Disclaimer: I do not own the machinima series Deus Ex Machina, nor do I own its characters, settings, etc. Those are all property of Jon "DigitalPh33r" Graham. Halo and its related properties such as weapons, armor, etc are property of Bungie Studios and Microsoft.

A day had passed since Deus Ex Machina had formed an uneasy alliance with Robert Blake, the leader of the volunteer Salvation City Police Department. Already he was beginning to question the decision.

"Are you sure we can trust him, Mike?" John Brent asked, his armor in civilian mode. He still stuck out like a sore thumb in a crowd, however, as his armor's color was a lighter shade of blue than the police's.

"Hopefully," Michael Jacobs replied through his comm. "I've gone over his records. He's turned in every important person who's offered him a bribe, even as high as the city treasurer." This made Brent remember the scandal that had blared through the news not too long ago.

"That was him?" John asked as he passed a family on the sidewalk.

"Yep. He's also been respon-" Michael's voice cut out and was replaced with what sounded like someone crunching on potato chips.

"Mike? Mike, you there? I think your comm's messing up again." John said.

"-ammit, how long has this been going on?" Michael's voice came through after the crunching noise stopped.

"A few weeks. Why can't you get a new one, again?"

"Because all my money's been going into the Batcave, asshole," Michael replied, earning a smile from John.

"I appreciate that, but I'm sure-"

"John! Heads-up!" Michael exclaimed, cutting him off. "We've got a robbery in process about two blocks away, the police are already setting up outside."

"Alright, I'm on it," John said before ducking into an alley. Odd shifting metallic noises could be heard, and Deus Ex Machina emerged, making his way to the Esoteria Street Bank, the only one that was two blocks away from John's location. "What've we got? Crazy druggies?" he asked as he moved through the streets.

"No, it's one guy," Michael informed him. John could hear computer keys typing as Michael did his magic. "John, it's him."

Robert Blake's hand was shaking as he moved about the volunteer cops stationed with their vehicles in the planned formation before the bank. Though the shaking came and went at random since his injury, he noticed it came in tense moments predictably. This was the force's first hostage situation. All they'd done so far were drug busts and homicide clean ups. This was different. This time the stakes were higher. The 15 hostages' lives would continue or end depending on the decisions Robert Blake made here today. With that on his mind and shoulders, Blake approached the techie Anders.

"Alright, got a feed yet?" Blake asked.

"Yes sir, Camera 1 in the main lobby. Looks like he's gathered everyone there." Anders replied. On the screen Blake saw the man walking around with the hostages sitting on the floor against the walls, their hands bound. The hostage taker was wearing modified green and black armor that he knew by memory. In his hand was a Magnum.

"Cannonball." Blake muttered.

"We finally got this bastard." Rhodes, Blake's second in command, said beside him.

"Not yet," Blake said. "We still got the hostages to worry about. If we just go in they might get hurt, or worse. For now we negotiate to get as many out as possible, then storm if we absolutely have to."

"Uh, sir? That might not be possible anymore." Anders said, and Blake immediately saw why.

Deus Ex Machina had gotten in pretty easy. Everyone out front was so focused on the front wall door and windows they never saw him get onto the roof and into the stairway. He wasn't aware they were even there, for he never noticed the camera in the lobby that he now appeared on as he hid by the corner, out of view of the man called "Cannonball". Deus risked a peek around the corner and counted 15 hostages, all silent or weeping. From the muffled quality of the weeping, Deus gave a wild guess that they were gagged or taped silent. Cannonball was in front of a wall, his back to Deus, bobbing and dancing to music only he seemed to hear. He was painting his usual message on the wall and singing along to the song that wasn't there.

"If I could stick my pen in my heart, and spill it all over the stage. Would it satisfy ya, would it slide on by ya, would you think the boy is strange? Ain't he stra-ya-yange?" As he finished his paint job, Cannonball turned to the corner immediately.

"Hiya Johnny-boy!" he called, his gaze aimed at the corner Deus had ducked back behind. "Don't think I don't know you're there, come on down!" he added, almost like a game-show host.

Deus stepped from the corner into view, panicking many of the hostages. Now there were two psychos here, how could it possibly get worse? John was the opposite, calm and cool. Even with the psycho using his name, Deus stock still and cool like a statue. Derrick Owen already knew his name, and figured it would've spread throughout the criminal underworld eventually.

"You seem to know who I am, but I don't have a clue who you are." Deus said, keeping his handgun ready.

