The Nummens

Titus just chuckled. This guy was straight out of Special Crimes after all. For all of Titus' rule breaking, he had a heart of gold when it came to the victims. Along time ago though, he was rudely welcomed to the real world, where people only did shit for Solve Rates and because the media or a Governor was breathing down their necks. Especially in the VLPD. He couldn't count how many times a case barely a week old got "misplaced" under a stack of Cold Case files in a back closet, and nobody seemed to care or notice.

He'd do his job, hell or high water, but added pressure, especially from the masses via media, usually made sure people cared more about something finishing with the proper outcome than how it got done. More funds, less questions from the Sargents. And with enough media attention, a couple broken legs and faces get ignored.

This was his element, sadly.

Everything in VL was a game of one sort or another. Even the dignity and justice of the dead. He resented it so much, but he could play it, and play it damn well. As he stepped into his rental car the receptionist from the Gazette finally got back to him, and it wasn't long before he got transferred to an Editor and so forth. Easiest grand of his life. Well..Less than a grand, considering James' cut. As Titus drove towards the Cop Shop he called home, he wondered if his new partner would believe they only paid him 500, and split that.

Either way, when he arrived he went straight to the detainment ward, positioning himself directly in front of a screen playing the live CCTV of the teens in the detainment cell. "Well, colour me fucked.." He mumbled, amazed they hadn't lawyered up already. They must've either been really dumb even for VL standards, or really arrogant. He just hoped James showed up before they figured out that both options were a mistake, and made a ruckus about getting a call in to their parents. Who of course would be rich, and connected like always and call HBL.

Goddamn, he really hated lawyers.

"I can't wait to work this guy over." A female detective said as she got up from her desk, "Work who over?" James asked as he walked into the squad room, "Oh, look who it is, the vigilante. How are you liking Major Crimes?" The female detective asked James, coming to walk beside him.

"I forgot this was your precinct, Catalano." James said, "I don't have the urge to gun down every known pedophile in the city because of this case, so that's a plus." James told detective Catalano, following her down to the detainment ward to join Titus.

"My favorite show." Catalano joked, "The brass has me working your wealthy guy. Apparently, he doesn't respond well to aggressive men questioning him this requires a lady's touch." The detective told the two men, "So, why did they call you?" James asked, watching the teens on the camera.

They weren't too young, they'd be in college in the next year or so. Three boys and two girls. Usually keeping them sequestered was the way to go, but they'd never left the sight of any police officers. It would be hard to come up with a story. They were probably rich kids.

They were more worried about their parents punishing them than going to jail.

"Alright, you're up." James told Titus, "You're the lead."

Titus smirked, James wanted him to take lead? Was he cowardly, not-used to interrogations, or just hoping to catch Titus break some rules? Either way, it was about to be fun as hell. Little prissy kids scare easy, once you let them know their parents don't intimidate them. He reached into his back pocket, pulling out his wallet and fishing for some cash. "Tell ya want James. And whoever the fuck your lady friend is, got a wager." He tossed about three hundred credits onto the monitor. "Boys cry like bitches way before the girls."

With that he stalked off, not waiting for a reply. This was too fun to sit around and debate with.

Titus paused in front of the door, adjusting his tie and clearing his throat. Interrogations were 90% theatrics in his book, and entrances were everything. He took out his gun, a simple Invictus sidearm. He released the magazine, replacing it with an empty one and emptying the chamber. He was aggressive, and somewhat reckless, but not stupid. Once it was all put together, he inhaled deeply, and then straight up kicked the door in, breaking it right off it's hinges.

"ALRIGHT YOU LITTLE FUCKS!"

He was shouting at the top of his lungs, gun in hand, splinters everywhere. The teens had all jumped when the door broken, and were now in pure shock at the seemingly insane man in front of them. "Hey, what the fuck man!? PUT THE GUN AWAY!" Titus reacted by pointing it directly at the kid, his eyes narrowing. "DO YOU EVEN FUCKING KNOW WHO MY DAD IS?" on of the other boys had begun shouting, while getting up and puffing his chest out.

