Eldritch Guidance

Cory looked dazed. The black eye suggested he was hit in the head and may be suffering a concussion. The beaten rat-like man looked up and saw Kyle sitting right in front. His expression turned to one of fear as he started to frantically look around to see where he was. The Nighthound mutt’s eyes eventually landed on Joe and Mike.

Joe and Cory’s eyes met. Cory had a moment of confusion before turning to anger.

Cory: “You fucked me, Joe! You fucked us both!” he screamed out in rage, blaming Joe for the current situation he found himself in.

Kyle: “Still blaming others for your own fuck ups?”

Everyone in the room turned and looked at Kyle. The Doberman mutant had finally put down the paper he was reading. He rested his head against his fist while looking at Cory with an amused, if somewhat disinterested look.

Cory: “K-K-Kyle. I c-can explain,” he said, stuttering with fear.

Kyle: “Please, by all means. I want to hear your excuse.”

Cory: “T-They came to me for information. I-I didn’t know t-they were cops,” he lied, trying to save himself while throwing Joe under the bus.

Kyle's expression didn’t change. The Nighthound leader turned his head toward one of the grunts standing by and made a small gesture by craning his neck to the side.

The mutant subordinates walked up to Cory and punched him right in the jaw. Cory grunted, spat up some blood from the impact, and fell out of his chair. The person who punched him picked Cory back up and shoved him back into the chair facing Kyle.

Joe and Mike watched this and almost felt sorry for Cory.

Kyle: “You're a shit liar, Cory. That beating ya got earlier clearly didn’t knock any sense in ya, or make you better at lying. We never told you we knew they were cops, so how did you know? Now how about you be honest for once in your fucking life.”

Cory groaned in pain a little bit before finally speaking again.

Cory: “I-I-I knew they were cops…”

Kyle: “Oh, finally some honesty,” he said sarcastically. “And, what did you tell them?”

Cory: “T-they wanted to know info about Rob and about some people who lived on Vaal Street ”

Kyle: “And, what else did they ask?”

Cory turned his head to look at Joe with a scared look, before turning back to Kyle. He took a deep breath and resigned himself to whatever was about to happen.

Cory: “They…asked about the keeper of secrets…and…I told them… about the red-eyed man in the antique shop on Eld Street.”

Kyle: “Hmm. That was more honest than I expected,” he said, as if he was anticipating Cory would say something else.

Cory: “P-please Kyle. I can explain. I didn’t steal that information. The computer I was using bugged out and I got accidental access to that file.”

Kyle: “I know.”

Cory: “You know?” he said, sounding confused.

Kyle: “Yeah, cause someone as incompetent as you would never have been able to acquire that level of secret info. The only explanation is a mistake on our end that we’re currently in the process of fixing.”

Cory: “Then you know I didn’t mean to—”

Kyle: “You still read it. It should have been obvious you weren’t supposed to read it and that you needed to report this. Something you didn’t do.”

Cory: “Please, Kyle. I didn’t want to tell them, but they made me.”

Kyle: “And how did they make you?”

Cory: “They threatened me. They said they would leak all my wrongdoing while I was with the Skullcrusher, and throw me into jail unless I told them about the Keeper of Secrets.

Joe wanted to call bullshit on what was being said, but didn’t feel safe doing so at the moment. Cory was lying. He had only threatened to leak that information if he tried to attack Joe. He didn’t force Cory to say anything he couldn’t tell him.

Kyle: “You know we could have protected you from the cops, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

Cory: “I-I didn’t want to trouble anyone in the gang.”

Kyle: “I see," he said followed by long sigh. "I’m bored of this. Get him out of my sight and put this mutt down,” he said while gesturing toward two of the grunts in the room.

Two big burly Nighthound mutant men grabbed Cory and started dragging him toward the entrance of the office. The mutt struggled and started screaming as he was taken away.

Cory: “PLEASE NO!! Please, Kyle! Don’t do this! I’ve been nothing but loyal to the Nighthounds!” he yelled.

Upon hearing that last part of what Cory said, one of Kyle's pointed dog ears flicked.

Kyle: “Wait. Bring him back.”

The two henchmen carrying Cory turned to look back at Kyle briefly before doing what they were told. They brought Cory back to face Kyle while shoving him back into the seat he was sitting in.

