In honor of Gladius: The Animation comming out on DVD this turn:
The church was empty, not even populated by a few pious souls seeking prayerful solace. Gladius stepped into the church, quickly looking around before nodding in satisfaction. “Always more convenient when no one is around.” He said to no one in particular. Quickly, Gladius strode quickly down the aisle, not even having to consciously pay attention to where he was going, since he had made the journey enough times that his feet moved from habit, rather than any conscious decision on his part. In the back, completely obstructed from view until one was almost on top of it was a confessional. When Gladius reached it, he entered, kneeling beside the screen that separated him from the other side.
“Forgive you Father, for you have sinned.”
From the other side of the confessional screen, there is a sigh. “Good to see you too Gladius. Brother John is waiting as usual.” From one side of the confessional, there is a click, as part of the wall moves apart, revealing a secret passage.
Gladius got up, entering the secret passage. Behind him the door slid shut, leaving him in a blinding blackness. Gladius, however, does not hesitate, moving down the stairs with ease and confidence, not even bothering to put out one hand to touch the wall. Reaching the bottom of the steps, he came to a wooden door, from which a thin beam of light escaped along the bottom crack. Opening the door, Gladius is greeted not only by more light, but also by a voice.
“Come in Brother Gladius, I’ve been waiting for you.”
“I am not your brother.” Gladius replied, almost reflexively as he walked into the room. To the right is a kitchen, to the left is a hallway which appears to lead to more rooms, but Gladius immediately focuses on the left, back corner of the room where “Brother” John was sitting, partially hidden by the bulk of a computer.
“Come, Brother Gladius, all of God’s children are brothers and sisters.”
“Is that why priests don’t marry, because they don’t want to commit incest?”
“No, Brother Gladius, priests can’t marry because of the efforts to reform the Catholic Church in the Middle Ages by curbing simony.”
Gladius sighed. “I knew that, it was a joke.”
Brother John stared at him with a blank face. “Of course it was.” He replied in a deadpan which could either suggest that either he had the driest sense of humor on the planet, or else he had his humor surgically removed as a child. “More significantly, however,” he continued, “is this.” Gladius walked around the desk so that he could see the computer screen which he was pointing at. On the screen, arranged so that they could be simultaneously viewed were several pictures. Each picture, judging from the amount of blood in them, seemed to be of a crime scene.
After studying them for a moment, Gladius shrugged, “Looks like the police will have their hands full.”
“The poor police have no idea what their dealing with, Brother Gladius. Look here.” Brother John fiddles around with the computer, causing one of the pictures to enlarge. “See this indentation, what do you suppose could cause that?”
“I don’t know, maybe a car hitting it?”
“Perhaps, but there is no paint transfer and no tire marks anywhere around the scene. In addition…” Brother John pulled up another picture. “How about this?” The picture on the screen was a wall, with hundreds of small holes, some of which were stained with blood.”
Gladius leaned closer. “You think…”
Brother John nodded. “It is more than what I think. More importantly, the higher ups think. When I talked to them, it sounded like they had just peed their pants. So, they want you to investigate. And they sent some help.”
“I don’t need help.”
“Yes, because it is so much better to be arrogant and dead than humble and alive.” John answered in what was either the perfect deadpan sarcasm or him merely announcing what was for him a bare statement of fact. “Anyway, it doesn’t make a difference whether you think you need it or not, headquarters has already sent help, so all you can do is accept it.” Brother John walked down the hallway, motioning me to follow him. At the end of the hallway was a curtain, which he pulled back, revealing one-way glass. The glass looked into the room used for interrogations when such events were necessary. Inside the room was a solitary figure, seated on a chair. Age and sex were impossible to determine as every piece of skin was covered with some article of clothing, from the gloves on the hands to the ski mask over the head. However, the way the feet dangled above the ground suggested that the person was either a very short adult, or, a child.
