"Here we are," Miller spoke in a calm yet serious tone as he parked in front of a house that was built close to the other buildings of this city. "Sweet home," the two young men stepped out of their vehicle and began walking towards the entrance to go inside at each other's sides, not wanting to look suspicious and out of place as they passed by people nearby without any troubles of notice or concerns towards them.
The house itself is a single-story building with a small front yard and a driveway that leads up to the porch steps. The exterior walls are made of brick, and there is a garage on one side of the structure, which appears to be well-maintained despite its age and wear and tear over time. The roof is also in good condition, with no visible damage or leaks, making the house appear cozy and inviting to anyone who sees it.
A rather odd sight compared to the many tall buildings being closely together around this place. Adam believes his boss is someone who probably enjoys the ordinary things in life more than being extravagant.
The person seems like the kind of guy who enjoys watching sports while sitting on his sofa after a long day's work with his family instead of being in a fancy hotel and eating expensive food or drinks served for him by a group of maids waiting on his every command.
They thought that would end after approaching the door as Miller pulled out a key from his pocket, unlocking the entrance to let themselves in, revealing the interior of his home and the organized furniture inside. "Well, this is homey," Adam commented of the sight around him while looking impressed by how nice it looked.
The living room was painted a warm, welcoming color, with a comfortable couch, a couple of armchairs, and a small television set on a low table in the center of the room. The walls were lined with shelves full of books, knickknacks, and framed pictures that were placed at eye level. There was a fireplace at one end of the room that looked like it hadn't been used for years, but it was still a nice touch to make the space feel more lived-in.
"Thanks man, a smile reached Miller's face. "I expected you to be more...how do I put this?" Scratching his own head for the right words to say, "I don't know, less snobby or rich boy about my house," not like his colleague ever comes off like he is a high-class person, "then again, you don't exactly look like it, but I guess looks can be deceiving," he answered with a shrug of the shoulders before inviting Adam to sit down on one of the couches that has a television placed in front of it.
"Come on, let's get the show on the road," the boss said as they took their seats on the said couch before turning on the TV with the remote controller next to his hand, "ready to see what the cassette tape has to offer?" He asked, to which Adam nodded his head with readiness and anticipation to watch, saying, "Good, I am just as eager as you are to find out what secrets are held in there," releasing a light chuckle afterwards.
Only to have Adam frown when he quickly realized he hadn't brought it. "I left it in your car," he said in a disappointing manner that Miller noticed, "could you, uh, get it for me?" A lazy request for someone that could simply get up himself for the task instead of asking someone else, "please?" Adam added when seeing no change of expression on his face.
Sighing, he defeatedly agreed. "Okay, I'll be back then," Miller said before getting up from his seat as he left the house with the key in hand to retrieve the cassette tape in the car while his partner stayed behind on the couch, feeling embarrassed of himself for forgetting something so important like this.
Allowing this moment of peace, Adam relaxed his posture as he laid himself comfortably against the couch with eyes staring at the ceiling above, thinking what the tape may contain for them to discover and unravel. Surely, it must hold something that will be beneficial for their case in getting their perpetrator.
Don't get the wrong idea; he isn't doing this to protect innocent lives because he's the good guy in this story. No, Adam is simply doing this for his own gain, as it's for the purpose of making himself and the loved ones he deeply cares about have safer lives without worry or fear of being the next target.
If there is one thing he despises and greatly loathes in his life, it is feeling weak and helpless, as he hates not having the ability to control his own fate and having to rely on whatever circumstances are thrown at him to decide his destiny. Being powerless to protect those he loved and cared about was a life he wanted to get rid of forever.
As his thoughts were about to wander further, Miller arrived with the cassette in hand, moving towards the television with a sense of enthusiasm in his walk. I found it," the boss said while inserting it into the tape player connected to the electronic box before setting himself next to Adam and pressing the play button.
Both were now sitting close to each other on the couch as their attention was drawn to the screen showing flickering white static, much to the confusion of Miller. "What the hell is this? Is this a joke?" He questioned his partner, who also didn't understand the meaning of this either: "It's a blank tape..." disbelief and confusion present in his voice when he notices that the cassette they've put in isn't holding the content they've anticipated: "Maybe it's defective?"
But Adam knows there is more than meets the eye as he continues watching, waiting for anything to appear on screen, while Miller begins tapping his fingers impatiently out of frustration from the lack of results. "We have to wait," he insists to his boss, "just give it time," reassuring Walker's son that there is something worthwhile to this.
"For what?! For nothing?" Miller retorted back, getting on his nerves from the lack of progress with this, "This is a waste of time! There is nothing here!" Raising his voice with arms, gesturing at the uselessness of this, he asked, "Is this even the right tape?" Questioning himself if this whole ordeal was done by mistake.
Adam sighed at the remark of this, "If this is the wrong tape, we shouldn't be watching a blank screen," glaring at the side of his head for the lack of patience, "we can only watch and wait," speaking with composure before looking back at the TV as his boss responded with, "Fine, if this turns out to be pointless then we're not going through this again," giving one last chance to this with his folded arms and dissatisfied expression.
As the minute passed, the screen began to slowly become less static as the time went on, finally revealing a clearer picture of a mysterious man wearing a long dark brown trench coat over his black turtleneck jacket with an ominous demon mask that covered his entire face, standing in what appears to be a tight underground hallway.
"Could that be..." Miller was both thrilled to see what their culprit looked like and, at the same time, disappointed in not seeing the person behind the mask. He almost felt urged to get out of his seat and choke him to death, but decided to remain calm with his fingers clenching his own chair in anticipation.
