Alabaster and Neil were going back to the precinct. However, Neil needed to know more.

"I'm going back," he stated and turned around with his stride towards the hospital.

"You're wasting your time!" The sheriff shouted behind him. "Rookies," he scoffed and lighted another cigarette before heading towards the station.

The redhead entered the hospital again and quickly moved towards the room where Ame supposedly was. He eyed the entire premise in search of anything out of the ordinary. Perhaps evidence of a break-in or maybe a sign of a struggle? The walls were clean, the floor as well. He checked the beds. Two had signs of being used, so he focused on them.

The first one, near the window, seemed to house a rather tall and slim person. Most likely a woman by the looks of it. Apart from that, it was difficult to tell anything else. It was cold. Anyone who was lying in there left quite some time before.

He moved to the second one, surveying any possible path from the first. Again, no signs of struggle or aggression. The bed itself was also cold. However, the indents on it had to belong to a larger person. On the first look, it had to be a man – and quite muscular at that – but Alabaster stated that both survivors were women.

"It had to be Ame," Neil said out loud.

Investigating the bed more, he noticed something strange. He got closer to the upper part of the mattress.

"Blood?"

The red-ish brown stain wasn't very prominent. The patient had to be heavily wounded if there was blood on the bed. The staff had to treat her beforehand, and Neil doubted they wouldn't change the sheets since she got here. The stain was in a strange place. If she were lying on her back, the wound would have to be somewhere around her shoulder blade.

He stood up, gathering his thoughts. There was nothing that could discern what really happened here.

"The nurse said that no one saw anyone coming in or out." He started thinking out loud.

His gaze shifted towards the window. He moved to inspect it. At first glance, there was nothing out of the ordinary. However, upon further survey, he noticed a chip in the bottom of the wooden frame. Why was there a chip there? It looked like someone wanted to pry it open from the inside with a knife or other kind of blade. Highly doubtful that someone from this room was able to get a hand on that kind of stuff.

Neil opened the window. It required some strength to lift. Old wood. He gazed outside to see where it led to. There was another housing building straight, a damp alleyway on the left, and a road to the abandoned Academy to the right.

"If no one from inside saw them, then maybe someone from the outside."

He jumped out and briefly gazed into the alley. There was a fence at the finish, which looked like a dead end. He moved towards the Academy building. The walls were decrepit and overgrown with vines. The rocks they stood on looked cracked and overtaken by the greenery. No one took care of the place for a long time. The courtyard was a small, round, and empty space with two benches along the entrance. A single willow towered at the side, gently leaning on the wall of the Academy itself. Few kids were sitting there with bottles wrapped in paper.

The moment Neil got closer to them, one of the delinquents started laughing.

"Look at the freak! He thinks he's a woman."

His friends started laughing with him.

"That's not a very nice thing to say, you know?" Neil stood close to the boys.

"Like I care," the guy took a sip from the bottle. His long hair slowly slid to his back.

Neil eyed all the kids here. Five boys, all of them dressed in black. The one that started laughing looked the oldest and probably was the 'leader' of this pack.

"You all hang around here often?"

"What is it to you?" Second boy with a ring in his nose grumbled. "You a cop or something?"

Neil smiled politely. "I'm just looking for a friend. She's gone missing from the hospital nearby, and I was worried. Maybe one of you saw someone suspicious or, I don't know, strange?"

"Nah," The boy with the long hair said and took another sip. The rest followed his example and took turns drinking.

"Are you sure? I'm really worried."

"We didn't see anyone, ok?" A third kid joined in. He had a cap turned backward. "Just leave us alone, freak."

A few chuckles murmured among the kids. Neil got close to the cap-wearing delinquent and looked him in the eye. "Do you know anything about the disappearance?"

The boy stared blankly at the redhead. "The recent kidnappings were all orchestrated by The King."

Neil stepped back. All the kids looked at their friend in bewilderment — a loud crack on the ground. One of them dropped the bottle that broke on the pavement. A sudden look of terror appeared in the boy's eyes as he realized what he just said.

"What the hell, man?" The boy with long hair asked, his voice trembling.

"It seems I formulated the question wrong," Neil was confused. But the statement started to jar his memory. If one of the survivors was the woman responsible for the experiments, this could be a viable lead. "Can you tell me who this 'King' is?"

The boy started sweating. "Just a few know his real name. All I know is that on the streets, he is known as The King."

"Shut the fuck up!" The long-haired boy stood up and got closer, his face twisted by anger.

When the kid got closer, Neil turned towards him. The delinquent raised an arm, winding up a punch. Neil moved forward, locking the arm and quickly forcing the opponent to the ground. In an instant, every other person there ran away, leaving the kid alone with the Huntsman.

"Nice friends you got there," the redhead chuckled.

