Stitches woke up to the sudden sound of brakes squeaking against worn tires. He groggily looked around the dimly lit bus. The windows were pitch black, reflecting the lights from within. Besides a couple metamorphs who were light sleepers as well, mostly everyone was asleep. He anxiously looked towards the security guard who now stood hanging from the railing, shotgun dangling from his chest on a shoulder strap.

It seemed he read his thoughts, “we’re not there yet. We have to check in with the gate”

Stitches almost breathed a sigh of relief. As much as he hated to admit it, this wasn’t going to be like the career crime bullshitting he used to do.

Intimidation tactics, spark flashes and brawling worked on humans and much of his edge relied on knowing his territory like the back of his hand. He’d have to change tactics and explore new ways of using his gifts. He was going into the territory of something else now, something unknown.

The bus doors hissed open and a figure got on wearing a similar uniform to the security guard. He paused and looked out into the bus. His finger rose and tapped in their direction, doing a head count. He looked satisfied and turned to leave but stopped before stepping off, turning back towards the security guard and the bus driver.

“Werner is dead”

“Good, fucker had it coming” the security guard snapped back.

The bus driver simply nodded and closed the door as the man stepped off the bus. The bus lurched forward again.

“Who’s Werner?” Stitches asked unsure if his voice would carry to the front.

The security guard looked towards him and grunted questioningly.

Stitches asked a little louder, “Who was Werner?”

“He tried to bail, but had a go at a couple people and robbed a vendor before he left,” he popped a cigarette in his mouth, “no one lasts long trying to escape the Crown of God,” he sparked a lighter a couple times before finally producing a flame to light his cigarette, “especially not when a recovery unit is sent to take back your head.”

“You get killed if you try to leave?” Stitches asked nervously tapping his fingers together.

“You do if you pull that shit. He took the guy’s head off before swiping what he wanted from his shop. Jess is still in the hospital. You almost couldn’t talk her boyfriend off of the recovery team. Wish I got a picture of the faces he made,” he laughed, “but I guess it’s a catch 22, if you buy out of your contract you gotta sell all your good stuff to meet the price. They pretty much shut you out the gates with whatever’s in your pockets at the time.”

“So you’re screwed either way?”

“Yea pretty much. I don’t really get it though, they’ve always treated me well enough,” a disgusting grin crossed his lips, “you know, if you really want out, the most painless way is a trip to the emotional support room.”

“Emotional support? Like a therapist?”

“Nah, the floor in there is just easier to clean.”

The bus driver chuckled.

Stitches scowled “Ah. Real funny.”

The guard continued, “We keep a pistol in there for convenience.”

“I get it alright?”

“Someone’s going to tell you newbies eventually,” the bus driver chimed in, “the ones that hang or cut themselves are a huge pain to deal with. We all just decided to lay a tarp down in a nice quiet room to save us some trouble.”

Stitches didn’t speak he shifted his attention to the rest of the bus. A few eyes stared at him, some to the driver and the guard, a couple were somehow still asleep but most were now staring at the floor and slowly absorbing what was just told to them.

Jerry mumbled something in his sleep to Stitches relief but Maribel began to chew her nails wide awake.

Stitches put his hand on her shoulder, “Hey, don’t worry alright? They’re just trying to rile us up.”

Maribel looked towards him but didn’t stop.

Stitches continued, “They probably get off on messing with new contracts. It’s just some sick joke they use to haze people.”

Maribel’s hands returned to her lap as she turned away, “th-thanks,” she turned back towards him and attempted a shaky smile “thank you.”

Stitches grinned warmly but he didn’t believe completely in what he said. In the window in front of him, pitch black glass half reflected his own face back towards him. He couldn’t make out most of his expression but even so he could still read his own fear.

“Shit” he muttered shaking the thoughts out of his head, That scumbag actually got to me, he thought, No matter what, I have to conduct myself right. Showing weakness here will get me killed.

As his reflection stared fearfully back at him, he grabbed his face to push away his worried look.

Just like Jerry does it.

His hands dropped away and he forced a smile, “There you are. That tough expression can handle anything”

Stitches confident eyes stared back at him for a while until lights from outside slowly pushed the dark away. The busses tires squeaked to a stop again and the doors opened with a hiss.

The guard pulled the cigarette from his mouth, “word of advice, they don’t hold your hand here when you start out. Read the manual they give you. It’s got most of what you need to know in it, the rest of it you can probably pick up if you pay attention. Also, form a group and get it registered. Even if you hardly know each other, there’s nothing but cons choosing to go solo”

Stitches relieved that an attack on his psyche wasn’t made, leaned back into his seat “Huh… That was actually advice,” he muttered quietly.

The security guard dropped back into his seat putting his cigarette back into his mouth and started to gather his things. He stopped and looked up expectedly towards the bus, but was met with empty stares, “This is your stop, everybody off,” his head nodded toward the exit and his focus changed back to packing his bag.

Stitches jostled Jerry awake and stood up. He yawned and stretched as he got to his feet. They were joined quickly by the others gathering into the aisle and slowly funneled off of the bus.