Tonight on Deadliest Fiction, we have a vicious clash between two killers operating beneath suspicion as Akechi Goro, the Metaverse killer masquerading as the Detective Prince, battles Yoshikage Kira, the serial killer with a fetish only hands can satisfy! It'll be a thrilling manhunt between cold, calculating sociopaths, but only one can be the answer to the ultimate question...
WHO...IS...DEADLIEST???
Intro[]
Akechi Goro[]
| “ | ” |
Akechi Goro is the bastard son of Mayashi Shido, a politician who conceived him in a short-lived relationship with a prostitute before abandoning them, leading to his mother eventually committing suicide and leaving a grieving Akechi to swear vengeance against his father. Chosen by Yaldabaoth as a Wild Card user and given access to the Metaverse, Akechi used his newfound abilities to ally with his father, killing targets and undermining the government in the lead-up to Shido's bid for Prime Minister, with the intention of revealing himself as his son upon his victory, which would disgrace him and effectively destroy the public's faith in government. Unbeknownst to Akechi, Shido accounted for Akechi's duplicity and intended to have him killed after the election, all the while using him to eliminate potential threats to the conspiracy.
Working as a young detective investigating his own crimes, Akechi comes into conflict with the Phantom Thieves, going as far as to enter an intense rivalry with their leader, Joker. After framing the Thieves for the murder of one of their targets and turning the public against them, Akechi blackmailed his way onto the team as a mole, luring them into a trap that Joker and Morgana manage to recognize and outwit thanks to a small slip-up from Akechi much earlier.
Realizing he'd been outplayed, Akechi confronts the Thieves during their heist on Shido's Palace and engages them in a vicious fight, losing due to the groups's teamwork and Joker's leadership. Contemplating an alliance with them against Shido, Akechi's potential redemption is cut short when he is confronted by Shido's cognitive version of himself, and he sacrifices himself to ensure the Thieves escape. Presumed dead by the team, things become complicated when Akechi re-emerged following their victory over Yaldabaoth, willing to testify against Shido and help them escape the false reality created by Takuto Maruki.
Akechi's rejection of the reality becomes even more passionate when it's revealed that his existence is tied into it, as he's a projection created by Maruki in response to Joker's guilt about being unable to save him, and he urges Joker to fight against it as well, refusing to live in a world where he hasn't truly earned redemption. Following the final battle with Maruki, Akechi seemingly vanishes as reality resorts to normal, though a chance sighting as Joker returns home leaves his fate ambiguous.
Yoshikage Kira[]
| “ | This may be a foreign concept, but I choose not to concern myself with winning or losing, life's troubles, or enemies who bring sleepless nights. That is how I cope with this backwards life we find ourselves living.
— Yoshikage Kira
|
” |
A serial killer that preyed on the women of the town of Morioh, Yoshikage Kira began his reign of terror in high school, murdering countless women before being given his Stand, Killer Queen, by his father, who hoped to protect his child. Continuing to work in secrecy and operating entirely under the radar, Kira began a new style of murder, destroying the bodies of women but saving their hands as his "girlfriends". His attempt to live a quiet, peaceful life was interrupted when a boy named Shigechi accidentally stole one of his girlfriends and discovered his secret, forcing Kira to kill him, though not before the boy's own Stand was able to give one of his buttons to Josuke Higashikata, who began investigating in hopes of avenging his friend.
The investigation culminated when Kira attempted to kill Jotaro Kujo and Koichi Hirose, but was badly beaten and forced to flee for his life, surviving only by switching his face and fingerprints with a man named Kosaku Kawjiri. Despite his efforts to lay low and remain hidden, Hayato, Kosaku's son, grew suspicious of him and eventually discovered his true identity, leading to Kira killing him before piercing himself with a Stand arrow, activating a new ability called Bites the Dust. With his new power, Kira trapped Hayato in a time loop that restarted whenever Killer Queen killed a new target, with Hayato eventually outsmarting the loop and escaping with the intervention of Josuke and his friend Okuyasu.
Cornered, Kira battled Josuke's friends and was eventually defeated and run over by an ambulance before returning as a vengeful spirit. Before he could continue his killings, Kira was dragged into hell by the spirits of Ghost Girl's alley, destroying Killer Queen and finally putting an end to him.
Weapons, Powers and Abilities[]
Akechi Goro[]
| “ | Justice? Righteous? Keep that shit to yourselves!
— Akechi Goro
|
” |
Weapons:
- Beam Sword: Akechi's melee weapon of choice is his beam sword, a sword resembling a rapier but with a blade made of pure light. Despite it's appearance, it doesn't appear to function any differently from the more traditional melee weapons used by the Thieves.
- Ray Gun: Akechi's ranged weapon is a gold-plated ray gun that shoots beams of energy. Like the sword, it doesn't appear to do any more damage than a regular firearm.
Abilities:
- Wild Card User: As a Wild Card Persona user, Akechi has the unique ability to wield multiple Personas in battle. Unlike Joker, who collects hundreds over the course of his adventure, Akechi only has two in the form of Robin Hood and Loki. However, Akechi cannot use both Personas at the same time and must switch them out if he is to use one or the other.
- Master Combatant: Akechi had an extra two years to gain more understanding of his own abilities, enabling him to become one of the most dangerous foes ever faced by the Phantom Thieves. Akechi was able to match the entire group in combat and nearly kill Joker on his own, and he's notably one of the few Thieves to wield his weapon with proper form.
- Skilled Infiltrator: Despite his over-the-top behavior in combat, Akechi is fairly talented at stealth and infiltration, working in secrecy for two years and regularly infiltrating Palaces and Mementos on his own to eliminate targets. He was even able to get the drop on the Phantom Thieves, ambushing the combined team at Shido's Palace with them totally unaware he had entered it.
- Skilled Detective: While many of the crimes he investigated were his own, Akechi is extremely deductive and calculating, quickly suspecting the Phantom Thieves and managing to eventually see through their plans once he's given the right clues. He's also talented at picking up on smaller details and quirks and using them to his advantage, like recognizing Makoto's insecurities enough to win an argument with her or seeing through Shadow Sae's tricks to help the Thieves through her Palace.
- Expert Manipulator: On top of playing off of insecurities and weaknesses, Akechi is an incredibly clever tactician and manipulator, often easily playing others into his own schemes and staying far ahead of the Thieves until a small slip-up tipped Joker and Morgana off. His ruthlessness and dedication to his plans is undercut solely by his arrogance, leading him to often underestimate his targets, like the Thieves or Shido, and be caught blindsided if he's outplayed.
| “ | You trusted no one, so you only got two Personas: one for your lies, and one for your hate.
— Futaba Sakura
|
” |
Robin Hood is Akechi's Persona during his initial time on the Thieves. It fights primarily with Bless and Curse (effectively Holy and Unholy elements), though it also knows Almighty attacks. Robin Hood is uniquely specialized towards one-hit kill attacks and attacks focused on one specific enemy, making it an impressive tank against the right foes.
Skills:
- Megidola: Heavy Almighty damage to all foes.
- Megaton Raid: Severe Physical damage to 1 foe.
- Kouga: Medium Bless damage to 1 foe.
- Eiga: Medium Curse damage to 1 foe.
- Hamaon: Medium chance of instantly killing 1 foe. Does not work on enemies immune to Bless-type attacks.
- Mudoon: Medium chance of instantly killing 1 foe. Does not work on enemies immune to Curse-type attacks.
- Fortify Spirit: Lower susceptibilities to all ailments.
- Kougaon: Heavy Bless damage to 1 foe.
- Eigaon: Heavy Curse damage to 1 foe.
- Attack Master: Automatic Tarukaja (increases attack for 3 turns) on user at start of battle.
- Samarecarm: Revive 1 ally with maximum HP.
- Mahamaon: Medium chance of instantly killing all foes. Bless-type.
- Mamudoon: Medium chance of instantly killing all foes. Curse-type.
- Megidolaon: Severe Almighty damage to all foes.
- Debilitate: Debuff attack, defense and agility of 1 foe for 3 turns.
| “ | Here... I'll show you who I really am. Come! Loki!
— Akechi Goro
|
” |
Loki is Akechi's true Persona, used during his time as Black Mask and revealed during his battle with the Phantom Thieves. While Robin Hood focused more on specific attacks, Loki is more versatile, wielding a wide variety of abilities and attacks. Most notably, it has the ability to drive Shadows into a berserker rage, with Akechi even able to use it on himself as a last-ditch effort.
Skills:
- Fortify Spirit: Reduce susceptibility to all ailments.
- Laevateinn: Colossal Physical damage to 1 foe.
- Megidolaon: Severe Almighty damage to all foes.
- Debilitate: Decrease Attack/Defense/Agility of 1 foe for 3 turns.
- Riot Gun: Severe Gun damage to all foes.
- Eigaon: Heavy Curse damage to 1 foe.
- Attack Master: Automatic Tarukaja at the start of battle.
- Evade Bless: Triple evasion rate against (non instant death) Bless attacks.
- Maragion: Medium Fire damage to all foes.
- Maeiga: Medium Curse damage to all foes.
- Negative Pile: Heavy Phys damage and medium chance to inflict Distress to one foe.
- Brave Blade: Colossal Phys damage to one foe.
- Desperation: Increases self’s attack but decreases defense for three turns.
- Heat Riser: Increase one ally’s Attack Defense and Agility for three turns.
- Tetrakarn: Create a shield on one ally to repel one Phys attack.
- Makarakarn: Create a shield on one ally to repel one magical attack.
- Dekaja: Negate all buff effects of all foes.
- Dekunda: Negate all debuff effects on allies.
Yoshikage Kira[]
| “ | I simply want a peaceful life. It's just that it's in my nature to kill...
— Yoshikage Kira
|
” |
Skills and Abilities:
- Highly Deductive: Kira is incredibly intelligent and cunning, enabling him to overcome the physical shortcomings of Killer Queen and survive against more experienced and powerful Stand users. Using these skills, Kira was able to determine that Hayato was on to him and nearly ended up killing the entire Morioh crew by acting accordingly. He's also a skilled manipulator, nearly capable of fooling Josuke into letting him escape and easily taking over the life of Kosaku Kawajiri.
- Skilled Tracker/Infiltrator: Years of practice have made Kira fairly talented at stalking his victims without them being any the wiser, as evidenced by his following both Shigechi and Hayato without them ever realizing he was close by. As a young man, he was able to enter Reimi's home and kill most of her family without alerting anyone, even killing her dog, Arnold, before he could make noise. This owes to both his skill with sticking to the shadows and his ability to make himself as unassuming as possible, easily blending into the crowd.
| “ | Killer Queen can erase you at any time. For you see, Killer Queen can turn anything it touches into a bomb.
— Yoshikage Kira
|
” |
Killer Queen is Kira's Stand, which he developed at a young age after being pierced with the Stand Arrow. While it is physically strong, it pales in comparison to the likes of Star Platinum or Crazy Diamond, meaning Kira often prefers fighting from a distance or simply avoiding conflict entirely.
Abilities:
- Bomb Creation: Killer Queen's primarily ability is the power to turn anything it touches into a bomb. The object touched becomes charged with explosive energy that travels into whoever touches it next, though Killer Queen can remotely detonate it as well. Anyone affected by Killer Queen is instantly disintegrated, though they can survive if the object instead exploded near them. Kira is shown to have exceptional control over the explosions, determining their size and strength and how much of the victim they actually destroy, enabling him to keep the right hands of the women he preys upon. However, Killer Queen does have limitations, as it can only activate one bomb at a time and won't be able to detonate it (or Kira) if it can't connect their thumb and right index finger.
