*At Tiger Plaza, Constantine was in the interrogation room interrogating the four humans along two other knights. On the other side stood the members of Shadow Eye and Korone*
(Korone): You’ve given us a big crack in this case. How’d you catch them?
(Dust): Through grit and determination. Late last night I was out eating and drinking when I sensed a bunch of people watching me. I decided to play it cool and let them make the first move, but it didn’t come. I decided to leave around closing time and lowered my guard on the streets to fool them. I turned around the corner and that’s when the fighting began.
***
*Flashback*
*After Dust turned the corner the two hooded figures following him pulled out their guns, turned the corner and fired only to hit nothing and find no trace of Dust on the empty street*
(Hooded figure #1): Where’d he go?
*Up on a streetlight post, Dust jumped down gaining the attention of the hooded figures who saw his shadow*
(Hooded figure #2): Oh shit!
*Dust tackled the first hooded figure while the second one jumped out of the way and fired his gun at Dust who quickly dodged but of the darts hit in the leg. Dust felt dizzy but pulled the dart out. The hooded figure reloaded his gun and was about to fire again but Dust used his wire to whip the gun out of the hooded figure’s hand and into the air. Dust forward and leapt into the air to catch the gun. On his way down he extended his legs outward and delivered a dropkick to the hooded figure sending them into a pile of dirty snow. Dust tucked the gun into his trench coat pocket and walked over to the hooded figure in the snow to interrogate*
(Dust): Who are you and who sent you?
*Before Dust could get an answer, a grey van turned the corner and he was shot with two darts in the back by the driver followed by two more darts from the hooded figure he tackled earlier. Everything went blurry and he passed out on top of the second hooded figure. The back of the van opened and out came a third hooded figure who ran over to check on the second hooded figure and the first one got up*
(Hooded Figure #2): What kept you guys? Hurry up and get him off me!
*The first and third hooded figure picked Dust up and began to drag him toward the van. Just when they were about to shove Dust into the van, he regained consciousness. He elbowed one of hooded figures in the stomach and tossed the other one into the van. He then kicked the hooded figure he elbowed with a thrust kick. He was still dizzy and could barely focus as he backed away from the van. So much so that he couldn’t react in time to the third hooded figure pull out a knife and running forward to stab him. Luckily, Dust pulled a black case from his pocket to block the attack and countered with a left hook to knock the figure out. The driver fearing for their life, took off with the backdoors still opened. Dust grabbed the knife and focused as best as he could on the van. He then threw the knife puncturing one of the back tires causing the van to swerve and crash into a streetlight post. The driver’s door opened and the driver fell out of the van barely conscious with a gun in his hand. With their hands shaking, they pointed the gun at Dust before noticing a black wire around their wrist. Dust pulled on the wire and the driver flew in the air toward Dust where he delivered and big boot to the face of the driver before falling to one knee and breathing heavily*
*Flashback Ends*
***
(Dust): After catching my breath I tied them up. Got them to a safe area and then made my way here.
(Hibana): And you didn’t think to call us? I- I mean they’ve been worried sick about you!
*Dust reaches into his pocket and pulls out the black case which turned out to be his cellphone. The phone was cracked and had a hole where the knife penetrated*
(Dust): Couldn’t make a call.
(Jade): So any idea why they were after you?
(Dust): Not sure, but I think it has something to do with this Hunting Season business we’ve been investigating.
(Amarti): Hunting Season?
(Korone): It’s some kind of underground event the human supremacists do. They kidnap unsuspecting demihumans, elves, merfolk, and mixed races and hunt them down like animals in the wild.
*Everyone was shocked by what they heard*
(Korone): Me and Caspian have been looking into this event for years. This is closest we’ve ever gotten a lead on them.
*Back in the interrogation room*
(Constantine): Where’s the event taking place this year?
(Male #1): We don’t know? The location changes every year. We’re just the capturing team. We capture whoever they tell us to go after and drop them off for the transportation team.
(Constantine): And where is the drop off point?
*The group goes quiet*
(Constantine): So you don’t feel like talking anymore?
*The group remains quiet*
(Constantine): Okay. Men, we’re tagging out.
*Constantine and the knights leave the room*
(Constantine): Alright. They’re all yours.
(Raika): Thank you.
*Raika kicks open the door and enters the interrogation room*
(Raika): Alright, the good knight has left. Now you’ve got the bad knight and she is highly pissed off.
(Female #1): Oh please. You don’t scare us.
