Running Edge

Ryku nodded and pulled on his hair, "Heads down. We're here." Ryku forced Kaleb's head down and pulled him behind the side of the store, motioning for Alex to follow closely. "We keep a low profile. Hikaru may not be exactly the "bad guy" here, but he knows traps. I've got the gagets, you two stay back." Shuffling to the other side of the double doors, Ryku bent and gently ran his fingers along a trip wire painted black. "Perfect...I see Lazard also instructed them to take out as many EBO officers and Blue's as they could in this." Gently pushing the door open, Ryku motioned the others forward. "Trip-wire, careful. There may be more. Keep an eye on the ground as well as in front of you."

 

alex followed behind them closely. she still had her phone to hear ear in order to speak with mya. it was going to be difficult to avoid tripwires when she was limping so badly. her foot was probably infected, but there was no time to take care of it right now. she needed to hang up the phone, but couldn't do that while talking to mya.

kaleb stopped behind ryku looking at the tripwire. he kept his eyes open looking for anything else out of the ordinary.

 

Once inside the store, Ryku pulled out the mini-tv he kept in his pocket and zoomed in on the image frozen on it, examining the blurry number behind Kaoru's head. "Wonderful....just bloody wonderful... Third floor...we've got a ways to go. You, Runner girl, slow me down and I swear I'll knock you out and carry you. Your buddy here won't do a damn thing cause I'll blow his brains all over these walls. Keep close, keep quiet, keep moving." Ryku's boots made a lot of scuffling noises as he ran towards the stairs. Figuring as much, elevators didn't so much as blink a light anywhere. Smart...cover all your bases. No elevator power means no unexpected visitors. Which means...we'll be taking the stairs. Two flights...shouldn't be hard...if I didn't have this girl to worry about. Kaleb and I could handle this no problem.

 

Mya nodded. Thanks Alex. Me and Kurisu will head over there soon as possible. She closed the phone and looked at Kurisu. Let's get hustling.

 

alex shut her phone and put it back in her pocket. she hadn't told mya what the bad news was, but that was probably a good thing for the moment. rolling her eyes at ryku's words she hurried after them in an attempt to catch up. going up the stairs was going to take way too much work, but the elevators weren't an option. as they ascended the stairs, alex's eyes jumped back and forth between the rows of items in the store. lazard said he was leaving to get a better view. she could only wonder where that may be. wherever it was, it wouldn't be inside the store. that would most likely get him killed and defeat the purpose for any of this.

kaleb's first instinct was to pull his gun out in precaution as they went up the stairs, but he had to restrain himself from doing so. having a gun would raise questions and quite possibly blow his cover. he was at ryku's heels. staying close behind was the best option for the moment. if it came down to staying alive and risking his cover, the former would be his first option. so he would get sent back to paperwork duty for awhile, but at least he wouldn't have to pretend any long.

 

Kurisu nodded and took off running with Mya.


OOC: lol... that must be my shortest RP post ever.

 

Ryku took two steps at a time and carefully rounded the top of the stairs. "So far so good..." Ryku wandered to the wall, a smile on his lips as he tapped the tip of his knife against the glass covering of the fire alarm. "We're close enough. Time to cause a distraction so we can go in and get Lynne." Stabbing his knife into the glass, he yanked it downwards, pulling the lever with it. Sprinklers sputtered on and loud sirens shrieked throughout the building. "A job well done if you ask me."

Lynne flinched as water hit her face. "Wh-what? What's going on? Is...is someone in the store with us? Hikaru? Kaoru?" Both boys lifted their guns and aimed at the stairs. "Kaoru, watch the back. The other set of stairs are still open." Hikaru nervously shifted his footing and Kaoru disappeared behind a set of shelves.

 

alex looked up as the water started to rain down on them. it was getting in her eyes and making it difficult to see. she gripped the railing tighter as she finished her ascent up the stairs. her foot was throbbing and things were only going to get worse as they got closer to the fight. something really bad was about to happen. she only hoped it didn't end in bloodshed.

kaleb put his hand on ryku's shoulder. a fight was about to go down. he just hoped it wouldn't be to destructive.
"yeah...if you say so."
the water beat down on his head. he was already pretty wet, and within moments they would all be soaked.