Cory: “T-thank y-you. I’ll do anything you want. J-just give me one more chance.”

Kyle: “One more chance, huh. Let me ask you something. Why do you think you're in this position?"

Cory: “B-because I shared classified information with a cop.”

Kyle: “No. That was just the straw that broke the rock-goat’s back. You say you’re loyal, yet you have been anything but. That’s the real reason you’re in this position.”

Cory: “B-but I-I gave up everything when I betrayed the Skullcrusher. Isn't that—” he was interrupted by a loud banging sound.

Kyle had smashed his fist into the desk he was sitting at with enough force that it splintered the wood, leaving an imprint of his fist in it. The doberman mutant was now bearing his teeth and looked pissed.

Kyle: “STOP FUCKING LYING TO ME!! You’ve been lying this whole fucking time! Right to my face, me, of all people! You think I don’t know that Rob asked you to infiltrate us by pretending to betray the Skullcrusher. How were you a double agent when you joined us.”

Cory: “Uh, uh. H-how did—”

Kyle: “We knew from the beginning! We just acted like we didn’t know anything while feeding you bad info that you gave to Rob back then.”

Cory went wide-eyed. He was completely shocked that the Nighthounds knew he was once a snitch for Rob the entire time.

Kyle: “Once Rob was out of the picture, we decided to continue to do nothing about you. Thinking that maybe you might become a proper Nighthound. Yet, you disappointed us every step of the way. You disgrace our reputation, cause trouble for our other members, and abuse the tiny privileges we gave to you when we pretended to accept your betrayal of the Skullcrushers. And, the biggest cardinal sin, you’re constantly betraying us!”

Cory: “N-no! I-I—”

Kyle: “How about you also explain why you’re selling info to cultists! You know it is strictly forbidden for anyone in the Nighthounds to work with anybody from Nameless Cults. It is considered outright betrayal to do so. Yet, you were constantly selling info to those fish freaks in Loffa!”

Cory sat there in silence while shaking in fear. Looking even more scared than he had before.

“Everything Kyle said must be dead on. Otherwise, Cory would try and create an excuse. But, Cory is not saying anything now. I didn’t think he would be stupid enough to try to sell info to a cult.” Joe silently thought to himself.

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There were a lot of things about the Nighthounds that Joe didn’t like about them, but he respected that they didn’t seem to work with cultists. There were crime syndicates who had no issue with working alongside cults devoted to the Nameless Gods, as long as they received payment for their services, enabling those cults to carry out their nefarious plans. Fortunately, Nighthounds was not one of those types of criminal organizations.

For whatever reason, the Nighthounds didn’t like them and were quite murderous when it came to cultism a lot of the time. Every once in a rare while, the Nighthounds would drop a body off somewhere near the police headquarters. The body that was dropped off had evidence on them to prove that they were indeed cultists.

It was a reality that Murdock made everyone on the force keep secret. Trying to avoid average people from starting to see the Nighthounds as some sort of good guy group going around and killing cultists.

“Cory is beyond stupid if he really was selling information to a cult.” Joe silently thought to himself.

Kyle: “Hm, nothing to say? We only kept you around to continue to feed bad info to the cult of the Deep One’s. The info you were selling them was actually trash, which made tracking them easier for us. But, now that’s run its course. You're now costing us too much by giving away classified information that wasn't meant to be shared.”

Kyle finally stood up, revealing his height. The Doberman mutant was extremely tall. Standing slightly under seven feet (2.12 meters). He walked around the desk and stood right in front of Cory, looming ominously.

Joe was getting a bad feeling.

Kyle: “You asked for a second chance, but you used up all those chances a long time ago.”

Cory: “Pleeeeease! I-I don’t want to die,” he cried, tears of fear running down his face.

It happened quickly. If you blinked, you would have missed it. At blinding speed, Kyle punched Cory square in the face. The impact was unimaginably strong, enough so that the mutt’s neck couldn’t handle the strain and keep his head attached. Just like that, Cory’s head was ripped off his body and sent flying across the room. All from the force of a single punch.

Blood suddenly shot out the remains of Cory’s neck like a gory fountain for a few seconds before his body collapsed to the side.

Joe and Mike’s mouths were agape at what they just saw.

