Part 62: Offense and Defense

BGM: Silence


Uuuuhhh... waaah...

The girl he had taken hostage cries the entire way up. She is visibly shaking, too. Yu feels no compassion whatsoever for her. She's about to die, so why should he? If he feels anything toward her, it's gratitude that she hasn't made much of a fuss otherwise.

The observatory is a mere one minute ride on the elevator away. Yu spends this time reflecting on the past he had just spoken about. The idea of people getting emotional over his story does nothing but annoy him. Has anyone in this country gone through the same miserable experiences as him? He hates those who consider themselves different from the masses because they feel a speck of concern over events like the ones he spoke of. It means nothing if no effort is made to change things.

The elevator continues to climb the tower as he ponders this.



Before long, they reach the observatory. After a brief floor announcement, the elevator door opens.

What are you doing?

Upon departing the elevator, he finds himself staring down the muzzle of a gun. A woman with a freakishly msucular body is pointing a high-caliber revolver between his eyes. It is none other than Numeral XI, against whom he has fought previously.

BGM: WARNING


Your little game's over, kid.

*bang!*

A gunshot rings out. Yu was convinced his comrades were waiting for him. That led to him letting his guard down. He hadn't received word about this, either. That's why he wasn't able to move before the gunshot went off. He remains unscathed, however. She hadn't aimed for him. Instead, her target was the phone he had been using to stream the events. The phone is flung back into the elevator as it breaks apart in midair. Yu wastes no time in readying the same gun he shot Alan with immediately after.

Remember, I have a hosta-



Raaaghhhh!

A familiar voice shouts from beside him. The person said voice belongs to takes out a gun of their own, but doesn't shoot. Instead, they use it as a blunt device, swinging it at the hand Yu is holding his own with.

Too slow...

Yu evades, making sure to keep his bag safe as well.

When the girl's swing misses, she is bent over and wide open to retaliation. A black substance oozes onto the floor from her hair. Underneath the ooze, golden streaks reveal themselves.



You're...

Shishimai Rinka.

Yu pieces together that the hostage he took was her in disguise. Although surprised, his movements are not affected. He reflexively fires his weapon at her. However, dealing with two opponents in a closed space like this proves reckless, even for him. Odette gets a grip on his clothes and violently pulls him toward her.

*bang!*

The shots fired at Rinka go astray as a result, piercing right through the elevator ceiling.

*blam, blam!*

Odette takes aim at his back with her own gun. The space between his back and his bag, to be precise. She fires off two shots, both hitting the shoulder straps of his bag.

Whoa!



One slight miscalculation would have resulted in hitting the bomb concealed within the bag. Fate may have kept them alive, but they still would have been seriously injured from an explosion at such close proximity. Odette's marksmanship ensures she hits her target and severs the bag from Yu.

Tch...

Haha!

She does this because she knows just how much damage the bomb could cause. Yu redirects his attention toward the bag so as not to drop it. He is fine with getting hurt himself. But there wouldn't be enough victims were the bomb to go off here. His decision to prioritize the bag is the exact opposite of Odette's.

*wham!*

She delivers a swift, powerful kick to his back while his eyes are glued to the floor. Being almost double his weight, Odette's kick sends him flying. Odette grins from ear to ear as she sees him take to the air. She isn't even concerned about the bag.



Watch out...!

Rinka tosses her gun and lunges for the bag. She goes in headfirst, arms fully extended. The impact against the floor would likely cause the bomb to go off. That realization is what causes her to jump without a moment's thought.

*thud*

Ugh...!

She manages to catch the bag with both hands as both her body and face continue to skid across the floor. While she is able to prevent the bomb from going off, her face now feels like it has been peeled away from her skull.

Why is this happening?!

The bomb has been stolen from him mere moments before he could accomplish his goal. His outcry is the result of letting his emotions take control. It is the only thing left he can do.



And it was probably the scariest moment of my life. A bag with a bomb inside almost crashed onto the floor. I would've had to bear the brunt of the explosion had I failed to catch it. But it's an experience I've been through once before... I wouldn't have died this time, but who knows how badly I would have been burned. My face would've been unrecognizeable. My actions helped us pull through the initial phase of our plan. That much I'm confident about.

There's a bomb in here, dammit! Don't just ignore it!

Oh. My bad. Throwing a feint was the only way I could get it away from him, so... glad you knew what to do after that.

I'd normally be surprised to see that she's still smiling during all this, but I now know this is what she lives for. Things are going just as we planned.

Why are you two the only ones here?

There are no traces of any customers, nor Yu's comrades. We are the only three here.

Oh, hmm... Well, we did your little buddies in. Was hoping they'd be as strong as you, but nah. Just a buncha small fry.

There were ten of them...



Numbers ain't no thing when they're all pushovers. But if there were even three people like you? Then we'd have been in trouble.

I told them all about you, so why did they let you through? You couldn't have forced your way through without causing a stir... What's more, they kept in contact with me and never mentioned anything.

