Chapter 12: The Tragedy of Charr Coal Part 1
Somewhere deep in the underbelly of New Rushland, a mysterious gathering of criminal doppelgangers was taking place. The leader of the group watched with interest as a news reporter explained the details of the Crimson Crusader's latest exploits. Snapping his fingers, he summoned one of his underlings into the room. He held up a card he had picked up after meeting Whitley Schnee and the other crime bosses of New Rushland along with detailed instructions on what the henchman was supposed to do once he contacted the Trickster.
"Are you sure about this, master?" The henchman asked, nervously.
"He was right." The lead doppelganger remarked as he continued watching the news. "We must take care of the real problem."
"As you wish, master." The henchman nodded and handed a scroll to the lead doppelganger. Within minutes, a viciously gleeful voice replied.
"You called?"
"Glad to see that the rumors of your demise were exaggerated."
"I'll admit there were a few close calls," Trickster declared over the scroll, his mind briefly flashing back to his encounter with Rage where the odds were just barely in his favor, "but nope: I've just been lying low and planning out my next move."
"Well how would you like some assistance in said next move?"
"Oooh, you have no idea how happy I am to hear you ask that."
The next day, three muscular men in trenchcoats followed the former assassin into New Rushland's First National Bank. The clerk was about to call security as she watched the large men rudely shove their way to the front of the line, but she paled in fear at the sight of the infamous criminal standing before her.
"Hello!" Trickster grinned, menacingly. "I'd like to make a withdrawal."
One of his goons shrugged off his cot, revealing a bizarre weapon loaded with black dust. He fired at the vault behind the clerk's desk, and the melt began to warp in a strange fashion. Once he was finished, the other two thugs jumped towards the vault and easily tore it to pieces to get to the cash behind it.
"I call it doppel-dust!" Trickster giggled. "And I can use it to turn anything into anything else! Tic, gather up the cash! Tac, keep the hostages still! Toe, get the truck!"
"Really?! I happen to know a pair of blondes who love puns and yet even they would find what you just said to be groan-worthy."
Trickster merely blinked as he took in Krasnaya and Azure - the latter of which was giving him a glare of disbelief at the names of his henchmen - as they revealed themselves before giving a shrug. "Hey, if it works, it works."
With fast reflexes, Trickster aimed his gun at the dynamic duo and fired. Krasnaya easily dodged out of the way, but Azure was too slow and her cape got hit with the strange substance. Immediately, the fabric of her cape fused with the carpet of the floor, and the blue sidekick was trapped in place. "I'm stuck!" She wailed. "What is that stuff even made of?!"
"Well, I won't bore you with all of the finer details, but spoiler alert: there's a little Doppelganger DNA in that goop." Trickster called out with a grin.
"Well, I'm going to be having nightmares tonight." Azure grumbled as her mentor arrived to cut her cape off.
But it was too late; by the time Krasnaya freed her apprentice, the Trickster and his goons had escaped with the cash and the police were finally arriving on the scene. Krasnaya picked up Azure and quickly carried her over to the warthog to flee the scene, but they were stopped by Detective Coal who aimed his pistol at them.
"Detective… we're on the same side," Krasnaya called out.
"I want to believe that, but unfortunately, it's not my call to make," Charr couldn't help but reply with a look of remorse.
"I understand." Krasnaya nodded before dropping a smoke pellet on the ground. By the time the smoke cleared and Coal's backup arrived, the Red Woman and her accomplice had disappeared.
"Let me guess: they got away again," Rojos snarled at Coal back at the precinct some time later. "And I'm sure you let the Red Woman and her blue sidekick get away, too, you worthless mother-!"
"Hey!" Boris called out. The group turned to see the captain's son standing behind them with his hands gently cupped over Hope Vatika's ears as she was strapped in a carrier on his chest. "Innocent child ears here!" He scolded.
Just then, Captain Maroon walked in; she was on the scroll with her sister. "Boris and I should be there by tonight. I love you, too." She hung up and ordered Boris to head to the car before facing her lieutenant and her two best detectives. "Boris and I are going to drop Hope off at my sister's. Then I'm off to begin my campaign for commissioner. Alex, you've been a little rough around the edges in the past, but aside from a few blemishes here and there, your police record is stellar. So I'm appointing you as the new police chief in my absence. But before I go, I highly recommend that you make Cash and Coal your lieutenants to keep you grounded."
