The beach was in shambles, the remains of towels, parasols and the occasional mini fridge lay scatter across it, all in all, a complete mess. Still, at least there was no Corrupted terrorizing the bathers anymore, for now at least. Still, it was a shame that culprit had managed to slip away without anything they could have done to stop it.
After the two Riders had made sure that their opponent had indeed left, they were approached by a familiar face, Thorax. He had come down from one of the cafes that were located next to the street that ended near the beach. Thorax was wearing his usual purple business suit that felt somewhat out of place on the beach. “Hey, Thorax, what brings you here?”
“He was the one that called us. You should know that I told you.” Alchemy just cocked his head in confusion. “Besides the dwindling memory of my partner, I’m glad you are ok Thorax. So, if you would be so friendly and explain to us what happened here?” After she had finished she removed her Fire Charger from her Driver and reverted back to her civilian form.
Thorax eyes widened in surprise at this for a moment, it took him a few seconds to formulate a response: “Oh, agent Skies, I didn’t know you were the new Kamen Rider. Congratulations.”
Ocean chuckled in return and with a warm smile replied: “Thank you, but I would like to get back to what happened here before we arrived.”
Thorax quickly nodded and continued: “Well, the thing is me and my bother were here to negotiate about selling this beach. And as we tolled the potential buyer that we decided to decline his offer, well, he more or less threatened us that something might happen to the beach.” At this Ocean curiously raised one of her eyebrows. “Moments later the Corrupted appeared. We decided that we probably should keep him here just in case you wanted to ask him some questions.”
“You didn’t force to stay, did you?” Ocean asked him with a somewhat worried undertone.
“Oh, no. We said he should stay and he didn’t resist in any way shape or form.” Ocean posture visibly relaxed after hearing this. “If you may follow us, he is back with at the café with my brother.” And with that, he led the way, Ocean right behind him.
As she looked back towards the ocean she noticed that Alchemy was still staring towards the water and hadn’t moved an inch. “Hey Alchemy, are you coming?” She shouted back towards him.
In an instant, he swirled around and looked in her direction. “Huh? Oh, I’m coming!” He quickly caught up to the two and followed them, still, Ocean kept an eye on him the entire way to the café, but nothing else noteworthy happened. As they approached the veranda where the man had witnessed the Corrupted attack they could see one a man with dark cyan skin, washed out ruby hair and a purple suit standing near the stairs towards the beach and eying the three carefully, all while he occasionally quickly glanced over to a muscular man with bluish-grey skin and grey hair.
“Ah, it is a pleasure to meet the two heroes our lovely city. Truly a special day in my quite accomplished live, miss…” As soon as the three were in earshot the man started to basically scream towards them, gained at least a raised eyebrow from Ocean.
“Agent Ocean Skies, pleasure meeting you Mr….”
A confident smile crept across his face. “Well-to-Do is my name. A quite successful businessman if I might say. And your friend is a bit shy or what?” He pointed with a finger towards the still armor-clad Alchemy.
“He prefers to stay anonymous, so you just may call him Alchemy.” She quickly shifted her gaze over to Thorax. “So, he is the one you suspect I presume?” A quick nod from the man confirmed her suspicions. “So, Mr. Well-to-Do, I hope you don’t have any appointments coming up today, I’m sorry, but we have to ask you some questions about this whole affair if that would be ok.”
The man just sighed heavily and returned to his seat at the table. “Well, it’s not like I have much of a choice, have I. Well then, what is it that interest you so much? Can’t be anything regarding the monster attack just now since I have nothing to with that.” As he spoke a smug smile spread across his lips.
“Oh sure, you are as innocent as a could get. Please, next time you open your mouth actually tell the truth you waste of space,” Pharynx interjected, staring daggers at Well-to-Do. The man in question just rolled his eyes and ignored him.
“So Thorax, why don’t you tell us what exactly happened here and why you suspect our friend here of being behind the attack that has just taken place?”
