As this is the finale for the half-baked (sorry, for that) Volume one, I am attempting some experimentation for it. The finale will be divided into three acts (Cliche... Yeah, I know). If it works, I might use it for all the finales in the upcoming volumes. If not... We will see about that.
-----------------------------------
-- ACT-ONE --
"Okay, guys. We messed up big time... Yeah, none of the things that followed up to this point will make any sense to you... So, let me explain" Maguire opened up in front of the temporarily assigned team to handle the 'Laughing Death' cases. By clicking on the remote, he began the PPT to summarize what had been transpired up to this point.
"Bailey!
"He is the only son of Ex-Chief Josh Weasley and also served as an officer in the defense force as a captain with his own squad dealing robbery-related cases, eleven years ago.
"But one day, he was arrested for murdering his squad members in a cold-blooded fashion with a rusted knife. And all the dead members were found smiling; including Bailey himself. Uncontrollably laughing, but found alive with a knife stabbed to his neck. Bailey was declared to be mentally ill and the Chief of defense force at the time, his father resigned his post and went to his native place - Second Gate. Cult blamed the Seventh Gate publicly and stripped the authority of the defense force to function independently, restraining them under their new rules and regulations.
"Under the Cult's orders, Bailey was transferred to Third Gate for treatment, since there are not enough facilities in Seventh Gate to treat mentally ill patients. But there are no reports or evidence to prove Bailey reached Third Gate and no one knew his real whereabouts. Cult warned the defense force to destine themselves from the case, threatening them with serious consequences.
"Then ten years after this incident, the series of murders began to occur in the city, which was later found out to be a continuation of Bailey's case. This case is now named 'Laughing Deaths' and our first suspect is Mr. Bailey."
Maguire ended the PPT.
"How could you say, sir? How is Bailey is our first suspect?" one of the team members, Andy asked.
"Well... That's the confusing part. The PPT is not prepared by me and the pooling of suspects is not done by me either."
The team consisting of four officers was perplexed on hearing it.
"All this information is not public knowledge... not defense force's either. It was all collected, verified, compiled, and put into a PPT by... the man I disguise the most. The Priest AKA Devil... AKA father AKA whatever fucking name that suits him. Now as per the info he has the ability to change his appearance using the 'Ashes' and on analyzing every murder, we have found a certain range of energy spikes that only occurs when 'Ashes' are used on 'changing an object's nature. In this case, the object may be a face or even an entire body. Ahem!" Maguire took a sip of water and looked at the confused faces.
"By the way, I mispelled it... it's *despise* not *disguise*... I despise that guy. Back to the topic... The Devil even attached some actual sightings of Bailey in public places by the people... some of them later became crime scenes. I have sent them to your Mail-ids. As per the info by our dear Devil, the murders will soon pick up at an extremely fast pace. So, no need to doubt the validity of this info and move your asses to work. Disperse!"
The team members exited Maguire's cabin. Maguire exhaled deeply and sat on the chair, closing his eyes, meditating.
While Maguire stressing himself because of his partner's absence, tragedy struck Mr. Rishi.
Mr. Rishi rushed to the Defense force headquarters. He was in tears and panic. He went to the complaint section and waited in the queue for hours. He roamed through all the floors to complete the procedure to file a complaint. He was drained of energy from crying uncontrollably. He cannot stop cursing himself and praying to the almighty, even for a second.
"Is it Mr. Rishi?" Maguire wondered on seeing a glimpse of Rishi's face from the small gap between the unclosed door in his cabin. Maguire was shocked when he saw the complaint letter in Rishi's hands. His instincts tickled, recalling the Priest's letter and he prayed it to turn out as false, as his mind feared for the worst.
He opened the drawer in the table and quickly opened the 'Potential Victims List' left by Priest before his absence. The list was formed by analyzing and identifying the common traits of the previous victims and the pattern in their deaths.
"Oh, lord. No! it can't be..." Maguire muttered in disbelief as he saw the name, he wished not to be on the list. Maguire recalled the most highlighted warning in Priest's letter - The possibility of the abducted victim's survival is zero.
He dashed out of his room and shouted at Rishi, to look back. But Rishi was so lost in thoughts and depressed that he didn't hear it. Maguire ran and grabbed Rishi's shoulder. He shook him to snap out of his thoughts.
