Story Notes:
my next story in the Imperfect universe, and my first real foray into the Film noir/hardboiled area. hope you like it as much as I liked writing it. see if you can spot the inspiration for it. (i'll give you a hint: one came from this site, and the other came from a famous sci-fi movie about androids that needed to be terminated)
The masked avenger
November 2nd. 2300 hours
Someone else has been killed. The victim was a yet another rapist. Murder is no big deal for me; usually I finish the case in a matter of hours or days. They always turn out to be thieves who killed out of fear, or Rapist who took their violent too far. It has been while since the last psycho I had to deal with, and this scene had psycho written all over it. Blood drained and left in several neat bottles at the corpse's side, hair scalped and face ripped out, it's face nothing but a hollow dark hole that told no tale. Even with the violence of everyday life, such crimes where a dime in a dozen. Why did they always have to come to me? Why must they always drag their tired old feet into my office?
It doesn't matter. This was just another murder case, nothing else. What use was there to even write this down when it will all be over in a couple of days and will probably forgotten in some god forsaken pile of papers? Just like every other case I've ever worked on.
.........
Something in my gut told me that this one was different. And my gut was rarely wrong.
The Fifth.
It was raining fire and brimstone outside, ever since the shift; things had changed for the worse not just here, but all around the damn world. The rain was no longer a welcome sight; nowadays it only brought madness, violence, and death. Even if five hundred years had gone by, nothing ever changed, nothing ever really does. Now that everyone was 'Imperfect' things never went back to normal. Suddenly, there were no more deaths by accidents or natural causes. The stories only got more bizarre from there. There was no end to the reports of strange happenings, even in the most of innocent places. Some would say that the day the green ash fell was the day humanity was blessed with immortality; but if you ask me, that was the day humanity was cursed with it. Immortality can only bring suffering in the end; there is no other way to put it. I looked outside the window, and sighted. I remember the days of old when children could go outside and play in peace and harmony. I remember the day when the old park in front of my office brimmed and exploded with the laughter of children. Now I sit and watch it rust away, like some skeleton left to rot in silence. Not really sad, but neither a cheery, just normal. There was a nock in my office door, I simply remained sitting and spoke with a rusted tone, and lately I had been feeling under the weather
"Come in"
The door swung open, it was my superior, Sain. He had once been the leader of Legion, who was currently disbanded for some long earned vacations. Sain seemed irritated at something, I could already tell what he wanted, but I played dumb
"YOU CALL THIS A REPORT!"
He started waving a piece of paper in my face. I remained still waiting for the inevitable lash of his personality. Sain might look and be young, but his attitude was that of an old, crusty, bitter old man, which is what I called him
"THIS IS NOTHING!! Damn you Drake! DO YOUR JOB RIGHT FOR ONCE!!!"
I only sighted, I had no need for this bullshit at the moment. But I decided against speaking out. I had no need for trouble either. Sain continued with his rant
"ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO ME!?"
Finally I decided to speak out
"Chillax Sain! Life is short, enjoy it!"
Sain simply stomped the ground. Many said I had the attitude of a hippie or a crack head. I could care less what people thought of me, I lived life at my own pace and that was all that mattered to me. If that meant getting in trouble once in a while, then I sure as hell was willing to take that small risk. Sain lashed out in anger once more, I could literally feel the fire in his breath, or maybe that was some Mexican food, I didn't know
"SHORT!? SHORT!!!! YOU BEEN ALIVE FOR 510 YEARS!! YOU'VE HAD MORE THAN ENOUGH OF YOUR FILL OF LIFE!!!!"
I only shook my head. Sain seemed to be getting more pissed off by the second
"And you used to be so calmed and relaxed. What Happened to the old Sain?"
