Chapter Two

"Jonathan!" Aldus whispered forcefully as he nudged his brother. Jonathan brought his gaze over to Aldus, who appeared to be frustrated with him as usual. "Don't you think it's a little disrespectful to be spacing out at a funeral?" Aldus reached up to the collar of his white button down shirt and pulled it. "But look at all these people. Nobody here looks upset, even a little."

Jonathan looked around at the mass of CCG Operatives around them covered in black. The funeral for Professor Anderson, James, and Roman was going on today, although no one knew where they were. They had been missing for more than a month now, so the higher ups in the CCG just publicly announced they were dead. Apparently that was easier to deal with rather than starting a search for the three. "This is the worst possible day for a funeral..." he whispered as he wiped the sweat from his forehead. His blonde hair was slicked back, but he was sweating from the drought-like heat they were stuck in. He unbuttoned the top few buttons of his shirt and lounged back in his chair. He glanced over to Aldus to see him looking forward emotionlessly, only small beads of sweat crawling down the spaces of his face not covered by his long, dark hair. "Button your shirt back up, brother. I don't want to hear any remarks later about this." Aldus muttered almost undetectably.

"Take it easy, little brother. Who cares what all of these snobs say anyways?" Jonathan whispered sarcastically.

Aldus turned his head to his brother unnaturally sharply. "I care, because I'm the one who will have to deal with it later." He turned his attention back to the current speaker. "I always have to deal with the shit you do, even though I'm never a part of any of it."

Jonathan sighed and looked forward as well, but paid little attention to what was being said. Jonathan knew James and Professor Anderson more than anyone else at the Campus, and neither of them could've possibly been taken out by just any Ghoul. Especially Professor Anderson. Nothing about this situation made any bit of sense, and it all seemed a bit fishy. Jonathan's vision focused on the three coffins at the front of the ceremony, all of them being closed. Jonathan knew it was because there were no bodies in any of them. No one could find the bodies, not that anyone really searched for them.

They could all be alive still, for all any of them knew.

"Now, does anyone have any final words before we set these three unfortunate souls to rest?" The speaker asked the crowd. His eyes grazed across the crowd, but every move he made and every word he said sounded rehearsed and fake to Jonathan. The higher ups couldn't pull a fast one on him this easily. Jonathan stood up suddenly. "Actually, yes. I do have a few things to say." Aldus grabbed at Jonathan's sleeve and tried to pull him down. "Sit back down, brother. Please..." Aldus's eyes begged, but Jonathan just felt like this was something he had to do. "No. This needs to be said." He shook his brother's hand off of him and began walking towards the Speaker. He pushed his way past him, and stood closer to the podium and pulled the mic up closer to his face. He exhaled slowly and looked out at the crowd. There were thousands of faces staring at him all at once, and their reactions were mixed. Some looked angry, others seemed interested, and then there was Aldus who had his head hung low and was face palming. Jonathan began to say something, but was cut off by feedback from the mic. He flinched and heard some laughter in the crowd. He composed himself quickly and leaned his head back to the mic.

"Does none of this seem fishy to anyone else here? I mean, really? A talented new recruit and a seasoned Professor just going missing for a month and then just being considered dead? There is no way just any Ghoul could do something like this. Especially since both of them never left the Campus. When would the Ghoul have even gotten on the Campus? Oh wait, they couldn't have, because we have security that would've notified us the second they stepped on Campus. It just doesn't make any sense."

Someone from the crowd stood up and yelled at Jonathan from afar. "And what proof exactly do you have that they aren't dead?"

Jonathan angled his head slightly. "You want proof? Oh, I'll show you proof..." Jonathan said as he got down from the podium and began walking toward the coffins. Everyone in the crowd stood up in exasperation as he got closer to them. Aldus began walking quickly towards James as he approached the coffin. "Brother! Don't you dare do what I think you're about to do!" He shouted over everyone else's random muttering.

Jonathan paid Aldus no attention as he reached for the coffin near the picture of Roman. He grabbed the handle and pulled it open quickly. There were gasps spread all across the crowd and some were even yelling.

The coffin was empty, just as Jonathan had predicted.

"Now do you all see?!" Jonathan yelled as he moved towards James' supposed coffin. He grabbed the next handle, but then felt a hand grabbing onto the back of his shirt. He turned his head quickly, but was met with a fist with a surprising amount of force behind it. Jonathan was sent flying to the side quickly, but he didn't let go of the coffin and pulled it down with him. He hit the ground hard, and tried to get his vision to focus but couldn't at first. He got to his feet slowly and rubbed his cheek. When his vision settled he saw that Aldus was the one who punched him.

