Angels with Newfound Hope
Act 1 Chapter 11: Spectre
Alex's Apartment: Day 4, 9:05AM
Alex awoke from dreams of Onyx to being beaten down by the sun again. He was starting to regret ever wearing jeans to begin with. Still, the sun casting the world in its golden hues invoked a sense of freedom he hadn't felt in a long time. His thoughts drifted back to Terra and whether or not any time had passed. After all, his previous adventure chasing after the dragon who had terrorized Onyx only took about a day of his own time. He specifically remembered being stuck in that world for a month. Not being able to tell whether time was distorted here as well worried him
The doorbell rang right as the brunette was about to step into the shower. He sighed in annoyance and went to see who was bugging him. A pleasant sight greeted him through the peephole via that fiery red he'd become familiar with. An unpleasant chill also rattled his body as the air conditioning kicked on and assaulted him. Alex hid his torso from Bryce as he cracked the door open. After all, he didn't want any of his scars to be seen.
"Hey Alex." The reptile greeted warmly. He couldn't help but smile in tandem.
"Hey Bryce. Little early for a rematch, don't you think?" The smaller man questioned playfully. His new favorite officer chuckled before speaking up again.
"I'd agree with you there. Unfortunately or thankfully, that's not why I'm here. You can decide how you find it." The chief shot back. Meanwhile, the human put a hand on the door to keep himself stable.
"More police work I take it?" He questioned, to which Bryce immediately nodded. "Alright then. Let me get dressed and I'll be right out." Alex shut the door back and shed his towel. He was in the middle of slipping his tank top back on when a discussion started outside. It sounded like a female was trying to flirt with Bryce. The general tone of their voices pissed him off. And here he thought the Chief of Police would honor a new relationship better. Or maybe he only saw them as friends. Either way, that was going to be fixed fast.
"Hey Bryce." Someone greeted in a flirty manner. The brunette fixed the straps and went up to the peephole. That wyvern from last night had just come up to converse. The sultry expression she wore made him sick.
"Hey there, Camilla. What've you been up to?" Bryce questioned in the same tone as she stepped close. He really hadn't felt like that about anyone in a very long time. Not since he choked a guy out for groping Zoe that one time.
"Oh, the usual. Been thinking about you lately and I was wondering if you wanted to go out after work. Just the two of us?" The girl played asking him out as innocently as she could. The man strapped his gun to his thigh and almost ripped the door open. His sudden entry surprised the dragons sitting outside.
"I'm ready. Let's get going." Alex said plainly. The two bid each other farewell before leaving with him. The larger reptile looked toward his companion's leg and spotted the straps bunching his jeans up.
"You brought your gun again, didn't you?" He deadpanned. The black-clad human just shrugged and patted the holster.
"I'm just staying prepared in case Reza decides to show up. It's possible he could jump us at any moment." He stated. Bryce's eyes narrowed a bit before he let out a suspicious 'Okay'.
"Anyway, we've compiled a list of places Reza visited before he vanished. We'll be checking them out and hopefully finding a lead. Maybe you could help us understand his motivations, without using that gun, if you don't mind." The officer explained. Alex took on a serious demeanor and nodded. Bryce pulled the list from behind his badge, checking it. The human was about to ask how he did that before something caught his eye. It was none other than Sebastian. He was waving his arm like a madman in order to get their attention.
"There you are, Chief. I was looking for you." The smaller officer panted once he got close enough. The look on his face seemed a bit urgent. The ambassador had a feeling he already knew what would come out of his mouth.
"What's going on, Sebastian? Don't tell me there's been another murder." The larger of the trio groaned. Unfortunately, his coworker's grim look said it all. "Damn. I guess it's going to be one of those days." He pinched the bridge of his snout out of irritation. The brunette couldn't help but do the same himself. It was bad enough with one murder having happened.
"Looks like it." Sebastian confirmed. All three people were admittedly annoyed with the situation.
"Someone else is going to have to take care of that today, though. We've got stuff to do." Bryce turned to Alex. "Looks like we're going over for a little business. Hope you don't mind tagging along." He checked, to which the human shrugged casually.
"Whatever you've got to do. I'll be here for the ride." Said human dismissed. With that, the trio were off to the scene...
There wasn't much to it this time. Everything was rather similar to the first one. There was the body, lying with a sheet covering them and a pool of blood under that. Alex checked his gun absentmindedly as the two officers exchanged words.
