Bête Noire

The familiar characters of Ikebukuro return to face off with the infamous and elusive SCP Foundation, but not without the assistance of the reformed genius prosecutor and his bumbling detective sidekick.

Rated: T for language and future violence/gore. No lemon, No yaoi. Pure action.

Authors' Notes:

1. Previous knowledge of Durarara! (anime): Not mandatory, but to understand some one-liners and grasp the characters' personalities and backgrounds, it is advised. Based off of the anime only; although certain novel/manga characters are mentioned for the sole purpose of supporting the plot.

2. Previous knowledge of the SCP Foundation (website): Mandatory. The SCP Foundation is "a wiki that serves as a collection of reports on paranormal artifacts/humanoids, based around the idea of an international agency that contains items that threaten the normality of the world. These items are referred to as SCPs, with each one given containment procedures, a description, and a history of experiments on them," according to TV Tropes. Visit "Members' Pages"* for more character information. Individual SCP case links may be provided within this document, as some unmentioned details may pertain to the story.

3. Previous knowledge of Ace Attorney (games/manga): Not mandatory, but helpful in character and circumstantial understanding.

In this Chapter:
MAIN - Durarara!: Izaya Orihara, Celty Sturluson, Anri Sonohara, Mikado Ryūgamine
MAIN - Ace Attorney: Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth, Detective Richard Gumshoe
MINOR - Durarara!: Simon Brezhnev, Namie Yagiri

CHAPTER 4

– Russia Sushi; Ikebukuro, Japan. July 11 – 5:26 pm –

"My word, what do you call this?" Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth motioned politely at the dish in front of him, asking the large black man dressed in Japanese attire who had just set it down.

"Is call 'Moscow Roll.' Is good, try, try!" Simon's heavy Russian accent carried his voice through the room. Of course, nobody on the premises had any recollection of the events that came to pass two days ago.

"Moscow roll, you say? May I inquire as to its ingredients?" Edgeworth did his best to hide the skepticism in his tone, although it flew right over Simon's head regardless.

The sushi chef just nodded, "Da, da, is cream cheese with hot salmon and—"

"On second thought, just tea will be fine. I seem to have lost my appetite." Edgeworth glanced at the dish as if it were poison as a large hand clumsily pulled it aside.

"Then can I have this, sir?" Gumshoe looked at the prosecutor with eager eyes, "I'll eat anythin', really! This looks tastier than raw noodles, sir!"

Edgeworth waved the plate away dismissively, "Please do." Turning away from the sight of a hungry Gumshoe gobbling up the 'sushi', he pulled out his cellphone, which had started to vibrate just moments prior. "Edgeworth speaking. Ah, Mr. Kazamoto. It's been a while. What can I do for you?"

Nearly an hour had passed since Edgeworth answered his phone. He was sitting quietly, clipboard in front of him, jotting down the information from the voice that spewed crime after crime into his ear.

"Suicide pacts? Good Lord." The prosecutor kept his voice low, but he was still met with a worried look from the detective sitting across from him. "How can it be that this man has not yet been incarcerated? Has the justice system in Japan deteriorated to such an extent since my last visit?"

The room for silent for a minute (save for the chewing noises coming from Gumshoe) as a look of interest flickered over Edgeworth's face.

"I see. Well, Mr. Kazamoto, this is a challenging situation indeed." A faint smirk tugged at his lips, "then again, I have never been one to decline a challenge."

– Outside Raira Academy; Ikebukuro, Japan. July 12 – 8:12 am –

"So, you're saying that you've been scouring the city for 32 hours, looking for Shinra, whom you believe has disappeared off the face of the earth because aliens abducted him?" The dark eyes behind the girl's glasses were wide with disbelief, her front bangs swinging in the breeze.

Celty's helmet bobbed up and down empathetically. She quickly tapped into her phone, then turned it so the screen could be seen.

Everything he owns is gone, too! It's like they've erased all traces of him!

"W-wa-wait a minute! You can't be serious!" squeaked the timid boy standing with them.