It was well known that Kyle was a professional boxer on the side and a twelve-time champion of the Super Heavyweight Mutant League. He also had a reputation for sometimes killing his opponents in the ring. But, despite his overwhelming skill at boxing and his massive bulk, Joe still couldn’t believe Kyle was strong enough to punch a man’s head clean off his body. Yet that was what he just did.

Joe looked towards where Cory’s head landed. The skull had collapsed around where Kyle had hit Cory, leaving his face smashed in and recognizable.

“Not bloodthirsty, my ass!” Joe silently disparaged the report he read that told him that Kyle wasn't homicidal.

Joe’s plan of trying to talk his way out of this with Kyle wasn't looking so good. He had killed Cory right in front of both officers without a second thought. A man who was willing to kill someone else with such disregard didn’t seem like someone you could easily reason with. The senior officer was hoping that maybe both of them could walk away with only some broken bones. But, that slim possibility was becoming slimmer in Joe's mind now.

Kyle: “Clean this mess up,” he ordered out.

Two of the grunts standing by walked up and collected Cory’s remains. One of them grabbed the decapitated head by the hair while the other grabbed Cory's body by the feet. They dragged the remains out of the room while leaving a bloody trail behind them.

No one besides Joe and Mike seemed bothered by this. Someone just died, and there was no visible reaction by the Nighthounds here. Everyone else was acting as if this was normal.

Kyle pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket and used it to wipe off a little bit of blood that got on his fist and then sat back down in his chair behind his desk.

Kyle: “Ok. Now I'll deal with those two,” he said, as he gestured for Joe and Mike to be brought over.

Both Mike and Joe were grabbed by their arms and forced onto their feet by two of the three grunts standing near them. The third grunt standing grabbed two new chairs and placed them in front of Kyle's desk, where Mike and Joe were forced to sit.

Now sitting directly in front of Kyle, Joe couldn’t help but gulp. The senior officer briefly looked down to see blood smears from Cory’s decapitation right under both officers' feet.

“Oh, Light. We’re not going to end up like Cory, are we?” Joe silently prayed that wouldn't be the case.

Kyle: “Now, what should I do with you two?”

Both officers briefly looked at each other before looking back at Kyle. Mike felt he was a better talker than Joe, so he took the initiative.

Mike: “W-we can explain—”

Kyle: “I still haven’t said you could speak.”

One of Kyle's subordinates standing by immediately sucker-punched Mike in the jaw, managing to knock out one of his teeth. Mike was about to fall out of his seat before he was grabbed by another henchman and forced to sit back up straight. Mike's face now had a nasty bruise that was swelling while blood was dripping from the corner of his mouth.

Kyle: “Under normal circumstances, I would have just handed you over to Samson and let him deal with you. However, the information you got your hands on complicates things.”

After what Kyle said, there was a brief pause in the conversation, as if the Nighthound leader was expecting Mike or Joe to say something. However, neither officer wasn't going to fall for it. They both knew if they said something, Kyle would have his grunts beat them again.

Kyle: “Hmm, smart. I guess I should have expected that from the great Joe Striker. You may speak now.”

Joe: “You know who I am?”

Kyle: “Yes, and it’s the only reason you are alive at this point.”

Joe: “Huh? W-why?”

Kyle: “You can thank Romilly Osborn for that. One of the victims of that murder was the daughter of an executive in our organization. That member vouched for you and asked we don’t harm you. As a sort of repayment for being the investigator to catch that murder. It is why we haven’t done anything against you.”

It seemed that investigations into Romilly's serial murders were helping Joe in some way with Kyle. However, the idea that the Nighthound didn’t do anything against them seemed laughable. Joe turned his head toward Mike to see that the bruise on his face had swollen even more in the few seconds since he was punched.

Kyle raised an eyebrow and seemed to know what both officers were thinking.

Kyle: “This is because of the information shared by Cory. Prior to that, we did not do anything to harm you. Didn’t you find it kind of strange that you could walk right into the Red-light District without any problems?”

Joe: “Then you guys knew the entire time.”

Kyle: “Yup. We know about you keeping that investigation with Rob going, you snooping around Vaal Street with that apprentice detective of yours, and when you came to the Red-Light district to get info. All so you can figure out who murdered Rob. Motivated by some sort of weird sense of justice.”

