Chapter 22

Toning his body to the point of physical perfection, Gustav gathered all his strength in his fist. Hoped his punch would injure Becker. His knuckles smashed against Becker's jaw, bone against bone, waiting for the sound of cracking bone. There was a loud thud and Becker spun on his feet, losing his balance and falling off the platform. Gustav looked over and saw the motionless body of Becker on the ground, his head twisted backwards.

It wasn't the end he had in mind for Becker. Gustav wanted him to face justice, to stand trial for the crimes he had committed. However, Becker was part of an underground group that ran the city, and probably would never face trial. So, this was good enough.

Gustav scoffed and went on to check on Natalya. Covering her with his jacket,she was breathing softly, almost like sleeping. Her still being alive was an immense relief.

"Who is that girl?" Rosya asked.

How to explain who Natalya was to Rosya? Her relationship with him. He couldn't tell her she was a homunculus. Perhaps she would understand. But Gustav would have to explain that later, for he could hear explosions in the distance.

"A girl that these people wanted to sacrifice," Gustav explained.

A half truth. Good enough, but he felt guilty not telling her the truth.

"Why would they do that?" Rosya asked.

Gustav took her into his arms and stood up. "For some godforsaken ritual, but their leader is dead. No need to hang around her any longer. But I do need you to run cover for me. Can you do that?"

Rosya inspected Natalya. A young girl, no more than sixteen. She was speechless by the beauty of the young girl.

A confident smile drew itself on Rosya's lips. "You can count on me."

Gustav and Rosya reached the bottom of the platform, where they saw Ansem facing Richard.

"Ansem, I got the girl. Let's go." Gustav yelled.

"Wonderful," replied Ansem.

"You're not going anywhere!" Richard roared. "That girl is an important sacrifice!"

"Give it up, Aimes." Gustav said calmly. "Your boss is dead and if you surrender, I'll make sure you get a fair trail."

Something cracked inside Richard. His face contorted into a scowl and began to claw at it with his nails in a fit of fury.

"Dead?" Richard muttered. "You're lying! The master can't be dead!"

Richard knelt down and placed his hands on the floor. "If he's dead, none of you will leave this place alive!!"

Beginning his chant, Richard was planning to trap the ones that interrupted the ritual into a Chaos dimension, to suffer for all eternity. Yes. That would be the perfect punishment.

"Enough!" Ansem yelled, interrupting Richard as the Chaos dimension began to take shape around them.

"You won't pull the same trick twice," Ansem opened the briefcase he was carrying.

As the briefcase opened, the Chaos dimension, taking shape, began to crack and fall apart, much to the dismay of Richard, who believed there was no way to escape. He stared into the briefcase. A deep, unfathomable darkness lied within. Despair began to wash over him.

"Gaze into oblivion," Ansem said, fully opening the briefcase.

The briefcase Ansem had brought along with him was a magical device of his own creation. His trump card for dealing with powerful magical spells and otherworldly creatures.

"Ansem, what are you doing?" Gustav chided.

And in spite of the despair and fear he was experiencing. Richard remained defiant. Refusing to be defeated, he remained strong and determined.. He would carry on his master's work. Reaching for a knife, Richard and lunged forward, aiming for Ansem. The briefcase had done nothing more than to break the Chaos dimension.

As he drew closer, hundreds of chains burst forward from the briefcase. Richard twisted and turn with inhuman speed to avoid the incoming attack. In spite of his speed and agility, the chains caught up to him. The chains coiled around Richard's limbs and neck, melting into his skin.

"W... What is this?" Richard breathed.

"I've said you would pay for what you did to me earlier," Ansem declared. "Now, face your punishment for the sins you've committed."

The chains began to pull Richard towards the briefcase as he helplessly tried to escape.

"Ansem, stop!" Gustav pleaded.

Even if Ansem wanted to stop what was about to happen. There was no way to stop it. The briefcase would nullify any magic and attack its target, however it saw fit. That was the only flaw of the weapon he created.