The boy struggled but was no match for a grown and experienced Huntsman. Neil looked the struggling kid in the eyes. "Do you know the name of 'The King?'"

After a brief moment of fighting, the boy started talking. "Vermillion Raddock."

"Was it that hard?" Neil let go of the kid and headed towards the sheriff's office.

"You better watch your back, freak!" The boy shouted behind the Huntsman. "He will be after you now!"

"I bet he will," he said to himself, tucking his hair behind his ear.

He moved with purpose towards the precinct. Alabaster had to know that name. When he moved through the door and right into the sheriff's office, Jet – who was now on the front desk duty – tried to stop him. Neil ignored the man and barged into Alabaster's room. He slammed the door behind him.

"Vermillion Raddock," he asked. "Does that name ring a bell?"

A visible fear appeared in the eyes of the sheriff. "Where did you hear it?"

"So it does ring a bell."

After a brief pause, Alabaster moved towards the window. He slammed it shut and closed the blinders. He took a deep breath and moved towards the cabinets on the other side of the room. He opened one with an 'R' scribbled on the front and took out a file that he put on the desk and opened it, revealing the documentation. Neil, briefly dazed by the behavior of Alabaster, moved towards the desk and looked at the file.

There was a picture of a square-jawed individual with a buzz-cut. His eyes were a piercing shade of red that breamed with wisdom and experience despite the man himself looking relatively young.

"Vermillion Raddock," he started reading out loud. "Status: deceased. Former leader of the Hana gang that died in the Pastel Manor fire. If he died, then why all the secrecy?"

"Because whenever that name is tossed around, someone disappears without a trace."

Neil remembered the words of the kid. He will be after you now. Either someone is impersonating the old Vermillion, or he is alive and kicking.

"It's better to manipulate from the shadows than to rule in the open."

"What are you talking about?" Alabaster was bewildered by that statement.

"Raddock has to be alive… But how does this correlates to Ame's disappearance?"

"You lost me at 'Raddock has to be alive' part."

The redhead suddenly remembered something. An explanation from Raymond when they asked him for information about the city. Many of the members would say that a man called Vermillion Raddock is 'the guy.' He knew about him and that he had to be alive. Did he meant to inform us about him, or did that just slipped his mind? He turned his head towards the sheriff.

"You know he's alive, don't you?"

The question intensified the fear in his eyes. "He's officially dead…"

"Officially?"

The sheriff took out another cigarette and lighted it up with a shaky hand. "In the ten years I worked here, I've learned a very important thing," he took a deep whiff and slowly released the smoke through his nostrils. "Don't stick your nose where it doesn't belong."

"But if Vermillion is a criminal, then it is your business," Neil threw an angry stare in the sheriff's direction.

"Listen, kid, just let it go." Alabaster reached for the file, but Neil grabbed him by his hand.

"If he's behind the kidnapping of Ame, then I won't let it go." The firm stare frightened the old man. This expression seemed very familiar to him. He had the same eyes once when he started working in Kuchinashi.

"I would love to help you, but I'm not going to risk my life for a lost cause."

Neil let go of the man's hand. "Then you're a lost cause." He stormed out of the room.

Before he could exit the building, Alabaster moved in front of him. His speed surprised Neil.

"I'm not going to lie to you. You're in over your head on this one, but I won't let a rookie like you die," he looked at the redhead. The expression of utter certainty that he knew so well. "I still stand behind what I said, though, so don't think I'll do something stupid."

"You'll be just doing your job," Neil smiled.

Alabaster could not help but smile back. "Just doing my job…"


Kain Teal moved with giant steps towards the main meeting point of the Black Sheep gang and the place where they kept some of their most valuable possessions: The Top Dogs Bar.

"So you sure you understand the plan?" He heard Raymond's voice in his earpiece.

The Huntsman grumbled angrily, declaring that he did.

"Good," Ray sounded reassured. "Stay safe. Raymond out."

The huge man got to the meeting place, knowing that Rory is already in place. He bursted in, trying to make a ruckus, but not many acknowledged him. Everyone had something else on their agenda. Slightly irked by the situation, he shouted in his deep, bass voice.

"I want to join the Black Sheep!"

All the commotion suddenly stopped when everyone turned their heads toward the man. A sudden burst of laughter, and then everyone returned to their previous activities. Kain grumbled, grabbed the nearest bottle, and smashed it at the table closest to him.

"What the hell, man?" A bulky-looking individual to whom the bottle most likely belonged stood up, screaming at the Huntsman.

"Black Sheep! I want to join!" Teal was losing his temper. He would be glad to be ignored and left alone in most cases, but the job required him to be in the spotlight.

"I can hear you!" A boisterous voice reached the Huntsman from one end of the bar. "Why would you want to join?"

Kain turned to face the man. He was a muscular guy with a long and well-kept, light-blue beard. The guillotine-sword wielder wasn't that great of an actor, so he decided to be very truthful about what would typically motivate him.