Sain simply growled and threw the papers at me; I caught them from out of the air. He then turned around, I could see smoke coming out of his snout
"That is none of your business. Just get to work, or you're on probation again"
And with that, Sain took out of my office, slamming the door behind him. I was left with a smile on my face. So he had changed, but why was something I would probably never know for sure. I looked at the paperwork. Sain had made a huge red X trough everything I had written, it appeared as though he had not even taken the time to read any of it. I simply threw the paper at the cabinet I told you about earlier. The cabinet was wide open and displayed everything I had done up to this point in my carrier as a regulator. Busting gangs, stopping terrorist acts, fighting Cipher, stooping violent corporate takeovers, busting drug dealings, mutilating the underground pokemon battles (which had become illegal ever since the Morphs first appeared), protecting the few pokemon that still walked this husk of a planet, Etc, the list went on. I never had really paid that much attention to everything I had ever done in my life, to me, they where just that, things I had done, nothing else. I continued to stare blankly into the window, wondering...
**********************************************************
It was a dark night, and a scream could be heard somewhere in the darkness. There where several guys, two of them human, and the last a mutated Imperfect. They had managed to corner some unfortunate soul in an alley. They where all sneering and licking their lips in exhilaration. Right in the middle was a Morph, that of a Banette. She was screaming and pleading to her attackers, tears rolled down her eyes as the assailants got closer to her
"Well boys, Looks like out desires will be filled tonight! And no one will stop us!"
The first human spoke out loud, almost as if challenging some unseen authority figure. The second man followed him nothing by flipping off the sky
"You see that Lord? I want you to stick it up your ass! HAHAHA!!"
The mutated imperfect simply smiled, he looked like some kind of sick mutated crossbred between a lizard and a xenomorph. He spoke in a hissful language
"Canssss I Cutssss herssss up nowsssss?"
The other two men grabbed a hold of the frightened girl as they laughed at her attempts to free herself. The first man spoke in an irritated tone
"Wait your damn Turn! We haven't even gotten to the good part yet!"
The second man simply laughed
"Don't you want to taste sweet pussy? They say Morph pussy is even better than human!"
The Imperfect simply shook its head. The other two smiled
"Suit yourself. More for us!"
The Morph girl continued to scream at the top oh her lungs
"PLEASE SOMEONE HELP ME!!!! GOD PLEASE NO!!!!"
The men simply slapped her
"SHUT YOUR FUCKING MOUTH!! DO YOU WANT EVEYONE TO KNOW!?"
The men had no Idea something was watching them from the darkness, they seemed to be having to much fun to notice the dark shadow making it's way slowly towards them. One of the men began to undress the morph, her screams muffled by one of the assailant's hands. The first man took one of his fingers and began to play with the girl's vagina, sticking his finger in and out of her member, careful not to rip through her Hymen. more tears streamed down her face. The first assailant had smile on his face
"YOU LIKE THAT DON'T YOU!? THAT IS NOTHING COMPARED TO MY GUN!!"
The second man began to use his free hand to undo the rest of her dress. His other hand prevented any sound from escaping her lips. Even though the girl struggled, she could not free herself. The imperfect was getting impatient
"Justssss finishssss withssss your damnsssss rapesssss!!! I wantssssss to cutsssss somethingsssss!!!"
The men once again gave him a look of pure dislike, they both nodded and pulled out their 'guns' the morph tried her hardest to move and free herself, but it was no use. Just as the men where getting close to the evil deed...
The imperfect screamed in agony. The other men turned in shock to see what had happened. The imperfect had not seen anything coming; some human guy wearing a skull mask stabbed him in the face. He was dressed in black, and had a huge torn jacket, which was ripped in multiple places, underneath the coat was what looked like ribs, and his hair was messy, yet somehow spiky in it's style. The men where frozen in terror as they saw the figure lift their companion into the air as if weighted nothing. With one snap of his hand, the Imperfect's head came off. But as he fell into the ground, a new one grew on the spot. The Imperfect was searing mad
"You suprisedssss me! NO ONESSSSSS DOESSSSS THAT AND LIVESSSSSSS!!!!"
