Author's note: Kudos to all you epic readers out there, for following and favoring my story here, and for being so awesomely patient for another update! Thanks to you guys, I made this chapter extra long, just for you to enjoy. But enough said! Let's read the long awaited chapter. Oh, and don't forget to leave a review! Thanks! =D
He held the glass tube in his hand and examined it. A sickly, looking jet-black liquid sat in the glass tube, as he strangely stared at it with his shifty looking eyes. Sakaki lightly swirled the black liquid in the glass tube. With his other hand, he reached for a pencil, that was near to a few pieces of paper, along with a glass tube stand. As he began writing in his notes, a young lady's voice called out to him from behind.
"Hey, Doc?"
He stopped writing and turned his head to the woman's voice behind him. "Yes, Kanon?"
Kanon held a few sheets in her hands. "I just finished scanning Ricardo's blood. And well, the results don't make any sense."
Sakaki showed his usual smile. "Nonsense! Anything we find from the gathered evidence is circumstantial; unless we connect what we find, it will bring light to the truth of the matter. Now, what are your findings on Ricardo's blood results?" he asked.
"After several test results... Ricardo's blood is absolutely normal. I found nothing unusual, nothing that stands out within the blood. Even after magnifying the blood through a microscope, there was nothing unusual." answered Kanon, wearing an unsure face.
Sakaki scratched his chin as he heard that. "Really? You found nothing out of the ordinary within Ricardo's blood?"
Kanon shook her head. "No. There's nothing that me or the other medical team members can find."
"I see...well, never fear; I managed to acquire something as I scanned I Drake's blood here." Sakaki held up the tube with the black liquid, showing it to Kanon.
"You did?" She asked, turning her attention towards the tube.
"I mixed a sample of Drake's blood with a sample of aragami blood, and as you can see, this black liquid here is the result. If we magnify the blood sample here with a microscope, we should be able to take a closer look of the cells. Kanon, would you mind getting a petri dish for me?"
Kanon nodded, and headed to a green curtain; there, she pulled it, revealing a bed for patients and a large metal cabinet. As she approached it, and pulled one of the drawers, Kanon began to hear something stomping outside of the sick bay. "Uh, Doc? That sound out there..."
"Ahh, I believe it's coming from the hallway outside; you might want to steel yourself Kanon. " He grinned happily.
Not being able to understand that grinning mask on his face, Kanon stood there, confused.
Ignoring the puzzled expression on her face, Sakaki placed the tube on the stand. He waited for a few seconds, while the stomping gradually became louder, until-
"Doc! Do you have Drake's armlet?!"
As if exploding into the room, Kota yelled out his request. A tiny yelp escaped Kanon's lips as the door revealed the loud young man. "AGH! K-Kota?"
"Before doing that Kota, can you please knock or use the buzzer outside, before storming in?"
"Huh? O-oh...sorry..." Kota dropped his head down, as he apologized, realizing his mistake. "It's just..."
"Your anxious, I know; don't let your anxiety get the better of you. I understand that all of you are worried about him, but in order to bring Drake back, we need to keep a leveled head."
Kota lifted his head, as he listened to Sakaki's words of encouragement.
"Besides, I know we will bring him back. We just need to stop and think, as we gather clues."
"Doc..." whispered Kota.
Kanon watched the two, slowly regaining her composure. She smiled as she listened to Sakaki. Doc may be a little eccentric, but in his own way, he can be a kind man.
"Now then, what is that you need?" he asked.
"Oh..um...well, I was wondering where you placed Drake's armlet."
Kanon stepped into the conversation, answering him. "Oh, I placed it on the table behind that other curtain." She pointed at it. "But, why do you need it all of a sudden?"
"Alisa and I found a Fenrir chip in Drake's room. But, we can't open it unless we have his armlet."
"A chip?" echoed Sakaki. "In what part of Drake's room did you find something like that?"
"Alisa found it under the terminal. It was hidden, so we thought it was suspicious. We just can't open it right now." repeated Kota.