"Mr. Maguire!"
"Is it about your daughter? Is she missing?" Maguire cut to the chase.
Mr. Rishi held back his emotional burst and silently nodded.
"How long?"
"I don't know. She used to come home at 6... before me. Help me, Maguire" Rishi broke down in tears, pleading.
"No! Don't worry. I immediately put my men on it. We have a team, now... for the case. No delays like the old days. Be strong, sir. Nothing will happen to your daughter," Maguire tried to pacify Rishi, but he knew that he was lying straight to his face.
-- ACT-TWO --
Maguire quickly sent the news to the team, the 'Pigeon force' - a special force under the Defense force handling rescue operations and mass arrests.
"I hope, he sees it. I can't afford to lose another life... Mr. Devil"
Maguire sent the emergency signal embedded with the news about the abduction to Priest. Maguire's eyes were fixated on the screen for acknowledgment for a while.
"Sir! I have heard the news. Thought you could use some extra muscle..." Aalaf startled Maguire.
"Oh, Aalaf. Sure! I could use some extra..."
Maguire looked back at the screen once again. There was no change on the screen. He sighed deeply and came to terms with the fact.
"Maybe the Godly Devil finally gave up on the greedy humans..." he muttered himself and put his phone back into his pocket, accepting the harsh truth.
"Suit up. We are going for an all-out search and catch that fucking bastard."
Maguire messaged the plan to the 'Pigeons' and also explained to Aalaf, who is part of his solo mission to track down the base and safely rescue Alina, Rishi's daughter.
The Plan:
The plan is to use solidified 'Ash Magnet' which gets attracted to the powdered 'Ashes' which are higher in number. Since the murders are carried out using 'Ashes' by infecting the victims and brainwashing them to kill themselves, the 'Pigeons' will act as offensive players, ambushing the kidnappers, while Aalaf and Maguire will sneak into the secret hideout and rescue Alina. And all these was needed to be done within the next 2 hours, since the sun will rise at that time and the accompanying rain will make things difficult.
"It's Officer Maguire here. Is the magnet doing its work?"
"We have to roam all around the city, sir. While maintaining a low-profile—"
"Use different vehicles. Go in different pairings. We don't have time!"
"Yes sir."
The time ran quickly. Maguire in a very small, confined car was eagerly waiting for the good news along with Aalaf who was regretting his decision to tag along.
"Sir! We found them. It's near Rich Rocker Club sir."
Maguire cursed his fate. "Our heads are gonna roll. This is our operation. Do you accept that?"
"It's an innocent girl's life. I'm not gonna wait for the Cult on this. Order us, Mr. Maguire. I am more than happy to throw my head."
Maguire chuckled and gave his command. Aalaf started the car and drove as fast as he could to reach the spot. With godspeed, they reached the spot, but Maguire couldn't find the 'Pigeons'.
"What the hell?" Maguire muttered as he couldn't find the officers anywhere; he opened his phone and saw the shocking message.
"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck you, bastards!" Maguire screamed in anger.
One of the officers in 'Pigeons' leaked the news to the Cult, and the Cult stripped the leader of his post and stopped all the actions set in motion for the rescue operation.
"What the message says?" Aalaf asked.
"The necessary action will be taken after a 'detailed' discussion with the Cults and that fucking discussion is scheduled for next week... Are they fucking with me?" Maguire groaned.
"I don't care even if I die! I am going in." Maguire marched to the hideout, a large abandoned bar.
"Okay, I'll leave then... Fuck! No! I am coming too," Aalaf tagged along, cursing himself for the decision.
-- ACT-THREE --
As they enter, a shocking surprise was waiting for them. The bar was wrecked with broken furniture and some thugs were knocked out unconscious. Papers with direction points were pasted on the walls.
Maguire followed it, which led them to a hallway. Nearly dozens of thugs with weapons were on the floor. Beaten black and blue, but still alive, rolling in pain.
"This seems oddly familiar. But there's no blood! That makes it completely unfamiliar."
A sticky note pasted on the end of the hallway caught Maguire's attention.
'A lot of girls and boys were inside a storage room. Don't worry, I left the door open. But you know, the kids don't believe me. So, rescue the kids. And I'm on my way to that little girl. Come to 'Kraken Bridge' in a car.'
