1:22 AM — Ascension Gala, Cargo Hold — Shirley's POV
The two Smileys moved first. Neither spoke, neither hesitated.
Their polished shoes scraped across the aluminum floor as they rushed forward in perfect unison, identical smiles stretched unnaturally across their faces.
"Mine," Michonne said calmly.
Shirley didn't argue.
He dashed toward the Smiley on the left, cleavers already drawn. "You got this Shirley…. Don't freak out." He thought to himself.
The Smiley reached into his coat.
Too slow.
Shirley ducked beneath a wild swing and drove the hilt of one cleaver into the man's ribs. The Smiley barely reacted.
"…What?"
The man only smiled wider. His fist came crashing downward.
Shirley barely rolled away before it dented the aluminum flooring.
Behind him, Michonne's katana met a metal baton with a sharp ring. She twisted her wrist, redirecting the strike before driving her knee into the Smiley's stomach.
Nothing. Not a grunt, not a single cry… Just that same smile.
"…They're not normal," she muttered.
Shirley regained his footing. His opponent lunged again.
This time Shirley didn't retreat. Strength Presence surged through his arms.
He stepped inside the Smiley's guard.
Two quick flashes. One horizontal, one vertical.
The man's eyes widened. A heartbeat later, blood followed.
The Smiley stared at the stumps where his hands had been.
Then… He smiled.
"…Still smiling?" Shirley whispered.
The man grin became broader.
"What the hell is wrong with you?!"
Michonne glanced over while parrying another strike.
"They don't care about pain," Her voice remained perfectly steady, "They're conditioned."
The Smiley in front of her suddenly abandoned defense altogether, throwing himself directly onto her blade just to grab her arm.
Michonne's eyes narrowed, "…Suicidal."
She released her katana. The Smiley stumbled forward.
Before he could react, She caught the falling sword with her opposite hand and drove the pommel into the side of his head.
The crack echoed through the cargo hold.
He collapsed instantly. Shirley's eyes widened in shock, he felt his muscles tense.
Silence, for exactly one second.
Then, "INTRUDERS!"
A mechanical voice echoed somewhere deeper within the cargo hold.
Shirley and Michonne froze.
"…Did that come from them?" Shirley asked.
Michonne immediately grabbed her katana. "No."
She looked toward the darkness beyond the rows of cages, "It came from farther in."
Almost instantly, chains throughout the cargo hold began rattling.
Prisoners stirred.
Whispers spread from cage to cage like wildfire.
"They've been found…"
"No…"
"They're coming…"
From somewhere beyond the rows of cells…
Footsteps. They had seemed like they came out of nowhere, there was dozens of them. Dozens. Each step perfectly synchronized.
Michonne's grip tightened around her sword, "…Kid."
Shirley looked over.
"Damn it!"
1:24 AM — Ascension Gala, First Floor: Entertainment District
"…Prisoners have escaped."
D1's voice barely rose above a whisper.
The Entertainment District had fallen eerily silent. Every passenger lay unconscious across the casino floor, slumped over tables, sprawled across chairs, or collapsed against the carpet.
Only four groups remained awake.
August.
D1.
The Smileys.
And the attendants still carrying out orders.
August sat comfortably at a private table, cutting into a neatly prepared meal while a glass of wine rested beside his plate.
He paused, "…Escaped?"
A quiet laugh escaped him, "From the cargo hold?" He looked up at D1, "That's impossible."
He took another bite.
"The cells were designed specifically to prevent that."
D1 swallowed, "I… I know."
She tightened her grip on the edge of the table, "But two Smileys are dead."
August stopped chewing.
D1 continued carefully.
"When something passes through one of my Gray Rings… I know."
"I can feel when they lose consciousness… And I can feel when they die."
She lowered her gaze.
"I felt two of them."
The room became very still.
August slowly set his knife and fork onto the plate.
"…You're telling me…someone escaped."
D1 gave a small, frightened nod.
"I already sent more Smileys to the cargo hold…Almost all of them."
August leaned back in his chair. For several seconds, he simply stared at the ceiling.
Then… He smiled.
"…Michonne."
He chuckled softly, "The Silent Blade."
"I should've expected this."
He swirled the wine in his glass, "I can already picture it. Breaking prisoners out, turning frightened livestock into heroes… How predictable."
His fingers tightened around the stem of the wine glass.
A thin crack spread through it.
"If they haven't resolved the situation soon…"
He looked directly at D1.
"…Bring that wretched gamine to me."
His smile returned.
"I'll handle her personally."
D1 felt a chill crawl down her spine.
"…Yes…"
"…Sir."
1:26 AM — Ascension Gala, Cargo Hold — Shirley's POV
Steel rang through the cargo hold.
Michonne's katana carved across another Smiley's chest before she pivoted aside, narrowly avoiding another that launched itself toward her.
It hit the ground where she'd stood a second earlier.
"…Kid!" she shouted.
No answer.
She looked over. Shirley hadn't moved. His cleavers remained raised, but his feet were rooted to the floor. His breathing had become shallow. The Smileys weren't Smileys anymore.
Not to him. For an instant, they became the resistance. The people who had charged CORE, those who died in seconds.
Blood, screams. CORE's crimson eye.
Watching. Judging. Waiting.
Shirley's grip weakened, "…I…"
His voice caught.
His legs refused to listen.
Fear wrapped around him until he could barely breathe.
"Shirley!"
A familiar voice cut straight through the memories.
His eyes snapped toward it, "EBS…"
She sprinted down the corridor, pink hair bouncing wildly behind her.
One hand gripped a small pocketknife.
The other clutched a leather wallet she'd grabbed from the weapons table.
Without slowing down, she hurled it.
The wallet smacked into a Smiley's face.
It barely hurt him. But it made him turn.
"I know I'm useless! I know I can't fight!" EBS shouted.
She tightened her grip on the knife, "…But you didn't give up on me! So I'm not giving up on you!
She kept running. Her breathing shook.
"I was selfish! I cared more about my phone than everyone here!"
Her eyes watered.
"But…"
She looked directly at Shirley.
"…people can change!"
The words echoed inside his head,
"People… Can change."
His eyes slowly widened.
That world he wanted wasn't impossible.
His grip tightened.
Strength Presence slowly spread through his arms.
"…Then…"
He whispered.
"…I have to change too."
His fear didn't disappear, it was still there. His hands still trembled. But this time, he stepped forward anyway.
Then he exploded forward. Strength Presence erupted beneath his feet. He launched into the air.
His body twisted once, then again, and again. The spinning accelerated until wind spiraled around him.
The nearby prisoners instinctively shielded their faces.
Michonne looked up, "…What?"
Shirley's rotation became faster. The whirlwind surrounding him grew wider. He grit his teeth.
"…For the better of others!"
The wind burst outward.
"Whirlwind!"
He crashed through the charging Smileys like a spinning cannonball.
One after another.
Bodies flew across the cargo hold. Weapons scattered across the floor. Steel bent beneath the force.
The whirlwind finally collapsed.
Shirley slammed shoulder-first into the far wall.
He slid down the steel plating and landed flat on the floor.
Silence.
Michonne blinked.
EBS stared with her mouth hanging open.
"…"
"…Did…"
EBS pointed.
"…Did you mean to hit the wall?"
Shirley groaned from the floor.
"…Mostly."