The phone snapped him out of his slumber far too early for his liking. He was sure that he couldn't have been asleep for more than a few hours when it rang. However when he turned over to look at the nightstand where the device lay, the digital clock coldly informed him that he had been asleep for a full eight hours.
The man groaned, but picked up the phone on the fourth ring, "Yes?"
"You sound tired. Did I wake you?"
The man grunted in the affirmative, and the voice on the other end of the phone spoke again, "Well, you said you wanted me to tell you when the test results are in, and they are, so I am."
Some of the man's irritation faded when he heard this, "Oh. Right."
"We can do it later if you want…"
The man sat up and rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand, "No, that's alright. Just give me twenty minutes to clean myself up."
"Sure. See you soon Ro."
The man known as Ro hung up the phone and let out a long sigh. He put the phone back on the nightstand and stretched out, a long yawn escaping in the process. When he opened his eyes again, the mask sitting on the desk across from him caught his eye. For some reason he always felt like the skull was looking at him through its empty eyes. He stared back for a moment before shaking his head and rising from his bed.
The room he had claimed as his own was a small but functional dwelling; enough room for a bed, a desk, and a nightstand. He had done little to cover the bare concrete walls as he had never seen the point of decorating it. He was only ever there to sleep, so why bother?
He walked through the doorway that led to the bathroom adjoined to the room and took in his image in the mirror. Leaning on the counter, he used his fingers to spread his eyes open. The orbs where white, the pupils green. Everything normal then. He let his eyes roam the rest of his reflection. He noted places on his body that should be covered in scars, but were instead absent of any such blemish. His brown hair had grown just long enough to be shaggy, and he had about a week's growth on his face. He would have to make time to shave later.
Stepping out of the pair of gray sweatpants that made up his sleep attire, he entered the shower and turned the water on as hot as it would go. After taking a few minutes to enjoy the feeling of the warm water, he quickly washed and dried himself. He dressed himself in black pants and a black long sleeved shirt before opening the metal door of his room and stepping outside.
The hallway leading to the laboratory was just as sterile as his room; all bare concrete with fluorescent lights lining the ceiling. Every ten feet or so there was a metal door leading to another room like his own, but he knew that only two of the others had occupants. Midway through the hall he stopped at one of those rooms and stared at the door. The words' "Z'S ROOM KEEP OUT!" had been spray painted on the metal in bright red letters. Ro considered knocking, but thought better of it. No need to wake him up needlessly.
He strode the rest of the way down the hall and walked through another door into the laboratory. The space was large; almost cavernous compared to the cramped personal quarters. Various pieces of equipment where placed throughout the lab. Ro knew very little about what most of them did, but at the far end of the room he found the man who did.
Akihiko Takashi looked like what most people probably thought of when they thought of brilliant young scientists. Early twenties, slim build, messy black hair. His standard work attire consisted of jeans and a t shirt with a white lab coat thrown over them. The young scientist had his face inches away from a computer screen, scrutinizing some kind of data.
"You know you'll go blind sitting that close to the screen," quipped Ro as he approached the man's workstation.
"That's a myth," scoffed Takashi. He turned in his chair to look up at his visitor, "Probably."
Ro smiled, "You can research it later. For now I'd like to hear about the test results."
Takashi's face fell and he slumped in his chair, "Another failure I'm afraid."
Anger and frustration hit Ro like a wave; and he had to restrain himself from giving in to the urge to smash a piece of expensive equipment. He settled instead for clenching his fists until he heard popping noises.
"Goddamnit!" he choked out.
Takashi for his part simply sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, "We knew it would fail. It always does. A year and a half we've been at this; and not one success do we have to show for it."
"What other choice do we have?" asked Ro, "We have to keep trying. Find another specimen."
"Another one?" Takashi laughed incredulously, "You think you're going to do better than Zodiac? He was an S rank ghoul, and as near to perfect a specimen as we've ever had."
"Do you have another suggestion?" asked Ro, his tone slightly heated.
"The same suggestion I've been making for over a year," said Takashi, "The hybrid option."
Ro sighed. He knew the young scientist knew as well as he did that the hybrid option was just as unfeasible now as it had been the last time they had discussed it. Ghoul-human hybrids where so rare that most people didn't even think they existed. This scarcity was the only reason they hadn't already tried the hybrid option.
"Unless you're about to tell me you've located a one eyed ghoul, then there's no point in discussing this again."
Takashi looked down at his shoes, "You know I haven't."
"Then why bring it up?"
