Vol. 1
Ch. 2
There was only the sound of hitting cues, footsteps, cheering, swearing, groaning, the clinking of glasses, the sound of balls falling, and the laughter of young men. A scene you could witness anywhere throughout the world. These men held so much worth in the Port Mafia, but right now, they were just guys being bros.
The interior of the store was a bustle. Somebody had music going on the jukebox. It was just some old music of wind instruments played in the background, intermixing with the billiard balls, champagne glass, and light chatter.
For Chuuya, this was something more precious than he could put into words. Moved to tears—almost, not quite, he had his dignity as a man after all— he had found a place he truly belonged for what felt like was the first time since joining the Port Mafia. It felt so precious and he didn't want to think about the possibility of this coming to an end one day. Everyone here was insufferable but on this day, he had learned that they were annoying because they were his friends, not because they wanted to be enemies or use him like so many- including the Sheep— had in the past.
Chuuya had enemies.
Chuuya had a rival.
But this was the first time Chuuya felt like he had real friends.
Landing outside of this bar, Old World, Alu casually peered into the window to see if Chuuya was actually here, according to Adam's intelligence tip. Sure enough, she saw Chibi Chuuya, and her eyes nearly sparkled. She squealed in a small voice and Adam looked at her with alarm.
"Are you ill?" He asked, politely. "That noise sounded distressful."
Alu's eyes had little stars in them, and she looked sparkly. Adam wondered if she was coming down with something. He looked like he was about to reinstate his hand blowers but Alu quickly waved a hand. "Sorry, it's just, chibi Chuuya! And his hair is in a ponytail! He's so cute!" She whispered, giggling to herself. "Wait, how old did you say he was?" She asked, realizing she hadn't actually asked considering she hated heights and had been focused on not falling.
"He's sixteen, according to his recent birthday three months ago," Adam stated. "You are saying he is in there?"
The way Alu nodded, made Adam certain there could be no doubt. He looked inside the window, where the men were all clearly distracted and boozed, and then he looked to Alu. "I will go to procure him!"
"Wait!" Alu said, grabbing his arm. "You can't just barge in there!"
"I will not barge, I will walk inside in a calm manner," Adam stated, seriously.
Alu groaned. "Look, why not try to do something that won't make you immediately suspicious?" She deadpanned.
Adam blinked. "Like what?"
Alu rolled her eyes. "Just play a casual game with them, that'll make them open up to you real quick, especially Chuuya," she sarcastically replied, knowing full well the Port Mafia was about as cuddly as the deadly spikes on a poisonous sea urchin. She sighed looking away, to glance back at baby Chuuya. "He's so cute…" she giggled, "Anyways, Adam, let's go ahead—-?"
Adam was gone, leaving just a white outline.
Alu's smile froze on her paling face. Despite her light tan, she looked legitimately white as a sheet comically for a moment. That stupid robot. Had he taken her advice seriously?!
These wolves, despite being a part of a formidable underground organization, were also, sometimes, still human as well, Alu observed. Their rowdiness and boisterousness made it momentarily difficult to believe they were really just crazy people. But still, it is something that anyone would wish for, fantasizing to obtain this kind of moment, atmosphere— without having to look once more through the lens of reality. But, like all things, time is a cruel mistress. Even a moment like this cannot last; it disappears in an instant.
A time that fizzled like soda pop.
And—- with a slowness like a whole breath, the nine ball falls into the pocket, finally.
There's a moment of silence before sudden cheering.
"Yooo~!"
The men all guffawed and laughed, impressed.
"Too bad for you, Chuuya, your streak ends here."
"Hail the new king!" One of the other men laughed.
"Who struck that?" Someone finally asked, as the laughter died down.
And then a peculiar thing transpired. Everyone's mood shifted to surprise. And everyone was looking for the one that struck the ball. There were six people in the room till now. But now, there was one more.
"I'll be declining the prize." The seventh voice stated calmly. "No need to praise me," he added as though as an afterthought.
This man who had materialized as though like a mere phantom, wore a blue coat. He had long limbs, being rather tall. With black hair and dark brown eyes. He had a handsome— yet serious— profile. He held the cue perpendicular to the ground, like a ceremonial cane.