*Raika takes out a knife and stabs the female in the hand with it*
(Female #1): AHHHHHH~!
(Raika): Recognize that knife? It’s what you used as a weapon against your victim. My friend.
(Male #2): Wait, he’s with you? That guy’s a monster. He took five darts and still kept standing. Those darts were strong enough to take down a rhinoceros.
*Raika slams his head into the table*
(Raika): Wasn’t talking to you. Now, let me make one thing clear to you idiots. One of the demihumans you kidnapped is like a little brother to me. I’m prepared to do whatever it takes to find him.
*Raika pulls out her gun and points it at the second female*
(Raika): Now you’re going to start answering my questions or she suffers for it. Now where is this Hunting Season taking place?
(Male #1): We don’t know!
*Raika shoots the second female in the foot causing her to scream out in pain*
(Female #1): He’s telling the truth we don’t know! It’s just like we told the other knight, we’re the capture team. All we do is kidnap the ones ordered.
(Raika): Who ordered the kidnappings?
(Male #2): We don’t know!
*Raika shoots the second female in the knee*
(Male #2): It was our sponsors. They paid big money for us to capture them. We were given big money to capture your elf friend for this year’s hunt. Along with a few other knights. They’re this year’s main attraction.
*Angered by this Raika shot the second female in the shoulder*
(Raika): If you guys don’t know where the hunt is being then you must have had a location to bring them to.
(Male #1): Downtown! We were told to bring them to a warehouse downtown!
*Outside of the interrogation room*
(Constantine): Alright, there’s seven warehouses downtown. Have the knights investigate each one immediately.
(White Knight #1): Yes sir!
*The knight takes off*
(Ryuuji): We’ll join in on the investigation.
(Dust): Right behind you.
*As Dust got set to walk a fell down alarming everyone*
(Sanada): Dust!
*Sanada and Jin go to pick up Dust where they notice he’s breathing heavily and sweating profusely. Sanada feels his forehead*
(Sanada): By the gods, you’re burning up!
(Dust): It’s nothing. Let’s go.
(Morgan): It’s not nothing. They said those darts were strong enough to take down a rhino and you took five of them. It’s got to be messing up your body.
(Dust): Don’t worry. I’ll be fine.
(Alita): Negative. Your body’s temperature is rising. If you don’t get proper medical attention it could reach fatal levels.
(Zia): Dust you need to rest. I know you’re worried about Gael and the other knights but you’ve given us more information than we could ask to go off of. We’ll handle the rest.
*Dust looked at everyone and saw their determination. He smiled weakly*
(Dust): Alright. Before you head out here’s the gun and darts they hit me with.
*Dust reaches into his pocket and gives the gun to Amarti*
(Dust): I’m leaving the rest to you guys and trusting you to watch over my body. Find the mutt and the others. If I wake up and they’re still missing, I swear to DeMarcus I’ll kick all your asses.
*Dust passes out*
(Korone): Get me medical staff down here immediately. You guys continue the investigation. No harm will come to Dust under my watch. I swear it.
*Amarti opens the chamber of the gun and pulls out one of the darts to examine it*
(Amarti): I’ve seen this gun and dart before at a convention. I know who made it. Zia! Jin! Alita! You’re with me. We’re going to talk to a business associate.
(Sanada): You guys do that. We’ll investigate the warehouses.
*Everyone heads out to do their investigation*
***
*Back at the undisclosed location, the man with the red hair quieted everyone down*
(Elf man): Wait, I know that man, that’s Don Castle. Owner and CEO of Castle Corporations.
(Don): The one and only. Thank you for recognizing my brilliance.
(Elf man): I don’t understand. I’ve worked for you for four years. Your company helped me and my family when we hit hard times.
(Don): Yes. And it was a complete waste of money but necessary in order to win the humanitarian award. You filthy elves, demihumans, merfolk, and mixed races sicken me. Just being in the same room as you makes me want to barf. Yet, every year more of you come into our beautiful kingdom and taint it with your presence. You steal our jobs, homes, and now when wake up I see more and more of you becoming knights in the hopes of climbing up beyond your social ranking.
(Rowen): It’s not about that. I just became a knight because I wanted to help others.
(Don): What? So you mean to tell me you became a knight not because you seek glory but you wish to serve this kingdom?
(Rowen): Yes. I love this kingdom and its citizens.
(Don): You are as pathetic as the one who paid for you to be captured said.
