The building the slag pointed me toward was some kind of warehouse complex. I pulled up the schematic into my HUD while I walked through the place, easily memorizing it.
The guards blocking the way forward were easy enough to take care of. A flash of Fear the Reaper had most of them frothing at the mouth and collapsing. A few managed to stand against it, but low-level gangsters were low-level for a reason. They surrendered or fled almost immediately.
The guy I was looking for? Found him without much effort. He was posted up in one of the warehouse’s rooms. Or, at least, it was pretty safe to assume he was the boss of the Razor Bloc gang.
The guy had razor blades sticking out of his face. They followed the contours of his face, making him look incredibly sharp. And I don’t mean handsome. Had a massive beer belly fully flopped out since he only had on pants.
Heavily chrome out too, compared to his goons. Black arms with blue highlights pointed towards maybe Raijin? They were custom pieces though, with razor blades welded onto them.
He likewise had subdermal armor. From the way it noticeably bulged out and its ugly shaping, looked like maybe low end stuff? Or if it was high-end, his Medek seriously sucked. It looked like an extremely uncomfortable implant regardless.
The guy scratched at his exposed belly button. “Who’re you supposed to be?”
I put Fear the Reaper at max strength. “You just call me a whore?”
”What if I did?” The guy managed to speak confidently, but I could see a slight tremble in his arms. Still managed to hold himself together though. Guess Fear the Reaper was only super effective against peons, at least for now. Don’t get me wrong, he was still affected. He wasn’t pissing himself and terror though.
”That, my friend, would be a big mistake.” I stepped toward the man and rolled my shoulder back. Intimidation had been working so far. Why pull back now?
”Hmm…” He moved, unfreezing himself through sheer force of will. The trembling was still there though. He jumped up onto a storage crate, gaining a slight height advantage. “You even know who you’re talking to?”
”A poser?” I replied.
”The great Razorface!” He slammed his fist forward. Boxes all around the room split open, pouring out razor blades. Thousands of blades floated through the air, gathering into a literal storm of sharp silver. “Fear me!”
Did he seriously just keep thousands of razors around him in boxes? Why? And was his kinetic ability to control razors specifically? It couldn’t be to control sharp objects, otherwise he could’ve ripped my knives away. Definitely not metal either for a similar reason.
”Y’know, saying ‘fear me’ has the complete opposite effect.” If this was the past, I would’ve been very, very afraid given the current situation. This guy being a Kinetic wasn't in the Crusade’s report. “And what’s up with that name?”
With the storm of razor blades around him, his confidence returned full force even through the demoralizing effects of Fear the Reaper. ”Razorface is intimidating, you bitch. Who do you think you are just walking in here?”
I didn’t really have time for this. Honestly? The moment this turned south, I could probably take him down. I didn’t feel threatened in the slightest. ”I have some questions. You have answers. Probably.”
Razorface waved a hand, causing a ripple to go through the entire wave of razor blades. “What makes you think I’ll answer you? Do you not see what position you’re in?!”
“Do you?” I pulled my Crusade badge out, carefully hiding my ID number under my thumb. No point fully giving away my identity here, especially considering how this was probably going to go down. “Easy way, you answer my questions. Hard way-”
”Die, pig!” The man predictably thrust his hand forward, sending the wave of razors toward me. I felt Insight flicker through me, cutting my body apart with phantom cold-
My world turned into an electrical current. In less than a second, I flickered out of existence and flashed right next to the gang leader with Arc Flash. A loud crack exploded from my new position alongside a brilliant flash of light. My body fully charged up immediately thanks to Arc Flashes’ secondary effect.
I flared out the gathered electricity into a massive burst. My control wasn’t great, but it didn't really matter with the AOE attack. ‘Sides, it was just a distraction more than anything.
Razorface pulled the blades back to protect himself from the electrical burst-
It ended before he could even do anything. I drove my hand toward a gap in his defense. Illusive and Hidden Hands worked in tandem, completely obscuring the motion. The Jade Dagger, clad with Hidden Weapon, flashed forward.
My strike felt guided, almost. It was a bit similar to Insight? There was just a path that felt ‘right’ and easy to follow. I didn’t resist, allowing the sensation to guide me. My dagger easily sunk into his side, though I pulled back before I could do too much damage to him.
He flopped to the ground, completely defenseless thanks to the paralysis. The razor blades he controlled fell alongside him, loudly clattering to the ground. I casually wiped my dagger off and kicked him onto his back.
So that was Viper Strike? It’d take some getting used to. It, combined with Arc Flash and my Jade Dagger? An absurdly disgusting combo. Wouldn’t have many issues against single targets anymore. It made questioning a bit hard, but there was no denying its usefulness.