"So what's the story here?" The stocky chief asked. The human tuned in whilst he continued messing with the weapon. He might as well have the full story if he was going to play police.
"It's interesting, that's for sure. The wounds match the previous victim. So a similar or identical weapon is likely. And the victim? He's a maintenance person for the area. The power went out around 1AM according to reports, guy shows up to fix it and is killed before anything can be done. That's my theory anyway." Sebastian explained. Bryce placed a paw on his chin in thought.
"So the power's still out for the block?" He questioned, to which his lackey nodded in confirmation. "Then we should get it fixed ASAP. We don't need people showing up complaining." The larger reptile added. Alex spotted something in the distance whilst he was listening. It was just drawing nearer with each passing moment.
"Good point. Alex, were you even listening to this?" Sebastian turned to the human, who was still fixated on whatever was coming near.
"Maverick alert. He'll be here in a moment. And yes, I caught it all." The brunette stated. Bryce's snout wrinkled with distaste at the sight of his colleague.
"Don't even think about crossing that police line, Maverick. This is an official investigation." He called once the silver dragon got close. They exchanged glares momentarily before the latter spoke up.
"Shunned by my own colleagues. This is ridiculous." Maverick spat.
"You know how it is, Maverick. Rules are rules. Without them, murders like this would go completely unpunished." Sebastian calmly stepped in before anyone could start a fight.
"Fine. Have your fun without me then." The injured officer scoffed. With that, he lumbered off to do whatever Alex could imagine.
"I guess we're lucky we got here before he did. Else, he'd have made this whole thing a living hell." The stormy-eyed human began. The tan reptile to his right cocked a brow before going back to what he was going to say.
"Right... Anyway, let's go get the power fixed. Maintenance should be around here." The smaller officer led them to an uninteresting looking steel door...
It was pitch black in the stairwell leading to the basement. Sebastian swiftly pulled his cap up, exposing a headlamp. He tapped the button on top and revelled in the light.
"There's the ticket. Good thing you keep that under there." Bryce commended the raptor, who puffed his chest out. "Stick behind me, alright Alex?" He turned back to the human, who nodded and got a little closer.
The trio's attention focused on the several flights of stairs before them as they descended. The larger officer had some trouble keeping his footing due to his paws being a bit too big.
"Ugh... I hate stairs, especially those made for smaller dragons like you." The chief grumbled. Sebastian's light flicked left a tiny bit.
"Having it the other way around isn't so great either. You can trust me on that." He acknowledged. Bryce's silhouetted head lowered at the retort.
"Ugh, fuck stairs. All of them." The brunette commented. Both officers hummed in agreement themselves.
"And it's an overwhelming vote. All stairs suck." The chief quipped. Alex rolled his eyes, thankful his friend couldn't see him at the moment. They had passed the second flight by at that time.
"This kind of reminds me of when we found that underground base. You remember that?" Sebastian reminisced. Bryce nodded with a bemused expression.
"How could I not. It wasn't even that long ago. I bet you'd be interested, Alex." He looked back toward the human, who shrugged and gave him the go-ahead.
"That portal wasn't the only piece of ancient technology we found. There was also this whole... lab nearby. It seemed to have some rather high-tech stuff inside. At least that place didn't have nearly as many stairs." The larger officer began. Alex knit his brows in thought. That place must've been buried or something if he hadn't noticed it when he arrived.
"So you guys found an entire facility, eh? What all was inside technology wise?" The brunette queried. The chief just shrugged post-step.
"Who knows. We spent so much time studying the portal alone, but barely got anywhere. This stuff is just... beyond our comprehension." He explained. The stormy-eyed human wanted to go for another question, but they had already arrived at the basement. He cautiously drew his pistol upon noticing the door being slightly ajar...
"So what exactly are we looking for here?" Sebastian asked. The ambassador was a little too focused on his surroundings to properly listen. He did pick up on Bryce saying they should be able to get the backup power back online.
"Looks like the generator's gone. Mystery solved, I guess." The cloaked raptor commented. Alex strayed a little further from the group to check for any evidence. The familiar cough of his rifle penetrated the deathly silence. The man barely had time to jump out of the way before a light fixture crashed into the ground next to him. Searing pain shot through his recently healed shoulder, making him yelp.
