Running Edge

Ryku picked up on the second ring, his voice irritated, "You're late. Swing set, make it fast." Hanging up, Ryku waited patiently. He had no idea Lynne was involved, but now...now was a different story. Staring down at the mini-tv in his hands, he watched Hikaru and Kaoru drag Lynne into the open, their guns at her head as they forced her to the ground. He didn't dare turn the sound on to listen to what the newscaster was saying. Kaleb...you owe me some answers...

 

{ooc: happy thanksgiving!}

{bic:}
kaleb flipped his phone shut as he approached the swing set. he stuck it in his pocket and proceeded to sit down on an empty swing. he knew ryku would be within sight and notice him sitting there almost instantly. it was all a matter of time. which nobody really had on their side. at any moment ryku would spot him there and hopefully it wouldn't be too late for countless innocent citizens. he was still a cop after all and letting all those people die on his duty was not okay in the least bit.

alex wandered around the park in no particular direction. none of them had a clue as to where lynne and the bomb may be and that absence of knowledge was the worst part. not even having a clue as to where she might have gone was hard to deal with. the fact that they might not find her in time and many innocent people would get hurt in the process was too much of a burden to bear. nobody was at her side when she was abducted so in reality it was every one of their faults.

 

Ryku shoved Kaleb off the swing he was sitting on and glared at him, "Something you want to tell me, Kaleb? Hikaru and Kaoru are hired...they don't work for anyone. First things first...highly populated? The park doesn't count. Your friend...is doomed to a mental breakdown. This thing? With the Runners? It won't last if things keep up like this. Hikaru may be stupid and not realize who you are...but Kaoru will figure it out." He closed his eyes and chucked the mini-tv onto the ground near Kaleb. It still showed Lynne and the Twins. "Mega-store. Uptown. More people than 9/11 will die. Now..who's behind this? Who hired the Twins?"

 

kaleb fell onto the ground getting his knees and hands dirty. he stood up facing ryku.
"hey! i have a few questions for you as well. this is what i know. apparently lynne was abducted from the hospital and when everyone discovered she was gone hikuru and kaoru were waiting with a message. we had walked right into a trap as suspected and found out that lazard was behind this. he wanted the ebo to like recognize his greatness or something. there's a bomb on lynne. we don't know where, but it has been confirmed that there is one in her possesion. i knew the park wasn't going to be the highly populated place that she was at, but i needed an excuse to get here and break away from that runner alex. don't mistake work with friendship. i'm doing my job, that girl isn't my friend. none of them are. i wouldn't be doing what i'm doing if it didn't mean a huge promotion. but you are right about her having a breakdown. there is no way she will come out of this completely unscathed. if it's not physically it will be emotionally. i hope this doesn't last too long, but i know it will be harder to keep up my cover if they identify me. i'm sure they wont take too long to put two and two together. this would be one less runner and a bonus if it didn't mean that hundreds of innocent people's lives were at risk. at least with this stunt we can put those two behind bars. they were supposed to be on our side, but apparently not anymore."
he dusted the dirt off of his pants.
"ryku what is it with you and that girl? you are warning me, but what about yourself. i already know that the next time i see demitri i'm a dead man if i stand with those runners, but how long do you expect he will allow you to fraternize with the enemy? running around with that girl. you are putting yourself at risk. what good do you expect to come from it?"

alex continued running around the park until she heard a radio broadcast on a stereo someone brought with to the park. the words that were coming out of the jockey's mouth were horrifying. at least now she knew where lynne was. phones were off limits, but it would be the fastest and easiest way to get ahold of everyone. she quickly pulled her phone out and started dialing mya's number with shaking fingers.

 

Ryku's emotions flicked across his face as fast as Kaleb rattled off the information he had. "Lazard...that no-good son-of-a... It can't be...that can't be right." Taking a deep breath, Ryku cleared his throat, "A bomb... I'll have to explain more later. I'm coming with you. I don't care what you tell them, Kaoru is a friend. Despite his brother's antics, he's always been my backup when Demitri was sick. Kaoru is my hook up. He gets Dem's medicine into the country without a problem. I can't let him go to prison." Picking up his mini-tv, Ryku half ignored Kaleb's last statements. "I don't expect anything from it. And we're not running around doing anything. It's...an unfortunate meeting of people. Lynne...no...that Runner doesn't mean anything to me other than another paycheck." Checking his pistol, Ryku silently frowned, I should've brought something more hefty... Like Demitri always says...'A good, reliable gun is one you can barely hold up.' Tossing his head, Ryku started to laugh, "I can't believe this! My old man puts a bomb on a girl you all think I have feelings for! All for some silly research project. Which by-the-way, he probably lied to you all about. He lies to everyone about it. Clones...what a joke." Pulling himself together he gave Kaleb a friendly glance, "You ready? Any of those Runners got any bomb training? Or even surgical training. I can handle the bomb."

