Chapter 16: Truth, meet light
"In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act." – George Orwell
"So, are you actually telling me that the now Captain Andreas Xavier is dirty?!" Silvex couldn't believe what he was hearing. He didn't trust his Captain, but he hadn't expected him to be this dirty.
"Let me make it a tad worse for you, he's the one known as Bloodrazor." Callum added nonchalantly.
"WHAT?!" Chase, Silvex and Shadex all screamed.
"That can't be right, can it?" Rocky asked disbelievingly.
"It is, we have plenty of proof if you want." Axel replied.
"Then why haven't you taken him down yet?" Silvex couldn't help but ask. The anger he had towards Axel had mere minutes ago seemed to have been completely left in the past.
"Because back then, we didn't have the proof yet." Axel replied. "But now, we believe that he isn't the one in charge. We know that he used to work with Marcus Black, but from what we can tell, their partnership has dissolved."
"Yeah, because I shot and killed him." Chase replied sombrely.
"No, that's not why." This time it was Hunter who explained something. "During a mission a few days ago, I had the chance to chat with Roger Black, the supposed heir to the Blackstreet mafia. He may not have admitted to it, but it was quite clear that he wasn't in charge yet. It led me to ask Cal to check out Marcus Black's body in the morgue. Big surprise, he was a decoy."
"A decoy? But we successfully identified him as Marcus Black!" Chase replied, shocked as he was.
"Because it wasn't a normal decoy." Callum took his turn to explain. The Marcus Black that was at that meeting at Adventure Bay was the real one, the one you killed was basically just his representative. He was in charge of all the day-to-day business here in the city, while the real Marcus Black only dealt with the high-level players. Players like Bastion."
"Right, you mentioned them before." Zuma took his turn to say something. "Who exactly is Bastion?"
"Bastion is a criminal organization that is most known for its deal-making." Axel explained. "For example, they recently came very close to creating an alliance between four crime syndicates with the support of a dirty DEA and FBI Agent. Had they succeeded in creating that alliance, then it would've given birth to the largest drug smuggling pipeline our country has ever seen."
"Why didn't it succeed?" Shadex asked, beating his brother by about a second.
"Because their FBI Agent wasn't dirty in the way they believed him to be." Axel said with a brief glance at Hunter. "I expect the press to release the story somewhere in the next few days. Do you guys have any more questions?"
"I have one." Rocky said, speaking for the first time during that meeting. "About the BlueWater group. It's what the meeting between Bastion and the Blackstreet mafia was about, right? It was also mentioned in a file left to me by my predecessor as CEO. What can you tell me about it?"
"Well, I'm really not supposed to share any information about this, but here goes:" Axel said. "Until three years ago, I worked as a CIA Officer in charge of a research group. Silvex, I'm sorry I never told you, but I only kept it from you to protect you." When everyone looked at Silvex, the husky nodded before gesturing Axel to continue his explanation. He clearly wanted to learn the truth more than that he wanted to be angry. "We experimented with several different metallic compounds and accidentally created a bullet that dissolves just after impact. When I realized the potential danger of such a bullet, I shut down the project and had all the research purged. My superiors didn't agree with my actions and tried to force me to reactivate the project. When I refused, they tried to have me killed and replaced, but with Cal's help, we took out their assassins. At that point, it was clear that my supervisors would stop at nothing to take me down, including going after the people I love." For a moment, Axel looked longingly at Silvex, as if he was imagining a future with the husky that he had lost. "So, I staged my own death and adopted the identity of the Ace of Spades. Pretty soon after I discovered that my former supervisor had been working for Bastion, which I made my mission to destroy."
"Another question for you." Shadex said after a brief moment of silence had fallen. "Will you help us with taking down Bloodrazor, or rather Captain Xavier?"
"Of course." Axel replied, before adding: "But only after we identify the one that's really in charge."
"And how do you propose we do that?" Shadex asked, slightly annoyed at their refusal to take Bloodrazor down immediately.
"We could confront Xavier with what we have, and hope he breaks." Hunter suggested, before he evaluated it. "But if he doesn't, his boss will walk free."
"So, then we play the long game." Silvex concluded. "Chase and I will return to duty and play the good detectives. We'll keep an eye on him at work, while you run surveillance on him outside of the precinct. We'll keep that up until he either slips up, or we discover his pattern and means of communication."
"That sounds like a good plan, let's do it." Axel replied, before turning to Callum. "However, there are some slight issues that we need to address. Mr Greene's safety, for instance. Bloodrazor has already tried to kill him twice, I'm sure he'll try again."
Silvex though for a moment, before turning to his brother. "Hey Shadex, could you serve as Rocky's security detail? In disguise, of course."