'And please see the messages sometimes. It could save me a lot of trouble.'
Maguire opened his phone to see the message he was waiting for.
'Aye, Aye Captain! The Priest is on the way.'
"Fucking YES!" Maguire cheered in happiness
"What just happened?" Aalaf asked, understanding nothing from the sticky note.
"Inform the nearby safety cops. Let's go to the Kraken Bridge. We got this! Bastards!"
Aalaf rushed to the Kraken Bridge's end as per Maguire's instructions. A car entered the bridge, racing. It was damaged, slightly broken, and was in over speed. The driver was the stalker who was rescued by disguised Bailey and behind him was a girl tied up and gagged. It was Alina.
The stalker noticed a car blocking the exit. He accelerated the car to further speed using the 'Ashes'.
"Ashes work on machines too! dumbass—" Stalker's comment was interrupted by a Straight Black Katana or, in other words, a Bokken which cracked the rear window open, coming towards the Stalker's face.
The Stalker managed to dodge, and the Katana broke off the front window and flew to the front, stabbing the ground.
Startled by the super-speed Katana passing him, the Stalker lost control of the steering and the wheels of the car accidentally hit the Katana, which flipped over the entire car in the air.
Alina let a muffled screamed with the gag. Suddenly, she felt like someone grabbed her hand. The locked door was pierced open, flying in the air. All she could see was a silhouette of a young man with a flashy white light in the background with raindrops entering inside. He was dressed in a suit like a businessman at a business meeting.
"Don't worry. You are safe," he said, kicking the roof of the car open. He jumped into the air as the car continued to flip over, clearing the ground to land.
"And if you are wondering who am I. Just call me Priest."
Priest landed smoothly, without shattering the ground or breaking her spine. He was strangely over-cautious, which caught Maguire's eyes.
The stalker too jumped off while the car was in the air, but broke his shoulder and ankle due to the landing. The Ashes abandon him and crawled out.
Maguire shot down the Ashes with his mini-capture gun.
"Sir, I think the car is coming... to us," Aalaf noticed the rolling car coming towards them. Both of them ran to the corner; while Aalaf reached it, Maguire lost the balance and fell to the ground.
"Sir!" Aalaf screamed. Maguire's eyes closed in the sudden shock. But the car stopped; in mid-air.
Maguire slowly opened his eyes to see a small girl, probably in her teens wearing a black hoodie jacket, stopping the car in one hand.
Her look, presence felt so similar to the person who also happened to be most familiar to Maguire.
"Hey, old man!" the girl called out Maguire.
"Careful with the words, lady!" Diana reminded her from behind, sitting on a motorcycle.
"Oh, hey! You are with this girl?" Aalaf asked.
"Yeah, guess she jumped out of my bike just in time."
Maguire was feeling some kind of familiar vibe, but he couldn't figure that out.
"Hello, Maguire. I am... What's the name he gave me? Hmm... Call me Liv," she reached out her hand, introducing herself.
Maguire on the floor shook hands with her.
"It's him... It's the Devil. Is it his daughter? For fuck's sake, even the dress color is similar!" Maguire freaked out internally on thinking about the possibility. The more he looked at her, the more the body language and mannerisms matched.
The Priest walked towards Maguire carrying passed out Alina with a smile on his face. He handed over Alina to Maguire's arms.
"I tried my best to not harm anyone... anything. It still needs some practice to perfect it," Priest sighed.
"Yeah, that surprised me... The thugs were surprisingly alive and... every bone in their bodies was intact. Did anything weird happened on your trip?" Maguire wondered.
"We'll speak about it later. So... did you miss me?"
"Aalaf. Punch him."
"What? Aalaf is a good guy. You seriously think he will punch—" Priest startled by the sudden punch from Aalaf.
"Sorry, Father. I promised I'll be an extra muscle," Aalaf reasoned him.
"Why you guys are always obsessed with my nose. Shit! It's bleeding."
Maguire handed him over his handkerchief.
"Now, tell me. Who is she? And don't tell me that she is your... Just don't tell me she is your..." Maguire stammered on finishing the sentence.
Priest wiped off the little amount of blood and turned to Maguire.
"Well, that... that has to wait."