Detective Hardy stood beside the patient’s bed, a notepad and pen in her hands. An officer stood at the doorway, keeping watch.

The patient was cuffed to the bed, restricting her movements. Underneath her gown was a torso wrapped by bandages, and her cheek was patched up as well.

“So, tell me what happened,” Valeria ordered, giving the patient an intimidating stare.

Eleanor Knight stared right back into her eyes, unbudging. Nothing could faze her, because she spent her years hunting down certain people to their graves. She grumbled in annoyance. “Harrison Slyde did this to me.” She pointed to her covered burns. “Clearly, putting me in prison wasn’t enough for him.”

“Mmhm. Although it looks like you escaped. Keep talking.”

“He lifted me by my collar and his hand went up in flames. Blue flames.”

“Okay. That’s crazy. He’s missing, and it’s impossible for him to be the flame guy.”

“Is it, really? It’s not like superhumans don’t exist in this world. They may be rare, but they’re real. It has to be the only reason he could survive a dose of my poison.”

Valeria finished writing down what the convict said. “You know what? I could give you a lot of reasons why Harrison is not the guy. But anyway, thank you for your contribution. Once you’re recovered, you’re going straight back to prison. Have fun.”

The door swung open, and Detective Thomas entered. “I talked to a couple of witnesses. None of them could recognise Harry, although perhaps even if it somehow was him, he would be covered in bandages. They also can’t describe the fire person well, besides the fact that their head and hands were on fire. I guess the flames must be real good at keeping that person’s identity hidden. Also, CSI’s trying to identify the footprints. Never would’ve thought the smoke could help.”

“Wouldn’t they be barefooted?”

“Yeah. That’s why CSI’s trying to check it now. In the case that it’s Harry, they might find his cells or something. If it’s not Harry, then I guess we’ll have no luck at identifying our perp. Also, Captain Yamada went to check the hospital cameras. She’ll be back with more info later.”

“Okay. Guess all we can do is just keep a lookout for incidents involving blue flames.”

The two detectives left the room.

Captain Yamada approached them, carrying a tablet in her arm. “You two might wanna see this.”

“Okay, that’s us leaving,” Valeria pointed to two figures in the video. “And that’s me running to the room after hearing some stuff going on. Then I opened the door. You can see the smoke coming out.”

“And then the person runs out of the room, just barely avoiding crashing into you,” Yamada said. “Even though the video resolution sucks, and that there’s plenty of smoke, it’s pretty obvious that he has to be Detective Slyde, right? Only the serial killer went into the room after you two left. No one else entered. Which means that this fire guy is him.”

“It’s hard to argue with that,” Frank replied. “But what can we do? What are we gonna do?”

Even Captain Yamada seemed unsure. “Do you two know about him having powers? Does Detective Lakes know?”

“Nope. There’s absolutely no indication of him having powers, up till yesterday night,” Valeria said. “What I absolutely don’t get is this: when we were talking to him, he could barely move without wincing. And now you see this video. Just a few minutes later, apparently he’s up and running, and it doesn’t even look like he’s hindered by his injuries.”

“Besides, if he was already a superhuman in the first place, I think he would’ve survived the disc explosion without having to go to the hospital. I mean, the only way to explain him running out of the room like he was in prime condition is that he gained powers and healed himself in those few minutes,” Frank added.

Valeria tapped on the tablet to rewind the video. “I also checked the cart that the criminal brought into the room. There were only chemicals, and none of them could possibly react to create fire. No lighters, no burners, no matchsticks. Although, that cart is large enough for a human to fit. Maybe she brought another person. Maybe she brought the fire guy and tried to pin it on Harry.”

“Is that so? I guess we’ll have to look deeper into this.” Captain Yamada said. “I’ll question the perp later. See if I can get anything out.”

“We gotta help Harry,” Frank insisted. “He must be freaked out. If he’s kidnapped by the fire person, we have to find him quickly.”

“Yes. You two head back to the precinct, see if he might have turned up there, and if not, do check his house. If you know anywhere he likes to frequent, send me the locations. If all those don’t work, then I’m afraid we’re in for a lot more trouble.” Captain Yamada instructed. “Oh yeah. And if you can find anything regarding the Sanguine Reaver, that would be even better. He managed to avoid questioning.”

“Understood, captain. Also, I found an empty syringe, looks to be used. I’ll take it to the lab for analysis,” Valeria stated.

