Chapter 3: The Detained Deranged Detective Dabbles in Dominos
Or
There is an 'A' in team
"In my dream the world had suffered a terrible disaster. A black haze shut out the sun, and the darkness was alive with the moans and screams of wounded people. Suddenly a small light glowed, a candle flickered into life. Symbol of hope for millions. A single tiny candle, shining in the ugly dark."
"Then I laughed and blew it out."
-The Joker (presumably)
Lamb Asylum for the Criminally Insane; full of violent psychopaths and killers, and that's just the guards. Its psychiatrists were nothing more than sadists with PhDs using the inmates as test subjects for their own twisted experiments. And the janitors…actually the janitors aren't that bad once you get to know them.
The asylum is located far beyond the outskirts of Vale, on a man-made island on loch, the only way in and out was through nine separate draw bridges, its structure was designed for the sole purpose of housing Vytal's most clinically insane prisoners, from child rapists (both types) to mass-murders, not a single innocent soul was imprisoned (or stationed) within the asylum's correctional facility. The entire facility was a retro fitted castle, a fortress from the inside and out, in order to ensure that any inmates wouldn't escape, the facility was intentionally placed in a Grimm filled zone, so if any patients were lucky enough to escape the maximum security prison, survive the automated turrets, and swim all the way to the shore, the Grimm would be the last form of insurance. From the shores of the loch, the asylum looks almost ominous and magnificent with its tall towers, large walls, and grand arches. With a building as intimidating as this, no one would dare try to attack it.
That was until…
"You bastard!" a guard screams as he empties his gun's entire clip on the intruder who killed Kenny; a bull-faunus by the name of Adam Taurus.
It was no use, Adam merely dodges the attacks appearing then disappearing within seconds before any bullet could land on him.
Adam draws Wilt from its sheath and mows down the guard with a clean cut. The sight was horrific but to the patients behind the glass cell walls it looked like a sadistic masterpiece.
A metallic door whooshes open, more guards come in, these one's armored and armed with high-velocity, full-auto riffles. The leader of the unit speaks up and gestures commands to his unit. They open fire without a single order given to Adam to stand down; clearly all the guards want to do was shoot him down.
Adam, under a barrage of gunfire, he manages to deflect most of the bullets, it didn't take long for him to reach his attackers. He slashed his way through the guards; the leader cowers and pleads for mercy he couldn't after his throat was cut open, along with his men's skulls. The color red stains the halls. Adam pushes forward towards his main objective. Bullets and body parts fly in his wake. He was maintaining his pace until severing on to many guards gave him an epiphany. Not just any epiphany, as Adam pulls Wilt from a lifeless guard's torso, he had an artistic epiphany. And like all great artists in a time of inspiration he needed an audience.
"Napoleon once said: The battlefield is a scene of constant chaos…"Adam recites to the imprisoned patients of Lamb Asylum Sector 7, AKA Intensive Treatment Unit. The psychotic bastards listen to their newest form of entertainment with a disturbing amount of fascination.
Adam continues as he walks to the start of the row of glass walled cells. "…The winner will be the one who controls that chaos, both his and the enemy's."
Adam in a show of great skill cuts of the locks on each cell. On both sides the locks mechanically explode and the glass doors whoosh open. The prisoners all step out; their maddened and primal looks intensify as they wait for their savior's final words of wisdom.
"Go make some chaos." Adam said as he tossed a key card to a patient in front of him.
Adam left them to their own accord, and then all Hell broke loose.
In a completely cushioned room, a severely disordered patient fiddles with the chain that attaches his straight jacket to the wall, it rattles as he uses it as a jump rope. He's fun doesn't last as his cell door opens.
"You again." The patient says without turning to face his visitor. He stands up rather abruptly then with an almost slow grace he turns to look at the visitor.
"Hello Doctor, come to give me my daily dose of electricity?" he playfully Asks "Did you bring the camera? I want to start the 'Electric Shock Challenge' to raise awareness for lightning struck victims."
The doctor; a highly unattractive fat-nerd who probably reached lvl. 49, in the game of life he set his difficulty on EXPERT, ignored his patient's deranged rambling. Most likely a liberal Grimm sympathizer, who's too cowardly and wealthy to respect the Huntsmen and Huntresses sacrifice for the future, in summary a douche.
"Restrain him." the plus sized doctor ordered the room floods with guards, wearing full riot gear, sporting riot shields and shotgun-batons. One guard connects a chain to the patient's collar, the rest pin him to the wall brutally.
"What? Don't you know 24,000 people a year die from being struck by lightning? Have you no heart man?" the patient receives a blow to the head, courtesy of the doctor.