Perfect.

Titus swung the gun around to point it at the blowhard, putting his finger on the trigger. "DO I LOOK LIKE A BITCH?" The kid went to open his mouth in response, but Titus pulled the hammer back. "I DON'T GIVE A SINGLE FUCK WHO YOU'RE DADDY IS BOY, SIT DOWN!" The boy started to protest again, but Titus stepped closer, pressing the barrel to his forehead. Of course by now the other teens were rushing him, trying to knock the gun away or jolting for the door. Titus didn't care, he just fixed his eyes on the boy, taking the gun away for a moment to point it at the potential runners.

"One more step, and I will murder you on the spot."

They froze, unsure of what to do. "The husband of that lady you fucking thrill-seeking, entitled pricks murdered outstrips your dad, trust me." He spoke softly now, carefully, with a hiss. "See, I've already got orders to just fill each of you with lead, even if you didn't do it. And if you're families try to fuck around, and throw their weight into things?" He pressed the barrel into the kids forehead a little harder. "They're next. You fucksticks picked the wrong woman to murder."

Five little rich kids used to having everything handed to them on a platter were out of their depth.

For the first time they realized there was no saving grace. Parents credit cards couldn't help. They were just normal people, locked in a room with a psycho. The third boy who had yet to speak broke out into sobs. He was shouting through his hysterics. "B-b-ut..W...We didn't...! WE DIDN'T DO...A-a-a-a-aNYTHING!" It was a start, if nothing else they knew their place now.

Titus holstered his gun and shoved the blowhard of a kid into a chair, motioning for the rest of the teens to sit as well. He then turned back, and smiled at the camera. "C'mon in, James. I think they're ready for you."

"Your boy is nuts." Catalano told James, patting the awestruck man on the back before walking off to start her own interrogation. "Good luck." She called out.

James was going to need it. Titus was a madman. His stunt was going to cost them their jobs. Unless it worked. In a place like Van Leugen people could overlook things like waving a gun, loaded or not, at some rich kids if it meant you got results. If it meant you could take a criminal worse than them off the streets so they could live out their fantasy of a safe city.

How far did that safety go when the cops were just as bad?

James didn't care. He didn't become a cop to be a good guy. He became a cop to get rid of the worst guys.

At Titus' beckoning he made his way into the interrogation room. As much as he hated what Titus had done, it served a purpose. It was effective. He moved the goal posts a little closer for him.

"I'm not a killer." He told the teens, stepping carefully over the broken door. "Really, I'm not. But, you, you put us in a really tight spot. Someone gets buried for this. I'm not." James said, pointing at him before looking to Titus. "Are you?" He asked the other detective.

"I don't think you kids had anything to do with the crime. Tell us everything you know."

Titus just smiled and shrugged. Cops stock together, always. Which was better, an insane, renegade cop threatening some teens, or IR bringing down the entire VLPD? Chances are either James, or his lady friend, or some other random member of the force would scrap the CCTV tape. Or at least edit Titus' antics out, maybe if they were smart, that person would keep the tape to attempt blackmail.

No matter what happened, Titus felt safe. Nobody like a rat, not even cops.

He pulled up a chair, swiveling it around and flopping down. His eyes stayed locked on the boy who'd been sobbing. "C'mon you little bastards, sooner you fess up the sooner I can decide whether to pin this on you, or look for someone else." The teens protested, but they had realized just how powerless they were in this situation. They started to spill their guts, but Titus waved his hand to stop them for a moment.

He pulled out an audio recorder and clicked in on, then established date, time, case number, name of every teen, etc.