He in return quickly nodded and began to explain what had happened today: “Well, Mr. Well-to-Do here had asked us if we would be interested in selling this beach to him, so we set up a meeting with him today. The end result was that we told him that we had declined his other, like so many before, but we still appreciated his willingness to do business with us. That was when he started threatening us and the beach, moments later this… this thing attacked the beach. We are sure he is responsible for this,” he pointed the thing at Well-to-Do.
“And just like I said, I’m not involved. Your accusations won't hold up in any court. Please agent Skies, tell them this. I would love to leave now since these two failed to provide any sort of tangible evidence. It was a pleasure meet…”
Before he could finish his sentence Ocean signaled him to stop and listen: “While they might not have provided much in the form of actually tangible evidence I won't dismiss their claims that fast. I would like to talk to you at the police station a bit more in-depth about this whole situation. I hope you don’t have to leave the city in the near future since I would like to have you around the city while we investigate this monster attack. I hope you understand.”
Her answer consisted of unintelligible mumbling and a following “Okay!” But you really didn’t need any words to understand what Well-to-Do was thinking, he was quite displeased with how this had gone.
“Good, I’m glad we could come to an understanding. Gentleman,” she shifted her gaze towards Thorax and Pharynx. “I also have to take you with me for further questioning. I hope you have no problem with that.” Both shook their head. “Good, I’m glad you are all so cooperative, it makes our work so much easier. If you excuse me for a moment, it seems officer Armor wants to talk about something.” She quickly pointed towards the officer in name and quickly left the three man, Alchemy and their bodyguards all by themselves.
After a few minutes of awkward silence between all of them, Pharynx finally managed to spark a conversation. “So, you are Kamen Rider Alchemy, the one my brother spoke so highly about. Well, to be frank, I’m somewhat disappointed. You know how to fight, at least on a rudimentary level, but your technique is just too flawed. And you claim to be the protector of the city? Why the MRG still keeps you around when they have Charge at their side, someone infinitely more capable then you, is beyond me,” he spoke coldly.
It took him a while to respond, just staring at the man in the meantime, Thorax just shaking his head. “Maybe, all I know is that Ocean trusts me and that is all I need to move forward. Not that I couldn’t do better, far from it, there is much I still need to learn until I,” he stopped for a short moment only to resume moments later. “Until I can make this city save. I know that I still am not doing enough, but moping around that Charge is so much better then I’m ain’t going to solve that, I just have to move forward and try harder, that’s it.”
Pharynx just huffed in return and continued: “Well, at least you accept it. Still, I would have thrown you out of my security team a long time ago. You are just not fit to play the hero.”
“Pharynx! Would you please stop to antagonize Alchemy!” Thorax nearly shouted at his brother, who just chuckled and stepped away from the Rider. “I’m sorry, but he is somewhat of a perfectionist. If someone doesn't fit into his rigorous standards he will not let it down. The best thing is to just ignore it and move on. By the way thanks for saving me again, oh and thanks from Pharynx as well,” a dismissive huff could be heard in the background. ” Even if he doesn't want to show it, he is very much grateful.”
“Aw, thanks I appreciate the praise. Still, I let the thing get away, there is no way around that. But oh well, next it won’t get away. Anyways, how is it going for you at the moment? Any problems with Corrupted or something magical, or just the normal boring business stuff. Did you run into the little flower girl again?” He jokingly replied, while staring towards the ocean.
“Actually yes, well at least that I saw Rose again. She apologized to me about what she wanted to do to me and the entire mess. While the apology was somewhat on the theatric side I’m still glad she learned from the experience and it’s not like she was entirely in control of herself. Still, I would prefer it when she sticks to peaceful protests next time, I’m not interested in another monster hunt with me as they pray,” he chuckled.
“Well, I’m glad she learned from being an angry plant monster without eyes. Really, the fact that she had no eyes still weirds me out, it still is on the fifth spot on my ‘weird stuff list’.”
Thorax gave him a quite puzzled look. “You have a ‘weird stuff list’?”
