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Description
Sanmiittai Karasu
And the Case of the Missing Model:

Page 1:
Panel 1: See the city from above, a soaring testament to the ingenuity of mankind, though its writhing streets and alleys sprawl out onto the neighboring land and coastal water like an eldritch abomination, with flying vehicles of assorted sizes and shapes moving around like blood cells and pathogens in its veins and a few ground ones chugging along like decrepit cells struggling to perform their function. In the far distance we can see the dock-works and great vessels there, with various culturally-linked neighborhoods dotting the city as well as assorted ghettos and the pristine towers and parks which mask the vile nature of corruption to those who choose to disbelieve the horrors elsewhere in their home, even right next door. Centered in the midst of the picture is the section Karasu works, an area not quite hidden in the armpit of the city, but kept as much as possible out of public watch so as to show both the despite and desperate reliance the officials who keep her out of jail have for her. This panel covers the majority of the page and sets the primary setting and mood of Sanmiittai Karasu.

Karasu (Box, a raven's skull on the left side of it with wires and a couple lights coming off of it and a couple not on but evidently there, matted and oil-covered feathers following a curve along the left and bottom side): "And how may I help you today, Misses...?"

Mrs. Shale (Box, bow of dark ribbon on the top left corner with ends hanging down left side): "Miss. Shale."

Karasu 2 (same as before, though the lightning has changed to the ones that weren't on before): "Already had the divorce papers signed by your spouse then?"

Panel 2: Wide, starting with the far left with soon-to-be Mrs. Shale, who is sitting down in the foreground, clutching a small curved-corners plastic container with a glass panel on the top that is reflecting too much to see clearly into it. The skin is lighter on her left hand's ring finger as she has obviously worn one for a while but taken it off recently. Spreading to the right we see Karasu's office with its various assorted wall decor with hints of simplicity, functionality and yet also designs that speak to her Japanese ancestry. There is a small table between Mrs. Shale's seat and Karasu's desk, greatly signifying the distance she tries to put between herself and others. On the far right we see a turned chair and the smoke of Karasu's pipe, as well as a small reflection of her in the window whose blinds aren't quite dropped all the way but are at least halfway down.

Mrs. Shale (bubble): "No, he hasn't yet..."

Mrs. Shale 2: "But how did you?"

Mrs. Shale 3: "Nevermind, that isn't important or related to why I'm here. You see-"

Karasu (bubble): "You have a case that needs solving which involves the cryogenic case you have there."

Page 2:
Panel 1: Karasu standing, seen from her right side, still puffing her pipe, a finger on her left hand pulling down part of the blind as she looks outside. Her back is still to Mrs. Shale but we can see a few holes in her coat on the side. Her sunglasses are on and yet her eyes are faintly glowing behind it as she is recording, her right hand having two fingers to her face in the space between her ear and her eye pressing on it lightly.

Karasu (bubble): "Whose missing digit is it?"

Panel 2: Looking out the window at a downward angle, seeing the finger and blind framing the scene in the center. Outside a floor down in the street a car is passing by slowly and a man is standing at a food vendor, making an order but turned a bit as he is waving his payment band over the payment reader to show that he is trying to watch Karasu's office with clenched teeth.

Mrs. Shale (off-panel, bubble): "It... It belongs to Emily."

Mrs. Shale 2: "M-My sister."

Mrs. Shale 2: "I had the prints ran to be sure."

Panel 3: Karasu lowering the blind the rest of the way, as seen from the ground by the man watching her office. He's clenching a cup of coffee in one hand so hard it explodes and the other hand is holding a bag of food.

Karasu (bubble, coming from office window): "Emily Longport, the model?"

The Man (bubble with connected trail to lower bubble): "That bitch..."

Vendor (off-panel, bubble in the space between The Man's two bubbles): "Sir, be careful, you're going to spill your-"

The Man 2 (pained bubble): "GRAAAAGH!"

The Man 3 (bubble connected to bubble directly): "FUCK!"

Panel 4: Karasu facing Mrs. Shale, seen from over her shoulder, her client in the background, setting the cryo case on a table in front of her, tilted at Karasu. Now we see the former top of the case clearly, the severed finger visible inside being chilled to keep it preserved, and one can clearly tell that it was not a clean or cauterized cut. Mrs. Shale is pressing a button on the side of the case now.

