It wasn't completely unknown for Hoplites to be taken to hospitals after a particularly fierce battle. Despite the demigod allegations, Hoplites were still very much human and received mortal injury just like everyone else. What was strange was having so many Hoplites admitted into a hospital at once. Even more strange — and concerning — was for one of them to be so critically injured.
"Excuse me?" Arthur asked a nurse at the front desk. "I'm looking for the room of Ellie McDowell. She's a Hoplite."
The nurse looked at the blonde strangely, suspicious of why he wanted that information. It was often hard for people to gauge Arthur's purpose in situations like these because he wore regular clothes so often and rarely his uniform. Flashing his Hoplite shield to prove his good intentions had become almost a reflex for him.
After doing so for the nurse, she promptly gave him the room number. Arthur headed up with haste, even choosing to hurry up the steps rather than take the elevator. As he drew close to the room, he spotted two of his injured fellow Hoplites — Kris and Renée. Arthur didn't need his clairvoyance to sense their somberness.
"Arthur… Did Donald tell you to come?" Kris asked, none of his usual charm present in his tone.
"No. He just told me you all were at this hospital," Arthur replied. "I came on my own. You guys alright? How are you holding up?'
"We're fine. Kris and I are in the best shape out of anyone, to be honest. We got lucky with how minor our injuries were."
"Especially compared to Ellie," Kris added, his eyes unable to leave the floor.
An awkward silence consumed the three. Arthur eventually peeked inside the room for a moment before finally entering. Already inside were Sonia who sat right beside Ellie's bedside and Woodrow who was gazing out of the window with his back to everyone else.
"Will-o-Wisp! You made it," Ellie said, her voice full of false merry that Arthur didn't need clairvoyance to see through. "Oh, I forgot about the 'no codenames when we aren't in uniform' thing."
As Arthur approached, he noticed she lacked the scratches, bruises, and such of the others. Still, her single injury was the most severe of them all. Despite her forced smile, Arthur could already see how much it had impacted her just from looking into her eyes.
"El? How you doing?" Arthur asked.
"Not too bad, honestly. I was in the fight the least out of everyone. I've only got one scar on my lower back, right into my spine. The doctor only looked at me for a while, and… well… He didn't say it verbatim… but I might not be walking again for a while. Or ever."
The person who showed the most emotion when she said this was not Ellie herself but Woodrow, who breathed heavily through his nose.
"Woodie?" spoked Arthur. "You alright, man?"
"…I need to go for a walk real quick. Sorry," he said before heading off and leaving the room.
Arthur blinked in his wake. "What's wrong with Woodie?"
"Woodie and I both got mind hacked by some neuroplugger. I was taken out before I could do any damage, but Woodie… he's the one who stuck a pulse blade into Ellie's lower back and paralyzed her," Sonia explained.
Arthur's eyes widened realizing the amount of guilt that must have been weighing on Woodrow's shoulders.
"I already told him that I know it's not his fault, but he won't stop blaming it on himself," said Ellie. "No one besides Renée could have resisted that guy's neurojacker."
"I'm sure he gets it, but… as someone who's kinda been in a similar position to Woodie, I get why he's feeling the way he is," said Arthur. "Sometimes 'it wasn't your fault' isn't enough to make the guilt go away."
Ellie made a sympathetic face. It spoke to her character that, even in a situation like this, she could feel more sorry for someone else than herself. What a tragedy that something like this could befall such a good girl.
"So, Shives. He's really got…" Arthur's words trailed off as he saw the expressions Sonia and Ellie began to make.
He put a hand to his head and scratched almost like he wanted to tear his hair from its follicles.
"All this from just three goddamn Rogues? Who the shit does Torrez have working for him?"
Arthur stopped as soon as he saw the look in everyone's eyes. When he got the call, he was told that the situation was critical for Shives.
Ellie shook her head. "Void Knight… I mean, Sir Henry was cut up so badly too…"
"'Cut up?'" Arthur repeated. "Wait, how was he killed?"
"Honestly, I think you of all people would recognize it immediately once you see a picture of it," Sonia said. "He was cut almost surgically, starting with his neck being slit and then was slashed wipe open from his collar bone to right above his groin."
Arthur made a disturbed face. "He was killed like one of the Ripper victims?!"