Alchemy just shrugged with his shoulders. “Sure, why not. Helps to keep this insanity at least somewhat sane, or something like that. Add to that, that it’s just plain fun and I gotta say again, why not?”
Thorax continued to star at the Rider for a few more moments until just shook his head and shifted his gaze towards the sea. “Sure, why not. I heard of weirder stuff that keeps people sane, especially in the business world. Besides that, everything is working out fine and the projects we are currently working on in Canterlot are coming along smoothly and with no major hiccups, for the most part. And mother is currently very happy since she is getting closer in tracking down something she has been looking for for ages.” He was about to continue as he was suddenly interrupted by his brother.
“Thorax!” He shouted from behind them, a fierce look in his eyes that was directed straight at his brother who winced in return and stared back at his brother in utter shook.
After he had recovered a bit he continued: “Sorry, I was rambling again. You probably don’t care about what mother is doing in her spare time anyway.” Alchemy was about to disagree as he hastily continued. “Oh, look! Agent Skies is coming back. Too bad we have to cut this conversation short. I hope we can talk at some point later again,” he chuckled awkwardly and his eyes were darting around the place, but not once did they cross Alchemy’s.
And indeed Ocean was approaching, next to her Shining. “So, I would be ready to get you all back to the police station now. Officer Armor here will handle everything here. So, if you gentlemen would be so kind and follow me so we can finish this up as quick as possible?” She pointed towards several police cars that were placed on the parking lot of the beach. Everyone just nodded and grunted in agreement and without wasting much more time they were headed for the Canterlot Police Department.
>-------<A>-------<
After they had managed to cram all six into different police cars they had left for the station. What followed was a long and tedious interrogation of everyone present. It took until deep into the night till they actually finished, all while trying to bare the annoyed Well-to-Do, a really grumpy bodyguard, two other rather aggressive bodyguards and an extremely displeased Pharynx. But eventually, they actually managed to finish the whole thing up and send the witnesses back home, not without telling them to stay within the city borders so they could question them later again.
That was when the door to the room next to the interrogation room suddenly was slammed open, inside the doorframe stood Ocean, arms hanging on her side like wet towels, her expression was a mixture of tired and exhausted and with a loud sigh she stepped inside and slammed the door shut behind her. “Why can’t we have a bit of breathing room between these cases. That is the third day in a row that we have to deal with this bollox. And given our track record, number fifteen is going to come back tomorrow. I just want a week without a monster attack, is that so hard?”
While she had spoken she had made her way across the room and had slumped down on a chair and was staring with half opened eyes towards Phoenix. He just chuckled: “Meh, I think it's not so bad, could be worse.”
Ocean just stared at him with a raised eyebrow. “Oh, yeah, sure, could be so much worse. Anyway, how are you still so energetic. You were the one that was out and around Canterlot at three AM. That is just not normal, you have to tell me your tricks at one point.”
Phoenix just chuckled somewhat nervously until he replied: “Oh, I have my ways, a magician never reveals his tricks.”
Ocean crossed her arms and cocked her head in return, staring at her fellow Rider. “Mhm, good that you are not a magician then, you are actually allowed to talk about this stuff.” A sly smile crept onto her lips as she stared at Phoenix.
Starting to rub the back of his head with his hand he awkwardly smiled back at her. “Magician, alchemist, whatever, close enough. So, my lips a sealed,” smugly smiling back at her.
“Oh, you are just a tease.” A quick look at her watch let her groan out in annoyance. “It seems I have something to do right now. Hey, do you wanna come to Ivory with me?”
“Sure, why not. At least it won't be boring. What did you want from him anyway?”
“Oh, it’s connected to today's fight. We finally got enough data to finish another Charger. Guess which one.”
Surprise turned to confusion, as he tried to figure out what Charger they had finished. After a full minute of thinking about it, he just shook his head in defeat. Ocean just looked at him in a mixture of shock and confusion. “The Wind Charger of course. It’s the Disc you had for the third longest and used quite frequently. Thought you actually would figure that one out, you are usually not that slow on the uptake.”