"Yes, captain." Rojos nodded, politely. "Thank you, captain. Have a pleasant trip."
"I'll be back in a few days," Jane remarked as she shook Rojos' hand. "Don't do anything stupid while I'm gone."
With that, Jane and Boris left to give Hope a forever home and New Rushland a proper commissioner. "Are you sure we have to give her away to Aunt Trudy?" Boris frowned as he strapped Hope into the child seat in the back of the cruiser. "I was just getting used to having her around."
"Aw, sweetie." Jane smiled, gently. "You know I would love to keep her with us. But we just don't have the money. And between my job and your school, we wouldn't have nearly enough time for her. This is for the best."
"Yeah, okay." Boris sighed as they headed off for the airport.
Jane smiled. "Don't worry: your Aunt has already promised that you'll be able to visit her whenever you want."
"Really?" Boris asked with a grin before suppressing it as he tried to play it cool. "I mean, yeah, that's great."
Judging by the way that Hope seemed to smile here, she felt the same way.
Back in the precinct, the newly appointed police chief started the morning meeting.
"Alright everyone, focus," Rojos called out. "We've got a lot to go over while Jane is working on settling into her new office, so let's go over everything on the docket. First thing's first: we need to address the elephant faunus in the room. Francine?"
Said elephant faunus froze as she was addressed. "Y…yes?"
Rojos just smiled. "Happy birthday."
Charr just snorted as everyone around the station - himself included - clapped while his coworker bashfully looked away.
"Alright, settle down," Rojos declared. "Next item on the docket: Ayisha, what's the word on the doctors that we talked to regarding Jean Purple's recent escape?"
"Good news is that they're all expecting to make a full recovery," Officer Cash remarked. "Say what you will about this new 'Rage' persona that has taken hold of her: she was courteous enough to use her knowledge of medical expertise to incapacitate, not kill. Bad news is that none of them were able to tell us for certain where she might have gone, so it looks like Paulette is in the wind…again."
"Let me know if you find anything." Rojos said with a nod, knowing that her colleague was referring to how Paulette had ties to Project Guardsmen and that she was no easier to tie down back before the Project was still up and running.
"Will do."
"Okay, next up is the recent attacks that were committed by the Trickster: any idea as to what exactly we're dealing with there?"
"We went ahead and sent in a sample of that goop the Trickster was using to Dr. Oobleck to see if he could tell us what exactly it was," Francine declared, having regained her composure. "He was able to confirm that the Trickster was telling the truth about how it had traces of Doppelganger DNA in it, but other than that efforts to figure out how it was made and/or how to reverse the effects of the substance have been…inconclusive at best, though I'll let you know if something comes up."
"Appreciate it," Rojos remarked, knowing that Dr. Oobleck was a man to be trusted, what with how he aided them with Hazel a while back. "Last but not least, the Red Woman. Does anyone have any leads as to who she is?"
A long, deafening silence filled the air.
"Gods dammit!" Rojos angrily reached into her drawer for a newspaper and slammed it on her desktop. "In the past four months, we've put creeps like Trickster, Night Terror, Rainhardt, Weed, and Bonfire behind bars! But who gets all the credit?! That damn Red Woman! She's been making all of us look like idiots! When we put on this badge, we all swore an oath to protect this city! That does not mean we leave its safety in the hands of psychotic vigilantes who run around with children! We need to straighten up! Which is why, as the new chief of police, I am issuing a new zero-tolerance policy against all freaks! From now on, if you see someone in a costume on any day other than Halloween, you are to shoot on sight!"
"Uh, chief…?" Detective Charr Coal raised his hand, earning the attention of the entire room. "Look, I know Captain Maroon trusted you to be in charge while she's running for commissioner, but well, after all she's done for this city… maybe we'd be better off if we tried working with the Red Woman."
The other officers uncomfortably muttered to each other. Coal had been the only policeman in New Rushland to openly support the vigilante, causing friction between his fellow lawmen - especially his superiors. Even his partner, Ayisha Cash, couldn't bring herself to side with him. Rojos rubbed her chin in thought as she approached the detective.
