Mastermind

Chapter 23: Chip Off The Old Block

The next morning was quite a busy one for Herman. After finishing his breakfast and giving a hasty update on the Mastermind Conspiracy case to his father---which included everything Marle had divulged to him the previous night---the Paragon got dressed, put on all of his gear, hopped aboard his motorcycle, and traveled to the Mercury Heights Police Station ruins while his father once again went to work at the hangar, promising that he, his colleagues, and their aircraft collection would be at the ready when the time came to confront the Mastermind in two nights' time. 

On his way to the department, however, he brought his motorcycle to a gradual stop when he witnessed a police-related incident taking place near the exit of his neighborhood. Two cops were aggressively approaching a man who had gotten into a verbal altercation with them; the suspect himself was backing away and unarmed, though he was ranting incoherently and throwing harsh insults and racial slurs at the officers like nobody's business. Meanwhile, the mother---who was the guardian for the "offender"---was standing on the sidelines, frantically screaming for the policemen to go easy on her son and that he wasn't himself at the moment.

Herman had seen the confronted man a few times during his trips in and out of the community; although he was a nice person most of the time, he was known for becoming notoriously hostile when under the influence of too much liquor. Of course, as a Paragon, he wasn't about to just drive his vehicle away and leave the suspect at the cops' mercy.....or sometimes, tragically, the lack thereof. 

He parked his motorcycle in place, got off the seat, and approached the scene intently, firing two warning shots at the ground with his .30 Carbine to grab everyone's attention. It worked, and everyone---the two cops, the suspect, and the suspect's mother---all turned to look at him. 

"Excuse me, gentlemen," Herman started, turning his head to the pair of officers. "Please describe to me what this unarmed man has done to you that makes you feel the need to pull out your guns." 

"Oh, my! You're Herman, one of the Paragons!" the suspect's mother exclaimed with relief. "Please.....get my son out of this!" 

"No worries, ma'am, just stand down," he replied, before placing his attention back on the cops. "Well?" 

While Herman was confronting the cops, the suspect's mother slowly moved across the street to pull her son off the road and bring him to her side.

"Oh gosh, it's him....." the first cop muttered as he sheathed his pistol, put one hand on his hip, and buried his face in the other one, shaking his head in exasperation. "You can take care of this.....I'm heading back inside the patrol car." 

"Look, you don't know what people like him are capable of," the second one explained. "Are you even aware of how much alcohol can mess up someone's thinking? Plus, we lost a lot of good men in the attack on our police station yesterday, so the rest of us have needed to work overtime to make up for it." 

"You're not exactly making him any less agitated by threatening to use violence on him," Herman protested. "As of right now, it looks like his only 'crimes' are.....insulting you, calling you names, and just overall being mean. It isn't nice by any means, but what are you doing right now? 'Oh no, he hurt my feelings, so I'll threaten to kill him'. 'Cause that makes perfect sense." 

"Aren't you supposed to be helping Didi investigate the conspiracy? Why waste your time on something like this? Run along and take care of the bigger picture; leave this to us." 

"No, I don't think so. As a Paragon, I'm authorized by the GDC itself to combat crime and hostility wherever it may be. And don't even start talking to me about 'working overtime'; my other four friends aren't here at the moment, so imagine how much harder I'm having to work."