“Meet Lily. She’s rather an unfortunate soul. In a series of regrettable incidents, she entered into a contract with a High Angel when she was only three making her the youngest contractor in history. To bad it takes a fully mature adult to be able to control the power one gains through the transaction. As a result, unlike you or others who can turn their power on and off at will, her power is always on.”
“And what power is that?”
“Any living thing that comes in contact with her body immediately dies. That’s why she’s completely covered, the clothing acts as interference. It’s a pity that as a result of her power she’s no longer remembers what a loving touch feels like. Five long years of seeing everyone who touched you die. Almost like God made a mistake, giving such a burden to one so young.” Brother John paused for a moment, looking thoughtfully before him. After a short moment he shook his head, as if trying to escape some thought. Reaching into his pocket, he took a piece of paper and handed it to Gladius. “Here’s an address we want you to check out. Take Lily with you, just make sure you don’t accidentally touch her in a fight. Your death would be inconvenient for us.”
“Yeah,” Gladius replied, taking the piece of paper. “It would ruin my day too.” Walking over to the door, he opened it, sticking his head into the room. At his intrusion, Lily looked up, simultaneously seeming to draw herself inward, as if terrified Gladius might approach. Ignoring her reaction, Gladius motioned towards her, “Let’s roll.”
Gladius sat hunched in his seat, holding in front of him the stereotypical stake-out newspaper. Beside him, Lily stared vacantly out of the window. Having never had a field partner before, Gladius had been slightly apprehensive, not knowing what to expect. However, for the most part, Lily had sat quietly in the passenger’s seat, staying so still that he could easily pretend she was not there. The only exception to this was when they were leaving the church, when she first got into the car.
As Gladius had been starting the car, he heard a small voice, so low that he wasn’t sure he hadn’t imagined it. Turning to Lily, Gladius saw only the back of her head. “Did you say something Lily?”
“Gladius,” she said in a near whisper, “What does it mean to be human?”
Gladius’ eyes went back to the road as he desperately tried to think of an answer suitable for a eight year old child. “I…uh…think Brother John is a better person to ask.”
“I see.” She became quiet, the dull hum of the car suddenly loud in the silence. After a while she continued in her wraithlike voice. “I think…that to be human is to be loved.”
Those were the only words they had exchanged until the present, as they sat outside a run-down apartment complex in a street that no one who wasn’t forced to would live, waiting for our target to appear. Suddenly, Gladius lowers the newspaper, lifting up the camera that had been laying in his lap, focusing it on a large man with a baseball cap pulled down over his face, obscuring it from view. As he disappeared into the building, Gladius threw the camera in the backseat. “That’s the target, let’s go.” Getting out of the car, he started going over the plan. “We want to try and take him alive, so you’ll be strictly backup.” he related to Lily. “Stay out in the hallway unless I need you.” Gladius looked up to see if Lily understood and stopped in shock. As he had been speaking, Lily had been divesting herself of some of her layers of clothing. Now, she stood in the chilly fall day, dressed in a white sleeveless shirt and shorts only slightly longer than bikini bottoms. The hair on her head had been cropped so short that she was almost bald, giving her a slightly boyish look. Gladius’ attention, however, was grabbed by the tattoo on her left arm, glowing as if it were made of fire. “Lily,” Gladius said, as he involuntarily touched his own arm, “when I activate my powers, it feels as if my arm is on fire.”
Bending down, Lily picked up one of the innumerable cigarette butts that littered the ground. As she placed it against her tattoo, a thin line of smoke rolled off. Suddenly she threw the cigarette away from her. Turning towards me she shrugged. “All of my clothes have to be made from a fire-retardant material.”
