There were many things that never should happen again, Tohru surmised, that kept happening anyways. Entering the TV again, for instance. Face the stupid group of teenagers again. Have his former partner chew him out again.
One that he definitely hadn't expected was to find himself, a little more than a month after his 'escape', sitting in a visitor's booth, with Ryotaro Dojima, Inaba's finest, on the other side of the bulletproof glass.
"D-Dojima?" Something in the silent way the older man sat was setting alarm bells off in his head. The senior detective had always been gruff (and to be honest, a little too violent), but never gave off the vibe of being any significant threat, particularly to one as...gifted at reading people as Tohru. Now, the older man gave off the aura of an apex predator. Someone, if given the motive, who'd tear your throat out without a second thought. Still, the former jester of the Inaba police wasn't about to tuck tail and beg. "What, did you come by to make sure you didn't kill me? Or were you just interested in seeing your handiwork?"
Gripping the collar of the plain cotton shirt he wore, he pulled down roughly, exposing the slowly healing burn on his chest. "Bad enough you caught me again, did you need to brand me with your stupid lava hand, too? Your nephew never did tell me what had gotten into you…."
Dojima didn't rise to the bait. "Not everyone given power abuses it, Adachi." It was a little unnerving, seeing the detective so calm. The older man was usually a bundle of frayed nerves and too short patience, and it took the smallest annoyance to set him off. Not now, and that worried his former partner. He'd always been able to easily read Dojima, know which button to push, and it was no fun if he'd lost his touch. "Are you done whining, or should I come back after you've had a nap?"
Two could play at this game, Dojima. "I was just curious. Didn't figure you'd be such a masochist to come back after our last encounter." The burn was starting to itch a bit, and he desperately wanted to scratch it, despite the prison doctor's orders. "So, what do I owe the pleasure of this meeting?"
"Seitou Noburo."
Oh ho. "Aaah, what a pain. Still haven't caught him, I take it? What, were you hoping I'd spill some juicy tidbits of where he might be? Give me a break, Dojima. I'm not your little gopher anymore."
The older man shifted closer to the glass. "He escaped through a space like the world behind the tvs. But something tells me you already guessed that. If you know anything about where he might be headed…."
Tohru smirked. "Or what? You gonna curse at me through the glass?"
The shake of the head was slow and deliberate, mocking Tohru worse than the names he'd been called when he 'bungled' a case. "No, I think your pride would make yourself more willing to help. Otherwise…." The older man cocked a finger back, as if he was going to flick a bug on the glass separating them. Instead, the finger snapped forward….
"Crap!" Tohru instinctively scrambled back in his chair. Cracks spread like lightning from the point of impact on the glass, as if it had been shot. The plastic reinforcement kept it in one piece, if only barely. He'd assumed his former partner's actions in the TV world were driven by his newly acquired Persona, but those forces didn't manifest on this side of the screen. Somehow, those rules didn't apply to Ryotaro Dojima. Tohru wondered briefly what would happen if the man had flicked someone's head. Klaxons were going off the convict's brain, telling him to retreat.
Fuck a predator, his former boss was a goddamn monster.
"Tch. Cat got your tongue, Adachi? That would be a first." The smirk on the older man was infuriating. "Relax. Not everyone who ends up with a supernatural power decides to use it for murder and giggles."
"You're a flaming asshole, just so you know."
"Nah, that's just your reflection, Adachi. Anyways, as much fun as this banter is, it's not what I came here for. Despite your psychopathic tendencies, you were a half decent detective. You'd probably notice something off long before any of the guards would."
That much was true, even though he knew the old man was just saying that to butter him up to get him to talk. "Seitou practically ran this place, not that those stupid idiots would ever admit to it. Contraband, drugs, cigarettes, you name it, he got it in here. Even got extra shit for his cell."
"What kind of stuff for his cell?" Superpowered freak or not, Tohru noted, Dojima still tensed his shoulders when he took interest in something a suspect said during an interrogation.
"Eh, nothing that interesting. Nicer mattress, cable tv," The shoulders stayed relaxed, "brand new clothes, brand new furnishings… asshole even got a custom mirror brought in." Bingo. Still got it, Tohru. "Nothing particularly exotic. Dunno what drugs he brought in, they weren't about to share that with a stupid cop, murderer or not."
"Hm. You were always good at making people assume you were lazy idiot. Not that big of a stretch-" The rest of the insult was lost with the announcement that visiting hours were over.