"Fucking stop it..." Aldus said as he breathed heavily. "Why do you always do this? We get it, you're skeptical of the higher ups. But that doesn't give you the right to try and bring the attention to yourself. Not everything should revolve around you, brother!" Aldus screamed.

Jonathan glanced at the coffin on the ground. The lid was completely open, but there were no contents in it. Jonathan brought his eyes back up to Aldus. He walked towards him slowly at first, but then broke into a sprint. He grabbed Aldus by the shirt collar and jacked him up off the ground. "You really think I'm doing this all to bring attention to myself? Fuck no! Brother, I'm trying to make all these other people realize the higher ups just gave up on James and the others! They could all still be out there, being tortured for all we know! Shit, we don't know anything at all! Do you just not care, like the higher ups?!" Jonathan could see small drops of his spit on Aldus' glasses from where he was yelling.

Aldus brought his knee up into Jonathan's stomach, forcing him to bend over. When Aldus felt his foot touch the ground, he brought his elbow down on the back of Jonathan's head, sending him facedown into the grass they were standing on. Aldus took his glasses off and wiped them clean with his shirt, and put them back on. He fixed the top of shirt before unbuttoning only the top button. "Maybe you're right. Maybe I don't care at all." He turned around from his brother and turned his head back towards him. "Or maybe I just know when to keep my god damn mouth shut." He walked away and left the ceremony without another word to anyone.

It took a moment for Jonathan to slip back into consciousness, and when his vision became clear he no longer saw Aldus. He brought himself to his feet with only a slight groan and walked over to Dr. Anderson's coffin. He only opened it slightly, enough to where only he could see, and then shut it loudly. He shook his head and wiped away tears as he walked out of the funeral.

Dr. Anderson's coffin was not empty. There was a body in there. It was definitely Dr. Anderson's body as well, as it had his broad shoulders. It was wearing the signature attire of the 2nd ranking Investigators as well, which was his ranking. The only tie that Dr. Anderson's ever wore was also tied perfectly on his attire. There was only one thing wrong with the body that brought Jonathan to tears.

The body's head had been mashed in, and the higher ups had zero intention of hiding that. They wanted Jonathan, the rest of the campus, and all of the other professors to know that Dr. Anderson was murdered. Not just by anyone though. No, Dr. Anderson was murdered by a Ghoul.

"I'll make them pay..." Jonathan whispered as he took off his black coat and threw it behind him. "I will avenge you, Dr. Anderson, and I WILL find out what happened to James and Roman..."

James could not follow Dante's movements, he could only hear the wind breaking and a sharp whistle before feeling a shockwave being sent through his right ribcage. James gagged and coughed up a small amount of blood. Dante wasn't holding back here, and now that was evident to James. James flew through the air a few feet before slamming into a wall. He barely caught himself when he finally landed back on the ground. "Fuck..." He muttered as he held his nearly fractured ribs.

"I warned you I wasn't holding back for you, didn't I?" Dante said sarcastically as he slowly walked toward James. "Keep this up and maybe we won't have to worry about another Ghoul killing you." He brought his palm up to his chin and pushed it quickly to the side, making his neck crack loudly. "Cause it seems like I'll be your death at this rate."

James brought himself to his feet and let go of his side. "It's going to take a hell of a lot more than that to kill me, Dante..." While James was a master at Ghoul physiology, he also had a keen eye and could pick up on things no normal spectator could. He and Dante had been sparring like this since the sun came up, and he could tell that Dante was a master at striking. However, Dante had not once tried to grapple with him nor take him down to the ground. That must be his weakness, he had no experience with grappling. "I can use those mixed martial arts classes finally..." James thought excitedly. James got into a crouched stance and balanced his weight evenly on his feet.

Dante tilted his head curiously. "That's different. You actually look like you want to fight back." Dante disappeared momentarily and reappeared in front of James with his right arm pulled back, ready to explode into James' chest. "How interesting." Dante said mockingly as he drove his fist towards James. However, now James was prepared for Dante's strike. He no longer wanted simply to dodge Dante's attacks, but instead brought his arm's together to block the attack. Dante did not slow down his attack, as he assumed there would be nothing particularly special about James' block. Dante's fist collided with James' arms with a crack that filled the air between the two. Dante's eyes went wide with pain as he looked at his hand. The force of the blow broke every single finger and a majority of his hand. It felt like he had just punched a wall of pure iron. He stepped back slowly, but in the blink of an eye James had already reacted and had gotten behind Dante. James was crouched low, and had his arms wrapped around Dante's waist. James stomped into the ground leaving a small crater where his foot was and lifted Dante off of the ground with all his might. As he lifted Dante in the air, James bent his back to pull Dante back down to the ground headfirst. There was another loud cracking noise as Dante's head made contact with the ground and the room filled with dust. James crawled out of the new crater he had made and rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling above him.