"Hmmm, working with the Red Woman?" She mused, sarcastically. "Hey, maybe you can buy yourself a pair of blue pantyhouse and be her new sidekick, Coal!" She growled. "You're right about one thing, Detective; Captain Maroon put me in charge in her absence! So you'd better figure out which side you're on, or you can kiss your badge goodbye!"
Charr simply huffed in reply. "You know something Alex? Someday that arrogance of yours is going to end up creating a foe for you that you won't be able to intimidate, and when that happens, you'll be wishing that the Red Woman was there to help you. I'll back off for now, but just know that when that day comes, I'll be there to say 'I told you so.'"
A few hours later, Charr was on his way to the newest coffee shop when he bumped into a familiar face. A smile spread over his lips at the sight of her emerald eyes and scarlet hair. "Long time, no see, Svets." He chortled, opening the door for her. "What brings you here?"
"It's my turn to get coffee for the staff meeting." Svetlana smirked as she held up her credit card. "Dr. Oobleck is a bit dependent on his morning cup. Let me get yours, too."
"Oh, no. No, Svets, I couldn't-" But it was no use arguing; Svetlana had memorized what her friend always drank in their heyday at Atlas High and placed it on her own order. Reluctantly, he took the cup from her and walked alongside her as she made her way back to Crimson Enterprise. "So, what's new with you?"
"Not much." Svetlana shrugged as she sipped from her own cup. "Cyan's thirteenth birthday is coming up next month. Mikhail and I are trying to keep it casual. How about you?"
Charr sighed. "Well, to be honest, things could be better. After what I saw those Atlas agents do to the bridge to keep me from saving those kids, I'm starting to think our way of 'justice' doesn't work anymore."
Svetlana rested a gentle hand on her friend's shoulder. "Hey, the important thing is that you understand what true justice is. And that you're willing to fight for it."
"You wanna know what real justice is? The Red Woman!" Charr smiled. "She's saved this city so many times! And the new chief wants to put her away for it because she embarrasses the NRPD. What kind of justice is that?"
"Who knows? Maybe Commissioner Maroon will make some changes on the Red Woman's behalf."
Charr simply nodded in reply to what his friend had said. "Here's hoping. Still, it's not all bad back at the office. My partner, Ayisha Cash? Major pillar of support right there. One of these days I'm going to have to get the two of you to have coffee together just so that you can see why I like you two so much."
Svetlana just gave a chuckle in response here. "I think I'd look forward to that: anyone who can put up with you must be a saint."
"Says the girl who was always getting us in trouble back in middle school," Charr teasingly responded.
"Hey, I'm not the one who somehow managed to get our classroom covered in cream filling."
"I thought we agreed never to speak of that incident again!" Charr called out with a glare and a face that was red from both embarrassment and rage.
Svetlana blinked in surprise at Charr's outburst for a few seconds…before the two of them burst out into laughter. "Aah, I really am glad that I could meet up with you again."
"Me too, though that doesn't change the fact that for the most part my job is becoming something of an uphill struggle," Charr said with a sigh. "I just wish that I could talk to Krasnaya: see if she had some insight for me."
"Well, I…" …and that was as far as Svetlana got before both her and Charr's scrolls went off at the same time. "Uh, sorry: I need to take this."
"Uh, yeah, me too."
Svetlana answered her scroll, keeping her voice down. "Talk to me."
"Our jovial mercenary friend just pulled off another heist with his 'doppel-dust.'" Mikhail informed her. "No casualties, thankfully, but he took a rather large sum."
"Alright, meet me at Crimson Enterprises in ten minutes and we'll discuss our next move." With that, she hung up her scroll and turned back to her detective friend.
"Sorry to run off like this, but they need me back at headquarters," Charr called out with a sigh.
"No worries: I'm needed back at work myself," Svetlana declared. "This was a welcome diversion while it lasted, though."
"Hey wait, what was it that you wanted to tell me?" Charr asked with a quirked eyebrow.
"It can wait: I wouldn't want to be the reason that your boss fires you," Svetlana said with a smile.