- Sheer Heart Attack: Sheer Heart Attack is Killer Queen's second bomb type, a miniature mixture of a tank and a mine. Sheer Heart Attack is a long-range ability and functions on it's own, meaning Kira can deploy it and then move away from it's immediate vicinity while letting it work. It seeks out targets by following and attacking whatever the warmest object near it is, often switching targets if something warmer appears. If it destroys a non-human target, it will continue searching until it kills a proper living target, and is effectively indestructible, shrugging off blows from Star Platinum, but it can be affected by Stand abilities that could immobilize it, with Kira feeling these effects as well. If he needs to deactivate it, Kira must return to where he placed it.
Stray Cat is a cat/plant combination created after a cat pierced with the Stand Arrow was killed by a broken glass bottle in "Kosaku's" home. Buried in the garden, it's Stand allowed it to return to life as a plantlike creature with aerokinetic abilities. Impressed with it's capabailites, Kira began using it as a weapon, though it was adopted by Okuyasu Nijimura after his death.
Abilities:
- Aerokinesis: Stray Cat's main ability is to control the wind near it's whiskers, which it primarily uses to create bubbles of compressed air. The bubbles are strong enough that they can effectively knock someone out, and when combined with Killer Queen's powers, they become deadly traveling explosives that Kira can remotely guide and control. It can also suck the oxygen out of the area around it, which it used to defend itself from Killer Queen. Notably, Stray Cat's bubbles becomes weaker or stronger depending on the amount of sunlight it consumes.
X-Factors[]
| Akechi Goro | X-Factors | Yoshikage Kira |
| 85 | Experience | 40 |
| 35 | Training | 20 |
| 80 | Creativity | 90 |
| 85 | Intelligence | 85 |
| 90 | Brutality | 100 |
Explanations[]
- Akechi takes this one rather decisively, thanks to his two years of time with his powers prior to even the start of the game, where he regularly infiltrated Palaces and Mementos and fought his way through Shadows to eliminate targets. This is shown best in his skillset, as he's far more powerful than any of the Thieves on their own because of the chance he's had to hone his abilities. Kira targeted entirely defenseless women over the course of his killing sprees, avoiding confrontation whenever possible, and upon engaging in combat with fellow Stand users, he regularly found himself on the back foot.
- Neither warrior has any traditional training thanks to the unique nature of their powers, but Akechi has at least some self-training under his belt, as he keeps in regular practice with his powers. Outside of any experimentation and tinkering with Killer Queen's abilities, Kira has no training whatsoever. He's just a normal dude who wants to live a normal life.
- Akechi is skilled at making up plans and using the Metaverse to his advantage, but he's hampered somewhat by his Persona's skillset, which are largely set in stone to the point where it's harder to creatively use their abilities outside of combat, though he does use Loki's ability to cause breakdowns rather effectively. Killer Queen's power set is incredibly unique and open to experimentation, and Kira regularly uses it in impressive and clever ways, such as setting traps and eliminating evidence.
- Both warriors are remarkably similar in their mindsets, being entirely cold and calculating, but brought down by their own arrogance and instability. Akechi's edge in longer scale manipulation and planning is countered by Kira's ability to keep a cooler head in intense situations, making it a draw here.
- Akechi is a vicious killer and borderline sociopath, showing no hesitation in bringing about the deaths of innocent people to further his own goals, but he does a few moments of genuine kindness or mercy that show him to not be entirely monstrous. He forms a genuine bond with Joker, hesitates in killing the Thieves after his apparent "death", though whether or not this was out of attachment or mere pragmatism is left ambiguous, and he refuses to take part in the fight with a possessed Sumire out of fear of killing her. Kira has absolutely no qualms or morals, even willing to casually kill children to protect his secrets, and his one fleeting moment of kindness (his protection of Kosaku's wife) confuses even him.
Scenario[]
A series of disappearances of female warriors has the DFPD's best baffled, leaving Akechi Goro, still stinging from his loss in Tarot and hoping to prove himself, to take the case. Meanwhile, Yoshikage Kira is doing his best to live a quiet life in a strange new world, but his urges arise once again, putting him back on the hunt for a new target. Will the Detective Prince catch the killer, or will Kira find himself a new girlfriend?
- Akechi Goro:
- Arrest Yoshikage Kira.
- Kill Yoshikage Kira.
- Yoshikage Kira:
- Evade capture.
- Kill Akechi Goro.
- Fail to find Kira.
- Die.
- Be arrested by Akechi.
- Die.
Notes[]
- Voting ends August 18th.
- Due to the similar nature of their franchises, Akechi will be able to see Killer Queen while Kira will be able to see Robin Hood and Loki, but neither will be aware the other can see their Persona/Stand.
- Because that was the form he was in for the battle that brought him to the wiki, Kira will still be disguised as Kosaku Kawajiri, but will be known as Kira.
The Battle[]
Chapter 1: The Detective Prince Takes the Case![]
Delphini Diggory frowned as she trudged up the stairs to her apartment, fishing the keys out of her jacket and opening the door. Her apartment was modest, respectable in the grander scale of things, and not too far from school. She had hoped University would improve her mood, but the recent wounds ran deep enough that seeing old friends just wasn’t enough.
Her own father, the Dark Lord himself, had laid his eyes upon and coldly told her that she was not his. After years of waiting to meet him, it had been brutal, to say the least. Sighing, she set her bag down on the couch, then walked over to the cupboards, opening the door and levitating a box of pasta with a flick of her wand before grabbing a pot and filling it with water. Perhaps a good dinner and catching something on television would cheer her up. Setting aside her wand, she stirred the pot as the water boiled, humming a tune to herself.
A small snap broke her out of her focus and she turned as her door flew open. She squinted, confused, as a shadowy figure entered the apartment. Grabbing her wand, she aimed it at the figure, who smirked and stood still.
“How did you get in here? I locked that door!”
The figure chuckled coldly, and as he shifted his footing, Delphini got a better look at him. He was wearing a white and purple suit, with spiky black hair being the only distinguishable feature about his face. He stared back at her as she glared at him before casually replying, “Well, you just looked so inviting. I was hoping you wouldn’t mind if I let myself in.”
Delphini shook her head, voice quavering as she pointed towards the door with her wand.
“I’m going to give you one chance to go back through the door before I-I-“
Kira raised an eyebrow, looking her over before finishing her sentence, “-blast me to pieces? Trust me, you won’t get the chance.”
She lowered the wand slightly, confused, before stammering, “What?”
Kira’s smirk grew into a victorious smile as a pink humanoid creature holding it’s thumb up appeared behind him. Kira raised his hand in a similar motion, then answered, “Because Killer Queen has already touched your wand.” before clicking his thumb down.
Delphini let out a scream as her body was instantly disintegrated, leaving only her hand, clutching firmly onto the wand as it hit the ground with a quiet thud. Tossing the wand aside, Kira looked at the hand, smiling serenely as he caressed his face with it. After a few moments with his new girlfriend, Kira tucked the hand into his coat pocket, then gently closed the door behind him.
Adjusting his tie in the bathroom mirror, Akechi Goro silently cursed the department for refusing to pay for any more of his dry cleaning. Now, he had to wear casual clothing while he was in the sewers, that change into his suit once he got to work so he didn’t smell like filth all day. He had been brought to this strange city against his will, forced to fight in a truly hellish royale, and what was his reward? A home next to a sewage pipe. He was the Detective Prince, for god’s sake, and they truly disrespected him like this?
Lost in his frustrated thoughts, Akechi didn’t notice Detective Wolf until he bumped directly into him as he left the bathroom. Looking the larger man over, he smiled sheepishly and said, “Oh! My apologies, Detective Wolf. I didn’t see you there!”
Taking a drag of his cigarette, Wolf replied, “You can just call me Bigby, kid. C’mon, Sergeant Pleasant wants everyone together for a briefing.”
Keeping the smile for the time being Akechi nodded, then followed Bigby as he walked into the meeting room and took a table, waiting patiently for several other detectives to file in. Akechi scrunched his nose as the stench of cigarettes wafted into the room.
Don’t these morons know how unhealthy those are? Or are they too addicted to care?
After a few minutes, the noise of conversation died down as Sergeant Skullduggery Pleasant entered the room, folder tucked under his arm. Setting the folder down on his podium, Pleasant, wearing the best expression of annoyance that someone with no face could really have, opened it, pulled out a picture of a young girl labelled “D. Diggory”, and placed the photo on the whiteboard behind him, under a section labelled “Disappearances” with three other women, pictures labelled “M. Chang”, “A. Yuuki”, and “S. Byrne”.
The sight of a new addition caused several gasps throughout the room, and Pleasant turned back to the group and began speaking.
“This is the fourth disappearance in two months. Seeing as how these women, entirely unrelated from one another, have somehow managed to completely vanished, it’s officially up to our department to figure this one out.”
Listening to the presentation, Akechi folded his hands together and leaned forward, listening intently. The case itself was intriguing, and he hadn’t found anything in this city this interesting since he discovered exactly where…his rival was living. For his part, Bigby slouched in his chair, smoking his cigarette and nodding along to the occasional note.
Pleasant continued, “Now, obviously this is a high-priority case, but I’ve received word from some of the higher-ups, or whatever it is they call themselves nowadays, that if the disappearances continue, they’ll have to institute a curfew.”
This earned numerous groans from throughout the room, and an older blonde Englishman, also smoking a cigarette, yelled from the back, “Another bleedin’ curfew? Christ, we just got outta the last one!”
Pleasant nodded, then replied, “Well, it’s either that or even more women go missing, so if we want to be able to go out past 8 for the foreseeable future, I’d suggest we get to work on this. Now, who wants lead on this?”
A hand went up almost immediately, and the entire room turned to see that it belonged to Akechi, who sat up straight and smiled eagerly. Surprised, Pleasant pointed at him and said, “Detective Goro? You really want this case?”
Akechi grinned. A case as high-profile as this was simply too good to pass up. It was a chance to prove that he wasn’t just some foolish kid playing adult and, assuming another citizen was behind this, he could potentially get out of those damned sewers.
“Of course, Sergeant. I’ll happily take this one and have it solved in no time at all, really.”
Pleasant seemed impressed before responding, “Okay, Detective Goro, it’s yours. Stop by Records and they’ll give you everything we’ve got on the missing women. Everyone else, dismissed.”
The murmured conversation continued as the group shuffled out of the room, and Akechi was mildly glad to be hearing his name pop up a few times. Stamping out his cigarette, Bigby clapped his hand on Akechi’s shoulder and simply said, “Good luck, kid.” before leaving. Now alone in the room, Akechi grinned and leaned back in his chair.
Well, this shouldn’t be too much trouble, should it?
Sandwich bag in his hand and girlfriend tucked safely into his coat, Kira hummed a tune to himself as he walked down the street to the bus stop. When he had arrived into this city, he had been deeply confused, terrified even, at the chaos of a brave new world. But after some time, a bit of which was spent as a ghost, he had adapted and learned to thrive in his new surroundings. After all, the best way to lay low was to blend in, and in a city filled with all sorts of monsters and threats, who would pay attention to a man doing his best to live a normal life?
Of course, he had some concerns, namely keeping himself in check. Back in Morioh, he was able to keep his urges under control, not needing to find a new girlfriend for weeks at a time, but here? He had gone through three in a mere two months. He wasn’t sure what was causing this, but ever since his strange dreams, he had found himself waking up to find his nails growing unfathomably long.
Normally he slept so peacefully, but ever since these dreams of a strange being with yellow eyes, he had found himself disturbed.
He pushed the troubled thoughts out of his mind as he stepped onto the bus. He shouldn’t concern himself with such things when he was having such a nice day out on the town with his new girl, and so instead his mind wandered to the radio, which appeared to be stuck on a news broadcast.