The imperfect dashed at the stranger, he simply replied by grabbing the imperfects face with his bare hands. He brought him to his knees and snapped his neck backwards with such force that his spine ripped right trough his chest, the stranger then proceeded to rip the spine right out of his victim. He then used his other hand and began to use some kind of psychic attack. He began to drain every single drop of blood from his victim and formed what looked a gigantic orb of blood right above his head. The Imperfect fell on the floor, dead. The other two men released the girl and opted to run away in terror. The figure simply put his hand forwards and the blood from the orb shot the man. Who where encased in it. They screamed in anger from inside two gigantic Blood bubbles
"Let us out of these damn Bubbles!! Or you will pay!!!"
The stranger simply laughed. He then spoken in a tone that send shivers down the two men's spines. The stranger's voice could only be described as nothing but demonic
"Fine"
His hands began to glow as the bubbles grew in size, but the men's horror, razor spikes grew from all sides. They froze instantly forming what appeared to be spiked wall. The stranger began to laugh
"Hahahahahaha! Did you thing I would let you live after what you where about to do? May you both burn in hell!"
The stranger closed his extended hand. The bubbles began to contract as the two rapist where slowly crushed. The distinct crack of bones could be heard followed by a popping sound. Then liquid could be heard falling. The two men where crushed to the point of becoming nothing but liquid blood. The girl had been watching this, frozen by fear, and consumed by dread. The stranger then turned around to face her, the girl's eyes widened in terror. The stranger walked towards her, with every step he took, the Morph became more and more paralyzed with fear. Finally, they where eye-to-eye. The stranger reached for something in his coat, the girl closed her eyes, already feeling either a sharp icy blade, or a warm log entering between her legs. But none of those happened; instead the man was holding a phone and a card. The girl took them both and gave the stranger a look of confusion. The stranger got up and pulled out of thin air three empty blotless. He placed them in the ground and then began to use psychic again. Lifting most of the blood in the ground, he began to fill the three empty bottles with it. Once he was finished, he turned around towards the Imperfect and took out a knife. Suddenly, the stranger began to cut the Imperfect's hair and face, for the face he dove the blade in deep and cut all along the skull. Taking everything from the jaw up. He shook his sick trophy as he turned around to face the girl
"Sorry about the mess. That number should be able to help you. Careful on your way back home"
And with that, the stranger jumped into the air. Disappearing completely from the scene. The girl took a look at the card. It read 'Drake Martinez. 786-556-6661'
**********************************************************
I was having a nice dream. Dreaming of the days before the shift, before the war, before all the bullshit about Arceus and his evil son or something. Those had been the good days before any of this crap happened. Suddenly I felt someone shake me from my dream. I was half ready to cuss the guy out, but I could not because it was Sain. His face was a mixture of both excitement and anger
"Wake up dammit! We have another case!"
I shook myself awake. Finally, a good reason to get up. Sain started filling me in with all the details
"This time around, it was three assailants, rapist by the witness account"
I turned around, had Sain just said what I though he had said
"Witness? We have a witness this time around?"
Sain nodded. I smiled, maybe this time this case could finally go somewhere
"For some reason, she called you at your personal cell. You where too knocked out to even notice the damn thing go off. I had to take the call for you"
Personal cell phone call? Why would someone do that? And more importantly, how the hell did they get my number? I put those thoughts out of my mind as I got my coat and left the office. I was wearing nothing but my pants. My undershirt, my headband, and my coat. I had no need to wear all the crap detectives wore, after all; I was no detective, I was a regulator. My headband made sure to show my status to everyone else. As I walked down the busy streets, I couldn't help but think about the case. It made no sense, so far, every crime had been committed only on those who had already committed crimes, or where in the middle of doing one. But there where never any survivors. Why is it that this time there was one who not only got a good look at him, but also somehow knew my personal number? What did that mean? I needed to know more before I could come to any type of conclusion. As I got nearer to the crime scene, I couldn't help but laugh at the amount of useless pigs pretending to have a job. It was no secret that most of the police force was either working for the mob, or was bribed by them. There where only a few honest to goodness cops left. The good cop had been demoted to nothing but a myth, a legend, a fairytale told to children at bedtime. I on the other hand, was above the law, above the mob, above the government itself. You did nothing bad, then nothing bad came to you. But if you messed with the world, you would find yourself going home in a body bag, or not even going home at all. Regulators where everywhere, yet nowhere at once, we where ghost, shadows, whispers that could only be heard by those with good enough hearing. Edgar himself had founded us. That gave us all the power we would ever need. We could kill, intimidate, torture, make your life miserable to the point of being like hell, and still get away with it. We had all that power. Whenever I though of things like this, I would always ask myself what the hell I was doing detective work. Something Sain or Silth would not tell me at all. As I passed by the cops, they shot blank stares at my direction. No need for a badge or a pass, my headband was all the proof they needed, they didn't even dare direct a word at me, they knew well I was like a samurai; say something, and off came your head.
