Chapter 23 - Investigation

A/N: Here's the chapter for today.

Also, quick question. What do you all want to see more of or think would improve the story? It can be something like "More chill chapters of Jason hanging out with Ai's family" or anything else.

Notify me of any mistakes and donate any amount of power stones you can to support the story.

As always, thanks for reading!

P.S. To make up for the delayed releases, I'll try to finish another chapter tomorrow or the day after. No promises.

——————————————————

Hikaru's limp body left a trail of blood as Jason dragged it to a nearby wall, placing the body upright. A broken and bloody nose, missing teeth, broken bones in multiple areas of the body, and severe bruises were only some of his new injuries.

But aside from the physical injuries, Jason had done the most damage to his psyche. Scarecrow's fear toxin induces involuntary and sometimes irrational fear in its victims' minds, driving them insane, and he injected Hikaru with a more potent version of it. He wouldn't be able to live like a normal person ever again.

"I'm a bit disappointed. He didn't even last 2 minutes."

Wheatley manifested and hovered behind Jason, looking at Hikaru's body. [I don't think any average person could have lasted even a single minute under the torture session you put him through. Those screams of pain sounded absolutely horrifying. Though I am curious. Is there a particular reason why you've left him alive?]

Jason shook his head. "I'm not leaving him alive. I just wanted to examine my work better. Wheatley, extract."

Wheatley floated until he was directly in front of Jason and shook his body from side to side. [Well… There's a *slight* issue. I don't think there is anymore Primordial Dark — Actually, Primordial Void or Chaos Energy would be the more accurate description now. Anyway, as I was saying… From what I detected, it seemed like the Chaos King summoned all his fragments of energy in order to turn you into his avatar. And I do mean *all* of it. You were unconscious, but I saw *everything*. From my perspective, the entire sky turned pitch black, covering the world in darkness, and it all converged into you and the Chaos King. And let me tell you, the sheer amount of energy he poured into you was absolutely *ludicrous*! I couldn't believe it at first!]

"Then why don't I feel different?" Jason said, lifting his arms and inspecting his whole body. "If what the Chaos King said about me having his power is true, then shouldn't I have new powers, or at least change in a noticeable way?"

[You're mostly right in your assumption, but this is power from an entity who existed before the creation of his multiverse. It might take some time to feel the effects, or you might need to learn how to harness the power. Who knows?]

Jason furrowed his brows and held his chin in thought.

"Try to contact Joe. He'll know more about this. In the meantime, I'll find out how to access the Chaos King's power."

Wheatley nodded, his eye flashing with incomprehensible symbols and characters that made Jason's head ache.

[And… done. Anything else?]

"No, that's enough. Thanks, Wheatley."

[No problem.] Wheatley said before returning to Jason.

Jason raised his head towards the full moon before looking back down at Hikaru's body.

"Now, what do I do with you?" Jason crouched down and stared at Hikaru in thought.

If he killed Hikaru, that would mean he'd be murdering Ai's ex and the father of her children. But on the other hand, leaving him alive would mean that he'd have to hand Hikaru over to law enforcement with a hard drive containing the evidence he had gathered.

Jason hung his head down, sighing to himself.

His decision was already obvious. Even if all he wanted to do was to end Hikaru's life right then and there, he couldn't bring himself to kill the father of two children who still might want to meet him.

Correction, one child that still might want to meet him.

Jason recalled the moment Aqua's energy signature spiked in response to his emotions. If he correctly interpreted Aqua's body language and his own instinct at that time, Aqua already loathed his father with all of his being. He was the one who suggested that their father was the only one responsible for leaking their address to the stalker that almost took their mother's life.

Ruby, on the other hand, was far more optimistic and cheerful than her brother and didn't seem to know who had leaked their address. It also looked like Aqua did not want her to know, and Jason could tell that he just wanted to protect her.

'It sometimes feels like Aqua's older than he seems, but I guess that just comes with being a really smart kid.'

"Alright," Jason said, groaning as rose to his full height. "Wheatley."

Wheatley manifested. His eye projected a light that produced a glowing green medical capsule in the air. [Here you go, Jason.]

The capsule fell into Jason's hand and he raised it, inspecting it from every angle. It was similar to the Lazarus Pit based capsule he used to treat Ai before, but far less effective. At most, it would stop blood loss and mend small wounds. Hikaru wouldn't continue to live for another 10 minutes if he didn't provide *some* treatment.

Jason reluctantly struck Hikaru with a nerve pinch.

Hikaru's eyes instantly opened, and he immediately felt the excruciating pain left by his untreated injuries. He opened his mouth to scream in pain, but the instant he did so, Jason tossed the green capsule into his mouth and closed it shut.

"If you want to feel less pain, you better gulp that down or I'll *make* you."

Jason glared at Hikaru, making him recall the torture from before, and he instantly obeyed. He swallowed the capsule, wondering if it truly would heal him, and to his surprise, he felt better moments later. He still felt a tremendous amount of pain, but it was more manageable than before.

"Alright, time for you to go back to sleep."

Jason backhanded Hikaru's face with just enough force, knocking him out and sending another loose tooth flying away.

Jason dusted his gloved hands and took out a scalpel from the ring.

"Wheatley, the micro-bomb."

[One micro-bomb to go.] Wheatley produced a tiny metal device in the air that fell on Jason's other hand.

If he was going to hand Hikaru over to the police, it wouldn't be without some insurance.