"Hmmm..." A hidden chip found under the terminal? What else could he be hiding? Sakaki nodded at Kota. "Alright, I understand. But before that," Sakaki stepped over to a nearby drawer. He pulled it out, revealing a few boxes of surgical gloves. He pulled out two pieces, and handed them to Kota. "Wear these gloves once you take out Drake's armlet, and try to be careful with it. We can't let any clues be destroyed, during our pursuit for him."
Kota gripped at the surgical gloves in his hands, and nodded.
Meanwhile, Kanon walked over to the other green curtain and slid it aside. There, a clear plastic bag sat on the table, holding the all-too familiar red bracelet, as if trapping it. Kanon grabbed it, seeing a lable on the front.
Armlet #00291312
Owner: Drake Galios
We'll find him. She thought. I know we will, no matter what.
Kanon approached Kota, handing him the armlet. "Let us know what you find, okay?"
"Got it. Oh, I almost forgot." Kota dug in his pocket, searching for the item. He pulled it out, and showed it Sakaki and Kanon. In his hand was a dull, scratched pocket watch and folded paper. Kota gave short gestures to Kanon, urging her to take them. As she realized the message, she took the two items in her hands.
"A pocket watch, and," Kanon opened the folded paper, revealing the picture of the man and woman. "a picture?"
"I opened one of Drake's drawers, and found a whole bunch of these. Some of them are new, and some of them are broken. I also found a binder filled with recorded profiles of those pocket watches. That photo right there was in the binder as well."
Kanon stared at the picture, hypnotized by the familiar appearance of the two people on the stage. "...Kota, these people on the photo here..."
Kota spotted Kanon's expression as she trailed off. "So you noticed too? That girl almost looks exactly like Alisa, doesn't she?"
"Yeah, she does. But there's something about the man beside the girl. He reminds me a little bit like Drake..."
"Really? Alisa said the same thing, but I still don't see it."
Sakaki moved over to Kanon and examined the photo as well. "Is this girl Clara Vincenzo, Kota?"
He shrugged, becoming unsure. "I don't know. But since this photo was found in Drake's room, it's possible."
"Ah Kanon, may I see that pocket watch in your hand?"
Kanon gave the pocket watch to Sakaki; he began to fiddle with the antique in his hands as he examined it. "A simple hunter cased pocket watch."
"A what now?" asked Kota.
"A hunter cased pocket watch. These type of pocket watches have a metal lid and spring, so that when you press this button on the top here," he pressed the button. "it reveals the face of the watch."
"How do you know that Doc?" asked Kanon.
"I know because I have the same type." Sakaki dug his hand in his pocket, and revealed his pocket watch. He then pressed the button, showing the face to Kanon and Kota. He then inspected the face of the broken pocket watch. "A lot of wear and tear in this one, especially the face. Kota, are most of the pocket watches damaged like this one?"
"No, some of them are brand new, and they all look different."
"Different? Do you mean how they look?"
"Yeah, some had chains attached, some didn't. Most of them had those metal lids, but I think few of them didn't."
"I see...well, I'll try to look into these two items."
"Wait, I'm going need the photo."
"Why?"
"There's a log in note on the back; I need that to open the chip."
As soon as Kota mentioned that, Kanon flipped the photo to its backside, and spotted the scribbled note. Realizing it, Kanon gave the picture back to Kota. "Alright, let us know what you find, okay?"
He nodded. "I will."
With those last words, Kota left the sick bay, leaving Sakaki and Kanon.
Kota stood in the elevator, hearing the moaning of the gears, and feeling the slight bumps, as it rattled his body. The floor indicator lit a small sign; it read, Veterans Sec. As the floor indicator dinged, the doors slid open, revealing the hallway of the floor. Kota stepped out of the elevator, and headed to the door, leading to Drake's room. He pulled out the master key-card from his pocket, and slid it in front of the card reader. The door opened, and he entered.
