Thatberg Profiles

Chapter 4

Thatberg was a place of business, unfortunately that means that the more illegal kinds went on there as well.

Two rival gangs were, at this moment, fighting tooth and nail and lead at the command of two very rich men. One of these men was currently lying on the ground of his office, bleeding out from a gunshot wound to his head, and very thoroughly not alive. Sitting next to this man was another, tied to a chair. This man was a man with no name, no record of his birth. He was a man who had survived seemingly impossible odds. Everyone who knew him reckoned he ought to be dead by now. That is why they call him Ghost, and he was currently holding his shoes above the growing puddle to avoid getting them stained.

Several angry looking mobsters burst through the door, the leader looked thoroughly disappointed to see a mostly empty room, his rival already dead and, tied to a chair, the man who mobsters hoped to only ever have to deal with if they had a gun at their head, and even reluctantly at that. One of the mobsters stomped Ghost's shoes into the puddle of blood, prompting a "well that was just unnecessary" from him. Grumpily the leader pulled a chair from behind his late rivals desk and lazily gestured his revolver at Ghost. "Well, I suppose you arranged this," he said in the classic Russian mobster voice. "Well there was nothing good on tv, so it was either messing with the Russian mafia or east enders, and frankly i'd rather have my toenails pulled out than watch that" said ghost, in a smug but understandably tired voice. "You think of this as entertainment?" said the Mobster, slightly ticked off. "No, I just think it's funny how gullible you all are," said ghost, adjusting his position in the ropes slightly.

"DO YOU NOT KNOW HOW EASILY I could kill you!!" fumed the Mobster, his voice dropping to a dangerous low. He leveled his gun to Ghosts head. Ghost's signature Cheshire cat grin was visible in the dim light. "But you won't," said Ghost with absolute certainty. "I have an appointment later today, and if i don't make it, my Minio... employers may presume the worst; and i have people in VERY high places." "Speaking of which," said ghost, standing up.

Ghost stepped out of the alley way as the last man fell behind him. Just as he was giving his wrist a stretch, he felt the awfully familiar feeling of a metal bat hitting the back of his head.

Cold water woke him up from his baseball bat induced sleep. "FOR WHAT REASON DO YOU KIDNAP ME FOR A SECOND TIME TODAY!" yelled Ghost "IT'S NOT EVEN 6 AM!". Ghost immediately calmed down as he saw who had kidnapped him. "Oh Emilia, fancy meeting you here" said Ghost "i would offer you a biscuit but...", he made a shrugging motion, which was hard to do in handcuffs. Rubbing the bridge of her nose, Emilia sighed. "Ghost, I know it's early but could we please get to the point; this is serious".

"What could be so serious that you have to kidnap me?" asked Ghost, changing the subject. "The museum" said Emilia, frustrated, trying to get back on topic." What about it? Has it been robbed again?" replied Ghost nonchalantly. "Yes" said Emilia with great relief, "a priceless artifact has been stolen".

"Must be Thursday" said Ghost, without the slightest of expression changes. Giving a deep sigh, Emilia continued. "It's not what was stolen, but how" she said, leaning forwards. "There's no trace of any break in, not only that, but there's not a single trace of anyone being in the building besides the guards and janitor". "Now that is interesting," said Ghost, joining Emilia in leaning forward. "Not only that" continued Emilia "but there were signs of violence, but they only went as far as a backroom, not into the museum itself."

"I'll look into it," said Ghost, examining his nails. "Please take this seriously" said Emilia, clearly incredibly tired. "My dear Emilia, i'm always serious" replies Ghost, either he was unnaturally good at lying or this was serious for him. "Then why have you just hummed the entirety of a led zeppelin album?" asked Emilia, clearly not buying it. "Alright, you got me, I'm not serious," said Ghost, raising his hands above his head. His hands no longer cuffed.

Emilia stood up and put her hand on the table. "Ghost, don't even think about leaving, we need your help to bring this criminal in" she said, a hint of anger in her voice. "Now, my dear Emilia, I'd rather this doesn't turn violent, because frankly I'm fully aware of what you're capable of," said ghost, trying to be the voice of reason. "now if you'll excuse me" he said. Kicking out the leg of the table.

The collapse of the table meant that Emilia would fall straight forwards. Ghost used this to his advantage, crouching down to be on the same level as her. His knife seemed to leap to his hand as he twirled it skillfully, placing it where Emilia's throat would be if she hadn't caught herself.

Ghost raised an eyebrow as he felt the cold metal of a gun barrel press against his forehead. He hadn't noticed that his friend had caught herself on one hand and drawn her gun with the other. "So, are we really doing this?" asked Emilia, her Texan accent really seeming to fit the stand off, a slight smirk could be seen on her face. Neither of them moved for a good 5 seconds, as either of them could kill the other in an instant.

A good natured (if chubby) cop walked into the room, to see a fallen table and two people holding each other at knife and gunpoint. The man seemed to pause, a donut halfway to his mouth. All of a sudden, both Ghost and Emilia burst out into laughter, Emilia's a hearty chuckle and Ghost's an amused snort. "Priceless," said Ghost, wiping a tear from his eye. "Now If you don't mind" Ghost said, taking the donut from the man's hand while walking out the door, the good cop was too confused to even complain. "What a funny guy" said Emilia, standing up, brushing herself off, straightening her tie, taking the man's other donut and saying "let's get to work then".

It was a bright evening, Emilia brought her motorcycle to a stop and pulled her sunglasses out of her pocket and put them on. She pulled her nunchaku from their holster and used the keys on them to unlock her apartment door. She was about to open her door as she heard a slurping noise almost right next her. "It's just me fortunately" said the all too familiar voice of Ghost, carefully moving her gun away from his head with a finger. "I think I know who did it," he said in the tone of voice that usually precedes a monologue. "HOW?" asked Emilia, in a hushed tone "there's no evidence whatsoever". "On the contrary my dear Emilia" he said smugly "the lack of evidence gives me a crystal clear idea of who didn't do it, which also tells me the possible suspects. There are only 6 people in the world capable of such a feat. three of whom work for me, two of whom are locked up in a place so secure even i would struggle to escape. And the other you ask?" he prompted. "No, I didn't," replied Emilia bluntly. "Well i'm telling you anyway" continued Ghost, "the last suspect lives right here in thatberg"