“In a recent interview with Capone’s Speakeasy, Chairman Beast criticized the government’s role in both the Tarot and World War Royale incidents, citing death tolls and expenses in comparison to his “Battle Dome” project. This comes following a recent poll shows citizenship faith in the government at an all-time low, while Beast’s own approval rating nearly doubled-“
Kira rolled his eyes. He had no interest in politics. As long as the lights stayed on and the roads were paved, he was perfectly fine with a rotating line of fools who felt the need to put themselves in the spotlight. As for him, he had everything he needed.
Akechi rubbed his eyes wearily as he stared at the files scattered across his table. He had requested they all be plastic wrapped so he could take them home and the department had fortunately agreed, after a few strange looks.
Outside of having to work in his filthy, mildly moist home, the truly frustrating element of this case was the randomness of it. Four different women from four different backgrounds, all totally unrelated, going missing over two months was truly odd, even for him. It felt like being put in a dark maze with no idea where the walls were, let alone the paths ahead.
It was moments like this he wished had Sae, or even…them, with him, to bounce ideas off of. At the very least, an ideological sparring match could give him a much-needed mental warm-up. His eyes floated to his watch, which read 1:13 AM, and he sighed as he began gathering the files. He’d been given a less strict schedule to allow him to fully devote himself to the case, but he still didn’t like staying up any later than possible. Harder to plan with little sleep. He gathered the files, carefully tucked them into a safe area to avoid any potential bursts of sewage from ruining them, then lied down on his cot before drifting slowly off to sleep.
When Akechi’s eyes opened, he was no longer in his home. Instead, he found himself in a small room with the floor a checkerboard pattern while the curtains were a sickly yellow. He looked around in confusion, mumbling, “What on earth?” to himself before a voice replied, “Not Earth. Not anywhere.”
Akechi turned at the sound to see a long-haired, very tired looking young man in a ratty hoody sitting across from him. Akechi stared, baffled, as the man gestured for someone to come forward, and a woman in a blue dress with pink hair stepped forward, jug of some purple liquid in her hand, then poured the liquid into a cup in the man’s hand. She turned to look at Akechi and held up the jug.
He shook his head in response, then looked down to see a cup in his hand. Before he could say no properly, the woman stepped forward and poured the drink into his cup, Akechi watching in disgust as it solidified instantly upon touching the glass. The woman stepped back, and he noticed now that her eyes were an entirely solid white.
“Apologies for Ramona 2,” the man explained, looking wearily at his apparent assistant, “She is…inferior.”
Upon further inspection, Akechi recognized a film projector screen, showing first-person footage of a man doing paperwork, and a fully stocked bar behind him, but it wasn’t really answering the real question here. Turning back to the man, he sheepishly asked, “Do you mind telling me exactly where I am?”
The man shrugged, then replied, “You are in my prison. Time is short, so I give you a dire warning.”
Akechi leaned forward at the mention of a warning and the man continued, eyes unfocusing as he stared ahead.
“The game has begun. The cat will strike again in one week. He has chosen the cat as his champion, and now, you are mine, detective.”
Akechi pounded his fist on the arm of his chair and asked, “Who? Who is the cat, then? Tell me so I can stop them!”
The man shook his head.
“The game is not that simple. I can offer no help beyond what I tell you now. The Prince must rise or else it will all fall. And when you see the goateed man, tell him this: the Demon with Yellow Eyes draws near.”
Akechi sighed, rubbing his temple in annoyance. Clearly this man was some form of lunatic, and he very much had better things to do than sit around in…wherever he was. He tried to stand, but his legs wouldn’t cooperate.
“What the hell? How do I leave?”
The man smiled and replied, “You don’t.” before reaching under the chair and pulling out a revolver. Still grinning, he placed it to his head and pulled the trigger. Akechi flinched, waiting for the bang, only to stare in bafflement as a small green dart with a plastic tip exited the barrel and stuck to to the man's forehead. Tossing the gun aside, the man laughed, the girl joining them, and the laugh grew louder and louder, eventually forcing Akechi to put his hands over his ears and squeeze his eyes shut to drown out the cacophony of noise.
And when he opened them, he was home again.
Sitting up with a groan as his back cracked, Akechi checked his watch. Somehow, that dream of his had kept him occupied for six hours. He got out of bed and pulled out the files from their hiding spot, the strange man’s words still echoing through his head. He needed to preoccupy his mind, so he supposed he could swing by the crime scene and see what he could uncover.
Chapter 2: So Now We've Shaken the Tree[]
The blonde woman smiles as she looks at him. Taking her hands away from the tablet she was working on, she places them gently on Kira’s face, and he closes his eyes and quietly hums in satisfaction as she ever so gently strokes his cheeks. In the corner, a shadowy figure, eyes yellow, watches, but Kira pays them no mind. Suddenly, a tantalizing finger goes to his mouth, and he grins before reaching out with his tongue and-
The alarm, set exactly for 7:00 AM, jolts Kira from his sleep. He shifts and stretches his arm, yawning and groaning as he hears his back set into place, then smiles as he sees his girlfriend tucked in next to him. A pang of guilt goes through him as he remembers his dream and how she was not the star of it, but it’s gone as soon as it arrives. After all, a happily dedicated man such as himself can have a naughty dream now and then, can’t he?
Standing up from bed, Kira turns off the alarm, then stretches his arms out before touching his toes. Tucking his arms in, he then pivots his hips from side to side before finally running in place for a few minutes. Finally, he puts his arms behind his back, one above the shoulder and the other below, and connects his hands, holding them for a few seconds before exhaling and releasing. His morning stretches complete, he took his girlfriend out of bed and walked down the hallway to the kitchen.
As he put the coffee on, he overlooked the city around him and smiled. He had his misgivings about the amnesiac ghost mishap, but in return it had netted him a much larger home with a bedroom, kitchen, dining room, living room, and a view to die (or in his case, kill) for. Placing a kiss on her knuckle, Kira set his girlfriend down on a special spot reserved for her on the dining table, then walked back to the kitchen to make breakfast.
Stirring the eggs, he thought about the agenda for the day. He’d go to work, obviously, then perhaps he’d take another stroll around town. He’d heard a band was playing at Ash’s tonight, though he admittedly wasn’t one for rock music, so he and his girlfriend could check that out. Or perhaps they’d have a quiet night in, with popcorn and a movie. Or he could try to figure out who exactly that dream girl that had captivated him so was. Not that he was bored of his current flame, of course, but she would wither away eventually and it was best to be prepared. The options were truly limitless. Best of all, he didn’t stand out at all.
Truly, he had earned the quiet life he so thoroughly desired.
Akechi surveyed Delphin Diggory’s apartment, giving it a brief inspection as he walked from the three rooms. It had been left untouched by the regular police and detectives initially working it following an order from the Magic Department, so ideally any evidence left behind would be there for Akechi to find. He frowned and tapped his chin in contemplation. It occurred to him that evidence gathering was not really his forte, but he’d just have to think outside of the box on this. After all, he had found the Thieves identities, so how hard could finding clues in a small apartment possibly be?
Taking a few steps back, he started at the door and looked it over, noting the burn marks on the lock. Clearly, something had simply blown the door open. But, neighbors had reported no odd noises or activity that night, so perhaps they had used something more quiet? He had heard some confusing rumblings of “stealth C4” during the Wolves uprising, but that had been mostly dismissed by the department upon further investigation. And besides, he rather doubted that a young girl could’ve done much to anger a dormant terrorist force.
Keeping a mental note of it, he walked into the kitchen, ignoring the burns on the stove and counter from the water left boiling. The notes had mentioned signs that Delphini had been preparing food, so it was unlikely she was intending to leave. So, either she left quickly or she was taken, and given the abrupt other disappearances, the latter was likely, but even a moron could’ve assessed that from the start. Effectively, he had used his time here to put himself back to square one.
Akechi turned to leave the kitchen and paused, brow furrowed in confusion, as his foot tapped on something under the stove. It was rigid and fairly pointy, at least from initial feel, and he raised his foot to see the top half of a wooden stick pointing out from under the stove. Crouching, he bent down and pulled the stick out, looking it over with an intrigued expression as he inspected the strange designs across it. He couldn’t place it, but it looked…familiar? Like he had seen one like it before?
He beamed as realization dawned on him. He’d seen another detective in the Magic division using one of these before, so he’d be a good source on what exactly it was and why it was left behind. Tucking the wand into his coat pocket, Akechi smiled as he headed for the door. He’d been in the girl’s apartment a mere half hour, and he’d already found a major clue.
A few minutes after Akechi left, a quiet creaking noise, accompanied by hushed whispers, came through the window of her bedroom. The latch on the window rustled, before a small electric jolt snapped it open, and a bald young man in a gray t-shirt and black jeans, with a satchel and some form of metal tuning fork slung over his back, climbed through the window. After checking to make sure the coast was clear, the man stepped back and gestured for another to come through. This one, a well-dressed man in shades, tumbled through the open window and hit the ground with an annoyed “fuck!”. The bald man showed concern, but was waved away.
“Piss off, Cole, I’ve climbed more than a few buildings in my life."
Cole MacGrath smirked and stepped away, hands raised defensively, before replying, “Yeah, you looked like a pro at it, Pete.”
Using one hand to flip off Cole while he used the other to activate the communicator in his ear, Pete Wisdom spoke with a simple, “Elijah, we’re in.”
Sitting in his home, Elijah responded, calm and commanding, with, “Good. I want a full inspection of the apartment. Anything stands out, you take a note of it and pass it on.” Looking the apartment over, Cole replied, “Shouldn’t be too hard. Hell, this is barely bigger than my old room back at the University.”
Inspecting the burn damages on the stove, Pete quipped, “Well, we can confirm she wasn’t particularly tidy. Shameful for a fellow Brit, really.”
Cole crouched to look at the broken lock and nodded appraisingly. Forced open, but not physically. Whoever did it had powers of some form. He stood up and leaned towards the communicators on his satchel strap, activating it and asking, “Now, last I checked, we got a few mysteries that you’ve got us looking into, so there any reason why we’re handling one the cops have already got?”
Elijah snapped back, “Because it’s an unknown factor, and you both know by now that I hate surprises. And as for the police, our source in the department said that they’ve got some sort of “boy detective” looking into it, and I’d rather not leave something like this to a child. Now, how have you two found anything worthwhile, or is it like the others?”
Pete grimaced as he took a whiff of the thoroughly burnt pasta, then closed the pot before responding, “Picked clean, just like the three. Waste of a good climb.”
Elijah cursed.
“Damnit. Alright, take one last sweep then get out of there before anyone gets suspicious. We’ll keep an ear to the ground on this. If women are disappearing, we need to figure out who’s doing it and why before this gets out of hand.”
After inspecting the apartment one last time, Cole gestured towards the window, then laughed as Pete flipped him off again before walking out the front door. Still chuckling, Cole climbed out the window, carefully closing it behind him for good measure.
As Akechi weaved through various officers at work in the DFPD, occasionally muttering a polite “Excuse me.”, he focused intently on reaching the Magic division before the man he was looking for left. He didn’t particularly feel like waiting until tomorrow, especially since the warning (if you could even call something so surreal and rambling a warning) made clear he was working on a limited schedule. Turning a corner, he breathed a sigh of relief as he recognized the back of his target’s head by the shaggy dark hair that reminded him, to some degree, of his rival.
Forcing the thought out of his mind, he waved and shouted, “Detective Potter!”
Harry turned at the sound of Akechi approaching and offered a polite smile.
“Oh, Detective Goro. Is everything alright?”