*Out of nowhere, the blonde haired man and brown haired man attacked Rowen from behind with their night sticks. He falls to the ground in pain looking up at Don with anger in his eyes*
(Don): You will serve as our entertainment and reminder to all other races on who the superior race is. Of course, we have no intention of making this boring. It would be so easy to kill all of you right here and now, but where’s the fun in that? Instead, we’re going to release you in the wild and hunt you like the filthy animals you are. The crop this year is certainly our biggest yet and this year we have five knights who our big game.
*A screen lights up showing all the demihumans, elves, merfolk, and mixed races that are down below. The only ones not on the screen are Gael, Rowen, Fei, Kazuma, and Keanu. A star or stars appear under the pictures of each individual*
(Don): Now here are the rules everyone. Each star that appears under the picture is worth 100,000 credits. You kill them and the credits are yours. The more stars they have the more credits. However, this year will be different. Normally, we have two big game rewards, but this year our sponsors have offered us five that’s right five big game hunts. Here are the first two.
*Rowen and Kazuma’s pictures show up on the screen and three stars appear under their name. The crowd of humans cheer with joy*
(Kazuma): Three stars. That means we’re worth 300,000 credits.
(Don): Not bad, huh? Here’s are next ones.
*A picture of Fei, Gael and Keanu shows up with four stars each underneath making the crowd go even wilder*
(Keanu): 400,000!?
(Gael): That seems a bit too low if you ask me.
(Don): And finally, the main prize this year.
*A picture of Dust appears and five stars are underneath his name. Seeing Dust surprises Gael*
(Human supremist #1): 500,000 credits!
(Human supremist #2): I could retire on that alone.
(Human supremist #3): Where is that elf? I don’t see him down there.
(Don): Even I’m shocked by this one. Unfortunately, this elf is not for our hunters gathered here. This elf is still back at the kingdom bedridden. So for all you hunters still in the kingdom why not pay him a visit and say hi. As for the rest of you, enjoy tonight’s dinner and rest up for tomorrow where the hunt begins.
*The crowd of humans cheer as the other races down below are led back to their cells*
***
*Back in Brister, Amarti’s team which consisted of him, Zia, Jin, and Alita pulled up to a mansion*
(Jin): Woah. So this is Don Castle’s mansion.
(Alita): I would have thought he lived in an actual castle.
(Amarti): You’d be wrong not to think that.
(Jin): So you really think he’s behind the kidnappings? I mean I get his company works in pharmaceuticals and animal products but he’s the last person I would suspect. He’s the winner of multiple humanitarian awards and a majority of his workers are demihumans and elves.
(Zia): Yes. He’s a good person. Even when we met him at a convention he was nothing but kind and respectful to me and Amarti. Nobody there could say anything bad about them. And that worries me.
(Jin): How so?
(Amarti): Never trust a man without a dark side.
*The group exits the car and begins to walk up to the door*
(Amarti): Now remember what we discussed. Let me do the talking and follow my lead.
*Amarti rings the doorbell. A few seconds past and the door gets answered by maid with lime green hair tied into a braid and yellow eyes*
(Maid): Yes?
(Amarti): Hello, I’m Amarti Cloudsfall. I’m here to meet with Don Castle.
(Maid): I’m sorry, but Master Don is out right now.
(Amarti): Really? He and I were scheduled today to discuss a new business venture. I even brought my lead engineers to go more in-depth on the details.
*Amarti points to Jin and Alita. Jin smiles and waves while Alita stares blankly at the maid*
(Amarti): Are you sure he’s not in?
(Maid): Positive. Now good day.
*The maid tried to close the door but Amarti stopped it with his foot*
(Amarti): Then if you wouldn’t mind, could you please pass these notes to him and have him give me a call when he turns?
*By this point the maid was starting to get annoyed by the unwanted guests and about to call security but didn’t want to cause a scene*
(Maid): Very well.
*The maid takes the rolled up notes and closes the door. As she walked away she was going to toss them into the trash, but curiosity got the better of her and she decided to peek at the notes. She unrolled the notes and saw in one bold letters: COVER YOUR EARS. Confused by this, the maid suddenly heard the front door blast open. She fell down from the shock as Amarti, Jin, and Alita entered the mansion. Reaching into her skirt pocket she pulled a gun and fired three darts at the group. Alita got in front of everyone and the darts bounced off her body stunning the maid. Alita then grabbed the gun with her tail and examined it*
(Alita): This is the same gun that was used in the kidnappings.