Valeria and Frank left the building and entered their car. “Lots of work to do. Didn’t really help that Reaver somehow escaped without answering any questions,” Frank said, as he sat down in the driver’s seat and started the engine.

“You didn’t see him, huh,” Valeria replied. “After he rushed the shooter, he was blasted back again. He survived, and then he ran off. I think two explosions were too much for him to handle. After all, he seems to be a new face to the vigilante business. I didn’t think it was a good time to go after him either.”

“Okay. I suppose that makes sense. Maybe he’s really just a kid, experiencing these things for the first time. Who knows?”

“Anyway, you know the syringe I found? I’m betting it’s Eleanor Knight’s poison. We’ll find out soon.”

...

A few days had passed since the Aurum Horizons incident.

Normally, they would have gone for lunch by then, due to Harrison’s frequent bugging to get food before the lunch hour started. But with Harrison missing, and David in the hospital, none of them felt like getting a move on.

“Yo, we’re gonna get some tacos, you two want any?” a colleague asked, standing at the doorway.

Valeria and Frank nodded. “Two Prime Tacos,” Valeria said.

“Make that four,” Frank added. “Thanks, buddy.”

The officer gave them a thumbs-up and left.

“I guess lunch’s settled, then.” Valeria swung around in her chair, stretching her legs.

She looked out of the glass window, watching cars drive past the building. She shielded her eyes from the piercing noon sunlight that reflected off car windows.

She almost fell out of her chair when a red hand appeared outside, and slipped an envelope through the gap. The package crashed onto the floor audibly, while the red hand vanished, as abruptly as it came.

She ran to the window, opening it and looking out to find a fleeing figure or something. There was none. The person was fast.

The red hand likely belonged to the Sanguine Reaver. She remembered seeing him appear as some kind of blood-coloured humanoid at Aurum Horizons, and the hand looked like it belonged to him. She went and picked up the envelope, and scanned her surroundings briefly to ensure no one else saw. Turning it over, To Detectives Thomas and Hardy was written on it.

She managed to get a finger under the flap and tore it open, pulling out a folded sheet of writing paper. The handwriting was small and somewhat crooked, but it was still legible. “Dear detectives, I hope this reaches you. I’m sorry about your friends. I heard about what happened. I hope you’ll allow me to help you find Detective Slyde. From: the Sanguine Reaver. P.S. If you have any clues I could work with, hide it behind the bush right outside this window. Thanks.”

She got back into her chair and sighed. “Looks like your friend actually keeps an eye on you,” she whispered, looking at David’s nameplate.

...

“Time’s up! Please stop writing and put down your pens.” The main exam invigilator announced the end of the last exam of the mid-years.

Andrew released his pen from his grip. He still had more to write. In his mind, he was still trying to work out the partial fractions, and he still had the two questions he skipped earlier to attempt. But it was over. He had the feeling he would fail. After all, just a mere four months ago, when he started senior high school, the Math lectures were already killing him.

Other invigilators began to walk down the columns, collecting the answer booklets of the hundred-over students that sat for the exam.

Andrew rested his head on the table after the invigilator picked up his script, and gave a weary sigh. He was mentally exhausted, and his fingers were tired from writing for three hours straight. Aside from that, he spent the past two weeks juggling vigilante activities and studies, resulting in an overall poor condition. His mother had warned him about having to get enough rest, but he still felt the need to make up for what he caused his father to suffer.

At the front of the hall, all the classes’ papers were accounted for, and the main invigilator released them. His statement was immediately followed by a cacophony of chairs dragging on the floor and indistinct conversations.

Andrew was able to hear the discussion of answers amongst the random topics muttered around him. He knew for sure that he would fail. Even so, he had to try again. Being the Sanguine Reaver was no excuse for neglecting his studies. Setting those thoughts aside, he squeezed his way through the horde of humans to get to the side of the hall, treading carefully to avoid stepping on bags that were not his.

He found his bag, shoved his stationery inside and quickly left. Almost everyone else could go home and have a breather, but not him. He had to continue preparations for his part in the school show. It was an annual two-hour event, consisting of individual and group performances. Students were free to audition for solo and group performances, while a few clubs had to take part due to tradition, such as the Music Programme students.