"Finally! Aah, Dojima, next time you visit, could you do it without the interrogation? I don't want to do police work unless I get paid for it." Ugh, his legs were practically asleep from sitting in these awful chairs. Now was as good a time as any to mention a little trump card he'd been saving for this meeting. "Oh, yeah. A couple of paper pushers from Central HQ came by the other day, asking about you. Seemed they wanted to know if I noticed anything different about you during the break out and arrest. I told them you were still as much a pain in the ass as ever." The expression of the older man stayed neutral, but his former partner knew to read the telltale twitch of a jaw muscle. Sadly, he'd have to wait to ask about that another time, and Tohru enjoyed the idea of leaving Dojima stewing in worry.
He raised his arms behind him, expecting the restraints that were so customary in prison. When they didn't come, he turned to see what the holdup was, and was greeted with a beautiful sight. The annoying guard who'd come to escort him back to his cell was speechless, sputtering at the sight of the smashed protective glass. Tohru had to stifle a laugh at the buffoon's fish impression, it was priceless. He hadn't had such fun at another's expense in months. So what if he had to know the fact his former boss was some overpowered freak now, at least locked up, he didn't have to deal with it.
A sigh escaped Dojima's lips as he made his way back out the jail's front office. Stupid, showing off like that. Who knows how the twisted former cop would use such information, particularly if someone was asking around about him. Not that he could take anything Adachi said at face value; even in prison, the younger man knew how to talk out of both sides of his mouth.
It was fun to see Adachi freak out like that, though. After over a year of dealing with him teasing and insulting him every visit, reveling in his betrayal, it was sweet revenge to see him genuinely flustered and unprepared with a witty comeback.
Sometimes people need to be reminded who really has the power . Dojima grunted as Ryūjin chortled in the back of mind. For some reason, since this Persona of his had 'evolved' (as Yu had put it) it had become a lot more 'chatty'. Sometimes it was just a feeling, or an inhuman echo; other times was full on commentary. Whatever hidden aspect of his personality created him, it apparently was rather violent given its suggestion. That observation had resulted in another round of laughter and vague murmurs about how jellyfish lost their bones. Still, Dojima refused to give in.
Using his newfound strength to bully and frighten people, even convicted murderers, made him no better than Adachi, really. He was better than this; he had to be, if not for his own sake, then for Nanako, and Yu, too.
And that is why you are different than this Adachi. Perhaps, Dojima hummed tunelessly; but the temptation was still there. Take yesterday.
With Seitou still on the run, the task force in charge of bringing him was left to spend their time chasing down false leads, interrogate old associates, and generally chase their tails. Since multiple precincts were working together, he'd been assigned to work with another detective from the next town over. He was familiar with this particular failure of academy screening a little too well; the heavyset asshole had been in charge of building the case against Adachi. Or at least, had been originally; five months in, the idiot had resorted to brute force and drawing his gun on the suspect, resulting in suspension and a mandatory psych evaluation. He'd even had the gall to try and push around Dojima during the case; trying to get him to sign off on 'taking care' of the black spot on Inaba Police's rolls. Adachi even claimed the man thought the killer cop had learned his ways from his former boss. The older detective knew to take whatever the convict with a grain of salt, but the corrupt asshole had done nothing to disprove the suggestion with his constant complaints and muttering about 'hicks in the sticks'.
Someone in HQ really was determined to make his life miserable, Dojima decided, halfway through the canvas. He was supposed to be the lead detective here, but that was hard to tell with the way the other man bullied his way into every conversation. More than once, the self important asshole had frightened cooperating sources into shutting down completely. What's more, the running commentary the other detective provided was tampering with testimonies, and filled with thinly disguised barbs directed into his 'partner's' back.
By the time they returned to the station, Dojima was ready to consider joining Adachi in prison if only for the pleasure of shoving his fist full force through this blowhard's face. Every ounce of self control kept his hands clenched on the steering wheel.
"Hrmph. What a waste of time *that* was. I knew you'd be no help. Nothing but idiots in Inaba, that's for sure." The sneer did little to calm the cold rage Dojima felt against the man.
The detective watched silently as the portly police officer walked back towards the precinct, pausing only to haphazardly threw his briefcase in the backseat of a car far too nice for a detective's salary. Only when did the disgrace of a man disappear through the office doors did Dojima sigh, and dare to leave the safety of his vehicle. He did not want to bother with the hassle of filling out an official complaint, but they'd never get anywhere with such an inept man ruin any gains they made.