Lynne cursed herself for being careless and knelt on the hard ground before Hikaru and Kaoru. Why did it have to come to this... Mya, if you dare come for me I'll kill you. Don't be so damn stupid. She glanced at her would-be kidnappers. Kaoru looked like he was about to shake right out of his skin, while Hikaru....had a self-loathing look on his face. "You boys aren't cut out for this, are you? Lazard get your britches in a bunch with all his lies? What's the matter? You see a ghost, Kaoru?"

Hikaru and Kaoru had been listening in on Ryku's and Kaleb's conversation from an old com-link frequency. "Dammit....if Ryku comes here...we're done for. Nnn... God save us..." Kaoru closed his eyes and knelt beside Lynne, "Since this has gone down the drain...we're going to set you free, Lynne. Okay?" He waited for her nod and cut the zip-tie holding her hands secure. "Lazard did lie to us. We don't take that kindly. Plus...we've been doing behind the scenes trading with Runners for a while now. It'd be a shame if you all stopped getting supplies. We do a lot of things...but killing people for stuff we have no idea about isn't one of them."

 

alex had gone back to the spot they agreed to meet up at as she waited for mya to answer the phone. they had a very limited amount of time before things got too serious for lynne. even if they managed to get to the store and free her before the bomb went off, it could have already done damage to her organs depending on how big it was. foreign objects were not something you wanted just floating around in your body aimlessly. she watched for kaleb to arrive as she waited.

kaleb turned and started to head back to the rendezvous pointed with ryku following after.
"i don't know what to say to them without blowing my cover. if i just show up with a known member of the ebo it's not going to look good. how am i supposed to work within their organization if they don't trust me?"
he sighed.
"ryku you realize you just openly admitted to smuggling drugs into the country right? i'm going to pretend you didn't just say that, but i would remember that for next time."
kaleb stopped walking to think for a minute.
someone that can diffuse bombs or do surgical work...
"that girl i came to the park with. alex i think her name was...she is like their medic. i don't know how much she can do, but she seems like they only one they feel comfortable letting touch them. probably even with a knife."
he started walking again as alex came into sight.

alex saw kaleb getting closer with someone following behind him. she had to squint at first to make out the face and when she did, her jaw dropped.

 

Ryku chuckled lightly, "Yeah and if you ever say a word about it, my hands are clean. A good smuggler makes sure you can't pin him with the goods. Anyways...you're underestimating me again Kaleb. I have a plan for everything." As soon as they saw Alex, Ryku pulled his pistol and touched it lightly to Kaleb's head, grabbing his collar from behind. "You, Runner girl. You and your friend here...are going to take me with you to the Mega-Store. Got it? EBO is not working with Lazard. We wouldn't be caught dead participating with that dirty rat. Now...I know for one thing...you're not good at fighting. You're a medic, right? You and I both save Lynne, Lazard's plans go to Hell. All I want is to ruin Lazard's day. I'll even throw in a nice little fogginess of my vision and memory and let you all go once it's over...just this once."

 

kaleb grumbled.
"of course you do."
he threw his hands up in the air so that they could easily be seen as if he was really afraid ryku my blow his brains out.
"we better do what he says."

alex's eyes widened and she dropped her phone on the ground not thinking.
"i wouldn't really call him a friend, but i would rather not have one more injured or dead person to deal with."
she walked over to them and started to head in the direction of the mega-store. her feet were killing her. heeled boots were a poor choice for today and walking barefoot because the boots would hurt too much was almost a worse choice.
"how did you find us?"

 

Letting Kaleb go so he could walk on his own, Ryku felt a wave of delayed sorrow hit him. He felt sick to his stomach. "Call it a stroke of luck. Plus...you don't really want to kill Hikaru and Kaoru. They're more valuable to you than you know."

 

alex stopped walking and turned to face ryku.
"how is it a couple low lives that abduct a person, strap her with a bomb, and make it so that she could possible kill hundreds of people be beneficial to the runners? that's not how we roll in the slightest bit. if they're supposed to be cops like you then why are they about to kill so many people? explain that."
she stormed off ahead until she stepped on a piece of glass cutting her foot.
"son of a B****!! agh!"
alex collapsed onto the ground and quickly started riffling through her dufflebag. it was a large piece of glass and the blood was coming out quickly. she pulled out the glass and spread some salve over the cut and wrapped her foot with a bandage. then alex pulled out a syringe and a small bottle filled with a clear liquid. it contained the tetnus antivirus and gave herself a shot just incase. she tossed everything back into her bag, but when it came to standing up it was almost impossible for her to walk. the pain in her foot was to great to set it down on the ground. she started limping down the street.

 

Ryku scooped Alex up into his arms, "They do odd jobs, here and then. I can't have our medic falling behind or passing out from blood loss now, can we?" Were all Runner's this thin and small?

 

OOC: been so busy... sorry, but a short post to show I'm still alive.


