MIDNIGHT RAID

Rating: M for frequent coarse language

Characters: Agito & Akira- NOT PAIRED (English dub anime personalities)

A.N I've been waiting a while for an idea to bash me in the face for an Air Gear fanfic. And boy, it hurt a lot when it did hit me. ;) It came at the same time I thought of another fanfic idea. Sadly, this one-shot has taken a back seat to my multi-chapter one. The setting was inspired by the 2010 Sydney 9pm and 12am fireworks. Well, hope you like it.

Prologue: May 15th 2009, 11:45pm

The night air was cool and refreshing. I pulled my air treks onto my feet and sped off into the night. I thoroughly enjoyed my daily midnight practises. My parents were always paranoid about me riding, thinking I could seriously injure myself and strongly opposed it. They said it would eventually kill me.

Sadly, there was some truth in what they said. Riding is like putting your life on the line. It's not like tripping over a rock and grazing your knee, you could actually die if you fell from a high enough distance. But that couldn't stop me. I didn't care. The feeling of the wind passing you by. The brightly lit city below your feet as you soar in the sky like a bird. Freedom was everything to me. I never liked being held back, and nothing could. Nothing could stop me.

After all, my A.T team was doing tremendously well. It had only been a few months and we were already in E class. Our territory was growing by the minute and we were getting quite a few challenges for Parts Wars lately.

Air Treks even got me some extra cash taking bets as well. It was easy to win bets against rookies. They were such easy targets. I got about 30 for each bet. It was easy money.

Everything was going my way, until that night.

I whizzed around the corner and headed straight for my team's main base. We were having a meeting that night about which challenges we were taking on next. The streets were silent and empty, just the way I liked it. I just had to get to the abandoned factory on the outskirts of town, where my team mates were waiting for me.

I grabbed the metal pole of the street lamp on the next corner and swung myself around it. Behind me I heard whizzing noises. I just assumed it was another A.T rider practising at night. This assumption cost me everything. In this almost deserted part of town, it was the perfect place. It would be flawless, untraceable. No one would hear the sounds that followed.

That explosive gunshot that ended it all and the ear splitting scream that echoed in the night. I fell down hard on my knees as the pain electrocuted my body. I clutched my left leg as I lay myself down on the road. Splattered on the ground was blood. My blood. In sprays and in pools. I looked in the direction of the attack. Standing in a pool of light under the street lamp was a man. He was wearing black air treks, a black mask that covered his whole face and was carrying a small silver gun.

I could not run. There was no use screaming, no one would hear me. My mobile's battery was dead and I was completely alone. He had chosen the best time to do this, but for what reason? He casually sauntered over to me pointing his gun at my other leg and shot. Pain in my left leg was overpowered by the pain in my right. Once again I screamed in agony as tears started pouring from my eyes. The road was stained by more blood splatters. I was powerless against him. I was as good as dead. I knew that already. All that was left is if he was going to finish it off quickly, or let me suffer.

His next shot was aimed at my shoulder. The third and final shot hurt the most. Like the dying cries of a cicada, my unheard screams signalled my inevitable demise.

The last sounds I ever heard were my attacker's deep voice,

Pathetic, you don't deserve these wings,

the familiar whizzing sound of air treks disappearing into the darkness,

and the sound of distant church bells striking midnight, as my perfect world faded away.

Time of death: May 16th 2009, 12am.

Cause of Death: Loss of blood.

I guess my parents were right after all. Air treks did eventually cause my death. I just didn't know it was going to end in that way, so quickly. My wings were ripped from me, and I fell to my death.


December 31st 2009, 3pm

"Okay everybody listen up! I know its new years eve and it's supposed to be a day of celebration and shit like that, but you can save that all for later!" Kaito screamed for order amongst the rowdy Windstorm G-men, the specialised SWAT team formulated to arrest Storm Rider teams. "We just got a tip off about the guy who has been shooting Storm Riders lately. It's the guy that calls himself the Night Falcon. According to this source, he is going to be targeting a smaller team's leader tonight at the harbour."

Agito didn't care about holidays anyway. What he did care about was the fact Akira decided to ditch the emergency meeting. "Hey! Where the fuck is Akira?! That son of a bitch better be here in the next five minutes or I'm going to find him and kick his ass into next week!"

"When I called him, he asked for the day off because of personal reasons. Just drop it Agito. We have a lot to get through before tonight. Okay, for the benefit of everyone who has been skipping meetings lately, let's recap what we know about this Night Falcon". Kaito was never a person who liked giving speeches. "With the help of the police department I've prepared a collection of data and made a short video. Pay attention or die!" Kaito took out his gun that shoots rubber bullets just to show everyone he meant what he said.

The lights were turned off. As the video started playing all the photos taken by the police, a voice boomed over the loud speakers.

For the past 7 months a male who has been called the Night Falcon has been shooting Storm Riders all over the city. He specifically targets Storm Riders who have been involved in A.T smuggling and illegal Parts Wars betting. All his attacks are believed to have occurred during 11pm and 1am.