"Put a mouth gag on him while you're at it." The doctor said as he gives back the guard his baton.
"Afraid I'll tell them about that little fetish you have with-"
And so, strapped to a prisoner movement trolley, in a straitjacket, wearing a mouth gag, a blindfold, being escorted by maybe 12 to 15 guards (three of them pointing their guns at him),and a dumb med school last-placer, with all that it still didn't stop the patient from saying…
"Smells like a riot." he remarks in a muffled voice "Prisoners have a very pungent odor." Which was really hard to understand with a gag in his mouth.
"Quiet." a guard orders.
"Afraid I'll escape, Doctor." The doctor ignores him, keeping his lip tight and at a safer distance.
"Scared of me Doctor?" he patient teases, hoping to elicit a response.
There was no reply, the trolley stops moving, the patient's trolley gets upright, for a long amount of seconds eerie silence replaced movement, and the patient wonders what happened. Was there an accident? Were they planning to execute him on the spot? Did they arrive at their destination? Two things were clear:
His mouth gag was cut off (a pleasant one).
There was death in the air.
"Impressive, fifteen guards and a terrible excuse of a doctor taken out in a matter of seconds." the patient deduces that since no one was moving they were most likely taken down."Smell of blood in the air, and I feel moisture coming from the floor; bladed weapon." He theorized from just smell and touch.
"Close-quarters, not a single sound, and with a bladed weapon; assassin." He cleverly hypothesized the type of fighter capable of such feats. "Only one person with that skill set comes to mind." A mad smirk appears on his face, it's twisted and dangerous, just like the patient it was plastered on. A sheathing of a sword rings the ear. The weapons distinctive resonance being the final clue he needed to solve the case of who is with him.
"Out of all the people who know of my incarceration, out of all those who could achieve this, even I couldn't have predicted the one to bust me out would be you..."
Suddenly the straps that bound him were no longer holding, the sharp air hits his body, freeing him from his accursed straitjacket. His orange prison garbs exposed for the first time in weeks. His face now exposed showing its features, his midnight black hair fell loose and untidy almost covering his eyes in length, his eyes locked with Adam's for the first time, piercing blue, analytic as they had an almost laughing tone in their scrutiny, and he reeked of pure genius (and three weeks without a shower).
"…Taurus" he says the name as if it came with a dreaded history of pain. "It had to be you." was the almost ungrateful sounding remark.
"Good to see you again too, Ask." Adam says as he pulls out his hand. Ask stands straight, rivaling even Adam in height, though Adam was still much taller. Ask clasps Adam's hand in his.
"I appreciate the liberation." Ask says with sincerity.
"What happened to the tan?" Adam asks a little too of topic.
"You know how it is, weeks in an isolated, windowless room, without sunlight." Ask explains with no regret, casually stating the details of his imprisonment with no worry. Ask then proceeds to perform his most cherish capability; his deductive reasoning. As he scans Adam with cold and calculating eyes, it doesn't take long for Ask to figure out what his old acquaintance has be going through.
"Smells like a brewery." Ask could practically smell the booze permeating from Adam. Substance abuse of that level can never mean anything good.
Ask diverts his gaze from the alcoholic-in-the-making and onto the corpses on the ground he so generously sent to the underworld."As violent as ever..." The boatman must love Adam, he keeps his deck full of drachmas.
If Ask sane or at the very least capable of fearing for his own well-being. He'd have an iota of fear in the back of his mind dedicated solely for Adam.
But since he didn't...
"Lost about…eight pounds in the last months, been losing sleep as well." Any self-respecting detective could see the trend a mile away. The belt around his waist has been tightened to expose previously unused leather. Only a laymen would be blind to Adam's difficulty in breathing, stamina was one of Adam's forte, but now he seemed to be loosing with every hidden pant. As much as he tried to hide it, Ask could see it.
"All point to one definitive answer; a girl." for a moment the two fell silent. Both in deep unsettling thought, letting their minds wander for a second, letting memories flow for once, remembering the past.
Ask almost seemed sympathetic.
Until he opened his mouth.
"Aww...did she break your heart?" Ask gleefully mocked the present state of Adam's love life only a psychotic sociopath or sociopathic psychopath could.
In a feat of total self-control Adam restrains himself from beheading the asshole detective mocking his misfortune. 'Don't kill him, don't kill him, don't kill him, don't kill him, don't kill him...' was Adam's inner mantra that kept him from murdering the detective.
For now.
"And are you freeing me to because of said heart break?" Ask deduced with astonishing accuracy and inhuman tactlessness.
Adam took note of how the tone in Ask's voice changed in the level of seriousness, how it easily switched from a jolly know-it-all to a cold, heartless, voice ready to order men into death's ever-open arms.
