Warning: this chapter does contain stronger language than usual. For those of you who don't like swearing, you have been warned.
Marcus walked into the Inaba Police Station with a determination to finally get a lead on whatever had been happening recently. Taking a deep breath in front of the entrance, the young man finally headed inside and was greeted almost immediately with a rather bored looking police officer typing away at the front desk. It took those two minutes for the officer to finally realize someone was waiting for his attention and he quickly stopped what he was doing.
"Sorry about the wait. What can I do for you?"
"My name is Marcus Gishki. I believe Detective Shirogane informed the department of my arrival today."
The officer frowned for a bit as he went back to his computer. "Give me a minute to check the records."
After some typing and clicking, his expression changed to a look of uncomfortable worry. "It says here that you are scheduled to see..."
"Former Officer Adachi; your records are correct." Marcus tapped his hand on the desk a little as he talked noting the officer's face had a familiar look that many others had previously given when the topic of this Adachi fellow came up. "There was a recent security breach with the company I'm associated with, and we would like to question Adachi. We believe he may have information vital to our investigation."
"Which company are you affiliated with exactly?" the officer asked, finding his focus and giving Marcus a questioning look now.
"I represent the Kirijo Group, and am here on behalf of Mitsuru Kirijo herself," Marcus said, watching as the officer showed surprise and comprehension before he collected himself a second time.
"Very well, you have half an hour to question him. Although I doubt he could possibly be involved; he's been detained here for several weeks now."
"If Adachi isn't directly involved, he may lead us in the right direction. Which detention block is he in?" Marcus inquired, growing tired of the delay as his fingers went from tapping quietly to audible drumming.
"He's in 3c..." the officer answered with a point of his hand. "...Down the hallway and on the second right; we'll have a guard wait outside for you. Good luck."
"Thank you, hope you have an enjoyable rest of your day," Marcus said, gratefully moving through the door to the left of the desk.
Walking down the hallway, a voice that was growing louder reached Marcus' ears. Realizing it was coming from the cell he was heading towards, he started listening as he approached the guard standing outside the door marked 3c.
From what he could tell...the voice was singing...
"Taking and ending brats, right from their houses.
Millions of voices all silenced like mouses.
Making fools puppets and pulling their strings,
These are a few of my favorite things."
"Well, this is rather unexpected," Marcus said aloud, the guard next to him seeming to hear as he nodded. Noting the odd singing had stopped once he started talking, he put his hand on the door and got ready to enter. "Any advice how to handle him?"
"Just don't take anything he says too seriously," the guard replied, glancing at the door unconsciously. "He has this vibe about him. If you want to end your interrogation early, let me know and I'll let you out."
"Sure thing," Marcus said, waiting to see if the guard had anything else to say before stepping inside.
"Well isn't this a big ol' surprise! It's not every day I get visitors...in fact, this is the first now that I think about it," the man in the cell said lightly, looking at Marcus with an air of profound boredom as the door shut behind him. He wore a suit that clearly had seen better days; rumpled and disheveled, there was a faint odor emanating from it. He was also clean shaven at one point, but now had a bit of stubble growing in. He had short brown hair which was unkempt, and eyes that gleamed with a barely contained rage that contradicted his passive appearance. "How are you, friend? Forgive my manners, I'm-"
"Tohru Adachi, your reputation precedes you," Marcus said casually, observing the prisoner sitting across from him. He was chained to the chair he was sitting in and his hands were shackled to the table it. The only other feature in the room was a second chair opposite of Adachi, which Marcus took as he set down the folder he had brought with him. "Which is odd considering you spent the majority of your career and life as practically nobody."
Adachi's face twitched, but his face held that look of boredom as he leaned back in his seat. "Didn't your mama ever teach you that it isn't nice to interrupt people? Anyways...let me guess as to why you are here, new guy: the big muckety-mucks upstairs think they can send a boy to do a man's job. They must really have nothing better to do, if they're bothering little ole me with the likes of you."
