" 'Provoke H.' H... Holmes? He wants to provoke me? Or is it some other H? Hey, raccoon detective, quickly make a list of names starting with H."
Holmes, pacing the room agitatedly, tried to decipher the message from M. His nerves were frayed, so he took a swig from a bottle of ophthalmic anesthetic and addressed Dedchu.
"Holmes, Homo, Hitomi, , Freeloader, Chameleon, Hulk, Ho-ho-tshka, Hanzo, Hattori, Hot-dog, Chios, Hibiki?"
Dedchu, who had also taken a swig of anesthetic for company, instead of guesses, only produced a stream of incoherent babble.
"Alright, we'll deal with H later. What about V? Who do you think it is? Since M singled him out, this person must have extraordinary abilities or achievements. Raccoon, give me names starting with V."
"Vaudeville, Veteran, Vodka, Batman... no, that's B... Vi... Victor..."
At that moment, Holmes's and Dedchu's blurry gazes cleared. They stared at each other simultaneously and blurted out in unison:
"Victor Frankenstein!"
Their cry startled Ritsuka and Mash, who had been dozing with their heads slumped on their chests, and they woke up, wiping sleep from their chins. They had spent the whole night here, waiting for the results of the investigation by two madmen who had been stimulating their intellect with dubious drugs.
"M is definitely looking for Doctor Victor Frankenstein."
"The very one who created the monster?" asked a sleepy Ritsuka, trying to show off his knowledge.
Holmes immediately corrected him: "No, Doctor Victor Frankenstein himself. A very notable figure in medicine. He conducted public dissections, striving to prove that man is not God's creation, for which the church called him a heretic. Later, he declared that he could create life with his own hands, and the scientific community finally rejected him. I heard he was caught robbing graves and locked up in a mental asylum... It seems I've been rambling?"
Ritsuka couldn't keep up with his machine-gun speech, fueled by the medication, but he understood the main point: Victor Frankenstein was a key figure in the London anomalies.
[In that case, who is this B? In the current times, there aren't many people who fit this letter.]
"Excellent question, Doctor Chicken."
[Uh... I'm actually Doctor Romani, Mr. Holmes.]
Romani, who was listening to them through Ritsuka's communicator, tried to join the discussion, but Holmes's remark threw him off.
"Judging by your voice, you hold a position for which you lack the ability. Should I say 'unsuited' or simply 'incompetent'? You are frivolous and extremely sensitive. As if made of fragile glass. And most importantly – you are cowardly. So, for me, sir on the other side of the line, you are Doctor Chicken."
[Wow... like you shot straight into my soul with a machine gun. I'm going to go cry in a corner, sniffle...]
"Go ahead, then, weep over your worthlessness, coward," added Dedchu, as Romani shamefully retreated.
"If so, we can't waste a second, let's go... heh-heh-heh-heh..."
Just as Holmes tried to put on his coat, his vision completely blurred, and he collapsed on the floor. The sleepless night and the effect of the drugs took their toll – he instantly fell into a deep sleep.
"Oh, by the way, I'm also a bit tired... damn!"
Dedchu followed suit and passed out as well.
◇
They woke up only after sunset. While they slept, Mordred had gone on reconnaissance in case of a sudden attack, and Ritsuka and Mash had prepared tea and snacks.
"Let's summarize. We don't know for sure who H is, but M wants to use him to get to V – Victor Frankenstein. This means there's some agreement or connection between Victor and M."
"And that means, discarding all unnecessary things, we need to find Victor as soon as possible. Oh, my stomach's rumbling – I smell a case!"
Despite their recent collapse, both re-engaged in the investigation with the same fervor. And if Dedchu was simply caught up in the general mood, Holmes, though an eccentric drug enthusiast, proved by his actions that he wore the title of great detective for a reason.
"Hey, Master, are you awake? We need to hurry. I saw a pack of those clockwork dolls moving in one direction."
"Probably where Victor is hiding. Forward!"
The mechanical dolls could move faster, but Holmes knew London like the back of his hand. Cutting through alleys and secret passages that even native Londoners didn't suspect, Ritsuka's group arrived at the location before their pursuers.
"The layman is convinced that Doctor Victor is in the asylum. But, fortunately, those iron things Mordred saw were moving in the completely opposite direction. And that means..."
Holmes stopped before a mansion, the scale of which significantly surpassed Jekyll's dwelling. The overgrown garden and grim facade made the building resemble a sinister castle from horror movies.
"Senpai, I feel a faint magical energy. It's not fog. The source is somewhere inside the house."
"Be on your guard. The enemies might already be inside."
Unlike Jekyll's house, the front doors were locked. Holmes took out his lock-picking set and began to lay them out unhurriedly.
"Just kick it down! Are we here to steal?!"
Unable to resist, Mordred kicked the door down with one blow. Holmes calmly put away his tools and smiled at her.
"I did that on purpose."
"Yeah, right."
Passing through the garden, they approached the main entrance. Holmes cautiously knocked with the heavy door knocker. No one responded to the resonant sound.
When the doctor was committed to the asylum on charges of desecrating bodies, the servants scattered. If he was here, he was completely alone.
"It's open?"
"Don't people in this era have any habit of locking up? Or are all the locks broken universally?! Why is everyone so careless about security?!"
Dedchu's indignation was interrupted by a sound from the second floor.
Holmes slipped inside silently. The others followed, trying not to make noise. Upstairs, a voice clearly sounded:
"I don't care about M! And I don't care about his plan to create macabre fogs. I just want to prove my theory. I won't give up my experimental subject!"
