Masumi stared at the blue-eyed hybrid through the glass. A few months ago he had rigged a trap in this room that sent a bullet through her shoulder and sent another officer to the hospital. He had done so much damage and avoided capture every time. They had finally caught him and his reign of terror seemed close to an end. So why did it feel off? He had requested the methods of restraint, maybe that was why. A venom-proof muzzle to protect them. He was helping them to keep himself contained. Why? What was he planning?
Kira entered with a clipboard.
"I have the results of those blood tests," the owl said. "He is fifty percent grey wolf, twenty-five 4percent hyena-explaining his major hybridization look. Twelve-point-five percent porcupine, six-point-twenty-five percent cougar, three-point-one-hundred-twenty-five percent taipan and the noticeable rest is axolotl, spitting cobra. The decimal places are too small, but those are the most distinct DNA patterns present. There are other patterns but too small to distinguish."
"What is he?" she asked.
"An amalgamation of generations of hybridization," he answered. "And very far along in the stages of Yoshida's disease."
"Say again?"
"He's suffering extensive, long-term organ failure," the medical examiner said. "His small percent of axolotl genes are healing most of the damage but it is increasing exponentially. He's still going to die soon. His medication has been cut, and that decreases his life expectancy in half."
The hybrid's head jerked to the side, rotating at the neck before snapping back into place. At the same time his shoulders twisted with both their own twitch and the force of the head, shaking his handcuffed hands which stiffened and tightened like he had tetanus before reverting back to their natural relaxed state, clasped in front of him as he patiently waited. But for what?
"The tremors have started," Kira stated. "His memory might start to fail in the next month or so."
"He seems to be taking it well," she said.
"He's had twenty years to live and accept his fate," the owl said. "Of course he's behaving that way."
Masumi just stared at him through the glass, arms crossed and feeling somewhat victorious after finally having him. But she couldn't shake the feeling that he was the only one who wanted to actually be here this late. He said he knew where the ex-chairman's wife was, but would only talk to one person about it. They were waiting for him now. The chairman himself was at an undisclosed location chosen by his enigmatic butler, who was looking after him. It would be best if they stayed in one place and hidden. The sheep had left his number to contact them for when any developments happened.
"What time is it?" the hybrid asked.
Masumi looked at Kira before sighing and pressing the intercom button.
"Ten thirty-six," she said.
"I wonder where he is?" Razor asked.
"You're the one that refuses to talk with anyone else," she said. "Not to mention, you say you've already contacted him and we have no way of proving that."
"Also begs the question of how trustful Adler is huh?" he smirked under the muzzle.
"He's a lot more trustful than you," she answered, breaking off the call.
The hybrid made a squelching noise at the top back of his mouth with his tongue and teeth.
"That's the sound his skull made when I pulverized it with my metal baseball bat," he said, making the sickening sound again.
"Ignore him," the owl said, seeing the chief's sudden change in body posture.
The hybrid made the sound again and the horse's body went ridged.
"And then there was the metal thudding on the asphalt when I mashed it down paper-thin," the killer added. "Thun-thun-thun-thun. The brain matter as it splattered."
Masumi was shaking as he made yet another noise
"Bastard had it coming though," Razor said. "You gotta acknowledge that."
The white horse couldn't take it anymore and left the room.
"Masumi," the owl called after her. "Wait!"
He followed after as the horse stormed into the interrogation room and grabbed the hybrid by his collar.
"Listen here you son of a bitch!" she yelled through her grit teeth.
"Chief!" the wolf agent called, grabbing her shoulder and grounding her back to her senses. She let go of the hybrid, who was smiling up at her with devilish delight. The other federal agents came in having followed the wolf upon hearing the doors slam.
"For the record," he sneered. "You're right. My mother, though a hyena, was a cold hearted bitch who only loved herself and what others could give her."
The wolf led her away from the hybrid, leaving the bear and rhino in the room. The bear moved to the window, opening it as the rhino stood in the corner by the door. The wolf led her back into the observation room and they watched the bear back away.
"He doesn't want to come in in the conventional way," the canine explained. "We met him outside. Said a lot with very little words."
The lights to the room were cut off and Masumi tensed. When they came back on, a dark looming shape was standing behind the hybrid. The hat was pulled down over his eyes and the antlers grew like tree branches from the top of their skull. A gloved hand grabbed the back of the hybrid's head as Adler slammed Razor's face into the metal table. The agents nodded and left the vigilante alone in the room.
"You're just going to-"
"We have Razor," the wolf cut Masumi off. "Adler will get what info he can on the abductee. Then we're out of this city."
"You're not-"
"The way we see it," he said. "Adler isn't blowing up buildings and killing innocent people in domestic terrorist attacks. He's entirely your problem to do with as you please."
The agents left the room and Masumi just looked on. Adler didn't even acknowledge her presence, still shoving the hybrid's face into the cold steel metal of the table. She couldn't help but feel a little sense of happiness at Razor's position right now. Part of her wanted the hybrid to be beaten to death. Right here, right now. He deserved it for what he did to Yahya.