Mrs. Shale (bubble): "Yes. She came into town to help me out with my... divorce."

Mrs. Shale 2: "I went out to get us some more wine from this little place on East End..."

Mrs. Shale 3: "I'd... I'd drank it all when I found out Perry had been cheating on me."

Mrs. Shale 4: "When I came back she was gone and this case was on the table in a pool of her blood."

Page 3:
Panel 1: Karasu standing in a somewhat ghost image of the room the case was found in, with Mrs. Shale's past self wailing in anguish as she sees the case and it starts to play its message. She's puffing her pipe in the image, her sunglasses down with one hand as she is reviewing the scene. The case is covered in blood on the bottom inch and a little spatter on the side facing the reader. Blood running down the side of the table and along its legs to the bottom of the panel and off it. The 'internal commentary' pieces are accompanied by little diagrams and such which will be referenced in their depiction description. Covers almost all of the page with blood pooling out the bottom of it where the table's legs are into the black darkness beneath the panel.

Mrs. Shale (Box, bow of dark ribbon on the top left corner with ends hanging down left side, blood dripping from the ribbon's tip now): "I... I saw that the recording was on the case and pressed it, just like I'm playing back for you now."

Internal Commentary (Question Mark next to Mrs. Shale at the top. Text to the right of it): "Emily Longport purportedly has only one sibling who she has referred to in interviews as 'Nay-Nay'. Nancy Shale could be her, but their eye color and hair color doesn't match. Half-sisters? Adopted? Possible chemical treatment and contacts for either due to their line of work? Lying about relation?"

Case (Box, distorted edges and font with varying sized and font lettering to show how much its been scrambled): "DeLiVeR OnE mIlLioN tO 24 GaCY sTreEt's DoOrmAt bY MiDnIGhT."

Case 2 (same): "No PoLIcE!"

Case 3 (same): "nO fUnNY BuSInEsS!"

Case 4 (same): "Or THe MoDEl LoSEs MorE tHAn a FInGer!"

Internal Commentary 4 (Question Mark. Sketch diagram of the severed finger next to it as seen from side, top and severed bottom, with line connecting the diagram to the cryo case's top. Text below): "Severed with seration. Not a clean cut. Ransom logical, Parts Pirates would make more from cleanly seperating out organs and freezing them for transport than the asking price. Mrs. Shale is a fashion designer, but 'sister' more famous. Why not reverse the kidnap, take her? Lying? Emotional reasons more important than financial? Direct strike against her from competitor? Retaliation for divorce from spouse?"

Internal Commentary 3 (Question Mark next to the case at its bottom. Lines along three of its sides to measure its dimensions, [5, 7, 4]. Text to right): "No blood on the case. Difficult to clean out and why? Guilt? Out, damn'd spot! out, I say!—One; two: why, then 'tis time to do't.—Hell is murky... Multiple blood sources possibly? Lying? Blood is thicker than water, knows who took 'sister'?"

Page 4:
Panel 1: Karasu extending a hand toward Mrs. Shale and it being shaken. We see Karasu's left side and Mrs. Shale's right. Shadows behind Mrs. Shale turn into ravens looking down upon her with clear lines showing the same as Karasu's internal commentary style within them. About half the page height.

Ravens (murky black text outlined in white with no bubble): "Lying!"

Ravens 2: (same, different location): "Never trust a liar!"

Ravens 3: (same, different location): "Never Trust! Never More!"

Ravens 4: (same, different location): "Peck out her false lies!"

Ravens 5: (same, different location): "Take the liar's eyes!"

Karasu (bubble, connected to lower bubble by thin trail): "I'll take on your case Mrs. Shale, five-thousand up front, three-hundred dollars an hour."

Mrs. Shale (bubble): "Oh, thank you! Thank you!"

Mrs. Shale 2: "I'll have it wired immediately!"

Karasu 2: "If you have the ability to pay the price, then I suggest you do so."

Karasu 3 (connected to bubble directly): "You wouldn't want to tip off the kidnappers and I'll make sure it doesn't escalate further."