Not knowing what to say to that, Gladius started walking towards the apartment building, the sound of footsteps behind him indicating that Lily was following. Entering the deserted lobby, Gladius chose the stairs, evidently not wanting to be in an enclosed elevator with Lily. Exiting onto the third floor, Gladius’ head swiveled back and forth, reading the numbers on the doors as he walked by them. Finally, he stopped before a door. Even though it was missing two of the three numbers, the fade pattern on the wall, indicated that the numbers “311” used to hang there. Taking two quick glances down either side of the hallway, Gladius motioned Lily to stay back. Backing up as far as the narrow corridor allowed him, Gladius launched himself at a run towards the door. At the impact of the flying body, the door crumbled inward. Instinctively, Gladius curled his body, turning the momentum into a roll, ending up crouched on his feet, a sword materialized in either hand.
Suddenly, something from behind him rammed him, sending Gladius flying across the room, until his body smashed against a counter. Groaning slightly, Gladius looked up in time to see what looked like a giant metal robot rushing towards him. Instinctively, Gladius materialized several swords, sending them flying towards the charging man. Sparks flew into the air as each of the swords skidded off the man, none piercing him. The man grabbed at Gladius’ neck as he brought down another sword which he had kept in his hand, attempting to slice off the arm. Instead, the sword jarred to a stop, the suddenness causing Gladius to lose his grip, the sword flying away. Before Gladius could react, the man had grabbed him by the throat, lifting him off the ground. Gladius opened his mouth, choking sounds coming from it.
The man smiled. “So this is the famous Gladius. Looks like your swords aren’t much good against me, do they?” He applied a little more pressure against his throat, causing Gladius to kick widely against air as his arms ineffectively clawed against the vice-grip. “The name’s Steel, remember it, since it’s the name of your killer.” The man continued in a taunting tone. “My power is to turn my body completely into metal, strong enough to resist even the cut of your swords.”
He might have said more, if not for the fact that he was interrupted by Lily jumping on his back, reaching her arms across his neck in a headlock, her own bare arms coming into contact with his exposed neck. Instead of immediately dying, however, her deathly touch seemed to have no affect except to anger Steel, causing him to fling Lily across the room. Her actions, however, had distracted Steel, causing him to loosen his grip enough that Gladius was able to break free.
Gladius could see Lily, separated from him by Steel, a puzzled look in her eyes. “Run Lily,” he managed to croak out. “He’s completely metal, your touch only works against living things, not metal.” Gladius materialized more swords, sending them at Steel, knowing that he could not harm him, but trying to distract him enough that Lily could escape. Realizing that Lily was no threat, Steel ignored her, again coming at Gladius. As he got closer, Gladius unleashed a flurry of blows at his head, any of which would have killed a normal person. Each one, however, merely glanced off his metal-encased body with a shower of sparks. Not wanting to get trapped against a wall, Gladius quickly moved left, just as he launched a punch, which Gladius managed to avoid, but in doing so got tripped up against a chair, causing Gladius to fall to the ground. Quickly, Gladius shot one leg out, intending to trip Steel up as well, in order to give himself time to recover, but as his leg connected with his. At the last moment, Gladius attempted to stop the kick, realizing that it would be ineffective against the metallic frame of his opponent. Steel, however, ignored both the kick and the attempted recovery, jumping on top of Gladius, a fist lashing out, hitting Gladius on the jaw. Vainly Gladius tried to fight back, but all of his attacks merely bounced of Steel, while Steel’s weight on Gladius’ chest prevented Gladius from escaping.
Sensing the futility of his attacks, Gladius turns his head, not wanting to see the final, killing blow. Instead, however, there is a scream, one that was quickly cut off as Steel tumbles off of Gladius. Looking up, Gladius sees Steel slumped on the ground, blood running from his eyes. Standing over him was Lily, her fingers stained with blood. From the corners of her eyes, there is what appears to be the beginning of tears. Seeing Gladius’ gaze, Lily quickly turned around. “I figured if he could still see, that must have meant that he hadn’t covered his eyes in metal, so my power would work on him if I could touch him there.”
Gladius slowly got up. “No time for that now. We need to start searching his apartment now, with him dead, that’s the only hope we have for a clue.”
Lily sniffled a little, quickly wiping her hand across her face. “I’ll take the kitchen then.” Gladius nodded, not moving as she walked away.