“Huh, probably just had a moment of stupidity, that’s all. Didn’t you need to talk with Ivory.”
In an instant, she shot back up from her chair and rushed towards the door, Phoenix smiling right behind her. “So, when is he going to move to his new lab? He said something about this week.”
While still marching forward she hastily replied: “Oh, in the next two days. Tomorrow they are going to pack everything up and move it. The day after that it is going to be fully operational. Oh right, still need to give you the address. I’ll send you a message with it later. Oh, and before you asked, we are moving the rest of the stuff as well that day and moving it towards the new MRG building downtown. You are going to love it, we even have a room where you can transform without leaving burn marks. You wouldn’t believe how pissed of Shining was about the fact that you wrecked our little observation room.” Chuckling a bit as she finished.
“Thanks, what would I do without you?”
She quickly looked over her shoulder, throwing a smug glance over to him. “Probably laying six feet under. Eleven and Twelve really did a number on you.”
He just shrugged. “Probably. But hey we are here.” He quickly pointed at the door that would lead them to Ivory’s laboratory, Ocean just smiling while shaking her head.
“Well, at least you admit it.” With a swift knock on the door, she entered without even waiting for an answer. “Hey, Ivory, how is everything coming along.” The man in question was currently sitting at a desk and had just placed the seemingly finished Charger down as he looked over his shoulder and frowned.
“Ocean, nice to see that you are interested in your new equipment and only two minutes late. Where you to busy making googly eyes at each other.” In an instant both their faces turned crimson.
“No, we did not!” Phoenix instantly shot back.
“Of course not!” Ocean counter just as quickly, both their faces had taken on a crimson color.
All while Ivory silently giggled at the two Riders. “Relax, it was a joke. You really should have seen your faces, priceless. But back to what you actually came for.” He picked up the Charger he had previously placed down in front of him and throw it to Ocean. “Here, just finished this, even with this subpart equipment. Would have probably been finished a lot faster if Phoenix here would have just helped us with the development.”
“Sorry, not happening.”
Both Ocean and Ivory just sighed in unison. “Thanks anyway, Ivory. Will put it to good use and looking very much forward to the next one you are going to finish.”
“Oh, please, being able to work with this stuff at all is reward enough. And I would like to get at least a bit more done for today, so if you tow would be so kind.” He pointed towards the door.
“Sure, we won’t bother you anymore. Phoenix!” With that, she grabbed him by his arm and dragged him out of the room.
“Next time just ask,” he said quite annoyed.
“Sorry, Ivory can get rather, well, pushy when you don’t get out of his way. But look at the bright side, you can leave sooner.” Phoenix just chuckled. “So, how about we meet at the beach tomorrow at, I would say, ten AM. Does that sound good?”
“Sure.”
“Good, then sleep well. I want you in peak physical condition tomorrow. See ya!”
“See ya!” Both quickly went their separate ways. As Phoenix walked past the next corner he stopped and pulled something out of his pocket, the Earth Disc and stared at it. “I’ll make sure to be top fit tomorrow.”
>-------<A>-------<
The rest of the night came and went by with nothing of importance happening and on the next morning, fifteen minutes before ten AM Ocean arrived at the beach. It was pretty much empty, except a few people that apparently had taken the day off and were enjoying the early morning sun. And then there was the man with the light orange complexion, red and orange hair and the red t-shirt, Phoenix. He was currently standing at the edge of the parking lot and staring towards the beach, not even noticing her.
“Huh, didn’t expect you to be here so soon, but deferentially a welcome surprise.”
The moment Phoenix heard the voice heard her voice he immediately jumped back and spun around, staring directly at her. “Who’s there? Oh, it’s you.” His complete shook quickly turned into a far more relaxed expression.
“Sorry if I startled you, but I was just glad to see you.” Phoenix nodded in agreement. “It’s a beautiful day isn’t it.” Again, he nodded, afterward he shifted his gaze back towards the beach. “A shame that we can’t really enjoy it. Sometimes you just forget how beautiful something like a simple sunny morning can be.”
