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Gepard has been having a bad feeling for a while now. And that was, ironically, because of the lack of crime in Belobog. The robbers seemed to be on vacation, the swindlers changed their occupations and every other troublemaker was apparently having tea with their grandma.
But the most worrying thing of them all? There haven’t been any sightings of Sampo Koski for, what? Almost three weeks now. Any normal guard captain would probably be celebrating by now, since it seems that one of the most notorious criminals around town decided to lay down his life of crime and mischief. But not Gepard. Gepard knew Koski way too good (although he would never admit it) to fall for it. There had to be something that he’s planning. Instead of relaxing in his office and sipping on champagne, Gepard spent most of his day closely monitoring even the smallest incident reports. A pickpocketing in a small alley, an argument between two residents in a building and another complaint about someone having too much fun with the trash cans around town.
Gepard sighed, turning around in his chair and letting his eyes focus on the snowy mountains visible through his office window. This peace was driving him insane, it was so unlike Koski that he started considering going out and personally looking for him. Sampo had more than enough charges against him to warrant an arrest on the spot, but Gepard was the captain of the guard, not a detective. It wouldn’t look good to outsiders if he went out looking for a specific criminal just because he hasn’t… appeared for a while.
Gepards musing was interrupted by the sound of the door opening. He was about to reprimand whoever forgot the tasteful art of knocking , but stopped when he saw his sister standing in front of his desk, arms crossed and eyebrow raised. He tried to match her energy by staring back, but these silent exchanges were never really his thing, so he soon crumbled, shoulders sagging.
“Hello Serval. Why are you in my work office?”,there was no real accusation in his voice, just the defeat of knowing what’s to come. Because there’s only one reason why his sister would visit him at work:
“I’ve heard that you keep skipping the breaks and doing overtime.”
And there it is. The only reason Serval would come to his office personally is to scold him about his supposedly bad working habits. Skipping breaks has become a common occurrence lately, Gepard didn’t want to waste any minute when he could be figuring out Koski’s disappearance. So the tea breaks simply had to go, and he didn’t really… wait.
How could Serval know about that? The coming home late he couldn’t hide from her, but the breaks were a thing only his colleagues knew about…
His eyes widened slightly and he leaned over to look behind Serval through the still open door, where he found most of his co-workers huddled over the desks closest to his office, staring right at the scene inside. The moment they realized Gepards attention was on them, they hurriedly scattered and pretended (embarrassingly bad) to be busy somehow. Was one of them seriously sorting blank papers into different stacks?
Gepard sighed, rubbing his eyes and turning back to his sister, who was unfazed by the chaos behind her.
“Don’t tell me they-”
“Yes, your co-workers came to me and told me about your current behavior.”
That was enough reason for another sigh. Gepard appreciated his sister’s concern and protectiveness, he really did. She was always there and got them through the harsh temperatures and environments, but sometimes she was also overbearing.
“And no, I’m not being overbearing by coming here.”
Whatever answer he wanted to give her turned into an indignant stutter. Were his thoughts really that predictable?
Serval’s face softened visibly at the display of an overwhelmed Gepard. Her sister instincts didn’t allow her to be angry at him for long. But still. A scolding had to be done.
She was just about to start when a guard came into the office, his hurried stride starting to falter as soon as he stood beside Serval. It was obvious that he didn’t want to interrupt the much needed conversation between the Landau siblings, but the worried look on his face made it clear to Gepard that it was an urgent matter. It seems that Serval realized the same thing and she turned her head towards him, nodding to let him speak.
He was a bit hesitant still, but that soon turned into seriousness.
“Captain, we got a report about a break-in into a factory. The owner demanded your immediate presence, it seems the stolen goods could be dangerous.”
At that, Gepard jumped up and nearly lept over his desk to storm out the door, pulling the perplexed guard with him.
Serval could only shake her head while watching her brother disappear into the hallway.
Arriving at the factory, Gepard realized why the owner was so intent on getting the captain of the guards there as soon as possible. He was standing in front of a black powder factory.