Charr just snorted. "You joke, but I honestly wouldn't put it past Rojos to do something like that."
Svetlana kept smiling until Charr was out of sight. She couldn't help but feel guilty while her old friend praised her alter-ego. From the first day she had met him, she knew Charr Coal would be an agent of justice, and yet she had never trusted him with her own agenda out of fear of hurting those close to her. She made her way up the stairs where her husband was waiting for her before heading back to the farm.
"Here's your coffee, love." She offered.
Being the doting husband that he was, Mikhail picked up on the dismal tone in his wife's voice. He accepted his cup, but gently leaned on the doorframe to block her path. "Penny for your thoughts?"
"... I ran into Charr on the way here." She sighed. "He thinks the Krasnaya is some kind of knight in shining armor. He genuinely believes in what we're trying to do. And all I've done in return is lie to him."
"It's for the best, dear." Mikhail assured her.
"Is it? I've been thinking about what you said to me that night I found Fowl. About one day trusting the NRPD." Svetlana looked out the window to see Charr entering his police car with Detective Cash as they headed back to the police station. "Maybe… maybe Charr can be the first policeman I welcome into our circle of trust."
"Maybe, but let's worry about the Trickster first."
Meanwhile, Krasnaya and Cat Burglar weren't the only ones worrying about the Trickster. Charr finished his coffee and made his way back into the precinct where his partner was waiting for him. She handed him a folder and led him towards the interrogation room.
"Remind me what we're doing here?" Charr asked.
"Turns out the Shadow Alliance called in a favor and was willing to send someone over to give us some insight on that doppel-dust stuff the Trickster has been using." Ayisha explained. "If we can get a lead on that, we might be able to stop him before he attacks again."
Charr nodded and looked over the paperwork. "Assuming the Red Woman hasn't already figured it out." He remarked. "And is already on her way to nail that creep."
"Let's hope not." Ayisha muttered. "Otherwise she'll end up getting someone killed."
Charr sighed. "After everything she's done for this city, you still don't think we need her?"
"Like we need skin rash. Charr, buddy, I love you like a brother." Ayisha sighed. "But you don't understand. People like this 'Red Woman' aren't just putting themselves in danger, they're also putting others at risk. Like those two kids she runs around with. I betcha there's a reason they're the ones wearing such bright colors compared to her dark red: they're just bait for her to draw everyone's line of fire. Plus, anyone who runs around in a costume like that has got to be nuts."
Charr shook his head, tiredly. "We'll agree to disagree for now. Let's just get this interview over with. The sooner we settle this, the sooner I can finally introduce you to Svetlana."
At last, Charr and Ayisha entered the police department's waiting room. Inside, they were greeted by a fellow officer who was taking care of their guest; a civilian doppelganger who had been called in as a consultant. Cash propped herself against the wall while Coal took a seat opposite of their guest as he took out a notepad.
"Thank you for agreeing to speak with us, Mr…?"
"Pitch."
"Mr. Pitch." Charr nodded.
"Oh, no. No. No 'Mr.' Just Pitch." The doppelganger corrected, politely. "My kind doesn't have the concept of familial names."
"Ahem, right." Charr nodded again. "Alright, so have you been informed of why we asked you to come here?"
"Um, Officer Copper said something about a 'doppel-dust weapon?'" Pitch stammered, uncomfortably. "A-am I in trouble?"
"No, don't worry, Pitch." Charr assured his guest. "We just need to figure out exactly what it can do. Our forensic team tells us that Trickster's doppel-dust contains traces of doppelganger DNA. Could you tell us exactly how doppelgangers can change their appearances?"
"Uh, well…" Pitch rubbed the back of his head as he contemplated the question. "... I'm sorry, it's just… I don't know how to best explain the process, it's just… it's like breathing, you know? I don't necessarily do breathing. Breathing just… happens."
"So all doppelgangers are just naturally born with the ability to shape-shift into anything they want?" Cash asked.
"Yes. Well, no! I mean…" Pitch sighed as he tripped over his words. "Every doppelganger has the natural ability to change shape. Our physiology is naturally malleable. But most can only do simple shapes. In order to make more complex appearances, one needs a bit more discipline. For instance, if I were to take the form of another person, I'd have to see them first. And in addition to that, it also takes practice and - to a certain degree - talent."