"Because I had an idea," replied Takashi without looking up, "But I know you aren't going to like it."
Ro frowned, but gestured for him to continue, "Go on."
"Well I've been thinking and…we don't know where to find a one eyed ghoul," Takashi finally looked up at his friend, "But we both know somebody who might."
Ro had to think for a few moments before he realized what the young man meant, "No, absolutely not."
"He has more experience with hybrids than anyone else in the world. He's our best chance of finding one." said Takashi firmly.
"His help comes with too many strings," replied Ro, "I'm not that desperate."
"Yet," muttered Takashi, earning him a sharp look from Ro, "I'm just saying we're running out of time. You and Z are stable for now, but that won't last."
Ro was quiet for a long time before he responded, "Even if I agreed, I wouldn't know where to begin looking for him. He went underground. Nobodies heard from him in a long time."
"Isn't there anyone we could reach out to? He had ties to Aogiri; maybe we could ask them."
Ro smiled ruefully, "I'm pretty sure I burned that bridge when I started killing their members."
"The Savior killed their members," corrected Takashi, "And as far as they know you aren't him."
It was a good point. But Aogiri tree weren't morons. If they figured out that he was the Savior they would kill all of them. If they we're lucky.
After another long silence Ro spoke, "I won't dismiss the idea. But I'm also not quite ready to resort to it just yet. For now, find me another specimen."
Takashi sighed, but nodded, "Well if that's what you want to do, then I think I've already found us another one."
Ro raised his eyebrows, "Already?"
Takashi grinned and gestured towards his computer, "I was going through some leaked CCG reports like I usually do, and I noticed a memo mentioning that prostitutes in the 7th ward are going missing at an alarming rate."
"I'm guessing they think there's a ghoul involved."
"Your guess would be correct," Takashi started to pull up multiple windows on the screen, "The report goes on to mention a certain ghoul whose preferred prey are members of the oldest profession."
Takashi hit a button on his keyboard and a sketch of a figure wearing a troubadour hat and a blank white mask popped up on the screen.
Ro looked at the screen, "Is that…"
"Romeo, O Romeo," confirmed Takashi, "I guess he must have survived you're last encounter after all."
Ro nodded, "Any idea where he's holed up?"
"Way ahead of you. I did a geographical profile of the locations of the latest victims. There all within a ten mile radius of his old hide out."
"You'd think he'd find some other place to hide," muttered Ro, "But that saves us some time."
Takashi turned back to his friend, "You heading out?"
Ro nodded, "I should be back before long. Look after Z for me?"
"Of course," The young scientist held out his fist, "Be careful out there yeah?"
Ro bumped fists with the man and turned to leave. He had just walked into the hallway when heard a voice rang out in the tight space.
"Where we going?"
Ro turned to see a small figure standing in the corner next to the laboratory door. The boy looked to be about ten years old, with a mop of red hair. In one hand he held a top hat and a set of goggles.
"Eavesdropping again Z?" Ro asked rhetorically.
The child snorted, "I can't hear anything through that door. So where are we going?"
"I'm going out to fetch another specimen," said the older man, "You are going back to your room, or anywhere else you like within the confines of this building."
"Aw come on!" whined Z, "You can't go out without back up!"
"I got by for a long time before you came along pal," Ro chided playfully.
"But I can help!" protested the boy, "Remember back when we got that flash drive off that Tono guy? I spotted those CCG guy's before you even knew they were there!"
"Z…"
"And if I had been there when you went after Romeo we probably would have caught him!"
Ro sighed and knelt down to look at the boy face to face, "I'm not doubting your ability to help."
The boy frowned, "Then what?"
"I'm going without you because your still recovering from your last treatment," The older man held his hand up when the boy started to protest, "And don't even try to pretend you're not. This is the first time I've seen you out of bed in three days."
Z looked down at his shoes, "You shouldn't be going out alone…"
Ro put his hands on the boy's shoulders and smiled, "Hey, don't even worry about it. I had this guy before. I'll take him again no sweat."
"If you say so…"
"Hey now," Ro genteelly tilted the boy's head up to look at him, "Don't send me off with that frowny face. Give me a smile."
Z rolled his eyes, to which Ro responded by pouting and whimpering like a dog until the boy broke down and laughed.
"You are so weird."
Ro laughed and pulled the boy in for a brief one armed hug, "I'll be back soon."
Z smiled again and nodded before heading into his room and closing the door. Ro walked back to his room and picked up the skull mask on his dresser.
"Time to go to work."
