The Last Immortalus

Webb and Geoghan drove down a road surrounded by the aftermath of the recent gang war; bloodied corpses lay on either side of the streets as a reminder of a heated battle.

“What happened here?” Geoghan said.

“The war,” Webb said.  “Looks like Charles made his move and took out Hesitance’s group.  She was based in an old church just down the road.”

Their car arrived at the church amidst all the police commotion surrounding a crime of this magnitude and they got out to meet Eliza standing by the entrance.

“Good morning Superintendent,” Geoghan greeted her.

“Was this Charles’ final conquest?” Webb asked.

“If you want to have a look, I can’t stop you,” Eliza said.

Within the church, some light streamed in through the windows, but not much.  Dead bodies lay strewn about and the candles at the front were now burning low.

Making their way up the central aisle, they soon arrived at the front where they saw Hesitance’s body hanging from the rafters above.  She was suspended by a noose made from some of the thorn-covered vines that were plentiful outside.

“Charles is merciless,” Webb said.  “This is it then, his completed empire.  He’s got control over all crime in the underworld.”

Once outside the church again, Webb approached Eliza who noticed his presence and said, “What may I do for you?”

“What are we gonna do?” Webb said.  “Charles has complete control over all crime.”

“So?”

“He’s a former cop.  You don’t think he has a grudge?  It won’t be like before, when there was the police against several divided factions.  They’re united.  Now it’s the police versus the Mad-King.  He’s already tried to have me killed.  How can you be so calm?”

“I’m calm because plans are already underway to bring Charles Gravesen in.”

“What do you mean?  You’re gonna arrest him?”

“That’s exactly what I mean, yes.”

“How?  I’ve been trying to get him for years.  Do you have sufficient evidence?”

“I’ve had someone undercover in Charles’ operation for a long time.  We’ve got all we need.  A specialist team has already been dispatched to Gehenna.”

Webb turned to leave once he heard this, prompting Eliza to call after him, “Where are you going?

“Where do you think?” Webb said back.  “There’s nothing you can say to stop me going there.”

“Very well, just remember he needs to be alive.”

***

A SWAT team raided Gehenna with Webb accompanying them.  They burst into the empty nightclub and from the upper levels; several men open fired on the police.

Webb took cover as the firefight began, only popping out to take one enemy down.  The SWAT team expertly took care of the rest, with one hostile making a sickening crunch as he dropped down onto the vacant dance floor.

Webb ran forward once he was clear, just as another armed man burst through a door and was quickly killed by Webb.  As he approached the door, a large group of men inside open fired on him, forcing him to take cover.

In the gambling den beyond the door, Charles’ men were using upturned tables as cover as they made a poor attempt to defend themselves against the SWAT team.

Police reinforcements burst in through the back entrance and quickly ended them.

Up in the office, Charles was sitting at his desk.  Upon hearing the gunfire below, he got up and calmly took off his jacket and shirt before picking up his sheathed sword.

Charles, now stripped to the waist, kneeled on his carpet with his scabbard lying in front of him.  His back was to the door and his eyes were closed as he listened carefully in on the gunfight.

A temporary lull occurred, followed by some more gunfire, which was quickly put to an end.  As Charles heard footsteps approach, he unsheathed his sword and stood up, facing the door.

The footsteps grew closer and Webb kicked the door open before rushing inside.  Webb pointed his gun at him, while Charles stood ready with his sword.

“How many times do I have to tell you not to come here, Joseph?” Charles said.

“I’m taking you in Charles,” Webb said.  “Please drop the weapon.”

“Well since you asked so nicely,” Charles said, before dropping his sword to the ground with a clang.

“Nice tattoos,” Webb observed.  “I’ve never seen them before.”

“They are my armour.  You’re bullets are useless against it.  You may as well put the gun away.”

“I can’t do that Charles, not till you’re in custody.”

A short burst of gunfire was heard from somewhere else in the building, causing Webb to instinctively turn around.  During this temporary distraction, Charles seized upon the opportunity to pull out a pistol that was previously tucked into the back of his trousers.

As Webb turned his gaze back, he was surprised to see Charles pointing a gun at him.  And so the two stood, each with their pistol pointed at the other.

“I thought you didn’t carry a gun,” Webb said.

“I’m still playing the villain, I can do what I want.”

“Put the gun away Charles.  Eliza wants you alive.”