"We both know that's not entirely true, Johnny-boy," Cannonball said. "But I'll humor ya. I'm a misbehaver causing mischief, a hard case who's up to no good…actually, I like that one," The madman then turned, retrieved his red spray paint can and added a signature to his message. Tossing the can into a corner, he turned back to Deus. "You can call me 'the Hardcase'."

"'The Hardcase'? What the hell kinda name is that?" Deus asked in an attempt to taunt the psycho.

"Look who's talking, you didn't even come up with yours. Hell, the guy who did didn't even know what it meant, and it just happened to be a perfect fit?" the Hardcase replied. This did make Deus frown in concern. No one knew how he'd gotten his moniker but him and-

"Mikey! How's he doin' with the sidekick gig, huh? Must be annoying for him to do most of the work and get none of the credit, don't ya think?" Again, Deus wasn't too worried. Like his identity, Michael's identity as his partner was also common knowledge to Owen. But his timing was starting to creep Deus out. It was almost as if he-

"Were reading your mind or something? Nah, that's just crazy. Then again that's what they're saying about you so who knows?" the Hardcase said, seemingly finishing John's thought.

"Alright that's starting to get annoying." Deus growled. "If you don't cut it out I'm gonna-"

"Kick my ass? Please, this coming from the guy who chucked in his helmet the first time he saw a headless corpse. You've got no idea how bad I can make things, Johnny-boy."

Now that worried Deus. Nobody but Michael knew of how he'd reacted to seeing one of the Decapitator's victims, and the message written just for him in the victim's coagulating blood. He hadn't gotten the smell of vomit and bile out of his suit for weeks. He could almost smell a phantom aroma of the spew just thinking about it.

"Alright fine, I don't have to kick your ass, I could just-"

"Shoot me?"

Alright, now that's just-

"Pissing you off? That's what makes it so fun Johnny-boy!" the Hardcase said interrupting Deus's thoughts. Deus didn't even bother saying anything this time, he just raised his Magnum and was in the process of aiming it when the Hardcase whipped up a hostage and held him as a shield, using speed Deus knew was only possible through armor modification.

"Seems someone's lost their balls." Deus said, taunting him once again.

"Seems someone's really into the idea of getting folks killed." the Hardcase retorted. "Here, on three, I'll drop the meat bag, you drop the gun, deal?"

"Bullshit," Deus said. "You're just getting my guard down, you're not gonna do a damn thing."

"Well, I don't got a gun," the Hardcase said before tossing his own Magnum into a corner. "I can't possibly do anything to you from this range now, and besides: Scout's Honor!" he added before showing the Boy Scout Salute over the whimpering meatshield's shoulder.

Deus considered his options. By tossing his weapon away, the nut job effectively eliminated any chance of getting Deus at long range. He then remembered the knife the nutcase had been carrying in the surveillance video, but didn't think it was a throwing type. Sure he couldn't be harmed at that ranged, Deus dropped his own Magnum. Surprisingly, the Hardcase kept his word and threw the hostage aside, leaving the two standing alone as if in a Western standoff.

Blake and his men watched as the standoff began.

"Should we storm the place and get them both sir? It's two birds with one stone." Anders said with dreams of promotion and reward in his eyes. Before Blake could answer, Deus lunged at Cannonball.

Deus threw his fist towards the Hardcase's face, anger fueling his strike. The cops hadn't heard due to lack of audio in the cameras, but what the Hardcase had just said had sent John Brent into a rage. Michael Jacobs, watching through John's helmet cam, had a feeling what would come next. When John fought in a rage, he'd lose control and his offense would be sloppy and easy to dismantle. But what he saw was just ridiculous.

The Hardcase didn't just dodge the punch, he sidestepped it as if he'd seen it coming five minutes ago. As Deus's arm flew past, the Hardcase grabbed it and pulled, using Deus's momentum to add even more force when he slammed his knee into John's gut. To John and Michael, it was a green blur and John was doubled over in pain. Deus then felt an elbow slam into his back, sprawling him out on the floor. He laid there in pain for a second as the Hardcase prowled around him, like a cat playing with a wounded mouse. What he didn't know was that was exactly the case. John leapt to his feet, still angry and only a little fazed by the strikes. He thrust a leg out in a sidekick which the Hardcase caught under his arm, then brought his fist down on John's knee. He didn't break it, but it hurt like a mother fucker as evidenced by John's scream of pain. The Hardcase then punched Deus smack in the face, sprawling him on his back. This process of attack and counter continued for a few minutes, each time ending with Deus on the floor. John's adrenaline was wearing off, and he could now only feel fatigue and soreness from the repetitive ass kicking.

"You know, Johnny, this has been fun, but I'm gonna have to cut it short for now," the Hardcase said.

