Souls of the Fallen

Getting Inside

After tightly wrapping the unconscious officers in bed sheets, the group discusses their next step. "You have the keys?" Lucas asks.

Shina nods and jingles them. She tosses them to Reno. "You can drive, right?"

"Yeah," he answers. "Who's riding with me?" Lucas walks up to him and Naru follows. "Riku?"

"I wanna ride the bike. If that's okay with you, Shina," Riku says. "I never got the chance to before."

"Sure. You can wear Naru's helmet," she says. "It's kinda dusty though. She's not a fan of safety." He shrugs and walks towards the garage. "We're meeting at the barracks, right?"

"Naru will direct me there," Reno answers. "From there we play it cool until we're inside. Give us time to catch up because we'll need to park a couple of blocks away to not draw any direct attention."

Shina walks towards the garage and stops at the door, seemingly in deep thought. "Gimme one sec," she says. The door nearly closes behind her but she returns to the room. "Here..." She reaches him a leather glove to cover the shard on his left hand. "I'll give Riku the other."

"Great," he says awhile sliding the glove on. "Be careful until we regroup." A thumbs up pokes out from the gap in the door just before it closes. As the engine of Shina's bike revs up, the garage door slides open. The others walk out and enter the cruiser parked on the street. Shina and Riku ride off to their destination. Naru's helmet is all black like Shina's but has pink eyelashes painted on the visor. Lucas points it out and chuckles for a moment until Naru shoves him into the car. Reno hops into the driver's seat follows shortly after.

Riku holds onto Shina tightly as she swings corners and slips between slower traffic. As they're weaving through the streets, Shina spots another police truck heading in the opposite direction. She recognizes it as the truck that the demonic officers use. The windows are tinted so they are unable to peer inside. She lifts her visor and watches it closely as the wait at a stop light. "Everything okay, Shina?" Riku asks.

She's slow to respond but after contemplating the potential threat to her home she answers him. "Yeah... They're going to my house to search for us. That's a plus. Our chances for a successful mission just skyrocketed."

"Good," he says. "The easier the better. Light's green." She turns back around and looks up. Cars slowly coast past her but she snaps the glass shield back down and pulls off.

Meanwhile, the others are making their way down the road as well. "We should take a different route, Reno," Naru suggests. "The path from the barracks to Shina's place may have more police cars heading in this direction. Driving the cop car the is supposed to be there is a little apparent." The large numbers on the car indicate which unit is present at the scene.

"Smart," Reno says. "Where should I turn?"

"Left here. It'll take us to the street behind the building that holds the prisoners." He follows her instruction and just in time. In the rear of them, the truck that Shina encountered zooms past.

"How long until we reach the barracks?" Lucas asks.

"Probably another five to ten minutes," Naru answers.

"What?" he says, looking for clarification. "How is it five or ten? How can your estimate be that far off? That's nearly double the time!" Reno peers at him through the rearview mirror with a curious look.

"Why the fuck does that matter?" Naru asks angrily. She sits next to him in the back of the car.

"The gray area of your answer doesn't help me any," he says.

"I'm sorry that I don't know the cycle of our street lights asshole!"

Lucas looks up in thought and scratches his chin. "Ah... That makes sense. Nevermind then." Naru gives him a very displeased glare and Reno laughs it off while shaking his head at his friend's bluntness.

Shina and Riku arrive at the barracks first. She rolls up near it but drives into a nearby alley. After parking, they get off the bike and wait for the others to show up. Riku pops his helmet off and digs his beanie out off it. "To say they hold Eons here, they sure don't seem to have any special walls or anything. What's stopping the Eons from using their powers to just break out?" he asks.

Shina slides her helmet off and says, "They are fitted with power suppressing seals that cover their shards. It's like a bandage that they can't remove on their own. The seal reacts to the genetic make-up of Eons and prevents them from interacting with it." She leans against the wall and he squats next to her.

"Damn..." he mumbles. "So they can't help each other once they've been tagged. Then that means we can't remove them either, right?"

"You can't. It'll be up to me to do that," she says. "It has no effect on humans, demons, or Magi. It'll work out fine if we can break through the front door."