"How was that for fighting back, Dante...?" He said in the same sarcastic tone Dante had used on him before.

As Jonathan opened the door of his car, he felt a hand on his shoulder. "Wait..." Came a soft voice that sounded winded. When he turned around completely he saw that the hand belonged to Sarah Adams, a classmate and mutual friend of James. Jonathan gently brushed her hand off of his shoulder and rubbed his nose from the face-plant earlier. "What could you possibly want with me, Ms. Adams?" Jonathan said in a snarky tone.

"I want to help you find out what happened to James..." She said as she looked down to the ground. "I... I just know that he couldn't have just been killed, like you said. I believe you, and I want to help prove your theory is right." She brought her head back up and stared into Jonathan's eyes. Her eyes were teary, but she bore a determined look that all women seem to have.

"Fine, I'll let you help. Just don't prove to be a hindrance to my investigation though, okay? James was someone I came to be very close to in our short time together, so I refuse to fail him. Him... Roman AND Dr. Anderson, since you seemed to forget." Jonathan said mockingly as he got in his car and shut the door. He rolled the window down on the driver's side and looked at Sarah's flabbergasted face. "Hurry the hell up, woman. We don't have all day, get in my car with me." Sarah jumped at Jonathan's snappy attitude and ran over to the other side of his car and got in. Before she could even close the door entirely, Jonathan slammed on the gas pedal and the two of them sped off from the funeral.

"We have a lot of plans to discuss, so I suggest you get comfy and listen." Jonathan said as he pulled a pair of black sunglasses from his sun visor and slid them on. "Now that I've officially become a part of the CCG, I'm going to be able to handle the work from the outside. I'm going to be scouting out areas, interrogating any Ghoul I can find secretly, and listening in on information that might be useful from the streets. However, as an Investigator, I can only have so much access to information the CCG keeps for the higher ups." Jonathan said as he slowed down to not speed through the upcoming red light.

Sarah looked at him curiously. "But what does that have to do with me?" She asked as she narrowed her eyes at Jonathan.

Jonathan quickly pointed his finger at her and poked her nose. "I'm glad you asked, My Dear."

Sarah swatted Jonathan's hand away from her face with the force he would've expected from a man. "Don't ever put your hand in my face again." She said promptly and coldly.

Jonathan yelped and grabbed his hand. "You and Aldus are just alike. Everyone is being an ass today, it seems." He said as he rolled his eyes behind his glasses. The red light they were stopped at suddenly turned green and Jonathan almost just as suddenly slammed on the gas again, sending Sarah flying backwards into her seat. "This is the role I have planned out for you. See, while I'm out doing the work of an Investigator, I need you to infiltrate the CCG from the inside. I need you to be my eyes and ears from the inside." He slid his glasses halfway down his nose and looked Sarah in her eyes. "I need you to help me steal classified information from the CCG, Sarah Adams. Are you willing to be a spy, if it means being reunited with James?"

Sarah lowered her head and crumpled up the black skirt she was forced to wear today. She thought of all the work that she had done up to this point to try and become a member of the CCG and how all of this hard work could be taken away in an instant if she was caught. She would take the fall, and there could be a very likely chance that Jonathan would not be blamed for any of it. After all, she was stealing information while he was merely doing his job. Then, an image of James' smiling face shot through her mind. His short red hair blowing in the wind, and his deep eyes that looked like an ocean of wonders in his eyes. How she loved to get lost at sea in those eyes, and how she longed to run her fingers down his smooth skin and soft cheeks. A single tear fell from her face onto her black skirt and she realized she had her answer. James would have done the same for her, if not more.

"Yes. I will do anything it takes to be with him again, Jonathan." She said sternly.

Jonathan smirked and brought his attention back to the road. "Good. I guess our team is all set, with the exception of one member..." Jonathan muttered as he thought of Aldus and how much he seemed to hate Jonathan. Thunder crashed suddenly and rain began to fall furiously onto the windshield of Jonathan's car. "How ironic. The angels cry after the funeral is over."