 

Ryku grinned as water dripped off his chin and hair. "I do. Now, let's go reclaim a friend." Ryku took the second flight of stairs slower this time and kept his gun by his side. He counted silently to himself. Three...two...one. "Go! Hands in the air!" he shouted as he rounded the corner and pin-pointed Hikaru standing over Lynne near the fountain. Before he could get any more words out, Kaoru's fist struck the side of his face and his knee jabbed into his stomach. Ryku fell with a splash and a grunt. Kaoru flicked his gun to the stairs, "If you know what's best for you and your friends, you'd best stay down there." He cast Ryku a sorry glance and slowly retreated backwards.

Lynne gasped, she knew that voice. Ryku had come to save her? Not exactly who she'd expected, but it would do. By the sound of things, what she could hear over the sirens, he hadn't seen Kaoru. "Ryku, you okay? Ryku!?" Hikaru set a hand on her head, "He's fine. Kaoru and I are old friends with Ryku. Hurting him is bad for our reputation with EBO. Hurting Runners is bad for buisness too..."

 

kaleb watched as ryku went down from around the corner and saw kaoru retreating. there was no way he could fight it anymore. he pulled out his gun from inside his jacket and held it out with both arms extended and holding the gun.
"kaoru! what do the two of you think you're doing? release her! before things end poorly for you."
he kept the gun aimed directly on kaoru's chest. there was no way he was going to end on the ground just like ryku.


alex was still around the corner and half a flight of stairs behind everyone else. she could hear a commotion coming from the third floor, but wasn't sure what exactly was going on. she tried to hurry up the last few steps. she needed to see lynne. to make sure she was still alive. since the building was still intact the odds were good, but that didn't mean she would be in any good shape.

 

Kaoru froze. "Kaleb...I figured it was you. This kind of thing isn't for you, kid. The field is a dangerous place. Hikaru, bring the girl, we've got an unwanted visitor!" Hikaru shuffled Lynne over to the stairs and stared at Kaleb for a while. "Who's this? His face if familiar...." Kaoru rolled his eyes and kicked Ryku on the ground, "It doesn't matter! What matters is he has a gun and is now a problem. Put down your gun, Kaleb. We don't want any unnecessary bloodshed here, but I will give the order to execute the girl. Lazard may have hired us, but I call the shots around here." He lifted his hand and Hikaru reluctantly touched the tip of his gun to Lynne's head. "Sorry, Lynne...Kaoru's serious."

 

kaleb continued to stare kaoru down. his eye contact never left his face as he crouched down to place the gun on the ground. it was too risky not to listen. that was basic training. if it involved a hostage you did what they said and waited for the ideal moment to strike. right now there wasn't an ideal moment, but there would be backup soon. not the backup he was used to, but backup none the less. he raised his hands in the air as she slowly stood back up.
"kaoru you don't want to do this. who is it going to benefit? it won't help the e.b.o. or the runners. lazard isn't all there and his plan is crazy."

alex finally made it up the stairs and walked into the back of kaleb accidently. she stumbled forward loosing balance since she only had one good foot to walk on. within a moment she was on the ground.

 

Kaoru laughed, "You really don't get it. Honestly, we couldn't care about Lazard. He lied to us. Our payment was bounced. So now...we're holding Lynne and the civillians in this store hostage for proper payment. This isn't about anything but money right now." Hikaru grabbed his brother's shoulder, "Kaoru, stop! This isn't you. You're acting like Demitri! Let's just go...we'll get our money another way. Plus, they have enough problems with the girl." He pulled his brother back and away towards the second set of stairs. "This isn't over! You and the Runners are going to get royally screwed!" Lynne started to cry, inching towards Ryku on the ground.