It took just a few moments more to notice an agitated man barking at another man in a black uniform. If Gepard had to guess, it was probably the very angry owner having an argument with a very concerned private guard. Gepard hated having to deal with these kinds of incidents, calming down emotionally charged individuals was not his speciality. He preferred simply chasing after impudent criminals who hurled flirty remarks at him the whole time and-
Gepard shook his head to get rid of those thoughts and felt his face heating up slightly. That was… not a thought he should be having.
Coming out of his stupor, he found himself face to face with the man who he guessed to be the factory owner. If his fuming expression was anything to go by. The private guard gave Gepard a sympathetic look and then quietly removed himself from the scene by simply turning around and bolting away. Great.
“5 POUNDS OF BLACK POWDER. DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT SOMEONE COULD DO WITH AMOUNT? THE WHOLE CITY COULD BE GONE BY TOMORROW! AND IT’S ALL THANKS TO THE INCOMPETENCE OF THIS-!”
He spun around and pointed a finger in accusation at the spot where the private guard was standing a few seconds ago. The owner whipped his head to the side, only to see the back of the running guard in the distance.
“OH NO YOU WON’T GET OFF THAT EASILY YOU PATHETIC EXCUSE OF A-!”
And with that, he took off after him. Gepard could only stare at the scene in front of him in stunned shock. He really shouldn’t have thought about chases, huh.
Sighing for the probably tenth time today, he decided to return to his office to look into the details in the report provided and let his subordinates gather more information. Black powder theft was a serious danger, but he had no knowledge on the chemicals and had to read up and preferably search for an expert to assess the dangers it could cause. Spending time on dissolving the quarrel between a boss and his employee would only hinder his progress.
But on his return to the guards headquarters, he was presented with another break-in, this time into a warehouse. A load of aluminum was stolen without any trace of the thief. Gepard didn’t know if he should be disappointed or relieved that this was the case. Disappointed because it wasn’t Koski behind it, since he always left little hints for Gepard to find. And relieved, because that meant it wasn’t Koski behind the possibly planned explosion of Belobog. He probably should be relieved.
After he decided that yes, relief it is, he immediately ordered for the leading explosive experts to be called to the guards headquarters. The priority now was to figure out the plan behind the thefts and prevent whatever disaster was coming.
The next hours were a blur of confusing expert meetings filled with words Gepard had never heard before and more and more reports about break-ins into chemical storages. Strontium, copper, magnesium, the mixture seemed random to Gepard and even the experts were becoming increasingly confused. When eventually a load of charcoal was added to the list, the atmosphere turned from confused to desperate. No one could make sense of the chemicals being stolen.
“Sir, there’s another report about a theft!” The guard shouted while barging into Gepards office, not even bothering to knock anymore.
Gepard just stared down at the papers on his desk, holding his head in his hand and feeling a growing pressure in his head.
“What was stolen?”, he asked while massaging his temples to get rid of the pulses threatening to burst his head.
That’s when an older lady entered the room as well, a younger girl pushing her softly but confidently. Gepard forced his eyes to focus on the scene before him.
“Oh but sweetie, can’t you see that the captain is really stressed right now? Don’t want to bother him anymore.”, the lady addressed the girl, who looked just as done as Gepard must appear to everyone around him.
For a second he thought about offering her an internship at the guards. Just because she seemed like the type to take no crap from anyone.
“Grannie, your flower shop was broken into and robbed during your break. We absolutely have to report this to the guards.”
And just like that, he changed his assessment with an audible sigh. A flower shop break-in? Really? He took the crimes in Belobog really seriously, but flower shops couldn’t be lower on his priority list right now.
“I know, I know hun, but it was just a box of chocolates and a flower bouquet. And the right amount of cash was laying on the counter, so it wasn’t even a robbery.”
Gepard already started tuning out the rest of the conversation, when the older lady's statement made him whip around his head once more.
“What did you say was stolen?” he demanded in an urgent tone.
The woman slightly flinched at his sudden outburst and there was a wave of guilt washing over Gepard, scaring citizens was the last thing he wanted to do.
But there was a dawning suspicion and he wasn’t sure if he wanted to have it confirmed or not.