Walking towards the main doors, he paused at the asshole's car, pausing for a better look. One of those ridiculously expensive European models, it was clear that it had never seen a police chase or even a speck of mud. No doubt paid with kickbacks and bribes.
A quick scan of the car park confirmed he was alone as far as the eye could see, and the view of the building into the area was obscured at this angle. Even the cameras were out of range. Perfect.
The fire that bubbled up in his core was like an old friend, responding to all the pent up rage and frustration in him, feeding on it, until every nerve in his body practically sang with energy. With great care, he rolled his sleeves to their customary position above his elbows, and took deep, focused breath. He cocked his arm, mimicking a baseball player ready to make a fastball throw.
WHAM.
The fist sounded like a gunshot as Dojima's swing connected solidly with the black hood, punching through layers of metal and engine, until it ripped through the underchassis. The ghost of a smile spread over his lips as he began to straightened back up, all the anger and frustration of the day gone in a flash. The impacted metal tried to hold his arm firmly in place for a moment; the front of the car clinging until it was almost a full foot off the ground, before losing its grip and slamming back to earth with a sickening bounce. Steam now rose steadily from the brand new hole, and oil began to pool like blood on the asphalt. With his mood greatly improved, Dojima slung his coat back over his shoulder and continued to back to the station.
He couldn't keep the smirk off his face as the sound of a distorted car alarm began just as the main doors closed behind him. Not even the booming laughter of Ryūjin could drown out the sweet noise.
"Whoa, Dojima-san did that to a car?" Chie snatched the flip phone from Naoto's hand, staring at the screen with awe.
Naoto clicked her tongue in annoyance. "Well, most of the precinct surmised it was a freak accident of some sort; some suggested it was possibly a meteor, or some other act of god. And while this could be a valid conclusion, the said owner of the vehicle was a particularly nasty corrupt detective that Dojima-san had been forced to conduct a canvas with. The officer had been in charge of putting the case together on Adachi, until an incident forced him to step down. While I am not normally one to put any faith in hearsay, it is said that the man had attempted to connect Adachi's actions to his senior, putting Dojima-san's reputation through mud until Adachi's case concluded."
Yukiko looked over Chie's shoulder. "Still, are you sure Dojima-san did this? It seems a bit rash, even for him."
The junior detective smiled. "While I do not have any decisive proof to support my claim, I will mention Dojima-san looked positively content when he walked back into the station, just as the vehicle's anti-theft device began. He also had a small smear of what I suspect was oil on his forearm when I conversed with him, later that afternoon."
Kanji's mouth gaped at the succession of photos of the ruined car. "Hell, man, remind me never to get of Dojima-san's bad side. I know you said that something fucked with him in the tv world, but this is some Superman level shit."
"No kidding. Yuni-san won't shut up these days about the 'tall dark stranger' who came to her rescue the other night." Yosuke fell onto the picnic bench with exhaustion. "I gotta say, I'm glad he's on our side this time."
"Seriously! Man, it's like one of my favorite movies: humble cop by day, superhero by night! Wha-TAAAH!" Everyone ducked the wild kick the that accompanied Chie's enthused outburst.
"Do you really think Dojima-san's one to take up vigilantism, Chie? C'mon, the guy's so by the book you'd find his picture next to the dictionary entry for 'hardboiled detective'." Yosuke grimaced at the picture of the ruin car. "Aw man, it's such a shame he ruined such a nice car."
"Shut up, Yosuke!" The other teens chorused.
"At least he seems more at ease about all this, now. When he came with us after Adachi, he seemed really overwhelmed." Yukiko mused.
"Well, kinda understandable. Hard to deny our story is true when your seeing it with your own eyes." Yosuke sighed.
"Yeah, Pops is really great! Sensei says his Persona has evolved already! He and Pops visited the other day to practice and go over some stuff, and Sensei was super impressed." Everyone stared wide eyed at Teddie.
"Wha- already?! That's freaking nuts!"
"Whatever is going on here, I can only hope that our luck holds, and we're not getting him in over his head. We can profess ignorance should people become suspicious of our actions; we're merely teens to many who'd might come after us. Dojima doesn't have that luxury." Naoto warned.
"We can only hope whatever we're up against, we're prepared for when it strikes."
Notes: Yeaaaaaaaaah, sorry, I just wanted Dojima to enjoy himself for once before I got back to torturing him. Apparently, that means getting to punch through a car. I guess since obtaining Ryūjin, he's gotten a bit stronger... Again, comments and kudos keep me writing. :)