Akechi grinned and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.
“Well, I’m doing as well as someone working a case as odd as mine can be doing, really. That’s why I wanted to speak with you, actually. I found an odd piece of evidence when I was overlooking the recent missing girl’s apartment and I assumed you may be of some help. Would you happen to know anything-“
He drew the stick out of his coat pocket and handed it to Harry, who looked it over in surprise. Before finishing the sentence, Akechi smirked. He knew he was on to something. “-about this?”
Inspecting the stick in wonder, Harry looked back to Akechi and replied, “This is…hard to explain. Let’s go back to my desk.”
Nodding, Akechi followed Harry back to his desk in the division office and sat down. Setting the stick down, Harry reached into his coat and pulled out one of his own, longer with a completely different design.
“Every wizard, or at least the ones like me, has a wand specially chosen for them. Or, well, the wand specially chooses the wizard. It’s how we’re able to cast spells. What you found here means that the missing girl was like me. The name Diggory sounded familiar, but I didn’t believe it could be connected.”
Akechi tilted his head quizzically and asked, “Is that name important to you?”
He paused, a look of sadness crossing his face, then replied, “It did once. I had a friend who I…lost, a long time ago. But, it doesn’t matter now. What matters is: how did you find this?” Akechi leaned forward, excitedly mapping things out with his hands as he talked.
“I was looking through the girl’s apartment when I found it under the stove. I knew I recognized it, so I brought it to you, on a hunch. I’m glad to see I was correct. My question is: would a “wizard” like yourself simply abandon your wand, under any circumstances?”
Harry shook his head.
“Absolutely not. We can’t use magic without them. We’d basically be Muggles without them.” Akechi paused to contemplate the word “Muggles” and considered asking what it meant, but he had more important things to work on. Perhaps he’d ask later, when this was over. With a satisfied smile, he stood up from Harry’s desk and offered his hand, which he shook, with a look of confusion, after a few moments.
“I take it you’ve figured something out.”
“Nothing too major, but I can finally confirm what I’ve feared: a serial killer is targeting these women. If this wand is as as important as you say, there’s no chance the Diggory girl would leave it behind. So, I just need to figure out how this killer operates.” Harry smiled.
“That’s brilliant, Akechi! Let’s go tell Sergeant Pleasant so he can-“
“Absolutely not. I need something more concrete before I even dream of giving the Sergeant my findings. I’m going to find out what connects the victims and hopefully work from there. As for you, you can log that wand into evidence. We’re going to get it back to that girl once this is over, but for now, I want it somewhere safe.”
Nodding, Harry tried to reply, but Akechi had already turned and left. He sighed, having been given a vivid flashback to working with Hermione when she set her mind to something, then looked at the wand again. Another wizard like him and Hermione had been in this city the entire time, and he’d been totally unaware. Perhaps Ron was out there somewhere. He made a mental note to check later, then stood from his desk to take the note to Evidence Processing.
Thoughts raced through Akechi’s mind as he walked down the halls. Obviously, he’d suspected a killer from the start, but the confirmation was nice. Now, it just raised the question of what exactly made them target these four women, none of whom had a single thing in common. He was certain an answer would come to him once he got back to his place and looked the files over.
Of course, Akechi had found himself so lost in thought that he failed to notice the crackling orange portal that opened up in front of him until he fell through it with an unceremonious yelp. The portal closed as quickly as it opened, and a baffled DFPD officer stared at the ground where it had been before taking a sip of coffee and shrugging it off. He’d seen weirder.
Chapter 3: Who Am I To Judge?[]
Akechi’s cry of shock gave way to a pained “oof” as the portal opened and dropped him face-first onto hardwood floor. Groaning, he pulled himself to his feet and warily looked around. He was in a mansion of some form, with suits of armor and paintings adorning the walls while a tall staircase led to a dark hallway, it’s distinguishing feature a window with some form of design on it. His hand rested on his pistol as he climbed the staircase, only to be stopped by the silhouette of a man floating in the air and blocking the window before speaking with a commanding, “That’s far enough for now, Detective Goro.”
Akechi stopped, taking a slight fighting stance as the figure drew closer. As he floated into the light, Akechi saw them as a older man with black and gray hair, a goatee, with blue robes and a red cape that gently lifted them off the ground. The man came to a stop and touched down on the ground in front of Akechi, blocking the top of the stairs from him. Akechi kept his hand near his pistol, eyes narrow with suspicion, and asked, “Can I ask who you are, exactly? Or better yet, where am I?”
The man nodded and replied, “My name is Doctor Stephen Strange, and this is my Sanctum Santorum. I’ve brought you here because it appears that you are of great importance. Follow me.”
Before Akechi took another step, he found himself teleported further into the Sanctum, and he steadied himself on a towering bookshelf while Strange scanned through it, stopping when he found a book labelled “Minor Projection: 12th Edition”. While Strange flipped through the book, Akechi looked around the Sanctum, impressed by it’s scale and the items scattered throughout it.
“So, this is your home? You must be truly formidable.”
Strange, still absorbed into his reading, did a “so-so” motion and replied, “Technically, this is a Blue Collar home, but a simple Alteration spell made it closer to what I’m comfortable with.”
Trying to comprehend the concept of proper magic, Akechi rubbed his chin in contemplation and added, “Well, that’s very fascinating, but it doesn’t explain why exactly I’ve been brought here.”
Seemingly satisfied, Strange closed the book and placed it back onto the shelf before teleporting again, this time to an ancient looking table in a separate room. Akechi staggered again, this time grabbing the table and feeling glad he didn’t eat breakfast before starting his day. With a wave of his hand, a sparkling orange miniature version of the city materialized above the table, and Akechi watched in quiet interest as Strange generated an enormous white field around it.
“I represent the Council of Magi, Mr. Goro. We’re sorcerers from across dimensions who have decided to pool our resources and battle the various threats within this one. Tell me, how familiar are you with the concept of the Astral Plane?”
Akechi thought about it, then shook his head. He had an inkling of it, but would rather not risk sounding like an idiot, so he’d just let Strange answer the question. Letting Akechi’s answer sink in, Strange continued.
“The Astral Plane is the human race’s collective psychic consciousness. It is powered by mankind’s collective thoughts and spirits, shaping itself to match how they perceive it. I and the others on the Council believe this city exists in some form of nexus with the Plane, drawing power from it. I believe you would call it the “Metaverse”, Mr. Goro, which is how you and others from your world are able to use their abilities in seemingly mundane situations.”
Akechi nodded, thinking the lecture over. It did make sense, seeing as how he could summon Loki in broad daylight without needing to access a Palace or anything like it.
Strange continued.
“Regardless, the Plane has found itself in a negative feedback with the city as of late. I believe this owes to things such as Tarot and the recent Wolves uprising driving the mood of the populace down, and the Council has received visions that suggest that the case you find yourself on now may be a breaking point.”
Akechi perked up at the mention of the case. Finally, some useful information.
“So, you’ll help me then?”
Strange sighed and shook his head.
“Unfortunately, the Council is too preoccupied to offer anything beyond light assistance. Even if we could, the visions make it clear that you must solve this on your own.”
Akechi scoffed, throwing his hands up in annoyance.
“Surely, there can’t be something more important than a serial killer stalking these streets.”
Seemingly humored by this, Strange raised an amused eyebrow and replied, “Try nightly efforts by beings like Gigyas, Chernabog, and Freddy Krueger to inflict untold suffering upon the denizens of the city.” Akechi nodded, mildly impressed.
“Point taken, but regardless, if you can’t truly help me in this case, what, pray tell, can you give me?”
Strange waved his hand, and in an instant, he and Akechi were standing at the bottom of the stairs. Akechi stumbled again, steadying himself and shooting a glare at Strange.
Surely, he’s doing that on purpose at this point.
Seemingly not noticing the dirty look shot his way, Strange held up a finger and calmly said, “I can give you one hint, Detective, and it’s this: the eyes along the path will guide you to what you seek. Now, it is time for you to leave.”
Akechi wanted, quite frankly, to tell Strange that he had already been given an effectively useless hint by an equally bizarre person, but something told him the wizard (or whatever exactly he was) would be less than satisfied with the response. As Strange prepared another of the crackling orange portals, Akechi noticed his goatee and felt a strange familiarity. Just as the portal began to reach under his feet, he realized and his eyes went wide as he remembered the last cryptic hint.
The Goateed Man!
“Wait! There’s something I need to tell you!”
Strange paused the spell, looking at Akechi with interest as he tried to remember the exact wording.
“I need to tell you that…that the Demon with Yellow Eyes draws near!”
Strange stopped the spell, a quizzical expression on his face, then after a few moments, he gave a curt nod and replied, “What you’ve just told is more important than you realize. Thank you.” With that, he waved his hand and Akechi fell through the portal, letting out another yelp as he tumbled down and landed in an alleyway with an awkward thud. Staggering to his feet, Akechi wiped the dirt and grime off his suit and scowled.
Surely, he doesn’t need to drop me so hard when he does that.
Leaning against a trashcan, Akechi sighed. He had been on this case two days, and in that time he’d had not one, but two, cryptic encounters with beings playing games far beyond just this case. He didn’t take kindly to being used a pawn, and the hints weren’t much help either. “Eyes along the path” was as much gibberish as the idea of the killer being “the cat”. Checking his watch, he decided to return to his home. Maybe he’d see what he was looking upon review of the case files.
Kira drummed his fingers on the desk in a mixture of boredom and frustration as he looked at the clock. The downside of his new apartment was the new job: working in a budget office of some form. To be honest, the work was easy enough, meaning he found himself with lots of free time. One of his coworkers, a dark-skinned, slim woman with blonde hair, walked up to his desk and smiled, trying and failing miserably to subtly look him over. Forcing a smile, Kira did his best to ignore looking at her hands as she bent down and picked up the set-aside expense reports he had needed to fill out.
Glancing at her briefly, he noticed her name tag, which read “Patience”, then went back to pretending to work. He had a mere fifteen minutes left before he could go home, where his girlfriend (and a quiet night out on the town) waited. But, he’d found himself growing bored of her as of late. He’d only had her a mere three days, but it appears the honeymoon phase had ended. The dreams starring the mysterious blonde had been on his mind all day, and he’d found himself ogling the hands of many women on the way to work.
Was it already time to find a new girlfriend? Impossible.
He looked down at his hand to check his watch and let out a small gasp as he saw how unseemly his nails had become. Had they really grown that quickly, with him so utterly unaware? It was disgusting, and he needed to rectify it as soon as possible.
Blissfully, the clock finally ticked over to 5, and he quickly gathered his things and left, keeping his head down as he left the office. Hopefully, he’d be able to catch the first bus back to his apartment district.
Akechi looked over the assembled files again, doing his best to ignore the sound of sewage rushing through the pipes over his head, the occasional small droplet of filthy water hitting the table and breaking his focus. He let out a small sigh of frustration and rubbed his eyes wearily. When Ren had offered him a place in his guest room, he’d scoffed at the idea of any such handouts, but there were moments such as this that he contemplated taking the offer. They hadn’t spoken since that meeting, but there were times where Akechi had found himself thinking of-
He shook his head, snapping himself out of his nostalgia. He didn’t have any time for such weakness when he was so close to cracking the case. Looking back at the files, he stopped to think about Strange and the bizarre man’s hints, of cats and “eyes along paths.” The first hint was worthless, but that second felt like it could amount to something, if Akechi could just figure out what it meant.
