Hate Runs Deep Read online

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  The Heroes pulled up to a wrecked construction site. The partly assembled steel frame laid twisted and mangled like a web. The larger vehicles and equipment were thrown around as if by an upset child. Several blood stains sat on dusty ground and on sections of crumbling walls.

  "Deadguy," Jill said. "Do you really need to narrate that?"

  "I'm trying to set the mood, thank you," he replied.

  "You have to set the mood for a scene of destruction," Valkadaidan asked.

  "Eh. Just go with it," Our Hero shrugged, ducking under the yellow police tape and taking a few steps forward. "So what exactly are we looking fo-ah!" He was cut short as he fell into a shallow pit.

  "You okay," Jill asked as she and Valk stood around the hole.

  He quickly sat up and straightened his backwards baseball cap. "Found where they're putting the jacuzzi," he said. "Or a big, tacky fountain. Not sure yet." He climbed out and looked around. "Again, what are we looking for?"

  "Clues, mostly," Jill answered. "Answers, if we're lucky."

  "Can you at least explain to me why we're here and not out looking for this new Monger," DG asked.

  "If you had been paying attention during the ride up here instead of listening to J-Pop, you would have known," their boss said, a hint of annoyance in her voice. "This was the first place the riots happened. We need to find out why."

  "Keep your eyes peeled," Valk ordered.

  Our Hero glared at him. "I've already got one boss, I don't need another." The three Heroes spread out and started investigating the construction site. Jill was taking pictures with her tablet. Valkadaidan was slowly moving some of the heavier equipment around. Deadguy walked among the ruined steel webbing of the building. "I have no idea what I'm even suppose to be looking for," he muttered to himself. "I mean...am I suppose to be looking for a sign or a coffin or-" He stopped, spotting a burnt circle in the middle of the steel ruins. The symbols around it looked old. Very old. In the middle sat a very large puddle of dried blood."-That." He noticed footprints walking away from the burnt circle. They started out huge, as large as shoe boxes, but they suddenly shrank to the size of normal feet. "Hey, gang! Get over here."

  "You find something," Jill called out from outside the steel ruins.

  "Yeah," DG called back. "You might want to see this."

  Jill and Valk worked their way through the wreckage to see what he was staring at. "It changed shape," Valkadaidan said.

  "You noticed that too, huh," DG asked.

  "The last one didn't," Jill noted.

  "That we know of," Valk continued.

  "Lust Monger did mention that they don't have a gender," Our Hero pointed out. "Maybe they can change shapes as well."

  "It's definitely going to complicate things," Jill said, taking a few pictures of the burnt circle and the footsteps.

  Deadguy's phone rang. He could tell by the ring tone that it was Marion. He sighed deeply, then fished the phone out of his trench coat pocket. "Hey," he said softly, turning away from the others.

  "Hey," Marion's chipper voice rang out on the other end. "You busy?"

  "Yeah," he replied.

  "Oh. Well, I'll call back later?"

  "Sure."

  "Okay. Bye. I love you."

  Deadguy muttered something unintelligible before hanging up. He turned back. Jill looked a little uncomfortable. Valkadaidan didn't seemed to care either way.

  "You are going to have to talk to her sooner or later," Jill said.

  "I'm also going to have to organize my movie collection," he snapped. "Your point?"

  "I'm just telling you this as your friend," she said. "If you don't talk to her soon, it's going to cause you to do something you'll regret."

  "I'll take care of it after we take out Hate Monger," he said sharply. "Okay?"

  "Fine. Whatever," she sighed. "I think we've got enough information here to start putting some of the puzzle pieces together."

  As night fell on New Tao, the Heroes were still at the office, trying to find some image of Hate Monger. Deadguy and Valkadaidan were flipping through pictures on the Internet, while Jill was studying video clips frame-by-frame. "This is hopeless," Deadguy moaned. "Since this monger has altered it's shape and size, it could be anybody."

  "Not anybody," Valkadaidan replied. "They would be distinct. Someone who doesn't look like their affected. Someone leading the madness."

  Our Hero's phone rang on his desk. It was the same ring tone. Her ring tone. He cringed. It rang again as he set back to looking through the photos. Another ring, then it stopped. Jill's phone was the next to ring. "Professional Heroes. Jill Nemo speaking."

  "There's something weird going on here," Marion's voice said on the other end.

  "Weird how," she asked, the tone of her voice sounding as if she didn't want to get dragged into their little issue.

  "You know those riots that have been all over the place? Well, one just broke out here."

  Jill shot up out of her seat. "Where's here," she asked, concerned now for her safety.

  "McCoy Street. 9787. Where Pagliaccio Triste Concert Hall is."

  "What are you doing at a-"

  "Just get down here," she yelled, then hung up.

  "Alright Heroes," she commanded. "Looks like we may have a break in the case."

  "Was that Marion," DG asked.

  "No," she replied. "It was a friend of mine. He's at the Pagliaccio Triste Concert Hall for some unknown reason. He said a riot broke out like the ones in the news, so maybe Hate Monger's there, too."

  "Great. Looks like I'm wrongly dressed for yet another concert going experience," he remarked, slamming his cap on.

  "What happened last time," Valkadaidan asked as the three rushed out the office.

  "Let's just say you can be overdressed for Burning Man," he answered. The three piled into Jill's car and drove off as fast as they could.