"Alex! Are you alright?!" Bryce shouted from somewhere in the inky blackness. The human was about to respond when the person from yesterday crouched in front of him. Their voice barely reached his ears as they spoke.
"You got lucky." They stood back up and bolted for the door. The injured vigilante jumped to his feet, gun at the ready.
"Where are you going?!" Sebastian yelled urgently.
"That's not me!" The worried man yelled back. He fired three shots that buried themselves next to the attacker. They readied his rifle and he went white. "Take cover! Now!"
"Why?!" Bryce called from next to the stairs. The rifle's firing forced him behind some crates whilst the bullets zipped past his head.
"That's why!" The brunette screamed. "They're going up the stairs, hurry!" He bolted for the stairs himself the instant after. The chief tried to go up after them, but was forced back with more gunfire. Alex wouldn't have much of a problem slipping by if the attacker weren't focused almost exclusively on him. They got away in the end, much to his chagrin...
"Dammit!" The enraged human threw his pistol to the ground. He and the officers finally got back outside with no sign of this mystery person at all.
"I'm starting to get the feeling this manhunt won't ever end." The chief groaned. Alex snatched his gun back up and checked the clip. He'd already burned through most of his ammo supply.
"At least we got out of this alive." Sebastian tried to lighten the mood a tiny bit. The other two shot him rather annoyed glares.
"Ever the optimist. We should at least try to figure out just what the heck happened down there while we wait for the team. You start, Alex. You seemed to have had close contact with Reza down there." Bryce gave the brunette the go-ahead before plopping down on the pathway.
"There's not too much to it. I heard someone shooting, looked up, the light fixture came down and I jumped out of the way. Then someone shot me in the shoulder and started that firefight." Alex explained, to which the larger officer cocked a brow out of suspicion.
"You mean Reza, right?" He questioned. The man shrugged, unsure as to who exactly attacked him.
"I'm not a hundred percent sure there. Whoever it was was wearing a mask. What I'm more concerned about is that they're armed with a silenced weapon. This makes them far more dangerous, since people won' t notice their murders as easily." The ambassador doubted his companion. Things may very well be so much more dangerous now thanks to this person.
"A silenced weapon? Like yours I take it?" Bryce questioned. Alex nodded solemnly. Unfortunately, he was right. This whole thing could cave in on him if he's not careful.
"Yes. I don't know how they managed to get their hands on something like what they have. That kind of gun and ammo is only available to the Terran military." He confirmed. He needed to get his rifle back ASAP.
"We should get back on topic here. There are still a lot of unanswered questions, like why Reza would wear that whole getup." Sebastian interjected. The human shrank down a bit out of embarrassment.
"Sorry. Maybe he'd want to camouflage himself. If he ever got spotted down there, he could just pretend he was a coat rack. But now there's the question of why he'd return to the scene." The human was too worn to argue about who exactly that was. Bryce sat down and waited for an answer himself.
"Maybe he wanted to tie up some loose ends. Hide the body and such, but he got caught before he could do anything." The tan officer theorized. His boss' deep, rumbling voice cut into the conversation now.
"Or maybe he was here for the backup generator. But why would he want to steal them in the first place? We would've carried the trade out, had he not snapped like this." The larger officer grumbled.
"There's still that thing he mentioned happening. It could warrant theft and murder if it was as urgent as he said." The brunette added.
"Maybe. No offense, but this place was a lot quieter before you two arrived." Bryce complained. A tiny smile began to grow on Alex's face as something popped up in his head.
"None taken. At least now I can throw Reza under the bus all I want with you guys. And when we find him, I can finally slap some sense into him." He commented with a sinister grin. Unfortunately, neither officer shared the same sentiment.
"Right... Looks like the police team's coming up. We're still going to need your help if that's okay." Bryce requested, to which his human company instantly remembered their original goal.
"Right, the list. You guys go on ahead then. I'll get that taken care of and meet you back at the station." Alex gratefully took the list and stowed it away.
"Be efficient on time here. I'd say you have enough to visit two, maybe three places if you're quick." The chief advised. Alex gave him a thumbs up and began to stroll away. After a few steps, he turned around.
"And if I find Reza, I'll tie him up with some pretty ribbon for you." The stormy-eyed man winked. Bryce somehow managed to hold back building laughter until he was out of sight. Once he left, everything was let loose in a hearty belly-laugh...