He leaned back in his chair, watching a drop of water work it’s way down his wall and leave a wet path behind it. Watching it work, Akechi’s eyes narrowed, then widened as realization hit him. Pulling up his phone, he opened a map of the city, then looked back at the files, noting the addresses and the close approximations of their routines according to bystanders and friends and then leaving a point on the digital map. He nodded, satisfied, as he looked at the spots placed it. It appeared that these women, entirely different in age, background, and income, did have one common difference: they all took the same route home from work or school, each getting on and off the same bus everyday.
And that was the path, but what was the eyes?
It had to be the witnesses. Someone traveling these routes had to have seen something, and Akechi figured if it was anyone, it would have to be the driver. Picking up his phone, he called the station, waiting as it rang.
“Dispatch?”
“Hello, this is Detective Akechi Goro, I need someone brought in for questioning. It’s vital to a case in progress.”
“Name?”
Akechi looked over the files, frowning as he realized the driver isn’t mentioned, then replied, “Well, I don’t know the name, exactly. I just know the occupation: it’s the driver of the 5PM to 5 AM shift for city bus 5-C.”
There was a sigh on the other end, then a few moments of tapping before Dispatch replied, “Alright, we got em. We’ll have Mr. Bickle in for questioning first thing in the morning.” Akechi scoffed, then said, “Morning? No, I need to speak with him as quickly as possible. It’s of the utmost importance!”
Dispatch sighed again, then replied, “And we understand that importance, Detective, but it’s more important that we don’t bring the public transit system to a halt, so we’ll need to wait for his shift to be over. Now, if you don’t need anything else, I need to go.”
Akechi hung up the phone and tossed it onto the table in annoyance. It was times like that he especially loathed bureaucracy.
“Earth to Raziel?”
Raziel, distracted from her conversation by work on her tablet, looked up to see Setsuna smiling warmly at her, his face a mixture of amusement and curiosity. She blushed, then replied, “Sorry, I was distracted. The new information the tablet has received is…overwhelming.”
Setsuna nodded, satisfied with the answer, then chuckled and said, “Well, now that I’ve got your attention back, are you excited to meet up with Sorami and Lilith? We’ve all been so busy that we haven’t gotten a chance to get together properly and look into this place, even when we’re all sharing an apartment.”
She looked at the city streets passing by through the bus window and smiled. The tablet had told her that this place was called “DFederal”, which didn’t make much sense to her, but she bet that once they’d checked it out, they could properly form some sort of plan for where they’d go from here. Plus, she’d been in contact with someone who said her knowledge could be of great use, but she wasn’t sure if she really could trust anyone else. Some people seemed kind, but many of the citizens here were truly odd.
The bus coming to a stop broke her out of her quiet contemplation, and Setsuna gestured for her to go first as they stepped. The diner they’d planned to meet at was just around the corner. Of course, neither Raziel nor her friend noticed the odd sight of a man in a white suit with dark hair who’d had his eyes on Raziel’s hands the entire ride home. As she walked past him, Kira’s eyes grew wide with awe and understanding. That was her.
He’d found the girl of his dreams.
Chapter 4: It's Just You and Me Now, Sport[]
Sipping a cup of coffee and rubbing his eyes, Akechi, file on the subject tucked under his arm, yawned as he walked down the hallway to the interrogation room. It had been quite some time since he’d been in one of these, and the last time hadn’t gone quite as well as he’d initially hoped. But this time, he intended to actually get information from the target. Akechi stopped when he saw a redheaded detective, clad in a black suit, turn away from the one-way window looking into the room and shook Akechi’s hand.
“Detective Caine. Thank you for bringing Mr. Bickle in for me.”
“My pleasure, Goro. What do you want with a guy like this anyway? House in the slums, works a dead-end shift, not exactly a person of interest.”
Akechi smiled and replied, “Well, I doubt he’ll play much role but I suspect he’ll be a vital source for my case. Did he give you any…”
Akechi peeked into the room to see a man with a mohawk and an army jacket, , a small green button titled “I Believe In Beast” pinned to the breast pocket, slouched in his chair, staring at the window with a smirk and occasionally making a finger gun at it.
“…trouble?”
Caine shook his head.
“Came in without a fight. Said something about how cops are the only thing that can clean up the scum. Honestly, could’ve worked in sanitation…”
Caine reached into his coat and pulled out a pair of sunglasses, putting them on before adding, “…because he seems obsessed with taking out the trash.”
On that final note, Caine walked away, leaving a confused Akechi to watch him exit before he straightened his tie and entered the room. Bickle nodded to him as he sat down, and Akechi smiled again before saying, “Hello, Mr. Bickle. How are you today?”
Travis shrugged, then replied, “Doing fine until I got dragged off the job and into a dark room in the middle of nowhere, but that’s just part of the city, I guess. Always something goin’ on.” Akechi nodded and responded, “Yes, I do apologize for that, but as I understand it, you don’t work the day shift of the bus route. You work the 5 PM to 5 AM, yes?”
Travis nodded.
“Yeah, I took it cause I don’t sleep much. Doc called it insomnia or something like that, so I figured that if I ain’t gonna be sleepin, I may as well be working.”
“I see. And do you enjoy this job?”
Travis shrugged again, and Akechi had to stifle an effort to roll his eyes. He’d been hoping to talk to someone with a little bit more energy to them, not an unstable insomniac.
“It’s a job. Does anybody enjoy theirs?”
Akechi forced a chuckle, then opened up the file.
“Well, I suppose you’re curious as to why you’ve been called here.”
Travis nodded, but said nothing, his eyes betraying no emotion or tells as Akechi pulled out photos of the mission women, followed by a printout of his map, with X’s marking homes and a line marking the route through the area. Akechi slid the photos forward, then continued.
“Well, I’m curious as to whether or not you recognize any of these women?”
Travis stopped slouching so he could pick up the photos, individually looking each one over and nodding, seemingly weighing something over in his head. After a minute of inspection, he showed Akechi the photo of Samantha, causing him to perk up, then smirked again and said, “Like the eyes on this one, but never seen him.”
Akechi desperately suppressed the urge to grab him by the shoulders and yell about the urgency of the case, then frowned before softly asking, “Are you certain of this? From what my research ascertains, all four of these women rode on your bus route, and their homes, jobs, and schools were all along or near it.”
Travis put his hands up and said, “Lot of broads get on my bus. My job is lookin’ at the road, detective, not the passengers.”
Akechi sighed, then asked, “You’ve really seen nothing? Perhaps one of these women with a suspicious person, a day where something seemed wrong or amiss, anything that made you take notice?”
Travis shrugged again, then chuckled to himself.
“Whole city is fulla freaks and weirdos and shit that some dope fiend couldn’t dream of. If I was takin notes everytime I saw something like that, I’d be doin’ your job.”
Akechi rubbed the bridge of his nose frustration and found himself contemplating throwing the coffee in Travis’s face for the crime of wasting valuable time and resources, but he thought better of it. Hard to hide a body in this city, unless you were whoever was killing these women. Gathering his files, he stood up and simply said, “Then you’re free to go, Mr. Bickle. I’m afraid I don’t have much more to say to you.”
Travis seemed pleased with this, then stood up himself and offered a hand to Akechi, vigorously shaking when Akechi made the mistake of taking it. After a shake that went a moment too long, Akechi gestured for Travis to follow him out of the hallway.
“I suppose the least I can do is walk you to the door after making you come here.”
“Thanks, kid. Y’know, you’re alright. Lotta pigs in this city, they ain’t really looking out for nobody, just trying to line their own pockets. But you? You seem like a good one. If they had more guys like you, maybe the freaks and sickos wouldn’t be running all over these streets.”
They walked up the stairs and through the various halls of the station, Akechi doing his best to make polite conversation while quietly furious over the dead end, until they found themselves at the door. Before Travis left, Akechi pointed to the button on his jacket.
“Before you go, Mr. Bickle, do you mind me asking what that button on your coat means? I must admit, my curiosity has gotten the better of me.”
Travis tapped the button like a badge of pride and grinned before saying, “This? I got it at one of that Beast guy’s rallies. Girl on my bus was talkin’ about him, so I figured, “Hey? Why not check ‘im out.” And, I don’t normally say it about the scumbags running things, but this guy’s good. He’s got the right ideas, sayin’ the right things. He’s gonna clean up the streets, I just know it.”
Akechi frowned at the explanation. That sounded distressingly familiar to the constant, foolishly glowing coverage of his own father, but perhaps things were different. He nodded, satisfied, then opened the door and let Travis leave.
“Thank you for your time, Mr. Bickle.”
“My pleasure.”
Standing on the stairs as he watched the driver leave, Akechi balled his hands into fists, his frown turning into a scowl. He’d been beside himself when he figured this out, and he had just walked away totally empty-handed. If Nijima-san had been here, she could’ve pried something out of him in no time.
No, screw Nijima. Akechi was twice the investigator she was, so he just needed to work harder. The answer was here, right under his damned nose, and he would find it if it killed him. As he contemplated to himself, he looked around, pausing when he spotted a camera at the corner of the building. Beneath it rest a sign that read “Smile! Our eyes are open 24/7!” with the image of a cartoonish smiley face next to the message.
Eyes
Akechi dropped his coffee as realization hit. It had been right in front of him all along. Cameras, eyes of the law, all over the city, and almost certainly across every step of the path. If he ever saw Strange again, he’d have to thank him. But first, he needed to speak with the archives department.
He turned and ran back into the building. If he hurried, he could get a warrant within the next two hours.
Kira poked his head out from behind a corner as he watched the blue track suit wearing girl walk side by side with the taller black-haired boy he’d seen on the bus with her. He’d been following them ever since Kira decided she would be his next girlfriend, and he’d taken very special note of their routine. There was times where she was by herself, but they were rare and fleeting, and most concerning of all, it appears that two others lived with them. One a red-haired girl with long pigtails, and the other one with much darker hair.
They both had a beauty to them, of course, but Kira only had eyes for the blonde, her name apparently “Raziel”, as learned from several eavesdropped conversations. It was a stroke of luck for him that today was his day off, meaning he didn’t have to worry about any questions from his obnoxious coworkers as to why he hadn’t come in.
The duo walked to a park and Kira waited for them to walk further in before following and crouching behind a tree. They sat on a bench and talked, and Kira frowned as he looked at the young man. He wasn’t quite sure of the relationship here, but he’d have to eliminate him, and possibly his friends, to get to the girl as well, which could raise suspicion.
“Setsuna! Raziel!”
Kira turned at the sound to see the two other girls entering the park and he cursed to himself. The young man grinned and hugged the black-haired girl before kissing her, then gestured for them to come with him, saying something about “getting lunch before work”. For his part, Kira hid behind the tree until they were gone, then headed back for the entrance of the park. It was easy stalking two people, but four raised the chances of getting caught too high.
It didn’t matter anyway.
He’d seen everything he needed to know before he made his move.
“What do you mean you can’t help me?!?”
Akechi pounded his fist on the desk in frustration, causing the man sitting on the other side of it to lift his drink to prevent it from spilling. His desk marker reading “M. Smart”, the man took a sip of the drink before shrugging apologetically and replying, “My sincere apologies, Mr. Goro, but we can’t just give you free reign over the cameras. Archives take proper protocol very seriously.”
Akechi stared at him in bewilderment, then responded, “There’s a serial killer on the loose, and you’re telling me that I’ll need proper protocol before I can use the one thing that can help me catch them? You realize how absurd that sounds?”
Smart nodded, his eyes flitting nervously to a camera on the wall, and he set his drink down to stand up and walk over to a filing cabinet, humming a tune to himself as he flipped through several papers before pulling out one titled “Surveillance Access Request Form”. He sat back down at the desk and wrote something on the bottom of the form, his hand covering the writing, before looking up at Akechi and smiling sadly, then replying, “I understand that, detective. After all, the point of the police is to ensure the safety of the populace. Well, that’s how it supposed to work anyway. But, regardless, the higher-ups don’t want just anyone tinkering around in surveillance, so you’re gonna need to fill out this here form and bring it back to me and then we can see what we can do, eh?”
