"I don’t know, Edrimer…" Johnaren expressed his fear. "Are you sure this is going to work?"
"Relax," Edrimer reassured him. "This is going to work. It has to."
"Has to? T-That doesn’t sound very promising. "W-What if we die?"
Edrimer turned to Johnaren with a surprised look on his face. "You mean to tell me you joined the Justicars without the will to die?" he ridiculed him.
"W-Well, I-I just—"
"He's right, Edrimer. This plan is risky." Samari said. "I actually can't believe Serian gave it a green light."
"Everyone, just calm down," Elahysis broke her silence as well. "I actually think this could turn out to be a great idea. I'm with Edrimer on this." Well, as long as I've got even one person on my side, I know I'm not totally crazy.
The four hid in an alley near 22nd Mayflower Street, waiting for the police to send the Tri-Surgeon investigation team to the murder scene. They all wore white Elastics and carried pistols. Two officers were already waiting outside, and a third one was seen heading into the building earlier, yet Edrimer waited for the lead investigator of the case to show up.
After long minutes of waiting, a car finally pulled over near the crime scene and two officers came out of it. The first one was a slender woman with black hair and the other one was Officer Edward Elwin. Edrimer recognized him immediately, as he still remembered his face from the time he met him after the robbery attempt at Zachary's shop.
"It's him," Edrimer said. "Let's wait a bit. I need him and that woman to get inside. It'll be much easier if we take over those two other officers alone first and then deal with the rest." Elahysis and Samari nodded in agreement. Johnaren, on the other hand, seemed to be mumbling something. As Edward inched closer to him, he recognized the old words of the Justicars being whispered from Johnaren's mouth, almost as if they were heresy that he didn’t want anyone else to hear.
"Here everyone steals and nothing is given. Here we scar the righteous and crown the villain." He heard him mumble. "Here we eat ashes and see water in tears. Here we stand firm and hope to rid us of these fears" I remember these words… five years ago, just before the Justicars made their debut in this country, anonymous users posted them all over forums and social networks, both on the Nucleus and outside of it. I remember wondering what they meant. They sounded so… inspiring. So hopeful. So invigorating and motivating. Soon after that, the Justicars hacked into a major television channel and played a video where a masked man announced the world of the rise of the Justicars and the end of the tyranny and mayhem of all the criminal organizations. Over the years, people realized that those words were just nonsensical bullshit. And now here I am, dressed as one of them. Life always has to be full of funny outcomes.
"Here everyone steals and nothing is given…" on and on Johnaren kept chanting those words of hope and promise like a prayer, and Edrimer felt as if he was the only one who knew that no one would answer it.
"They went inside," Elahysis said.
"Alright, let's go," Edrimer commanded.
The four stepped out of the alley with their weapons aimed forward towards the two officers. Once the officers spotted them, their initial response was one of panic, but soon enough they reached for their guns.
"Drop the guns!" Elahysis yelled. Edrimer was surprised to hear such a mighty shout coming from what he considered an average-sized woman. "Drop them, I said!" she yelled again a second later. Seeing that it was a situation of two against four, the officers did as commanded and dropped their guns on the floor. Johnaren and Samari quickly kicked the guns aside and brought the officers to their knees, handcuffing their hands behind their back with the officers' own handcuffs. "Goddamn Justicars…" one of the officers said to himself while he was cuffed.
While Johnaren and Samari kept watch over the two officers with their guns aimed at them, Edrimer and Elahysis approached the entrance door to the building. They heard a faint voice from inside, followed by sounds of approaching footsteps. "Someone's coming," Edrimer said. "Get ready."
A few seconds later the door opened and Edward Elwin stepped outside, along with his female companion and the third officer who waited for them inside, only to be greeted by a hollow barrel.
"Glad you could join your friends, Officer Elwin," Edrimer said. Edward made a long sigh as he raised his hands in the air. "The guns. Drop them." Edward and his two companions did as they were told. Elahysis kicked the guns away and ordered the woman and the other officer to go down on their knees next to the other two.
While Elahysis cuffed them just like the other officers, Edward remained alone at the mercy of Edrimer's gun. "Why do you guys always have to butt in where you shouldn’t?" Edward said in an anguished voice. "This is a murder scene that has nothing to do with you or any of the other gangs."
"This murder scene actually has everything to do with us," Edrimer said.
"What do you mean?" Edward seemed baffled.
"Let's talk inside. Alone." Edrimer guided him inside. Once they closed the door behind them, Edrimer lowered his gun. "I wanted for us to talk. I'm lowering my gun to ease up the conversation, but try anything funny and I'll raise it back up before you know it."
"Fine. What do you want to talk about, Justicar?"
"The Tri-Surgeon."
"What do you guys have to do with him? He's not affiliated with anyone."
"He's a killer. He deserves our justice just like anyone affiliated."
"I see. So you're trying to kill him."
"We're trying to find him."
"You're trying to KILL him," Edward repeated the sentence with a high voice. "That's what you do. You use lethal force to impose your so-called justice. Don’t try to hide it." It'll be hard to negotiate with a man with so much hatred for our methods.
"Look, we can help each other. We both want this killer to answer for his crimes."
"Hold on… are you suggesting what I think you're suggesting?"
"I want us to work together. You and I. with your resources and our ability to use methods you're not allowed to, we can catch him."
"Are you out of your goddamn mind?!" Edward snapped. "You expect me to work with the Justicars?!"