"Hey Alisa, I got the armlet from Doc. You're gonna have to let me insert the armlet because-"
Interrupting his sentence, Kota stood in the room. Instead of having the sniper new-type here, there was no one but him. Kota moved his vision, examining the room. He began to wonder if Alisa was hiding.
"Alisa?" Called out Kota. "Where would she leave at time a like this? Maybe she found something..." He mumbled to himself. The young God Eater then took notice of an item on the floor. He approached it, and knelt down, seeing a pocket watch with its polished silver body. Instinctively, Kota picked up the pocket watch. This is the one that she took out of the drawer...why is it on the floor here? Is she not here on this floor? If so, then I better call her, and ask her where she is.
Kota stood up and placed the new pocket watch on the coffee table. He pulled out his phone, and dialed Alisa's number. As he heard the ringing in his earpiece, while waiting for the receiver to pick up, Kota jumped as his ears caught a loud ringing.
"Where's that ringing? Is that someone's phone?" Kota searched for the cause of the noise, until he finally found a small device in the corner beside the door.
He stepped over to the small device, finding that it was a phone. He stared at it, as it continuously rang.
"A phone? Wait, could this be..." Trailing off his sentence, Kota pushed the end call button on his phone. The device on the floor stopped ringing.
Kota placed his phone back in his pocket. He knelt down and picked up the device. "Alisa's? Why is it here? How she come she doesn't have this?"
Interrupting his thoughts, Kota began to hear banging outside of the door. He silently yelped, startled by the sudden noise. Oh jeez! That scared me! When the heck did I get this jumpy? Thought Kota. The banging at the door continued; as it did, the banging became gradually louder and more rough. Kota stood up, standing in front of the closed-door, still hearing the constant banging outside. He glanced at the side of the door, finding the speaker and the 'open' button beneath.
He stared at the open button for a few seconds.
Wait, why am I not answering the door?! It's not like someone will suddenly jump at me...Will they?
That last thought made him become doubtful, and as it did, the young God Eater began to feel nervousness creep up on his neck. The banging outside continued, but as it did, the harsh sounds became more rough. Each time the banging resounded, Kota slowly became stiff. His breath started to feel shallow and short, and his teeth began to rattle as he continued staring at the open button.
Somewhere deep in his head, he screamed at himself to open the door; answer it; just push the button. It's not that hard, yet why was he hesitating? Someone's at the door waiting for a response, so answer it!
Kota gulped, as his throat suddenly became dry. With trembling hands, he shoved Alisa's phone in his pocket. He lifted his now empty hand, and pointed at the 'open' button. As his finger slowly approached it, the shaking in his hand grew more violent. His hand shook so much, it became be so visually obvious if anyone watched him shake in his shoes.
The constant, violent, banging outside didn't calm Kota down.
Just press it! Just press it! Just press it! Press it to answer the door! It's not that difficult!
As his finger was just inches away from the open button, the banging suddenly stopped.
"..."
All was still.
All was quiet.
Silence drifted through the air.
Kota's inner voice was now screaming in his head. The sudden silence only terrified Kota more, instead of calming him down. His breathing was now audible; each short breath was like a clock ticking away, as each second slowly passed. His finger was still in front of the open button, still inches away from pushing it.
If anything tries to jump at me, I'll just fight back. He thought to himself.
Kota took a deep breath, and exhaled. He breathed in and breathed out. He did it again and again, until his shaking and nervousness slowly backed down.
Okay, let's do this.
With that last thought, and his choice resolute, Kota pushed the 'open' button.
The door slid itself to the side, but all too fast, and all too quick, a shadow came zooming in on his vision.
She paced back and forth in front of the couches, while wearing a worried look on her face; her eyebrows furrowed beneath her dark grey bangs, as the anxiety within her grew.
"Where is she? What's taking them so long?..."
Soma, who was sitting on the couches in the main hall, watched Licca worriedly pace back and forth.
"Just wait for her, Licca. Sakuya said that she'll get those two." he replied.