"Mm-hmm." Charr nodded, scribbling down the notes. "And doppelgangers have no auras, correct?"
"No. We are still a species of Grimm." Pitch replied.
A few minutes later, Charr and Ayisha believed that they had learned everything they could from their guest and let him return home. After checking in with the forensic team, the duo returned to Chief Rojos' office.
"So, what did we find out?" Rojos couldn't help but ask.
"Nothing that tells us how to reverse the effects just yet, but we have gotten a bit of insight as to how that doppel-dust seems to work." Officer Cash replied. "Seems that the Trickster has modified an extract of the Doppelganger's DNA so as to push their natural transformation skills past just about anything that their species has ever seen thus far. This in essence makes it so that whatever the substance touches becomes just as malleable as the Doppelgangers themselves, if not more so."
"Yeah, I hate to admit it, but it's actually kind of impressive what the Trickster has done here, especially as I get the feeling that this stuff would be worth a fortune for artists, builders, and whatnot." Detective Coal remarked.
"That's not…" Rojo started to call out before pausing in thought. "Well, okay, you aren't entirely wrong there, but that's not the point. Did they have any insight as to why any Doppelganger would willingly offer their DNA for something like this?"
"Well not all Doppelgangers are benevolent in nature," Ayisha declared with a frown, "And if the testimony of Pitch and the other Doppelgangers we interviewed regarding the late Barmak are any indication, those who oppose humanity really wish to see our world changed into one that was more befitting of their likeness. My best guess is that those rogue Doppelgangers are hoping that Trickster will soften us up a bit before they can take us out."
"In other words, Trickster and these rogue Doppelgangers are just using one another until one of them no longer has a use for the other."
"Hmm, pretty much."
"I'm just wondering where Trickster is going to strike next," Charr Coal admitted, before looking at the pictures of the places where Trickster had been attacking in the evidence room with a blink upon noticing something here. "Wait a second: are these pictures in the order of the attacks the Trickster has made thus far?"
Rojos merely quirked an eyebrow in response. "Yeah, why?"
"Because it seems that every time he goes someplace, he targets someplace larger, so I'm wondering if we might find him at the largest potential target in the city."
"I get the feeling that we aren't there quite yet," Officer Cash remarked, "but I could see where you're coming from, though that begs the question: what would the largest potential target in the city even be?"
"Well, he started with the first national bank… then moved on to the diamond exchange… then the art gallery…" Charr pulled a map of New Rushland out of his desk and laid it down with the photographs. At last, "I've got it! He's going to hit-!"
"-the New Rushland Dust Convention." Krasnaya deduced, back in her cave. Just like Detective Charr and Detective Cash, the Crimson Crusader figured out the method to Trickster's madness. Azure hung upside down from her gymnastics bar as she looked at the map with her mentor.
"How's that the next biggest target?" The girl wondered as she chewed on some gum. "There's hardly enough actual Dust at those conventions to make much of a profit."
"He's not after the Dust." Krasnaya explained. "He'll be after the box office. Nearly one billion dollars worth of tickets have been sold."
"Even if you're right, I get the feeling that catching him wouldn't be so simple as interfering with this potential robbery," Azure commented, "which means that, as a Plan B, we might need to-"
"-figure out where Trickster is hiding all of his stolen goods," Detective Cash remarked, unknowingly on the same train of thought as Krasnaya's sidekick. "Any ideas on that front?"
Charr just shrugged. "Assuming he's truly emulating Loki here, he might be held up at a nearby base or at an abandoned circus or something like that, though I can't really say for certain."
"Well it at least gives us a starting point, but we'll have to go over the evidence to try and confirm that theory. In the meantime, we'll need to come up with a plan on how to confront Trickster before he can do more damage." Cash decided.
"Don't worry: I know exactly what to do," Charr and Krasnaya unknowingly declared at the same time from their respective locations.
