Edit: Added Publicly Available Information
Lost Girls Part II: Wall Sheena, Goodbye
"Annie?" Alto came out of the side room, and his eyes instantly fell on the body. He staggered back a few paces, before retching.
"Hey! What's with the noise?!" A sudden pounding came from the door. "I just told you to shut up!"
Alto touched the corpse, "Shit! He's fucking dead!" He swore,
"Say something! Apologize! Give me one of your teary apologies like you always do!" When there was no response the man continued "Hurry up! Do you take me for an idiot you shithead?! Know what, wait right there!"
Alto and Annie barreled down the hall as they raced to lock the door before the man could open it, Alto barely made it as Annie slammed the lock into place.
"If he comes in here, we need to kill him." Annie hisses, and Alto nods.
"Open this fucking door! Right now!" Finally he stopped pounding, "Next time I see you, you're fucking dead!" But the man finally walked away, apparently deciding it wasn't worth it. They slump in relief and move towards the back.
Annie pulled the body out, "He's still warm, meaning it hasn't been too long since he was killed."
Alto's head was whirring, 'Shit...in this heat it won't take long for the body to be discovered. And Annie and I will get subpoenaed in the crime. Our superiors can't get us out of a subpoena, so no point trying.' He looks down on the body, 'I bet Annie will be in trouble too. Not to mention if I'm subpoenaed I can't make the Expedition tomorrow. Not to mention it won't be long before Reiss get's wind of it, likely from Elliott.' He sighs, 'The only way out is to solve Carly's case first, kill Elliot Stratmann, then make this look like a completely different crime.'
Alto listened along the wall, "He's asleep." He whispered to Annie.
"Could the killer have abducted Carly then killed Kemper?" She asked as they left,
"Unlikely, anyone with half a brain would've at least locked the door to delay discovery and buy themselves time. If not gotten rid of it." Alto replied thoughtfully.
"And they can't be after Coderoin since it's practically out in the open." Annie analyzed
"Speaking of Coderoin, if Kemper and Carly were dealers then where'd they get such a large supply?"
"It's a shot in the dark. But what if Carly was making the Coderoin?"
"Huh?" Annie seemed slightly confused.
"Think about it, Coderoin is a very precisely made drug. You'd need extensive study of chemistry if you didn't want to end up selling a poison, or blow yourself to charred bits." They approached a carriage, where the driver from earlier was waiting.
Instantly, Alto's brain went on red alert. Other than the driver, there was another man with a concealed knife. 'This is a trap!'
His suspicions were confirmed when the door burst open and a knife was pointed right at Annie's face. And a man with a gun jammed it into the back of Alto's head.
"Don't do anything stupid. I don't plan to kill you two here." He raised his cap, revealing an all red pupil. "Search 'em."
Annie had her notebook taken, as well as a ring. Alto had his notebook taken as well before they were both pushed inside the cart.
As they rode down the slums, the red-eyed man started first.
"You two take your work very seriously."
"Where are we headed?" She asked,
"Industrial City. Pertland Industrial City to be exact. All kinds of things end up in the industrial wastewater."
"It's acidic. Whatever falls in there ends up as sludge." Said the man with a gun and red shirt.
"So you dropped your brain in there at some point." Annie said venomously.
He smiled mirthlessly then suddenly jammed his gun into her left cheek, "Watch it lady!"
"No need to be so tactless Lou."
"So we made you angry?"
"We're not angry." He took off a pair of spectacles. "Ever heard the myth of Icarus?"
"The inventor's son who flew too close to the sun, only to have his wings burn off?" Annie asked
"Exactly. You flew too close to the sun, and now you're going to have your wings clipped."
"We were searching for Carly Stratmann but I suppose you already know where she is."
"We may have ran into her."
"Hey you!" Lou poked Alto, "Why so quiet?"
The red-eyed man turned to Alto, and grabbed his face. Then began to laugh, "Well, well well. Elliott wasn't crazy after all! Alto Burke, youngest son to Victoria and Astell Burke." He chuckled again, "Some very powerful people have been looking for you. An old friend of yours."