"You and that brain of yours." Adam muttered, scowling at how right the detective was.
"Yes, it is necessary to function properly." Ask drones as he switches clothes with a deceased guard, Adam understands immediately, and shots the guards head.
"What's in the duffel bag?" Ask questions as he re-adjusts the riot armor he recycled from a guard.
"Explosives." Adam said with murderous intent.
"Oh, that's good."
"…"
Ask activates the wrist computer installed in the wrist armor. He tinkers with it, figuring out how it works as a spoiled child would do after their rich parents give them a new SchneePhone. Adam just stares at him, as if he just told him that this was all just an anime fan-fiction.
"You're not gonna-I don't know umm- REACT?!"
"I did." Was the uncaring reply Ask gave, too busy processing every bit of detail the wrist computer would give. Adam nearly drops the duffel bag from disappoint, expecting a master plan or at least destructive idea. Adam maybe a master swordsman but even a master swordsman could respect a master strategist, he had hoped to utilize Ask's mind for his own agenda, a mind like Ask's could prove to be an immense advantage for his crusade.
But seeing Ask's lack of resolve, Adam was beginning to have second thoughts.
"Ask, you better have- wait I hear footsteps."
"Yes, they're coming."
"From which side?"
"Both."
Adam let's he bag fall down the floor, the sound of stomping boots get closer. As Adam readies his weapon, Ask keeps his mind occupied on the multiple applications he could use the wrist computer for. Just as Ask predicted, heavily armed guards came from both directions, trapping Adam and the not at all worried Ask, at least 30 men were currently surrounding the duo.
"A little help." Adam
"Sure." Ask lifts his hand upwards and with a sudden move. Two areas in space with such a strong gravitational pull that no matter or energy can escape are created at each side. In other words Black Holes just started sucking up the guard's firearms.
Disarmed and scared for his mortal well-being a guard mutters his final cuss"Oh shit-"
The rest was a massacre as guards were quartered in all directions, Adam sadistically enjoyed the killing, Ask was too preoccupied to feel the warm blood splash on his face. He wouldn't dare try to care about people he never knew, as heartless as it may sound, death would have to be another variable in the infinite possibilities in life that had to be classified as independent. With a semblance that can kill hundreds if not thousands, sacrificing one's heart in the pursuit of science was the only way to avoid a state of which Ask would be inclined to freely use his dark gift.
'So it seems the warden's personal forces came into play, the prisoners are no match for against a tremendous advantage, they won't last long against armed guards with even lower morals than them, I estimate they'll provide us with at least 24 minutes worth of time, that's more than enough. but first...'
Ask stops at a fork "Take a left through here." Adam just follows after him, Adam was a terrorist, there was no denying it, and in a time of peace terrorists expertise in war, and in war if some one knows the layout of the battlefield better than you, you follow them without question.
Ask stops in front of a locked and lightly armored door. "Open this door." Adam just cuts it open instead. Inside was the patients personal belongings, Ask instantly found a metal box labelled with his name. Riffling through the box he finds what he's looking for and pockets it and hands a hand-sized canister to Adam.
Adam looks at what Ask just handed to him with suspicion, it looked nothing more than a can of pepper spray or at best a flare or chaff smoke, but in Adam's career as an assassin, there is always more than what meets the eye. Curious to what he was suppose to do with a can, Adam was close to asking but Ask predicted the inevitable question.
"It does what it looks like." was the light answer to the question weighing heaviest in Adam's mind.
'So it is chaff smoke. What could he possibly have planned for chaff smoke?'
The two run, knowing more guards will come if they remain in the same position. That unfortunately didn't stop men from being acquainted with the wrath of Adam's bloody sword. Ask stays neutral the whole way, the map of the entire facility needed his concern more than the guards did. There were some guards capable enough to stop their advance, as of now Ask sat in front of the computer with Adam situated behind him, blocking projectiles from the security forces.
"Are you done yet?" Adam asked as he deflects bullets with his sword, shielding the two of them while Ask takes his time studying the layout of the building.
"Quiet, I'm working." Ask barked as he stays focused on the holographic schematics of the building. 'So eight sectors, five corner buildings, and three towers with a central control room that connects them in between…structural supports are on…'
Adam cuts a perfectly aimed bullet in half and fires his own at the guard who dared believe he could stop him.
"Oh I'm sorry." He sarcastically apologized between swings and sparks of bullets.
"You're forgiven." Ask says as he gets up, "Let's go." he orders as he secures the duffel bag and runs off.