The back alley reeked of blood. It was red with blood, black with darkness, and yellow with tape. The tape only made it harder to move. Right on the ground was a nice chalk outline, at the very end of the alley was an ambulance. Say what you will about the cops, but the paramedics and firefighters did their job well. These men went home every night with the satisfaction of saving someone and doing something worthwhile. Unlike me, who only went to sleep and had nightmares of the things that no one else sees or doesn't wants to ever see. I walked up to one of the medics, who was treating the young girl. She was maybe no older than 490 years old (that's about 17 years for you non-Imperfects or morphs) she was shaken, but not stirred. The medic saw me and moved out of the way, giving me the usual stare. The girl took one look at me and gasped in shock
"A regulator? ... I'm going to die, aren't I?"
I shook my head
"You've done nothing wrong, so there is no need to kill you. I just want a few questions answered ok"
The girl nodded. I began my questionnaire
"Ok"
I nodded in agreement and pulled out a notepad and pen. Call me old fashioned if you will, but I trusted my own hands more that a PDA, any day.
"Ok, exactly what happened here?"
The girl gave me a blank look. Something told me she didn't know that much
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you. No one else here does anyway"
I gave her a smile. She seemed to be loosing some of her weariness to me. Always a good sign in an interrogation. Tends to bring out the truth a lot easier and painlessly.
"I have been alive for quite some time. Try me"
The girl nodded and began to retell her story. She began with how she had been walking from school to her house when these rapists had attacked her; she spared no detail about the events. The more she spoke, the more her voice shook. Once she got to the part when she was nearly raped, she broke into silent tears, but she kept going anyway. That's when the story turned weird. She spoke of a stranger who appeared out of seemingly nowhere, wearing all black save for a skull mask that covered his upper face, but not his lower lips. She told of how he killed her assailants, and how he had placed their blood into jars, quite helpful when it came to deciphering their DNA, his ungodly trademark. Finally the girl told me about how the stranger had handed her a cell phone and the card of some guy called Drake Martinez. That's when I told the girl to stop. I was shaken by this news
"You say he GAVE you my name and number?"
The girl nodded in surprise. Tears still fresh in her eyes. I was starting to become concerned. How on earth did a psycho know my personal info? I was supposed to be in the shadows! That would explain why Sain had wanted my to take care of this case personally. I turned to face the girl
"Thanks for you help. You're free to go"
The girl broke into tears. I took a step back; I had never really been good with emotions or none of that crap
"What's wrong with you?"
The girl simply gave me a sorrowful look
"I am too afraid to go home! Please don't make me!"
I scratched my head. I had no Idea what was going on
"And why not? I'm sure your parents are worried sick"
At that, the girl started to cry even louder. I was starting to get both nervous and a little annoyed. The cops and paramedics where shooting puzzled stares at me. I hated being the center of bad attention. I decided that asking would not really hurt
"You have no parents. Do you?"
The girl nodded. I sighted. More damn work, well, I had no choice but to do the courteous thing
"Fine. You can come along, but that is only until we can find you a nice home"
The girl smiled. For some reason, it gave me chills watching her smile so cheerfully. I took another deep sight as I began to walk back to my office, but this time A Banette morph was following me. That's when I realized I had not even gotten her name, not very polite in my book
"Say, you got a name"
The girl replied in a cheery tone
"Name's Rica. Rica Sysoles"
I continued walking, but in my mind something had clicked. That name... was she really who I thought she was...
