Madness At Noon {COMPLETED}

Hello! My Name Is 2/4

"We can't stay here," Jack said as we took shelter in an alley five blocks away from the Square. I waved him off, my lungs rejecting air as I tried to remind them that breathing was, for whatever reason, necessary for continued existence. It reeked of garbage and human filth in the tight space, hardly a place for a lady, but it would have to make do for now.

"Just... give me a minute," I gasped, feeling lightheaded and slightly dizzy. "I think we can afford a few... seconds."

"Will we be safe here?"

"Of... course... not. You cannot hide from the Madman any more... than you can from the Gentleman. They both have that... that same stubborn streak... to follow you into the pits of burning Hell. An admirable quality... unless they want to kill you.

"Speaking of," I added, glancing at the villain who was attempting to look quite intimidating standing at the mouth of the alley as if he could shield me from the monsters that lurked just behind the veil of rain. Jack was almost completely thawed now; no hint of his frosty nature could be seen as the downpour soaked us both. A young man, no different than any other on the street. Except for his pupilless eyes, which glowed like cold starfire in the dark, and the subtle scent of winter frost sweetening the foul air. "How on earth did you find me?"

"How d'ya think?" he shouted over a crash of thunder. "I've been following you for ages. First there was that bomb and then you go and disappear for days and now you just show up chargin' the Square like a one-woman army. I wasn't gonna leave ya there."

"My hero," I purred. Jack's cheeks turned the most adorable pink.

He shuffled his feet and said, "Still don't know what the heck you were thinkin', just standin' there, getting' shot up by some machine."

I blinked. "Machine? Not a firing squad?"

Jack gave me a funny look. "There weren't nobody in that Square but you, far as I could see. Just some weird-looking thing, like a machine gun or somethin'. But no one was firing it. Maybe it got rigged up or somethin' with a hair tie like they do in the movies." He shrugged. "And there you were, just standin' there in front of it with an umbrella. Why the hell were ya usin' an umbrella?"

I ignored the question. Jack's story was... interesting. I had heard multiple bursts of fire from different guns, and the sound of men shouting. I suppose it had been an illusion after all... But the gun had been real.

That bastard had really tried to kill me.

Except, the Madman had never been so sloppy as to leave witnesses before. Jack had seen through Shinji's illusion. Somehow.

If I was smart... I could use that to my advantage.

I noticed, too, that Jack had made no mention of my 'injuries', both my hand or my leg, though I could feel the blood leaking out of my body. I took this to mean that the bullet wounds were not real and I could ignore them all I wished. If Shinji wanted to weaken me with imaginary bullets, he was going to have to do a better job of it.

"Ya gonna tell me what that was all about, M.? Think I deserve that much after savin' ya neck," Jack said, running his hand through his dripping hair.

My eyebrows shot up. "Deserve?" I echoed. When did this little cretin become so bold?

"How much do you know about Madman Shinji?" I asked. Jack just shrugged again. I pulled the young man over to a filthy patch of street next to a dumpster where we would be hidden from unfriendly eyes, if any did happen to exist. Sitting down side by side on a couple of milk crates, I told him everything I knew about the creature I was going to tear into little, tiny pieces.