"Sure, I'm fine with that." Shadex replied. "But do you really think that I'm fit for that job? I mean, when I was Bloodrazor's lab experiment I only learned basic self-defence."
"I could teach you!" Callum Lynch's excited voice sounded out. "We could both serve on Rocky's security detail while I teach you all I know about fighting!"
Shadex nodded, agreeing with the proposal.
"So, that's one matter settled." Axel stated, before continuing onto the next. "Then there's Agent Zuma. Now that the PtP-killer has been dealt with, you'll probably have to report back to NCIS. They'll probably station you back at their HQ, or maybe even make you an Agent afloat. Unless you ask to be reassigned here."
"Reassigned here? As what?" Zuma wondered. There was no NCIS field office in Coastal City, so he wasn't really sure what he would be doing here.
"Well, we could use the PtP-killer situation as an excuse that a liaison position would be necessary." Axel replied. "You would be working inside the CCPD as a detective with connections to NCIS. By the time the people in charge realize how pointless it is, I hope we will have taken Xavier down."
"Alright, sounds good." Zuma replied. "I'm in."
"Good, then that just leaves Marshall, but that's an easy solve." Axel said as he turned to the dally. "Like Chase and Silvex, you can just return to duty and keep an eye out."
Marshall nodded in agreement and with that, the plan had taken shape. A plan that would alter Coastal City for generations to come.
After the plan had been made, the Ace of Spades pulled Chase and Silvex aside. The spy had a grim look on his face, one that gave both Silvex and Chase a very ominous feeling.
"A few hours ago, there was an explosion at the beach. It was the work of Bloodrazor." Axel said. "Xeno Jones, a freelance operative working for him was killed. Right before that, Xavier admitted to killing a nurse at the hospital."
"Are you serious?!" Silvex asked, he couldn't believe it. Xavier had apparently killed two people this night alone. "We can't let him continue like this."
"He won't." Axel replied, trying to comfort his ex. "Tonight, he was pushed to the edge and did everything he could to stop his identity from leaking. If we're careful and observant enough, we can make sure that it won't happen again." Axel then switched back to what was probably the reason he told them. "But odds are, you guys will be assigned one of these cases. When you do, be careful. Do your jobs, but either do them discreetly, or don't dig deep enough."
"So that we don't push Xavier to the edge again, huh?" Chase remarked. Truth be told, he didn't like this situation at all. He had expected his first days as a detective to be difficult but exciting, though this far exceeded his expectations. Not only that, instead of being able to look up to his Captain and be proud to serve him, he now had to spy on him because he was dirty. Though, simply calling him 'dirty' didn't do Xavier's evil enough justice.
Captain Xavier was looking at himself in the mirror. He had put on his Captain's uniform, including his medal of valour. But when he looked at it, he got the urge to throw it away.
"What have I become?" Xavier asked himself. He stared at himself in the mirror, trying to find an answer that didn't make him seem like evil incarnate. But as much as he tried, he couldn't find any. He had made his choice long ago and now it was his burden to live with. At first, he wondered who would miss a few drugs or a bag of money from a crime scene, then he started wondering who would miss the dealer. Eventually, he had been recruited by the Madam, who offered him a place of power. Shortly afterwards, Xavier became Police Captain. At that moment, he also became Bloodrazor, the most feared crime lord in the city. Together with Marcus Black and his Blackstreet mafia, he brought the city closer and closer to ruin.
But now, he started to wonder why he did it. He wondered why he took this path in the first place, why he became corrupt. This doubts filled his mind completely, but they weren't strangers to him. He felt this way every time after he killed as Bloodrazor. He felt this way after he got rid of Officer Stillburg, as well as all the other bodies that he had dropped over the years. That said, he had never killed someone as innocent as nurse King before. Nor did he ever kill someone in such explosive fashion like he did to Xeno. The loss of the money was disappointing, but his identity remaining a secret was more important.
And then there was Silvex and his new partner. Xavier hated them, both of them had intervened with his plans far too much. But still, there was a small part of him that admired Silvex. In a city of corruption, the husky detective remained a good cop. Aside from Sergeant Brooks, his partner Chase and a few uniformed officers, Silvex was surrounded by dirty cops. And yet, he remained honest. It's why Xavier nominated both the canine detectives for the Medal of Valour. Unlike him, they were actually deserving of it.
Both groups had left the meeting site, and they had all retreated to their respective homes. Chase and Marshall went back to Chase's house. Silvex took Shadex back to his apartment, seeing as Shadex had no place to go and was still a wanted fugitive. Zuma and Rocky retreated to an apartment rented by Moon Enterprises after checking up on Rocky's assistant Trisha, who was still comatose. Callum went with them to fulfil his role as Rocky's bodyguard. Hunter, Shadow and Axel all disappeared to god knows where. This was the start of what would become the new normal for each of them.