Panel 2: Karasu at the destination, 24 Gacy Street, which seems to be an abandoned apartment building, but there is razorwire at the top of a chain-link fence. A lamppost is close to the fence alongside the sidewalk.

Narr. (box, white on black with border of circuitry-like lines):

"Later..."

Karasu (bubble): "Hmmm."

Internal Commentary (Question Mark. Next to razor wire. Text below.):

"Too much security for an abandoned residential building to have been put there

by the actual owners."

Internal Commentary (Question Mark. Next to the lamppost. Lines measuring the height of the lamppost and circling around its circumference. Trajectory lines from her current position to the lamppost at a point higher than her own height and then another arcing over the fence. Text below.): "Structural integrity... Sufficient."

Panel 3: Karasu afterimages where she was taking the leap, kicking off the lamppost and leaping again, a dent where her foot had been to press off of it. Her true self is landing silently on the other side of the fence. Internal commentary lines forming a set of wings on her back spread open on her landing true self.

SFX (small, where the dent is): "KRRNCH"

Box (Box, a raven's skull on the left side of it with wires and a couple lights coming off of it and a couple not on but evidently there, matted and oil-covered feathers following a curve along the left and bottom side): "Now to find the model..."

Page 5:
Panel 1: Mrs. Shale setting a case on the doormat of the building, looking back at the readers with nervous worry on her face, about to walk away it seems.

SFX (at door, small): "CLICK"

Panel 2: Mrs. Shale grabbed with a cloth to her mouth.

Mrs. Shale (muffled scream, bubble): "MMPPHH!"

Panel 3: Karasu in the basement of the building, creeping around, a window open behind her with a torn plastic covering she came through visible in it. Karasu looking around, seeing machinery.

Panel 4: Karasu peering in at one of the machines as seen from behind, where it seems that flesh masks are being grown of multiple different people. A machine next to it has the hands of different people being grown as well.

Karasu (bubble): "Now it all fits."

Karasu 2: "Clever..."

SFX (near the bottom of the panel): "Click"

Stranger (off-panel, bubble): "Glad you think so."

Stranger 2: "Turn around, hands up."

Stranger 3: "Slowly."

Page 6:
Panel 1: Karasu's head raised up, as she slowly is turning, keeping her eyes on the stranger, who seems to be a woman from how her curves are obvious despite the head to toe black attire. She has a gun in her hand aimed at Karasu. Two magnifying glasses visible in the page, showing a closer detail where they are looking. One is looking at the edge of the woman's mask to show the hair color which is light enough to stand out from the bleak attire. The other is at the gun, seeing that indeed the earlier sound was the safety being released, but that the stranger's finger isn't on the trigger but in front of it.

Karasu (bubble): "Ms. Longport, I presume..."

Karasu 2: "The model life not exciting enough for you, hmm?"

Karasu 3: "Decided to stage a kidnapping where you'd disappear and lead another life with the help of a parts pirate?"

Emily Longport (bubble): "Oh, you are good..."

Emily Longport 2: "He said you were, but I had to know for myself."

Panel 2: Close-up of Karasu's face with her eyes glowing behind her sunglasses, and we can clearly see the scars by her eyes, most prominently the largest one from the knife wound earlier working for the government but also the small marks from the surgery for her cybernetic eyes. The center of her eyes has an internal commentary lined raven skull and behind her we see multiple skeletal ravens in the darkness starting to come forth.

Karasu (bubble): "Only you needed a payment worth not simply being back-stabbed and having your own parts sold while you were under."

Emily Longport (bubble): "My own sister, yes..."

Karasu 2: "Chosen because she didn't call you to support her through the divorce but to confront you."

Karasu 3: "She thought you were the one her husband was cheating with and was going to tell the media if you didn't give her a nice tidy sum to keep quiet."

Karasu 4: "And you just couldn't have that, now could you?"

Panel 3: Emily's hand shaking a bit as we see her face in shock.

Karasu (off-panel, bubble): "But you weren't cheating with him. He's your parts pirate, and he helped you clone a hand and sever a finger to help hide how fresh it was."

Karasu 2: "You left the message knowing she'd seek out help regardless of what you said though, so why me?"