The smoke from the crater James created still flooded through the air of the training room. James finally managed to bring himself to his feet and had to keep his hands on his knees to stay upright. "Shit... My body is covered in bruises and scrapes. This guy really is something else, it seems..." James said between short breathes. "Maybe I overdid this a bit, eh Dante?" James laughed for the first time since he had been turned, but his joy was cut short by his body suddenly being dragged down to the ground and then lifted in the air. He was too tired and confused to react properly and only stared around to see if he could see anything. Almost too late, James looked up to his foot and saw a pulsing red tentacle wrapped around his ankle. It was a kagune holding him up in the air.

"I hate to disagree with you, James." Came a familiar voice as the smoke in the room began to dissipate. Standing in front of James was Dante, who was rubbing his head and getting dust out of his muffled hair. "That was a good move though. A German Suplex was the last thing I was expecting from you, to be honest. If it wasn't for the smoke covering up the fact that I was protecting my head from making contact with my other three tentacles, then you could've followed that up with an attack that actually would've done damage." Dante swiftly brought his fist, which at some point already fully healed, into James stomach and sent him flying. "But, that's what you SHOULD'VE done. Maybe you'll learn that after I kick your ass a little more."

James rolled when he made impact with the floor, and saved himself more pain. He was already back at his feet and in his fighting stance from before, prepared for Dante's next onslaught of attacks. Things will probably be different now that he knows I can out-grapple him, and that my arms aren't susceptible to pain. I need a new plan. James narrowed his eyes and focused in on Dante's slow movements. He was trudging towards James, taking his time. Maybe he was mocking him? Or rather trying to psych him out for a quick follow-up attack? Then, for a split of a second, Dante vanished and appeared in front of James again. This time however, James was not prepared. He looked straight into Dante's eyes and watched the light in them get swallowed by the black and his irises become the bright scarlet color they had the night they met. Dante's white shirt then suddenly burst into pieces off of his body, exposing his vulnerable torso. Dante was a few inches shorter than James, and he had much less muscle, but his body was compact and lean. His signature four tentacles of his kagune shot out of his back and flowed behind him like wings in a breeze. James recognized the positioning of them as that of a rinkaku, however no other Ghoul had as many tentacles as Dante did. Just another thing that set him apart from other Ghouls, it seemed. Dante spun his body at an untraceable speed, and was bringing another wind-splitting kick towards James' head. Not this time! James yelled internally and brought his arms up to protect his head. If this has the same effect on his leg as it did his arm, then I should have another opportunity to grapple him down. This time, I'll make sure I keep the pressure on him though. James dug his foot into the ground to brace for impact.

"You underestimate me, James Anderson." Dante whispered at a volume only James could hear. Dante stopped his kick suddenly, mid-swing, right before it made contact with James' arm. "I'm not making the same mistake twice, fool." Dante then slammed one of his tentacles into the exposed side of James' head. The impact was loud, and Dante could see a few of James' teeth fly out of his mouth as he floated in the direction of the blow. "I wasn't planning to use my kagune this quickly against you, but you forced my hand." He slammed another of his tentacles into the opposite side of James' head, sending him floating back towards where he was originally. His eyes had gone white and Dante could tell he was on the brink of unconsciousness. "And to be honest, you pissed me the hell off." Dante then brought his kick that was stopped before down onto James' chin. James was slammed face first into the ground, a loud cracking noise that must've been his jaw filling the room that was followed by a sound similar to that of an explosion. Another crater almost the size of the one James was formed, and at the bottom lay James' body hanging limp with his head buried in the ground.

Dante jumped down to the bottom and stood by James. He crouched down and poked at his side. "It's not so fun being slammed into the ground headfirst, is it dick?" He stood up slowly and brushed the dust off of his black sweatpants. "I think this is enough for today though, so enjoy your little dirt nap, bud." He then began to walk away, but stopped after a few steps when he felt something on his right heel. He looked down and saw four black fingers wrapped around his leg, and a small puddle of blood forming under the ground where a head of orange hair was hanging. James lifted his head and stared Dante in his eyes. One of James' eyes was now black and crimson, like it was the night Dante found him. He must finally be ready to get serious...

"No... Don't leave yet." James brought himself to his feet and got back into his familiar stance. He had a steady stream of blood flowing from the side of his mouth and the top of his head down onto one side of his face. "I'm not even close to being done here, Dante. So don't you underestimate me too, you hear me?" He clenched both his fists together and cracked all of the knuckles in his fingers at once. "Come. Do your worst, Sensei."