The voice was young and firm, but it carried a clear madness. Holmes instantly understood: this was V. Doctor Victor Frankenstein.
"Have you forgotten your contract with M?" came a voice filled with venomous malice. "V, who do you think owes you your freedom? Who helped you escape? Or do you want to go back to the asylum? Hee-hee-hee!"
A sharp, hostility-dripping tone in which someone was scolding Victor. Holmes found this voice strangely familiar.
"Nonsense!" Victor cut him off. "Even if I'm considered a mad doctor, did you think I would conspire to blow up London... no, the whole world?! I don't kill the living, Mr. H!"
"Waha-ha-ha! But you dared to challenge divine providence. You strayed from the human path and stepped onto the road of heresy! To create life with human hands? In the end, you are just like me, V!"
Holmes and the others had already reached the second floor. The voices came from a room labeled "Laboratory."
"It seems V and H are quarreling," whispered Dedchu. "Ah, if only I had a recorder, we'd have perfect evidence..."
"Shh!"
Ritsuka and Mash shushed him, forcing him to be silent.
"I don't care what you're saying," H stated flatly. "I will kill you for betrayal and take the Legacy.
"You've completely lost your mind, H. Or should I call you J? I wonder what Holmes would think if he saw you now?"
Hearing Victor's words, Holmes secretly hoped his suspicions were wrong. But the hope was short-lived...
"Guys! Servant reaction detected! He's very close..."
Suddenly, Doctor Romani's voice rang out. This signal, breaking the silence at the most inopportune moment, made everyone jump and glare angrily at the communicator.
"Uh... am I interrupting?"
"You... honestly... in my entire film career... you're the worst supporting character," hissed Dedchu. "Worse than that taco girl."
Before Dedchu could incinerate the device with his gaze, a whisper sounded.
"Good evening, Mr. Holmes."
H's voice sounded right behind him. Startled, Holmes instantly drew his revolver and fired all six bullets into the empty space – no one was there anymore, but he continued to pull the trigger for a long time.
"One shot would have been enough," Mordred remarked.
"I wasn't scared at all," Holmes replied nonsensically and immediately burst into the laboratory, where he came face to face with Victor Frankenstein.
"Sherlock Holmes? How did you get here...?"
"I'd like to know that myself, Doctor Frankenstein."
Their brief dialogue was interrupted by slow applause. H emerged from the shadows.
"Oh my god..."
Holmes stared at him, stunned.
"Long time no see, Sherlock Holmes. Ever since you sent me to France, right?"
Henry Jekyll. At least, that's how he appeared in Holmes's eyes. However, his dapper suit was in disarray and stained with blood, and in his hand, he clutched a sharp, bloody dagger.
But most importantly – scarlet eyes full of boundless malice, and a mad grin. This was not the Dr. Jekyll Holmes knew.
"Since you were going to France, what are you doing in the red-light district? Besides, that poor girl had her womb removed. Mr. Jekyll, was it your doing?"
Jekyll merely sneered in response: "First, I am no longer Jekyll. The weak-willed prig from a rich family is dead. Edward Hyde! That is my true name. Hyde! The embodiment of human depravity and pure malice!"
With a mad smile, Hyde, as if in a trance, continued to spin in place: "And second... I certainly had fun with that girl, but I was looking for a victim. A victim for the Butcher."
"The Butcher? Are we in Tristram?!"
Hyde ignored Dedchu's joke. Having finished his speech, he pointed his dagger at them with a smirk.
"You were in my way anyway, so I'll kill you all at once. Hope you're ready?"
As soon as Hyde finished speaking, clockwork dolls appeared in the doorway. Grinding their mechanisms, they extended sharp spikes forward.
"Mod, I'll distract this guy, and you grab the doctor and get him out of here."
"Hey! I don't like you, but don't you dare play the martyr! And what normal Servant would stand by and watch their Master walk into a noose?!"
Mordred flared up, but Holmes, placing a hand on her shoulder, interrupted her: "I still have two Command Spells left. In an emergency, I'll summon you. Get him out. There's no time!"
Then he turned to Ritsuka, Mash, and Dedchu: "You take the research materials and the test subject. This must not fall into M's hands. Protect them at all costs!"
The trio nodded. It was time to act.
"Hey, Jekyll! I mean, Hyde! How pathetic you are. If you wanted to have fun with girls, you could have invited me, you idiot! I thought you were busy in Paris, but you're prowling around brothels? Pfft, what a disgrace."
Holmes deliberately and provocatively taunted Hyde, keeping his distance. A vein bulged on Hyde's temple, and his face contorted into a predatory grin.
"Ha-ha-ha! You dare to provoke me? Alone? Are you mocking me? I'm not that weakling Jekyll!"
"What's the difference? Who would believe a guy who can only hide behind women's skirts? By the way, is your mother's name Martha by any chance?"
Holmes used a trick he'd seen one "red raccoon" use. Enraged, Hyde ordered the dolls to deal with the others, and he himself lunged at the detective.
"Oops!"
Holmes barely managed to duck his head, evading a swift dagger thrust. The speed of the strike was beyond human capability.
"Come on! Run!"
Mordred grabbed Victor, and Ritsuka's group, taking the documents and the test subject, burst out of the room. The clockwork dolls clanked in pursuit.
"You'll regret deciding to face me alone."
"Shut up and attack already, you wannabe villain."
Holmes froze, adopting a stance vaguely reminiscent of Eastern martial arts.