"Target approaching. ETA two minutes."
Sasaki nodded to himself and spoke into his earpiece, "Acknowledged. Sasaki squad get in position."
The half ghoul investigator was perched on a steel beam in the abandoned warehouse that had once been a hideout to the ghoul known as Romeo. From here he could see the entire factory floor. Below his squad were moving into ambush positions to await the Savior.
While Sasaki had had the initial idea to use the deceased ghoul to draw the other ghoul out of hiding, he had to admit that he wouldn't have thought to falsify CCG reports to lure him in. That had been Hinami's idea, as she reasoned that the Savior was probably reading CCG documents to research his targets. It made sense, given how much the man seemed to know about his targets. She had also been the one to tell them about the hideout. Sasaki had been greatly pleased by the girl's cooperation, for the longer she continued to be useful, the longer he could make the case for her to remain alive. Though part of him was growing more and more concerned with how much he had come to care for her, he couldn't deny his desire to keep her from harm.
"In position," spoke Urie over the radio.
"Ready," said Mutsuki.
"Me too," said Yonebayashi.
"Same," said Shirazu.
"Wait for my signal," said Sasaki.
They weren't kept waiting long. Within two minutes a figure appeared in the wide doors of the warehouse. He was wearing a black long sleeved shirt, black pants, and a black jacket. Most importantly, he was wearing the Savior's distinctive skull mask. It was him.
The next few seconds seemed to pass by in slow motion as the Savior gazed into the building. For a moment, Sasaki was sure that the team had been made. Then the man walked in. When he had walked about twenty feet, the trap was sprung.
"Now!"
On Sasaki's signal, the large sheet metal door slammed down behind the man in the skull mask. He spun around in surprise just as Urie and Shirazu leapt out of the shadows on either side of him, quinque raised. The masked man reacted quicker than expected though, and dropped into a sweeping kick aimed at the two investigators legs. Urie was fast enough to jump over the attack, but Shirazu was an instant to slow and was knocked off his feet.
Urie looked to press his attack, but the Savior wasn't done. Coming out of his spin, he caught Shirazu by his left leg and swung the red haired investigator into his comrade. The two men fell to the floor in a tangle of limbs. But the Quinx squad had come prepared.
"Now Saiko!"
On her mentors order Saiko dropped from her position in the rafters and fell towards the ghoul. With a fierce roar she unleashed her kagune in mid- air, a colossal insectoid-like tentacle rinkaku type. The Savior managed to avoid being crushed by the massive appendage, but only just. The giant kagune smashed a huge crater into the concrete floor; and the force of the impact sent the ghoul tumbling backwards.
Sasaki chose this moment to strike, drawing his quinque and leaping from his perch in the ceiling. The white haired investigator intended to run his target through; and pin him to the ground before he could recover. But once again the masked man was once again quicker than expected. The ghoul managed to get his feet underneath him and used his backwards momentum to perform a back flip that was timed so as to hit Sasaki with a kick as he approached. The investigator was just as fast as his opponent however, and his kagune burst from his back to latch onto the beam he had just jumped from; pulling him just out of reach of the attack.
The Savior completed his flip and landed with no time to spare; as Urie had gotten back on his feet and circled around behind him. The young man intended to impale him, but the Savior jumped into the air; performing another flip to land lightly on the young man's shoulders. He then pushed off with great force; sending Urie stumbling forward, and propelling the Savior to a catwalk overlooking the factory floor.
But once again, the Quinx squad had anticipated the possibility of this action; and Mutsuki was waiting to rush the ghoul from the left as he landed. The Quinx opened his attack by throwing one of his twin dagger quinque at his opponents head. The Savior dodged the blade, which proceeded to lodge itself in the catwalk behind him. Mutsuki was right behind the thrown blade, aiming to slice open the ghoul's throat with a single slash. The Savior turned in time to avoid having his throat cut open, but still received a shallow cut beneath his jugular.
Once the dagger wielding investigator had passed by him he attempted to follow up with an attack of his own; but was thwarted when the young man plucked his thrown knife from the catwalk and spun around to slash at the ghoul again. The masked man managed to reverse his momentum and step back just as the dagger sliced through the space where his eyes had been a mere instant before. Mutsuki pressed his attack; whipping his daggers through slicing arcs as he advanced on his target. For a few moments the Savior could only block and dodge the flurry of attacks by increasingly narrow margins. Soon though he found an opening; and struck Mutsuki's left wrist on the backswing of a slash, sending the dagger tumbling down to the floor below.