By right, there was an hour before the rehearsal session began, but he thought it was best to start early. Now outside the hall, he spotted Penelope with a few classmates. She was also a music student and, like everyone else in the music programme, had to practise for their performances in school show in about two weeks’ time.

“Hey, any of you signed up for the school annual show? They’re giving community involvement credit,” Penelope asked.

One classmate nodded. “I’m gonna do some magic tricks. Hopefully, I don’t screw up.”

“I’ll look forward to seeing that.”

Andrew kept his distance, not wanting to intrude on their conversation.

But they noticed him, and one of them waved. It was Anne. So he waved back with an awkward smile. They spoke on some occasions, but they were usually short conversations, and now he was too mentally worn to try and make small talk.

Penelope turned to see who Anne was waving at. “Okay, I guess I should go. Music calls!” Penelope ran off and joined Andrew, to head for the Music Centre.

Andrew stared at the pavement and listened to the light plip-plop of raindrops on the concrete pavement. He tried to set aside any thoughts on the paper, and switched to thinking about music instead.

“So, how’s it going?”

Andrew looked up. “Great, is what I would say if I was actually good at Math.”

“You seem down from more than just Math. And look at those black circles around your eyes. What’s troubling you?”

“My dad’s in the hospital, no sign of him waking up anytime soon. And then my mom went to work at a bakery to make sure our family still has income. So now I go home to an empty house everyday after school, and then, I have to do homework, and study. Everything just sucks. You know how good my attention span for studies is. It’s nonexistent. So I take super long to finish my work, and then by the time I sleep, well, heh. Probably five hours a night.” Andrew left out all details pertaining to his alter ego and vigilante activities. Although what he told her was the truth, it omitted certain facts.

“I’m sorry about your dad. And well, your mom, she must be one tough lady. I’m sorry I can’t help you in terms of money and stuff, but I can study with you after school. If you’re okay with that, of course. No pressure.”

Andrew wanted to take her up on her offer. He could have company and probably improve on his grades, because Penelope was definitely way better than he was. But it would mean less time for the Sanguine Reaver. He had yet to find anything on the criminals behind the SOUL and Aurum Horizons incidents, aside from the fact that they were possibly connected.

“Okay. Sure. Not everyday, but once in a while, I’d like that,” Andrew responded. He reasoned that a study session once in a while wouldn’t impact his Reaver time too much, besides, he was still quite useless as a vigilante. Hopefully, his father would wake up soon and guide him along the way. Even though he slipped that note for Valeria and Frank, communication was a challenge, and he had the feeling they didn’t trust Reaver as much as they trusted Andrew. Which made a lot of sense, considering the fact that they knew Andrew as a real person, while the Sanguine Reaver took the form of a humanoid blood monster.

“Tell you what. We have an hour before Rehearsal, so let’s go get some milkshakes. My treat.”

“Has anyone ever told you what a wonderful friend you are?”

“You flatter,” Penelope giggled, poking Andrew in the side.

...

The Sanguine Reaver sat at the ledge of a fire escape stairway, keenly observing the situation in the alley down below. He was far enough to keep out of sight, but near enough to make out what the suspicious individuals were saying.

“That was a good score. No one knows, and we’ll be long gone before anyone finds out about the missing stuff,” one of the two scruffy-looking men said. His voice was deep, yet not loud, making it a struggle for Reaver to catch what he said.

“Exactly. Can’t believe such a route exists. This is a great place to hang,” the other one replied. His voice was of a slightly higher pitch, but low nonetheless. He began to whistle a jolly tune as he rummaged around his brown bag and pulled out a iridescent gemstone.

Reaver had heard and seen enough. Those two had been up to no good. Without a second thought, he leaped off the ledge and landed in front of the two thieves with a loud thump.

“Hello, boys. Heard you two’ve been doing some fun stuff earlier,” he said, as he stood up straight and tried to appear intimidating.

The two men froze. One began to quiver. “What the... who the hell are you?”

It seemed that his bloodform—the blood-covered humanoid that he took the form of after getting shot at Aurum Horizons—did all the work. The lighting in the alley was very dim, but the two men had been in the darkness long enough for their eyes to have adjusted to it. They could see him clearly enough to see what stood before them.

“Aw, what a shame. You don’t read the papers, watch the news? I’m the new guy. The Sanguine Reaver. Okay. Maybe not that new, but yeah.”

“The what?” the other said.