“Yeah, really one of the most beautiful things I have seen today,” Phoenix absentmindedly replied.
She quickly glanced over towards him and with somewhat curious expression asked in return: “So, what were the other beautiful things you saw today? Your bed, breakfast or something else?
As he was about to reply they heard screams coming from the beach and the few people that had actually been there running in terror, just like yesterday. Both Riders looked at each other and quickly ran behind the car Ocean had arrived in, quickly looking around the parking lot to see if someone could see them. After making sure they were in the clear Phoenix pulled out his Driver and let it loop around his waist, while Ocean pushed the button on her belt buckle that let her Driver appear. Then Phoenix pulled out one of his Magic Discs, placed it into his Driver and started spinning it. Ocean pulled out one of her Chargers, put it into the Driver and similar to Phoenix spun the respective part on her Driver.
\ MAGIC DISC DETECTED! /
“Henshin!”
\ WIND DISC ACTIVATED! /
\ SCANNING CHARGE! /
“Henshin!”
\ 50, 80, 100! FIRE CHARGE! /
Both Riders were consumed by magical energy and as they emerged from it didn’t waste and rushed towards the beach. On their way their people in their bathing suits came towards them, still screaming and with terrified looks in their eyes. Some seemed a bit more relaxed as they saw the two Riders, others tried to stay as far as possible away from them and others simply didn’t care. And neither die both of them, their goal was the Corrupted and the people that still might be in danger.
While they were running towards the beach Alchemy quickly removed the Wind Disc from his Driver again and let it transform into his weapon.
\ Wind Disc Attack Mode! /
\ Hurrican Bow! /
To their relieve there were no more people near the monster or more precise, it’s tentacles. Four of them in total that were slivering around the beach pretty much aimlessly, well until the two Riders came closer to them, in an instant, they shoot towards them. Charge had already drawn her gun and one of her trusty batons, so the moment they reached her, they were being slammed to the ground with her weapon and the ones that were still further away got kept at bay with precise shots from her Charge Magnum.
In the meantime, Alchemy had evaded the grasp of the two tentacles that had headed for him by simply flying out of their reach, or at least that was what he had thought. The moment he had turned around to retaliate the three tentacles were again rushing towards him. As quickly as possible he drew his bowstring and as he was about to unleash the emerald green arrow at his opponent it was already too late and the two limbs crashed into him with full force, letting him tumble down towards the ground.
Despite that, he had still managed to hold onto the bowstring and with a swift motion, he managed to face the tentacles that again were shooting directly towards him. Releasing his hold on the string he unleashed the arrow towards his opponent, the moment it made contact a powerful whirlwind was unleashed that threw the attacking limbs back several meters, spreading them in the process, water landing all over the beach. It didn’t stop them, however, as quick as they had been destroyed they regenerated back into their original form.
While he had gained a small headstart, the appendages were hot on his trail and would ultimately catch onto him if he didn’t do something quickly, his constant attacks on the tentacles were slowing them down, but this was not a permanent solution.
Charge was in the meantime struggling with her own two tentacles that were relentlessly striking at her. She just had smacked both of the appendages away from her as a third one grabbed her from behind, trying to jank her towards the water. As she was quickly forced closer and closer towards the waster she instinctively activated the engines all over he body, letting the Corrupted scream out in pain.
The moment the tentacles began to loosened their grip and were about to retreat towards the water, she quickly gripped onto one of them with her hands. For a few seconds, both the Corrupted and Charge were struggling to drag the other in their direction, well, until Charge activated her engines again and was boosting towards the edge of the beach, the appendage still firmly in her hands. Even the inhuman strength of the Corrupted was no match for the force of her engines and so Fifteen was slowly dragged from the depths of the ocean and towards actually land.