Emily (wavering bubble, barely more than a whisper, connected to her second below by a wavering trail): "Y-Your eyes..."

Karasu 3: "Because he recommended me to her, just like you wanted. Because you needed an all new identity crafted for you and you knew someone local who'd do it for you, but he wanted me gone."

Emily (same as before): "What the hell are you?"

SFX (near the bottom right of the panel): "CREEEAAK..."

Page 7:
Panel 1: Karasu with afterimages of her arms and hands as she lowers both, again as she is reaching into her coat, and finally the true position as she has a gun in both hands, one aimed at Emily, one at the man. Emily starts turning her head and has an afterimage of that, then a shocked face as she is looking back at Karasu. A man dressed in all black coming down a set of stairs with a gun slowly but botched everything as the stair creaked. A flash of gunfire from each of Karasu's guns and one from Emily's own. Internal commentary lines of raven skeletons and feathers are surrounding Karasu as well as the start of trajectory lines from her guns and that of Emily's aiming at her and Perry's at the stairs still. covers most of the page.

Emily (bubble): "Perry?"

Perry (bubble): "Emily, watch out!"

Karasu (bubble): "Too late."

Panel 2: Pitch black, save the SFX and bubble.

SFX (First spaced out from the other two): BANG! BANG! BANG!

Karasu (wavering, bubble trailing to bottom of the panel on the right): "Nnnghh..."

Page 8:
Panel 1: Karasu checking her side while still holding a gun in each hand, the side having a graze from the gunshot and a little blood, but not so much that she'd bleed out from it.

Karasu (bubble): "Shit..."

Karasu 2: "I just got this shirt."

Panel 2: Karasu squatting next to Emily's corpse on the floor and putting one of her guns into her coat. The gunshot havs gone through Emily's right eye. Emily is in the foreground and Karasu behind her, internal commentary lined ravens starting to flutter down toward Emily's corpse.

Karasu (bubble): "Tch."

Panel 3: Karasu stepping over Perry's corpse as she goes up the stairs, his body slumped against the wall and stairs, a stain on it from around the bullet hole in the wall trailing down to his head, with the hole being in side of his skull. Internal commentary lined ravens preched on the railing, a couple looking at his corpse, but a few more watching Karasu as she continues upstairs.

Panel 4: Looking over Karasu's shoulder as we see the man from the street who had been watching her, standing and trying to untie an unconscious Mrs. Shale. Karasu is holding her gun out in front of her. The man is sweating clearly, but seems to have steady hands. There are two large gasoline containers near his feet.

The Man (wavering bubble): "Damned freak..."

Page 9:
Panel 1: Karasu putting her gun away, pulling out her pipe.

The Man (wavering bubble): "One of these days you're going to go in alone and I won't be there in time to get the hostage to the hospital to get the chemicals out of her before she croaks."

Karasu (bubble): "And one of these times Frank..."

Panel 2: Karasu holding the stem of the pipe against Frank's jugular vein, pressing lightly. An internal commentary lined raven is perched on Frank's shoulder looking at him. His eyes are wide in fear and sweat is trailing down his face.

Karasu (bubble): "I'll get tired of your half-assed attempts to have me done away with and decide that I've got a new dirty cop I can trust to do cleanup without anyone else raising questions."

Panel 3: Karasu taking a gasoline container and starting to spread it as she puts the pipe into her mouth, not lit yet. Officer Frank Douglas is taking Mrs. Shale away in his arms, trembling a little.

Karasu (bubble): "Just do your damned job Officer Dougal, and get the victim to the hospital without getting the brass involved."

Karasu 2: "It's what you're good at."

Karasu 3: "I'll cleanup the mess you made and maybe the recording files will get 'corrupted' when I back them up again, hm?"

Panel 4: Karasu walking along the sidewalk with the dented lamppost, the abandoned apartment building burning on the right side in the background as she is puffing her pipe and walking toward the readers, her eyes glowing behind her shades.

Box (Box, a raven's skull on the left side of it with wires and a couple lights coming off of it and a couple not on but evidently there, matted and oil-covered feathers following a curve along the left and bottom side): "Case solved."