"Obviously your ego needs as much work as your humility," Marcus replied cooly, glancing up at Adachi as he sorted through the paperwork he had placed in the folder. "Your crimes warrant more attention than they've received, and your punishment is not nearly severe enough."
"Playing the high and mighty card will get you nothing from me," Adachi sneered, grinning as he rolled his shoulders. "I haven't been found guily of any heinous crimes; these fine officers will tell you as much."
"Really? And can they vouch for your 'innocence'?" Marcus asked curiously, pulling out a photo and showing it to Adachi. It was him with the Investigation Team in front of the Junes Food Court, after they had lunch. Chie had insisted, and Marcus was now extremely grateful for her enthusiasm.
Once Adachi glanced at the picture, his smile vanished as a look of frustration replaced it.
"...Goddamn kids...don't know when to stop meddling…" Adachi muttered angrily, his hand twitching as though he wanted to tear that photo to shreds.
"Hmm, consider that nerve touched," Marcus remarked smugly, tucking the photo away as he set aside the folder. "Now that you know I'm serious, let's get down to business."
"You think you're something special, don't ya?" Adachi growled, his eyes going from frustrated to murderous. "You have no idea who I am or what I'm capable of."
"Considering what those 'kids' have told me, I believe I do," Marcus responded coldly, staring Adachi dead in the eye. "Without access to the Midnight Channel, you are nothing but a sad, angry little man who has to face the consequences of his actions."
Adachi stayed silent for a few seconds before his eyes narrowed. "Oh, I get it now. You're one of those types. I should have seen it sooner: that cocky attitude, the stupid self-righteousness that blinds you into thinking you're invincible and you can change the world…what a load of shit. What gives you the right to judge me when there are plenty of people out there worse than me?"
"Everyone judges each other, you self-centered asshole. Whether or not we tell people what we think is what makes the difference," Marcus said grimly, something inside of him boiling over as he fully realized how twisted the person in front of him was.
"Everything looks greener on the other side, doesn't it? You can't possibly imagine the crap I've been through you stupid punk," Adachi snarled, leaning forward as he challenged Marcus to say otherwise.
And at that, Marcus finally snapped. Standing up, the younger man narrowed his eyes to meet the psycho's own as his hands clenched into fists on the table.
"Since we're here anyway, let me tell you what I believe. You were an ordinary guy, living an ordinary, boring life until one day, something happened that made you realize the sad, unbearable truth: the world doesn't give a fuck about you. If you couldn't do anything to make a difference, then what was the point of living? In the face of this realization, you started to hate the world, and everyone in it. So to cope with your new reality, you plotted to get revenge on everyone, and you found it thrilling to inflict pain on others, to take away from them the joy of living that you lost. You act like you don't care but on the inside, it eats you up to know that there are people who are happy and more successful than you."
After all was said, Marcus huffed and sat back down with his arms crossed. "That is my judgment; take it or leave it, you hypocrite."
There was a moment of silence as both prisoner and captor stared each other down, and then Adachi blinked as his face seemed to morph into one of curious intrigue. But the next second, he cracked a huge grin and leaned back in his chair as if satisfied by something.
"Well, I was wrong about you bucko! I took you for an amateur, but you aren't afraid to get your own hands dirty. Something definitely happened to you, and I bet it still haunts you today."
Marcus reeled back slightly, thrown off by Adachi's sudden mood swing and the surge of emotions he had just felt a moment ago.
Holy crap…there were people that irritated me, some I really dislikedtoo.But this guy…something about him makes me want to hurt him…badly…
"I would clap for you, but...well, you know..."Adachi's snicker pulled Marcus back to reality. Clearing his throat, he focused on Adachi once more. "That's neither here nor there. I'm only here because you are a primary suspect in a robbery."
At that, Adachi cackled, "Geez, after all the insinuations and accusations, that's what you're here for?" He rolled his eyes as he gave Marcus a callous smile. "All of that build up only to fall flat on your face. Good job kid, you just made a complete idiot of yourself."
