The Sound of Dragons Fighting [Night | Case File #40]

What was it called again, doing the same exact thing and expecting the result to change? Gabe pretty much did something like that of the sort, but there was always a will if there was a way. He could head back in another direction towards the perimeter, but all of the hard work he spent doing it was all a waste.  If that was the case, then what was the point?

"I really don't know..."

Keeping them busy, running, escaping, heck even entertaining, it was tiresome.  As a matter of fact, there was another alleyway corner that was further ahead on the opposite side of where Gabe went originally. With the bullet launching over there, maybe it was possible to head on over there next? Was it unrealistic to guess that they were just tired of chasing him around, he wasn't too sure.  However, there was one thing that did surprise Gabe or maybe even frightened him a bit out of character.

Gabe thought he was playing a game with Alex, but it turned out that Susan was the one who ended up pushing Alex out of the way. It was that fear again that rose up in him, the fear of raising his hand against someone that he cared for. Could he do it? Could he run her down?

"Susan! What are you doing?!"

Regardless of whether it was a fruitful endeavor or not, his shout for concern did prove that he really did care. Everything about this situation was emotionally draining for him, with Gabe wondering what happened to Susan as soon as he sped past. But after Gabe got some from the mouth of the alleyway, the things that took him by surprise was the appearance of Susan yet again.

Was she immortal or something? Where the hell did she come from? She literally pounced on Gabriel and the tackle that he received itself led Gabe to move his hands instinctively to his pockets as fast as humanly possible. By the time the pressure started to ensure, he already was in the proper position to use an item for the sake of getting himself out of this bind. It was an act of panic in order to pull something else out of his bag of tricks.

But what? Just to struggle for a few seconds longer? This was a bad spot to be in.

"Let Go!!! LET GOOO!!"

He struggled and jerked, but Susan was too strong, being a crushing blow to his manhood.

With Alex preparing the final blow, Gabe knew that it would be the end if he got hit with it.

"Goodbye.....my friends....."

When the data stream hit Gabe, he ended up losing all consciousness.

His cry of warning didn’t register. It would not be allowed to. It could not slow what she was about to do at all, Seshat would not permit it. Her Persona did not grant strength through power but through clarity of mind. The ability to act and think unhindered and with speed, to make the rational choice unabated by pesky emotions to come up with the best solution. And as far as she had considered this was the best solution available to her. He struggled in her clutches like an animal in a snare, desperate to save its life. Its life. Whatever this was in her grasp… it wasn’t Gabriel, it wasn’t who she knew. It was not logical. It did not make sense. But the businesswoman clung onto the last shred of hope that she had. That this was not the man she had pained in opening her heart to. He was sick. He was not himself. And she would do all that she was capable of to rid his mind of the poison that infected it, Susan knew it could be done. Not even Seshat could take that away from her. Nor could it protect her from his desperate scream for escape.

"Let Go!!! LET GOOO!!"

It felt sharper than an ice pick to the chest, to hear him shriek for escape. Susan bit her lip and held tighter. Her plan had to work, it had to. She refused to keep losing and suffering. She would endure this pain for his sake, to bring Gabriel back from this… from this twisted madness that had overtaken him. For both of them she ignored the uncertainty, the ever present nagging that clawed in the back of her mind: who was he before? Did she even know? Had she ever met Gabriel, or was it the terrorist calling himself Shotaro that planned this treachery from the beginning? She did not know. Susan was putting everything at stake, presenting body, mind, and soul to bear for some conclusion she did not know was correct. But it was all she had other than accepting the grimness of reality for what it was. She refused to give up until presented with evidence beyond a shadow of a doubt, as arrogant as that was. It wasn’t for compassion or out of anger that she had fought tooth and nail, nor was it haughtiness for her own success or any sort of vengeance. Truly, simply… it would have broken her to lose.