The first piece of evidence we gathered is that the Night Falcon always shoots at both of the victim's legs from a close proximity. We believe his intention is not to kill but to just immobilise them. From what I have said so far we drew the conclusion that is trying to punish A.T riders who abuse the system and use recklessly. He does this by shooting their legs and "ripping off their wings" or in another words, taking away their ability to fly. All victims called emergency services, were taken to hospital and are now either unable to walk or unable to ride air treks again.

This however is not the case of who we believe to be his first victim. A teenage boy was found at the outskirts of town with bullets shot into his legs and his left shoulder on the 16th of March 2009. Unlike the other victims he actually died from loss of blood. A background check on him was done at the time and it was found that he often participated in illegal Parts Wars betting. His death also occurred during the previously mentioned time period which fits the profile for the Night Falcon's victims. We believe that killing him was an accident and unintentional.

Apart from his first victim, they all recall seeing their attacker. Every one of them described him as a young, tall, skinny male with blonde hair. He supposedly always wears a black mask over his face, black air treks , black pants, a black T-shirt and a black pair of fingerless gloves. His gun is known to be a silver revolver.

With co-operation with the police force, the Windstorm G-Men plan to capture this criminal as soon as possible.

As the video finished, the lights flickered back on.

The first comment came from an unknown member in the crowd. "Kaito, I thought you said we ignored the police's request for assistance."

"The rest of the police force wouldn't take no for an answer so I had to give them our information. But, what they don't know yet is the information given by the random this morning. Our aim still remains the same."

"Capture the Night Falcon and force him to co-operate with us without alerting the rest of the police!" Everybody chanted it like they had practised saying it over a hundred times. The aim was drilled into their heads.

"Good. Now, everyone collect your envelope and follow the exact instructions and we should have the Night Falcon under our control by tomorrow." Kaito had everything planned out perfectly. He just had to make sure everyone followed the instructions. He knew that was easier said than done. Kaito was always someone who didn't trust people easily. However, he knew he could always count on his little brother. Kaito casually sauntered up to Agito trying to avoid drawing attention to himself. Luckily, the crowd was too busy reading and discussing the contents of their envelopes to notice.

"Hey Agito!" Kaito muttered under his breath. "I want that fucking bastard caught you got it. Don't let me down."

"Whatever." Agito muttered back. "Alright everyone don't fuck this up! I don't care if he shoots you! If I find out that you fucked up your part of the mission, I'll personally come shoot you myself!" The crowd cowered in approval. Agito turned to Kaito. "You happy now?"

"Very. This should go smoothly. What a great start to the new year."

January 1st 2010, 12am

BANG! BANG! BANG!

The New Year had begun with fireworks on the harbour. Everybody was cheering for joy. Little did they know that perfectly timed to be behind the loud explosions of the fireworks, were two gunshots and the sound of whizzing air treks.

AGITO'S POV

This year the city's New Year colour theme was red. All the fireworks were red excluding a few stray golden sparks in the night sky. Everybody was asked to wear something red as well. Agito was waiting at his designated position on the top of a coastal building.

Why the fuck does all these people bother watching this crap? This year's fireworks are exactly the same as last year's. It's just as shitty too. Best fireworks in the world, my ass.

The fireworks had only started about three minute ago, and Agito was already bored of it. He had spent the rest of the day memorising his page of instructions. Firstly, he was supposed to keep a look out for the Night Falcon, who was scheduled to pass his position shortly. He surveyed his surroundings, looking in the air and on the ground. As expected, Agito saw a lone fast moving figure speed through the crowd. It was dark but Agito seemed to instinctively know that they were the person he was looking for.

He's right on time. Guess he escaped all the others. They're going to get an earful from Kaito tomorrow. Serves them right. They're always just pieces of shit getting in my way. This guy's all mine.

Agito jumped up and started tailing his suspect. At one point, he got close enough to identify and confirm that the person he was chasing was actually the Night Falcon.

He's got the blonde hair, the black shirt, black pants, fingerless gloves and black air treks. He's pretty smart wearing all black for night attacks. But not smart enough to outsmart me. He's the only one not following the New Year theme and hasn't got red on.

The sky was illuminated by red smoke. The harbour water reflected the red smoky sky and was stained blood red. The loud ear splitting explosions echoed down the street. The fireworks were a perfect cover for the whizzing sound of his air treks. Agito couldn't track him by sound. It was dark so visual wasn't too good. However, the short sparks of light from the fireworks and dim street lights were enough for Agito to see the Night Falcon. There was only one slight problem; with all these civilians around it was a perfect environment for him. He could weave in and out between them and easily turn off somewhere before Agito could refocus.

THE NIGHT FALCON'S POV

Under all the deafening fireworks he could hear the quiet sound of of air treks trailing behind him.

Shit. How long have they been there? I've got to ditch them as soon as possible before the fireworks end; otherwise I'll definitely be caught.

Instantly, he took to the air, jumping on top of the nearest building and leaping to the next. Unsurprisingly, his pursuer chased after him. He soared up and down from the rooftops to the darkened, crowded surface below.

All I can do right now is try and outrun and outsmart them. I can't leave them with anything that could be used to identify me. I've come so far; I can't let this lone guy stop me!

