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Mountain City was home to a few magical safehouses, though that was in all honesty the wrong word to use for them. Safehouses were often remote, barren, devoid of contact with the outside world. These were nothing like that at all. They were Nightclubs, bars, or other similar establishments that happened to be nestled away in spots only accessible with the right spells or trinkets. Most of them were also considered glamour free zones. That meant that any being or creature that relied on glamours or other such means to disguise their appearance could freely ignore using them within the confines of the establishment, no need for maintaining the Masquerade, as it was often called by certain groups and circles.

Wonderland was just such an establishment. A nightclub within another nightclub named The Looking Glass. Entry could be found in one of two bathroom mirrors, one for the Men's room and one for the Lady's room respectively. One also had to have in their possession a specific playing card, what that card was changed from night to night to ensure that only the trustworthy could gain entry into Wonderland. Some nights the designated card was an Ace of Spades, other nights it could be Jack of Diamonds, or 4 of Clubs, or any one of the 52 cards found in the deck. Both clubs were owned by the same family, a pair of sisters named Alice and Alyssa. Alyssa managed the Looking Glass and was always on the lookout for anyone undesirable trying to get into Wonderland, while the older sister Alice was in charge of Wonderland, employing a pair of ogres as her personal bouncers and bodyguards. Meanwhile, Alyssa employed a security detail of her own, bouncers armed with concealed handguns but were also stone golems glamoured to look human.

Both clubs were roaring that night, although Wonderland was the more active of the two. There were all sorts gathered around gambling, drinking, and eating. Vampires, Werewolves, Warlocks, there were creatures from seemingly every folktale and urban legend you could imagine crowding the club. Even the sisters themselves were 4th generation practitioners of witchcraft, meaning they could likely hold their own in the event their security failed them. At one of the card tables, a group including 2 vampires, a warlock, and a demon sat around eyeing each other, as if they were waiting for any of the others to pull a fast one in their game. The betting pot was quite high stakes, and it included a few cursed gems, a bottle of demon's blood, and even a human soul.

"Well, sorry to say, Gentlemen but... 2 pairs." said one of the vampires, revealing two 8s and two 10s in his hand before briefly flashing his fangs with a smile, "And I dare any of you to try and beat that."

"You sure about that?" asked the Warlock, now showing his own hand, "3 of a kind, all Queens. Pretty sure that tops your pairs." he gave a smirk, but he wasn't smirking for long.

"Please..." the second vampire, a woman, then revealed her own hand. She had four Jacks, "...I do believe this beats both your hands, yes?" she reached forth to claim the pot but the demon quickly forced her hand down on the table to stop her, "No way, impossible!" said the vampire as the demon then revealed his own hand. A full house consisting of 2 Kings and 3 Aces.

All three of the other players stared in surprise and in anger. All of them had been so sure of their hands only for this demon to show them all up. The demon released the vampire's hand and claimed the pot, notably going for the phial that contained the soul first. But as he did a waitress bumped him from behind, and suddenly a pin clattered onto the table. Almost immediately the demon's form hazed and blurred until it was gone, revealing a man in a black trench coat and hat, a silver scarf covering most of his face.

"You!" shouted the Warlock, who was on his feet instantly and made a break for it. Before he could get too far there was a loud, explosive ring and the Warlock shuddered before falling to the floor, with Noir also standing and his now smoking gun pointed in the direction the Warlock had been running. The music halted, as did all the games and conversations going on and every eye in the club stared at Noir as he calmly walked toward the body of the Warlock and knelt beside him. The Warlock was still breathing, Noir hadn't hit him with a strong enough shot to kill him, but he was out like a light. Noir received a small card from his pocket and held it over the Warlock's form, a mist emerged and seemed to suck the Warlock in, his picture then appearing on the face of the card to indicate his capture.

Noir silently stood up, but before he could move any further he felt a heavy hand of an ogre on his shoulders and saw a very peeved looking woman storming toward him, "Damn you, Noir!" she barked, pointing an accusing finger at the masked detective, "How many times have I told you that Wonderland is a [i]NEUTRAL ZONE[/i]?" it was clear they had had this conversation before, possibly even multiple times. As for the detective, he remained still but responded with a calm and even tone.

"And how many lowlifes do I keep finding in here using your so-called "neutral zone" as a shield to hide from the law?" While many mystical or magical beings didn't follow the human laws, there were certain laws and creeds created for them to follow instead. The most important ones being about maintaining secrecy and never exposing magic to the humans. Noir had come to be the guy known for enforcing those laws, the first Noir having done so in the old days and this newer Noir following suit in the present day.

"Hmph, that ain't none of my business." Alice said, scoffing. She didn't give a damn about the laws, she only cared about her business. Patrons were patrons, it didn't matter if they were fugitives or not.

"Maybe not, but is [i]my[/i] business." Noir shot back, never once losing his cool, "Now are you gonna call off your ogre or am I gonna have to add you and your sister to my to-do list?"

Alice rolled her eyes, irritated, but she snapped her fingers and the ogre holding Noir in place released him and returned to his post, "Just get the hell out of my club, and I better not see you here again for a week at least, got it?"

Noir had started walking toward the exit mirror by now, but he briefly turned around and tipped his hat in acknowledgement, "Hope you stay out of trouble." he said and then disappeared into the mirror and back out into the real world.