards in front of him had been marred by drops of blood numerous times from his eyes, a side effect of overuse. Thankfully the power of his tarot cards rendered any dirt inert, and refused stains of any kind to blemish their surface.

  Bob spoke up excitedly in an attempt to give his friend some encouragement, whereas Mr Squeeks jumped up and down on his shoulder, in his own futile attempt at giving encouragement.

  "You've got this Marlo! No, no, Marlo the Magician!"

  Marlo inhaled deeply on his pipe, the glowing blue rock sent a steady stream of smoke into his lungs. The moment the drug took effect, he quickly put the pipe down, wiped the blood from his eyes, and then got to work. Marlo placed his hand on the page and Bob grasped his index finger, placing it on the next name on the list. Marlo activated his power and the name and picture on the paper flowed into his mind, and then enacted the reading.

  District 4, #7 on the list was Julius Dinghurst, with an up-to-date image beside him. The pale faced man was in his late fifties, with curly blonde hair that he took great pride in.

  Marlo silently drew three tarot cards and lay them face down. A moment later and he turned the first card, it was an image of a heart with an arrow piercing through it. The card made Marlo smile, hastening him to turn over the next card. What presented itself was an hourglass with the grains of sand all firmly residing at the bottom.

  Marlo's breathing became erratic at that point, with the two cards being very fortuitous for them, and extremely ominous for poor Julius. Even Bob who was watching was aware that the cards were a good sign for them, and he was becoming excited.

  Turning over the third card, the series of Roman Numerals made Marlo shout out, the speed and ferocity of his withered vocal chords made Bob jerk back in surprise.

  "HELL YEAH! We got a winner! God damn it, finally a lucky break!....Ohhh I can't wait to meet our lil piggy bank"

  Bob turned to the side and raised a hand to high five in celebration, not to the excited drug addict opposite him, but to the undead crocodile beside him. The two touched claws and had unrestrained looks in their eyes. Mr Crocks look was for the happiness his master will feel, and Bob's was for to finally have a full stomach and a decent meal.

  "That date Marlo, it's tomorrow isn't it?"

  Rubbing his hands together and swaying his upper body, Marlo replied.

  "Yeah, yeah. That piggy banks gonna have a heart attack. We just need to make sure we're close to grab his corpse.....Oh yeah, give me another hit, a got one last thing to do"

  The sudden thought hit Marlo and filled in the final puzzle piece. With it being so close to the time of the persons death, he would be able to use his power to get a grasp of his location.

  Bob held the pipe in his claws, making sure to not touch the suspicious sticky substance that was using to seal up the cracks he made. Inserting it in his friends mouth, the latter inhaled deeply, finishing off the blue crystal in a single breath.

  Not even bothering to wipe the blood away this time, Marlo fully immersed himself in the images that were flowing into his mind. One reason was so he would not miss anything and would be able to find the location, and the other was it was extremely rare that he would see things, with the only way being his ability, or in dreams.

  The images that flooded his mind told him exactly what he wanted, gracing him with a residence that he thankfully knew of, from the time before he lost his eyesight.

  "Bobby boy, I got it! The damn piggy bank lives at the old Colin's estate, must of moved there after a lost ma eyes"

  Bob was in the processes of packing away Marlo's tarot cards for him, when he paused and replied, a dire thought creeping into his mind.

  "Marlo, do you know where that is though?"

  Acting like he heard the dumbest question imaginable, Marlo forced his shaking legs to stand, and then proceeded to place his hands on his hips and look down at Bob.

  "Damn ugly bastard, of course a know where it is! I just mentioned it by name didn't a!?...Now, who am I?"

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  Bob took that opportunity to stand up and get a drink of polluted water from the tent, as he replied. Marlo had no idea he had moved and continued to stare at the ground.

  "Hmmm, a drugged up, blind stick insect?"

  "What!? I'll beat yo ass! Now who am a damn it?"

  Marlo kicked at thin air, the sudden lack of a solid object to hit, caused his leg to wobble and nearly sent him back to the ground.

  "Sure, sure. You're Marlo the Magician! The amazing, great and awesome Magician!"

  "Damn straight I am!"

  Bob took a big drink of water and then thrust it into Marlo's hands, hopefully getting him to shut up and not perform his annoying dance.

  "Now get some rest and sober up, we'll be busy tomorrow. I want to get there nice and early"

  The next morning, Bob and Marlo were making their way towards their targets residence. Sat comfortably on the undead crocodile, Marlo held his right hand out and let it drag across the surface of the sewage pipe. Not out of some perverse need to accumulate filth on his hand, but for the mental map of the sewers that was in his drug addled brain.

  Walking beside him, Bob was adorned in his usual black cloak, with the golden sun emblem now visibly duller from the layers of dirt. They had been walking for over an hour, and the suspense was starting to make Bob become a little worried.

  "You sure you know the way Marlo?"

  For once Marlo did not reply with disdain, his mind was too focused on his mental map, and seemingly the memory he was about to access was a painful one.

  "Yeah a know it all right....Before a lost ma eyes a was hired by the Collins family to do a reading....."

  Marlo did not elaborate any further, with even Bob and his low EQ, he understood it was something he did not want to talk about. After that, the group continued on in silence, the noise of the hustle and bustle of life, be it foot traffic, vehicles, or busy establishments, was the only noise present. Soon enough though, that noise subsided and indicated they had travelled to a place that was sparse of people.

