Authors Note: Here's the rest of my insanity…Part II. Can I beg for mercy again?
COMPANIONS, CHAOS & CLUSTERf*CK - AGAIN...
"It turns out that an eerie type of chaos can lurk just behind a facade of order
- and yet, deep inside the chaos lurks an even eerier type of order"
- Douglas Hofstadter
Gokudera tried desperately to hold on to his temper. He has learned to master his fiery temper since high school. He has come a long way since being the hot-headed, right-hand man wanna-be. But he never thought he would come so close to being like one of his beloved dynamites, but somehow, right about now, if someone said or did something else to set him off, he just might do what I-pin used to and explored in a fiery hail of hell. He would trade just about everything to get a few of his sticks and shove them up a certain idiot's ass. But before he could give vent to his mounting frustration, a woman's voice effectively silenced his growing ire. The venom in her voice literally paralyzed those around her. Her eyes spitted flames that nearly rivaled the ones controlled by the guardians that everyone present wondered just what kind she possessed.
"WHAT . THE . HELL . DID. YOU. DO ?!" she growled. "I turn my back on you for a minute and you're already showering people with broken glass!" When her eyes caught sight of a very familiar figure she nearly snarled in outrage. "You?! What the hell is wrong with you people? Can't you be a normal tourist for just one freaking day?"
The silver head bristled at the obvious insult. "There's nothing wrong with us wench-!"
"Hana! You're here! That's perfect. Where in the extreme where you?"
"I was trying to find out what are the charges—wait! Don't change the subject—what the hell just happened?"
"Never mind that to the extreme. I need you to explain to these folks that it was an accident to the extreme and that I didn't mean any harm."
"What to do you mean never mind? There's a busted wall next to you inside a precinct! How is this not a problem?" she was about to say more when she heard yet another sickeningly familiar voice speak behind her.
"Oi! Kurokawa!"
"Baseball boy is here too? Do you monkeys always stick together?" she muttered in exasperation, glaring continuously at the white haired man pacing next to her.
"Maa, maa, never mind that. What are you doing here?"
"I was under the mistaken belief that I was enjoying my vacation from my crazy job and this crazy idiot when I found him and that stupid cow kid wandering in Central Park."she jerked a thumb towards the agitated boxer and glared at him some more when he tried to explain again.
"Look, I wasn't being stupid—"
"Central Park? What were you doing there Sempai?"
"Taking an extreme short-cut!"
"In the opposite direction? You stupid, Turf Head!"
"Oi Octopus Head what in the extreme is your problem?"
Gokudera Hayato almost swallowed his tongue in outrage. The barrage of words that flew past his lips was so heated that it nearly tore a strip off Ryouhei's hide and definitely rivaled Squalo at his worst.
"What the hell do you mean what's my problem? You idiot! You just decimated a wall. You destroyed public property? Do you have a death wish you bloody fool or do you just want to join him in there?!" he bellowed.
But to his eternal chagrin, the white haired boxer merely stared at him and answered laconically.
"Not at all in the extreme unless it becomes necessary!"
Kurokawa Hana kept massaged her aching temple and considered how best control her own temper. She was better than this band of demented monkeys, she reminded herself. She would not stoop to their level. She would NOT, even if it killed her. With a defeated sigh, she turned towards Ryouhei and forced the two arguing men to halt their verbal war.
"For once, I can actually understand why Monkey boy here calls you Turf Head. Only something as tough and as resilient as Astroturf could grow on that barren space you call a brain."
Ryouhei sputtered indignantly, "Hey! Wait an extreme minute here Hana-!"
"Shut it. When I come back you will tell me why you raced all the way down here and where the hell your clueless leader is."
Gokudera took a deep breath, preparing to tear off the stupid Turf Head's ear again when he felt someone take a hold of his shoulders and pushed him back into the chair. Glaring at the smiling culprit, he tried to get some sense of order in what was quickly deteriorating situation.
"Maa, maa, come on everyone, take a seat. Let's take a breather and figure things out. This might take a minute. The arresting officer stepped out for lunch. According to those two nice detectives, we need to have her back before we can get him out."
Hana groaned in exasperation when she finally realized why her stupid Turf Head was racing towards the precinct.
"That Dame-idiot is here, isn't he?"
To her annoyance the baseball player simply grinned but there was a clear and unmistakable warning in his cheerful voice.
"He's here, yes. But Kurokawa-san, he isn't 'dame' okay?"
Hana shrugged and nodded, heeding the unspoken reproof. "And I take it that you need to get him out of here as soon as possible?"
Gokudera blew an exhausted breath before nodding wearily.
"That's the ideal situation. We won't be going anywhere unless we can clear this. And it must be before anyone who shouldn't know could find out. So, Turf Head, where are those shitty lawyers?"