Chills sprinted through Dante's body at the look James was giving him. He was so determined and the ocean that lie in his eye was now covered by the intensity of a blaze. Dante shook his head and began laughing with pure joy. "Now that is the look you should give everyone you fight, James!" He regained his posture and then crouched down low, his kagunes flowing freely through the air above him. "But don't resent me for this. You asked for it, after all."

Aldus could feel his thick hair sticking to his face from the rain. He had always loved the rain, but today everything he thought he loved seemed to do nothing but piss him off. Especially his brother. He clenched his teeth as he recalled how reckless his brother was acting. Jonathan has always been skeptical of the higher-ups, but acting out like this at a public event was only begging for trouble to be brewed. Trouble that even Aldus could not protect Jonathan from, no matter what he tried. Jonathan most likely did not know it, but the beating Aldus had given to him was only to make him stop acting out. That dumb bastard... How could he think I don't care what happened to James? Of course I care... He thought as he turned down an alley to escape the sea of pedestrians he was lost in.

The alley was dark and damp, but the tops of the surrounding buildings protected it from direct downpour. The only water that dripped down here was from the buildings. Aldus kept his head down as he walked deeper into the darkness, ignoring the few homeless people he passed on the way. Two children suddenly ran by him and he instantly thought of himself and Jonathan. The two of them survived day after day in the alleys of New New York, somehow managing to avoid contact with Ghouls after their parents had been found dead. The cause of their parent's death was never brought forward, but now Aldus assumed it to be at the hand of a Ghoul. It would not surprise him. He clenched his hand in his pocket and heard some of his knuckles pop. Why is it always us they take from..? Humanity is always suffering at the hand of those... those monsters. This just isn't fair at all...

"Aldus Archer, I assume?" Came a deep voice suddenly, resonating through the cramped walls of the alleyway. Aldus lifted his head quickly and brushed his wet hair out of his face. Standing at the end of the alleyway was a very tall, masculine man with a buzzed head and a scruffy beard who was surrounded bymen in black suits. Aldus could not see them, but he knew all of them were most likely carrying quinques. Weapons like guns and knives had become so out of fashion now, as Ghouls were the main causes of mugging and murder in the streets nowadays. He also knew that the man was a higher-up in the CCG, as he was wearing the signature white trench coat that they all wore. The man lowered his head slightly, but kept eye contact with Aldus. "I have business to discuss with you, my boy."

"You assumed right." Aldus said as he pushed his glasses up nonchalantly and continued to walk towards the end of the alleyway. When he came face to face with the man, his bodyguards circled around him and made any sort of escape for him impossible. Aldus pushed the bangs of his hair to the side and wiped his glasses clear. When he put them back on, he made direct eye contact with the main man again. "Now what do you mean by business?"

The man smiled menacingly. "Well, as you know, James and Joseph Anderson's death have caused quite a controversy with your elder brother. And your brother seems to enjoy causing problems for those of us higher on the food chain, and those problems just so happen to be... Well, problems for us." The man shrugged with both of his shoulders and scoffed. "The last thing we need is a flea questioning the actions of us hawks."

Damn you Jonathan... Has word spread this quickly of your outburst..? Aldus thought as he clenched his teeth. He took a deep breath and regained his composure. "Oh yeah? Well, I don't mean to sound rude, but that sounds like a personal problem to me. I'm not entirely sure what any of that has to do with me. I'm not the one doing shit against the higher-ups here."

The man took two steps towards Aldus and rubbed his chin with his hand. "Well, you are his brother after all. Who better could we rely on to monitor the activities of a potential rogue Investigator?"

Aldus jumped at the shock of the man's statement. "Wait what?!" He yelled as he took a large step toward the man. When he did though, the man's guards also took a large step towards the both of them. Aldus looked around nervously and calmed himself again. He was confident in his fighting abilities, but against this many people at once he was at a huge disadvantage. "You can't possibly be serious right now. My brother would never do anything like that. Sure, he's reckless and kind of... well, obnoxious at times, but he would never do anything to betray the CCG. I know him better than anyone else, so you can trust me on this."

"If only it was that easy." The man said as he stroked his beard. "The public has already become suspicious of the CCG with the increase in deaths in the past month. They think we aren't doing our job, and the government is just looking for any excuse to shut us down and have a larger excess of money. All they really need is a catalyst, and that could potentially be the end of us as we know it. And when we're gone, there really will be no one left to protect New New York."

The man was obviously trying to guilt trip Aldus into going along with the intentions of the higher-ups, but he too could see straight through his fake concerns about the public. "So you think my brother could be that catalyst?" Aldus asked, though he already knew the answer.