  The endless network of tunnels came to an abrupt end, with a ladder presenting itself in front of them that led to a rusted metal door.

  "We're here. If it's all the same as it used to be, then up that ladder leads into the equipment shed"

  "Why would a shed have sewer access? You sure Marlo?"

  Marlo's skinny body shook as he contained the anger at being questioned, especially about something he was positive of.

  "In case the drains are blocked an they need sewer access obviously! I'm a sewerologist, now shut your damn uglyassologist face up!...Tsch, doubting me an shit"

  After saying that, Marlo fell silent and seemed to be deep in thought. This behaviour from Marlo was a brand new sight for Bob, long gone was his exuberant and confident tone. Not knowing if trying to comfort the man was the right thing to do, he opted for acting like nothing was wrong.

  Bob looked up at the metal door and considered his options. A large rusted square door, had an inaccessible hinge on one side, and a large padlock on the other. The door had obviously not been opened in numerous years, with the only way being to either come to the sewers and remove the padlock, or remove the hinges from the top side. The odd design was implemented as it was basically never supposed to be opened, but it had to be there by governmental law during construction of the residence.

  Climbing up the ladder, Bob grasped hold of the padlock, a simple twist later, and the peace of mind and security made of solid metal was a thing of the past. The twisted remnants of the padlock clanged about the floor of the sewage pipe, and broke Marlo out of his self imposed stupor.

  "Eh, was that the padlock? Piece of crap must a been fragile with age. Tsch, Collins wouldn't of let that crap happen....There might be a bar across it from the other side"

  Bob had also considered that option, and had previously decided on just bending the metal, or blasting it open with a solid punch. Those two options would of created a lot of noise, and left evidence that pointed back to the sewers, something neither of them wanted. That was why Bob and Marlo were extremely happy when the metal door opened with ease, but only thanks to Bob's strength that allowed him to be able to ignore the rusted and warped metal.

  "It's open Marlo. Mr Squeeks, you're up"

  Extending his arm, the undead rat crawled out from under Bob's cloak, and made its way through the slightly open metal door. Bob dropped back down before taking a seat, and then closing his eyes to concentrate.

  Now through the hole, the undead rat could see clearly, and so could Bob by sharing its vision. Controlling the rodent, he could clearly see that the building he was in was not a simple shed, well not a shed by normal standards. The building was a converted barn, with its size being bigger than most peoples homes.

  A vast multitude of tools lined the barn, from gardening implements, be it shovels, shears and lawnmowers, to even boxes marked as broken weapons and armour. With the advent of the change of the world and Dungeons popping up everywhere, nearly every home would possess basic weapons and armour, even more so if entering Dungeons was a prospect.

  Bob thoroughly scrutinized the place and saw it was clear, with no living people present, and no obvious security cameras being installed either. A sudden sight against the wall made Bob near shout in surprise, and scare Marlo off Mr Crocks.

  "Ahhh!"

  "What, what is it? Is someone there?"

  Bob quickly realised his actions and spoke up to comfort Marlo, all the while the undead rat above carried out an action for Bob.

  "Sorry Marlo. I just saw something that's useful. Don't worry, it's clear up there, I'll help you up in a minute"

  Forcing his heart to calm down, Marlo was surprised he was that jumpy, a thing that went against his carefree philosophy.

  "Damn ugly bastard, ya trana kill me the same way as that piggy bank!"

  Before Bob could answer, the sight of a long pole being dragged to the entrance graced his eyes, before it was directly pushed through the hole. Reaching out his arm, Bob grasped the descending spear, its point aimed downwards and falling towards Marlo's exposed head.

  Deciding not to tell him he nearly died from a falling spear, Bob grasped it tight and manipulated it around. The spear was old and made from a black metal, with a savagely sharp blade at one end, the same material and colour as the shaft. Although it appeared dirt and dust laden, with even traces of ancient dried blood on the tip, the weapon gave off a powerful aura.

  Marlo was not able to feel the choking pressure of the weapon, but Bob was extremely aware of it. The spear felt warm in his hand, a natural fit that made it seem like it was made for him. Sizing up the spear, it only then occurred to Bob just how long the actual weapon was, it being the right size for him, meant it was near impossible for a Human to wield. Ignoring that oddity, Bob spoke to Marlo while he secured the weapon.

  "I found an old spear up there, I'm going to take it back with us...I doubt anyone will notice it missing, it was collecting dust in a corner"

  Bob told the undead crocodile to open its mouth, and then inserted the spear with the blunt end first. The entire weapon managed to fit inside the crocodile, albeit after puncturing through its stomach and other organs, and making use of the tail as storage space.

  After repeatedly muttering the word 'spear' under his breath, Marlo looked at Bob with his head cocked and spoke.

  "Hey ugly, is the spear black?"

  Bob positioned his back to Marlo and let him grab hold, wrapping his arms around his neck. Thankfully Marlo had forgotten to be repulsed by Bob's supposed acid burned skin.

  "Yeah it's black, how come?"

  Eliciting a slight chuckle and a smile, Marlo replied and then muttered to himself.

  "It's nothing.........Maybe the threads are finally getting untangled".