He slid the form across from Akechi, and he looked at it to see that Smart had written “L. Salander, Blue Collar, Apartment 1468.” Akechi noted the address and thankfully nodded before packing the form into his folder and standing up from the desk. He forced a smile and a quiet, “Thank you, Mr. Smart. I’ll be sure to bring back this form as soon as possible.” before exiting the office, inspecting the address once he was out of sight.
Smart breathed a sigh of relief as Akechi left. Normally, he didn’t like to break the rules, but he knew that the killer would strike again before that request would clear. He’d done his part, now it was time for the detective to do his.
Following the address given to him by Smart, Akechi walked up the stairs of the blue collar apartment complex. Somehow, he found the complex, which reeked of a variety of smells and was constantly interrupted by the sounds of loud music and the occasional argument you could hear through the thin walls, an envious living position. At least the floor wasn’t wet. Well, mostly. He mentally counted the addresses until he found himself at 1468 and knocked, waiting a moment as he heard cursing and a quiet discussion through the door. There was the distinct click of a latch being pulled, followed by a second latch, and then the lock unlocking before the door cracked open to show a pale face staring back at him, black hair hanging over them doing nothing to hide the distrust in the eyes staring at him.
The woman on the other side of the door looked him over, then asked, voice full of distaste and suspicion, “What do you want?”
Akechi paused, caught off guard by the coldness, then sheepishly smiled and replied, “Ah, hello. Are you, erm, “L. Salander”?”
She rolled her eyes.
“It’s Lisbeth. And what do you want?”
Akechi nodded, satisfied that she wanted to get straight to business, and responded, “Yes, I’m a detective with the-“
“Fuck off, pig.”
She moved to slam the door, but Akechi shoved his foot in the crack, wincing in mild discomfort as it was squeezed. She stared at him with scorn and prepared to slam the door, hopefully breaking a few of his toes, when Akechi pleaded, “Wait! I’m hunting a serial killer and I’ve been told you’re the person that can help me. He’s killed several women already and I’m afraid that he’ll strike again if I can’t act.”
The mention of women made Lisbeth’s expression soften, and she hesitated, pushing Akechi’s foot out of the doorframe with her own before saying, “Hold on,” then closing the door. Akechi sighed and checked his watch. He really didn’t have time for this, but she was basically the only avenue he had remaining, so he supposed he could wait a minute or two. He could hear the sounds of heated conversation on the inside, and his curiosity got the better of him as he leaned in to listen to the sound of Lisbeth talking to another girl.
“You need to go. There’s a cop here.”
“A cop? Did you do something wrong?”
“No, it’s…complicated. You just need to leave.”
“Oh, well, will I see you again? I don’t really do this kind of stuff, especially not this stuff, and I’m not really sure what the whole protocol is on it, so-“
“If I think about you later, I’ll call you. But right now, you have to go.”
“Oh, uh, okay. Well, see you later, maybe?”
“Maybe.”
As their footsteps got closer, Akechi leaned away from the door and played it casual, looking at his watch again as a blonde with unkempt hair, a wrinkled blue sweater/red pants combo, and glasses exited Lisbeth’s apartment. She awkwardly avoided eye contact with Akechi and he chuckled quietly.
“Sorry to disturb you.”
“Oh, no, it’s fine. Police business is pretty important, so I should be going. See you. Or, well, I hope I don’t see you, since you’re a cop and cops mean you’re in-oh man, I’m rambling. Is it warm in here?”
He offered his hand to break the tension, and she shook it.
“Goro Akechi.”
“Kara.”
She kept walking, doing her best to avoid bumping into anyone or drawing attention to herself, as Lisbeth opened the door fully and gestured for Akechi to step in. Now that he got a full look at her, he was surprised for someone with such a forceful personality having such a small stature and frame. His second impression was that her apartment positively reeked of cigarettes, on top of being a relative pigsty. He crinkled his nose, attempting to ignore it as he stepped in, and Lisbeth closed the door behind her, pulling a cigarette from her jacket before stepping in front of Akechi and looking him over with an unimpressed expression.
“First of all, how do you know my name?”
Akechi shifted footing awkwardly. He wasn’t really enjoying being snapped at, but he’d deal with it for now.
“A man named Maxwell Smart recommended you. He informed me you had a way of bypassing the security on the surveillance systems?”
Lisbeth took a drag of her cigarette and swore under her breath. Akechi didn’t quite hear it, but he heard something resembling “sucker” at the end of something much more foul. She pointed at him, cigarette smoke trailing up and irritating his nose, and snapped, “Fine, I’ll help you, but it’s only because I want to stop a swine before he hurts any more women. And tell Smart that I’ve paid my half of the favor, so he can lose my fucking address.”
She gestured for her to follow him into her bedroom, which was similarly messy, and to a desk with an elaborate computer setup. It reminded him of how Joker talked about Futaba’s room, though helpfully with less clothes scattered on the floor. He stepped over a pair of underwear and leaned against the wall as Lisbeth sat down and fired up the computer. Watching it boot, she leaned back and took another drag of her cigarette.
“The setup was complex, unlike anything I’d ever seen, but everything has a weakness. Once I find it, it was easy enough to install a small backdoor in the system.”
Akechi, intrigued, asked, “What was the weakness?” which earned a scoff from Lisbeth.
“Like I’d tell a cop.”
He shrugged. Fair enough. He was never one for computers regardless.
After the computer had fully woken up, Lisbeth clicked on an icon marked with a throbbing single eye, then turned to Akechi and asked, “What am I looking for?”
Akechi pulled the folder out of his coat and rifled through it until he pulled out a piece of paper with the pictures of the four victims and showed it to Lisbeth, who took it and looked it over.
“I need three months of recordings on these three women, starting with them exiting city bus 5-C at two stops, one in the blue collar district, and one in the white collar district. If you can, I’d like to follow them on their route home.”
Lisbeth nodded, seemingly impressed, then turned to the computer and replied with a quiet, “One moment.” before getting to work. Akechi watched as she furiously typed and dragged, compiling video feeds while occasionally stopping to look over her work. After several minutes, she finally turned to him and simply said, “It’s done.”
Akechi stepped closer to the computer, Lisbeth moving her chair slightly to accommodate him, and admired her handiwork. She had split the four feeds into smaller screens, all playing side by side so he could look them over, with a slight speed-up to save time as he watched. And he stared intently, watching their every step for something, anything, that could give him a clue. Lisbeth continued smoking and watched him with a curious expression.
“Is there something you’re trying to spot? Or are you just trying to make your eyes bleed?” He didn’t look at her as he replied, “There has to be a consistent element. Killers never strike randomly. It’s always planned, coordinated.”
As he watched, he felt he was missing something. A minor detail that could put it together. Something catching his eye, but just barely escaping it. Suddenly, it hit him. He wasn’t sure what tipped him off, but a small flash of color, repeated four times, caught his eye, and he held up a hand and urgently yelled, “Pause the feed! Pause them now!”
Lisbeth hit the spacebar, and all four stopped. Leaning in, Akechi grinned, jubilant at what he had spotted, then tapped his finger against the screen at four separate spots, earning a grumble from Lisbeth about smudging.
“Now, naturally there is a chance of coincidence, but I’ve learned there’s no such thing. We can forget about tracking the women because I have a new question.”
Lisbeth looked to where he pointed to see a black-haired man in a white suit, standing a few feet away from each woman, all on vastly different days and at different times, and her eyes widened in realization, with Akechi leaning into her, voice full of pride.
“Why is this man going the same route as all four of the victims? And where does he live?”
I can hear your heartbeat, knocking on the window.
I can feel the weight down below.
Kira hummed along to the music on the radio as he prepared himself dinner. A nice salad with a side of red wine would be quite satisfying as a celebratory meal. Of course, it was also light, perfect for a man on the go such as himself. He looked at the clock. It was 6:30 already, so it would be perfect for him to eat before heading out, then returning just in time for bed.
I can hear whispers,
Coming from the shadows.
Tonight was the night he found himself a new girlfriend.
It was going to happen.
It had to happen.
Setting his food and drink down at his seat, Kira picked up his old girlfriend from her spot at the table and walked to the window, cracking it open and giving her a final kiss. He almost felt bad, since they’d spent so little time together, but all relationships are fleeting, and he’d been caught in passion for another. With that final kiss, Killer Queen disintegrated the hand and he watched the small burst of smoke float gently out the window. With that settled, it was time for dinner.
Sometimes I
He sat down at the table and prepared to dig in, when there was a knock at the door.
Sometimes I
He sighed, setting his napkin down, and stood up to answer the door, grumbling to himself as he did so. Didn’t people know better than to bother their neighbors at dinnertime?
Sometimes I, understand it very clearly.
He opened the door and reacted with some surprise to see a young, well-dressed man on the other side. The young man smiled and waved at Kira. “Ah, you must be Mr. Kira. I’m Detective Goro Akechi with the DFPD. Do you mind if I come in and ask a few questions?”
Heartbeat, heartbeat, listen to my heartbeat.
Chapter 5: chase[]
Kira stared at the detective standing at his door, trying his best to hide his panic as he mentally weighed his options. Was the detective here about his girlfriends? How could he have known? He’d covered his tracks perfectly, left no evidence, no trace of his very existence. Maybe Kira was being paranoid and this call was somehow unrelated. His only option was to play it cool until the coast was clear. He smiled calmly, then replied, “Of course, detective. Come right in. Let me turn the radio down so we can talk in the quiet.”
Akechi stepped into the apartment and gave a quick scan. It was nice, well-maintained but clearly housing just one occupant. He noticed the window was open, unusual given that it was a fairly chilly night, but his attention was quickly drawn to the strange pink plant on Kira’s coffee table. Akechi stooped down to look at it as it seemingly slept, and it lazily opened one eye to look at him with suspicion.
“What a strange plant. How did you acquire it?”
Entering the living room, Kira nonchalantly replied, “It’s a long story. And I’d stay back from it because it’s not particularly-“
Stray Cat hissed and snapped at Akechi, who stumbled backward, earning a small, quickly-hidden smirk from Kira.
“-friendly.”
Akechi took another step away from Stray Cat, chuckled nervously, then took on a serious expression.
“Well, I suppose you’re curious as to why I’m here, Mr. Kira.”
“Yes, I was hoping for an explanation.”
Akechi nodded and walked into the dining room, Kira following him warily, as he pulled his files out of his coat and set them on the table. He noticed the well-placed bowl of fruit in the middle and smiled, doing his best not to alarm Kira.
“Ah, do you mind if I take an apple? I haven’t had much of a chance to eat today.”
Kira nodded, mildly confused, and Akechi reached for an apple, only to pause and say, ”Mm, perhaps I’ll wait. It’s rude to talk while eating, after all,” before going back to the file and pulling out several photos and setting them on the table. Kira stepped closer, and his eyes widened in shock as he saw them. It was his three previous girlfriends on their commutes, and in the background, circled with red marker for extra attention, was Kira himself.
Of course, the cameras!
How could he have been so stupid as to let himself be captured on video?
Akechi looked away from the photos and Kira, who quickly hid his panic, and explained, “I’m investigating a case surrounding a series of disappearances of several female warriors, and I’ve noticed that on the day these four women vanished, you seemed to follow the same route as them back to their homes. Or, in the case of poor Asuna here, the bridge she sleeps under. But, on most other days, you went straight home. I hate to sound accusatory, but you must understand why this makes you look suspicious?”