"Alright," he spoke softly, and slowly, but his menacing expression never lifted from the young morons in the room. "Tell us what happened. Exactly what happened. Every single little detail. If any of you were dumb enough to take pictures, of videos on a cellphone or something, fork them over." He coughed a little, looking to James while he did. "I don't know about you, Detective, but right now these kids look pretty guilty, don't they?" They didn't, but it was a tactic to put more pressure on them. He really hoped James played along.

"I think we should just kill them." James said, digging his pistol out of it's holster. He made a show of clicking the safety off before putting the gun away, "I'll grab the car. We can take them to a warehouse, bullets in each brain, a fire to get rid of the bodies." He suggested.

"Hold that thought." Catalano said, peeking her head into the interrogation room. "It might be nothing, but the husband said something interesting." She told the detectives, "You go, I'll keep on them." James said to Titus.

He leaned his back against a wall across from the teens, folding his arms over his chest as he watched them. "It'll give them a little time to make peace with their god."

Getting up she made her way back to her apartment while Edmund made his way back to June. She ticked off the things to do as each floor ticked off. Strolling into her apartment, she started a fire, making sure it was hot enough before throwing her bloody clothes in. "I wonder if I should change... maybe after I meet this fellow." She said to herself as she stretched on the couch and watch the fire wrap around her evidence.

---

Edmund strolled back into the lobby with a smile. "She is doing okay, meeting is done. She wanted me to give you this." He said while sliding a hundred across the counter.

June gasped and smiled politely, "I can't. That is too much."

"Please, she is very grateful that you can so much about her well being. It would really make her happy if you took the money." Edmund said warmly. In end she took it, sliding it off into her pocket. Edmund gave a small nod before going to the elevator and up to the apartment himself. He knew Amara had cross that line tonight.

Standing outside of the apartment was a hulking man, his tall body covered by a black trench coat. He almost seemed to be waiting for Edmund to see him, or maybe he was waiting until he could lay his own eyes on the man.

The man's dark eyes darted from Edmund to the door, the sounds of Amara inside catching his attention.

"Shall we?" He asked Edmund in his thick Austran accent. It had a Coalite twinge to it. He wasn't from the Hegemony. "I want to see what the the Diva has to offer."

Titus couldn't help but smile on his way out, catching James' plan. He patted the man on the shoulder as he followed the "lady" out. The second they were in the hall, he pounced. "Yo, Miss..Whatever your name was. I'll handle the dad, you handle the security footage, alright?" He sped up, stepping in front of her with one hand tucked into his suit jacket. He pulled about a grand out of the inner pocket, pushing it at her before she could respond.

"You don't need IA poking around, right? It'll take James down too, and quite possibly you since you didn't stop anything."

He hurried on in to the interrogation cell they had the victim's husband in. The second he walked in he sized the older man up, and slid into the seat across from him. "So. Let's hear it."

"He'll grow on you." James said to Catalano, "Like a fungus." She said, making her way back down to the interrogation room where Titus had gone. The older gentleman in the room was quick to start talking as Catalano entered, he wasn't about to go down for something he didn't do.

"I was at a party in The Nashtons, a shindig for the music festival starting in the morning. I was there all night." He said, making sure he tossed his alibi into the mix. "It was lavish. There was an entertainer, a weird man, but still entertaining. He said something about granting wishes. I know it sounds crazy."

Catalano shook her head, "Listen, man, we've been invaded by aliens. Not crazy just yet. Just different." She assured him, "Keep going. Tell my friend here what you told me." The detective ordered.

The older man was sweating, nervous. The last place he wanted to be was an interrogation room, clearly. He looked to Titus, swallowing the lump in his throat before speaking again.

"I humored him. Wished that my wife would stop nagging me. He told me my wish was granted. And then I get this call and you tell me to come here. That isn't a coincidence."

Titus stared ahead blankly at the old white man. His expression was vacant as he took in the rich dude's expression, body language, all of it. The guy didn't seem to be lying, not that Titus was a human lie detector, but still. He was too quick to admit to what could basically be Conspiracy to Commit Murder, and it was one hell of a cover story. He'd heard weirder, but still. This was something.