"When we break through," Reno says while walking up to them from the other end of the alley. "A little confidence in us please, Shina."

"It's just me being the worried big sister that I've grown to be..." she says.

"Uh, excuse me!" Naru says. "I'm the older one here."

"Right but I still have to take care of you. I think Teru can fend for himself better than you at times," Shina says. Naru rolls her eyes and the others chuckle a bit.

Reno brings things back into focus. "So to get that front door open. We'll go in with the intent to turn in Naru. Once they send out the officers to bring her in we'll rush them."

"Why do I have to be the scapegoat?"

"Because you're actually wanted," Reno says. "It'll make things more natural when they question us about you and lessen the chance of a slip-up."

"Fine!" she says as she gives in to their plan.

"We should go in at separate times to not look suspicious," Shina offers.

"Make's sense," Reno says. "Lucas and I will be the ones turning Naru in. You two can come in afterward. Act as you see fit."

"Roleplaying! My favorite!" Riku says excitedly. He smiles at Shina and she can't help but lighten her worried mood with a similar grin. Reno kneels down and runs his hand on the muddy alley floor. He smears the dirt on Naru's face and a little in her hair. She sits in shock for a moment but submits to the idea of a scuffle. Lucas attempts to help by ripping the strap on her green tank top, nearly exposing her breast as it droops.

"What are you doing, Lucas!" she yells. Reno also looks at him confused.

"I figured it'd be more believable..." he says. "I'm sorry?"

"You are losing all the points with this girl... Roll it back a little, dude," Reno suggests. "Sorry, Naru. I swear he has a brain."

She punches Lucas in the chest. "It's okay, Reno... Let's go." Reno carefully puts her in an armlock and walks her out of the alley with Lucas following behind them.

They enter the building, with Naru struggling against Reno's hold. She's putting on a good show. An officer near the door moves in to assist Reno but Lucas intercepts him. "Whoa! Stay back! This is the Eon from the warning earlier today. She's a wild one," he says.

"Take her to the front desk then. I'll escort you," the officer says. He draws his gun and walks behind them. The lobby is fairly empty. A floor with large black, white, and blue marble tiles leads to the reception desk that seats two more officers. It's decorated with potted plants to make it more welcoming. A female officer sits to the left. On her side is a small walkway that has a door behind a gate. On the right is a male officer and another door that is open. It leads to a hallway that seems to end with another door. There's a sign over that final door that says 'Supplies' on its top.

"Let me go! I didn't do anything wrong!" Naru screams as she squirms and struggles.

"Shut it, you filthy Eon," the officer says. "You'll be with your kind soon enough. Able to rot your filthy life away. Casey! Will! They caught her!" The officers at the desk watch them as they approach. Naru has broken a sweat and Reno holds her tightly.

"One moment while we identify the target," Casey says. She taps into the computer and occasionally looks up at Naru. "Yup... She's a match." Riku and Shina enter the lobby. Her hand is around his waist and her head is lowered. Riku holds her with a worried look on his face. It seems as if she's been through something and they need assistance. The officer that was tending to Naru and Reno snaps back to see the new visitors.

"One moment, I'll be right with you." He looks back to his colleagues. "You two got this from here?" They nod and he stows his weapon before approaching Riku and Shina. Lucas walks up to the lobby counter and leans on it.

"So how much are we looking at for this catch?"

Will looks at him and then down to his computer. "Her bounty is set at 100,000c. Split between both of you, that would be 50,000c."

Casey picks up a phone and dials a number. She brushes her hair back while waiting. "Hey, we have a bounty that needs to be brought in... Right, I'll have him do it now." She hangs up the phone. She turns to her partner, "Go get a seal and apply it. They're on their way."

Will agrees and leaves his post at the front desk. Lucas waits patiently but starts to make small talk with the woman. "I'm about to get a big payout, do you mind if I spend a little on you?"

She raises an eyebrow. "Sir, I am working. Could you not do that right now," she says.

"I probably won't see you anywhere else. This is a big city, cutie. Now is my only shot!"

"Sorry, but I'm not into men," she says.

