The Trick to Falling in Style

Rose

Tommy had called in sick. He wasn't actually sick, but he had spent most of the night running around Essempei. He hadn't had a wink of sleep. That alone was enough to force him to stay in bed for a few hours, but he also had a lot to deal with. Beau and Kamikaze had provided a substantial amount of information, and he needed to sift through it all. He wanted to trust that Crowfather would work with the other heroes to fix the issue regarding the hybrids in Logstedshire, but he knew that was wishful thinking. He knew that he should stop getting involved before he was discovered, but he couldn't stop when he was close to solving this whole mystery himself.

Tommy lazed in his bed for a few hours. He found himself fading in and out of sleep in a semiconscious state where he was aware of the world but not himself. When the sun started to peek through the cracks in his closed curtains, he launched himself onto his feet. He didn't feel refreshed, but he wasn't seconds away from passing out. He walked over to the desk in his corner. All his electronics were booted up and the papers Ender had given him were spread out on the desk.

Beau had messaged him a few times on his Vermillion phone. It wasn't technically a phone. It certainly looked like a damaged one, but it was only programmed to take messages from a select few people and listen to police transmissions. A hero Tommy hadn't seen in years had been the one to program it. She sent him a link to her most recent update on her website, and she told him all the theories she had about what was going on. She decidedly did not mention the fight the two of them had been in before he left to deal with the riot. Tommy was glad. He didn't want to talk about it, either.

Tommy looked at his regular phone that functioned in accordance to the standard definition of a telephone. Sam had asked him if he was alright half an hour ago, and Tommy made sure to respond to that text before he faced Beau and the hard truths of what was going on in Logstedshire.

Beau agreed with Tommy that the Pit was most likely responsible for everything that was happening. Beau had scourged up every rumor she could that had been circulating about the Pit recently. She sent them all to Tommy. The ones she had written at the top were the most important and most likely. As he went down, the rumors became more improbable. Tommy focused on the first few that Beau had written down. The Pit was still operational. It suffered from losing its best fighters a few years ago, but it had found a new group. Tommy didn't recognize the names. He noted that the new fighters had impressive or downright odd powers. He hoped they would want to be free instead of trying to fight him. It would make his job a whole lot easier if he found himself some allies instead of more enemies. Currently, the Pit was being hosted in the outskirts of Logstedshire near the wall that protected Essempei from the rest of the Overworld.

Beau had already formulated a plan of attack. She made it clear in her descriptions of the plan that she was a vital part that he couldn't afford to leave behind. Sometimes, Tommy forgot that Beau was once one of the best fighters in the Pit. Her powers weren't flashy, and her species wasn't terrifying. Beau was simply intelligent and strategic. She objectively knew how to win, and she was stubborn enough to risk the odds to complete her plans. She refused to fight for a long time after being free of the Pit. That was the reason she was Vermillion's tech support instead of a traditional sidekick. It seemed she had overcome her fear, or perhaps she was more scared of sending Vermillion in alone. He found the gesture sweet either way, and he knew that he would be bringing her along. He didn't want to put her in danger, but he needed someone to push all the glory onto to avoid attracting rumors about his reappearance. He was pushing his luck by staying in the limelight. Soon enough, she would find him again and put an end to all of this.

Beau prepared for them to hit the Pit in a few days time. Everyone and their mothers would be showing up on Saturday night. Apparently, the leader of the Pit was making a rare appearance with a special gift to all his loyal patrons. Beau didn't have a clue what the gift could be, but Tommy had a dreadful feeling that it would be accumulation of potion that made hybrids unable to resist their base instincts.