An entertainer granting wishes? It honestly sounded like a Devil, or a Demon with a bad sense of humor.

He broke his trance, speaking up nearly monotone. "Can anybody confirm your alibi? And shed some light on this...Entertainer?", he sighed, punching the bridge of his nose. "God I hate this city.."

"Everyone." The man said, "Everyone who was at the party. Check the guests lists. Carlo Montague, Sarai Elbaz, everyone was there. They saw it. They made wishes too." He told the detectives.

"I believe him." James said, sliding into the interrogation room to join the others. "I let those kids go. It's obvious they aren't killers. If any of them thought about trying their hand at it, I think we scared them straight." James told Titus.

He had to admit, the looks on their faces were priceless. He couldn't resist making a threat to them as he sent them on their way. Had to make sure they knew they could still be touched.

"Everyone will be at events all around the city. We can confirm his story, get a description, and hopefully go from there." James suggested.

A woman dressed in archaic fashion sat silently at a table at a dive bar. Two, six foot tall, heavily armored, and fully armed individuals sat just beyond the table, assuring that nobody would approach the table without good reason.

The woman herself was silently tapping her foot with impatience. She hated this city, this entire planet. It was a cess pit of lawlessness and degredation. Van leugen had plenty of problems, but she hated Wing city even more. At least here they didn't pretend to be doing right when they stabbed you in the back.

Ilia pulled a flask from her side and drank from it liberally. She then eyed it and scowled, maybe three or four mouthfulls left, and she didn't trust the plumbing on this planet, not even for water. "If the contact doesn't show up in the next fifteen minutes, we're leaving."

Ilia turned her head slightly as one of her body guards stepped forward and whispered something in her ear. "Your sure of this?" She whispered in response, to which the guard nodded slightly.

Ilia's eyes became hooded as she lay her hands flat on the table, seeming to inspect them closely. To those that knew her, which was a small group indeed, this was the pose she took whenever calculating her next move, plotting her course, or otherwise planning. She was like this for several minutes before standing up and gesturing to her guards, who took up positions. One in front of her, the other behind. In this way they exited the bar, and made their way through the nummens.

A rendezvous had been set up with an agent of the kingdom, a Wolf of Asylia. It took some time for them to reach the location, and when they did, the agent was waiting.

Ilia wasted no time. "Your in uniform, your covers blown?"

The agent nodded and said "Yes ma'am. Security at Tech Con has been intensified following a break in of one of their facilities. The creature we hired was successful in distracting them, though he wasn't aware he was a red herring. I was able to secure the data and schematics on their advanced weapon and experimental projects. I have it all here." He said, brandishing a tablet.

Ilia smiled, taking the tablet from the agent. "Good work. Let's get back to the <i>Unglauss</i> and start decrypting and analyzing. With luck we'll be able to develop countermeasures to their systems and weapons that'll allow us to infiltrate Aschen space properly."

She turned and nodded to her guards, who took up position, this time with the agent directly behind Ilia herself, and the guard behind him. They proceeded at haste, but without running, towards the outskirts of the city, where a transport would take them to the <i>Unglauss</i>

Sabnach has arrived, coming from Susurrus Tower.

Sabnach has left the area, heading south into The Nillies.

Admiral Ilia Thauce has left the area, heading south into The Nillies.

Admiral Ilia Thauce has arrived, coming from The Nillies.

Admiral Ilia Thauce has left the area, heading south into The Nillies.

Admiral Ilia Thauce has arrived, coming from The Nillies.

Admiral Ilia Thauce has left the area, heading southwest into Susurrus Tower.

Admiral Ilia Thauce has arrived, coming from Susurrus Tower.

Admiral Ilia Thauce vanishes into nothingness, but you get the feeling they are heading somewhere else.