"It is stated in my investigation manual that, in order to retrieve information from humans, I must observe the surrounding exchange and gain intimacy; and I am simply to follow its principle. As scheduled, it seems that I have gained trust through the billiard game. I will now return to the mission." The young man's voice is flat and clear. And his eyes are unwaveringly serious.
What had once been a peaceful billiard match, ended there. Along with Alu's sanity for dealing with insanely stupid advanced European technology, lol.
—-without hesitation, a Kukri knife flew to strike the newcomer's forehead.
"Oh. Oops!" The man spoke plainly, as though surprised and yet completely unperturbed at the same time by this sudden shift in animosity towards his presence. The blade that was whipped out, cutting space, was quickly avoided by a shift of the man's head. Tips of his hair that failed to dodge the slice, merely fell with the grace of plucked feathers from his head.
The wielder of that Kukri knife had been Albatross. Even after having his blade dodged, Albatross kept a neutral expression, and instead quickly dispersed his body into the floor.
Without missing a beat, appearing behind Adam was Iceman, holding a cue. He flexed his body like a spring, launching a thrust with the force of a sniper bullet.
The blue-coated young man dodged it effortlessly. Multiple succeeding attacks launch against him, grazing the skin of his nose, singe his hair, and even ends up ripping the soft lanugo on his ear- but Iceman was not able to land a direct attack on this person—-something unheard of in the entire time he'd been in this profession. Alarmingly, Adam dodged with a speed that was clearly inhuman.
The men both praised and taunted Adam in quick succession.
Adam frowned, puzzled. "Regardless of having participated in a friendly game, as previously suggested, I sense that the hostility of the investigation targets is only increasing. This is illogical. Why is this happening?"
Naturally no one answered him— why would they? Behind Adam's posture, contorted from dodging the cues, Pianoman had already appeared. A shining string had extended from Pianoman's wristwatch, forming a loop. "We'll have you finish your excuse on the floor."
The string fell gently on the man's neck. The string, barely visible and illuminated only by reflective light, wrapped around his throat.
As Pianoman tugged his wrist, the circular loop suddenly shrinks, wrapping back rapidly inside his sleeve. Chuuya had only destroyed one winding device in the fight that had happened earlier.
Pianoman still had plenty of tricks up both his sleeves.
And once this electric winding device started to work, no brute force could tug off this death guillotine.
Adam immediately placed a cue by his neck. But the piano string was so sharp, even slicing through the wood of the cue, like buttar. The loop of the piano string lined perfectly around the thickness of the man's neck. Now, the merciless wire will have the man's neck parallel to the floor.
—Or not.
"Wh…?!"
The man didn't dodge. Nor had he even attempted to take the string off.
He didn't need to. The piano string slid on the surface of his skin.
As the winding devices groaned, the string digging further into his flesh, it became clear to the men with horror and realization that not a scratch was etched into this oddball's skin. "Detecting the burden on the outer skin layer," the strange man stated expressionlessly. "Adhering to the routine, I will now transition into self-defense actions."
And suddenly, he spun sideways. Without any previous action, his body did a full turn, like a car wheel. Leather shoes trace a circle in midair. Pianoman's winding devices, unable to endure the rotational speed, are torn by their strings. All the shards scatter.
"Oh, how impressive," Pianoman praised, while retreating. "A fighting-type ability user. You have enough strength to infiltrate the nests of the Mafia alone."
Everyone swiftly made distance between themselves and this dangerous ability user. Normal rules for fighting don't apply to fighting-type ability users. Because they weren't guns nor blades, but unpredictable disasters. To retaliate incorrectly, leads to the possibility of immediate death. The group thus retreated quickly, and transitioned to an anti-fighting-ability formation.
"No, no, this machine is not suspicious personnel. We may all be complete strangers but… I am here because I care!" The man pulls out a black badge from his breast coat pocket.
"Oh dear god no," Alu muttered outside, to herself, realizing what this dumb ass robot was about to do, too late. She was outside for a reason—her own safety lmao—She couldn't go in and stop him—honestly watching that fight unfold was unholy enough as it was.