"But we've been waiting for a long time! What's keeping her?"
"...I'd hardly call 4 minutes a long time."
"..."
The elevator in the main hall dinged, as it caught both of their attention. Licca briskly walked over to the elevator, and waited for it to open. Soma stood up and followed her. As it did, the light floor indicator slowly moved from Veteran's sec. to Entrance. As the floor indicator finally lit the Entrance, the elevator's doors slid aside, revealing the interior. Two familiar figures stepped out.
"Ow...my nose..."
"Sorry, it's just that both of you weren't answering my calls. Plus, you wouldn't open the door."
"You two, what are you going on about?" asked Soma.
Sakuya and Kota turned to him.
"Oh, it's nothing you should worry about." said Sakuya.
"Huh?"
As Soma gave a confused look, Kota thought back to the Veteran's Section.
The door slid itself to the side, as a shadow came zooming in on his vision. In the next moment, Kota felt a heavy punch on the bridge of his nose.
"Owww!" he exclaimed.
"Kota! Oh sorry, I didn't see you there."
Wait, that voice... Kota moved the person's hand off his nose, and moved his vision to the person in front of him. "Sakuya? Oh, it's just you." Kota breathed out, relieved to know it was her at the door.
Sakuya gave a questioned look. "What do you mean, 'It's just you?' You know what? Never mind about that; listen, we have a problem on our hands."
"What? What happened?"
"I'll show you, just come with me. We don't have time."
Sakuya hastily grabbed Kota's arm, and pulled him to the elevator.
"Whoa, hey!"
The two entered the elevator; as they did, Sakuya pushed the button for the entrance, and the elevator began to move. As she turned to Kota and released his arm, she noticed that something was missing; or rather, someone.
"Where's Alisa? I thought she was with you."
Kota rubbed at his nose, trying to dull the pain he got from the punch. "That's what I'd like to know."
"What?"
"When I got back to Drake's room, Alisa wasn't there. I tried calling her on her phone, but I ended up finding it in Drake's room. You haven't seen her, have you?" he turned to Sakuya.
She shook her head. "No, I haven't. But if that's the case, where is she?"
"I don't know."
"I'll just ask Hibari to pinpoint her location for now."
Breaking the short silence, Licca spoke up. "Wait, where's Alisa? I thought she was with you Kota."
"I don't know, she just went and disappeared. Let's not mind about that. We can always ask Hibari to locate her. Anyways, Sakuya, you said that we got a problem on our hands. What is it?"
Sakuya pointed to the large monitor in front of them. They all turned their heads to the large TV; the FBS (Fenrir Broadcasting System) was reporting the news.
"We are here at the west side of the outer ghetto, where residential areas of sector W52 are currently being destroyed due to several fires."
Kota eyes bulged as he heard the reporter on the news. "WHAT?!" he screamed.
"Soldiers and God Eaters from the Far East Branch are currently evacuating the citizens to a safer area; the cause of the residential fires appear to be an inland terrorist attack; any citizens that are currently in the area must evacuate immediately by orders of the Far East Branch."
As the news report laid heavily on Kota's ears, the screen began to show a live video of the said area. The sky that was once filled with the rays of the sunset, was now dark. Nighttime fell, as the stars and moon shone. Buildings on the screen were burning, as the smoke and flames began to flare and arise, lighting the night sky. People on the streets scattered about, as they were being led by the Fenrir soldiers and God Eaters, trying to get away from the chaos.
A sudden thought came to Kota's head, as both anger and fear were formed in his tone of voice. "Don't tell me! Is this Ricardo's doing?!"
"That's what we'd like to believe but..." said Licca, as she trailed off her words.
"But what?!"
"We just saw on the live video of the person causing the mess."
"Huh?"
"We only saw it for a second but, it was Lindow." said Licca, with a grim tone.
Kota's shoulders drooped. He couldn't believe what he just heard. His jaw fell slack, as his mouth was slightly open. Lindow? Him being the cause of this mess? He's the terrorist in the outer ghetto? That can't be!