Maybe it was best left unknown for now.
To be continued...Chapter End Notes:Yeah! I like doing this!! next one out shortly
Someone else has been killed. The victim was a yet another rapist. Murder is no big deal for me; usually I finish the case in a matter of hours or days. They always turn out to be thieves who killed out of fear, or Rapist who took their violent too far. It has been while since the last psycho I had to deal with, and this scene had psycho written all over it. Blood drained and left in several neat bottles at the corpse's side, hair scalped and face ripped out, it's face nothing but a hollow dark hole that told no tale. Even with the violence of everyday life, such crimes where a dime in a dozen. Why did they always have to come to me? Why must they always drag their tired old feet into my office?
It doesn't matter. This was just another murder case, nothing else. What use was there to even write this down when it will all be over in a couple of days and will probably forgotten in some god forsaken pile of papers? Just like every other case I've ever worked on.
.........
Something in my gut told me that this one was different. And my gut was rarely wrong.
The Fifth.
It was raining fire and brimstone outside, ever since the shift; things had changed for the worse not just here, but all around the damn world. The rain was no longer a welcome sight; nowadays it only brought madness, violence, and death. Even if five hundred years had gone by, nothing ever changed, nothing ever really does. Now that everyone was 'Imperfect' things never went back to normal. Suddenly, there were no more deaths by accidents or natural causes. The stories only got more bizarre from there. There was no end to the reports of strange happenings, even in the most of innocent places. Some would say that the day the green ash fell was the day humanity was blessed with immortality; but if you ask me, that was the day humanity was cursed with it. Immortality can only bring suffering in the end; there is no other way to put it. I looked outside the window, and sighted. I remember the days of old when children could go outside and play in peace and harmony. I remember the day when the old park in front of my office brimmed and exploded with the laughter of children. Now I sit and watch it rust away, like some skeleton left to rot in silence. Not really sad, but neither a cheery, just normal. There was a nock in my office door, I simply remained sitting and spoke with a rusted tone, and lately I had been feeling under the weather
"Come in"
The door swung open, it was my superior, Sain. He had once been the leader of Legion, who was currently disbanded for some long earned vacations. Sain seemed irritated at something, I could already tell what he wanted, but I played dumb
"YOU CALL THIS A REPORT!"
He started waving a piece of paper in my face. I remained still waiting for the inevitable lash of his personality. Sain might look and be young, but his attitude was that of an old, crusty, bitter old man, which is what I called him
"THIS IS NOTHING!! Damn you Drake! DO YOUR JOB RIGHT FOR ONCE!!!"
I only sighted, I had no need for this bullshit at the moment. But I decided against speaking out. I had no need for trouble either. Sain continued with his rant
"ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO ME!?"
Finally I decided to speak out
"Chillax Sain! Life is short, enjoy it!"
Sain simply stomped the ground. Many said I had the attitude of a hippie or a crack head. I could care less what people thought of me, I lived life at my own pace and that was all that mattered to me. If that meant getting in trouble once in a while, then I sure as hell was willing to take that small risk. Sain lashed out in anger once more, I could literally feel the fire in his breath, or maybe that was some Mexican food, I didn't know
"SHORT!? SHORT!!!! YOU BEEN ALIVE FOR 510 YEARS!! YOU'VE HAD MORE THAN ENOUGH OF YOUR FILL OF LIFE!!!!"
I only shook my head. Sain seemed to be getting more pissed off by the second
"And you used to be so calmed and relaxed. What Happened to the old Sain?"
Sain simply growled and threw the papers at me; I caught them from out of the air. He then turned around, I could see smoke coming out of his snout
"That is none of your business. Just get to work, or you're on probation again"
And with that, Sain took out of my office, slamming the door behind him. I was left with a smile on my face. So he had changed, but why was something I would probably never know for sure. I looked at the paperwork. Sain had made a huge red X trough everything I had written, it appeared as though he had not even taken the time to read any of it. I simply threw the paper at the cabinet I told you about earlier. The cabinet was wide open and displayed everything I had done up to this point in my carrier as a regulator. Busting gangs, stopping terrorist acts, fighting Cipher, stooping violent corporate takeovers, busting drug dealings, mutilating the underground pokemon battles (which had become illegal ever since the Morphs first appeared), protecting the few pokemon that still walked this husk of a planet, Etc, the list went on. I never had really paid that much attention to everything I had ever done in my life, to me, they where just that, things I had done, nothing else. I continued to stare blankly into the window, wondering...