She did little more than wince in agony as the data washed over them, searing them with information. The sensory overload was immense and migraine-inducing though Susan was likely best equipped to handle it, given all people. But she sensed everything from his perspective and gripped even tighter as he struggled… until the view she had from him faded.
”Stop…! That is enough, he needs to be taken alive…!” Any more would likely kill him, she would not allow that to happen. Not after all she had struggled and sacrificed for and what she had gone through, this COULD NOT come to pass.

Susan was left blinded when she struggled like a zombie to her feet, placing a hand to her chest to enscribe an Eye through which she could again see from. It was not something she had ever wanted to see. The bandages unwound themselves from her limbs as Seshat lost control and emotion once again filtered into her mind. Before her lay… her boyfriend… in the costume of the insane… broken and unconscious in the middle of the street. Her heart began to beat with warmth once again, shedding the ice Seshat covered her veins with. Then it began to bleed. She stood for moments taking shallow breaths just gazing down at his body, fighting back the tears she had wanted to shed. For him. For herself. They had done it. They had successfully apprehended the leader of the Platinum Playhouse. She was not proud of this accomplishment. It was another trophy. Another meaningless accolade. A scar is what it was.
”I-I-I… I-I will check him for we-eapons…” her voice cracked as a hand covered her face. She had to focus on her job, on her work. Susan would not lose him after this for being careless. She had given everything already.
”G-Go... …… Shin just… g-go fetch a transport from the authorities…” The short woman waved him away weakly without even looking at him before stooping down over the terrorist Shotaro.

Her eyes began to grow wet as she checked him as thoroughly as she possibly could so that he could not resurge as he did in the sewer. Baubles, trinkets, first aid…. a gun…. She took all of it away from him so that he could not endeavor to hurt anyone in another escape attempt. And she did not cry, despite her predisposition to doing so. Susan could cry later when no one was around, For the moment she had to rescue him from himself. The businesswoman stood shakily and took a step backward, her hands trembling with all the illicit material she had just confiscated.
”I-I…. I-I will be riding back w-with the autho-orities….” she announced. ”I-I am in n-no condition to dri-drive and the tra-transport will need security. Officer Te-tenth, could y-you puh-please pl-lace a call to our captain…?” Her voice shook as if she were about to break into sobs, which was a hair’s breadth from being realized. She struggled to escape anywhere that was not in the alley but she could not do so. Not to her job, not to her mind, not to her fantasies. Only ache lay in wait.

She had never wanted to hurt him…

She had never ought to have come here tonight…

Spoils of a Hollow Victory:

The moment when the data-stream hit, it was over. Though the smugness on his face was apparent, he wasn't so naive to think it was over. This was a leader of that group of Psyche-Terrorists that took down a District Head, it really wasn't going to be that easy. But it took Susan's cry to stop both Cadets from continuing the battle and to understand that they won. It was a little disappointing for the painter. His entire participation had little meaning, but he wasn't complaining. So much could've gone wrong, after feeling the first dregs of adrenaline slip by. Though all's well that ends well, if only it were so easy...

Even Alex, for all of his youth, knew this as he waited almost impatiently for Susan to finish and gave a curt nod at the artist to do as he was told. The lanky adult commanded his painting to head to the other direction as commanded while Alex drew closer to the lovers. He would've felt almost glad he wouldn't have to deal with the distraught woman. But there was so much wrong about this. There was pain, something the boy was keenly aware with Claire and Chris defecting. Protocol would've demanded Susan to explain herself, but she just was not in that reliable condition right now. Frankly, his entire mood was ruined, but he had somewhat of an idea anyway...


He gave a curt nod as she began to make herself scarce before opening up his cellphone to make that one fateful call. It only took a swipe and several presses of the button to hear the tell-tale dialing tone. Until a familiar voice began to ring through the connection. "Alex? How can I help you?"

Alex paused and glanced at the broken body of the one and only Shotaro of the Platinum Playhouse. The Cadet could begin to hear the servicemen and responders beginning to enter the space post-haste. Into the receiver, he spoke. "We got him, Julius. The Playhouse leader, we've taken him down."

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