"Facade?..." Mike's dropping voice perfectly blended with the mayhem of variety of glasses, the wall clock finally being the last to crash on the chaotic floor. "Hshhh..." Even though Facade's heart pounded in total rush, he secured to give a calm gesture, finger raised to his lips as he turned his veiled face to Mike.
"Hands up!" A bold voice echoed the disturbed environment. Mike only took five seconds to decide on the entirely unexpected turn of events, closing the cabinet before raising his hands in surrender.
"Freeze you both!" The man draped in blue uniform alerted the room, his pioneers standing at the back with their pistols ready in their hands.
Mike, who was damped with sweat, gulped the uncertain incidents happening all at once.
Are they military? But wait, how did they find us? No, more importantly, what's Facade doing in the cupboard??
Tons of queries heaped within seconds, including the hypothesis which took him minutes to estimate. His assumption revealed that the chair placed above the exit was a sign that Facade never stepped in the bakery to begin with. If so, he should have removed the hinderance long ago.
That's so out of his character!
Seeing his stubborn superior pressed inside the small cavity did widen his eyes, pinning him into number of perplexations when he took an essential move back then. However, something had left him as stunned as Facade's unanticipated presence.
Why would a duel of two or more people concern the items placed inside a mounted cabinet? And the most unsettling thing of all, Watson was the one who fed both of us with the possibility of a duel in the room.
"Surrender, in the count of three!" Mike had his hands already lifted up in the air, but Watson was still flapped down, cowering under his skin. "Hey, you Crimson jerk!" Mike passed a slight kick to Watson's bent thighs. "Raise your hands!" He hissed.
"Two!" The same officer announced, his pistol aimed at the crouched figure. "W-W-Wait!" Watson voice cracked as he sprung up, fearing that the dropping countdown would cost his life. "Don't kill... me..." He chocked when his eyes were about to brim with tears, finally focusing on the apparel of the armed officer.
Dark blue fabrics were marvelously tailored in fine gakuran, a garment with standing collar buttoned to one side of the chest. The hat resting on the man's head matched the gakuran theme, a round, dark-colored cap with a flat stiffened top and a short visor at the front. Though, the looks assembled ideal perfection, the thing that stood out the most were the sleeves twirled with red linings, each edge sewn in golden threads.
"T-The Forces!?" Watson delivered a bewildered hiss, loud enough to reach Mike's ear. "I know." He responded with the matching tone, experiencing yet another surge of puzzlement under the same roof. "But..." He whipped his head to the counter's way, realizing that Jane was amiss from the whole setting. "Where's Jane?" He nudged a slight elbow to Watson's shoulder and, in reply, got gradually widening eyes.
"Mike! Jane had the blue—"
"—One!"
Watson was about to complete his sentence when the ticker reached its limit, the officer turning his stillness into invasion. "Time's up! Surround the place!" He finally passed the threshold of the bakery, aim professionally locked onto the two suspects when he signaled the rest of his team to stay vigilant. The pack split in quarter the moment they heard the instructions, minority fleeing to sideways to encircle the area.
"W-Wait! We're just civilians! We did nothing wrong!" Mike spoke in hesitation, acknowledging the situation to be in a complete bind.
"Aye, civilians?" The officer let out a scornful response, not faltering by their pitiful expressions. "And what exactly are civilians doing here? In this..." he eyed the faded interior blanketed with the mess."...Abandoned bakery?" He finished, tilting his head to the mass of sandy hair across him.
"We heard strange noises a-and ended up finding this place. That's all!" Mike effortlessly lied at the officer's face, raising and lowering his outstretched arms in delay. "Y-Yes. He's right!" Watson joined the act, trying his best to solidify the assertions despite having the fear of ending in a corpse.
Your stuttering claim is making us even more suspicious!
Even though Mike was eager to point out the irrational behavior for the first time, he stayed dead silent, aware that any unwanted conflict would probably lead them into an infernal pit.
But again, having a dull backer would be ten times far better then having none, so he decided to carry the staged diplomacy with Watson while he could.
Facade, on the flip side, sat hunched inside the tight compartment.
Its...NOT WHAT I PLANNED AT ALL!
His mental quietness broke at last, returning him to face what waited outside the small space. The Forces that Facade expected to arrive at 9:05 marked their attendance beyond the particular time, not forgetting the sync of his plans long destroyed by an inappropriate possibility.
2. Destroy the Mundand Family (Personal Initiatives)
3. Let the three baits be caught red-handed (Personal Initiatives)
4. Rescue them and make them serve you (Personal Initiatives)
5. Turn yourself in (Personal Initiatives)
6. Rescue Jebreel (Personal Initiatives)
Those three must be caught to ascend to my fourth strategy.
