Blues and purples melted in the sky as the sun buried itself behind the moon. With the city lights twinkling, she would have called it beautiful. If only it wasn't raining and she wasn't in such a rush she might have stopped and enjoyed it.
Heels click-clacked against the cobblestone road as she ran to her destination. It was surprising to find a cobblestone road since concrete streets replaced them and have been used for about a decade now.
"This is the Bureau of Public Safety's Criminal Investigation Department-"
Turning a corner, she spotted a large group of people and finally slowed to a fast walking pace. Red and blue bounced off the buildings as she slipped between the bodies. In front of her, Sybil's drone waved its hands to keep everyone back, its robotic body awkward on it's large circular childish head.
"This area is now a restriction zone for safety reasons. We are requesting that all area residents evacuate immediately. I repeat-"
She couldn't wait for the drone to move away. Pushing out of the crowd, she stepped forward and shoved her badge in front of its scanners. The robot turned its head towards the woman.
"Lucy Heartfilia of the Public Safety Bureau...?" she called out to the drone in case it was able to detect sound. However, the robot did nothing but continued its recording somewhere else. The blonde took this as her okay to pass as she ducked under the yellow tape.
Lucy's throat itched and her heart jumped as she reached the white tent. A white table stood in the center with two lanterns on each of the edges. A woman with long, red hair stood in front of it, her back to Lucy, looking at something in her hand that the blonde could not see. The blonde shook as much water as she could from her suit, frowning as she felt her bun hit the back of her neck in a soppy, heavy mess.
"Um-" Lucy stopped behind the woman nervously. "Inspector Scarlet?"
Scarlet turned fully, clipboard in hand as she sized the blonde up. Whatever she thought about the blonde already wasn't good as her brows furrowed and she raised a hand to her temple. "A newbie on this case, just great."
The blonde gulped, but raised her hand to her head in a salute as she squeaked, "Assigned to the Criminal Investigation Department as of today. Inspector Lucy Heartfilia reporting for duty, ma'am."
"Just Erza is fine," she huffed, looking back down at the clipboard in her hand. "Sorry you were asked to work so soon..."
Erza placed the clipboard on the table behind her and raised her arm to mess with the device around her wrist. It looked similar to a watch, but after Erza tinkered with it, light flashed upwards, becoming a blue screen. Lucy stared in awe at the device as she looked at the face on the center of the screen.
"Our target is Bora Charminence," the woman flinched briefly, obviously annoyed with the case and/or person of interest. "We've been on his tail for weeks, and a street scanner caught his color phase today when he was trying to talk some woman into following him."
"I'd say he's anything but charming," Lucy joked but only received a grim stare. She cleared her throat as the redhead went on.
"The security drones requested he get therapy when he ran off into this division. The crime coefficient he had before this became a case wasn't high enough for us to arrest him. He could have just attended therapy." The screen changed to show pictures of the man in different settings. One of the pictures had him with a woman passed out, possibly dead when Lucy thought about it, in his arms as he was boarding a boat. "However, we have reasons to believe he is now involved in the slave trade. Now, his color phase is forest green which means he is aggressive and could be on drugs."
A high screech caught Lucy's attention as she turned her head towards the drones blocking only a few of the residents. A black van pulled in in front of the tent once the drones made way for it, and Lucy's eyebrow lifted at the big vehicle. "A police van?"
"You didn't think I was the only one working on this case, did you?" Erza asked, but when Lucy turned her attention to her briefly, she received a small grin. The blonde's shoulders slumped as the air around them became a little less stressed. The van's back door open, humming like Lucy's school bus used to do when it stopped.
"They are our enforcers. Unlike us inspectors, they are considered latent criminals so we use them as our hunting dogs."
Lucy gasped at the woman, "latent criminals?!"
Erza nodded. "Normally they would be quarantined with the rest of the latent criminals, but the Criminal Investigation Department allows them to be out if it is to help hunt those like themselves."
Feet hit the ground once the back doors were opened, two males standing a few feet from them. Lucy shivered as a gust of wind blew against her and her eyes met with one of the enforcers'. However, her eyes quickly went to his head, and she couldn't decide whether to laugh now or wait until she got home. His hair was pink!
She must have been staring too long because the man walked towards her until she couldn't focus on anything but his green eyes. His breath on her skin warmed her cheeks until the blonde felt almost too hot. "Who are you?"