Aw, you didn't notice? That was me sending those messages. I played you 'cuz I had to. There was every chance you'd go wild right at the entrance if I took down your pals and evacuated everyone. You're bound to round up a good number of casualties no matter where you blow yourself up in Tokyo.

That's why we made this plan to take the bomb away from him. His lack of consideration for his own life made things far more difficult to handle than they would normally. I was worried when Odette said she would handle all his comrades, but she really did manage to pull it off.

You know the rest, I'm sure. We're gonna beat the shit outta you and get you to talk.

I told you that I don't plan on dying so easily, didn't I?

He directs that line straight at me.

BGM: The Battle Begins


Then he raises his gun and points it my way.

Ack...

But I'm not his target... It's most likely the bomb. Taking his focus off Odette proves to be a mistake, though. She isn't one to let that slip past her.

*wham!*

Making use of the reach provided by her height advantage, she launches another kick right at his jaw before he can fire. Yu barely dodges in time, but Odette doesn't let up. She continues with an unrelenting barrage of punches and kicks.



How about this?!

He whips out a knife with his left hand. Odette backsteps. She must figure she'll get slahsed if she tries to kick him again. Yu takes advantage of her hesitation by tripping her up with a left leg sweep. It causes her to lose balance, but she manages to kick him in the stomach during her fall. Yu remains armed even after that and fires his weapon at her. That dreadful bang echoes around the observatory.

*bang bang bang bang!*

He fires four consecutive shots. It makes the exact same sound as when he shot Alan earlier. Regardless, not one shot hits Odette because her kick before has knocked him off balance. There's a distinct clang as the bullets ricochet off the floor.

Both of them collapse to the ground. Yu is the first to spring back up, likely due to his smaller frame. He readies his knife and flings it at Odette. As soon as he throws it, he chases it straight toward her. Odette doesn't have time to get back up and instead opts to draw her gun while prone. She fires the same moment I notice her action. Yu does the same.

*bang!* *blam!*

The sounds of both guns going off overlaps. His shot is directed neither at me nor Odette, though. Maybe because he's firing while at a full sprint.

*clank!*



Meanwhile, Odette's shot somehow connects with the knife he had thrown, which causes it to twirl up toward the ceiling. Yu's shot bounces off a small crevice in the floor, sending it straight to Odette's hand. That's what I think, anyway. It barely misses her hand and strikes her gun instead. It breaks apart and flies across the room.

Not bad... but we ain't done yet!

One down, one to go...

Yu points his gun at Odette.

Here's your toy back!

For a brief moment, I am unable to discern what's happened. For some reason, Yu lets his gun fall to the floor. Shortly after that, I notice blood dripping down to his right hand.

Eek...

With my own knife...!

His words help me to piece it all together. Odette must have caught the knife she deflected earlier. And she threw it back at him just in time.



Anyway, back to business...

BGM: Silence
What's that sound...?

The faint ringing of police sirens can be heard from the surface. I'm amazed it's taken them this long to arrive. Considering the gravity of this situation, it may not be just the regular police and fire brigade, either. The riot police may also have come. Having noticed this, Yu snatches up his gun and sprints toward the door leading to the emergency stairs.

BGM: Impatience
You ain't getting away...!

He fails to anticipate that the stairwell will be blocked off by a certain someone, however.



You won't get past me.

You were bluffing as well...?!

Yu must figure everything out in that moment. Alan disguised himself as one of the staff, but had accounted for the possibility of getting shot. With that in mind, he had made sure to both wear a bulletproof vest and tape additional plating around the part of his stomach that was most likely to be targeted. Apparently he went with rubber plating to ensure the sound wouldn't give away the fact that he was okay. The blood was fake, too. He had gotten a hold of some previously.

All of this, including myself being taken hostage and Odette neutralizing him, was part of the plan. I wasn't able to do anything once they were locked in combat, but that was also expected. All I had to do was make sure the bomb didn't go off.

You have two options: come with us willingly, or we force you to do so.

Not only is Yu injured but Alan also has his own gun on him. Most importantly, Yu is now trapped between two monsters.



...I'd rather not go at all.

*bang bang bang!*

That said, Yu fires off a number of shots before Alan and Odette have the chance to react. Every single shot pierces the fire extinguishers placed throughout the observatory.

Tch...

A smokescreen, huh... Quick thinking.

Save the compliments for later!



It takes little more than a moment for the entire room to be cloaked in white smoke.

Ack!

I'll be taking this back.

Yu's voice comes from in front of me while I struggle to see what's going on. The weight of the bag suddenly gets lifted from my arms.

He took the bag!

We'll settle the score with fate tomorrow morning.

I don't have time to respond. I'm too busy panicking about what to do.



We've done all we can for now. Let's make our escape, too.

Tch! Would've been a lot easier without all the crappy rules.

Alan takes my hand in his before dragging me along with them, because I'm still too shaken up to move on my own.