"I expect you to do whatever it takes to catch the man who's responsible for 7 killings so far, not to mention horrible mutilations that further hurts the victims' family." Appealing to his softer side might calm him down a bit.
"You can make that 8." Edward pointed at the body a few feet from where they stood."
"Actually… this isn’t the Tri-Surgeon's doing. This is OUR doing."
"W-What?"
"We planted this body to get you here so we could talk."
"S-So you cut off his arms, eyes and heart to make it look like…?"
"Yeah. Don't worry, he was just a gang member." One which I personally put a bullet in during my audition. The member of Lady Dread I had to kill to prove my tenacity… thank god Serian let us use his body to do this.
"So that's why this location didn’t fit…" Edward whispered to himself. Did he just say the location didn’t fit? Does that mean the murder sites have some kind of meaning that they found out? If he knows more than I do, he won't need my help. I need to make myself seem useful.
"Look, I've read the papers. You're a walking target and I'm sure you know it. I'm surprised Blackburn hasn’t taken you out yet like he did that judge, attorney, and officer, who tried to put him behind bars."
"I know I'm a dead man walking. You don’t have to remind me."
"I want to offer you protection. A Justicar who'll keep an eye on you and protect you from anyone who might make an attempt on your life."
"Thank you, but… no. I'm not going to have a Justicar keep tabs on me. I don’t like being watched and I don’t need any help. I can handle it by myself."
"Then what can I offer you for your cooperation?"
"Nothing. You can piss off." Edward started pacing away, angrily.
"Edward, you need this win." Edward stopped in place. His eyes stooped at the floor. At that moment, Edrimer knew that he was on to something. Officer Edward Elwin was apparently a man who's been on the losing side too much recently and needed to be on the winning side for a change. "I've been reading up on you. I can only guess how devastated you must have felt after the way Blackburn's case turned out. Now he roams free while you're being hunted like a deer. This could be your compensation. You lost Blackburn, but you can still make it right by winning the Tri-Surgeon."
"You… you sure are stubborn as fuck." Edward turned back to Edrimer.
"Only when I'm trying to catch serial killers," Edrimer joked. "Look, I've dug up a bit about this case. The officer who lead it before you had an entire team working on it and he got nowhere. You only have a single partner in this case right now. You can't do this without us."
"Alright. I tell you what, I'll work with you… but I have one condition. You let APD ARREST this killer. You don’t kill him and you don’t take away our credit in his capture."
"Done."
Edward sighed. "Well, I guess we have a deal, Mr.… umm… what should I call you?"
"Oh, umm… you can call me… Forseti."
"Alright, Forseti." The two shook hands. Under the white mask, Edrimer was smiling, while Edward didn’t let his smile be anything more than a slight curve on his lips. "So how are we going to get out of this… hostage situation you guys pulled here?"
Edrimer drew his gun and handed it to Edward. "We're going to pretend you turned the tables and overtook me."
"Really? And you trust me not to fire a bullet in your brains?"
"I do. Just tell my friends to put down their weapons and run away."
"I guess they're instructed to do just that."
"That's right."
"Okay then, let's do this." Edward took the gun from Edrimer and wrapped his left arm around him while his right one aimed the gun at his head. "By the way," he said just before opening the door. "Your voice sounds familiar. Have we met?"
Edrimer laughed. "I'll let you beat your head around this one."
As soon as the two went outside, the expression upon the faces of the four officers who were cuffed and on their knees almost immediately changed to a half-surprised, half-relieved one, as they saw their colleague holding the criminal Justicar at gunpoint. Oh, how I bet he's itching to pull that trigger. "Drop your weapons on the floor and leave," Edward commanded the three Justicars. At first, they seemed hesitant, and wouldn’t lower their weapons, but another command from Edward's mouth made them succumb to his will. "Drop the fucking weapons!" upon shouting those words, the three Justicars did as told. With their guns on the ground, they slowly started to back away until eventually they started running away until there was no sight of them. Just like we trained. At this point, Edrimer expected Edward to let him go as well, yet the righteous officer seemed to be delaying on that part. Come on, let me go. What are you waiting for? At that moment, Edrimer feared that his plan might backfire after all, that Edward would take advantage of the situation after all and go against him, but either way, he was clever enough to prepare for such an outcome. Up above, on a nearby building, his backup was keeping a close eye on the whole situation with his sniper rifle. It was the former sniper of the Alatarian army, Apex. What a great way to put his skills to use. But even with Apex's backup, Edward could still shoot Edrimer before his sniper would be able to do anything about it, which is why Edrimer made sure his gun would be empty.
Even with all his precautions, in the end, Edrimer wanted Edward's cooperation, which is why he felt concerned as he remained at his mercy for a lot longer than he wished to be.
Finally, he heard Edward whisper into his ear, "Hit me." once again, Edrimer smiled under the white mask. As he felt Edward's grip slightly loosening, he shoved his elbow into his abdomen. Edward grabbed his stomach, coughing in pain while Edrimer took the chance and ran away from the scene.
In his mind, Edrimer knew that Edward was fighting an inner urge to take him out. He had to choose between doing what he sees as justice and what he knows is right. By letting me go and working with me, he knows that he can save more people from the Tri-Surgeon.
Even though the situation worked out in Edrimer's favor, he knew that Edward's inner conflict might pose a difficulty and that their cooperation might eventually prove troublesome.