He spoke in a harshness Lucy thought was probably much deserved. However, he suddenly gasped for air as a hand pushed him back. Lucy jerked her head toward Erza as the pink haired man tsked from the ground. "Don't be rude, Natsu."
The other man laughed, clutching at his stomach. His black hair brushed against his pale skin, and Lucy noticed a scar under his bangs. He stopped laughing quickly after he noticed Erza's glare.
The pink-haired man jumped to his feet, patting down his red jacket before Erza spoke. "Ms. Heartfilia is our new inspector. As enforcers and her subordinates, I expect you two to behave and obey the orders she gives to you."
The two men nodded and turned their attentions to Lucy. As she was about to introduce herself properly to them, though, Erza continued on.
"Our target has a hostage so we need to make this quick. Now that Inspector Heartfilia is on board, we will split into twos. Gray and I will take the East wing, and, Natsu will accompany Inspector Heartfilia to the West wing. He's headed towards a dead-end, and drones will stay here in case he makes a run for it in this direction."
Something square rolled its way towards Erza, opening itself to her when it came to a stop. Her hand reached in before pulling out a gun-like weapon. Lucy was sure it was what her father had described as a gun, but she didn't ask. She had never seen a gun before since they were practically banned, but she didn't want to admit this. It seemed embarrassing to think this was going to be her first time even seeing one let alone use one.
After the black-haired man grabbed his, he followed Erza out of the tent and into the dark night.
"Keep him on a short leash!" Lucy heard Erza yell out in the distance. She wasn't sure what she had meant before the pink-haired man next to her walked up to the weapon box.
"Bark, bark," he said sarcastically. He reached for a gun, but when he realized the blonde was staring, a smile crept onto his face. "You know how to use a dominator, right?"
"D-dominator?" Lucy stuttered, blushing in embarrassment.
"It's a gun that reads psycho passes." He held the gun up in a stance as if he were going to shoot the dark night itself. "You just aim at someone and shoot. However, it only allows you to shoot at those with a high crime coefficient."
Lucy reached for the handle of one of the dominators, but when she had a hold of it, a voice spoke to her. The mechanical voice echoed in her mind as if she were wearing earphones.
"Portable Psychological Diagnosis and suppression system. Dominator activated. User recognized. Inspector Lucy Heartfilia of the Bureau of Public Safety. Member of the Department of Criminal Investigations."
It took everything in Lucy not to drop the gun in shock of the voice that spoke to her.
"These things are able to speak to you," the man next to her said, "but only you can hear it. Don't ask me how it works."
"Permit of use confirmed. You are a competent user. The current enforcement mode is non-lethal paralyzer. Please aim your weapon and neutralize the target."
"Alright," he said, nudging the woman with his shoulder. "Let's go!"
He rushed out of the tent before she could say anything. Flabbergasted, she ran after him, rain soaking her clothes again after only a minute outside the tent.
"Wait!" She yelled. "Shouldn't we have a plan?!"
She ran forward until she spotted pink, the man waiting for her impatiently in the alleyway. When she came to a stop, she inhaled sharply at her lack of stamina. She needed to renew her gym membership soon if she was going to always be running around after criminals. Lucy could feel her hair sag at the new weight so she pulled out her tie. The man in front of her seemed to have the same problem. His volumed, stuck-up hair now matted his face, bangs sticking to his forehead. "Natsu, right?"
"Yeah," he smiled almost childishly.
"Please don't run off," she sighed. However, she suddenly remembered Erza's retreating words and what the man in front of her actually was. With that, she straightened and placed both of her hands on the gun's handle.
Natsu either didn't notice her actions or didn't care as he shook off as much rain as he could before walking forward, looking behind himself every now and again to make sure she followed.
As they walked in silence, Lucy wondered how the two people she had just met could ever be criminals. The man that went with Erza had seemed so nice and welcoming. Even Natsu smiled like a little boy, without a care in the world of what was going on around him.
Her hands raised unconsciously ahead, the voice returning.
"Crime coefficient over 120. A target of the department of criminal investigations. Released safety."
Lucy blinked. A number had appeared to her mind's eye: 134. Was that his crime coefficient? Wasn't that number supposed to be only from those who could return to a healthy and low psycho pass?!
"Hey," Natsu growled when she collided to his back, dominator in between them. The blue lights faded from the weapon as it fell from her hands and onto the cobblestone. "Watch where you're going. That hurt."
