6th Street

The surface of the moon developed a thin line across it, revealing a glistening mouth that salivated drifting clouds of spittle.

A combination of moonlight and oriental lanterns lit the street on which Asher stood motionlessly. The sudden change of scenery forced his breath away.

It was almost like he had been placed in another era. An era where stars actually shone in the sky, unobscured by smoke.

Looking around himself, the term 'street' didn't quite hold true. Instead, it was more similar to an enclosed, open-sky courtyard, as long as a block of apartments and as wide as an ordinary street.

There were people here, too. The pedestrians gave him strange looks beneath their masks. They were like him, having been transported through one of the many, many entry points to this place.

Asher couldn't see anyone other than him without a machine-issued mask on, which was understandable. Most people wouldn't want to reveal their identity in this strange place.

However, Asher wasn't worried about that. After all, Little Red had no traceable past in the City.

"Passin' through!" A hand roughly shoved Asher to the side, sending him sprawling to the side.

Asher whirled around, twisting his expression into a hideous glare.

"Why so twitchy?" The voice barked with coarse laughter. "Don't stand still next time, girl!"

The man that pushed Asher aside was only half a head taller than he was, yet nearly twice as wide. His custom-tailored tuxedo failed to hide his grotesquely bulging muscles, and the man's monkey mask barely covered half of his face.

A wide grin could be seen peeking from the edges of his mask. Glittering white and silver teeth, complimented by the darkest shade of black Asher had ever seen on human skin.

Little Red snarled, sneaking her hand into her cloak. The man only laughed once more.

"I wouldn't recommend that. Never been to 6th Street?"

The man didn't wait for Asher to respond, motioning his hand toward the monstrous moon. As it wheezed, clouds of thin spit formed layers of clouds in the sky.

"Unless you're an Urban Nightmare, the moment you grasp that weapon will be the moment of your death."

Asher twitched at the ominous words. He couldn't see any reason for the man's confidence other than if what he said was true.

This was unfamiliar territory.

And... did he say Urban Nightmare?

Urban Nightmare-!

The man's grin widened, and his monkey mask seemed to contort under the building pressure of his facial muscles.

"So it's your first time here, huh?"

"Yeah." Asher spat out a single word, still angered by the man's disrespect toward him.

The man splayed his fingers in an apologetic fashion.

"Well, no wonder you stood there like a dead fish. What piqued your interest here?"

Asher shivered with discomfort as the man leaned closer and placed his hand on his shoulder.

A prompt notified him of the successful 'Mark' that had been placed on the man, whose name he had yet to discover.

"I'm searching for Royal Night. Her business card led to here."

The man placed a pensive hand on his chin.

"That one, eh? Well, good luck then."

Without another word, the man turned away, leaving Asher alone.

"What a strange place this is..." He didn't even catch the man's name, but that was the least of his concerns.

Buildings of various designs lined 6th Street. Most of them were highly inspired from the oriental style.

The buildings, along with the crowds of mask-wearing pedestrians, gave off an atmosphere that Asher had never experienced before.

This really was a haven in the night. He hadn't seen a single Sweeper since he came here, yet the moon was clearly out.

But... was 'that' even the moon anymore? The strange 'moon' in the sky suggested an answer that sent shivers down his spine.

'What is this place?' Asher had teleported to this unknown area, but how?

He stifled his curiosity for now, walking along the rows of shops with as much exterior confidence as he could muster.

Little Red's unique mask drew the attention of the other masked onlookers. Among them could have been Fixers, civilians, members of Syndicates... All whose faces were obscured by red and black.

A few individuals stopped in their tracks, imprinting the appearance of this newcomer into their minds.

Asher kept his steady pace, craning his head up to view the signs on the walls of the surrounding buildings.

As he completed a walk around the left side of the street, he soon understood the general idea of this place.

The 6th Street was like the Neon District, with shops and vendors of various kinds. However, it was placed in a location that Sweepers could not get into at night.