Sonia shushed him. "Calm down, Arthur. I mean… I get it. But this is still a hospital."
Arthur couldn't believe what he had just heard: That Shives might have just been slain by the Rockies Ripper. Of all the possible things that could have transpired during his hunt for the killer, this was the furthest from anything. Shives was supposed to be the most unkillable man in ARES, or at least close to it. How could a guy whose primary victims were young children have murdered him?
The Hoplite's thoughts were disturbed by the sound of the door opening. Arriving with a more disheveled than usual look was the Hoplites' overseer.
"Ellie, how are you holding up?" he asked.
Ellie smiled as she said, "My condition's not critical… But I don't think I'm gonna worth a squat in the field anymore."
The overseer, knowing she was forcing her expression, placed a hand on top of hers.
"Ellie… Your performance as Hoplite has been one of the best I've ever seen, especially for a rookie. I look forward to your recovery and us being able to work together again."
"But overseer, I really might not walk agai—"
"McBride," Donald began, cutting Jackrabbit's negative response off. "Can I talk to you outside for a minute?"
Arthur nodded and followed the overseer out. Donald gave Renée a nod and Kris a pat on the shoulder as he and Arthur headed down the hall together.
"Well, it looks like the theory you gave me wasn't so outlandish after all," Arthur said as he fetched both their drinks from a vending machine on the hospital's ground floor. "You literally couldn't have been any more right on the money. The Rockies Ripper is not only a syndicate affiliate, he seems to be on Torrez's payroll, if not as an official member of Emerald, at least a contract killer of theirs."
"What all do you know about him?" Arthur asked while cracking up his Hawaiian Kick.
"Nothing too substantial. He just came, killed, and escaped. We know something about his abilities. That he can turn invisible, use at least two separate forms of psychokinesis, and has an ability that allows him to nullify others' psychic powers somehow. He's almost a master with the blade apparently. He was able to go toe-to-toe with both Renée and Ellie in close-quarters combat. The details of his powers, why he's working for Torrez, and even what his face looks like are all still a mystery."
Arthur hummed. "So, the Ripper is working Emerald. How exactly does that change the situation?"
"You mean as in the dynamic of the assignment? Well…" Donald took a swig before continuing. "To be straightforward, our current situation is devastating, and even that might be me downplaying it. Not only did a Rogue manage to sneak into my citadel. Not only did he kill someone who was under my supervision and protection. And not only did he kill Shives, one of ARES Europe's most lauded Hoplites, he got away with it and we don't even have a clue who he is. And the cherry on top is that it looks like he's the serial killer you've been hunting down this whole time. This is beyond a worst-case scenario, McBride. I wouldn't be surprised if I was relieved of my position as Denver Citadel Overseer for letting all this happen."
"It ain't all on you, though. Everyone got caught with their pants down."
"The Board doesn't accept those types of excuses, and honestly it's better that way if they don't. I'm the overseer, not any of you. It's my citadel, so it's my responsibility. The death of the informant, the death of Shives, letting all the Emerald members getaway; all of it. I'm not going to pretend otherwise. This is my worst hour as an overseer of any citadel I've ever been assigned to. I failed all of you."
Arthur scratched his head, unsure of how to reply. Though he had been in no fight, Donald was as impacted by ARES's failure as all the others were.
"So, what's the deal now? If the Rockies Ripper is a member of the Emerald Syndicate, does that now mean my investigation is officially part of the anti-gang and syndicate assignment?"
"Yeah, but it's still a little more complicated than that."
"What do you mean?"
"I lost Shives just now. Ellie is currently paralyzed from the waist down and can't take part in field operations. Both Sonia and Woodrow are mentally discombobulated from being mind hacked and both show signs of struggling to properly use psy-energy, so their abilities in the field are compromised too temporarily. The only Hoplites I have who can fulfill the duties necessary to take on the Emerald Citadel at acceptable combat capacities are Kris, Renee… and you. Having less than half of the Hoplites I started with being capable of performing the duties of Hoplites is bad enough, but there's one complication…"
"That being?"
"…There's likely a double agent working within the citadel."
Arthur made an alarmed face. "Are you serious?"