Although that odd girl had stated to him not to give his 'life story', Adam felt it pertinent to explain that he was there for a good reason. After all, it was honesty that made the world function. It was honesty that proved the better face of humanity. To care about someone was proof of humanity, that much Adam was certain. He had adapted his code to accommodate for the strange girl's analogy, after all. "My name is Adam. As this states, I am an officer from EUROPOLE."
Alu facepalmed outside, having been peering in as discreetly as possible. But she could hear everything going on in there thanks to her above average hearing and well—that damn stupid eroupean robot was fricking up royally swell, it sounded like. Alu grimaced. Sometimes running away was a better policy than honesty, she wanted to say while throttling him. She sweated. Oh boy, if that robot did get totaled, would she be next? Alu wondered if it was morally wrong to want to run just then and leave Adam.
Shit, no way she could leave that stupid puppy dog robot!
Ugh, having a moral code was so unhelpful in times like these, she inwardly whined. She continued to observe, just praying no one would notice her. Of course she already looked suspicious as hell so at this point, she was practically waiting for Dazai to show up with a gun and an armada of Port Mafia personnel honestly. That would just be the cherry on top, wouldn't it?
The air in the room meanwhile shifted to incredulous disbelief amongst the members of the formally established 'flags' in response to Adam's blunt forward honesty.
"Police?" Pianoman slipped a smile as sharp as a knife. "I see. In that case, Mr. Adam, it seems there was indeed a misunderstanding. —-because it's a mistake for a policeman to think he can invade the Mafia and get out alive! Lippmann!" He called out as though he was talking to someone on a stage show about to show a party trick and wasn't commanding a colleague to murder a bitch.
"Understood."
Lippmann fired two machine pistols taken from the back of his coat. The bullets are rocketed at a high speed of 10 bullets a second.
Adam guarded with the back of his hand. 9-mil bullets slide down the surface of his skin, making them deflect in diagonal directions.
"Detecting impact! 63% left until the limit of breaking stress!" Adam exclaimed. "There is a possibility you are committing actions of assault towards an international investigator!"
Possibility? Son, that ship sailed the second they threw a knife at your head, Alu thought inwardly, just so done with everything.
"As I thought, he's an ability user that doesn't take damage from physical attacks." Pianoman stares at his opponent with cold eyes. "Lippmann, hold him back for now. We're going into a restraining strategy."
"Wait." Iceman, still holding his cue steady, spoke in a bitter voice. "I don't feel anything strange from his skin. This is—"
Iceman made the very first expression of astonishment to be seen that day.
"He's not an ability user!"
Gold star to whoever came to that revelation this far into the fight, Alu dryly thought. Honestly, it was obvious he wasn't human from the get go. A normal human would have died ten times over at the hands of these juggernauts.
"—-what?"
All the members fell into confusion. Because that was impossible.
For Alu, it was like watching monkeys scratch their own heads rather than their asses for a moment. It was both amusing and yet she felt she'd get shot if she mentioned this out loud.
For a human to withstand the piano strings and deflect 9-mil bullets with the bare back of his hand, not to be an ability user— that wasn't possible. It was such an absurd phenomenon, similar to if gravity had been reversed, or if the sun and moon collided. But for the men, it was a solid observation. After all, never had Iceman's sense been wrong, either.
It was clear the men were processing this at a rate that Alu felt was hilariously stupidly slow. It was like that one theory of when a human—or a monkey— is faced suddenly with two completely contradicting situations. For either, it becomes difficult to manage. The question was whether to run or not and when there is conflict and contradiction often this brings the mind to a complete halt altogether.
"Interesting." Pianoman laughs, since he knows him and his crew are not normal humans to begin with. "Then it's whoever gets him first! Once someone takes him down, he's going to be the talk for an entire week! Everyone, I allow you to use your abilities!"
"Ability secrecy dissolved, understood."
"Haha! Here we go!"
"Fufu… Begin incision."
Suddenly, countless dots of light appeared within the room.