As it turns out, both the Krasnaya family and the NRPD were both correct in assuming that the Trickster was emulating Loki in terms of locations. The madman had set up shop inside a new toy factory after killing the entire nightwatch crew. Little did they realize, however, that both teams arrived at the factory at the same time; arriving on opposite ends of the building. Krasnaya and Charr took the high ground by sneaking in through the windows at the top of the fire escape while Ayisha and Azure took the low ground by sneaking in through first floor windows.
While Mikhail didn't like the idea of his foster daughter carrying a weapon, he had relented in giving her a bowie knife for protection against Trickster. The Blue Wonder drew said knife as she quietly tip-toed through the factory. Suddenly, she bumped into someone, jumped backwards with a start and found herself pointing her weapon at Detective Cash.
"I don't suppose we can just put our differences aside until after Trickster is taken care of," Azure couldn't help but suggest.
Detective Cash couldn't help but flash the young girl a bittersweet smile even as she pulled out a pair of handcuffs. "Sorry, kid: I know your heart's in the right place, but this is for your own good. Believe me when I say that your life would be a lot safer if you weren't wearing that costume."
Azure merely huffed as her mind briefly flashed back to her parent's murder, as well as her memories of how dangerous circus life could be, before giving a humorless chuckle. "You have no idea how wrong you are."
With that, the Girl Wonder somersaulted under the detective's legs, dropping smoke pellets as she went. Before Cash could react, the smokescreen had given Azure plenty of time to run off and catch up with her partner. Once she stopped coughing and wiped her eyes, Cash grumbled to herself. "This is why I don't want kids."
Meanwhile, Charr kept his pistol in hand as he cautiously snuck through the building in search of the mad assassin. He finally came upon what appeared to be a workshop of some kind.
"All things must come to an end, including my latest batch of doppel-dust," Trickster called out as he noted that there wasn't much ammunition left in his improvised weapon. "I suppose I'll either need to make some more or come up with a new scheme that doesn't involve it."
Taking that as his cue to step in, Charr stepped out of the shadows and aimed his weapon at the former mercenary. "Hold it right there, Trickster!"
"Ah, Officer Coal, how VERY nice to see you again," the former mercenary said with a smile.
"It won't be so nice once you're locked up."
"Aw, and I was just about to offer you some hard Tac," Trickster called out just before the henchman in question showed up and knocked Charr Coal on the back of his head. Before he passed out though, he managed to catch the large fellow giving Trickster a hard glare and the former mercenary showcasing a slight wince. "Yeah, I know: I regretted saying that as soon as it came out of my mouth."
Some time later, Charr couldn't help but groan as he regained consciousness, quickly taking note of how he was restrained to a chair. "What the…?"
"Ah, good morning, Sleeping Beauty," Trickster teasingly declared as he entered the room. "Don't bother trying to break out of those restraints: I have it on good authority that they're able to hold people twice your size."
Charr just scoffed. "If you're going to kill me, get it over with."
"Oh, please," Trickster stated with a roll of his eyes. "If I wanted to kill you, you'd be dead already. No, I have something else in store for you."
"Well, what do you want with me then?"
Trickster merely chuckled. "I merely want to give you a glimpse at the world through my twisted point of view."
The former assassin pulled a canvas tarp off from a bizarre machine and reached into his pocket for a syringe filled with a glowing green liquid. He stabbed the needle into Charr's neck and injected him with a small, non-lethal dose of laughing toxin before spinning a black and white wheel in front of the detective. Trickster's grin grew wider as he watched Charr writhe in pain from the chemical flowing through his veins. He moved behind the captive detective and forced him to watch the spinning wheel.
"Now, now… don't fight it… take it in… breath… and soon, you'll be just as insane as I am…"
Char's eyes watered as he was forced to gaze into the swirling colors. His mind clouded over, and he began to see things that weren't there. Trickster's giant maniacal smile swallowed him whole, and he found himself in a freefall. Krasnaya reached out to him, offering to catch him.
"Detective… we're on the same side."
Charr reluctantly reached out, but the Crimson Crusader's form shattered like glass and Chief Rojos grabbed him by the neck.
"Any more damn hero worship out of you, and you can kiss your badge goodbye!"
Charr snarled as he struggled to deal with the images that Trickster was assaulting him with as well as his own repressed emotions. "Leave me alone, Rojos! I already had to deal with one hardass in the form of my father: I don't need another!"