(Jin): And those are the same darts that hit Dust.
*Desperate, the maid crawled over to a wall, pulled herself up, and pressed a button to call security when in walked Zia*
(Zia): Do not bother. They are currently taking a nap.
(Amarti): Zia, interrogate her for answers. Jin, Alita and I are going to investigate the rooms upstairs.
(Maid): No! No one is allowed up there without the master’s permission.
(Zia): Why? Is there something he wishes to hide from everyone?
*The maid got a nervous look on her face and refused to make eye contact with Zia*
***
*Jin, Amarti, and Alita made it up stairs and searched the rooms one by one where they found nothing suspicious until they came to a locked door*
(Jin): It’s locked.
(Alita): Not for long.
*Using her tail, Alita picked the lock and opened the door. What the group saw was terrifying. Judging from the broken toys scattered on the floor, the small bed, broken furniture, and torn comics, this was a child’s room*
(Amarti): I think we hit the jackpot.
*Scattered on the walls were newspaper articles about demihumans, elves, merfolk, and mixed races doing good in the kingdom. They had black paint scattered on them with some of having the demihumans circled or scratched out by black ink*
(Amarti): Looks like Don’s not a fan of other races as he claims to be.
(Jin): I wonder whose room this was? It looks like a kid’s room.
(Amarti): Most likely because it was. Don was once married and had a boy. Unfortunately they were killed in a mugging.
(Jin): No way. Who did it?
(Amarti): Unfortunately, the assailants were never caught. All we know is that the assailants were a demihuman and an elf.
(Alita): If that’s the case then his motives are starting to make sense. He hates the other races and joined the human supremacists to exact revenge for his family and give them justice.
(Jin): Not realizing that the people he’s attacking are innocent and have done nothing wrong.
(Amarti): It’s not about right or wrong. Hate crimes are irrational. He and the other human supremacist don’t care if you’re innocent or guilty. They just want to spill blood.
*Alita walks over to a closet and opens it to reveal a map of the kingdom*
(Alita): Everyone, come see this.
*Jin and Amarti make it over to Alita where they see the map of the kingdom and pictures of various elves, demihumans, merfolk, and mixed races*
(Alita): This map matches up to where all the kidnappings took place yesterday.
(Amarti): He must have been stalking everyone waiting for the perfect time to strike.
(Jin): Not everyone. Look.
*Jin points to Gael’s picture which was circled and had an arrow pointing to a location on the map*
(Jin): Gael was supposed to be kidnapped near the marketplace. Instead, he was kidnapped around Sierra Falls Street along with Fei. Wait, how did they know Fei was going to be on that street? The White Knight’s change their patrols every day. Unless. . .she was set up! Someone wanted her to patrol that area so she would get kidnapped. Gael was just a bonus.
(Amarti): But the only person who asked her to patrol that area was her partner. Oh shit!
***
*In another part of Brister, Dust was sleeping in a hospital bed at a hospital not too far from Tiger Plaza. Outside of his room were two White knights guarding him when all of a sudden Mary came up to them*
(Mary): Hey guys, here to take over your shift.
(White Knight #1): What, you’re early. We’ve still got half an hour to go.
(Mary): It’s fine. The commander knows you guys have been working hard these las few hours. Get some rest and a meal. The other knight will be here shortly to watch with me.
(White Knight #2) Alright. Thanks.
*The two knights take their leave. Once they’re in the elevator and out of sight, Mary’s smile turns sinister as she enters the room and pulls out a knife*
(Mary): Hello 500,000 credits.
Author’s Note: And the plot thickens. Dust gave them a breakthrough in the case, but now he finds himself at the mercy of a human supremacist and at his most vulnerable. The others are also in a dangerous spot as they’re going to be hunted for sport tomorrow. With all of this going on, the main focus is on a the new character, Don Castle. I knew that I wanted to establish him as quickly as possible, so I gave him this tragic backstory similar to Bruce Wayne, only it takes a darker turn. He uses the death of his family to justify his hatred and actions. So while you feel sympathy for him, you also feel hatred as you not condone his irrational hate for the innocent which is something I’ve dealt with in my own life. Growing up black, I’ve dealt with racism throughout my life, and I’ve seen the irrational hate and bias that comes from others just because of a person’s skin color or racial origins. I hate it and it’s something I feel as we as a society need to continue to work on and one day hopefully eliminate. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time on Project Nitsuj.