Dante was not happy. Ebony and Ivory were more than just guns to him. He had made and customised them himself so long ago that he couldn't remember ever not having them by his side. They were like a part of him, an extension of his soul. Holding Ebony in his right hand he felt Ivory's absence even more. What had he been thinking, just leaving like that? Not only had the beast escaped but also it had claimed more victims in the process. From what Dante had seen it seemed to get stronger with every life it took. God alone knew how strong it would be now. And to top it all off the hospital was now swarming with officers, the worker drones searching the place for any clue as to what had happened while the soldiers kept guard. Dante had seen CSI; there were no prizes for guessing where Ivory was now. And where the hell had Li disappeared to. If the gun was at the station then surely Li could use his position to get it back? Typical. The one time Dante actually needed Li for something he was nowhere to be found. Casting a dark look back at the hospital Dante left the scene.
-
The forensics lab was Yuen's destination. After receiving a thorough dressing down from the chief about not photographing the gun for evidence purposes and filling out a statement explaining what it was, where he had found it, when he had found it and anything else you would care to mention he had finally been allowed to take it to the firearms room to process it. First off he checked it for fingerprints, finding nothing but smudges. Clearly the shooter had been wearing gloves. Leather, judging the impressions. He sent the impressions to the trace lab anyway; maybe they had some test that could identify the brand of leather used. If he were wrong he would get yelled at again for wasting time. He didn't really feel up to thinking about that right now. Then he took photos of it, paying particular attention to the beautiful engraving work. Somebody had taken a lot of time over it. He took the clip out to see what bullets it took. 45's like he had guessed, and it was still fully loaded. That was odd. Replacing the clip he went over to a large water tank. Water slowed bullets down, after a few feet they stopped moving. It was safer to use a water tank in the lab than it would be to use a firing range. He picked up a set of headphones and goggles. Health and safety at work.
"Firing!" He called out to warn the other people in the lab, then he fired a shot into the tank. Once it stopped moving he fished it out and picked up the shell casing. First things first, he photographed the impressions made by the firing pin on the casing, then he checked the bullet under the microscope. What he saw made him forget all about photographing it.
-
Dante had returned to the apartment. Again there was no sign of Li. Erika had joined him. She stayed quiet. For a long while there was an uncomfortable silence that filled the room. Erika had seen the amount of work that Dante put into his weapons. She had nothing but respect for him and the levels of dedication he showed. Part of her felt a little guilty; leaving had been her call. Anyone with an ounce of common sense would have known that the police would be all over the place. The silence was getting unbearable. This was stupid, Erika thought to herself; it was only a gun. It's not as if someone had died. The thought brought fresh waves of guilt. First over the fact that Dante had put so much of himself into the twin 45's, and second because people had died.
"Lets run through this, just to make sense of things. We got dragged off to Hong Kong to kill a devil that won't die, you hate our contact and I lost one of my guns" Dante said in a too calm voice for Erika's liking.
"Makes you wish you'd just stayed in bed" Erika joked, more to bolster her confidence than to try to lift the mood. For a moment she thought that he was going to take it the wrong way, then incredibly, he smirked.
"Ok kiddo, here's our 'to do' list. Get my gun back, kill that cat thing and find Li so we can kick the crap outta him for getting us in this mess. Agreed?"
"Like you had to ask. One problem though, how do we kill the cat thing"
"How about that long haired weirdo you mentioned. If he doesn't know anything I can always take out some aggression on him, he did put a bullet through your shoulder"
"I love the way you just conveniently remembered that" Erika sniped as Dante went to leave. Pausing only to grab the digital camera she had taken from the man, she followed him. The angry red mark under the rug remained unnoticed.
-
Superintendent Chang's office was like a dragon's lair. He was furious. The reports from the hospital massacre had just come in. Seventeen officers were dead, among them were Detective Su who had only joined Chang's precinct three months ago. And to top it all off, according to eyewitness reports a man who bore a striking resemblance to Detective Li had been spotted leaving the scene. Since then Li had disappeared. There was another problem. Han and Chu had been the leaders of two of the countries leading crime syndicates. Since word of Chu's death and Han's comatose condition other gangs in Hong Kong had taken to arms, trying to secure a piece of the syndicate's territories and power for themselves. A full-blown gang war had broken out between every two-bit hood in the city as they tried to fill the void that Chu had left and if word got out that Han was dead too the situation would only get worse. Chang re-read the reports, pausing on an interesting page. Eyewitnesses had described two individuals at the scene fighting a creature of unbelievable description. Chang was prepared to write that off as a panic induced hallucination, but the gunslingers were a different story. The first was described as male, Caucasian, mid to late twenties, over six ft tall with silver white hair and wearing a full-length red leather coat. The second was female, also Caucasian, late teens to early twenties; around 5ft5; black and silver striped hair and wearing a black three-quarter length coat with knee length boots. These two had both been heavily armed. Chang roared at the nearest person outside his office to get in there. They had just made the wanted list.