"Should be here soon. Traffic was hell, getting here takes some time. I called the law firm and told them to hurry or you'll bomb their assess to kingdom come. I would've thought they'd be here by now."
"I haven't seen hair or hide of the damned bastards. When I get my hands on them I would kill them myself."
"Maa, maa…maybe Hibari-Sempai could just talk with them."
As one the assembled group turned towards the smiling Asian and gave him a look. When he only continued to flash them his signature smile, Gokudera shook his head and muttered disbelievingly, "You are really are something else, you Sword Freak."
"Just giving a suggestion 'Dera."
"Don't call me that you idiot. This is serious."
"I know it is."
Hana stared at the young men gathered around them and felt their growing unease and tension. Consigning her vacation and any semblance of normalcy to her life to the farthest region of hell, she stood up and headed towards the processing area, speaking quietly as she walked away,
"Know what, never mind that; I'll deal with the police. I'll ask for the cost of repairs and explain the situation myself. While I'm at it, I'll ask the booking officer about his charges and see that they're dropped. While I'm away, do me a favor and try not to break anything else would you? And while you're at it, get that stupid cow out of the interrogation room. I don't want to have to explain that one too."
As she walked towards the shocked faces of the gathered and gawking members of the once quiet precinct and explained what had occurred while flashing her Barrister license, the others looked on, for once at a loss for words. Yamamoto thought it best to fetch Lambo now that the word war was over and was already out of earshot when Gokudera suddenly remembered the wicked laughter that he heard just moments after Ryouhei decimated the wall. He was about to ask the white haired man when he noticed the figure of a blue-clad cop standing just a step or two behind the baseball nut. Tensing immediately, he reached into his jacket pocket when that unmistakable laugh echoed once more.
"Kukukuku…."
Gokudera could feel the onslaught of migraine just coming in to mess with his head. He wished to God he had taken up the Bronco's invitation to get drunk. Then he could have an excuse for having a really shitty day.
"Ah hell. In addition to this already A-class cluster fuck of a day, now, you're here. And I actually thought I was just hallucinating from all the noise Turf Head was making."
"Oi is that Mukuro in the extreme?"
"Who else could it be Sunny-chan?"
"Don't call him creepy names you stupid Pineapple Head."
The smiling policeman flashed a smile before opening those distinctive heterochromic eyes. He tipped his hat genially before sitting from across the already aggravated Storm.
"Now, now is that anyway to talk to a beloved comrade in arms, Storm-kun?"
"Did you get lost in the extreme too Mukuro? See, Octopus Head, I'm not the only one."
"Shut up Turf Head. Do tell…why in hell are you here?"
The Mist actually blinked at him before asking as if in bewilderment, an odd look of surprise flashing in his curious eyes before the usual amusement replaced them.
"Why else should I be here but to express my concern for our cherished fearless leader."
"You wouldn't be caught dead in a place like this
"Well, in that regard you're quite right. But I do sympathize in our baby boss' incarceration woes. No one likes being chained though I do admit he carries it off with certain panache. And as such I bring tidings."
A frisson of dread brushed along Gokudera's spine and his hand automatically reached in to his pocket and grabbed a fresh pack. At the rate he's going, he might just break his record of three packs in a day. And that was when they had to finagle a hostile takeover over a particularly nasty cartel that kidnapped and held hostage a hundred local women and children. Puffing on the newly replenished stick he sighed in resignation and asked what he knew would be bad news.
"Oh god what now?"
The mist gave him a smile that made some of the other policemen close enough to see whimper in fear.
"The sunny baby wanted me to inform you that the gathering will be moved tonight. He expects the preparations to be well on its way."
Gokudera banged his head on the wall behind him and allowed himself a to mutter for an entire minute nothing but a litany of curses that would curdle his innocent boss' ears had he been close enough to hear, ending it with something emphatic and truly soul-felt.
"This is it. Cluster-A-Fucking day. Kill me right now. Somebody just please shoot me right now."
He would've said more if he hadn't been nearly knocked into the floor by the sudden weight of a wailing, and hysterical ten year old hell bent on gaining his immediate attention. Ryouhei tried to grab the barreling boy but he neatly avoided the boxers grasp.
"Oi Lambo-!"
"What the hell-!Lambo! The fuck is wrong with you?"
Before he could get another word edgewise, the young boy seized the lapels of the silver heads suit and proceeded to climb into his lap and shout at him while screaming and crying his questions.
"Why is he cuffed? Why is Big Brother wearing handcuffs? Why is he in that room? He can't go to jail! I-pin will kill me!"
Yamamoto tried to calm the wailing afro-hair when the young boy turned on him too—eyes filled with tears and palpable panic.
"Calm down, Lambo. I-pin-chan won't kill you. Gokudera is doing everything to get him out okay?"