Joe was surprised to hear about how much the Nighounds knew. He understood their information gathering was said to be legendary, but seeing it on display with what Kyle was saying was something else.

Hearing Rob’s name, Joe's inquisitive nature couldn’t help but ask about him.

Joe: “Does that mean you know who killed him?”

Kyle: “Pft, no. Don’t even know if it was a murder like you suspect. I don’t know how or why that fucker died and don’t care. He wasn't a threat to us anymore since the Skullcrushers disbanded. That’s why we let you ask around for information on Rob. Because this has nothing to do with us and doesn't affect the Nighthounds either way.”

This was a good piece of information that Joe managed to get.

For a while now, he was worried that the Nighthounds were somehow involved in Rob’s death. The Nighthounds and Skullcrushers were rival gangs back in the day fighting with each other. They fought and killed each other's members during the Bloody Days. So, the Nighthounds had a lot of reasons for wanting Rob dead. But, Kyle’s comment seemed to confirm they weren't involved.

It made the investigation into Rob so much easier. Joe knew that if the Nighthounds were responsible for killing Rob, there was nothing he could do about it. They had too much power. But, if it wasn't them, there was still a possibility he could bring the murderer to justice.

Joe knew if he could get out of this situation alive, this would help him figure out who killed Rob.

Kyle: “You investigating Rob and even asking around the east end wasn't the issue. It’s the info Cory told you about the guy with red eyes on Eld Street. That was a level of classified information that was never to be told to ANYONE. And yet, you two were unlucky enough to hear about it, thanks to fucking Cory. ”

Mike: “W-with all due respect. We weren't necessarily asking for that kind of info. We just wanted to talk to an expert on curses,” he said with slightly slurred speech caused by the swelling in his jaw.

Kyle: “I know. In a fair world, you two would bear no responsibility for this. But, this is not a fair world. And, I’m required to kill anyone who learned about John through our information network.”

Upon hearing that, the Nighthound lackeys around Joe and Mike cracked their knuckles. They were preparing for Kyle's order to kill them.

Joe started to panic. Kyle seemed intent on killing them both from the very start. His last desperate attempt at trying to talk seemed pointless. There was no way to talk his way out of this. He and Mike were going to be killed. The officer started to struggle against his binding, seeing that his only chance now was to get the jinsil cuffs off and try to run for it.

Kyle: “That’s why I’m at an impasse. I’m technically supposed to kill you, and at the same time I’m not.”

Both officers looked at Kyle, confused. Joe stopped struggling against his binding to ask what the Doberman mutant was talking about.

Joe: “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Kyle: “If you found the Mystic Emporium on your own and entered and left, we’re not supposed to harm you. However, you found it because of our information; therefore, we should kill you. And yet, you already met John and managed to walk away unharmed. Which means something. I don't know what, but it's something. So maybe I’m not supposed to kill you. I also heard you managed to upset that guy as well, which is also a first for me. That might be an indication that I’m supposed to kill you as well. And now, I don’t know how to proceed. Do I kill you? Do I let you two live? Do I go halfway and break your limbs?”

Joe: “I don’t know what this guy is to you, but we promise not to tell anything about him to anyone else. John didn’t tell me anything, either. You can go ask him yourself. So please, spare us,” he begged while bowing his head as a sign of respect.

Kyle: “Hmm.”

Kyle leaned back and crossed his arms as he was in deep contemplation. The mutant doberman was debating the fate of the two officers in front of him.

Suddenly, a mutant with a giant bird beak where his mouth should have been rushed into the room.

Bird Beak Mutant: “Sir! I have an urgent message!”

Kyle: “Can’t you see I’m busy!”

Bird Beak Mutant: “It’s from the boss.”

Kyle: “Oh,” he said, deflating all the surrounding tension around him. “What is it?”

The Nighthound who entered walked up to Kyle and started to whisper something in his ear. Neither Mike nor Joe heard what was being said, but they saw Kyle’s eyes suddenly go wide before the mutant who just arrived pulled away from him.

The Night Hound mutant, with a bird beak, politely bowed to Kyle and quietly left the room.

Kyle had a distant look to him, like he was in deep thought, before turning back to the officer in front of him.

Kyle: “It turns out you’re pleading with the wrong person. I guess the Nightqueen will see you two now.”