The first target Dante picked was the same guy who had followed Liliana around the previous day. After she left Factory Town, the gangster spent his time at different spots before stopping at one in particular. He hadn’t moved from there ever since, which gave Dante a pretty good guess on what he was doing.
That guess was confirmed when the place they were looking for turned out to be an old apartment building. This one appeared to be just that_ a residential building with no bars, nightclubs, or joyhouses. Time seemed about done with it, leaving cracks through its walls and peeled paint everywhere. Nearby dumpsters overflowed with garbage, showing that no one had come to collect it in weeks, leaving a mountain for the cats and street dogs to dig through.
There was no one to guard the front entrance, letting just about anyone come in and out of the building without trouble. There were no elevators, and with their target being on the fifth floor, Liliana and Dante had no choice but to climb the stairs.
"Should we... Should we knock?"
That question came from Liliana who only realized she hadn’t thought things through once they were standing in front of a locked door. Dante sighed and turned his thoughts inward, asking Volcan to hack the simple electronic lock.
Before long, the keypad on the wall turned green and the gray metal door slid to the side.
Looking at Ms. Hero, Dante placed a finger on his mouth telling her to be quiet. The look on her face showed that she wasn’t really comfortable with breaking into someone’s house, which meant she wasn’t prepared for what they were going to do either.
Taking a step inside, Dante came to a stop, a frown warping his face half of which was hidden under a mask. He held a hand up telling Liliana to stop then proceeded forward with careful steps. Just as he reached the end of the corridor, a gun appeared from around the corner and pointed at his head.
The target was definitely a light sleeper to be woken up by the faint sound of the door sliding open. Thanks to Volcan’s warning, Dante was aware of the gangster waiting for him. His head jerked back as his hand shot up and pushed the gun upward.
One would expect the gun to go off in this situation, but the gangster either didn’t want to wake up his neighbors or chose to keep the safety on for whatever reason. Before he could react, Dante twisted his body and shot a fist into the gangster’s stomach. He had put a lot of force into that punch intending to knock him with one strike, but instead, he felt the shock reverberate through his arm.
’Fucking... Bastard...’
He hadn’t expected a random henchman to have subdermal armor. In the instant Dante took to recover from the shock, his opponent freed his hands and swung the gun down, hitting Dante on the head. If it wasn’t for the awkward angle of the strike he would’ve knocked him out right then and there.
The gangster raised his arm with the intent to strike again, but his sight was blocked by the sole of a boot. The next moment her was flying away before his head hit the wall, leaving him passed out.
Though she was startled by the gangster’s ambush, Liliana reacted quickly the moment she noticed Dante’s blow was ineffective. Thanks to that, they were able to incapacitate the target before the situation got more chaotic.
Dante had Volcan shut the door then went about the necessary preparations for the interrogation. They fixed the gangster to a chair using some duct tape. As they were about to seal his mouth as well, Liliana revealed that she knew the guy. Apparently, he had approached her saying he could take her to someone who knew about Catalyst as long as she paid him.
Once that was done, Dante asked Liliana to wait outside until he said otherwise. Things were about to get ugly and he didn’t want her to see what he was going to do.
A splash of ice-cold water forced him awake. He shot up by reflex but couldn’t move his body at all. Noticing he couldn’t open his mouth, horror-struck him like thunder. He tried to move his head only to realize it was taped in place as well. The only thing he could move was his eyes so he looked around desperately. That was when he saw someone sitting on the edge of his bed.
The room was dark, with the only light being that of the street lamp outside filtering into the room through the gaps in the window’s shutters. That light reflected on the intruder’s face, revealing his youthful features. A second later, a spark of recognition flashed in the man’s mind. He knew the kid.
As his eyes widened with surprise, a screen opened on his OAM. On it was a simple messenger app.
Ghost: Nice to meet you, Rechy.
A sudden chill ran through the man’s spine. The app was custom-made by the best Diver in his gang for its members to communicate with instead of the more common apps. To install it one had to be vetted by the boss in person. Because of that, it should have been impossible for outsiders to get their hands on it.
Unable to speak, Rechy turned his focus to the app and began typing.
Rechy: Fucking Bastard!
The fuck do you think your going!!?
As he sent the messages dripping with anger he tried to open a second screen so he could contact someone for help, but his commands went unanswered.
You can’t text anyone.
You can’t call anyone either.
The only thing you can do is reply to this.
Rechy kept staring at the floating screen until another message arrived.
Hesitating for a moment, he turned his attention to the virtual keyboard.
Rechy: the hell do you want?