"I'm not going to make the same mistakes Bruce made."

—————————————

An almost inaudible zipping sound rippled in the air as Jason used his grapple gun to reach his balcony. Just as he untethered the grappling hook, he grabbed onto the railing, gracefully pulling himself up and storing his grapple gun inside the ring.

Jason stepped inside his condo, closing the sliding door of the balcony behind him. He pressed a certain part on the side of his helmet, causing it to unlatch and allowing him to take it off. Brushing back his hair, he stared at the reflection of himself on the helmet's surface in silent contemplation before sighing and storing it in the ring.

He walked to his bedroom and jumped on the bed after taking everything off except his pants.

For a while, he just stared at the ceiling of his room. The moonlight passing through the blinds was the only thing illuminating his surroundings. He didn't need the moonlight to see in the dark, but its serene glow was soothing in a way.

'I just fought a being that could've annihilated me if I didn't have the enhancement Joe provided.' Jason remembered how fast those black spikes pierced through the air and scoffed at himself. 'I would've been turned into a pincushion. And here I was thinking I would only be dealing with the typical crime boss or metahuman. Should've known things would get worse when I met Bishamon and encountered those phantoms. I'm not cut out for dealing with gods.'

Jason's eyes abruptly began to grow heavy and a great amount of fatigue washed over him.

Strange… Why was he suddenly so tired? It wasn't even midnight yet.

Seconds after having that thought, Jason fell into a deep sleep, his chest rising and falling at a steady rate.

This time, no nightmares or dreams accompanied him. Only an endless void.

Nothing but an endless void.

————————————

Inside Tokyo's biggest police headquarters, Karasuma, dressed in a white shirt with rolled-up sleeves, stood in front of a board filled with multiple images of dead bodies. Below the board was a table with piles of documents and a few cards with a red bat symbol printed on its surface. Printed above and below the symbol was the line, 'Let the punishment fit the crime.'

A stern expression replaced his usual calm. He had been investigating every factor of this case for the past two weeks.

It was far more severe than he first thought, and it was all done by one man who wore a red helmet, tan leather jacket, and combat armor, according to testimonies from the criminals and the victims.

The assassin killed with extreme precision and ruthlessness, always leaving a trail of bodies in his wake.

According to the ones left alive, he moved like a blur that couldn't be tracked with the eyes, and that most of them would already be taken out in the first few seconds. It sounded like bullshit to Karasuma, but he could tell that the criminals weren't saying lies.

'All of them were struck in vital areas once or twice, and each one could have been a fatal blow. The assassin is deadly at close combat, but he knows how to hold back, at least,' Karasuma thought.

He looked at the images of the people shot in the head with the experienced eyes of an Elite Soldier. 'The assassin is clearly well-trained with firearms as well. Were they once part of a military? If they're this skilled, they might have been part of a military's special forces. Question is, which one?'

After the initial report of 53 confirmed dead, they counted a total of 60 people murdered within 48 hours, with at least double the amount of people receiving debilitating injuries such as broken bones and brain trauma.

Most of those killed by the assassin had confirmed records of one or a combination of sexual assault, ****, murder, pedophilia, or child molestation. The ones unaccounted for were killed for unknown reasons, but were suspected of having committed similar crimes. The assassin was far too meticulous in who he targeted for it to not be the case.

What was strange was that most of the criminals who committed sex-related crimes couldn't be found. Despite the victims all giving testimonies of seeing the assassin confront the perpetrators, the police could not find them or their bodies.

Karasuma massaged his forehead with a sigh. 'We still don't have a clue on who the assassin is, but his motivation and purpose so far are clear. He only kills those who have committed severe crimes and seems to have a personal grudge against any drug dealer that sells to minors.'

Just then, someone knocked on the door behind him.

"Come in."

The door opened, and a police officer entered.

"What is it?" asked Karasuma.

"Karasuma-san, we have a man in our custody you might want to meet. He's in one of the interrogation rooms."

Frowning, Karasuma nodded. "Lead me to him."

———————————

"This is him?" Karasuma asked the officer beside him as he looked at the crazy-looking blonde-haired man in bandages from the other side of the interrogation room mirror. "Who is he, and where did you find him?"

"His name is Hikaru Kamiki. 19 years old and a student studying at XXXXXX University. We received an anonymous call from someone saying that they've caught the associate of the stalker that murdered a doctor from Miyazaki and stabbed the idol, Ai Hoshino. When we went to the given location, this is the man we found. He was unconscious when we found him, and most of his clothes were torn. He also has many injuries on his body, along with multiple broken bones. To be honest, we thought he was a homeless person who got into an accident at first."

Karasuma had heard about the idol case. Who wouldn't when every news outlet and social media site covered the story?

"So why did you bring him here and take me to him? It sounds like he should've been given the right medical aid first."

"Because *this* was on his body." The officer handed Karasuma a familiar calling card with a red bat symbol.

With surprise in his eyes, Karasuma inspected the card.

"It's the same one…"

The officer continued, "After we woke him up, we tried asking him questions, but he couldn't form any coherent sentences. All he kept on repeating was the word 'Demon.' "

Karasuma pocketed the card and walked towards the interrogation room door.

"I'll see what I can do. For now, get me the stalker that knows this man. Quick."

"Alright, though I doubt the guy in the interrogation room will say anything. He's crazy. Also, be careful with that guy. He got pretty violent when we woke him up."

They finally had a lead on the assassin, and he wasn't going to waste this opportunity.