Description
Sanmiittai Karasu
And the Case of the Missing Model:

Page 1:
Panel 1: See the city from above, a soaring testament to the ingenuity of mankind, though its writhing streets and alleys sprawl out onto the neighboring land and coastal water like an eldritch abomination, with flying vehicles of assorted sizes and shapes moving around like blood cells and pathogens in its veins and a few ground ones chugging along like decrepit cells struggling to perform their function. In the far distance we can see the dock-works and great vessels there, with various culturally-linked neighborhoods dotting the city as well as assorted ghettos and the pristine towers and parks which mask the vile nature of corruption to those who choose to disbelieve the horrors elsewhere in their home, even right next door. Centered in the midst of the picture is the section Karasu works, an area not quite hidden in the armpit of the city, but kept as much as possible out of public watch so as to show both the despite and desperate reliance the officials who keep her out of jail have for her. This panel covers the majority of the page and sets the primary setting and mood of Sanmiittai Karasu.

Karasu (Box, a raven's skull on the left side of it with wires and a couple lights coming off of it and a couple not on but evidently there, matted and oil-covered feathers following a curve along the left and bottom side): "And how may I help you today, Misses...?"

Mrs. Shale (Box, bow of dark ribbon on the top left corner with ends hanging down left side): "Miss. Shale."

Karasu 2 (same as before, though the lightning has changed to the ones that weren't on before): "Already had the divorce papers signed by your spouse then?"

Panel 2: Wide, starting with the far left with soon-to-be Mrs. Shale, who is sitting down in the foreground, clutching a small curved-corners plastic container with a glass panel on the top that is reflecting too much to see clearly into it. The skin is lighter on her left hand's ring finger as she has obviously worn one for a while but taken it off recently. Spreading to the right we see Karasu's office with its various assorted wall decor with hints of simplicity, functionality and yet also designs that speak to her Japanese ancestry. There is a small table between Mrs. Shale's seat and Karasu's desk, greatly signifying the distance she tries to put between herself and others. On the far right we see a turned chair and the smoke of Karasu's pipe, as well as a small reflection of her in the window whose blinds aren't quite dropped all the way but are at least halfway down.

Mrs. Shale (bubble): "No, he hasn't yet..."

Mrs. Shale 2: "But how did you?"

Mrs. Shale 3: "Nevermind, that isn't important or related to why I'm here. You see-"

Karasu (bubble): "You have a case that needs solving which involves the cryogenic case you have there."

Page 2:
Panel 1: Karasu standing, seen from her right side, still puffing her pipe, a finger on her left hand pulling down part of the blind as she looks outside. Her back is still to Mrs. Shale but we can see a few holes in her coat on the side. Her sunglasses are on and yet her eyes are faintly glowing behind it as she is recording, her right hand having two fingers to her face in the space between her ear and her eye pressing on it lightly.

Karasu (bubble): "Whose missing digit is it?"

Panel 2: Looking out the window at a downward angle, seeing the finger and blind framing the scene in the center. Outside a floor down in the street a car is passing by slowly and a man is standing at a food vendor, making an order but turned a bit as he is waving his payment band over the payment reader to show that he is trying to watch Karasu's office with clenched teeth.

Mrs. Shale (off-panel, bubble): "It... It belongs to Emily."

Mrs. Shale 2: "M-My sister."

Mrs. Shale 2: "I had the prints ran to be sure."

Panel 3: Karasu lowering the blind the rest of the way, as seen from the ground by the man watching her office. He's clenching a cup of coffee in one hand so hard it explodes and the other hand is holding a bag of food.

Karasu (bubble, coming from office window): "Emily Longport, the model?"

The Man (bubble with connected trail to lower bubble): "That bitch..."

Vendor (off-panel, bubble in the space between The Man's two bubbles): "Sir, be careful, you're going to spill your-"

The Man 2 (pained bubble): "GRAAAAGH!"

The Man 3 (bubble connected to bubble directly): "FUCK!"

Panel 4: Karasu facing Mrs. Shale, seen from over her shoulder, her client in the background, setting the cryo case on a table in front of her, tilted at Karasu. Now we see the former top of the case clearly, the severed finger visible inside being chilled to keep it preserved, and one can clearly tell that it was not a clean or cauterized cut. Mrs. Shale is pressing a button on the side of the case now.

