Chapter 12: An Obsidian Gift

"So, what about the others?" Thomas asked Robin. The two of them had been sitting at the table at the corner of the room.

Jess, Vanessa, Roddy and Enrique had gone to aid the police in arresting robbers, while Jake and the Colonel went out to get some coffee.

"The others are out on jobs too. It's a kidnapping case. They probably won't be coming to the Station this week."

"And why aren't we out on jobs?"

" You, because you just came today. You are yet to be briefed. Me, because I saved an old woman like three hours ago."

Thomas looked at her sharply, considering her statement. "Mind going into the details."

Robin returned his sharp look with a smirk on her face. "Why, are you curious?"

"You know what, I'm not. I'll just save an old woman myself and get the experience firsthand."

"You'll have to wait for that, monster hunter." she said with a smirk. "They don't send out new recruits unless were shorthanded."

" "Monster Hunter"? Really?", said Thomas, shaking his head.

Suddenly the door opened and Richard walked in with hurried steps. "Mr. Alinac, you and Jake will be heading out on a job, we're a bit shorthanded."

Thomas looked at Richard, and then at Robin. "You were saying?"

"Get into gear, you'll be briefed on the way." said Richard.

"Coming right up."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jake and Thomas had gotten into uniform- black combat shirt and pants- and received their weapons-a handgun and a combat knife. The Station was a huge place, and without Jake, Thomas could have never made it to the Garage at the far North side of the place. The Colonel was already waiting for them there and, when they finally got there, wasted no time in getting into the driver's seat of a police ARV.

Jake motioned Thomas to get into the passenger's seat, and then slipped into the backseat himself. Richard started the car, and less than a minute later they were out of the Station's driveway.

They had been driving in silence for about five minutes when Richard finally spoke. "Thomas?"

Hearing Richard use his first name sent a sense of alarm through him. "Yes?"

"Have you ever killed anyone?"

Thomas was taken aback. "Excuse me?"

" Anything you say will be off the record, you can be honest."

Thomas thought Richard might be joking, but his expression and tone gave no hint of humour. "I've never committed murder, if that's what you're asking."

"Let me just cut to the chase. I know, that since you came to the Station this morning, we've all been lighthearted with you. But the truth is, the nature of this job is.... not like that. I assume the handgun and the knife may have suggested that. The UGARP guidelines pretty straightforward. Value the life of your comrades above the lives you're saving. That's why, I must know."

"Know what?" asked Thomas. But he already had an idea of what was coming.

"Are you prepared to take the live of another person, to save members of your guild?" asked Colonel Richard, his voice hard and cold.

Thomas repeated the question in his head. He thought of The Monster he had slain two months ago, how he had felt no remorse whatsoever. 'But that wasn't a person.'

He recalled every person he had met in his life, wondering if he could kill any of them if it came down to it. The image of Robert came into his mind, and suddenly something burned inside him.

Hate. Pure, unadulterated hate. He began daydreaming of all the ways he would torture him if he had the chance.

"Your answer, Thomas?" Richards's voice brought him back to the present.

Thomas looked up at Richard, his countenance rendered in steel. Then, he was suddenly aware of his left hand, positioned around the hilt of the knife, from when he was thinking about Robert.

In that moment, he realized what his answer to Richard's question was. He looked Richard in the eyes, and said, as confidently as he could. "Yes."

They rode in silence for a few more minutes, until Jake finally broke the silence. "Mind briefing us about the job, Colonel?"

"An old woman got attacked." he replied with a sigh. " She stated that her attackers assaulted her husband, took most of the cash from their home, and left. We're supposed to figure out the attackers' identity, file a report, and hand over the case to The Green Hounds guild."

"The Green Hounds guild?" inquired Thomas.

"Its a local guild, around fifty members, they're proving quite useful to the Special Division in Brighton."

Thomas nodded in acknowledgement.

"Hey," interrupted Jake. "I don't wanna be that guy, but are we there yet."

" Five more minutes."

Thomas was staring at his hands. It was bizarre, surreal , suddenly living in a world of Power, Monsters and supernatural beings. Looking back, he wondered how he even took on that frightening Monster Zero, let alone killed it. His thoughts wandered, and and then suddenly came to a stop.

"Wait, can I just..." he whispered, not to anyone. He manifested a small amount Darkness, twisting and twirling it around his fingers. He fashioned it in the shape of a knife, but couldn't get the details right. The edge was too blunt, there was no sharp point.

He pinched the edge between his index finger and his thumb, and dragged them along its entire length. Richard stole quiet glances at whatever Thomas was trying to accomplish.

"Jake?" Thomas said without looking behind. "Do you prefer single-edged knives of doubled-edged knives."

"What kind of a question is that?"

"Just answer it."

"Fine. Double-edged. More practical."

"Alright." Thomas repeated the same shaping process with the other edge, and then took some time giving the blade a sharp point. When he had fought the snake, the shaping process had been easier, more spontaneous. But then again, his Power had different levels. He was definitely on a higher level that time.