"Sorry!" She wasn't sure whether to grab the dominator, ask if he was okay, or check if anyone was near. Her hands raised from their place, hovering over his jacket. "Are you-"
A hand wrapped itself around her mouth, Natsu's body coming behind her as he pulled her close and looked over the edge of the wall. Something clicked in her ear. "This is Hound 2. I have my sights on the target and hostage."
Lucy's heartbeat pounded in her ears as she stood still in his grasp.
"Hound 1 and I are on our way. If you have a clear shot, you've got the go." Erza's voice echoed through the walky talky.
Natsu let his hand drop from Lucy's face, and she was quick to move away and grab the dominator from the ground. He smirked before rushing towards the couple, dominator in both hands aimed towards them.
"Freeze!" He yelled. He pulled the trigger.
Before his dominator could paralyze Bora, though, he pulled the hostage in front of himself, and the dominator did nothing.
"Crime coefficient under 100. Not an enforcement target. Locked trigger."
Natsu growled as he ran forward, but Bora was too fast. He rushed with the woman to the closest door and barricaded it before Natsu slammed his body against it with full force. Nothing budged.
Natsu banged on the metal, anger evident on his features, and Lucy took this moment to look at the building they escaped in. Noticing a window a few meters away into the building, she kicked the glass, sending shards to the floor. She looked back towards Natsu, his mouth open and eyes wide, before signaling him towards her. He ran to the broken window and jumped through in one swift move, avoiding making any contact with the shards on the window sill or the floor.
Natsu looked back, waiting as Lucy tried to find a place for her hand to rest and haul herself over. He sighed as he came back to the window sill and held his hands out for her to take hold of.
"We're gonna lose him," he said but Lucy couldn't find any anger on his face nor heard it in his voice. He pulled her through as she carefully avoided broken glass.
"Sorry," she said after her feet touched ground. She ran down the hallway leading to where Bora had locked the door, and took the stairs two at a time. Footsteps echoed hers but soon Natsu was two steps in front of her.
A beep bounced off the walls before Natsu panted into a walkie talkie. "Target on the move. We have him trapped inside the building."
"Do you need back-up?" Erza asked.
Natsu watched the blonde next to him as they continued their run up the stairs. Lucy looked over when he didn't reply and wondered if he saw her as a hindrance.
"No," he said finally. "We should be fine on our own."
With that, the walkie talkie returned to somewhere under his coat as they reached the top of the stairway. Lucy turned abruptly to run down the only hallway open to them, but something tugged at her sleeve. She whipped her head around to find Natsu's gaze on her, his grip tight before letting go.
"You should let me handle this," he said, voice low.
Lucy's eye twitched. So he did think she was in the way. She laughed internally at the thought of him still trying to bang the door downstairs as she took down Bora and safed the hostage. The look in her eyes finally made Natsu aware of her thoughts, and he quickly raised his arms in defense.
"I already have a high crime coefficient. It only makes sense for someone like me to take him down so you aren't affected." He lowered his head and sighed. "That's all I meant."
She was hesitant, letting the words echo in her mind until she finally gave him a nod. A smile crept onto his face, childish like before, but suddenly, the dominators in their hands changed. It's boxy form moved and widened, as the voice returned to her head.
"Target's threat data has been updated. Enforcement mode lethal eliminator. Please aim with caution at the target and bring the target under control."
Natsu tsked before quickly moving next to the wall. He stepped slowly around corners as noises grew louder and louder. A muffled cry made Lucy wince. Couldn't they just get in there already?
Natsu raised his dominator and aimed at the man named Bora.
"Bora!" Natsu exclaimed, shocking Lucy at his abruptness. Weren't they trying to be sneaky earlier? "Let the woman go!"
After standing in shock for a brief moment, Bora cackled, one hand coming up and ruffling through his hair. He had a tattoo down his face, a tall, lean body, and rough hands squeezing the arm of a red-headed woman. A smirk broke across his face. "Or what? You'll throw up on me?"
Lucy raised a brow as Natsu growled. "We were on a stupid boat! I get motion sickness..."
Bora continued to cackle, the girl in his grip sobbing on the floor. The woman's arm he held was caked in blood. Lucy raised her dominator at the man, scoffing and ready to take this man away from the woman. "Bora Charminence! Step aside and raise your hands up!"
A shiver ran down Lucy's spine, though, when Bora's attention was on her, looking her up and down with a wicked smile. "Blondie new? She's pretty cute."
The dominator in her hand sent a number to her mind: 327.
Bora pulled his hostage up onto her feet, one hand wrapping around her waist while the other pulled out a knife and slid the smooth side of it against the woman's cheek. Everyone stilled in the room, the only sounds being the sniffles from the woman and Lucy's heart racing in her ears.