"For money," he barked towards the bald brute.

Many eyes turned toward the two. Some started whispering to each other.

The bearded giant suddenly bursted out laughing. "I think you'll find a lot in common with our folk. However, I'm not sure if you're tough or just look the part."

"I can handle myself," Kain said.

"We'll see about that," the bald man took out an axe from under the counter of the bar and jumped towards the Huntsman.

By instinct, Kain moved his shoulder forward, and the axe blade stopped on the sword he had on his back. The force of the impact was substantial, but Teal was not impressed. He grabbed his guillotine-sword's handle and used his shoulder as a fulcrum to bounce the opponent back with his blade.

"Quick thinking," the bearded giant smiled. "You have experience."

Kain simply grumbled as an answer.

People around them started to move the tables to make some room for the fight. Many began taking bets on how long the newcomer will last.

"The boss will win in three attacks."

"No way! Look at this dude; he can last at least five."

"Cerulean will clean house in one!"

Kain ignored the murmurs of his defeat. However, it was disappointing that no one believed he could win this fight. He gripped his weapon tighter with both his hands. The enemy dashed in with a swing from the side. Teal lifted his sword to deflect the blow, and the moment he did, the attacker bounced from the floor and grabbed his head with one of his hands. With brutal strength, Cerulean forced the fighter's face down on a nearby table. The impact echoed through the room, seconded by cheers from the crowd. Kain felt his earpiece falling out, and his heart jumped to his throat. He spun around, pushing the opponent away and putting his leg further back with a stomp. The earpiece cracked under his foot. He hoped no one saw the piece of technology he tried to cover up.

Kain grabbed the table his head was slammed into and chucked it at the opponent. Cerulean jumped in the air and cut the projectile in half. With the momentum he had from his jump, he somersaulted with his axe raised and slashed the Huntsman across his arm. Pushed back by the impact, he landed on another table. The enemy wasn't keen on letting the advantage go to waste and slashed again. Kain barely rolled to the side, and the axe lodged itself in the wood. Cerulean pulled the blade out without much effort and continued his assault.

The Huntsman deflected the blows, but the opponent pushed him further back with each attack. The huge, bald, bearded warrior swang his axe like it weighed nothing at all. Kain raised his sword to trap the opponent's weapon in its mechanism. The moment the enemy attacked, Teal twisted the edge so that the axe would go through the hollowed part of the weapon. He activated the guillotine, and the moment the blade started to slid along the frame, Cerulean's chopper suddenly pulled down. It got much heavier. The guillotine's edge snapped and cracked on the handle of the hatchet.

Surprise on Kain's face made the entire room boom with laughter while the opponent used the shock to deliver a juicy punch to his face. With the force of impact, Teal lost his balance and winded backward. He landed on the floor and quickly sobered up. He stood up with a fast kick up and observed the enemy. Cerulean freed his axe from the clutches of Kain's weapon and got in a stance, ready for any plan his opponent might have.

Teal, frustrated by the lack of any headway in the fight, got on all fours. The decision visibly confused the adversary, and Kain used that slight tilt to pounce him like a rabid dog. With the blade of the hatched raised, Kain was able to grab the hilt and twist it so that the edge turned towards Cerulean's chest. With the momentum from the jump, he forced the opponent to the ground with his own weapon slashing into him. However, when they collided with the floor, the axe broke into hundred little pieces like it was out of glass.

Cerulean kicked the opponent back and swayed to the side to quickly jump up on his legs. Kain used this opportunity to roll towards his sword. He picked it up and grabbed it with a reverse grip. Still on all fours, Teal dashed towards the opponent, his sword running through the wooden floor, sending splinters in all directions. However, when he wanted to jump to deliver a spinning slash toward the unarmed victim, his blade got unexpectedly heavy and immediately stopped his momentum. Pulled back by the weapon stuck in the floor, Kain landed on his back, and everyone in the room bursted out laughing again.

"I think that's enough," the bearded brute bellowed a cheerful laugh. He reached out to help Kain from the ground. "You're savage like a beast but still smart enough to adapt on the spot. Like your style."

Kain grabbed his hand and stood up. He was still confused about what happened, and his curiosity made him ask: "How?"

Cerulean laughed again. "My semblance. I can manipulate the density of objects… or people," he added grimly. He again bursted out with a joyful chuckle. "You're one of us now! Have a drink; it's on the house!"

Kain smiled. For some reason, the personality of Cerulean made him immediately like his presence. He reminded him very much of Yakshith and his cheerful nature. He might not be too serious, but his company was always enjoyable. Joining the company with some beer bottles, he was troubled about the earpiece that got destroyed during the fight. Losing contact with his team made him nervous, but the confrontation should easily give Rory enough time to get the job done. All he needed to do now was wait.