Lights appear about the size of a fist. They held no heat—not even light. Like orbiting stars, they started rotating around Adam.
As soon as that started, Adam's posture broke down. "Oh?"
Adam's leather shoe sank into the hard floor. As if he had stepped into the soft sands of a desert. The floor runs into smooth sand, swallowing the foot. He attempted to pull it out, anchoring the other foot, but that one had also started sinking. Instinctively, his left hand touched the floor. And that, too, started to sink.
"This is…"
Adam twists his body to try and grab the billiard table. Then, something grew from the back of his hand. Skin covered by intricate scales. A long, thin head, like a bird. A packed row of fangs. It was a dinosaur. The bust of a small dinosaur grew like a plant from the back of Adam's hand.
"No applicable information from the database module." Adam cocks his head.
Forget that, get that damn little dinosaur off of you! Alu's jaw dropped. Oh great, one of the ability users could summon all of Jurassic Park, that was definitely not terrifying.
The dinosaur screams, biting into Adam's neck muscles. He barely shakes it off. The movement further disarrays his posture, sinking him into the floor even deeper.
Suddenly, thin strings spray down radially from the ceiling. They ensnare Adam's body now, pulling him up suddenly to the source of the strands. Adam's body slammed into the ceiling. Umber-colored sand sprinkle down like a snow drift dropping from a tree's branches.
Just as the wooden boards of the ceiling were splintering, and Adam was restraining his escaped groans, the strings disappeared. Drawn by gravity, Adam falls. He crashes onto the ground.
And again, his body is swallowed by the sand hell that was the former remnants of the floor. "Combat evaluation module unable to process the situation."
I'm having trouble processing the mental evaluation, Alu's eye twitched. These guys were nuts! Seriously, if they knew Chuuya, then how come she hadn't run into them in Chuuya's future? Well, not like she wanted to, but damn!
Once again, piano strings wrapped around Adam's neck like he was merely a present about to be lovingly wrapped for Christmas—or in this case, Mister Death, himself.
"To take on the six people here all by yourself was a very bold mistake, Mr. Policeman." Pianoman says with a cruel smile, holding his backup device. "Not even the king of the world can stand ten seconds against this many abilities. —-so, this is a first anniversary gift. You can break his arms and legs, Chuuya."
Click. Whir. The girl had been correct after all. With the definite proof he needed now affirmed, Adam stuffed his right arm deliberately into the floor. The dinosaur shrieks, drowning into the sand. As he had sunk his right arm, his left leg appeared reflexively out of the floor. Using this leg, Adam kicked a nearby billiard table. A cue that was lying on the table rolled onto the floor. He caught the cue with his toes. And he kicked it up. Without giving it a glance.
The cue spun like a baton in the air.
Adam catches the falling stick from behind. After turning it a few times, he jabbed it into the floor. His body is pulled up out of the sand as a result.
"Is he a freaking acrobat?!" Albatross shouts.
"Don't let him move any further!" Pianoman shoots out orders at about the same rate that he normally runs his mouth.
Lippmann fires his machine guns.
Twisting his body in midair, Adam dodges every bullet. Every one of them slipped by him, barely. He maneuvers like a true flexible yoga enthusiast, in space, maneuvering the death maze of bullets with as little movement as possible. And he sticks the landing to boot.
The location of his landing— was right in front of Chuuya.
If there was an Olympics for dodging six strong ability users in acrobacy, Alu knew this guy would take the whole damn prize.
To prevent Chuuya and the others from sinking, that particular area Adam targeted because he noted that it hadn't been made into sand in order to avoid having the others sink as well. Adam raised the cue as though to strike Chuuya.
Chuuya tensed. Who was this bastard coming here to ruin his day? He grit his teeth, glaring, heart pounding. Could he have time to punch? Yes, he had to! He just had to do something! This person was insane!
"Chuuya!" Someone shouts.
And then—– Adam dropped the cue.
"Chuuya-san." Adam drops down on one knee, lowering his head. He prostrates himself with utmost reverence- in a posture meant for royalty.
"I have come to protect you."
"…What?"
That was the only intelligent thing to come out of Chuuya's head space in that moment.
—-
