It's raining, but the only sound that matters is the flesh-on-flesh and body-on-mud that echoes in the ally way.
"Shouldn't have tried that." Seifer taunts.
Hayner doesn't answer, and seems a little beyond the reach of his words. For a moment, Seifer wonders if he went too far – sure, he had authority, but if he accidentally gave the kid a concussion…
A resounding slap fills the air, and Hayner and Seifer both snap their heads over to where Fuu has Olette, who is reeling and has a large red mark on her face. Somebody was trying to get away.
It was Pence, quiet, gentle Pence, who leaps at Fuu for the offence, but Pence has both Rai and Vivi on him, so he doesn't get far. Unlike the cat-fight that is brewing between the girls, and the beatdown that Seifer is handing Hayner, Pence just gets shoved down in the mud and sat on. He's not a real threat, after all.
"You've done a lot of stupid, asinine things in the past, but this really takes the cake." Seifer lords over Hayner. "Graffiti and pranks are one thing- but arson? You're going to do time for this one."
Hayner isn't listening again, and thought he doesn't show it, Seifer feels a twinge of worry for the brat sitting at his feet. Was he really-
And then Hayner has both arms wrapped around Seifer's knees, and Seifer's head is dropping for the dirt. He slams into the wet earth on his back, and Hayner is on his chest in an instant, pounding his nemesis in the face. The Town Discipline Committee breaks rank- every one of them rushes to their leader's defense. It takes only seconds for them to reach him, but then he's shouting at his friends to run for it, and none of them can figure out who should give chase and who should be helping Seifer out of the mud.
"You Fools!" Seifer roars "After them!" But anyone with eyes can tell it's too late; Olette and Pence are long gone, an intimate, life-long knowledge of tunnels and back ways aiding their escape.
As this reality sinks in, Seifer is spitting blood out of his mouth and glaring down at the remaining brat. Hayner isn't looking too good, but after what happened just now, Seifer isn't willing to take any chances. Crafty little bastard.
Hayner is hauled into the town jail. He sits alone and filthy in a cell while someone tries to contact his parents.
The first number someone tries gets no answer. Hayner, who has been silent this entire time, pipes up to remark that it's Friday, payday, so of course his dad is bar-hopping.
The four people who brought him in watch as the secretary dials the second number in the file, but they all know it's pointless. Hayner's mother is married to a real asshole of a man who doesn't give a damn about Hayner, and the woman is too cowed, to intimidated, to beaten down to ever do anything about it. There will be no help from that direction.
After five minutes of watching her trying to reason with someone on the other end of the line, Fuu tells the woman to stop, and hands over the numbers for the parents of the two that got away. No use beating a dead horse.
Seifer is a bit surprised to find that neither punk has made it home yet. They both know this town like the back of their hands – better even – but there has been no sign of them.
"Meeting somewhere?" Seifer sneers at Hayner. "Diving the swag and plotting your next move?"
Hayner grins at him cheekily. Seifer knows that this isn't a good sign. Whatever it was those kids were doing, it's not over yet, and this punk here doesn't believe that being short one member will hurt them any. Seifer snaps at his peers to get a move on, search the tunnels, search the rooftops, go back to the woods and search the mansion!
Hayner is still grinning when he leaves.
And that smile seems well deserved when he comes back.
Hayner is long gone. In his absence is a collapsed wall and wild eye-witness accounts of alien abductors. By now Seifer isn't the one in charge, and his boss and every other adult within earshot is demanding answers. Seifer has none. He has no explanation for the break out, for what people saw, or for what he and his team found when they finally went inside that mansion like those three punks had been begging him to do for so long. He thinks he understands how they are connected, but he does not say. Any person with a brain can see what this means, but no one is willing to voice it.
All three kids are gone now.
For several days, Seifer and the police pour over the mansion. It seems the fire was started by some electrical equipment, as opposed to being deliberately set by the town's biggest troublemakers. An accident. Despite the damage, despite the possibility of lawsuits and charges, Seifer is secretly glad that the place caught fire. If not for that little twist of fate, no one would have ever known what was going on down here. Hayner, Pence, and Olette would have disappeared into thin air.
Like Roxas.
Where ever they are, Seifer is sure that they're together.