Mrs. Shale (bubble): "Yes. She came into town to help me out with my... divorce."

Mrs. Shale 2: "I went out to get us some more wine from this little place on East End..."

Mrs. Shale 3: "I'd... I'd drank it all when I found out Perry had been cheating on me."

Mrs. Shale 4: "When I came back she was gone and this case was on the table in a pool of her blood."

Page 3:
Panel 1: Karasu standing in a somewhat ghost image of the room the case was found in, with Mrs. Shale's past self wailing in anguish as she sees the case and it starts to play its message. She's puffing her pipe in the image, her sunglasses down with one hand as she is reviewing the scene. The case is covered in blood on the bottom inch and a little spatter on the side facing the reader. Blood running down the side of the table and along its legs to the bottom of the panel and off it. The 'internal commentary' pieces are accompanied by little diagrams and such which will be referenced in their depiction description. Covers almost all of the page with blood pooling out the bottom of it where the table's legs are into the black darkness beneath the panel.

Mrs. Shale (Box, bow of dark ribbon on the top left corner with ends hanging down left side, blood dripping from the ribbon's tip now): "I... I saw that the recording was on the case and pressed it, just like I'm playing back for you now."

Internal Commentary (Question Mark next to Mrs. Shale at the top. Text to the right of it): "Emily Longport purportedly has only one sibling who she has referred to in interviews as 'Nay-Nay'. Nancy Shale could be her, but their eye color and hair color doesn't match. Half-sisters? Adopted? Possible chemical treatment and contacts for either due to their line of work? Lying about relation?"

Case (Box, distorted edges and font with varying sized and font lettering to show how much its been scrambled): "DeLiVeR OnE mIlLioN tO 24 GaCY sTreEt's DoOrmAt bY MiDnIGhT."

Case 2 (same): "No PoLIcE!"

Case 3 (same): "nO fUnNY BuSInEsS!"

Case 4 (same): "Or THe MoDEl LoSEs MorE tHAn a FInGer!"

Internal Commentary 4 (Question Mark. Sketch diagram of the severed finger next to it as seen from side, top and severed bottom, with line connecting the diagram to the cryo case's top. Text below): "Severed with seration. Not a clean cut. Ransom logical, Parts Pirates would make more from cleanly seperating out organs and freezing them for transport than the asking price. Mrs. Shale is a fashion designer, but 'sister' more famous. Why not reverse the kidnap, take her? Lying? Emotional reasons more important than financial? Direct strike against her from competitor? Retaliation for divorce from spouse?"

Internal Commentary 3 (Question Mark next to the case at its bottom. Lines along three of its sides to measure its dimensions, [5, 7, 4]. Text to right): "No blood on the case. Difficult to clean out and why? Guilt? Out, damn'd spot! out, I say!—One; two: why, then 'tis time to do't.—Hell is murky... Multiple blood sources possibly? Lying? Blood is thicker than water, knows who took 'sister'?"

Page 4:
Panel 1: Karasu extending a hand toward Mrs. Shale and it being shaken. We see Karasu's left side and Mrs. Shale's right. Shadows behind Mrs. Shale turn into ravens looking down upon her with clear lines showing the same as Karasu's internal commentary style within them. About half the page height.

Ravens (murky black text outlined in white with no bubble): "Lying!"

Ravens 2: (same, different location): "Never trust a liar!"

Ravens 3: (same, different location): "Never Trust! Never More!"

Ravens 4: (same, different location): "Peck out her false lies!"

Ravens 5: (same, different location): "Take the liar's eyes!"

Karasu (bubble, connected to lower bubble by thin trail): "I'll take on your case Mrs. Shale, five-thousand up front, three-hundred dollars an hour."

Mrs. Shale (bubble): "Oh, thank you! Thank you!"

Mrs. Shale 2: "I'll have it wired immediately!"

Karasu 2: "If you have the ability to pay the price, then I suggest you do so."

Karasu 3 (connected to bubble directly): "You wouldn't want to tip off the kidnappers and I'll make sure it doesn't escalate further."