"No you don't, I'm not done yet!" John replied, still angry, but knowing he was defeated.

"Yeah yeah, just shuttup and listen for once," the Hardcase replied then showed a small metal ball and a detonator. "This is called a ball bomb for obvious reasons. It's small but packs the explosive force of a frag grenade. It can be set to instant remote or timed detonation. This detonator will do two things: it'll blow open that wall behind me and open an escape route for me straight to freedom, and start the timers for the ball bombs in the mouth of every hostage here. You have a choice to make: first, you could chase me, but while there, the chances of you catching me are small. If you do catch me, you'll stop everything from getting worse, assuming the cops can hold me in. But in catching me and stopping the worst which is yet to come, you sacrifice every person here to instant death, and boy wouldn't it suck if you didn't catch me? Your second choice is to let me go and help these people. Hell if you're fast enough, you'll save 'em all…but I'll get away. And I'll come back, and more people will die. Lots more. It's your choice Johnny-boy. You got seven minutes."

With that, he pressed the button. The wall did indeed explode, blasting out a hole the Hardcase turned and ran through. John paid him no attention as he leapt into action and ran to the nearest hostage. John knelt before him and unsealed and removed his helmet, revealing a horrified face with tears running from his eyes, mucus from his nose, and duct tape on his mouth, just as John had suspected. Deus ripped the tape off, and didn't know how to react to the hostage spitting the metal ball bomb into his visor.

"Get me outta here now!" the man screamed in fear.

"Just get outta here, go! The cops are outside." Deus ordered, picking up the man's helmet and placing the saliva soaked ball bomb in it. Not needing to be told twice, the hostage stood and ran, bursting through the front door.

"Everyone listen!" Deus called as he moved to the next one. "We gotta move fast, so as soon as I pull the tape off, spit it in the helmet and run out the door! Don't stop, just run to the cops!" He began and continued the process, gathering bombs and shrinking the number of hostages in the room one at a time. With time running short, Deus relayed Michael with good and bad news: he'd gotten all the bombs, but now had a problem.

"What the fuck do I do with them?" John asked, his voice shaking as he wondered how much time was left for the helmet full of bombs he held.

"Hold on, hold on, I got it!" Michael cried. "There-s a-" Once again, the sound of someone eating potato chips overcame Michael's voice.

"Aw fuck, not now, not now!" John cried, now starting to panic.

"-afe, John! The safe! Throw them in the safe and close it!" Michael's voice came through. John turned, bolted for the safe, and found it empty, no doubt cleaned out by the Hardcase. He'd had this planned to the T. "Hurry John there's only a few seconds left!" Michael shouted, bringing Dues to his senses. John threw the helmet in and saw the ball bombs land and roll about as he slammed the door shut, turned, and ran. Suddenly there was a loud whump as the safe door dented outward in several places.

Blake and the other cops stood in the crime scene examining the inside of the safe, both Deus and the Hardcase long gone. Though horrendously damaged, the safe had saved the building and anyone outside from possible flying debris. Blake and most of the cops knew who they had to thank for that, but their honorable guest wasn't in agreement on that subject.

"Saved everyone?" Mayor Owen asked incredulously. "Mr. Blake, Deus Ex Machina committed a blatant crime of destruction of private property. This bank won't be able to function for several months due to repairs."

"Maybe so," Blake said. "But think of this: had he not done it, those hostages would've all died, and not only that, had he not sealed the bombs in the safe, the whole building would've been damaged and not just your precious safe. Not only that, the damage to the building could've gotten a lot of people hurt. But above it all, he saved those people. He can't be that crazy, hell he fought that other guy-"

"And lost and allowed him to escape, as did your police force, Mr. Blake," Owen replied sternly, almost threateningly. "I'm seriously considering denying the budget increase based on you and your men's performance here today. Now get these delusions out of your head and don't forget: Deus Ex Machina is a dangerous man and must be taken down, no questions asked. Am I understood?"

"…Yes sir." Blake replied.

"Good. Now if you'll excuse me, there are a lot of reporters that want to know what happened here." As Owen left, Blake thought more on Deus's evidence. It was making sense now, much as he hated to think it. Blake made a mental reminder to get his best guys ready for a tailing job as he looked at the message spray painted onto the wall near the Hardcase's escape hole.

Just Have Fun

- The Hardcase

Authors Note: I didn't think I'd have to ask, but please review? I like feedback whenever possible. Also, if anyone gets the song the Hardcase was singing, they get a prize. So read and review please. Finally, I'd like to thank my unofficial beta reader TheSpazzo. With his contributions, the end result takes a bit longer to publish, but It's so much better.