“Would you shoot me Joseph?  I don’t think you would.”

Charles very slowly began to squeeze his trigger while Webb shook his head as he willed him not to shoot, but he did.  Charles fired a round into the wall next to Webb, who didn’t shoot back; he just closed his eyes.

Upon realising he was not dead, Webb opened his eyes and used them to examine the fresh bullet hole next to him and then looked back at Charles.

“You really wouldn’t,” Charles said with tears of joy forming around his eyes.  “That makes me so happy.  Of course, I couldn’t either.”  Charles dropped his gun and stared at Webb with a grateful smile.

As the SWAT team arrived, rushing past the still shocked Webb, Charles obediently sank to his knees and allowed himself to be arrested.

***

Contained within one of the holding cells, Charles sat hunched over while a crowd of police had gathered on the other side of the bars to stare at him.  Webb made his way to the front of the crowd and looked in at his defeated old friend, who was almost doubled over with fatigue.

Eliza suddenly stormed in and said, “Open the cell.  Now!”  The shocked gaoler did so and Eliza entered the cell.

“Charles?” she said softly, which made him slowly raise his head to see his visitor.

“Eliza?” he said weakly.

Eliza smiled and did her best to hold back her tears.  “It’s good to see you.  Those tattoos…I mean, you really went all out.”

“They’re magic, you know?”

“Are they really?” Eliza said, sitting down next to him.  “How are you feeling?”

“I’m so tired Eliza.”

“It’s okay Charles, you’re done.  You can rest now.”

Charles lay down, using Eliza’s lap as a pillow.  He closed his eyes while the smiling Eliza stroked his hair, letting the tears flow unhindered as the crowd of policemen looked on in disbelief.

***

Eliza hastily entered her office and wiped the tears away with Webb soon following behind her.

“You mind telling me what was going on there because that looked like one strange interrogation technique?” Webb came out with.

“Sit down Webb.”

“No, not till you tell me what’s going on.”

“You’re an intelligent man Webb.  I honestly thought you’d figure it out by now.”

“Figure what out?  What is going on?”

“Who do you think my mole is in Charles’ organisation?”

“How would I know?  It could be anyone.”

“It’s him.”

“Who?”

“Charles.”

“What?  What are you talking about?  That’s impossible.”

“Maybe you should sit down now.  Let me explain.  Charles never stopped working for the police.”

“He was discharged for corruption.”

“We were rife with corruption.  Charles convinced me to let him infiltrate the ranks of crooked police.  He said, as a rookie, they wouldn’t suspect him.  After a while, he made his way to the top.  At which point he gave me the names of everyone involved and we took them down.  All corrupt police were sent to prison and we made it look like Charles had given them all up in return for immunity.”

“I don’t believe this.  It doesn’t make sense.”

“After we rid our own ranks of crime, we looked outward.  Charles was fired so he could infiltrate Geisler’s group and do the same as he did here, rise through the ranks and take out all his rivals.  Imagine all organised crime in the hands of a policeman.”

“Why didn’t I know about this?”

“Why do you think?  Only me and Charles knew about this.”

“This is why you didn’t want me investigating him.”

“We couldn’t have you ruining everything.  It was a close call when you almost seized his gun shipment.”

“You’re the one who let him know I was on to him,” Webb realised.  “You told him to change the date of delivery.  You endorsed murder and let him take out Hesitance and her men.  That’s corruption.”

“I suppose so, in a rather ironic way…a benign corruption.”

“So…what now?”

“Well, when Charles had taken control over all crime in the city, he gathered the evidence necessary and announced it was time to bring him in.  I used the raid as an excuse to take his evidence from Gehenna.  Don’t you see what we’re about to do?  We now have the means to rid the city of crime.  Charles provided me with all the information regarding every aspect of his empire and every single person involved.  I’ve already sent out the arrest orders.  Don’t you see the good Charles has done?”

“But he tried to kill me.”

“I know.  You were too close at ruining it all before his work was done.  He probably knew you could handle yourself and just wanted to distract you.  Since you’re still here, it seems he was right.”

“What’s going to happen to Charles?”

“He’s given us the details of his complete operation, his job is done.  We’ll make it seem that we couldn’t make any charges stick and release him soon.  Before we do that, maybe you should go talk to him.”

After their conversation, Webb did in fact go to see Charles but found he was asleep, so he just smiled and let him rest.