Thus, it was a much truer form of 'nightlife' compared to the faux perpetual darkness of the Neon District.

Now that Asher had acclimated, he found the sea of identical colored masks quite calming. This place was different from the Neon District and its glaring signs and clamoring bustle.

This place was lit by softer lights and filled with thinner, hushed voices. People were more careful in this unknown territory.

Basically, if the Neon District was noisy and distracting, 6th Street was calmer and more... zen?

Asher could see himself relaxing here for a day. He didn't know if that was a good thing or not.

Having seen the left side of the area, he crossed the courtyard to the other side.

The first shop he was greeted with was a dessert confectionary.

The redhead behind the counter was also maskless, wearing a gold necklace identical to his. Her freckles gave her an adorable liveliness as she worked, ringing up orders and working the machines behind her at the same time.

She raised her head, instantly locking her eyes onto Asher.

The two of them had an odd staring contest, in which each person held a hint of confusion in their gaze.

'Why don't you have a mask?'

Both their eyes asked the same question.

The woman tore her gaze away, taking an impatient jackal masked man's order.

Asher found himself waiting in line, entranced by both the aroma of the sweets and his curiosity of the maskless woman behind the counter.

Finally, he got to the front of the line.

"Ready to order?" The woman's eyes were focused solely on his wolf's teeth mask.

"...Why don't you have a mask?"

The woman blinked before erupting into a peal of giggles.

"I live here, ma'am~ But I haven't seen you before, did you come from outside?" She leaned on the counter, sparing some of her time to humor this strangely dressed figure.

Asher nodded. The quizzical glint in his eye asked another question.

The worker's years of experience could easily interpret Asher's expression.

"Oh, there's lotsa people living here. There's plenty to do, and it's certainly safer than the outside!"

She flashed a brilliant smile.

The person next in line cleared her throat. Asher flicked a glare at the interrupter, otherwise ignoring her.

He turned back to the worker behind the counter.

"Living here? In apartments?"

"No, no, there's a hotel down the street. Costs a pretty penny, but business here's an absolute joy! Anything to order for you?"

She hastily apologized to the customer behind him with a placating gesture. Asher took a glance at the menu plastered on the wall.

...

"Rainbow dango for you, ma'am!" The woman called out, making it halfway through her words before Little Red snatched it from her hands.

Three wooden skewers rested on a plastic plate, each piercing through three gelatinous rice balls, pink white and green respectively.

"Asher... How can you expect me to eat this?" Little Red muttered under her breath.

The red-haired worker, just about to take the next customer's order, whirled around again.

"Eh? Excuse me?"

"How do I eat this?"

"Oh, so you take the stick and-" She stuttered, realizing her mistake, "T-The private stalls are over there."

A dozen or so private booths were lined along the back, with a cloth covering half of the entrance to allow visibility of the feet of their occupants.

Asher nodded, bidding the worker goodbye to head to an open stall.

Why did he buy a dessert?

Mostly impulse. But he also got a tidbit of valuable information.

There were people who lived here full-time; there was a hotel on 6th Street.

And considering he didn't have a home for now...

Asher mumbled to himself within bites. His mask lied beside him, on the wooden counter.

The dango was refreshing and sweet, but nothing to take note of.

He took a cash count, scrounging through his cloak.

"Three seventy-six." Relative to what he had in the beginning, Asher was getting tight on cash. Perhaps he wouldn't be able to afford a hotel room, but he doubted that.

Asher grabbed his mask, donning it before heading back to the street.

Back in the watchful presence of the moon, Asher continued his walk down the right half of the street.

This time, he ignored any shops he passed by, making much faster progress through the street. Taking the time to properly explore this place would take days at the very least.

Soon, he reached his destination.

"(6th Street Mercenaries)... This is it."

The strange lady who gave him the business card in his breast pocket should be employed here.

It would be a waste not to check it out.