"It's something that was brought to my attention by a maintenance drone at the citadel, believe it or not. It alerted me about a 'compromised' piece of equipment that's not too vital to the citadel's security system but would allow somebody like the Ripper who's both fast and capable of turning himself invisible to sneak through the ventilation system. The way it was damaged showed that it was done both intentionally and recently. When I went back to check camera footage at the time before the equipment was damaged… the camera, for some reason, had no footage of the incident. I've got no doubt about it — somebody who was in the citadel at that particular moment internally sabotaged our security system to allow the Ripper to slip in and kill the informant. I've got a 'mole problem,' McBride."
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"Shit… Hey, you want to use my clairvoyance to help sniff 'em out?"
"It probably won't do any good. Syndicate types do special training and get implants to make sleuthing out their secrets via Perception difficult even for guys with your level of clairvoyance. If they've been able to hide for this long, discovering them won't be that easy."
"Damn. Well, have you narrowed down who the rat's supposed to be?"
Donald shrugged. "It could be anyone from a Hoplite or a random staffer. All I know for sure is that it couldn't have been two people. The first is Shives both because he was killed by the Ripper and also because he was with me at the time the security system was sabotaged. The second… is you, because you weren't at the citadel at all. So, I'm exaggerating when I say that you're the only Hoplite in Denver right now who I can trust with this current assignment 100%. The only one who's both capable of handling the assignment and who I know for certain isn't the mole I'm looking for. I know this is a lot of throwing at your feet right now, Arthur, but you really are the only person ARES can fully rely on."
Arthur took a deep breath. "Shit man. I know this is only because everyone else got disqualified from the competition, but still… No overseer's ever considered me the 'most reliable' anything."
"It is what it is. For what it's worth, the last thing you told me — the theory about the Rockies Ripper being affiliated with a syndicate — proved to be right, so you've already proven to have better foresight concerning Emerald than even I have."
"You're giving me too much credit, OS."
"This is just what happens when a subordinate is really good at their job, Arthur. Their boss praises them. Anyway, if you want to just keep operating like you normally have with the investigation for a while, that's fine. The guy you're looking for is currently a part of them, so chasing the Ripper will eventually lead you to Emerald in the end. I'm not telling you to act like a one-man army, but I need at least one Hoplite in the field right now."
"Nah. I got you," Arthur responded before taking a long drink of his Hawaiian kick and starting on his way. "Hey… I heard Joey was there and saw when Shives got killed. How's she holding up?"
The overseer said nothing. He simply pushed up his glasses before giving the Hoplite a sad smile. Donald purposely let his thoughts flow freely, and Arthur's clairvoyance allowed him to see the devastated expression on Joey's face that was burned into her father's mind.
"Sorry, OS. I'm heading back to El's room. You uh… Have a good one."
Donald nodded at him as Arthur went. The overseer remained where he stood for a long while longer, sipping seemingly eternally on his drink but somehow never finishing it.
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"Shives was killed by the Ripper?"
Matthias's drawing stylus literally fell from his grasp when Arthur told him what had transpired only a few hours ago. He was shocked enough along with everyone else when he heard about syndicate Rogues breaking into Denver Citadel and getting into a fierce with the Hoplites that resulted in the death of one. The news had yet to share that the Hoplite casualty was Sir Henry Shives — the last Hoplite anyone would have expected to become a victim of any Rogue in Denver.
That his killer was the Rockies Ripper of all people was even more absurd to hear.
"Matt, you alright?" Matthias's elder brother, Jonny, asked from the other side of his door.
"Y-yeah… Something in the news just caught me by surprise," Matthias replied.
"Ah. I can't blame you. That stuff about the syndicate picking a fight with ARES was crazy…" Jonny said, his voice trailing as he continued down the hall.
Matthias took an extra precaution and swapped his call with Arthur from auditory to telepathic. He disliked having others' voices inside his head, but this particular occasion demanded he make an urgent exception.
Okay, run that by me again, Matthias thought at Arthur.
From a photo of Shives's body that was sent to me, how Shives was killed looked identical to how the previous Ripper victims were killed. Hold on. I'll send you the pic right now.
Within a few seconds, the photo appeared on Matthias's phone. With just a thought, he projected it as a holographic image from his phone. There was no need to compare it to the photos of the Ripper victims. All of those had already been burned within Matthias's mind to the point he recognized the semblance immediately. It was as if someone used a graphics editor to take Marshall's mortal wounds and paste them onto Shives. The cuts couldn't be any more identical.