The instant Charge had started to pull the appendages of the Corrupted the ones following Alchemy stopped dead in their tracks and quickly turned around, rushing towards his partner. “Oh no, you don’t!” Drawing his bow again, he quickly let arrow after arrow rain down on the three limbs, halting their progress as best as he could.
Charge had meanwhile managed to actually drag the Corrupted onto the beach, with its jellyfishlike head staring at them in pure contempt. “Alchemy! Now!” Charge shouted towards him, immediately after he heard this he started to spin the Wind Disc again.
“Arrow Storm!” The arrow shot straight up into the air, disappeared into the familiar seal and moments later a barrage of arrows was raining down on the Corrupted.
The beach was consumed by a massive cloud of dust and sand, making it impossible for anyone to see what had transpired. Then suddenly the limb Charge still firmly held onto started to pull back again, nearly dragging her with it. Charge activated her boosters again, starting to pull the Corrupted out of the dust cloud. Besides the fact that his armor had been shattered it seemed like no harm had been done to him, his now exposed flesh looked just like his head and tentacles.
“Alchemy! Switch!”
“Roger!” With that he flew over to where Charge was still playing tug of war with Fifteen, the moment he landed next to her, he reverted his bow back to its Discform, replaced it with another Disc and spun it.
\ EARTH DISC ACTIVATED! /
After the transformation he quickly grabbed the tentacle and started to pull, holding the limb in place. “Well, let’s take this one for a spin.” Charged pulled out her new Charger and ejected the old one. With a swift motion, the two Chargers had switched places and she started to spin the cylinder again.
“Charge up!”
\ 50, 80, 100! WIND CHARGE! /
The ball of energy consumed her again, this time it was emerald green. After the energy had subsided she now was armored in her new form. The formal red undersuit now had taken on an emerald green color. Her eyes had changed back to their original red color. The exhaust pipes all over the armor were gone, now looking again like her Thunder Mode. There was one quite apparent difference though, two propellers encased in metal rings that were mounted on her back. The Charge Magnum had been replaced with a silver and green rifle that was connected to her back with a long green tube.
A gust of wind from her propellers kicked up some of the sand on the beach and with that, she ascended into the air. As she had reached a sufficient hight the propellers on her back slight shifted, letting her move closer to the Corrupted. After flicking a switch on the weapon she pulled the trigger, a whirlwind emerged from the weapon, directly hitting the Corrupted. With its force the whirlwind managed too pull the monster out of the water, Fifteen flailing around, desperately trying to grab onto anything. She quickly changed the direction the rifle was facing, dragging the Corrupted towards the beach.
After she had managed to get the monster out of the water and over solid ground she flicked the switch again, in an instant, the whirlwind didn’t pull the monster closer to her but instead started pushing it, Fifteen slamming against the ground, unable to move. It desperately tried to move its tentacles outside the wind that currently traped him. However, the moment its arms reached the edge of the whirlwind they were shredded to pieces, water splattering everywhere but the center of the whirlwind.
“Well, let's finish this!” She spun the cylinder on her Driver again, the tube that connected her weapon to her started to glow in a bright green.
\ Maximum Charge! /
It seemed like green energy was traveling towards the muzzle of the weapon, then it suddenly stopped and moments later a beam of green energy shoot out from the riffle, heading straight for the Corrupted. The beam completely consumed its target and a large explosion originated from the point it had hit the earth. After the beam had stopped the dust cloud around the Corrupted slowly dispersed, leaving only a short blue man with brown hat, grey stubble and black suit remained, next to him a dark blue seashell necklace.
Alchemy was the first to reach the target, quickly pulling out one of the blank Magic Discs and pointing towards the artifact. As he was about to absorb it Charge descended from above, managing to get a quick look at the artifact. It seemed oddly familiar, then it hit her. “Phoenix, stop!” But it was already too late, the magic was transferring into the Magic Disc. The moment Phoenix realized what she had shouted the magic already had been stripped from the necklace.
“Sorry, I didn’t know you wanted to get a look at the artifact,” he hastily replied, bowing his head in shame.