**********************************************************
It was a dark night, and a scream could be heard somewhere in the darkness. There where several guys, two of them human, and the last a mutated Imperfect. They had managed to corner some unfortunate soul in an alley. They where all sneering and licking their lips in exhilaration. Right in the middle was a Morph, that of a Banette. She was screaming and pleading to her attackers, tears rolled down her eyes as the assailants got closer to her
"Well boys, Looks like out desires will be filled tonight! And no one will stop us!"
The first human spoke out loud, almost as if challenging some unseen authority figure. The second man followed him nothing by flipping off the sky
"You see that Lord? I want you to stick it up your ass! HAHAHA!!"
The mutated imperfect simply smiled, he looked like some kind of sick mutated crossbred between a lizard and a xenomorph. He spoke in a hissful language
"Canssss I Cutssss herssss up nowsssss?"
The other two men grabbed a hold of the frightened girl as they laughed at her attempts to free herself. The first man spoke in an irritated tone
"Wait your damn Turn! We haven't even gotten to the good part yet!"
The second man simply laughed
"Don't you want to taste sweet pussy? They say Morph pussy is even better than human!"
The Imperfect simply shook its head. The other two smiled
"Suit yourself. More for us!"
The Morph girl continued to scream at the top oh her lungs
"PLEASE SOMEONE HELP ME!!!! GOD PLEASE NO!!!!"
The men simply slapped her
"SHUT YOUR FUCKING MOUTH!! DO YOU WANT EVEYONE TO KNOW!?"
The men had no Idea something was watching them from the darkness, they seemed to be having to much fun to notice the dark shadow making it's way slowly towards them. One of the men began to undress the morph, her screams muffled by one of the assailant's hands. The first man took one of his fingers and began to play with the girl's vagina, sticking his finger in and out of her member, careful not to rip through her Hymen. more tears streamed down her face. The first assailant had smile on his face
"YOU LIKE THAT DON'T YOU!? THAT IS NOTHING COMPARED TO MY GUN!!"
The second man began to use his free hand to undo the rest of her dress. His other hand prevented any sound from escaping her lips. Even though the girl struggled, she could not free herself. The imperfect was getting impatient
"Justssss finishssss withssss your damnsssss rapesssss!!! I wantssssss to cutsssss somethingsssss!!!"
The men once again gave him a look of pure dislike, they both nodded and pulled out their 'guns' the morph tried her hardest to move and free herself, but it was no use. Just as the men where getting close to the evil deed...
The imperfect screamed in agony. The other men turned in shock to see what had happened. The imperfect had not seen anything coming; some human guy wearing a skull mask stabbed him in the face. He was dressed in black, and had a huge torn jacket, which was ripped in multiple places, underneath the coat was what looked like ribs, and his hair was messy, yet somehow spiky in it's style. The men where frozen in terror as they saw the figure lift their companion into the air as if weighted nothing. With one snap of his hand, the Imperfect's head came off. But as he fell into the ground, a new one grew on the spot. The Imperfect was searing mad
"You suprisedssss me! NO ONESSSSSS DOESSSSS THAT AND LIVESSSSSSS!!!!"
The imperfect dashed at the stranger, he simply replied by grabbing the imperfects face with his bare hands. He brought him to his knees and snapped his neck backwards with such force that his spine ripped right trough his chest, the stranger then proceeded to rip the spine right out of his victim. He then used his other hand and began to use some kind of psychic attack. He began to drain every single drop of blood from his victim and formed what looked a gigantic orb of blood right above his head. The Imperfect fell on the floor, dead. The other two men released the girl and opted to run away in terror. The figure simply put his hand forwards and the blood from the orb shot the man. Who where encased in it. They screamed in anger from inside two gigantic Blood bubbles
"Let us out of these damn Bubbles!! Or you will pay!!!"