-
Yuen hadn't told anybody about the gun yet. He had taken it out of the lab and to the police firing range, claiming that the water tank wasn't giving accurate enough results. At first he thought that the duty officer wasn't going to buy it, but eventually he had been able to sign it out. At the range he checked out a few 45. ammo clips before checking the one in the gun. It was still full. The round he had fired in the lab must have been chambered. Yuen set the spare clips down before putting on a pair of headphones and goggles and taking aim. He fired off five shots at the target. Yuen was not the best marksman in the world but this time he was pleased with the results. Nothing bang on centre but at least every shot had hit something. He re-checked the clip. Again it was still full. Confused, Yuen aimed again and fired off another burst. Again he checked and again it was full. He took aim once more, intending to run the clip dry. He fired, the shots ripping the target apart. His finger grew sore at squeezing the trigger so many times. Still the gun kept going. Yuen fired until the target gave up the ghost and dropped to the ground in a tattered heap. He checked the clip, his hands shaking slightly. Still no change.
"What are you?" Yuen said quietly, tracing the name 'Ivory' with an unsteady hand.
-
Dante and Erika had decided to split up. Erika was going to look for Li while Dante tracked down the long haired weirdo. Erika had a few places in mind to check out. The police station was obviously to be avoided at all costs, If they weren't on wanted posters after the hospital fiasco then something was seriously wrong. That left Han's nightclub, Chu's place and, if Dante's hunch was right, the local cemetery. The Long Haired Man was going to be more difficult. So far all they had on him was the digital camera Erika had taken from him. The only place that he could think of was the rooftop where Erika had met him. So Dante left her at the local subway before heading in that direction. Upon reaching his destination he parked the Thunderbird and re-traced his footsteps. As he reached the rooftop in question something felt off. Instinctively he reached for Ebony and Ivory and was stunned slightly when he remembered that one was gone. Maybe that was why the creep got behind him.
"So, great minds really do think alike" A cut glass voice remarked. The unmistakeable sound of a trigger being cocked reached his ear.
"Great minds? You obviously haven't read my school reports!" Dante said calmly.
"A devil with a sense of humour! There's a perfectly good reason that most of your kind holds their tongues"
"A devil? I figured you to be the type who did his homework! Or do you just rely on your sharp wit and dashing good looks?"
He heard his attacker draw a sharp intake of breath, clearly insulted. Dante used the second's distraction to draw Ebony and spin around so that it pointed at the creep's head. The Long Haired Man's face remained impassive, his Italian shades masking his eyes. He kept his pistol aimed steadily at Dante.
"Of course, I should really have expected as much from the legendary Son of Sparda" He remarked.
"And you are?"
"That's not for you to know"
"I don't like that"
"My heart bleeds! Know this devil, once the beast we both hunt is dead I'm coming for you next"
"Mind if I ask why?"
"Devils hunting devils? The very idea is preposterous! You're up to something, and I intend to find out what"
"So its nothing personal?" Dante mocked. Despite the man's solid demeanour, Dante could see that mocking him got right under his skin.
"Very well, I shall take my leave of you now. Pray that we do not meet again"
"I'll pray that you get yourself some better lines, You're just inviting me to make fun of you"
"Quite." He said before leaving. Dante watched him go, his mind wondering if Erika had fared any better.
-
Han's club was still an active crime scene, and Erika figured that Chu's wouldn't be much better. That left the cemetery. Erika hopped over the fence, not keen on going though the front entrance in case anyone was there. Once inside she wondered to herself what to do now. It wasn't as if she had expected a neon sign pointing out her next move, but right now she was honestly stuck. After a minute's aimless wandering she cam across a grave that looked relatively new. The writing was Chinese so there was no point in her trying to read it, but the picture by the stone looked familiar. Erika still had the camera. She pulled up the picture of the woman on its memory. It was the same woman.
"The plot thickens" Erika said quietly to herself.
"What are you doing here!" A voice yelled. Li ran up to her. He was fuming.
"Looking for you, you took off in a hurry"
"Get away from her you bitch" Li snapped.
"Easy cowboy! Or did you forget who saved your life at the club?"
"And you think that gives you the right to act like you own the place!"
"Hey! If I could go back I'd let that bullet hit. You're not worth saving! But you've got a chance to help out now. I'd die happy if I never have to breath the same air as you ever again but Dante needs your help"
"Dante can go to hell for all I care. He was supposed to kill that monster, instead it kills half the Hong Kong policeforce!"
Erika felt something dark and poisonous rising inside her. Nobody had ever made her as angry as Li did.
"Last chance. Are you going to help or not?"
Li stared at her for a very long time before he turned away. Erika fought back the urge to tear his throat out as she watched him go