"I believe your brother's actions should have given you that answer, my boy." The man said calmly.

"Then tell me, where exactly do I come into his equation? How exactly am I going to be able to monitor Jonathan's activities? I still have two years until I can become an Investigator as well. That seems to be something you lot forgot."

The man laughed instantly. "Oh no, we have a plan to take care of that as well. As you'll find out, we have a plan to take care of everything." The man held out his hand and smirked cockily. "So do we have a deal?"

Aldus squinted at the man and began dwelling in thought. Jonathan had always been a protective brother, hell, most likely the best brother Aldus could ask for. He was always around when Aldus needed him, and even when he didn't particularly want him around. He always made it his first intention to care for Aldus even if it was at the cost of his own happiness, but somehow he always ended up doing something to get himself in trouble. Once that happened, Aldus would be left to pick up the broken pieces of whatever predicament they were stuck in now because of Jonathan's recklessness. This was how it always was. Every. Damn. Time. Jonathan also always managed to live his life in the spotlight, leaving Aldus to shiver in his shadow. He was naturally good at everything he did and never really put effort into anything, while Aldus would train until his skin began falling off his hands and feet.

No... No more, Brother. Never again will I live in your shadow.

Aldus took the man's hand and squeezed it tightly. "We have a deal, Boss."

The man smirked and gripped Aldus' hand painfully tight. "Just call me Gordan for now. Knowing my real name would add nothing to our goal. All we need is your loyalty, Investigator Archer."

Thunder echoed through New New York's sky, and the rain continued its downpour for the next two weeks. Jonathan looked up to the sky from his designated seat. Out of everyone in his class, only 37 cadets were graduating. 37 out of 188 were considered worthy of the title of Investigator, and only he was being given the title of 2nd Grade Investigator. Jonathan knew he should be happy about this achievement, since he was making history, but for the past two weeks nothing has just felt right. He hadn't seen Aldus since the funeral, and he had no idea where he could be. This was the longest he had not seen Aldus, and the distance was eating away at him. He missed Aldus. Jonathan snapped back at attention when the Campus Director began naming names of the graduates. Naturally, he called Jonathan first. "We have a special announcement for this specific graduate though, ladies and gentlemen. For the first time ever, we have a graduate graduating with the honor of being a 2nd Grade Investigator." Jonathan stood up and began walking towards the center of the stage. He lowered his head and let the Director place a medal around his neck, and took the badge he was holding. It was cold in his hand, but Jonathan's happiness helped him keep hold of it. "Would the graduate like to give a few words to the audience gathered?" The Director said with a smile. Jonathan walked up to the podium and brought the microphone closer to his face. A sudden chill of Deja Vu ran through his skin as he cleared his throat. "I don't really want to keep you all here forever, so I'll make this short. I'm deeply honored to have this opportunity to do what I can to protect New New York, and I promise I will do everything I am able to to protect as many lives as I can. I want to thank everyone who has been a part of my life so far, but more than any I would like to thank my brother for always being there for me. I would also like to thank Professor Anderson, for acting as a father figure when I had needed one and teaching me things I would not have learned on my own. May he rest in peace. And I would also like to thank James Anderson for being a friend and the best roomy I could ask for." He lowered his head and slowly walked back to his seat. He did not lift his head for the rest of the ceremony, as everything just began sounding the same. All Jonathan could think about was Aldus. Just where could you be, brother...

"And now, we have another special announcement for you all." The Director said, and Jonathan lifted his head back up. He wasn't informed of anything else special happening today. "Again, we have a first happening. We have with us, today, the first graduate to leave two years early with the rank of 3rd Grade Investigator. Everyone, let's give a hand to Aldus Archer."

Jonathan turned his head slowly, his eyes wide with surprise. At the back of the crowd was Aldus, with a calm and stoic face. Jonathan stood up suddenly and clenched his fist. "Aldus! Where the hell have you been for the past two weeks?!" He stomped over to Aldus as he was walking towards the podium. Jonathan stopped in front of him, but Aldus shoved his way past him. At first Jonathan was shocked, but now he felt nothing but anger. He walked in front of his brother again and lifted him up by the collar of his shirt. "Don't fucking ignore me, Brother! I asked you a fucking question, now answer me! What the hell are you doing here?!"

Aldus could only smirk. "Didn't you hear? I'm here making history." Aldus shoved Jonathan backwards, making Jonathan stumble a bit. "I'm not living in the shadow you cast behind anymore."