The briefcase was forcefully used to pull Richard's entire body, which caused him to scream in agony. Ansem then closed the briefcase, and everything was quiet. Letting out a blood curling scream, then there was silence as Ansem closed the briefcase.

Gustav stood there, speechless at what had just happened. An entire human being dragged into a small briefcase. With everything that happened, he had forgotten that Ansem was as dangerous, perhaps more, than those that served the council.

"You rescued the girl," Ansem smiled. "Nice work, detective."

"Yeah, but..." Gustav looked at Natalya, "but she doesn't seem to wake up."

Ansem examined Natalya. Physically, she was fine. But upon closer examination, he realized that the girl was under a spell. It wouldn't be hard to break.

"Let me handle it, detective."

Ansem placed his index finger on Natalya's forehead and began to recite another spell. To Gustav, it still was gibberish, but it worked. There was a bright flash of light, and Natalya stirred in Gustav's arms.

"Now we have to wait until she fully wakes up."

A heat wave washed over them. The flames were getting closer, and the explosions were getting louder.

"We need to go," Ansem said.

"What the hell did you do?" Gustav glared at Ansem.

"Can we save the questions for later?" Rosya nudged them. "I don't want to stay in this place any second longer."

As they ran towards the exit, Gustav looked over his shoulder, where he thought Becker had landed on his death. But his body wasn't there. Perhaps he fell behind the platform? Right now, he didn't care. He just wanted to leave and take Natalya to a safer place.

**

They engulfed the entire underground facility in flames. Ansem had set up sigils to set off and raze the entire place to the ground, and hopefully the hospital on the surface wouldn't suffer too much damage. It was overkill, but it would prevent the hospital from being used.

On top of the blazing inferno around them, they had to gun down some creatures that had broken free.

Their only way back to the surface would be through the tunnels. For using the corridor that lead to the hospital would draw too much attention.

Finally, the trio reached the door that lead down the tunnels. They could finally breathe easily, as the heat was less intense. Magic fire burned at a much higher degree, much higher than thermite.

But as they walked farther away, the air inside the tunnels was refreshing.

"How long will it burn?" Gustav asked.

"Not for very long, detective." Ansem replied. "The fire should die down in a few hours. Don't worry, it won't reach the surface. I've made sure of that."

"Now, where do we go?" Gustav examined the tunnels.

"I think there's a tunnel that leads to a waterway," Ansem replied.

"Lead the way," Rosya said.

Walking to the waterway was quiet and allowed the weary trio to relax a little. They didn't know how for how long they were walking, or if it was already dawn.

However, after a few more minutes for Gustav, it felt like they were walking in circles. Something didn't feel right.

"Wait," he finally said. "Can't you feel it?"

"Rosya examined herself. "Feel what? I don't feel anything."

"You're right, detective. Something's off." Ansem confirmed.

"What's off? I don't get it." Rosya complained.

Gustav looked at Rosya and forgot that she wasn't attuned as him to the supernatural. Ansem's curse of mystic eyes had given him an extra sensibility to magic. He still didn't know to feel about it. But so far, it had proven useful.

"Let's head to that tunnel over there," Gustav suggested.

The air got heavier and heavier as they walked down the tunnel. All the hairs on the back of Gustav's neck were on edge. Something was waiting for them at the end of the tunnel. But who could it be?

The tunnel lead to an immense structure that lead to the surface. Pipes of several sizes lined up the walls. At the center of the room, there was a throne-like structure. Standing in the tunnel was a figure that Gustav immediately recognized.

"Becker!" Gustav yelled out.

But there was something different. Becker's neck still showed the marks of twisted skin and it barely held his head upright. The neck couldn't support the weight of the head. Giving him the appearance of a broken mannequin.

"Glad you found this place, detective." Becker said in a hoarse voice. "Time for the curtain to drop on this show."