It's almost as if his pursuer could hear his thoughts. For the first time that night, he heard their voice.

"You can't out run me! I'm going to catch you and rip that fucking mask off your face! Night Falcon, you little bastard! You son of a fucking bitch! I'm going to fucking tear off your balls and shove them right up your ass, then I'm gonna wrap your damn fucking legs around your fucking throat like a fucking necklace and shove your bloody gun up your ass, so far up that it's gonna come out your bloody fucking throat……….. so then you'll have to shit sideways!"*

Well gosh they're exceptionally angry for some reason. Wait…. That voice.

He was going to land on the top of a brightly lit sign. In mid-air he heard a piercing blast and saw a bright flash of light. He was caught in it all. With the fireworks still going, no one was going to suspect anything. They would just assume it was part of the show. As the rubble fell he landed with a thud on the top of the sign.

That voice… it can't be. I guess it's game over.

AGITO'S POV

Haha. It's over Dark Falcon. Those insults perfectly distracted you and you fell right into the path of the explosives. Even someone as talented as you can't outsmart someone as ingenious as me.

"You dumbass, you fell right into my little trap! Now let's see what's under this mask of yours."

The Night Falcon was still recovering from the fall and was rolling around in agony. Agito knelt down next to him, pinned down his arms with one hand and ripped his mask off with the other. They stared at each other in amazement and surprise.

"This is bullshit. No fucking way. Since when are you the Night Falcon...... Akira." They were far away enough from the harbour to speak at normal volume.

"Surprised Agito? 'Cause I am. I never thought you would be the first to discover my identity." Akira had a smirk on his face. "Could you kind of let me go now? Holding my arms down like that really hurts."

He let go of Akira's arms as he requested because instinctively he knew that Akira wasn't going anywhere.

"Don't fuck with me." Agito stood up and turned towards the harbour fireworks. "You better start explaining yourself. You know very well what Kaito's goals are." He couldn't bear to look at his friend's face.

This should be easy. After all, there's no need to convince Akira to co-operate us, he already is on the team. But why would he go to all the trouble of hiding his identity?

"Well where should I start?" Akira stood up slowly and staggered over to Agito's side.

"From the beginning would be nice. Like why the fuck did you start shooting people in the first place?" Agito's face was neutral. He showed no signs of emotion on his face.

"Okay. Well, the first guy was kind of like an experiment. Once Kaito told us he died I was kind of dumbfounded. I didn't intentionally kill the guy, it just so happened he didn't call for help. Kaito and the police were right about one thing, I started doing this because I wanted to clip the wings of those who use air treks recklessly. Since our SWAT team doesn't seem to be doing very well at stopping them, because they keep slipping away, I decided to take matters into my own hands. They deserve it, those bastards."

"You son of a bitch! Why bother trying to do that yourself? It's too much of a hassle. Like usual Akira, you think too much. You know that Kaito wants to co-operate with you so why not just reveal yourself? Why waste your energy by running away like a chicken scared shitless?" Agito was starting to get pissed off at Akira's stupidity.

"Agito, clearly you don't have an issue with the fact I killed and injured people! Since the rest of the police gained access to our information I can't have any association with you or they'll find out and arrest me. Luckily, I could keep an eye on what information the police had picked up about me by participating in the investigation as Akira Udo, not the Night Falcon. I guess this ambush was planned today, when I was away?"

"You've got some fucking bad timing when it comes to taking days off."

"Yea. Shit happens. Well, if that's all… I guess I'll be going now…." Akira took this opportunity to back away from Agito, planning his escape.

Agito turned sharply around, just catching Akira before he took off. "Hold it you asshole! Kaito's gonna have my ass tomorrow if none of us come back with something. It's too bad for you; you're going to have to confess."

"Hell no. Look, the most I can give you is a message to pass onto him. Tell him that I have my connections and I'll be watching his every move so I'll know what he wants me to do. Happy? You can deliver the message, since you're the only one that actually managed to catch me. That should save you from Kaito's wrath."

"Are you fucking kidding me? You useless sack of trash! Who the hell do you think I am? I'm the the mother fucking Fang King! I have a reputation to uphold here!" Agito turned his head to the side and muttered under his breath. "You have five seconds to get out of my sight, jackass."

Akira was a little shaken from Agito's sudden outburst but was soothed by his understanding.

"I owe you one Agito." With one swift movement Akira flew off into the night.

You sure do Akira, or should I say Night Falcon.

He smiled and turned back towards the harbour.

Agito was left standing alone on top of the sign as the last series of fireworks erupted in the cool night sky.

NOTES

*Thank you very very much to my friend Melody123 for helping me complete this insult. From "you little bastard" to "shit sideways." I just added a little bit more on to make it more understandable. ;) Also would like to credit LittleKuriboh from Yu-gi-oh Abridged for the idea.

A.N Yay! After several days of planning and writing I am finished! I would like to send an extra huge thank you to my lovely friend Melody123 for all your help and support during my intense writing and plotting period. Reviews are very much appreciated. Thanks for reading.