"That's a lie..." he whispered.
"What?" questioned Soma.
"That's a lie, if I ever I heard of something like that!" Kota raised his voice, with a serious expression.
Soma stared at Kota with a surprised look. It was rare for Kota to show such a serious face, especially outside of battle. He was usually the mood maker of the team, always creating a light, friendly atmosphere. He then smiled at him, and chuckled. "Obviously; we don't know what happened to both of our leaders, but one thing's for sure; if they're blamed for anything, we won't believe it till we hear it from the person themselves. Besides, there's no way Lindow would do this."
Kota nodded at him. "I'm gonna go to the outer ghetto, and help out with the others."
"I'll come along too." added Sakuya. "Ricardo's gotta be behind this, and there's no way I'm going just ignore this."
Licca watched the God Eaters; she couldn't help but smile at them.
"Soma." called Sakuya.
Soma turned his attention to Sakuya.
"While Kota and I are in the outer ghetto, I need you to ask Hibari to locate Alisa with her armlet. As for Lindow, see if you can contact him with your phone. Contact me if you ever find them."
He nodded at her. "Got it."
"Kota, let's take the buggy in the lower hangar and head to sector W52. First thing we need to do is evacuate the citizens."
Licca spoke up. "I'll follow you guys to the lower hangar, and open the garage for you. Let's head to the elevator."
Soma ran downstairs to the lower level of the main hall, while the remaining three dashed to the elevator. Silence filled the air as Licca, Kota and Sakuya stood inside. As the elevator slightly rumbled, coming to a stop, the doors slid themselves, and the three bolted out of the interior.
Inside the garage were multiple vehicles, ranging from off-roadsters to different types of buggies, parked row by row. The lights on the cemented walls dimly lit the area.
"Take the one at the front of the garage; there should be a dune buggy there. I'll go get the key for you." ordered Licca.
Sakuya and Kota ran to the very front row of the vehicles, and spotted the dune buggy. They approached it and got in. Sakuya took the passenger seat, while Kota took the driver's seat. Licca popped in beside Kota. In her hands, she held two items; the key for the dune buggy, and...
"Is that an M4, along with the clips?" pointed Sakuya.
"There's a good chance that the terrorist might still be there, and armed. So take this with you in self-defense." Licca propped the gun and clips over to Sakuya's lap. She then handed the key to Kota.
"And here I thought Fenrir only had the God Arcs as their weapons."
"Look, it's situations like these if any problems arise within the outer ghetto, we just barley use these things. Anyways, just start the engine, Kota."
"You know how to drive this Kota?" asked Sakuya.
"Yeah, I used this every now and then, whenever I need to go around the outer ghetto." he answered.
The sound of metal clanging both got their attention. The garage door in front of them was slowly rising, as it revealed the dark sky. As he waited for the garage to open, Kota injected the key in the engine, and turned it, hearing the engine roar. As the garage was now fully open, Licca gave the signal for them.
"Go! Now's your chance!"
"Hang on tight, Sakuya." said Kota, as he placed the gear in 'drive'.
Kota lowered his foot on the gas pedal, and with a sudden jerk, he drove out of the garage, and was now driving uphill to the surface. Sakuya gave a slight yelp, surprised by the sudden jerk on the buggy. She held onto one of the railings, and clenched on the gun, given by Licca. Smoothly, Kota turned the wheel to the right, going to the west side of the outer ghetto. He flipped one of the switches on the dune buggy, turning on the headlights. As the buggy went down the road, it left a trail of dust in the air. The wind blew on Kota's beanie, while it blew on Sakuya's raven colored hair.
Sakuya noticed that the gun was not loaded. She grabbed one of the clips on her lap and injected it in the gun, hearing a click.
"Do you know how to use that thing?!" yelled Kota, as he tried to make his voice be audible over the noise of the dune buggy.
"I haven't used this thing for quite some time!" she yelled back. "Sometimes I have for practicing my aim, but this thing's no different when it comes to shooting!"