~

Kurisu jogged through the area with Mya, keeping an eye out but to no avail. "Damn... You see anything?" he asked her.
He felt the wound on his arm throb slightly, it was almost like an ache of worry rather than an actual physical pain though.

 

OOC: Glad you're back :3

BIC: Mya shook her head. Nope. I'll try calling the others and see if they have a lead on her. She took out her phone and called Alex, hoping she had a better day then they were

 

alex shoved herself away from ryku by pushing on his chest.
"don't touch me!"
she wriggled out of his arms and landed awkwardly on her good leg. alex limped down the street angrily with arms crossed. she grumbled.
"i'm not helpless."
it was awful not being an actual mission runner. everyone looked at her like she was helpless and couldn't keep up with them. these last few days were the most action she had seen in a long time. it actually hurt a lot to walk, especially since she was barefoot, but there was no way she would allow herself to be carried by an e.b.o no matter how much it hurt.

kaleb rolled his eyes as he hurried down the street. they were quite a distance from the mega-store and didn't know how much time they actually had. he looked back towards ryku and alex.
"do we really have time for arguing?"
kaleb returned his gaze to the road ahead.

 

Ryku shrugged and caught up to Kaleb. "Feisty. I suppose...I should focus more on my job than trying to make a good impression...since that ship sailed long ago." A long...long time ago. He'd never be with Lynne and he knew it. Nor any other girl he met. His entire life...devoted to his brother and hunting down and killing Runners. But...with Hikaru and Kaoru involved in this, he couldn't turn his back. "Uh...sorry I pulled a gun on ya, Kaleb. At least my brother's trigger-happiness hasn't rubbed off on me." he lowered his voice, "Tell me more about Lazard. Where did you meet him? Is he well...? What did he say about his situation?"

 

kaleb quickly glanced over his shoulder to see if alex was within earshot. when it appeared that she was far enough behind he opened up to talk.
"it's cool dude. these aren't the people you want to making a good impression with anyway. they're criminals. lazard was in this underground warehouse on 7th. you know how many times we've been down that road and never seen anything on it? well that's because it's underneath. i'm sorry, but he looks like he's gone mad. he had a gun pointed at the lot of us. i had to shuffle to the back of the group so that he wouldn't see me. lazard kept talking about how he would show the e.b.o and get back into or something. you realize what's going to happen if we catch him right? can you really do this?"
kaleb glanced back over at alex. she was falling behind.
"stupid runners. can't even accept help when it's offered."

alex limped down the street. they were finally getting into downtown so it wouldn't be long til they got to the store. she had no idea what she could do to help. if there was a brawl, then she wouldn't serve any purpose. kaleb and ryku were getting too far ahead to catch up. the smart thing would have been to let ryku carry her, but getting caught being carried by an e.b.o was just not an option. alex bit her lip in pain.

 

Ryku sighed, "Great... Hmph, I'm sure. I'll kill Lazard myself. Dem's been in enough pain because of him. I won't let any more ghosts of our past hold us back. Lazard may be our father, but he's one hell of a pain in the @ss." Ryku turned his attention back to what Kaleb had said before. "Below...huh? I'll have a look later. Keep the Runners away from 7th street for a few days. And...when word comes, do as it says. For my own sake of peace of mind, Kaleb. A world wide vaccine will be shipped soon and I want you at least to have one of the first. Lazard's research...it's something dangerous. I'll contact you with further information when I can. You have access to a computer, right? Surely the Runners don't like like the Amish do. After this, I'll check out Lazard's warehouse and see what I can find." He grinned and resisted from following Kaleb's glance at the lagging Runner, "Runners...arrogant to a fault. But...it's that fault that we can play on so easily."

 

kaleb nodded.
"i will gladly help out and yeah i have access to the internet. i have a laptop at home. i don't know how they are with technology. i just know they don't like using phones since conversations can be so easily listened to now. i'm sure it wont be too hard to keep them from heading back there. just let me know what you find."
he took one more glance back at alex as they came closer to the store.
"their arrogance will definitely make it easier to take care of them."

alex could see them talking. she wasn't sure what it was about. alex didn't trust this new guy and with how chatty he was with that e.b.o officer it made things that much more suspicious.

 

OOC: Hyuge, you do know that Mya is trying to call you?

 

{ooc: no...i didn't see that...x_x'}

{bic:}
alex pulled her phone out which she had almost forgotten back in the park when she dropped on the ground. it was ringing. she checked the caller i.d. and saw that it was mya, breathing a sigh of relief.
"oh thank goodness."
she flipped the phone open and hit the send button to answer the phone.
"mya! thank goodness you called. i have some good news and some bad news. the good news is that we know where lynne is and we're almost there. she's at the mega-store down town. still being held hostage. i don't think we have much time."
her eyes focused on the back of ryku's head. mya would be furious when she found out that he was with them. she bit her bottom lip with anxiety.