"Pass the guns over," Bora hummed, tightening his grip around the woman. "Or I'll gut this woman."
Lucy couldn't help but drop the dominator as her hands shook. The gun clattered to the floor, but Lucy couldn't hear it. She couldn't hear Natsu's sigh as he calmly placed his dominator on the floor in front of him, nor the triumphant chuckle Bora sent their way. Only her beating heart reached her ears as Natsu sent her a worried glance.
Was she going to break? Here and now? Natsu had figured the blonde to be nervous since this was her first day on the job. However, he didn't think she'd break down so easily. Part of him hoped that that wasn't the case. She wasn't going to break that easily, surely. Not when he was there.
Natsu kicked his dominator across the room and tucked his hands in his pockets as he watched Bora kneel and grab the dominator, pushing the woman in his grip to the ground. Of course, Bora raised the gun in their direction, but Natsu knew better. He watched as the smirk on Bora's face was replaced by a scowl, and Natsu took his chance. Grabbing Lucy's dominator from the floor, he aimed and fired.
Lucy watched in horror as a blue light shot out. At first, the blue light vanished, but then the man's skin started to change form. His skin bubbled like boiling water before he exploded, leaving only his arm on the woman.
The red-headed woman cried out in horror, moving away from the left over body parts with blood drenching her clothes, skin, and hair. Lucy shook from where she stood, leaning on the wall for balance as Natsu moved slowly towards the manic woman.
She didn't understand. What had happened? Why did Bora not shoot them? Why did the dominator have to change? Why couldn't they have just brought him in?
She must've spoken her thoughts out loud since Natsu answered her. "The dominators only work for those in the PSB - in anyone else's hands, they are just paper weights. As for Bora, his crime coefficient rose too high. Passed 300 and they can't go back. Not even therapy can help them."
He knelt in front of the woman, the smell of iron evading his nose. His eyes glided across the bruises and cuts that littered her body, and his hand moved out towards her. The woman flinched, but he didn't touch her. He nodded his head towards the large gash on her arm. "We should get that looked at. Until then, it's best to wrap it up."
The woman hesitated before reaching out to him. However, her lip quivered and eyes widened, staring at a point behind him. "N-no. Stop…"
His head snapped in the direction and eyes widened as Erza and Gray stood behind them, dominators aimed towards them.
"Natsu!" Erza snapped. "Look at her psycho pass!"
Lucy watched in horror as Erza stepped forward and Natsu turned back to the woman, his hands clutching the handle of his dominator. The dominators stayed in lethal elimination mode.
"W-wait!" Lucy yelled when he aimed the dominator at the woman. "She's the hostage! We're supposed to protect her, not kill her!"
She had a point. Natsu knew this. He knew this every time this happened - the victim's psycho pass clouding from the things they've been through. From the stress of the system turning on them. He knew!
"She's just a bit disoriented!" Lucy continued. "We can wait for her to calm down a bit."
The woman in front of him sobbed as she fell back, her body scooting back against the wall. Her fingers grazed the knife Bora had dropped and took it into her palm. "Leave me alone!"
For once, Natsu didn't know what to do. To shoot or not shoot. Lucy's words rang loudly in his ears.
"Are we going to shoot the victims who haven't done anything wrong?!" Lucy cried. Erza called out his name, ordering him to do his job. Just pull the trigger.
Yet, at that moment, before his fingers could squeeze the latch, he felt a jolt. A shriek warned him from behind of what was to come. His body shook violently before he lost consciousness.
Lucy took small steps towards the woman as the blue hue from her dominator faded. Red eyes met her green eyes in shock, her body trembling from all the tension happening around her. Her grasp around the knife shook as she stared at the blonde coming closer to her.
"Put down the knife please," Lucy shook as her dominator aimed at the woman. "I don't want to hurt you. We can help you."
With that, the knife dropped out of the red-head's palm. Her eyes softened and the dominators switched to paralyzer mode. Lucy smiled in relief, cheeks wet as she reached out to her.
Before the woman could grasp Lucy's hand though, she squeaked as electricity wrapped itself around her body. She fell limp into the blonde's arms. Horrified, Lucy glared at the inspector behind her.
"The Sybil system had judged her as a threat, Inspector Heartfilia." Erza lowered her dominator to her side, a harsh tone in her voice. "I expect a report on the events that have happened first thing in the morning. You have some explaining to do."