Six out of seven points flashed past his thoughts when he considered the matter akin to a delicate string. The second and third part were meant to be accomplished at the same time, as destroying the family would automatically lead the Gutter Rats to be captured.
Failing to accomplish any one of the seven bullet points would only lead to his miserable defeat, crumbling down his long-prepared plans into a heap of delusions. But he refused to let that happen, for what he thrived for was now within his grasp.
Facade shut his dried eyelids, focusing solely on the blackness engulfing his view. He didn't try to extract wavelength out of the concentrated objects, rather, he erased all the dazzling oscillation from the black scenery, as though it was a sheet stuffed with numerous pulses.
He then drew a deep breath, cancelling out the unwanted noises in exchange for complete tranquility.
The three have already been under suspicion, that means that there's a four in five chance that they'll be going to the inquiry cell. The trapdoor being revealed is a five in five chance while I being exposed sooner or later is again a four in five chance. The Forces had already invaded the Mundand's house so the second point is already accomplished while the third point is under process. The one thing that's left without uncertain calculations, is Me!
The speed of his speculations were akin to the a cannon ball, its momentum touching the skies as he revised the probabilities in silence.
Hesitating know won't bring any fruitful results, so its best to stay calm for now. I guess they'll shut the store as a restricted area before starting an investigation. Th bakery should be about twenty- five to twenty-six yards in total, so they could assign three to four inspectors at maximum.
The question is, how in the hell do I fight them if I'm revealed? My abyss perception would definitely send a bunch of glitches if I try to sense this cluttered surrounding!
His eventually settling considerations once again roared in frustration, being unable to steer clean from his impulsive performance.
"Why were you hiding then?" The officer's sound bounced Facade's senses when he abruptly exited his cognition. "I told you I just got spooked out. That's all!" Jane was on the responding side, his immature tone fairly contributing to his movements.
"Stop shrugging!!"
What's happening out there?
Oblivion of the stage set behind the panel of the wooden door, Facade directed his attention to the updated scene.
"Officer Frawl! Let us drag them to the inquiry cell already." A peculiar accent echoed the bakery. +
"Why should I rot in cell for doing nothing but visiting a mere, ruined bakery!?" Jane, who was seized by one of the Frawl's underlings, thrashed after a moment's pause. "And what for? For just—" The junior grip tightened on Jane's wrist. "Stop moving violently like that!" He yelled from behind the restrained fellow.
"—being concern about if someone was in danger? That's ridiculous!!" But Jane kept his struggle in process. Mike and Watson, who had been watching the drama for a couple of minutes, remained silent in their surrendered positions, both staring at Frawl's elbow rear bulging with prominent veins. Though his smile kept widening with each dissipating minute, it was entirely obvious to both that Frawl was near to his wit's end.
"Jane is dead today." Mike whispered his untrustworthy companion in hush, getting a clear nod in agreement. "We all are." As half of Frawl's attention was occupied on the end of the counter slab, Watson mustered all his courage to part his lips before the pointed revolver. Mike had nothing but to heave a regretful sigh in return.
We're doomed alright... BUT! We have Facade hiding in the backscenes. What's the anxiety for? He'll rescue us in a blink of an eye, right?
Right... ?? ...
Mike privately managed to create a ray of silver lining when he regarded the 'Elite of the Mansion' supporting their backs, but it vanished the second he bore Facade's cold-hearted resolves into account.
Nope. No way. I could expect nothing sane from that man!
He wailed when he remembered how Facade fastened him on the railway track, just so the train definitely stops on the marked location. That memory alone evoked history of logical yet wild experiences with with his superior.
The one where Facade wrapped him into hiking without gears, another when Facade launched himself from the scale of seven meters all while hanging Mike like a drooped sack of wheat. Last but not the least, the irony which Mike faced in the name of resolution when Facade sent him into a den of smugglers.
All the transpired events only positioned him into a dump corner, without being given a single hint of notice. Mike wasn't sure what Jane would say if asked about Facade, but to him, he was a devil without horns.
"That's enough, you're too suspicious to be called fellow citizens." Officer Frawl contributed his gaze upon both the individuals with stiffened arms and the one grappling at the end of each protest. "And what you're explaining to me is too baseless to believe." He slipped his empty hand on the gun hostler around his waist, drawing another sidearm at Jane's side. "You better come with us."
The danger of the locked handgun froze Jane solid, much more then it did to Mike and Watson. "O-Officer Frawl..." Jane paused his flailing motions after a gap of muteness. "...That's utter cheating. Now you're threatening us by aiming pistols?" His clause was, without a doubt, a paste to override Frawl's stern authority as a wing leader. However, it terribly failed when he sneered at the three figures halted across him, including his own subordinate.
"Yes... That's exactly what I'm doing."