Not entirely surprised by this response, Marcus sighed as he looked at his paperwork. "Tohru Adachi, are you familiar with the Kirijo Group?"
"Who isn't?" Adachi cheerfully replied, twiddling his thumbs as he looked at Marcus with a curious glee. "You'd have to be an idiot not to know about one of the largest, mega-million corporations in our country. So this robbery involves them, eh? They were a shady group of experimenters last I remembered; lots of bad publicity over the years. So forgive me if I'm not very surprised by all this."
"Once a detective, always a detective I see," Marcus said calmly, glancing up to see how Adachi would react. "I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess you're going to claim innocence on any crimes of thievery and blackmail I suggest?"
"No shit, Sherlock!" Adachi snorted as his smile widened, leaning forward slightly. "Let me put it to you this way: if I was able to pull off a heist like that, from prison of all places, do you think I'd go through all that trouble and somehow NOT tell you or those brats that it was me? I'd probably be anywhere but here, and sending people like you on endless goose chases just for shits and giggles."
"Alright, let me put it to you this way: do you know anyone who could have pulled off this theft?" Marcus asked refusing to take the bait Adachi was leaving for him.
"Nope, not ringing any bells," Adachi quipped, shrugging as he leaned back in his seat with a bored expression. "I'm a guy who likes to fly solo, if you catch my drift. Sure, I use people from time to time, but I don't work withpeople so much."
"Really? Not even someone else who could have access to the Midnight Channel?" Marcus inquired, frowning as he pondered Adachi's comments.
At those words, Adachi's smile slowly faded, replaced with an unexpected stern look. "Only I knew about that until I was caught, and I made damn sure to cover my tracks before that happened. No one that I know could have figured out the Midnight Channel."
Considering Adachi's words for a moment, Marcus sighed then stood up. "Thank you for your cooperation, Tohru Adachi. We'll be in touch if we have any further questions for you."
"That's it? Over already?" Adachi gawked, a look of surprise briefly crossing his face. "I was actually starting to enjoy this. Kind of reminds me of working with my former partner."
"We have no more to discuss," Marcus responded, an edge of exhaustion creeping into his voice. "The Kirijo Group will pull you aside for any future inquiries. Although we will wait to summon you until after your trial is finished. Goodbye."
Collecting his paperwork from the table, Marcus turned to leave. Right before he knocked on the door however, Adachi's voice whispered behind him, grabbing his attention back.
"It's coming..."
Marcus turned around slowly, seeing the chained up psychopath giving him a very serious look. "What did you say?"
"That twist in your gut, the itch on your back…you know it's coming. You better be ready when it does," Adachi whispered gravely, looking Marcus dead in the eye before looking around as if making sure they were alone.
A chill ran down Marcus' spine at the dire words and a stir ran through his thoughts, as though he were trying to recall a lost memory.
First the dreams, now this…what on earth is happening to me…
Unable to find words, Marcus turned around and knocked to leave the cell.
"Come back sometime...and bring snacks!"
Marcus turned to see Adachi making a little waving motion with his chained hands as he smiled. It was as if what he said earlier had not existed. Shaking his head, the younger man left the cell with a worried look.
Once alone again, Adachi sighed heavily and leaned forward against the table, pondering the confusion and fear he saw in Marcus' eyes before he left.
So thatlittle flickerI sawearlierwasn't him after all…Poor kid;all that rageandhate isn't good to keep bottled up inside.I hope it doesn't eat him alive before he deals with it.
At the thought, Adachi grinned and chuckled darkly.
How ironic...
Wow, has it been a long time since I posted a chapter! I started a third job about two months ago and all my time and energies have been put towards not losing my mind. I want you guys to know I have not forgotten this story, far from it. I keep trying to think of new ideas for how to write it, and I drew some inspiration from Team Four Star for this chapter. Kudos to those who got the reference. I also changed Adachi's circumstances slightly compared to how things happen in Persona 4. Hey it's a fictional story, don't worry about it. Anyway, hope you guys like this chapter and look for more frequent chapters in the near future.