Adam provides cover fire then follows Ask, they make their way to a corridor Adam takes this opportunity to question the genius' decision. After climbing up several floors and dead guards, Adam was beginning to feel he was the only contributing.
"Where are we going?"
While running at top speed, Ask cryptically says. "To clear a path"
In his personal transport airship, Warden Colurles, an incredibly pale and bearded man, sits confidently on his chair as his employees give him updates on the situation.
"Warden Colurles, sir. We have identified the location of the intruder, he appears to be collaborating with a guard; they seem to be headed to the main control room, on top of the three towers." One of his staff employees says.
"Good." the warden grins victoriously, as if ready to claim his prize.
"And what of the other prisoners?"
A different staff member answers, this one using his computer to show the live-video feed of his answer "The riots have been quelled; our guards have already been cleaning up the mess."
"That just leaves the two headed towards the control tower."
"Good, I want half the guards who aren't already dealing with the inmates to enter each tower, the rest of the guards- myself included- will form a defensive perimeter outside the gates, blocking their exit. We will flush them out."
"Sir, there's red chaff smoke coming from Tower 7."
The large screen on the ship shows exactly what the can see from the windshields, it had a 3D model of Tower 7 in every angle and shows the chaff smoke concealing the upper half of it.
"What? So they're trying to use it as a cover for an escape. They must have an airship on top of the tower." The warden theorized.
He turns on his com-link "Attention all air forces! Surround the smoke, fire at anything that comes out." He ordered to his security force.
And so those orders were followed to the letter, guards flooding through the towers trying to out flank Adam and Ask, The warden's airship and armored personnel carriers equipped with water cannons guarding the only exit, and airships and choppers hovering around the red smoke. It would take a miracle for two men to escape.
"All according to plan" Ask says out loud, he plants explosive after explosive in a pattern.
"How's it going on your end?"
"I'm almost done here." Adam informs through the radio."Why do I have to be in the smoking part?" Self-restraint was something beyond his physical and psychological capacity at this point.
"You're a faunus, you can see better in the dark than I can." Ask answered.
"That sounded racist."
"Speciest would be the correct word, we are of different species and not races, Taurus." Ask corrected, not really giving it much effort. He then finishes rigging up the last of the explosives.
"All preliminary objectives have been met. Proceed to point 37-B and wait for my cue."
"Warden Colurless, sir. There's a message coming from Tower 7, Level 39."
"Put it on display."
The message was a simple word with a count down on the bottom.
SURRENDER IN:
0:25
0:24
The warden did what any sane man would do at a time like this; he laughs insanely. Like the funniest in joke had just been told.
"Bwahahahahaha! This truly is the work of those retards." His gleeful expression turns sour. His grin morphs in to a scowl, his voice that squealed in laughter turns exceedingly cruel in delivery.
"Have the guards track that signal, I want the retards responsible for disgracing my asylum made an example of." The most of the staff stumbles as they try to relay the messages to the security personnel. They were aware of the warden's mood, but aware didn't quite fit that description.
Terrified, now that was the word.
0:21
0:20
"Ask, I'm in position."
"Copy that, wait for my cue."
"Sir, the guards are about to breach the room were the message is being sent." A staff member dutifully informs his boss, said boss was smugly smirking at the thought of this media mess finally ending,
"Good. Now to finally end this nuisance" the warden said with relief as he can finally he can go back to his immoral dealings and decadent meals in the comfort of his office, and not this dingy militaristic airship. The live-video feed the guard's helmet's supplied was on display, all eyes glued to the screen as they break open a maintenance door and finally capture the trouble maker responsible for this mess. As the metallic door burst open, no one was inside the room.
0:16
0:15
"Warden Colurles, sir. There's no one here." A guard informed
"What? Impossible, you there!" he yells at a staff member who's on his computer. "Explain to me why the signal is-"
The massage changes, a different text shows, this one far for taunting.
Last Chance, warden. Last Chance
Surrender or Die
0:10
0:09
"Ignore this." The inept warden orders "Find me the real source of this insult or I'll have you all fired!"
"Do I make myself clear?"
"Y-yes, sir" was the collective and shameful response.
0:05
However as the time runs out, one staff member has a precognitive churn in his stomach, he gives his opinion. "B-but, sir? Shouldn't we at least, warn the security personnel in the building?" the staff member pleads "This could be all a-"
BANG
"Anyone else?" the warden asks as he holsters his pistol. "Good."
0:02
0:01
"See men, this was all just a-"
The message changes again, the whole screen is covered by one lone symbol; a symbol showing a side of a wolf's head with three slash marks that cut across it, and a word that would perfectly describe the pain of what the world will feel.
