Murderer

Ed's apartment. He was currently wearing a black cloak and a black mask. Dupe was lying on the couch while staring at him.

"Are you really going to kill them?" Dupe questioned.

"I am." He nodded. "It's the easiest and most efficient method. I'll frame Gunther and then step in to take over the base."

"You'll become a murderer. You're okay with that?"

"I've killed people before."

"I bet that was only in self-defense. You're killing people who won't even get a chance to fight back. Who knows, maybe the government will send you to the cage someday."

Ed turned to stare at him and complained, "What other choice do I have? You turned down my slow plans. This is the only viable method. I could slowly cause chaos in other ways and grab power, but then I'd have a bunch of snakes lying around in wait to snatch their positions back."

"True." He yawned. "Well, have fun. Try not to track blood into the apartment. I'm going to sleep."

It was the middle of the night. The base had a strict curfew, so the only people outside were the guards. There were only 10 of them in total. 9 if you don't count the leader. Ed entered the hallway and headed for the stairs. When he reached the bottom floor he saw a guard blocking the exit of the apartment complex. He walked to the opposite side of the building and melted a hole in the wall. He reclosed it behind him and it looked almost the same as before. He hid in the shadows as he headed for a different apartment complex. A guard stood outside this one as well.

'This should be the building where all the guards stay. Four are on guard for the night. The others should all be asleep.' He melted a hole to enter the building and closed it behind him. He headed to the 20th floor which was only used by the guards. 'I don't know which apartment Gunther stays in. I'll check them one by one.' He began to melt holes in the apartments one at a time. Some were empty and others had guards sleeping. Finally, he found the right one.

He went inside the apartment and saw the large bald man sleeping. He looked around the room. 'There!' He walked towards a corner and grabbed a spear and a steam rifle. He then looked at Gunther's body and saw a shark tooth necklace tied to his neck by some string. He slowly reached for it when Gunther suddenly rolled over onto his stomach. Sweat covered Ed's forehead. 'I thought he woke up for a second there… My whole plan would have to change if that happened.' He carefully tore the necklace string. Then he took it off Gunther's neck and left.

'Time for phase 2.' He entered another apartment by melting and closing a hole in the wall. Once inside, he walked towards the front door of the apartment and unlocked it. Then he walked towards the sleeping guard. He held the spear up and prepared to strike. His hand shook slightly and he hesitated. He took a deep breath and his eyes sharpened with resolve. 'I've already decided to do this. I can't back out now. No one reaches the top without getting their hands dirty one way or another.' He held the spear up and stabbed it into the guard's neck with all his strength.

"Guehk!" The guard groaned as the spear pierced him. Blood poured from his neck as he stared at his assailant. It was only a brief second before his eyes dimmed. Ed felt his body shiver slightly. The man's eyes had contained a mix of confusion, sorrow, and rage before he died.

'Time for the next one.' He entered each apartment one by one and killed the guards. Each death was similar to the last. He slowly grew numb to the initial guilt he felt each time. He killed them all except for Tom and those downstairs. 'I'll leave Tom for last…'

He headed downstairs and snuck up on the guards. Each one was separated due to their small numbers. Some of them were even dozing off. 'What a stupid system. Isn't it common sense to have guards in pairs of 2 or 3? Even if all of them don't have steam guns he could have recruited a few more.' He easily snuck up on each guard and stabbed them in the back of their throats. 'Assassinating people is easier than I thought... Just Tom left now.'

He went upstairs and entered Tom's apartment. He saw him asleep on the couch. A steam rifle lay beside him. 'This one I have to do different. It'll be a rush to the finish after that.' He rose his spear and stabbed downwards. However, he did not aim for the neck. He purposely missed and stabbed him closer to the shoulder.

"Aghh!!!" A loud scream of pain rang out. Tom woke up and saw his assailant. "Who are you?!" He sat up and reached for his nearby steam rifle. Ed fired his own rifle first. A loud bang rang out as Tom fell to the ground dead. Ed took the necklace he stole from Gunther and laid it down in Tom's hand. Then he hurriedly left and entered Gunther's apartment.

Gunther was awoken by the loud gunshot. He sat up in panic and saw his weapons missing. He stood up to look around. Suddenly, he saw a masked man wearing a black cloak enter his apartment by melting a wall. "Who are you?!" He yelled. "Don't think the Sinless are afraid of an esper!"

Ed stared at the man for a moment. 'Hmm. He woke up quickly, but I expected that. It was the only flaw in my plan. It doesn't really affect the end result though.' He dropped the steam rifle and spear he had stolen to the ground. Then he turned around and exited through the hole in the wall. It quickly closed behind him.

'The people are waking up. It should be full-blown panic soon. I can't take the stairs or melt holes in the floor without risking getting caught. He ran towards a wall at the end of the hallway. He turned around and saw Gunther exit the apartment wielding his spear and gun.

'The idiot didn't even notice the blood on the spear?' Ed scoffed. He quickly melted the wall and extended a platform outside. The hole in the wall closed behind him as he stood on a small platform 20 stories high in the air. He continually used his powers to create platforms from the building as he walked down them like a flight of stairs. The old platforms melted and returned to the building as he walked. Soon, he reached the ground.

He ran to his own apartment complex and repeated the same steps to go up to the 19th floor. He directly melted a hole into his own apartment from outside the building and entered. He had returned without leaving behind any evidence that he was the murderer. He had even unlocked every guard's door, so people wouldn't be suspicious about them being locked with dead bodies inside. 'They might wonder how Gunther broke into each room, but it's a minor issue. Who knows, maybe they have a universal key or something. The old landlord probably would have had one.'