Annie looked at Alto with curiosity, "Aw don't tell me he didn't tell you!" The red-eyed man said to Annie, when there was no response, he said "Your buddy here has made some very troublesome enemies."
Suddenly Alto had been transported into the Burke realm.
"You have very little time." Dante said to him, "I'm going to teach you a clever manipulation of Titan powers."
"What?"
"Just bear with me. The Flare Titan can harden correct? As well as produce flames from it's breath?"
"Yes. But that's common knowledge."
"What if I told you, you could manifest those powers without shifting?"
"I'd be unstoppable. No prison could hold me since I could break the bars or walls."
"And burn through ropes."
"What are you...oooh."
"It's simple, but very effective. Now, I want you to focus. Harden the way you would in Titan Form."
Alto inhaled, and visualized the crystal spreading across his skin into claws. And sure enough when he opened his eyes his hands were covered in the material.
"The more you do it, the more naturally it comes. Now, for Fire Breathing. You produce the flames from your hands, not your throat, you'd burn your throat if you did."
Alto nodded, and imagined the flames emerging from his hands, dancing, licking at the hardening.
And he was back. He inhaled, and his rope began to smolder 'I need to distract them.'
"Congratulations." He clapped as best he could, "You've found me, what will you do now?" Alto sneered
"Send you to our friend Reiss."
"Would send me." Alto said.
"What?" Lou was confused now. "This guy is nuts Wald."
"I said, 'You would send me' if I hadn't just unbound my ropes." He left the charred ashes of his ropes on the chair as he spin-kicked Lou in the face and grabbed his gun jabbed it in Wald's face.
"I have a question. Where is Rod Reiss?"
"Go to hell." He gasped, and he groaned as Alto shot him in the side,
"Where is he?"
Wald's faced softened with acceptance, and Alto relaxed the heat. "I don't know for sure. But I've heard he has a mansion in Northern Wall Sina where he spends his time."
"Where's Carly Stratmann?"
"197 Bangalter Road."
"Good. Last question, who are you people?"
"We're what you'd call problem-solvers. Elliott Stratmann hired us to find Carly, didn't take us long to find Kemper, who agreed to tell us where she was if we helped him with a job. He wanted us to blackmail Stratmann with his daughter and her secrets and extort as much money as we could. All we had to do was hide the girl and collect the money two days later. If things had gone smooth for a little while longer we'd have pulled this off." He chuckled, "It's always like this for people like us."
"Like what?"
"We're so close to achieving our goal, then something goes wrong and it all goes haywire. It was like this five years ago. If the attack had happened one day later, we would've been here instead of Shiganshina." He tried lifting his cigar to his mouth, but his hand collapsed, Alto leaned down and put the cigar in his mouth.
"Thank you." He takes a puff of smoke, and his eyes are already distant, "Its...a nice cool day outside. Isn't it? Edda, father...I'm home." Then he slumped to the side of the carriage.
"WHere's the other one?" Alto asked,
"Ran before I could get him." Annie admitted.
"He probably went to where Carly's being held. Let's go."
Alto grabbed a man by the arm and threw him over the railing before slamming his arm down on the railing itself.
Annie side-kicked a man wielding a bottle and forced him into a rack of alcohol.
"K-Kill them!" Lou screamed, pulling out another gun, he leveled it at Annie, who threw a bottle that hit his head, causing the shot to only graze her hood. Alto finished him with a kick to the gut.
Alto wasted no time grabbing the gun, "Do you believe in God, Lou?"
He nodded fearfully.
"Then meet him." He pulled the trigger, immediately following he shot another man trying to escape.
"Is it over?" A girl smoked a cigar,
"You're Carly Stratmann?" Annie asked, "Your father is waiting for you."
"Eh, what about a drink first?" Neither noticed Alto quietly slip out.
"Stop here please." Alto said to the driver.
"Right…" Alto got out, and climbed over the gate before breaking a window and entering the house, where Elliott was waiting for him with a rifle.
"You should've stayed dead." He then proceeded to shoot Alto point blank at his chest sending him spiraling against the wall.
"Damn brat." He began to turn away when he was suddenly thrown to the floor, and a hardened clawed hand closed around his throat.