The stranger simply laughed. He then spoken in a tone that send shivers down the two men's spines. The stranger's voice could only be described as nothing but demonic
"Fine"
His hands began to glow as the bubbles grew in size, but the men's horror, razor spikes grew from all sides. They froze instantly forming what appeared to be spiked wall. The stranger began to laugh
"Hahahahahaha! Did you thing I would let you live after what you where about to do? May you both burn in hell!"
The stranger closed his extended hand. The bubbles began to contract as the two rapist where slowly crushed. The distinct crack of bones could be heard followed by a popping sound. Then liquid could be heard falling. The two men where crushed to the point of becoming nothing but liquid blood. The girl had been watching this, frozen by fear, and consumed by dread. The stranger then turned around to face her, the girl's eyes widened in terror. The stranger walked towards her, with every step he took, the Morph became more and more paralyzed with fear. Finally, they where eye-to-eye. The stranger reached for something in his coat, the girl closed her eyes, already feeling either a sharp icy blade, or a warm log entering between her legs. But none of those happened; instead the man was holding a phone and a card. The girl took them both and gave the stranger a look of confusion. The stranger got up and pulled out of thin air three empty blotless. He placed them in the ground and then began to use psychic again. Lifting most of the blood in the ground, he began to fill the three empty bottles with it. Once he was finished, he turned around towards the Imperfect and took out a knife. Suddenly, the stranger began to cut the Imperfect's hair and face, for the face he dove the blade in deep and cut all along the skull. Taking everything from the jaw up. He shook his sick trophy as he turned around to face the girl
"Sorry about the mess. That number should be able to help you. Careful on your way back home"
And with that, the stranger jumped into the air. Disappearing completely from the scene. The girl took a look at the card. It read 'Drake Martinez. 786-556-6661'
**********************************************************
I was having a nice dream. Dreaming of the days before the shift, before the war, before all the bullshit about Arceus and his evil son or something. Those had been the good days before any of this crap happened. Suddenly I felt someone shake me from my dream. I was half ready to cuss the guy out, but I could not because it was Sain. His face was a mixture of both excitement and anger
"Wake up dammit! We have another case!"
I shook myself awake. Finally, a good reason to get up. Sain started filling me in with all the details
"This time around, it was three assailants, rapist by the witness account"
I turned around, had Sain just said what I though he had said
"Witness? We have a witness this time around?"
Sain nodded. I smiled, maybe this time this case could finally go somewhere
"For some reason, she called you at your personal cell. You where too knocked out to even notice the damn thing go off. I had to take the call for you"
Personal cell phone call? Why would someone do that? And more importantly, how the hell did they get my number? I put those thoughts out of my mind as I got my coat and left the office. I was wearing nothing but my pants. My undershirt, my headband, and my coat. I had no need to wear all the crap detectives wore, after all; I was no detective, I was a regulator. My headband made sure to show my status to everyone else. As I walked down the busy streets, I couldn't help but think about the case. It made no sense, so far, every crime had been committed only on those who had already committed crimes, or where in the middle of doing one. But there where never any survivors. Why is it that this time there was one who not only got a good look at him, but also somehow knew my personal number? What did that mean? I needed to know more before I could come to any type of conclusion. As I got nearer to the crime scene, I couldn't help but laugh at the amount of useless pigs pretending to have a job. It was no secret that most of the police force was either working for the mob, or was bribed by them. There where only a few honest to goodness cops left. The good cop had been demoted to nothing but a myth, a legend, a fairytale told to children at bedtime. I on the other hand, was above the law, above the mob, above the government itself. You did nothing bad, then nothing bad came to you. But if you messed with the world, you would find yourself going home in a body bag, or not even going home at all. Regulators where everywhere, yet nowhere at once, we where ghost, shadows, whispers that could only be heard by those with good enough hearing. Edgar himself had founded us. That gave us all the power we would ever need. We could kill, intimidate, torture, make your life miserable to the point of being like hell, and still get away with it. We had all that power. Whenever I though of things like this, I would always ask myself what the hell I was doing detective work. Something Sain or Silth would not tell me at all. As I passed by the cops, they shot blank stares at my direction. No need for a badge or a pass, my headband was all the proof they needed, they didn't even dare direct a word at me, they knew well I was like a samurai; say something, and off came your head.