An unnerving silence hung over the room as Akechi let the information sink him, internally celebrating as he watched Kira think it over. He knew, right then, that this was the man he was looking for. For his part, Kira did his best not to immediately eliminate this detective on the spot as he thought for an explanation out of this damning evidence. As much as he’d like to simply remove this nuisance, he didn’t want any more police asking questions, although it was strange this young man had come alone. Weren’t detectives supposed to work with partners? He smiled. He’d found a way to turn the tables.
“Well, detective, it certainly looks suspicious, but I’m afraid it’s simply bad luck on my part. You see, I actually had a working relationship with this woman-”
He stepped next to Akechi and pointed at Monica.
“-and followed her home that day to ask some questions about an impending presentation that was due. As for the other two, my intentions were more…altruistic. This one here-“
He pointed at Samantha.
“-had left her wallet on the bus, and I knew I’d never forgive myself if it got stolen on my watch. I had to follow her the entire way home before I caught up. What a mess!” He chuckled, and Akechi continued to look at him with suspicion as he held up a picture of Asuna.
“And as for her, I took one look at the poor thing and could tell she was homeless just from the sight of her, so I followed her and gave her what money I could so she could have a decent meal in this city. Now, if you and your partner had any more questions…actually, where is your partner? I assumed he was right behind you, but you seem to be working alone tonight.”
Akechi was taken aback by the question. It was true that he should have Bigby with him, but he’d decided to solo this case. It hadn’t occurred to him anyone would actually ask that, and he quickly replied, “Erm, my partner is waiting in the car. I assured him I wouldn’t take long.”
Kira nodded, delighted by the new revelation. Not only was this detective alone, he was clearly lying to him. So, if he theoretically vanished, the odds of Kira having to deal with it were small. He put his hands in his pockets and leaned against the table before asking, “Now, detective, assuming I’ve answered your questions, do you need anything else? If it’s truly important, I’d be glad to come down to the station and say what else I know about these four girls.”
Akechi smirked. He’d deliberately excluded Delphini and said “four” when there only three women on the table, and Kira had never bothered to correct him. So, clearly, he knew something more. He’d been hoping to catch him with this.
“Did you say four, Mr. Kira?”
Kira’s eyes glanced at the table, and he internally cursed as he recognized his error. Did he know about Delphini? He couldn’t have, but he said four earlier, didn’t he? Was he trying to trap him? No. Kira couldn’t let him get to him. He laughed, catching Akechi off-guard. “Did I? I meant “poor”. Slip of the tongue. You must excuse me, I’ve been staring at number sheets all day.”
Akechi laughed as well, then replied, “Really? I just spoke to your work on the way up, and they informed me this was your day off.”
Kira’s internal monologue had devolved into frustrated curses. It was at this point the detective had made clear he knew too much, and Kira knew that he couldn’t leave this room alive. He was too much of a threat to the life he’d built here. Before he could stammer out an explanation, Akechi sighed and said, “Well, Mr. Kira, I’m sorry, but I’m afraid I need to bring you in further.”
Kira nodded sadly, then said, “I understand, detective. But, before we go, can I still interest you in that apple for the road?”
As Akechi looked over at the bowl of fruit, shrugged, and reached for it, Kira grinned and summoned Killer Queen, who touched the apple at the top of the bowl and waited patiently. Kira was practically drooling as Akechi’s fingers were mere inches from it, mere inches from Kira being able to go about his business without fear of anyone asking too many questions. Suddenly, Akechi stopped and turned to look at Kira, a wolfish grin on his face, before asking, “One more thing, Mr. Kira: were you going to inform me you had a Persona of your own, or I was supposed to wait until we got to the station to find that out?”
He gestured towards Killer Queen, and Kira let out a cry of shock before bringing his thumb down. The apple exploded, destroying the table underneath it and sending Akechi flying into a wall, and Kira used the chaos to quickly grab Stray Cat and run for the door. He needed to escape this damned detective, then he’d be able to get his girlfriend. Tonight was the night, and nothing would get in his way.
Akechi’s vision was still blurred as he stumbled to his feet, holding his head as the fire alarm shrieked throughout the entire floor. His fingers came away with blood from the gash on his forehead, but he ignored it. Yoshikage Kira was definitely the man he was looking for. He ran out into the hallway as confused denizens filled it, mumbling amongst themselves about the alarm. Akechi squinted to see Kira’s distinct white suit as he dashed down the stairs, and he quickly drew his gun and badge before shoving his way through the crowd.
“DFPD! Everyone, out of the way!”
People quickly parted, and Akechi fired two shots that just missed Kira’s head as he turned and vanished further down the stairs. The crowd screamed, and several went back into their homes as Akechi continued his chase. He’d come so close, and he wasn’t about to let his target escape.
Kira exited the apartment building, breathing a small sigh of relief as he realized the detective was no longer behind him. He was fairly confident that the confusion of the alarm had slowed him down, even if he’d had a close call with that strange gun of his. He straightened his tie and tucked Stray Cat inside of Killer Queen before preparing to blend into the small nighttime crowd just seconds before a massive explosion tore a hole through the building. Stumbling back in shock, Kira watched as the detective leapt from the hole created in the third floor and gracefully landed on his feet in front of him.
Gone was the friendly, collected detective Kira had seen just minutes earlier, and he felt a genuine twinge of fear as Akechi advanced, grinning maniacally and cackling to himself.
“You know, Mr. Kira, I must thank you. I was assuming I’d bring you in peacefully, but instead, I’ve been given a chance to really cut loose. Now, since you were nice enough to show me yours, it’s only fair I show you mine. Come, Loki!”
Akechi tapped his finger on the bridge of his nose, and a blinding flash of blue flame covered him before he re-emerged, wearing sinister black armor, wielding a jagged red blade, and accompanied by a massive black and white horned figure. Kira gawked in a mixture of awe and fear at the being. It was far larger than any Stand he’d ever seen, and he quickly summoned Killer Queen to block a strike from it’s sword, grunting in pain as he felt it dig into his arms. Akechi laughed as he watched Kira’s own Persona futilely fight against Loki, landing small blows before being easily smacked aside by Loki’s blade.
Kira fell to his knees, holding his side, as Akechi walked forward. He had a way out of this, but he needed another distraction. He looked over to see Killer Queen had been knocked into a cluster of trash cans. He nodded. That would do. Killer Queen grabbed one of the cans and hurled it at Loki before detonating it, causing Akechi to flinch slightly before continuing and lifting Kira’s head up with the tip of his sword.
“I must admit, I was hoping for more of a fight here, but when I bring your head into the department, I’ll settle for the praise.”
Kira smirked.
“Oh, I assure you, detective, I’ve got more surprises up my sleeves.”
“Such as?”
Kira grinned as a deep voice boomed out “OVER HERE,”, causing Akechi to turn and look at a small tank with a skull across the front of it. Akechi stared in confusion that quickly turned to alarm as the tank charged forward.
“Loki!”
His Persona appeared in front of him just in time, blocking the brunt of the explosion that ripped through the alleyway. The tank landed to the side of him, none the worse for wear, and continued pursuing him, hurling itself at Loki and detonating before landing and resuming it’s hunt. As Akechi scrambled to avoid his new pursuer, Kira stood up, ignoring the pain in his side, and crept out the alley, pushing by several shocked and confused passerby as the sounds of fighting faded behind him.
“Play nice, detective.”
Akechi gritted his teeth and smacked the tank away, then cast Megidolaon on it as it skittered down the alley. The enormous blast completely consumed the tank, and Akechi gave a satisfied grin that quickly vanished as it emerged, completely unscathed, and rolled forward.
“What? How???”
As the furious scrap for survival ensued in the alley below, Eragon, sitting on Saphira and watching from a distance, hesitated. He swore he’d avoid the sounds of fighting at all cost, but someone needed help and he couldn’t just ignore it. With a well-placed kick to the side, he brought Saphira down, landing in the alley and giving both Akechi and Sheer Heart Attack pause. Eyeing the tank up, Eragon quickly cast Brisingr, the fire leaping from his hand and bathing it in fire. He gave a nod to Akechi, who furiously gestured for him to go away.
“Run, you idiot! It’s focused on-“
Sheer Heart Attack leapt from the flames and lunged towards Eragon, who gave an undignified cry of shock as it dug it’s treads into his face before leaping towards Saphira, who roared in confusion as it exploded in her face, completely destroying her head. Body wracked with a mixture of grief and pain, Eragon collapsed as Akechi took the momentary distraction to fall back and hide behind a trash can. The tank had completely ignored him in favor of that idiot and his dragon but why? They didn’t say anymore than he had, and he moved more than either of them got the chance to.
He peeked out from behind the can to see it angrily running into some still flaming ruins nearby, detonating, then heading towards his direction. He held his breath and thought about it some more, then snapped his finger as it came to him. Of course, it’s not a regular motion-tracker! It’s drawn to heat, so he just needed to distract it.
“I said, look over here!”
The tank roared and leapt again as Akechi rolled out of the way and summoned Loki, then cast Maragion, lighting the cans up into a towering flame before smacking them away, sending them tumbling in different directions throughout the alley. Sheer Heart Attack paused, then moved to the nearest can and detonated, before going to the next and repeating.
That should slow it down for a moment or two.
Akechi, satisfied, slowly crept by Sheer Heart Attack as it went about it’s task, then ran out of the alley, looking desperately for any sign of Kira. Stopping a couple, some girl with blue hair and a young man with longer hair and a green t-shirt, he frantically gestured around and asked, “Have you seen a gentleman with black hair and a white suit? He’s likely limping, possibly with blood on his sides?”
The young man stopped to think.
“Well, I think I did. He, uh, went, uh…”
Akechi put his head in his hands, then perked up when the girl said, “Scott, you don’t remember that guy?”
The young man, apparently Scott, shook his head, then stammered, “Well, I do remember, it’s just that I also…forgot.”
“Damien’s right. You are a scatterbrain.”
“Hey! I was in the top ten percent at my school. Or was that Kim. Although it may’ve-“
“I don’t have time for this!” Akechi snarled, getting both their attention. He could hear Sheer Heart Attack continuing it’s assault in the alley, and Kira had very much slipped away in the chaos.
“There is a murderer running free in the streets! Did you see him, or not? Please tell me so I’m not wasting time!”
The girl, surprised by the outburst, replied, “Yeah, we saw a dude like that heading that way. Bumped past us as we left our apartment.” She hooked her thumb behind her towards the blue collar district, and Akechi gave a brief “thanks” before shoving past them and running down the street, stopping only to point at the alley Heart Attack was in and say, “Oh, and call the police. Tell them that area needs to be blocked off immediately.”
On that final note, he vanished around a corner, and the couple looked at each other, shrugged, then walked off, Ramona pulling out her phone to call the cops.
Taking a deep breath, Kira walked down the street, making sure to stay as unassuming as possible despite his wounds. They weren’t too severe, and he’d be able to take care of it once he got home, but for now, he had a greater mission to focus on. He was almost at the apartment his new girlfriend lived in, so all he’d have to do is go to there, eliminate anyone else there, then have her cut his nails for him. They’d truly grown garishly long, and it would be nice to have them at a controllable level once again.
He stopped at one of the apartment complexes, looking around to see that no one was around, then activated Killer Queen and (after hoping Sheer Heart Attack had taken care of that detective) quietly blew the lock off. The door swung open, and he peeked in. The coast was clear, so he just needed to find the residence.
He paused to think about it. It was alphabetized, so, theoretically, he would just need to find the home marked with “S.” for Setsuna, or “R.” for Raziel. Shouldn’t be too difficult, really. If all else failed, he could just ask the landlord.