Panel 2: Karasu at the destination, 24 Gacy Street, which seems to be an abandoned apartment building, but there is razorwire at the top of a chain-link fence. A lamppost is close to the fence alongside the sidewalk.

Narr. (box, white on black with border of circuitry-like lines):

"Later..."

Karasu (bubble): "Hmmm."

Internal Commentary (Question Mark. Next to razor wire. Text below.):

"Too much security for an abandoned residential building to have been put there

by the actual owners."

Internal Commentary (Question Mark. Next to the lamppost. Lines measuring the height of the lamppost and circling around its circumference. Trajectory lines from her current position to the lamppost at a point higher than her own height and then another arcing over the fence. Text below.): "Structural integrity... Sufficient."

Panel 3: Karasu afterimages where she was taking the leap, kicking off the lamppost and leaping again, a dent where her foot had been to press off of it. Her true self is landing silently on the other side of the fence. Internal commentary lines forming a set of wings on her back spread open on her landing true self.

SFX (small, where the dent is): "KRRNCH"

Box (Box, a raven's skull on the left side of it with wires and a couple lights coming off of it and a couple not on but evidently there, matted and oil-covered feathers following a curve along the left and bottom side): "Now to find the model..."

Page 5:
Panel 1: Mrs. Shale setting a case on the doormat of the building, looking back at the readers with nervous worry on her face, about to walk away it seems.

SFX (at door, small): "CLICK"

Panel 2: Mrs. Shale grabbed with a cloth to her mouth.

Mrs. Shale (muffled scream, bubble): "MMPPHH!"

Panel 3: Karasu in the basement of the building, creeping around, a window open behind her with a torn plastic covering she came through visible in it. Karasu looking around, seeing machinery.

Panel 4: Karasu peering in at one of the machines as seen from behind, where it seems that flesh masks are being grown of multiple different people. A machine next to it has the hands of different people being grown as well.

Karasu (bubble): "Now it all fits."

Karasu 2: "Clever..."

SFX (near the bottom of the panel): "Click"

Stranger (off-panel, bubble): "Glad you think so."

Stranger 2: "Turn around, hands up."

Stranger 3: "Slowly."

Page 6:
Panel 1: Karasu's head raised up, as she slowly is turning, keeping her eyes on the stranger, who seems to be a woman from how her curves are obvious despite the head to toe black attire. She has a gun in her hand aimed at Karasu. Two magnifying glasses visible in the page, showing a closer detail where they are looking. One is looking at the edge of the woman's mask to show the hair color which is light enough to stand out from the bleak attire. The other is at the gun, seeing that indeed the earlier sound was the safety being released, but that the stranger's finger isn't on the trigger but in front of it.

Karasu (bubble): "Ms. Longport, I presume..."

Karasu 2: "The model life not exciting enough for you, hmm?"

Karasu 3: "Decided to stage a kidnapping where you'd disappear and lead another life with the help of a parts pirate?"

Emily Longport (bubble): "Oh, you are good..."

Emily Longport 2: "He said you were, but I had to know for myself."

Panel 2: Close-up of Karasu's face with her eyes glowing behind her sunglasses, and we can clearly see the scars by her eyes, most prominently the largest one from the knife wound earlier working for the government but also the small marks from the surgery for her cybernetic eyes. The center of her eyes has an internal commentary lined raven skull and behind her we see multiple skeletal ravens in the darkness starting to come forth.

Karasu (bubble): "Only you needed a payment worth not simply being back-stabbed and having your own parts sold while you were under."

Emily Longport (bubble): "My own sister, yes..."

Karasu 2: "Chosen because she didn't call you to support her through the divorce but to confront you."

Karasu 3: "She thought you were the one her husband was cheating with and was going to tell the media if you didn't give her a nice tidy sum to keep quiet."

Karasu 4: "And you just couldn't have that, now could you?"

Panel 3: Emily's hand shaking a bit as we see her face in shock.

Karasu (off-panel, bubble): "But you weren't cheating with him. He's your parts pirate, and he helped you clone a hand and sever a finger to help hide how fresh it was."

Karasu 2: "You left the message knowing she'd seek out help regardless of what you said though, so why me?"