Once he was done, he searched inside him for the hardening ability. This time, the ability responded to his call swiftly, hungrily, like it had been waiting. Thomas felt its cold, dark presence probing into his heart, flowing through his veins. He closed his eyes, and the vision of the almost-frozen pond came to his mind instantly. Thomas felt it awaiting his call to solidify, to release that latent energy.

Thomas gave the order, and a split-second later felt the weight of the knife increasing in his hands as it freezed into solid obsidian. Unlike the act of manifesting his Darkness, which seemed to devour his emotions, this aspect of his Power consumed his energy. He could feel his pulse quickening, his rate of breathing increasing.

He opened his eyes to admire his work, while Richard looked with increasing curiosity.

The blade wasn't perfect by any means. The edges were barely sharp, the weight wasn't balanced, and the blade in itself was disproportionate. But he had done a decent job with the tip. Given the weight of the weapon, it could tear through flesh without much difficulty.

"That's a neat trick." said Richard. If he was trying to hide his amazement, he wasn't doing a pretty good job.

"What's a neat trick?" inquired Jake, who had been sitting oblivious to what was happening.

"Here," replied Thomas as he handed Jake the knife. "Consider it a gift for watching over me in the hospital and getting me employed while I was fast asleep."

The weight of the knife caught Jake a little off-guard as he took it in his hands. "That's actually a neat trick. Once you get better at this I might just farm you for knives."

Richard gave a slight chuckle at this. And they rode on while Jake pointed out ever tiny imperfection the blade had. Thomas regarded a few, and then tuned out Jakes' voice, making a "Hmm" sound whenever he felt appropriate. He definitely hadn't expected Jake to be a fan of blades.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Alex King~

Alex sat silently on a wooden chair in his makeshift office. It was a small apartment in London, known only to Rose, Jack and himself. Anyone else, he just didn't trust enough.

He was busy arranging his thoughts, making plans for the guild and himself. Before him paperwork and reports lay sprawled on a glass table. With the amount of guilds The Dark Knights had devoured in the past few months, the strength of the Guild had doubled, and consequently the paperwork too.

There was barely anyone ready to challenge their power. The police were too weak,the Anarchists were avoiding confrontations with guilds that were not allied with UGARP and The Hunters were too busy acting like heroes and doing the police's job.

He looked at his gun, lying on the table, and regarded the report lying next to it once more. It was written by Kimber, one of his spies within the ranks of the Dark Knights. Some members were growing curious about their boy-leader, who barely showed himself unless it was in the battlefield. He would need to sort that out, but it could wait. He had other things to do for now.

His doorbell suddenly rung, dragging him out of his thoughts. He was on his feet in an instant, wires swirling around him, eyes shining red. He had wrapped a few of his wires around his gun and brought it to his right hand.

He moved towards the door with quick steps, and gave it three sharp knocks with his gun, at an interval of one second each. The response from the other side came in the form of four knocks, the first three at intervals of one second each, and the fourth at an interval of two seconds.

Alex opened the door. "What business, Jack?"

Jack stood alone at the doorway, his figure tall and imposing.

When he didn't answer, Alex turned around. "Come in, close the door."

Alex took his seat and lit a cigarettes as Jack made sure the door lock was in place. When he was finished, he took a seat in front of Alex .

"You look troubled."

Jack remained silent for a few seconds. "The London council is threatening to declare war." he finally spoke with a sigh.

"And?"

Jack looked at Alex like he was insane. "Alex, it's the London Council. We're utterly outnumbered. They have UGARP on their side. And you saw the latest update didn't you. The terminal recognizes when a Guild War is going on, and the guild that loses is robbed of all its points. If we lose, it's the end of the road for us."

Alex gave a malevolent smile as he took a drag on his cigarette. "The road has just started, Jack. And it won't end until I tell it to."

"Fine." said Jack, exasperated. "What are your orders?"

Alex closed his eyes as he exhaled smoke through his nose and considered his options, thoughts running through his head like equations, neurons firing, making connections left and right.

'Fifteen-hundred pitted against four-thousand. Outnumbered by Thirty-five hundred. Direct confrontation should be avoided. Should I make arrangements for negotiation?' he thought. 'No. Laying low because of just one warning wouldn't do well for our reputation. And a battle would attract too much attention from UGARP.' Suddenly, his brain strayed towards Gabe, but he buried that thought in the back of his brain.

Jack watched him intently. He wanted to ask him to hurry up the brainstorming, but he knew better. Alex King had a War Council inside his head.

And the council didn't like interruptions.

Finally, after a few minutes of silence, Alex opened his eyes. They were fierce, dangerous, predatory. His voice came devoid of any hint of humour. "We have three spies within The London Council. Instruct them to gather every information they can get on the top brass. I need there schedules, their preferences, who they meet, who they go out with, everything. "

"It'll be done." Jack replied, with a hint of confusion on his face. "Anything else that you think I should know about your...plan?"

Alex's smile was radiating yet more malevolence now. "Just that if things go my way, London will fall right in our hands."