“Oh captain, you don’t have to worry, it was just a box of chocolates and a flower bouquet! Both were heart themed, so it was probably just a young lad who forgot to get something for his girlfriend on their anniversary. It’s actually pretty endearing, and there was the right amount of money laying on the counter.”
“Young lad” was definitely not the description he would give about Sampo, but the part about the anniversary was right on point. Well, it’s not really an anniversary per se, but today was exactly one year since the day Gepard encountered and also failed to catch Sampo for the first time. Maybe he should be concerned that he remembered the date and actually refers to it as an anniversary but then again… It seems like Sampo sees it in a similar way.
Which means that… Whatever all the stolen things were for, they would be used today. There was no way that the thefts were not connected and the flowers and chocolates out of all things linked them all to Sampo, because only he would steal things like that.
For a second, Gepard relaxed. Koski did many criminal things, but hurting citizens wasn’t on that list. So it wasn’t that serious after all.
The next second, he gave himself an internal slap. Did he just base the safety of the city on his personal assessment of a criminal? An assessment that he would call pretty accurate, thanks to hours spent chasing him and even more hours thinking about him in his office, but still. Who knows what happened in the weeks that Sampo disappeared from his radar?
Gepard had to stay rational and think. He already knew the date of the happening, now he only had to figure out the where, so he could stop whatever Sampo was up to.
His heart stopped for a moment when the realization hit.
The city square.
Gepard first tried arresting Sampo in the city square.
In a flash, he was out through the door and standing in the middle of the headquarters.
“Everyone, immediately evacuate the city square! Search everything for hidden bombs or anything! Any civilians need to leave the vicinity and get as far away as possible!”
He could hear his heartbeat pounding in his ears. This was not good. Would Sampo really do something so awful? And for what? Rubbing it in Gepard’s face that he can’t catch him? The sting inside his chest felt surprisingly little like anger and suspiciously much like betrayal.
When the explosives experts came out of their meeting room, exchanging strangely excited conversation between each other, Gepard immediately shut them down and stormed out, following the rest of his guard. He didn’t want to know what awaited them at the square. It was selfish and irresponsible, yes, but the hurt blinded his thoughts and any sense of logic. This was between him and Koski and he would take on the responsibility for anything that happened today.
From the moment of arrival at the city square, Gepard was working on auto pilot. Shouting commands, directing the other guards and scanning everything for contraptions promising devastating things, everything was hidden behind a thick veil of hurt.
He distantly registered the scared faces of citizens running to safety and a voice that kept ordering everyone to remain calm. With some concern he realized that it was his own voice.
Soon enough, the square was cleared of civilians and the guards were hectically running around to search every possible place for explosives. Gepard finally came back into full consciousness with the knowledge that at least most citizens were safe from immediate danger.
He was just about to join the search, when the first explosion went off.
The world seemed to stop.
Through the shock that went through his body, Gepard forced himself to look for the direction of the explosion. Assess the damage. Help any injured.
What he saw instead were…
Fireworks?
Gepard stared at the already darkening sky in unbelieving perplexedness.
Soon, another blast went off, and another, and then the whole sky was filled with shining flowers, fountains and colorful sparkles. It was a beautiful sight, something the inhabitants of Belobg rarely experienced.
Stunned ohhhhs and ahhhhs could be heard around him, but Gepard was entirely lost in the spectacle. Every amount of tension and stress seemed to disappear from his body, and only pure awe was left.
He almost didn’t notice the group of guards coming towards him with a suspicious package in their hands.
“Captain, we found this next to the fountain. I think it’s meant for you.”
Gepard accepted it, knowing exactly what was inside.
And true to his suspicions, there was the heart shaped box of chocolates and the bouquet of flowers arranged in a heart. There also was a letter.
Hello my dear Landau,
I hope you liked my little surprise!
Had to keep low for a while to research how to make fireworks, I’m sure you missed me dearly.
Don’t worry, I’ll be visiting regularly again now that our anniversary was celebrated properly!
I can’t wait to see your pretty face again.
Till our next chase,
Your Favorite Criminal~
Gepard couldn’t tell if the redness on his face was due to the ridiculousness of the whole situation, the contents of the letter or the embarrassing excitement about their little game being able to continue as always.