"You don't understand Baseball-niisan. If I-pin knows Big Brother ended up in jail then Maman will know. Maman will cry and if Maman cries, HE will ask questions and when he finds out what happened HE will kill us! Don't you understand? So do something!"
With that, the assembled group blanched and a sickly color replaced their ruddy complexion. For a full minute, none of them managed to speak as the full implication of what their younger companion's statement swept through their consciousness. A gulp and another hastily lighted cigarette later, the young silver head spoke once more, this time with grim determination in his voice.
"I don't know how I could say this but the stupid cow is right. We need to settle this as quickly as possible. We can't waste any more time. Ryouhei, go and find Hana and find out what's the status on his arrest."
"You need to get him out of that small room. I don't want big brother in there anymore. He can't even give proper hugs like that."
"Shut it, cow-head. We're doing the best that we can okay? So just sit tight and—"
"Gokudera!"
"What you Baseball freak! Can't you see I'm talking to—"
"Gokudera, I think you better talk to Mukuro. I think something odd is going on."
Gokudera closed his eyes as if in pain. He didn't want to look anymore. He really didn't. The look on the Mist's current host's face did not bode well and whatever internal thing he did and saw while he was doing it was not something that bode well for any one, least of all, them. The shit-eating grin that the Mist's host flashed him coupled with Yamamoto's encouraging nod did not reassure him even the least bit.
"What shit is this now?"
"The proverbial one that hits the fan, so to speak. You have problem coming in a bit Storm. I believe my beloved Chrome is heading this way. And she, darling girl that she is, brought the ranking Prince and that adorable little Triad-trained assassin of yours with her."
"Ah fuck it." With a growl, he reached for his phone and punched in a number. Barely waiting for the ring to stop, he rattled off just five words.
" SKYLARK. CHROME. KIDS. CUFF. NOW."
Inside the interrogation room something unspeakably horrifying just revealed itself to the hapless Officer Jameson. Something changed; something big happened after the heretofore quiet young man lifted his phone to his ears and listened to whoever it was on the other end of the line. An unholy gleam ignited in the previous indifferent Eurasian's eyes that made Jameson think of what a vision of standing on the edge of hell could possibly look like. It was not—at all—a sight he would be likely to forget—ever. He almost bolted when the man moved from his perch against a far corner and approached him.
"Y-yes? Do you want anything?"
"I need you to remove the cuffs now. We will be leaving soon."
"I-I can't do that? I-I don't have any orders y-yet-t—"
"I don't think you understood me. I want you to remove those cuffs. Now."
"I-I w-w-wish I c-could b-but I-I don't have a key with me."
To his chagrin, the Eurasian young man snorted in derision at his claim.
"Don't lie. It's unseemly in an adult. I know for a fact that New York Policemen carry their keys behind their badges."
Jameson blanched at this display of uncanny knowledge regarding police enforcement predilections. He tried to gather his thought and tried to explain once more his current predicament.
"I used to c-carry one w-with me b-but I l-lost it the other day and I-I h-h-haven't r-r-eplaced it yet."
"Is that so? Well then, I guess I better take care of the matter myself."
"S-sir! Y-you c-can't do that!"
Jameson tried to restrain the man by putting up one of his hand in warning while keeping the other close to his service firearm. The Eurasian raised a hand to his cheek and ordered in a soft undertone.
"Move."
"W-what?! No, sir, please wait. As s-soon as the charges are cleared, your f-friend here could go and—eep!"
The young officers whimpered in fear as he watched two gleaming metal sticks—the ones that looked like old-fashioned nightsticks carried by police before—appear as if by magic in the Eurasian's hand. He then casually picked up the brunette's bound hands, placed them on the table and glanced at his supposed boss only once. He didn't say a single word, merely nodded and with a move too quick for the policeman's eyes to even follow, the man whirled one of the metal sticks and promptly shattered the metal links in one fell swoop. The scraps of metal fell like tinny rain inside the echoing chamber of the interrogation room.
Jameson could only watch, transfixed as the brunette looked ruefully at his companion whilst rubbing sore wrists. He then pushed back his chair, and knelt down and proceeded to pick up the pieces of fragmented metal, wrapping them up in his silk handkerchief and putting them in his inner jacket pocket before walking towards his erstwhile silent guard and keeper.
"Was that really necessary?"
The response, when it came, was short and to the point.
"Yes."
With a sigh the brunette turned to the shell-shocked guard and gave the man a short bow.
"I apologize for the shock. You needn't worry. I will remain here. But the handcuffs were a trifle stifling. Do forgive him for acting so hastily. He means no harm."
Had he known it, the brunette shouldn't have bothered. Officer Jameson was in no position to appreciate his heartfelt words. Because the said officer had already fainted dead away. And though he wasn't aware of it, it was due to Officer Jameson's actuation that the Special Inspector De Luca finally had his first clue on just who he netted that fateful day.