“Hard way it is.” I crouched by his side. “This could’ve been so much easier if you just cooperated. Now look at you. Pathetic.”
His eyes trembled in a mixture of terror and resistance. It seemed part of him still wanted to fight me. How pitiful. He would’ve been a genuine threat against anyone else too. I just happened to perfectly counter him with teleportation and paralysis.
I carefully tapped his cheek, drawing his attention. “Look, I don’t want to be here. You don’t want me here. Blink once for yes. Twice for no. I’ll let you go afterwards, got it?”
“…” He kept his eyes wide open, refusing to even acknowledge my words.
I sighed and stretched my fingers forward, tracing one of his face razors. “Would be a real shame if someone were to just-“ I yanked hard, tearing it out of him alongside a chunk of skin.
“Mmmm!” A muffled groan erupted from his throat. The resistance in his gaze faded, turning into pure fear. He blinked his eyes rapidly as if trying to get my attention.
I felt a bit of guilt. Was I going too hard? I didn't usually go about things this way, but… when the thought of Mira disappearing entered my mind, it threw me into a cycle of choking grief, icy hot rage, and complete unwillingness. It wasn’t right to take my anger out on people like this and treat them worse than ants, but it sure felt good.
“Good boy.” I pulled out my phone and flashed a picture of Mira. “You know her?”
He blinked twice for no. I figured. It’d be weird for him to know her unless she came directly to him. I was kind of hoping he would know, though, and lead me right to her. It didn't hurt to ask.
I slid my phone back into my pocket. “A month and a half ago, did anything happen in this area? Kidnappings? Disappearances? That kinda thing? Think long and hard.”
He didn’t have to think for long. One blink for yes. Mira wasn’t an isolated incident then. Less chance she was targeted specifically. That was… there was a high chance it meant bad news.
”Who?” I asked.
Razorface froze up, blinking his eyes rapidly as if to convey a rather important message.
Right- yes or no questions only. ”Do you know who?”
One blink.
”Cult?” They were who I was worried about the most. If the Circle got Mira, she probably wound up as a living sacrifice to Mother. Even more of a reason to hate the Circle than I already did.
He thankfully blinked twice. She escaped that grisly fate, at least.
”Scavs?” They were my second biggest concern. Their methods would see Mira ripped apart and her chrome scrapped out. Likely while she was still alive too.
Two blink. I was already starting to feel a bit better about the situation.
”Savants?” They were the last group well-known for kidnapping people. If not them, then who else?
Razorface blinked once for yes. Relief crossed through his trembling eyes. I really was doing a number on this guy’s psyche… He was a gang boss. Probably had it coming anyway.
Savants, though? Did they grab Mira? Depending on who backed them, they definitely could be capable enough to grab her. It was the most likely theory at the moment. Also the best one, all things considered.
If it was Savants, there was a good chance she was alive. It was a bit of a relief, honestly. Except for the fact that Savants treated their captives like lab rats, they had relatively long lifespans compared to other groups. No telling what my poor Mikata was subjected to over the past month and a half, though. My drive to find her spiked once more. “Have anything on the Savants?”
Twice for no. Did he not look into the groups operating in his territory? This guy really was a slag of the highest order. Gang territory 101: always know the actors inside your territory.
“Just Savants? Nobody else?” I didn’t want to fully dedicate myself to a Savant hunt if there was even a chance it was someone else.
Razorface blinked twice. Nobody but Savants. At least, that this guy knew of. I should probably ask a few of the other gangers. Some of them would probably know something.
I stood up and leaned against a broken care, staring down at Razorface from just out of his view. Just knowing it was Savants did almost nothing to help narrow down where Mira might be. There were too many of them throughout the city, each belonging to different corporations. It would be like finding a needle in a city-sized haystack. It wasn’t quite a dead end, but it was close.
I backed out of the place and questioned a few of the gangers. They echoed the sentiments of Razorface. Outside of the Savants, which stopped operating in this area two weeks ago, there was no one else with a kidnapping angle. And, since they stopped operating, it’d be even harder to track them down.
Their halted kidnapping could be a good sign though. Likely meant they had all they needed. Just further reinforced the hope that Mira was still alive. The alternative… I couldn’t accept it. She was still alive. Still alive and waiting for me to save her.
I headed back out to my bike, deep in thought. The slags guarding it did their job perfectly. In fact, none of them even moved from where they originally stood as if scared even a bit of tailwind might set me off. Given my recent volatility, they may very well have been right.
My bike purred to life, rising up off the ground. I headed off into the city, aiming for the northern Outskirts. I needed to think where to go from here, and I knew just the place.