Reaver grunted in annoyance. “Screw this. Say goodbye to your loot.” He grabbed their collars and slammed them into the wall, causing them to drop their precious bags of treasure. He had to hold back a little, of course. He had super-strength, and didn’t want to accidentally kill someone.

“Wait, wait, wait! There’s no need for violence. Let’s settle this peacefully. We can split the goods,” the first man suggested amidst his pained look.

Reaver scoffed, continuing to apply pressure on the two. “I don’t care about the loot.”

“I had hoped you would be more amenable than this,” the man said. He whipped out a small black device with his free hand and jammed it into Reaver’s arm.

Reaver yelled in response to the jolt of electricity that coursed through his body. He twitched and staggered around uncontrollably, and fell on his knees, feeling parts of his bloodform detach from his body.

The two men landed on the floor, now free from his grip. But there were fresh patches of blood on their shirt, barely visible under the faint distant streetlights and moonlight. They noticed the blood, thanks to its warm, moist feeling on their skin.

“Did you just spit blood at me?” one of them said. He huffed, itching to fight, now that he knew the taser could hurt the Sanguine Reaver.

Reaver recovered, and he stared at the man’s shirt. He knew he didn’t spit any blood, and the way his bloodform functioned, he wouldn’t have left any blood on his targets unless he intended it. So it couldn’t have been from him grabbing their collars. He thought about the feeling of losing part of himself a moment ago. It was like someone had pulled on his skin, but without any pain. Maybe that had something to do with it.

He watched in surprise as the patches of blood began to sizzle and glow orange, lighting up on fire. The two thieves’ clothes caught fire, leading to them frantically taking off their shirts and flinging them around in an attempt to put out the flames.

Everything worked out for Reaver. He bashed both thieves together and knocked them out, leaving them on the cold tarmac. He dusted off his hands and basked in the calm silence of the night.

He climbed back to the ledge he camped at earlier, and retrieved his bag. He called the police about the thieves, and left the area to avoid encountering them.

He stopped by another alley and looked at his bloodform hands. By now, he had gotten used to the fact that he could turn into a slightly bulkier, more ooze-like and red version of himself, except that his bloodform lacked his normal facial features. All that decorated his head were a pair of axe-shaped eyes that lacked pupils, and a slightly-curved slit for a mouth.

And now, apparently, his blood could turn into fire. He just had to figure out how to control it. Maybe it’s a defense mechanism, he thought.

He held out his hand, and imagined a fireball in his palm. Nothing happened. Then he remembered that at Aurum Horizons, when he was caught by the disc explosion, he felt the burn from it. Unless his bloodform had adapted to heat by now, he would still be vulnerable to heat. A fireball dancing in his hand would be a terrible idea.

He decided to return home to discuss with his mother instead.

“Fire, hm? Interesting. I don’t know how to help you, though. And it’s not like we can ask a random doctor or scientist,” Juniper stated as she gently looked at Andrew’s hands. “Although... one person does come to mind.”

“Who?” Andrew asked.

“Your cousin, Astenine! Doesn’t she work as a biologist or chemist at some university? I think she could help.”

“Oh yeah. We’re on good terms, but it’s not like I want to just tell anyone about Reaver.”

“It’s up to you, of course. You could still get her help and just make up a fake reason, like how you’re Reaver’s acquaintance or friend and wanted to help him make sense of his abilities. Or better yet, just say you managed to snag a sample of his blood.”

“Hmm. I could go with that. Thanks, Mom.”

...

Harrison Slyde walked in near-darkness, quickly and lightly. The warehouse lights were all off, save for a single corner, where there were tables, computers, various tools and small gadgets, and a shiny red coffee machine. It was like a hackers’ corner, with all the tech needed for them to do their things.

He slowed his pace and approached the two people there. One was a man with a pronounced scar across his cheek. He relaxed in front of the computers, sipping his coffee. He rolled around in his rotating chair, and faced Harrison.

The other was a woman, who had a large burn scar on her arm. She wore a pair of safety goggles while working on a small device. She was extremely focused on her gadget, but she noticed Harrison anyway.

“Pleasure to have you join us,” she spoke as she put down her gadget and switched off her tools.

“I hope you’ll find our alliance mutually beneficial,” the man said.

Harrison smiled and nodded. “Definitely. I look forward to seeing the fruits of our partnership.”