"And you should've kept your mouth shut." Alto whispers.
"Y-you think you've got this all figured out kid? You're wrong. Reiss has the resources, he has the men, he has the know-how, what the hell do you have?"
"Nothing to lose." In a bloody display, he dug his fingers into Elliott Stratmann's throat and ripped it out, he spasmed, choking on his own blood.
He shed his hardening, allowing the bloodied flakes to litter the floor, leaving his skin clean. And without a word, he slipped out of the manor into the night.
"So you didn't want to make Coderoin anymore, and tried to run, but Kemper sold you out to Wald and Lou, before Lou betrayed everyone and decided to strike out on his own." Alto summarized
"That's pretty much it." Carly winked at Annie and atlo, "Hey, mind pretending you never saw me?"
"Why'd you start making Coderoin?" Annie asked back.
She sighs, "I suppose I felt sorry for him after five years ago…"
"Hey. You ever tried a donut?" Carly asked the pair.
"No." Alto replied, and Annie shook her head.
"They're good. Try them." They tentatively picked the rounded treats from the bag, and Annie took the first bite, her eyes widening in surprise. Alto tried his, and exhaled in delight.
Carly smiled sadly, "I suppose I'll need to leave this city."
"Why? Just stop making Coderoin."
"I'd love too. But thing is I'll start feeling bad for papa and start making it all over again."
Alto gagged, before quietly saying, "Don't need to worry about that anymore."
"What?"
"He's dead."
Carly looked at Alto, then sighed, "So that's that then."
"What will you do now?"
"I suppose I'll inherit the Marleen Company. Maybe get it to make money again."
"Not sure what to do with this then." Annie passed her a travel permit.
"Thanks. Think I'll run it from Wall Rose though. I don't feel like seeing this place for a while."
Alto shrugs, "I thought you'd say that."
"You two should take it easy." Carly shook both their hands, but they both shook their heads.
"I have something I need to do. After that I'll go to my hometown."
Carly turned to Alto, "And you? What will you do once you finish here?"
"I…" He paused, 'What am I going to do?' "I'll figure it out." He smiled sadly,
"Well, you're always welcome to stay with me." Carly winked at him, then turned and left.
Annie turned back to Alto, and for a long moment, they simply looked over Stohess's river. Then Annie asked:
"Did you kill Elliott?"
Alto sighed, "It's that obvious? Yes, I did."
"Because he was going to go to your enemies?"
"Yes."
"Christopher Holt isn't your real name?"
"No. My real name is as you heard. Alto Burke."
"Why do they want you dead?"
After a pause, Alto said, "Let's just say I'm carrying some dangerous baggage."
"So it's kill or be killed for you huh?"
"Yep." Alto leaned against the side of the bridge,
"Will you kill me?" Annie asked,
"If I was, why would I tell you?" Alto laughed sadly, "But no, I don't think I will."
"Why?"
"Do I need a reason? We're friends aren't we?" Alto tucked his hands in his pockets, and began to walk off, but paused for a moment.
"Hey Annie?"
"Yeah?"
"I won't force you to tell me what you're going to do. But whatever it is...Good luck in it."
Annie's mouth lifted up in a slight smile, "Good luck to you too, Alto Burke."
He smiles, "It's nice, hearing my own name again from someone else."
PAI
Following the investigation of Carly Stratmann by Annie Leonhart and Christopher Holt, and the death of Elliott Stratmann the remaining perpetrators of the Coderoin drug trade were arrested and found guilty. After this, Coderoin trade came to an almost complete halt.
The mysterious murder of Elliott Stratmann was never solved. With his throat cleanly ripped out, it seems like an animal attack, despite witnesses claiming they heard voices and gunfire over the course of the murder.
The Marleen Company was inherited by Carly Stratmann, who invested, along with the Reeves Company, into the rebuilding of Trost following the Battle and Retaking of Trost.
A/N: So, this chapter we saw a darker side to Alto. Also, I haven't burnt out yet! Next chapter will be the 57th Expedition Arc, and we're going to see ALOT of Titan Combat. I honestly can not wait to do the next few arcs, especially the Traitors Arc and the Uprising Arc.