"Ah, issues with the boss and/or the family, eh?" Trickster called out. "I can actually sympathize with you, as from my own experience with both, no matter what you do, you can never quite get them to like you. All it takes is one too many orders or kicks to the head to make a man crack. All it takes is one bad day to turn a normal man into a monster. …well in my case, a bit of mystery toxin helped too, but who's keeping track?"
Charr simply sneered as Trickster burst out laughing even as he tried - and failed - to ignore what the maniac in front of him was saying.
Outside of the warehouse, Tic, Tac, and Toe dutifully guarded the main entrance of the building to keep out any unwanted company. As they heard a police siren approaching from the distance, they readied their firearms. But just as Detective Cash rounded the corner in her cruiser, Krasnaya dropped down seemingly out of nowhere and dispatched Toe. Tic and Tac fought off the Crimson Crusader with all their strength, giving Cash the opportunity to sneak inside the building; she didn't care what Rojos wanted, all she cared about was saving her partner.
Back inside the warehouse, Trickster continued his bizarre torture. "... so then the giraffe says to the police chief, 'last time I saw that screwloose detective, he was trying to pick the nuts out of the fruitcake! AH-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!"
Despite the psychological torture and physical pain he was being put through, Charr couldn't help but laugh along due to the small non-lethal doses of Trickster's laughing toxin he had been injected with. "Ha ha ha! N-nuts out of the fruitcake! Ha ha ha!"
Trickster sighed and gently rested a hand on Charr's shoulder. "Oh, detective. I've longed for the day when one of you policemen and I could finally share the same sense of humor."
"Such a shame that it won't last much longer."
"What the…?" Trickster called out as he nearly fell over at the authority filled voice that came behind him.
Ayisha perhaps felt more satisfaction then she ought to as she leveled her gun at the startled ex-mercenary in front of her. "I'm only going to say this once, Black: let him go!"
Trickster snarled at the mention of his last name even as he pivoted on his heels to find the source of the voice. Charr tiredly smiled in relief at the sight of his partner. "Cash."
Unfortunately, Trickster had one last trick up his sleeve. He pulled out the doppel-dust gun and aimed it directly at Charr's face. "Back off, cop." Trickster grinned, menacingly. "You have no idea what this stuff does to living people!"
Reluctantly, Cash dropped her gun and backed away.
"... for that matter, neither do I." Trickster mused before his grin grew wider. "Let's find out together!"
Ayisha was horrified. "NO!"
But before Trickster could pull the trigger, a blast of fire dust shattered the vile of doppel-dust inside the gun, vaporizing the substance. Krasnaya dropped down from the ceiling and readied her hammer. "Now we'll never know!" Trickster whined before running out the door.
Charr accidentally breathed in the doppel-dust's fumes, forcing him into a coughing fit. While Krasnaya chased after Trickster, Ayisha rushed to free her partner. But Coal shook his head and urged her to leave him between coughs. "I-I'm fine…! Go get them!"
Reluctantly, Cash left her partner to chase after the criminal and vigilante.
At that moment, the Trickster was almost out the door when a grappling line shot through his artificial leg and tripped him up. Krasnaya reeled in her line and pinned the villain against a nearby wall. Her eyes burned with fury as she effortlessly tossed him into a crate across the room. Trickster recovered quickly, spinning on the palms of his hands while kicking his legs in the air to rapid fire in every direction. Krasnaya drew her hammer to deflect every other shot, only taking one bullet to the shoulder before Trickster tired himself out. As he dizzily stood back up, the Crimson Crusader fired a pinpoint shot that knocked his ammo belt off his person.
"Come on, Red, don't be such a sourpuss." He giggled. "Where's your sense of humor?!"
"Right here." And that was all the warning Trickster got before Krasnaya suddenly punched him in the face, forcing him back a ways.
"...okay, I'll admit it: that was actually kind of funny." Trickster remarked with a slight chuckle before getting back into the fight. With one swift movement, he kicked both of Krasnaya's weapons out of her hands, restricting them both to unarmed combat.