The Deviler is a twisted serial mutilator wrecking havoc in Hope City as countless lives have been ruined just to show his works of art, psychopathic, cunning, ruthless, and unhinged manic that have plagued them, giving them a difficult time finding where he could be hiding and always being one step ahead of them.
However, this is different; for the first time since Miller started to hunt this bastard down, he was able to at least see what he looked like through the very camera recording this very footage of them. The thought of finally having a lead made him giddy with wanting to catch this guy and make sure he rots in jail for good.
Miller's mind began to wander further and further in a sense of triumph with a smile of determination on his face, already imagining himself dragging The Deviler into jail by the collar with many other Enforcers aiding him. Meanwhile, Adam could not help but feel discomfort as he continued watching, studying, and observing this mysterious man in his own seat.
"Hello gentlemen," a honeyed and husky tone of voice spoke through the speakers of their television, "I am the man you are all searching for," introducing himself to them. Carefully lifting his palm up to reveal a earpiece, he gently pressed a red button on the device and said, "You don't know me, but I know who you two are," lowering his hand back to his side as he continued explaining.
"Huh?" A frown of confusion spawned on Adam's expression: "Can you hear us?" Was the first thing Adam asked after seeing the earpiece, deeply afraid inside of knowing who they are as that is one of the worst things in being exposed to a psychopathic lunatic. The mutilator responded with delight, "yes," confirming it to them with a polite tone, "you can talk to me if you want to," reassuring them that their voices would be heard in this.
This made Adam flinch, and Miller froze in shock at what they were hearing, unable to believe or understand that this wasn't a recording. Miller, feeling more pressure from this sudden revelation, spoke out in frustration and suspicion, "Why are we talking to you?" Demanding explanation to this: "We're not here to have a friendly chat with scum like you!"
The boss was deeply angry at even wanting to speak with a criminal, let alone have a normal conversation with someone this evil. "If you ever think I would listen to your sicko crap, you better—" Before his rambling could continue any further, The Deviler stopped him with his words, "Please, don't be so hostile to me," acting all polite to them like a normal person, "I understand, you hate me," sympathizing with their feelings.
"It's because of who I am that you want me captured, I know. It's not my intention to hurt anyone," his statement caused Miller to scoff and Adam to raise his brow out of suspicion, "what I am doing is for the sake of art," spreading his arms like a complete lunatic who would claim himself as some kind of artist.
"Art? That's what you call mutilating people who don't deserve it!" Miller shouted at the top of his lungs in absolute rage upon hearing this, "This shit you do isn't art, it's disgusting," While his partner remained calm and observed this mysterious man with those narrowed eyes of his, "please, I do not commit murder; I only torture my victims to make them suffer," their unhinged lunatic said with glee.
Adam had many questions; one of them was the reason: "Why do you surgically mutilate your victims instead of killing them?" He calmly asked with an inquisitive tone, hoping to get straight answers from this insane person: "There has to be a reason for it; you must have a motive behind it." Although The Deviler didn't respond to his question for a few seconds, he answered as calmly as he did.
"Because suffering is a work of art, the most beautiful thing an human can experience," he said, describing the importance of his motives and the philosophy behind them. "Everyday, people prefer the sweet comforts of life rather than facing their own hardships," and as he continued explaining his twisted perception to them, it only disturbed the young man with his beliefs while the boss felt his own blood boiling with hate.
Shaking his head in disagreement, Adam says, "You don't choose who suffers." Even though he doesn't care about the lives of innocent people, he respects their freedom and choices. "There has to be something else about your motives, he insists, insisting for more explanation. "How did you come to the conclusion that suffering is art and everyone is worthy of it?"
"There are a lot of things you don't know, Adam," his name was uttered from The Deviler's lips with utter calm, "but I am willing to tell you something," which caused the young man's eyes to widened in disbelief upon first learning how he knows his name, "the suffering of one man can have effect on many," his response baffled and unsettled them, remaining speechless of this whole ordeal.
"When one person suffers, the rest will learn and be able to adapt themselves in a much more efficient way," continued his explanation in regards to suffering, "even animals learn from their own kind," describing the importance of how pain teaches living things to survive, "but you have other questions to ask," encouraging them to say them while he hummed with delight.
"What did you do to keep your victims alive? It seems impossible with ordinary drugs to dull that amount of pain," Adam questioned another while Miller was still fuming in silence. "What drug are you using on them to prevent them from dying?" This is what he wanted to know the most: "If it isn't a drug, then is it something else...paranormal related?"
Laughter escaped from the madman's lips, and he grinned widely behind his mask as if he had heard the most hilarious joke in his life, almost to the point of wanting to cry and holding his stomach against this. Both Miller and Adam narrowed their eyes at him, completely confused as to what caused him to laugh like a madman: "Ah! Hahaha!" He continued to giggle, saying, "Your innocence and curiosity about knowing everything make you a wonderful human being," praising Adam with a calm voice.
"You really are a man of knowledge, seeking the truth no matter how dark and grim it may be." The Deviler continued to praise him while Miller was more confused by this statement: "And yet, you still want to understand the mystery behind it," which only made Adam frown at being called by his name again: "Magic is what it is."
Just as he answered the question, confirming Adam's hypothesis, the television and electronic box exploded, forcing the two to cover themselves with their own arms, shielding them from the shards of glass. Adam could feel the heat and strong energy wave pushing against them, and both he and Miller felt their own hair waving behind them.
After a few seconds of feeling the sudden explosion, they open their eyes to see the destroyed television and a mysterious symbol drawn in front of them. "So it was magic," he uttered in his conclusion. "I should have expected as much," Adam told himself as he sighed exhaustion, turning to his boss, "what now?"
"I know a person who can help us."