"Looks like I get to see one of our few best snipers shooting with a real gun!"
"Haha! You flatter me, Kota!" she laughed. Sakuya noticed some smoke arising on her right side. She then saw a intersection that they were approaching. "Kota, turn right at this intersection!"
"I see it!" Kota made another right, as he turned the wheel.
The two God Eaters spotted the multiple fires at the next intersection; it was on the left side. Kota stopped at the intersection and turned the dune buggy off. They both stepped out of the buggy, seeing the fire burn the buildings down the street.
"Oh man, you've gotta be kidding me!" panicked Kota.
"Huh?" Down the street, with the fires burning and dancing, Sakuya squinted her eyes. Wait..what's that over there? Is something moving over there?... Realizing what's down the street, Sakuya gasped. "Kota, look out! There's someone over there with a gun!"
"What?!"
*BANG*
Instinctively, Kota ducked, while Sakuya hid behind the buggy. "Kota! Take cover!"
Following her orders, Kota hid behind the buggy with Sakuya. Looking out at the corner of her eye, she noticed a shadow. Wait, something's not right... She squinted her eyes and noticed not one, but two shadows. She ducked back for cover.
"Oh no, this isn't good..." she whispered.
"What, what's wrong?"
"I see the terrorist; or rather, the fake Lindow."
"Yeah, so?"
"So, he's got Alisa as a hostage! What's more, she's unconscious!"
"What?!" Kota was tempted to look back at their attacker, but decided not too, as the terrorist had a gun. "Well, how are we supposed to stop that guy?"
Interrupting their conversation, the fake spoke out loud. "I know you're there! If you don't want your friend to get shot here, I suggest you come out of there!"
"Crap! What do we do?" whispered Kota.
MEANWHILE, ELSEWHERE...
The moon shone down on him, as the chilly wind blew on his body. He watched the fires burn below him as he spotted four people on the street. Two were in the street on where the fires continued to burn the buildings, while two were taking cover behind some sort of vehicle. He reached for something on his back; the cold, black steel came in contact with his bare hands. He pointed the item at the scene, and looked through the scope, where he could see the cross-hair inside the scope. He breathed out wistfully.
"Fools." he whispered. "You're out in the open. Rest peacefully."
His fingers slipped on some sort of trigger, and he began to pull it.
Sakuya and Kota continued hiding behind the buggy, until-
*BANG*
The two heard another gunshot, almost as if it roared through the sky.
"What was that?!" yelled Kota.
Sakuya looked back at their attacker; she noticed that the fake wasn't moving. All of a sudden, the attacker collapsed, and dropped the unconscious Alisa.
"Alisa!" cried out Sakuya.
With no hesitation, Sakuya ran over to Alisa and the fake. Kota followed pursuit. As the two approached, Sakuya knelt down and held Alisa in her arms.
"Is she all right?" asked Kota.
"She's fine, she's just unconscious." sighed Sakuya.
The two then turned their attention to the fake. There, a pool of a deep ruby liquid was pouring, pouring out of his head.
"Oh no..." whispered Sakuya.
"H-he was..."
"Shot."
Kota nervously approached the dead body, seeing that a part of the face was destroyed by the shot. It was a mask, and the mask revealed the true face of the attacker.
"This guy disguised himself as Lindow." Kota answered grimly. "But, who shot him?"
"Let's worry about that later. We need to head back to the den, and attend to Alisa."
"Right."
Sakuya lifted Alisa, and carried her to the buggy.
He watched the three God Eaters take their leave, as they drove back to the den. He then looked back to the dead body. "Hmph, the damn fool went and disobeyed my orders." He scoffed at the body, as he said that. He then looked up to the moon. "Quite the beautiful moon tonight." The glow of the moon shone down on his face. As it did, his trademark mask revealed itself, while his long, pony tailed, dark brown hair, was blown by the chilly wind.
End of Chapter 11: Investigation Part 2