The back alley reeked of blood. It was red with blood, black with darkness, and yellow with tape. The tape only made it harder to move. Right on the ground was a nice chalk outline, at the very end of the alley was an ambulance. Say what you will about the cops, but the paramedics and firefighters did their job well. These men went home every night with the satisfaction of saving someone and doing something worthwhile. Unlike me, who only went to sleep and had nightmares of the things that no one else sees or doesn't wants to ever see. I walked up to one of the medics, who was treating the young girl. She was maybe no older than 490 years old (that's about 17 years for you non-Imperfects or morphs) she was shaken, but not stirred. The medic saw me and moved out of the way, giving me the usual stare. The girl took one look at me and gasped in shock
"A regulator? ... I'm going to die, aren't I?"
I shook my head
"You've done nothing wrong, so there is no need to kill you. I just want a few questions answered ok"
The girl nodded. I began my questionnaire
"Ok"
I nodded in agreement and pulled out a notepad and pen. Call me old fashioned if you will, but I trusted my own hands more that a PDA, any day.
"Ok, exactly what happened here?"
The girl gave me a blank look. Something told me she didn't know that much
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you. No one else here does anyway"
I gave her a smile. She seemed to be loosing some of her weariness to me. Always a good sign in an interrogation. Tends to bring out the truth a lot easier and painlessly.
"I have been alive for quite some time. Try me"
The girl nodded and began to retell her story. She began with how she had been walking from school to her house when these rapists had attacked her; she spared no detail about the events. The more she spoke, the more her voice shook. Once she got to the part when she was nearly raped, she broke into silent tears, but she kept going anyway. That's when the story turned weird. She spoke of a stranger who appeared out of seemingly nowhere, wearing all black save for a skull mask that covered his upper face, but not his lower lips. She told of how he killed her assailants, and how he had placed their blood into jars, quite helpful when it came to deciphering their DNA, his ungodly trademark. Finally the girl told me about how the stranger had handed her a cell phone and the card of some guy called Drake Martinez. That's when I told the girl to stop. I was shaken by this news
"You say he GAVE you my name and number?"
The girl nodded in surprise. Tears still fresh in her eyes. I was starting to become concerned. How on earth did a psycho know my personal info? I was supposed to be in the shadows! That would explain why Sain had wanted my to take care of this case personally. I turned to face the girl
"Thanks for you help. You're free to go"
The girl broke into tears. I took a step back; I had never really been good with emotions or none of that crap
"What's wrong with you?"
The girl simply gave me a sorrowful look
"I am too afraid to go home! Please don't make me!"
I scratched my head. I had no Idea what was going on
"And why not? I'm sure your parents are worried sick"
At that, the girl started to cry even louder. I was starting to get both nervous and a little annoyed. The cops and paramedics where shooting puzzled stares at me. I hated being the center of bad attention. I decided that asking would not really hurt
"You have no parents. Do you?"
The girl nodded. I sighted. More damn work, well, I had no choice but to do the courteous thing
"Fine. You can come along, but that is only until we can find you a nice home"
The girl smiled. For some reason, it gave me chills watching her smile so cheerfully. I took another deep sight as I began to walk back to my office, but this time A Banette morph was following me. That's when I realized I had not even gotten her name, not very polite in my book
"Say, you got a name"
The girl replied in a cheery tone
"Name's Rica. Rica Sysoles"
I continued walking, but in my mind something had clicked. That name... was she really who I thought she was...
Maybe it was best left unknown for now.
To be continued...Chapter End Notes:Yeah! I like doing this!! next one out shortly