Emily (wavering bubble, barely more than a whisper, connected to her second below by a wavering trail): "Y-Your eyes..."

Karasu 3: "Because he recommended me to her, just like you wanted. Because you needed an all new identity crafted for you and you knew someone local who'd do it for you, but he wanted me gone."

Emily (same as before): "What the hell are you?"

SFX (near the bottom right of the panel): "CREEEAAK..."

Page 7:
Panel 1: Karasu with afterimages of her arms and hands as she lowers both, again as she is reaching into her coat, and finally the true position as she has a gun in both hands, one aimed at Emily, one at the man. Emily starts turning her head and has an afterimage of that, then a shocked face as she is looking back at Karasu. A man dressed in all black coming down a set of stairs with a gun slowly but botched everything as the stair creaked. A flash of gunfire from each of Karasu's guns and one from Emily's own. Internal commentary lines of raven skeletons and feathers are surrounding Karasu as well as the start of trajectory lines from her guns and that of Emily's aiming at her and Perry's at the stairs still. covers most of the page.

Emily (bubble): "Perry?"

Perry (bubble): "Emily, watch out!"

Karasu (bubble): "Too late."

Panel 2: Pitch black, save the SFX and bubble.

SFX (First spaced out from the other two): BANG! BANG! BANG!

Karasu (wavering, bubble trailing to bottom of the panel on the right): "Nnnghh..."

Page 8:
Panel 1: Karasu checking her side while still holding a gun in each hand, the side having a graze from the gunshot and a little blood, but not so much that she'd bleed out from it.

Karasu (bubble): "Shit..."

Karasu 2: "I just got this shirt."

Panel 2: Karasu squatting next to Emily's corpse on the floor and putting one of her guns into her coat. The gunshot havs gone through Emily's right eye. Emily is in the foreground and Karasu behind her, internal commentary lined ravens starting to flutter down toward Emily's corpse.

Karasu (bubble): "Tch."

Panel 3: Karasu stepping over Perry's corpse as she goes up the stairs, his body slumped against the wall and stairs, a stain on it from around the bullet hole in the wall trailing down to his head, with the hole being in side of his skull. Internal commentary lined ravens preched on the railing, a couple looking at his corpse, but a few more watching Karasu as she continues upstairs.

Panel 4: Looking over Karasu's shoulder as we see the man from the street who had been watching her, standing and trying to untie an unconscious Mrs. Shale. Karasu is holding her gun out in front of her. The man is sweating clearly, but seems to have steady hands. There are two large gasoline containers near his feet.

The Man (wavering bubble): "Damned freak..."

Page 9:
Panel 1: Karasu putting her gun away, pulling out her pipe.

The Man (wavering bubble): "One of these days you're going to go in alone and I won't be there in time to get the hostage to the hospital to get the chemicals out of her before she croaks."

Karasu (bubble): "And one of these times Frank..."

Panel 2: Karasu holding the stem of the pipe against Frank's jugular vein, pressing lightly. An internal commentary lined raven is perched on Frank's shoulder looking at him. His eyes are wide in fear and sweat is trailing down his face.

Karasu (bubble): "I'll get tired of your half-assed attempts to have me done away with and decide that I've got a new dirty cop I can trust to do cleanup without anyone else raising questions."

Panel 3: Karasu taking a gasoline container and starting to spread it as she puts the pipe into her mouth, not lit yet. Officer Frank Douglas is taking Mrs. Shale away in his arms, trembling a little.

Karasu (bubble): "Just do your damned job Officer Dougal, and get the victim to the hospital without getting the brass involved."

Karasu 2: "It's what you're good at."

Karasu 3: "I'll cleanup the mess you made and maybe the recording files will get 'corrupted' when I back them up again, hm?"

Panel 4: Karasu walking along the sidewalk with the dented lamppost, the abandoned apartment building burning on the right side in the background as she is puffing her pipe and walking toward the readers, her eyes glowing behind her shades.

Box (Box, a raven's skull on the left side of it with wires and a couple lights coming off of it and a couple not on but evidently there, matted and oil-covered feathers following a curve along the left and bottom side): "Case solved."