 

kaleb and alex watched as the twins hurried away. alex rushed over to lynne, as quickly as one could with a deep cut on their foot.
"lynne! where's the bomb? we have to take care of that first."
she looked at the girl that was now in tears.
"i promise i'll take care of him, but we need to take care of you first. you should be in the hospital for days maybe weeks and you have been out trampeding through the streets and who knows where else."
alex knelled and put a hand on lynne's shoulder.
"where's the bomb lynne?"

kaleb bent down to pick up his gun while alex and lynne were distracted, placing it back in his jacket. as long as they didn't know it was his, he should have been in the clear. he was also wondering what was taking so long for the other runners to get there. kaleb was sure alex was on the phone with mya on the way there, but they had yet to arrive.

 

Mya's ears picked up a wailing sound from a department store. I think I know where they are. Let's go! She bolted to a sprint as she made her way to the building.

 

Lynne blinked away tears and touched her hand to her stomach, "He...he put it...inside me." For a moment, Lynne stopped breathing, her eyes wide. With all the commotion, she hadn't noticed her heart rate speeding up. "I'm going to die! I gotta calm down....ah jeez...Alex, don't you have anything at all that will calm me?"

Ryku rolled over, groaning, "Son of a gun...that hurt. Who knew Kaoru...that little punk, packed a lot of punch. Shhhhhh-ishkababs....ah, freaking Oreo cookies!" His odd way of cursing pulled a few laughs from hiding civilians. Opening one eye, Ryku eyed Kaleb first.

 

alex's eyes widened and her jaw dropped a little.
"y-yeah. i have something to help you calm down..."
she opened up her dufflebag and pulled out two pill bottles. one read bendodiazepine [xanax] and the other was a low dosage of vicodan. she handed lynne two of the xanax and popped a vicodan for the pain in her foot. they needed to get the bomb out of lynne's stomach quickly. her gaze slowly moved in confusion from ryku's words.
"hey whitey! don't move too much. i'm afraid you might have a concussion. i'll deal with you when i'm done with lynne."
she looked back at lynne, staring at her stomach.
"you realize i need to cut you open now right? we need to get that bomb out of your stomach."

kaleb stared at ryku with a raised eyebrow in confusion. he had never heard him talk like that before, in all the years they had been friends. he watched as ryku opened one eye.

 

Lynne nodded, even though her eyes filled with tears as she swallowed the pills. She lifted her shirt, showing the crude staples that served as stitches along her stomach and up across her chest.

Ryku grinned, "Dem did say I had an odd way of swearing. At least it's appropriate. Anyway...I can't just lay here. It's my job to help." He crawled over to Lynne, setting a hand on Alex's shoulder, "Need anything? The bomb is my duty, you just open her up and close her when I'm done."

 

alex cringed as ryku touched her.
"can't you wait til it's outside her body to diffuse it? i can't put lynne under because i don't have the proper equipment to monitor her vitals so i have to do this while she's awake."
her gaze slowly moved back to lynne's face.
"you're going to have to stay very calm while i do this or things could end very badly."
she reached into her bag and pulled out a bottle of morphine and a syringe. she injected it into lynne's arm and then started riffling through her bag pulling out all sorts of random items; a scalpel, bandages, a sewing needle, thread, and even pliers to remove the staples from her chest. she placed her hands on lynne's shoulders to lie her down on her back.
"let me know as soon as you can no longer feel me touching your chest."
alex also quickly pulled out some paper drapes to cover lynne's body so the only part that was exposed would be where she was operating.

kaleb watched how quickly alex was working in astonishment. she had an entire hospital in that bag and he wondered where she could have gotten it all. if any hospital just gave it to her then they would be in a ton of trouble and well if she stole it there was a whole new list of charges to be added to her list.

 

Ryku watched Lynne lay back and close her eyes. "Okay..." Ryku shmushed next to Alex and brushed off the paper drapes on her upper body. He pulled her shirt up further, following the line of staples. "This goes further than you think. For once, don't be so damn stupid! Let me help you! EBO or not, I can help. Open her up...Alex." His icy eyes pierced into Alex, their determination to help unwavering.