With the delicate rhythm of his attacks momentarily disrupted; Mutsuki was temporarily open to attack. The Savior seized on this opportunity and lunged forward with a stomping kick aimed at the young man's chest. Mutsuki managed to get his arms up in a hasty block, but the force behind the kick still launched him all the way back across the catwalk to slam into the wall behind him; leaving a large dent in the metal. The investigator winced in pain before opening his eyes to see the Savior sprinting toward him; ready to deliver a finishing blow. As the ghoul neared, a sword flew through the air and imbedded itself in the catwalk between Mutsuki and the Savior. Sasaki followed an instant later; landing on the hilt of his sword and lashing out at the advancing ghoul with a kick. The masked ghoul ducked under the attack and leapt backwards; putting some space between him and the investigators.
Sasaki hopped down off his sword before pulling it from the floor of the catwalk and leveling it at the Savior, "Are you alright Mutsuki?"
The younger investigator got to his feet and stood in a low stance behind his mentor, "Yes, I'm fine."
Sasaki nodded, "Good. Back me up!"
With that Sasaki charged forward; attacking his opponent with a flurry of slashes and thrusts that the Savior could barely avoid. Just as the masked ghoul thought he had found an opening, a slender quinque darted in from one of the white haired investigators blind spots; slicing open his right arm. The hit caused him to stumble; and he couldn't completely dodge a sword thrust that tore a gash in his left shoulder. He soon realized what had happened. The young man behind the white haired investigator had deployed a segmented kagune, and was using it to attack the ghoul through the swordsman's blind spots.
The momentum of the fight now began to shift against the masked ghoul. Finding no openings with which to attack or retreat, the Savior could only try to dodge as many attacks as he could. But more and more strikes were finding their way through his guard; and soon the ghoul was covered in shallow cuts.
"Sassan!"
The red haired investigators cry caused the savior to look down toward the young investigator. The man had deployed what the Savior guessed to be a bikaku type kagune. A quick glance at the floor made him realize that he couldn't see the other young man whom he had used as a platform earlier. That was when he heard something land lightly behind him. Their plan then dawned him. They aimed to block his means of retreat and let the bikaku type riddle him with projectiles.
"Do it now!"
On the white haired investigator's command, Shirazu fired his projectiles at the Savior. The masked ghoul had managed to come up with a crude plan of action in the space between his figuring out the investigators plan, and them putting it into action.
Sasaki lunged forward with another thrust; but to his surprise, this time the ghoul didn't even try to dodge. Instead he let the blade pierce him as he instead moved to catch the eyepatch investigators kagune mid-attack. Sasaki's momentum carried him forward as his sword went further into his opponent's body. The Savior got a foot up and checked the investigators movement just as the tip of the blade came out of his back. The ghoul pushed Sasaki backwards into Mutsuki and then pulled hard on the younger man's kagune; pulling both him and Sasaki forward, into the path of Shirazu's projectiles. The Savior then leapt over the two investigators; landing behind them.
Sasaki realized the ghouls plan too late to stop him. Now his only choice was whether to take all the projectiles himself, or let his pupil take some of the attack. For Sasaki there was no choice at all. He angled his body so as to put himself between the projectiles and Mutsuki. The four shots all struck home, piercing Sasaki in the chest and stomach. The white haired investigator coughed up blood and sagged forward, nearly falling over the railing.
Mutsuki grabbed his teacher before this could happen, "Sasaki-san!"
The Savior watched the scene in front of him play out for a moment. When he turned to go though, he found himself face to face with Saiko's hammer quinque. The young girl had made her way up to the catwalk to help flank the ghoul when she saw Sasaki get hit. Now she brought her hammer down with all her might onto the Savior's face.
"Bastard!" she yelled as she swung.
The momentum of the attack carried the young woman past her opponent. For his part the Savior fell to one knee. Fragments of his mask fell to the floor with an audible tinkling sound. He shakily got to his feet and turned his head to look back upon the investigators. Saiko's attack had shattered the top half of his mask, and split open a gash on his head that was now bleeding freely.
But the part of the image that burned itself in Sasaki's mind was the sight of the ghoul's kakugan. Namely the fact that he had only one of them.
The Savior stared back at the wounded investigator for a moment longer before leaping into the rafters and exiting the building through a skylight.
Through the haze of his wounds and his surprise, Sasaki registered that his team had gathered around him and were inquiring as to the state of his wellbeing.
As an answer, Sasaki got up and began to rip the spikes out of his body.
"Don't let him get away."