"Well..." The girl narrowed her eyes thoughtfully. Her soft-spoken voice was hesitant. "I mean, what else could have happened, Mikado? Celty says he disappeared completely within the hour that she was out..."

Mikado sputtered, face flushing. "B-b-but, Anri! Aliens?!"

Celty crossed her arms, propping her chin up with a fist. In hindsight, it was probably a bad idea to tell a couple of high school kids about what had happened, especially since she intercepted them right as they were about to enter school for the day. But she didn't know who else to turn to. Shizuo wasn't answering his phone, and no way would she trust Izaya to tell her the whole truth – if he even knew anything. Celty rubbed her helmet wearily.

I'm sorry. I shouldn't be dumping this on you. Go to school, I'll figure something out.

Anri Sonohara bit her lip, looking down at the ground. "I'll be right back," she blurted out, turning and dashing into an abandoned alleyway nearby.

"You know, Celty..." Mikado Ryūgamine began. He frowned, thinking. "If it really were aliens, and they went through the trouble of getting rid of all evidence that Shinra ever existed, wouldn't they have affected our memories of him as well? I mean, everyone you've talked to so far still knew who he was, right? Why go through all the trouble of erasing his existence if we still remember him? So it probably wasn't aliens at all," he concluded in a rush of air, convinced and relieved by his roundabout reasoning.

Celty's shoulders sagged in a sigh. She had to admit, aliens were kind of a huge stretch. There had to be a more logical explanation.

Mikado pursed his lips, then pulled out his cell phone, tapping a series of buttons. "You know what, I'm gonna post something on the Dollars' forum, see if any information comes in. It's easier than asking every single person in this city individually."

Celty's helmet tilted to the side as she thought about it.

That's a really good idea. Thanks.

Mikado smiled sheepishly. "No worries. I'll let you know if anything comes up."

She was about to type something in reply when Anri came jogging back, her schoolbag bouncing against her knees as she clutched it in her hands. "I'm sorry, Celty. I checked, but Saika hasn't heard anything about Shinra anywhere."

Celty waved a hand in dismissal.

It's fine. Thank you for trying, though. I really appreciate it. Let me know if anything changes.

Both students nodded. She climbed back on top of her motorcycle, riding away with a heavy heart.

– An apartment complex; Shinjuku, Japan. July 14 – 9:04 pm –

"I'm so bored!" This was the twelfth time that phrase had been uttered – or whined – that evening. Izaya Orihara spun around in his chair while tossing chess pieces one by one into a garbage can.

His secretary looked up apathetically from her book. "No jobs today?"

The informant groaned dramatically and threw a bishop in Namie's direction, narrowly missing her. "My sweet, simple-minded Namie. You don't understand anything." He knocked over a stack of papers from the desk with his foot, watching them land messily on the floor. "You see those? Those are jobs. They're boring."

Namie rolled her eyes and cursed under her breath, muttering, "I'm not cleaning that up."

Izaya ignored her and jumped off the still-spinning chair, landing gracefully on his feet. "Oh Namie, I think I made a terrible mistake by getting Shizu-chan locked up. Ikebukuro's no fun without him to mess with and Shinjuku has nothing new to offer me."

"What about those guys following you?" Namie closed her book, having lost the motivation to read because of her boss' irritating mood. "Surely that can't be boring."

The black-haired intel broker laughed and slumped back down into his chair. "You mean the foreigners with questionable outfits? Please." He swung his legs around to prop his feet up on the desk. "As if they stand a chance against me."

"Maybe you shouldn't underestimate them."

Izaya's voice hardened and lowered to a dangerous pitch, his ruby eyes glinting in the light. "Maybe you shouldn't underestimate me."

Namie raised her hands in mock helplessness, shaking her head. "I'm just saying. Give 'em a chance."

Without another word, Izaya got up from the chair again, grabbed his signature trademark coat and disappeared into the night.

"Finally," Namie sighed, opening her book. "It's so hard to read Fifty Shades of Grey when he's here."