Krasnaya cursed herself for forgetting how skilled Mercury was, but still held up her arms in preparation. She was just as confident in her own skills that she knew she could defeat him. "Stop me if you've heard this one, Trickster." She growled.
Trickster arched an eyebrow before rushing forward to deliver a roundhouse. Krasnaya blocked it and continued. "A man walks into a bar…"
She grabbed Trickster's leg and threw him face-first into a low-hanging metal pipe that knocked him out. "And said… 'ow.'"
Before blacking out, Trickster grinned. "Heh… good one…"
Detective Cash had arrived just in time to see the end of the fight. "Surprised you didn't kill him."
"It was tempting, don't get me wrong, but it wouldn't be right." Krasnaya declared.
"Heh, no wonder Charr is such a fan of you," Ayisha called out with a slight smile, before sighing. She reached for a pair of handcuffs on her belt, still talking to Krasnaya as she fastened them around Trickster's wrists. "Still, Rojos isn't wrong in that you're breaking the law with your vigilante status. I'll let you go for now as a favor for helping my partner, but the next time we meet, the mask is coming off."
Cash looked up to see that the Red Woman had mysteriously vanished without a trace. After locking the criminal in the back of her car, she went back to free her partner just as the sound of sirens approached from the distance.
"What happened here?" Rojos couldn't help but ask sometime later as Trickster was being led away into one of the squad cars.
"I managed to corner Trickster, but he managed to overpower and capture me before subjecting me to psychological torture," Charr declared with a few coughs mixed in all while giving an unreadable expression. "I'd be dead right now if it wasn't for Krasnaya."
"Which means you let her get away again," Rojos stated with a snarl. "This is the last straw, Coal: you're fired."
"Excuse me?!" Officer Cash yelled out in defense of her friend. "Charr Coal almost died trying to bring in the Trickster and this is how you repay him?!"
"No, it's fine: I was going to hand in my badge anyway."
Rojos joined Ayisha in giving a shocked blink upon hearing this. "Wha…what?"
"You said it yourself: you have zero tolerance for freaks, and I think that description fits me just fine after what Trickster did to me. Wouldn't want someone with psychological damage running around your squeaky clean office."
Rojos just stared as Charr slammed his badge into her hands and walked past her, purposely bumping elbows as he did, before looking up as Ayisha simply growled at her. "You…you do know that's not what I meant, right?"
"Yeah, I'm sure," Ayisha said with a scoff. "Just like I'm sure that you hadn't intended to see children killed with your 'shoot on sight' policy regarding Azure and Magenta. Just know that the only reason that I'm not handing in my own badge after that outburst of yours is that I don't trust you not to turn the NRPD into an honorless mercenary group while I'm gone."
Ayisha just walked off after that, leaving Rojos looking back down at the badge Charr had left behind, wondering for the first time if she'd taken things too far with her vendetta against vigilantes.
A few hours later, Charr arrived at his apartment and shrugged off his coat. His throat felt dry and his head was pounding. He leaned against the wall and coughed into his fist, squinting at the black substance he had coughed up. Before he could give it any thought, his scroll vibrated in his pocket.
"Hello?" He answered, clearing his throat.
"Charr? It's me, Svetlana."
"Svets?" Charr smiled, weakly, at the sound of his friend's voice. "Hey, what's up?"
"I heard you've been having a hard time lately. I wanted to check up on you." Svetlana paused. "And… there's something I need to tell you."
Charr moved his scroll away from his mouth as another hoarse cough erupted from his throat. "Uh, listen, Red, I'm not feeling too well right now… how about we finally meet up tomorrow at that gym I told you about? Shoot some hoops? I need to blow off some steam anyway."
"You got it, Charr. See you then."
The suspended detective hung up and continued coughing until he grabbed a glass and made his way into the bathroom. He filled the glass to overflow and drank all the water. As he gazed into the mirror, he noticed a dry patch of skin peeling from his cheek. He gingerly pinched the end of the skin and slowly peeled it off. His eyes widened in horror at the sight of the hard black substance beneath. Suddenly, more patches of skin began to peel and flake until all of his skin fell off of his body, leaving nothing but a coarse, black, doppelganger-esque skin beneath.
"No!" He screamed. "No! NOOOOOO!"
To Be Continued!