"But have you ever let a man into you?" he responds with a wink. Reno kicks him.

The officer glares at him. "Maybe I should arrest you for sexual harassment so a man can enter you! Say another word and I'll make sure you share a cell with the other sexual deviants."

Will makes it back in time to see his partner standing from her seat in anger. "Everything okay here?" The seal he went to retrieve dangles in his hand. It is a paper thin, translucent material. There seems to be wiring similar to a circuit board on it.

"Yeah. This guest was just asking for the restroom," she says. "It's over there, sir." She angrily points at the door across the room. Lucas nervously laughs and slowly walks towards the restroom, catching her hint. Will walks up to Naru and Reno to apply the seal. He makes it to them at the same time as the buzzer on the gated door goes off. Lucas stops mid-stride, Will pauses, and the others all look in the door's direction. Two more policemen enter the lobby. As soon as the two new cops open the gate, Reno lowers Naru's body enough to swing a strong left elbow to Will's jawline. Shina rips the policeman's gun from its holster and Riku squeezes a pressure point near his shoulder to make him cave in from the pain. Shina then knocks him out with a punch to the temple.

As Will also crumples to the floor unconscious, Casey draws her gun and aims it at Naru. Papers blind her as wind erupts around her, some of them sticking to her face. She fires two shots anyway. The bullets miss their target. She hits a ceiling tile and cracks one of the marble tiles instead. The officers that entered the room to take Naru away draw their weapons and aim it at Reno and Naru due to them being the closest. They don't hesitate and open fire at them. Reno snatches Naru on his way to the floor. They crawl to take cover behind the front of the desk.

The cops turn their attention to Lucas to continue their attacks. They are distracted by a few shots from Shina at the front door. They try their best to take cover around the short walkway by the gate. Lucas runs to the restroom door and slides in to get out of their line of sight. Casey clears her face of the paper and looks around the room. Naru, Lucas, and Reno are nowhere to be seen. She looks at Riku and Shina and aims at them. "Let him go or I'll shoot!"

"Okay, okay!" Riku let's go of the sleeping cop and raises his hands. Shina is kneeling next to him. "Put the gun down, Shina..." She looks at him worried about the three gunmen aiming at them. Shina places the gun on the floor next to her and puts her hands up as well. "We're cool! See?" Riku quickly lowers his wrists and the ceiling tiles above Casey fall, burying her in the debris. The remaining policemen poke back out to fire at Riku and Shina. One extends his hand out to fire but Naru knocks the gun from his hand from the other side of the walkway. The cop on the other end is too far for her to reach and he reaches through the gate to aim across the lobby. He is able to fire a few rounds at the two near the front door. Shina tackles Riku to the floor. Bullets tag the wall and door behind them.

Shots continue to rain in their direction. Shina lays on Riku's stomach but he rolls over to cover her. Riku lifts the broken marble tile to help in deflecting the projectiles that he's not yet able to catch with his power. The tile assists in blocking shots but it breaks into smaller pieces each time. Reno shoots the aggressive officer in the arm using Will's gun after crawling out just enough to see the attacker. It stops his assault on Riku and Shina but draws attention to himself. The officer sets his sights at Reno. He pulls the trigger. It clicks. Riku pulls the door of the metal gate fully open, breaking and trapping the officer's arm. He drops the gun and screams.

Riku turns to Shina to help her up but notices her wincing in pain. She's holding her waist and blood is slowly slipping through her fingers. "Shina!"

"I'm fine! Quiet down..." She struggles to sit up. "We need to get to the cells. Quickly..." Riku helps her to her feet and checks her injury. She's been hit in the lower back. He puts her arm around his shoulder and assists her across the lobby. They regroup near the gate. Naru holds the last officer at gunpoint.

"Will had a keycard," he notices the blood on Shina and Riku's hand. "Are you okay to move on, Shina?"

"Let's not make this flesh wound a big deal, please," she says.

Reno checks her anyway. "The bullet didn't exit Shina... Not really a flesh wound. Let's get in and we'll tend to you there." Shina sighs from the attention she's getting. They bring the remaining officer with them into the prison. On the other side of the door is a jaw-dropping sight.