This guy killed our syndicate informant too, and that guy has a cut across his neck that's just as clean, Arthur added.
The informant's dead too? How'd this guy get past all of Denver Citadel's security system and all its personnel?
A combination of him being a sneaky bastard who can apparently turn invisible, and there being a 'rat' somewhere in the citadel.
The syndicate has a double agent in ARES? How could they even pull something like that off? Doesn't ARES vet extensively for that sort of thing? Matthias thought while beginning to tap away on his laptop.
Nothing's off the table for Emerald anymore. Compared to the shit that 'gang alliance' tried to pull a while ago, this is in a whole 'nother league. The gangs' plan fell apart the same night it went into motion. By comparison, Emerald not only managed to kill the guy who was giving us our best leads against them, they crippled the Hoplite squad assigned to Denver Citadel. The gangs couldn't even go toe-to-toe with ARES except for Smalls who was apparently doped up on enough Uppers to kill five or six elephants.
Matthias paused his typing upon hearing this news. You said 'crippled?' I know Shives is dead, but just how badly was Denver's Hoplite squad hurt?
Well, Shives, the squad leader is dead. Ellie, our star rookie and second-best close-combat specialist in the squad after Renée was crippled from the waist down. She's out of commission indefinitely. Sonia — an all-rounder — and Woodie — an infiltration and recon specialist — weren't hurt too bad, but the same neuroplugging asshole who scrambled the informant's brain mind hacked both of them, and they're apparently both suffering cerebral complications. Neither of them can use their powers effectively, so they're temporarily out of commission too. The only ones left for Holloway to lean on are Renée, Kris, and me.
Matthias was genuinely shocked. Everyone knew Hoplites weren't invincible, but to gut such a talented squad in one go like this was absurd. It wasn't just a matter of shrewd tactical brilliance on Torrez's part. The syndicate boss had some authentic monstrous Rogues in his employ if they could go toe-to-toe with Hoplites like this. Arthur was right. Denver's street gangs weren't anywhere close to the Emerald syndicate's league.
Wait, did you say Mr. Holloway is leaning on you? You aren't part of the anti-gang and syndicate assignment in Denver, thought Matthias.
Well, I am now. Your hunch about the Ripper being affiliated with the syndicates turned out to be right on the money. So right that his latest victim… was one of ARES's own. As far as Holloway is concerned, the anti-gang and syndicate assignment and the Rockies Ripper case assignment are essentially one and the same now. Between that and me being the only Hoplite in Denver with plausible deniability about being a syndicate rat, the OS says I'm his top guy at the moment.
Matthias hummed as he typed something on his computer. So, has Mr. Holloway given you new orders then.
Nope. He likes the way I operate. Well… how we operate, so he wants me to stay in my own lane and do as I've been doing. Probably thinks I'm going to 'accidentally' stumble onto a new revelation, or breakthrough, or whatever.
So, are you getting all the resources that were originally meant just for the anti-gang and syndicate assignment?
Probably? OS was already giving me a lot. I can't see him telling me no regardless of what I ask him for at this point.
Good, because I'm probably going to get you to ask for a lot. Send me every detail the other Hoplites have pertaining to the Ripper they just confronted for starters. I'll look into that and then call you back after I figure out where we need to go from here.
Alright. I've gotchu. I've still got things I've to talk to Holloway about anyway, so take your time.
The call ended and Matthias's mind was promptly free of its connection with Arthur's. He rubbed his temple for a moment while his thoughts flew. He had just been told a lot that he needed to sift through mentally. When he came up with his Rockies Ripper-Syndicate theory, never did he thought his theory would be validated in such a dramatic fashion. He especially didn't expect the Ripper to be someone capable of killing a Hoplite, let alone someone on the level of the Void Knight. He could only imagine how things would have gone for him if he had attempted to hunt down such a man alone without Arthur and actually managed to find him. He would have been killed swiftly and heinously.
"But even if my theory's confirmed, that still leaves a question I still haven't been able to answer…" Matthias murmured to himself while going through his folder of Ripper victims. "What's his motive? Were these children the kids of rivals to the syndicate? Can't have been killed for organ harvesting or whatever, because their organs are all in place, save for the ones that were cut. Maybe he's just a contract killer, and these are victims he was paid to gut for some reason?"
Matthias sighed. Somehow, despite having unraveled so much, Matthias felt like even more questions about the Ripper had cropped up.
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After pulling up to his hose that evening, Leon unbuckled his seatbelt. "Thanks for the ride, Nicole. You really didn't have to go out of your way, though."
Nicole smiled, waving off his concern. "I gave you a ride because it wasn't out of my way, Leon. I give some of the other kids from the gym rides if it's on my way back too. Don't worry about it."
Leon snorted as he grabbed his gym bag. Before he even opened the door, he noticed his grandfather standing in the doorframe. There was something off about him. His usual affable smile was gone, he looked tired, and he was standing in a way as though to allow an injured part of his body to rest.
"Oh, it's Thomas! It's been a while since I've seen him," Nicole said, waving at the old man. Tom did not return either her wave or her smile, unsettling the physical therapist. "Uh… Is he okay? He doesn't seem too happy."
"I think he's just tired. I know it's easy to forget because of how much he works and his usual attitude, but Granddad's still an older guy at the end of the day."
"Right… Well, I won't keep you. See you again at the gym."
Leon nodded as he got out and closed the car door behind him. As he headed to the front door, his bag slung over his shoulder, his grandfather headed back inside. The boy waved goodbye as Nicole drove off before following him.
"Welcome back," Tom said as Leon walked in.
Leon peered at the table his grandfather had sat at. Sitting upon it were bandages, ointments, and sanitation products.
"You're injured?" Leon asked.
"Just a little."
"…Did it happen with that fight you got in with the Hoplites today?"
Tom simply blinked at his grandson, providing no answer.
"Why were you so upset at Nicole."
"Upset? I'm not upset."
"Granddad, you need to look in the mirror. You practically scared Nicole off."
Thomas looked off.
"So… How much did that Dorothy lady pay you to kill that Hoplite today."
Tom sighed as he massaged an injury. "Leon don't start."
"Don't start what? You're working with those Emerald Syndicate or whatever the news said those guys are called, aren't you? And you're killing for them too."
"Leon, look. It's that simple."
Leon's face contorted.
"So, you really went back to your old line of work? I thought you said you left that all behind before I was even born? That you would never use that stuff you were teaching me all these years to ever kill someone else again! You were lying!"
"I didn't lie about anything!" Tom snapped back, slamming his fist on the table.
Leon went quiet, he and his grandfather exchanged frustrated glares with each other. The elder Shimada relented first, feeling too tired physically to further stress himself emotionally.
"Leon, I swear… I didn't lie about anything," Tom continued. "I made a promise to stop that type of life with your mother when she was still alive, and I meant it. I never planned to ever use a blade for anything else besides cooking or teaching you our family techniques. And I've only been teaching you that because your mother insisted that, if anything were to happen to her and your father, that I not only look after you but also teach you how to look after yourself. I didn't take pleasure in what I did today. Honestly… I never did, even when I was still making a career out of it."
"Then why are you doing it again? Why are you working with that suspicious lady?"
Thomas stared at the table while trying to think up the best he could explain without saying too much. To say nothing at all was out of the question. Leon knew too much about his grandfather's old life and was too keen to the 'nature' of Dorothy and her two enforcers for him to fool him with a simple lie.
"I can tell you that it wasn't for money. I would never take another life for any price Dorothy offered."
"Then why? Is that lady blackmailing you? Threatening to reveal your old identity to the police?"
Thomas sighed, his gaze fixed on the floor. The weight of his decision pressed down on him, but he knew he couldn't share the truth with Leon. If he knew that it was because of his benefit that his grandfather had come under Dorothy's employ, the guilt would devour the boy even worse than Tom's own guilt was eating at him now.
"Leon, as soon as Dorothy holds up her end of the deal, I swear on my life, I'll never take another life again."
Leon stared into his grandfather's eyes, searching for something. After a long silence, he turned around. "I wish I could still believe that, Granddad."
He walked off to his room, leaving Thomas alone with the bandages and drugs he used to treat himself scattered across the table. Tom remained seated, his thoughts drifting. He found himself laughing softly at the mess he found himself in. What a funny and fickle thing fate was to lead him down this type of ugly and bloody path once again.