She only sighed in return and replied: “Forget it, you couldn’t have known that. Next time just wait for me. It was just that I already saw this thing once.”
That left Alchemy speechless, at least for a few seconds. “What do you mean?”
“Well, I saw one that looked exactly like this one on a trip to an island near the coast. The local population reported that they were supposedly attacked by large tentacles that came out of the sewers. Ultimately we traced down the one responsible, an old fisherman that hated how everything had changed. He thought by destroying everything technological would bring back those happier times. The thing he used to summon these tentacles was a necklace exactly like this one.” She pointed at the now normal seashell necklace.
“But, you took it, don’t you have a place where you store these items?” Alchemy sounded somewhat confused by the sudden turn of events.
“Yes, we do. We store all of the artifacts we acquire in different warehouses around the country. The seashell should be in warehouse thirteen. I think I have to look into this.” Before she could continue she heard a groan coming from the man next to them. “Oh, I completely forgot.” Her previous confusion was swept away and replaced with her usual seriousness. “You are under arrest! You have the right to remain silent. All you say can and will be used against you.” Before the man could make any attempt to flee he was cuffed. “And I hope you are willing to talk because I’m in a really bad mood right now.”
>-------<A>-------<
In the small interrogation room inside the police station, Well-to-Do was again sitting at the metal table, his expression one-off complete annoyance. Then the door opened again, agent Skies entering, right behind her officer Armor. “Oh, officer, agent Skies, what gives me the honor of seeing you two again so soon? An apology because it is apparent I had nothing to do with this.”
A small smile appeared on Ocean’s face as she turned to face him. “Oh, no. Not that. I think, listening to it firsthand is probably the best way to explain it to you.” She pulled out a tablet and pushed something on it.
“So, you want me to trash the beach? Did I get that?” A rough voice could be heard.
“Yes, I want this damned beach to be completely destroyed. Until now these damn Change Industries idiots always declined, but if no one comes to the beach, they have to sell.” A second voice could be heard, this voice was unquestionably the one of Well-to-Do. He in return turned pale, gasping for air.
“I couldn’t care less about your reasons. Just give me the money and everything will be taken care of.”
“Huh, you are really ‘straight to business’ person. I like it. Her is your money, you get the rest when you are done.”
“Good, there is just one question left, how far am I allowed to go?”
Silence filled the air for a moment, only cars could be heard in the distance. “I don’t care, get me the beach and your job is done.”
“Very well, and don’t worry, Tartarus always delivers.” That was where the recording ended.
“I… This can’t… How is this?” Well-to-Do stammered. “Who brought you this?”
“An anonymous witness. We checked everything and it fits. The recording has not been tampered with. This is your voice on this, undeniably. Your mercenary also already talked after we showed this to him. You are under arrest! You have the right to remain silent. All you say can and will be used against you.” With that, she put the handcuffs she had been holding in her hand on him.
“I… How could I be caught? No, no! this is a lie! A lie! Mark my words Charge, I will make sure you get fired, you hear me, I’ll make you pay!”
“Mhm, we’ll see about that.” Shining Armor quickly led the man away towards one of the cells.
>-------<A>-------<
A knock on the door let the woman pale green woman with the orange hair look up from her desk. The black business suit she wore only increasing the confidence she radiated. “Come in.”The door opened with a quiet squeak and a man stepped into the room, Pharynx. A pleased smirk covering his lips as he stepped closer.
“I assume this means that you have taken care of our little friend, right?” Her voice was cooled and calculating.
“Indeed mother. The fool will no longer be a problem, I made sure of that,” he proudly replied, his smirk only growing with every passing second.
“I hope so. Did you make it convincing?”
“Of course mother, I was always quite the actor, they should not be able to tell the difference.”
“Good, then you can go. I hope the next time will be a bit quieter. Limit the interaction with the Riders to a minimum and tell your brother that as well.” She returned to her work that was neatly laid out on her table.
“Yes mother, as you wish.” With that Pharynx turned around and quickly left the room again, closing the door behind him.