"T-The White Fang? Those Disgusting mongrels are behind-"
"Taurus, now" Ask said as he appears behind him.
"With pleasure." Adam holds the remote trigger in hand and with an almost careful push…
KABOOM
BOOM
BOOM
BOOM
KABOOM
The entire facility rocks, as Tower 7 goes off in wonderful explosions.
Clinging on his chair for dear life Warden Colurles, orders for an immediate status report. "WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?!" Colurles screams at his men for answers.
"S-sir, explosions. Explosions everywhere!"
"H-How? Those disgusting animals, damn those filthy…using a suicide attack, barbaric monstrosities."
"SIR, OUR AIRFORCES ARE DOWN! It's the smoke, sir it's exploding too."
The screen pops open a video of the chaff smoke engulfing the choppers and airships, the chaff smoke which they thought was a simple distraction or at least a form of over turned out to a highly combustible colored smoke.
The wonders one can do with a high school chemistry sets and some fire dust.
"Grr…get me a link with a pilot!"
"Only a quarter of our air support is still in the air," one informs panicked but per orders a link was established. An airship pilot appears on screen, but not for long.
"Warden Colurless, the chaff smoke it-it's- it's flammable- AGHHHHHHHH!" the com-link, just like the airship pilot, just went dead.
"Goddamn it! Where are my ground units? I want a link with them now!" Silence was the answer, along with several of his staff running for their lives in the opposite direction of the tower that just exploded, only those who stayed accepted their inevitable faith.
"We're doomed…"
"It's over…we're dead, we are all dead."
"I'm getting out of here!"
Out of habit, a staff member gives his boss one last status update. "Th-they're all gone…the explosion it…" and just like that all his men turned to a complete state of lifelessness, the color draining from their face, their eyes miserable and dead, and their stomachs felt as if they were dropped on the floor.
"Speak up you imbecile, what could you possibly…" Colurles looks in front of him, the mystery of his men's lack of resolve explained; Tower 7 was falling down.
RIGHT ON TOP OF THEM
"Impossible, Impossible who could have…NO, Wahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…"
CRASH
BOOM
BOOM
That was the end of the corrupt and inept, Warden Colurles and his abusive security forces, silenced by the very institution he ran like his own personal kingdom. The irony of being crushed by a tower was as literal as one can get. Indeed a miracle did happen, two men just took down an entire army, while being under supplied and out-gunned. Adam was in awe, the colossal amount of destruction he just witnessed was beyond anything he could ever dream. In his mind, no greater feat of beautiful devastation could compare. He really did make a good choice in choosing Ask (human or not) to be in his team.
"Poetic Justice; you used the tower itself to kill that stupid warden, amazing" Adam complimented as they walk on top of the tower they just collapsed.
"He was foolish, using numbers and freely sending out his subordinates was a sign of a terrible tactician. He broadcast his presence, thinking he himself was untouchable, I proved him wrong." Ask coldly explains
"You even utilized the tower as a pathway for us, and the draw bridges you-"
"Calculated the exact force the tower could bring, and accurately predicted how much force would be needed to make the bridges close without them falling down." Ask said as he jumped down from the fallen tower and on to the bridge.
"Now~" He turns to Adam, eyes meeting nothing but slits in return. "What do you want with me?" his tone changed from insufferable, nosy know-it-all to bone-chilling serious in one sentence. Any lesser man would've flinched at the sound of it. Adam, however, wasn't a lesser man. He was a Faunus. And a Faunus is inherently cooler than a man.
"No it has nothing to do with your disgusting eating habits, to be blunt I don't really give a damn. I'm vegetarian remember? I already don't like eating meat."
"I'm putting together a team." He finally said after beating around the bush too many times
"I have difficulty seeing you work well with others." Ask admitted. "So if theoretically, I do join you in your crusade for whatever reason, what's our next step?"
"Have you ever studied the teachings of The Great Datu Ingay; The North Easterly Wind?"
Ask raises an eyebrow, Adam just continues on, not really wanting a reply.
"Datu Ingay was a chief of a warrior tribe that lived nearly 2000 years ago, a feared man, it is said that he would attach bells on the legs of his horse in order to make his presence known, and the sound would thunder in waves as he travels, igniting fear in the hearts of his enemies. Imagine that effect intensified by a million horsemen each with a horse wearing bells."
"Your point?"
"Fear is best induced with sound."
And so the world's deadliest and dangerous killer joined forces with the world's most insidious and intelligent mind, now two 'A's were in play, two more pieces left to collect until Adam's plan comes to fruition.
End of Chapter
AN: I'm back, and yes chapters will stay this long, if not longer. But updates will be a bit faster.
and before I forget Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY.