While Miko was still getting used to the changes in his body, over on the other side of the city there was an ordinary company with nothing special about it.
Inside this company, a handsome man sat behind his desk working.
Or at least that was what it seemed like he was doing.
“This one is a scumbag too.”
Said Andre as he watched a video of a man torturing children in his basement.
He was watching this video on a website on the dark net.
He minimized the window and opened a different software. He then used the screenshot he took of the man's face and dropped it in the new software.
A loading bar popped up and after a minute a profile containing the man's name and address popped up.
“I see.”
Andre noted down the personal information in a black note book and drew a circle around it with a red pen.
“I'll pay this one a visit on my way back from work today.”
This was his daily routine. He would search the dark web for people committing heinous crimes in the day and then hunted them down at night.
This was the sole purpose of the man called Bloody Justice.
“Look at the time.”
He stood up and shut down his computer.
“It's time to go to work.”
He walked past a man who had his head on his desk.
“See ya, Chairman.”
As he past, blood dripped on the floor.
The blood came from the man's mouth, nose, as well as his eyes that were wide opened and lacked focus.
“I can't believe I stayed here all night. My boss will get angry again.”
He said as he left the office.
After he left the building he was in, Andre travelled to a nearby bus stop and waited for the bus.
After a while the bus came and he got on it.
This was also apart of his daily routine. He would come to the same bus stop everyday and take the same bus. Greet the same driver and sat in the same seat.
However there was something different today.
“Hey, lady! Ease off!”
While he was reading a news article on his phone, Andre heard a shout. He looked up and saw a woman standing in the bus and a man seated and glaring at her.
“I'm sorry for bouncing you. I'm not feeling so well.”
The woman hurriedly apologized.
“I don't care about that, what are you going to do about my suit?!”
Andre looked and noticed that there was a big stain on the man's clothes. There was also a coffee cup in his hand.
It seemed that the woman stumbled when walking to her seat and accidentally bounced the coffee out of the man's hand.
“What are you going to do about this huh?! I have an interview in 15 mins!”
The man got up and grabbed the woman by the collar.
“I-I'm sorry. Really sorry!”
“I said I don't want your sorry! Just fix my damn suit!”
The man pushed the woman and she fell and hit her head on a seat.
“My god!”
“She's bleeding!
The other passengers started making a fuss only after the woman hit her head and was rendered unconscious.
“I-It wasn't me. She slip and fell! You all saw that she was sick right?!”
The man got frightened and hurriedly started making excuses.
“You saw that she see slipped right?!”
He approached someone and started to frantically shake their shoulders as if begging them to help him out.
That person was Andre.
Andre silently looked at the man and then the hand on his shoulder.
He smiled and said-
“You're right. She did slip.”
A big smile appeared on the man's face when he heard.
“Right! Right! She slipped!”
Andre nodded.
And then-
“But it's your turn to slip and fall into hell.”
*Boom!*
The moment he said that, the man's body burst like a balloon and his blood splattered all over the bus.
Naturally this caused a huge uproar.
However Andre showed no reaction and simply took out a handkerchief and wiped the blood from his face.
That same day Bloom went to silver crow’s new headquarters in the Entertainment District.
“What's this about you guys discovering Bloody Justice’s identity?”
She asked immediately after entering the abandon Night club.
“He finally messed up!”
Reiji said excitedly.
This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
“Move.”
Chrome pushed him out of the way and approached Bloom.
“He messed up? What exactly happened, Chrome?”
Bloom asked.
Chrome operated her bracelet and it started projecting a news article.
The article was titled Bloody Murder Or Justified Act?
“This morning on a bus, a woman was unwell and accidentally hit a man's coffee out of his hand and stained his clothes. The man retaliated by pushing the woman. The woman fell and hit her head. The man then tried to make excuses that the woman fell on her own, and sought the help of a male passenger. Just moments after speaking with the passenger the man exploded.”
Bloom was shock to hear what happened.
‘Was Bloody Justice always so impulsive that he would do such a thing?’
She thought to herself.
“What happened to that male passenger?”
“He was arrested.”
Chrome answered.
“Do you have a name?”
“Andre Bernard.”
Zetsu answered as he gave Bloom Andre’s profile with his picture on it.
“So this is Bloody Justice? Why are the good looking ones always crazy?”
“Are you referring to Jin and Miko?”
Nico asked with a smile.
Bloom ignored him and looked around.
“Speaking of which, I see that our leader isn't here today.”
“Neither is Sapphire. We tried contacting them, but it was useless.”
Said Chrome.
“Jin is nothing new, but Sapphire too?”
Bloom pondered for a while and decide to leave it for the time being.
“We’ll contact them later. Let's focus on Bloody Justice.”
She looked around.
“What is Andre Bernard's current status?”
“He was in the correctional facility in the 9th District.”
Reiji answered.
“Was? Then he was freed?”
He nodded.
“Andre Bernard was freed only hours after he was arrested.”
“That can't be right. He killed someone in a crowded place. There were a lot of witnesses, he can't just be released like that.”
“Well, he was.”
Chrome changed the article to a forum.
“This is a forum that's dedicated to keep Andre out of jail, and praise him as a hero who defended the weak.”
“How did that happen?”
“Apparently the woman who was pushed and hit her head was pregnant and is now in a coma because of her concussion.”
“….I see. In the eyes of the people Andre defended and protected the lives of not only the woman but her unborn child.”
Bloom frowned.
“But they seem to forget that the woman is still in a coma and wasn't really protected. In fact, Bloody Justice probably allowed it to happen to test the man.”
Bloom had a good grasp of Andre’s character from his murders and the events that led to them.
All of them had some kind of crime, mostly cruel, committed before Andre got involved.
Although she didn't know how strong he was, she was certain that Andre could've prevented or quickly put an end to these crimes if he wanted; but he didn't do that.
Instead he waited until the person carry out their evil deed before gets rid of them.
‘He's like a spectator with the ability to change the show as he wishes.’
Bloom thought.
“So did his supporters get him out of jail?”
She asked.
Chrome shook her head.
“After checking family background we were finally able to identify who was backing him.”
“From your face it seems to be someone troublesome.”
“Troublesome doesn't even begin to describe them.”
Chrome said with a bitter smile.
“Well since Bernard is a common family name you haven't realize the connection, which I can't blame you for.”
While Bloom had a confused face Chrome brought up another profile.
Bloom’s eyes widen when she saw it.
“The Akabe Family Tree?”
Chrome pointed at the screen.
“Look at the third generation branch.”
Bloom looked and saw that a female member of the Akabe family married a man named Bernard.
“You should've heard about Bernard Developments. You know that organization that develops computer programs for the military. The family that owns it are distant relatives to the Akabe Clan.”
Chrome explained.
“So the one who was backing Bloody Justice and hiding his tracks was the pillar Tommy “Gear” Akabe.”
Bloom slowly said.
“It's makes sense if you think about it. Only a pillar could hide crimes of that nature so easily.”
“It should be especially easy for the pillar who supervises the city's technology to do it.”
Chrome added.
“So what are we going to do? We're going up a pillar here.”
Bloom put on a pondering expression for a while before replying.
“We first need to know why is Gear shielding Bloody Justice. We can decided everything else after that.”
“How are we going to do that?”
Zetsu asked.
Bloom smiled.
“Gear isn't the only Akabe that's famous and with lots of influence.”
4th District.
Two silhouettes moved through the darkness of night like shadows.
They appeared in front of hospital that had guards placed at the front.
One of these silhouettes walked up to the front like a ghost and stopped in front of the guards.
The guard saw the silhouette and bowed.
“Black Reaper, we've been expecting your arrival.”
They respectfully greeted Jin who was dressed in a jet black trench coat with a black top and pants underneath. He was also wearing a face mask and had his hair tied back with some of it still dangling over his face.
The current Jin had no life in his eyes and looked like death himself.
Just looking at him made the guards want to retreat, but they couldn't because it was their job to meet him.
“Is she inside?”
Jin asked.
His voice was voided of any emotion so much it was hard to believe it was coming from a living being.
This further frightened the guards.
“Y-Yes. She's inside.”
“And the hospital staff?”
“They're there as well.”
“…..I see.”
The guards couldn't understand why he paused for so long before answering.
“Good work.”
“Yes!”
“……”
Jin didn't move from in front of the guards which confused them.
“Um….Black Reaper?”
“……..”
Jin didn't reply, he just stared at them with his dead eyes.
After a few more seconds he finally moved.
“Unfortunately, you're job isn't only to welcome me in.”
He stopped beside them.
“It's also to die.”
Jin's right hand flashed and a sword appeared in his hand.
He thrust the sword to the side and stabbed the men through the necks.
The men didn't even have time to react before Jin twisted the blade and pulled the sword out. They were left with their heads dangling on a small string of flesh.
Their corpses hit the floor and bled out in front of the hospital entrance.
Jin put away his sword and stepped past their bodies.
“Jin.”
He turned and looked at Sapphire who had accompanied him here.
“What? You knew what you would see if you followed me here.”
He spoke to her with a cold and distance tone.
Being spoken to like that made her heart ache.
“…Jin, do you really have to do this?”
“……..”
Jin looked at her for a while before replying.
“Go back if this alone is enough to upset you, because what I'm about to do will be far more crueler.”
Hearing that Sapphire bit her lip and shook her head.
“I've already decided to accept everything about you, even your most heinous crimes.”
She spoke with determination.
“I promise to shoulder your burden with you, because my life belongs to you!”
Jin looked at her with deadpan eyes and spoke with an indifferent tone.
“Do as you please. But remember this, I will never love you.”
After saying that he entered the hospital.
Sapphire quietly followed him inside.
When she entered, she saw Jin gripping the neck of a nurse, and dead bodies of security guards on the floor around him.
“Please! Don't kill me!”
The nurse begged.
“……”
Jin looked at her crying expression and crushed her throat without batting an eye.
“……..”
Sapphire silently watched as Jin threw the nurse’s body on the ground like garbage.
“Let's go.”
Without waiting for Sapphire to respond Jin walked further into the hospital. Sapphire stood there looking at the pitiful expression on the woman's corpses.
“Guaaaaa?!”
She sound heard the screams of doctors and patients. It signaled that Jin had began killing everyone in the hospital.
Remembering the dead look in Jin's eyes Sapphire clenched her fists.
“Why?”
She heard a woman's crying voice turning into a painful scream.
“Why must it be, Jin?”
She heard a child's crying for her mother before being silenced.
“I hate them….”
She heard the sound of a newborn being silenced.
“I hate the Pillars for doing this to Jin!”
The screams got less and the intervals of silence grew longer.
She finally started walking when she no longer heard any screams.
She walked slowly and absorbed the gruesome scenes of carnage into her eyes.
He stared at every corpse and memorized their disfigured appearance.
She burned the dead faces into her very soul to carry this sin with the man she loved.
She stopped in front of a door.
“……”
She stood there for a while before opening the door.
Inside the room she saw Jin looking down on a woman. This woman was in a coma.
She was the pregnant woman on the bus.
Jin placed the sword’s tip on the woman's stomach.
Sapphire could see the sword shaking as Jin gripped it.
“Jin…”
“I'm fine.”
Jin grabbed the necklace with three rings around his neck and took a deep breath. After that he held the sword tightly.
“I know my role.”
He pushed down the sword and stabbed through the woman's stomach. Black flames suddenly engulfed her body.
Jin pulled out his sword when he saw that and walked away.
“Let's go.”
Sapphire couldn't see his expression as he walked past, but her heart felt like it was being torn out as she watched Jin's lonely figure disappear in the dark halls of the hospital.
“Why…..”
She muttered as she turned and looked back into the woman's room.
She watched as the black flames burnt the woman's body but strangely didn't spread to the bed but only burnt the woman.
“He won't say it, and I know that this won't make a difference but…”
She suddenly bowed to the woman.
“I'm terribly sorry!”
Tears fell from her eyes as she bowed.
She held her head down for a long time before lifting it up and ran after Jin.
The woman's body continued to slowly burn all through the night until it was discovered the next day.