The cloak and mask had some bloodstains on them. He melted the cloak, mask, and blood into separate piles. He threw the blood down the kitchen drain and rinsed it with water. He turned the cloak and mask into ordinary cloth. It looked like raw material that could be used to make new clothes in the future. 'That takes care of everything.'

He entered the bathroom and filled the tub with water. He laid down to relax in the bath. The hot water comforted his exhausted body. The scenes of all the murders flashed before his eyes as he rested. "Ugh!" He almost threw up, but quickly swallowed it back down. 'I won't be weak anymore. I won't kill indiscriminately, but I have goals. Those that stand in the way will just have to accept their fates.'

…

The next morning. A loud knocking sound rang from their door. The two answered and saw a skinny man outside. "The guard has ordered an assembly at the central stage. Everyone is required to attend. It begins in an hour." The man quickly turned around and left, seemingly prepared to spread the order to other apartments.

Dupe turned around and smiled. "It looks like your plan last night succeeded. I'm looking forward to your performance today."

"About that…" Ed replied. "I need your help with something."

"Oh? Why should I help?"

"You said you wanted to be my right-hand man as I rose through the Sinless group. Naturally you should do me some small favors."

"True…" He nodded. "Okay, what do you want. I won't do anything difficult at this stage. You haven't earned my trust yet."

"When Gunther makes his speech there's a good chance he'll try denying that he was the perpetrator. He saw me last night, so he'll probably try pinning it on the espers, but he won't have proof. I also framed him, so all evidence points towards him. All you need to do is shout from the crowd denying what he says."

"Okay. Sounds easy enough. Let's go."

The two got dressed and headed for the stage. A large crowd was already surrounding it. Ed squeezed his way towards the front. Dupe covered his head with a hood and took position near the back. A short while later, a large bald man stepped on stage.

"H-Hello everyone." Gunther waved. His head was covered in sweat and his smile was awkward. Clearly he wasn't used to standing on stage, and he had also been shaken by the previous night's events. "As many of you already know, nine guards were brutally murdered last night. I believe the culprit was an esp-"

"MURDERER!" A woman in the crowd shouted. It was the same one that had defended Tom the other day. "I saw the crime scene! Your spear was covered in blood and you were standing in the hallway! Who else could have access to all the guards rooms but you?!"

"Boo!" "Murderer!" A bunch of shouts started ringing out.

"SILENCE!" He yelled while pointing his gun towards the crowd. "Allow me to speak before you pass judgement on me." The crowd stared nervously at the gun as they quieted down. "I was framed. An esper entered my room last night and left my bloody spear and steam rifle on the ground before escaping. I chased him into the hallway and he melted a hole in the wall to escape. The hole closed behind him and I couldn't give chase. I was left standing in the hallway with my spear covered in blood. The espers wish to cause chaos in our Sinless group because they fear us!"

"Eh? Is that really true?" Someone questioned.

"It might be?" Another replied.

"Bullshit!" A loud voice came from a hooded figure near the back. "Why were only you left alive then? Why would a random esper even want to frame you?! If he was that powerful, then he could just kill us all! You just became greedy for power and tried to grab it!"

"Who are you?!" Gunther yelled. "Show your face coward!" The hooded figure disappeared into the crowd. No one around him paid him any attention.

"Boo!" "Hand over the steam rifle!" "We need to arrest him!" The crowd began to grow frenzied once more.

'Now is the time. Before the crowd loses control.' Ed climbed atop the stage. He was wearing black jeans, boots, and a sweatshirt. The hood of the sweatshirt covered his face. He held up his hands towards the crowd and yelled, "EVERYONE! Calm down! We can't let ourselves fall to chaos in these trying times! We need to stand united and hold a fair trial!"

"Trial?" Someone questioned.

"It's not a bad idea, but who's going to be the judge?" Another yelled.

"I will be the judge!" Ed yelled towards the crowd. "I thought I was finally safe, but now a murderer stands amongst us. I can't stand and watch as my new safe haven is ruined by greed and lust for power."

"Why should we trust you?!" Someone yelled. "You haven't even shown us your face!"

Ed lowered his hood to reveal his scarred and burned face. "Look what the espers did to me before I made it here! Who could possibly hate them more than me?!" The crowd quieted down as they stared in shock at the young man's face. What kind of torture would one have to experience to look like that. He slowly pulled off his sweatshirt and revealed his scarred chest and arms. "I was used as a lab rat in their mad experiments! I had nearly given up hope before finding Sinless. How can I watch as my only hope slowly falls apart? I am fully loyal to Sinless and our cause to take back the world from the espers! I believe I will be a fair judge who always thinks of what's best for Sinless as a whole!"

Gunther looked nervously towards the teenager standing on stage next to him, but he also felt a hint of gratitude. He stared at the man, "You'll really give me a fair trial?"

"I will!" Ed nodded. He looked to the crowd once more. "Has anyone actually investigated the crime scenes? Everyone has been so busy panicking, that none of us have slowed down to think. Let's temporarily confine Gunther. Then we'll setup an independent investigation team to check the crime scenes. As the judge, I naturally won't take part in the investigation. I will simply make a decision based on the evidence provided to me. The trial will be open to the public to ensure fairness."

"It's a good idea!" Someone with a hood in the back of the crowd yelled.

"I agree." The woman from before responded. "I want to join the investigation team!"

"Me too!" Another yelled.

Ed smiled as he watched the crowd gradually support his idea. 'Mob mentality is truly a scary thing.'