Before he could step inside, a panted, slightly pained, “Not so fast,” gave him pause, and he turned and froze to see Akechi stood before him.
“Detective? How did you-“
“Deal with your little bomb? It was easy, once I figured out the trick behind it. Now, I’m going to give you one last chance to surrender, or I can simply kill you and drag your body back to the precinct. Either works.”
Stepping away from the complex, Kira rolled his eyes, then summoned Killer Queen.
“You know, you really are proving to be a pain, detective.”
Akechi sneered as he summoned Loki, it’s form towering over Killer Queen, then replied, “Well, allow me to alleviate that pain, Mr. Kira.”
Akechi roared, and Loki lunged forward, swinging for a quick kill that Killer Queen quickly moved to block, Kira wincing as he felt the sting on his arms. Killer Queen swiftly kicked Loki in the stomach, forcing Akechi back, which he followed up with Riot Gun, the crackles of energy tearing through Kira as he cried out in pain. Grabbing a piece of rubble, Killer Queen activated it, then tossed it at Loki before detonating, the fiery hot pebbles digging into Akechi’s face and earning a cry of pain. Kira grinned through the pain, then tried to stand, only to cry out as blood poured from his numerous wounds.
Drawing his own blade, Akechi roared, “Taste my wrath!”, then lunged forward, landing three well-placed strikes to Kira’s chest before dragging his claws across his face, sending him tumbling into the grass. Every part of Kira’s body screamed in agony, and he squinted to see the prideful detective advancing on him through the blood dripping into his eyes. He summoned Killer Queen, but Loki effortlessly pinned it to the ground with it’s blade, causing a new wound to form in Kira’s chest as he desperately unsummoned it.
This mere teenager, some idiot who had stuck his nose where it hadn’t belonged, was going to kill him? Really?
A smug grin across his face, Akechi pointed his blade at Kira, then snarled, “Any last words, Kira? Or are you out of surprises?”
Resummoning Killer Queen next to Akechi, Kira grinned through the pain, then replied, “Oh, I certainly wouldn’t say that, detective.”
Killer Queen’s stomach opened to reveal Stray Cat, who released a single bubble that Killer Queen guided along. Akechi tried to dodge, but the range was too close, and he cried out in agony as the bubble blew a chunk of his stomach and chest clean off. He fell to the pavement, hand clutching the gap where two of his ribs used to be, and he dragged himself away as Kira, groaning all the while, pulled himself to his feet.
Akechi, wincing through the pain, reverted to his detective outfit and tried to drag himself away from Kira, who laughed as he drove his foot into his wound, earning a scream of pain. Normally, he’d just kill and move on, but he felt he’d earned the right to gloat a bit. He chuckled coldly, then straightened his tie.
“I must admit, you fought very admirably, detective. But alas, I’m going to dispose of you, just like I got rid of Monica-“
He kicked Akechi in the side.
“-Samantha-“
Another kick.
“-Asuna-“
Another kick.
“-and Delphini!”
He gave a final kick, with him driving the tip of his shoe into Akechi’s wound for good measure, then crouched down to look the suffering detective over one last time.
“So, any last words before I reduce you to ash? Or are you out of surprises?”
The sounds of sirens gave Kira pause, and Akechi grinned at him. He bristled as he realized the sirens were getting closer, and he turned to see Akechi alternating between laughing and spitting blood before managing to spit out a reply.
“Did you…really think…there’d be explosions and sounds of fighting…and police wouldn’t lock down the area? Tell me…Mr. Kira…how will you work your way out of this?”
Through pained, blurry vision, Akechi swore he saw the long-haired man in green from that dream appear at the end of the street and smile, then nod to him, but he was gone as quick as he came. Despite that, Akechi got an inexplicable sense of pride, which caused him to laugh maniacally before reaching up and tearing the emblem off of his suit. Tucking it underneath the car tire, he grinned spitefully at Kira, who looked down at him with a mixture of rage and disgust and brought his thumb down, obliterating the detective. Cursing to himself, he limped away from the scene, hoping to avoid the police before they arrived.
He couldn’t get a new girlfriend, but at the very least he could avoid getting arrested.
“So, what exactly happened?”
Elijah, Sypha, and Zuko followed Pete as he led them to the crime scene, occasionally flashing a DFPD badge at anyone who asked. He took a drag of his cigarette, then shrugged before lifting the crime scene tape for them to step under.
“It’s the damndest thing, boss. Got a trail of explosions and fighting that stops right here. Only casualty is that kid and his dragon, but we’re not really sure what caused it. Just that it stops-“
He gestured towards the apartment building, which had been thankfully evacuated in response to the explosions.
“-right about here.”
Elijah looked the scene over, then stopped as he saw something sticking out from under a tire. He crouched down and pulled it out, looking it over with interest, then turned at the sound of an officer seemingly recognizing it.
“Oh, I know that badge.”
Elijah handed it to him, and he nodded as he turned it over.
“This is Detective Goro’s badge. Looks like it got torn off his suit. That’s…not a good sign.”
Zuko raised a quizzical eyebrow, then asked, “Who’s the detective?”
The officer shrugged.
“He was the guy working the missing female case. He was supposed to respond to this, but nobody’s heard from him all night.”
The mention of the case made Planetary all exchange knowing looks, and the officer excused himself, waving down a nervously smoking Bigby to hand him the badge. Elijah gestured for the others to follow away from the crime scene, then leaned against a car as he squinted at the building.
“So, series of explosions reported along the area, and the detective looking into those disappearances goes missing, with the only piece of him that turns up is a bloody badge under a tire? Can’t help but get the nagging feeling it’s connected.”
Sypha nodded, then replied, “Agreed, and I think that if we find out whoever caused the explosions, we’ll have the one taking those girls. Or, I hope they’re just being taken.” She got quiet, and Elijah continued, “Fortunately, our man in the department is running his own side investigation, so hopefully he turns up something.”
Pete stamped out his cigarette, then asked, “Well, what do we do exactly, ‘sides “wait for somebody else to crack this?”
Stroking his chin in contemplation, Elijah answered, “For starters, I’d like to learn more about this Detective Goro. Given the spacing between disappearances thus far, I’d say there’s a very good chance he may have saved someone’s life tonight.”
Epilogue: Every Step You Take[]
“So, you’re saying your memory was mostly wiped?”
Skulduggery flipped through the report filed by Akechi, then set it aside to look at his subordinate, who nodded sadly.
“Yes, when I came to after being revived, I remembered very little beyond vague details about the killer, and the tech informed me they’d received orders to remove memories upon revival. And when I returned home, my apartment had shrunk. I suspect that this may have been a battle in disguise for both me and…whoever I was facing off with.”
Skullduggery sighed, then rubbed the area where the bridge of his nose would be, presuming he still had a nose, before replying, “Should’ve figured the higher ups were involved in this nonsense. Well, you can confirm that whoever killed you killed those girls as well?” Akechi smiled.
“Yes, one of the few things I remember is their confession, and they mentioned all four girls.”
Skullduggery leaned back in his chair, contemplatively looking out the window, and said, “Alright then, we can file a Revival Order. As for you, you’re dismissed. Let the others know if any memories come back.”
Akechi gave a grateful nod, then stood up and left, waiting until his back was turned to Skullduggery to grin to himself. He had been worried his superior would see through his “amnesia” façade, but they’d fallen for it, hook, line, and sinker. He remembered every detail of Yoshikage Kira, and this time, he’d return to finish the job properly. As he walked past his desk, a small envelope on it gave him pause, and he looked at Bigby with a confused expression. “Did you see who left this?”
Bigby shrugged, then lit a cigarette and went back to flipping through a case file. Akechi sighed, then picked up the envelope. It had a wax stamp with the symbol of a globe sealing it, and when he opened it, it simply read “A Special Opportunity” with an address at the bottom.
Looking for any more information, Akechi pondered the note, and just what exactly this “Special Opportunity” entailed.
“In leadership news, Chairman Beast released a statement regarding the decisive defeat of King Wass’s “Social Credit” proposal, stating that it was, quote, “Deeply cruel to the citizens of this city,” and adding that it would, “Do little to prevent another uprising. And, in fact, lowering the quality of the healthcare and transport systems would make the odds of one even higher.” This comes following a spirited debate among-“
Kira ignored the rest of the newscast as he stepped off the bus, ignoring the stares he was receiving for the scar across his face. The wounds from his fight with detective hadn’t gone away, nor had the urges and strange dreams. If anything, they’d worsened since his failure at Raziel’s apartment, and the being with yellow eyes was even more clear to him now. He’d have to make his move soon, or he’d risk going mad and doing something he’d truly regret.
Kira’s thoughts were interrupted by him running into a wall. Or, it felt like a wall, but there was nothing there. Confused, he tried to back up, but ran into another. He turned left and was stopped, and turned right and encounter the same obstacle. He was trapped, and there wasn’t a soul on the street.
“What on earth?”
“’fraid this particular spell isn’t of this Earth, mate.”
Kira turned to see a blonde man in a trenchcoat leaning against the barrier, grinning as a cigarette hung from his lips. He gave a mocking knock on the barrier, and Kira pounded on it in response, earning an amused chuckle.
“Who are you? Let me out of this!”
The man shrugged, then replied, “What? Let you out so you can kill more girls, you bleedin sicko? Not likely.”
Kira’s eyes widened in shock. How did this man know? Was this Detective Goro’s partner? Maybe if he played dumb, he could get out.
“I’m afraid I don’t have any idea what you’re talking about. Please, this has to be a misunderstanding!”
The man laughed.
“Don’t play dumb, you twat. I know all about Monica, and Sam, and Asuna, and Delphini, and even that detective you whacked. This whole “quiet salaryman” might’ve fooled somebody else, but I ain’t too gullible.”
Kira scowled and summoned Killer Queen, who struck the barrier, it’s fists uselessly hitting the field and bouncing off. The man watched for a moment, taking a drag of his cigarette, then said, “Yeah, that ain’t gonna work, mate. Field was meant to whole demons from the bowels of hell, pretty sure it can keep you locked up tight for a while. And don’t worry about bein’ caught indecent, cause only I can see this.”
Kira pounded furiously on the glass. This couldn’t be happening. Not to him. He’d done nothing wrong! For his part, the man leaned off of the glass, then stepped away, stopping only to grin and say, “Well, you always wanted to live quietly. How’s an eternity where no one can hear or see ya sound?”
With a snap of his fingers, the field vanished, and Kira with it, and John Constantine walked away, humming to himself as he dug his phone out of his pocket and punched a number in. He waited, then a voice answered on the fourth ring.
“Is it done?”
“Yeah, killer’s dealt with, Elijah. Pretty easy, seein’ as how he was expecting any more company. Should be trapped as long as nobody has a fight planned for ‘im.”
On his side of the call, Elijah smiled grimly.
“Our contact in the users has said that Kira’s last match was cancelled after being stuck in “development hell”, so something tells me no one will be coming for him for a while. Good work, John, for both this and leaving Goro the note.”
Constantine looked both ways, then crossed the street before replying, “Anytime, boss. Ya heard from ‘em yet?”
Elijah went to answer, only for a knock on the mansion door to interrupt him.
“Speak of the devil, John. I’ll call you back. Time to see if this kid is as smart as everyone said.”
With that, Elijah hung up the phone, then stood up from his chair to answer the door.
Expert's Opinion[]
Once again, Akechi Goro was undone by his own arrogance. While he was vastly superior to Kira in terms of experience and combat skill, he lacked the creativity to truly outhink his target, which gave Kira an opening to stay one step ahead of him and secure a win. Add in a superior ability to blend in and his more versatile skillset, and Kira was ultimately the deadlier warrior.