"I'm bleeding," Razor shouted, a faint twinge of controlled panic in his voice. "I'm bleeding and it's not stopping."
All of her anger dissipated.
"Not my problem," Adler growled through the skull mask.
"I have haemophilia as a part of Yoshida's disease," the hybrid said, blood seeping through the muzzle and down his neck. "If I don't get this taken care of, I'll pass out and go into shock from blood loss."
He sounded like a child calmly asking for help after a serious accident. Masumi had to admit his manipulation was on point. But Adler wasn't having any of it.
"Then start talking," Adler said.
"No," the hybrid said after a brief hesitation. "I die, and everything I know dies with me."
Masumi saw a little smirk pull itself along the hybrid's muzzle. Was this all planned, or was he just making it up as they went along?
Adler stood for a few seconds more before tearing the muzzle off the hybrid and grabbing their snout, squeezing as hard as he could so the blood subsided as the capillaries were sealed.
"He's going to need a clotting agent," Kira called from the hallway as he ran down the hall.
"You have that?" Masumi asked.
"Unfortunately, some species are only playing dead when they come to me," the owl shrugged.
Adler finally looked up to Masumi and stared into her through his mask. He had a smaller stature than her, being obviously a deer, but that didn't stop his shadowy aura from being any less threatening as it seemed to fill the entirety of the room.
"Leave us," the vigilante said, in a manner that was polite for his being.
Masumi couldn't even nod. Just back away and close the door after her, leaving the two demons in their chamber.
~~~
"I didn't think you were going to show up," the hybrid said, smiling up at the deer once the police chief was out of the room.
"Well you wanted me here," Adler said, squeezing Razor's nose tighter. "So here I am."
"Good to finally see you face to face," the criminal jeered, unaffected by the tightened grasp on his upper jaw. "Staring into a computer screen and talking into a microphone is so dull."
There was an awkward pause as Razor sat there, his nose clenched in Alder's fist.
"What time is it?" he asked aloud.
"Ten-forty," the vigilante answered, glancing at the clock behind them without moving his head or body.
"We still have time then," he said. "Time to chat. How's my club doing? Figured you'd be around it."
Adler didn't answer. He wasn't in the mood for more babble.
"Why this sudden concern over a doe?" he asked. "I've kidnapped and killed so many others before her. Why didn't you show this kind of initiative with them?"
"I didn't know how to get to you," Adler ground through his teeth. "And you weren't entirely out in public."
"Eh true," the hybrid dismissed the subject.
The door opened and the owl came in with a syringe and bottle, drawing the liquid into the needle.
"Injecting this straight into your nose," he said. "Should take only a second to have the desired outcome."
"Desired outcome?" Razor asked. "You sound like this may or may not work."
"It's the practice of medicine," he said. "Sometimes things don't work. And let's be honest no one here wants to keep you alive."
"But you have to because of silly laws," Razor jeered as the medical examiner injected the contents directly into the capillaries in the hybrid's nose, taking out a cloth and applying pressure to the area. The hybrid just sat there patiently with the two animals holding his nose.
"This shouldn't take too long, right?" he asked.
"Got somewhere to be?" the owl retorted, keeping an eye on his watch.
"No," Razor answered. "But they will. And so will he."
He motioned to Adler and the people behind the glass. The owl removed the pressure from the needle point and gave Adler the okay to let go, which he didn't do gently, throwing the animal's face forward, but not enough that it went into the table. The blood had stopped flowing, that's all that mattered. Adler took a seat across from Razor and the owl left the room, closing the door behind him. Razor adjusted his posture and sat on the chair, crouching on the balls of his feet, his hands still cuffed to the table.
"You know what's going to happen right?" he asked, shifting his wrists as if they were uncomfortable.
Adler didn't respond.
"I'm going to tell you exactly what will happen in the next few minutes," the hybrid said. "And I'm so sure that it's going to happen, I made a bet with someone. First thing will be you and the police running from this place and leaving someone behind to keep an eye on me. While you're gone, that person is going to give me their gun, ID and keys and then I'm going to walk out of here and make it back home. And the best part of this plan is, no one will stop me."
"You're chained to a table that's screwed down to the floor," Adler explained. "There are a combination of cops and national guards in this building that far outnumber you. Not to mention you're unarmed this time, and no one we leave with you is going to give you anything."
"Wanna bet?" the murderer dared.
Adler squinted his eyes at him. It had no effect on the hybrid's confidence.
"You know," the hybrid said, killing time. "I've always wondered what plants taste like. Never really tried them, but I've always wondered. Apples have my interest at the moment, but I've always wanted to try a rose."
"A flower?" Adler asked.
"Mmm," Razor nodded. "I mean, what's stopping you from eating those perfectly pure, beautiful plants that you leave on your table to rot away and then throw in the trash, and the ones you defile, cut, mask and cook up to throw on a plate and eat?"
"Never really thought about it," Adler said, trying to figure out how to segway into the kidnapping situation.
"I imagine it's for the same reason no one has straight up killed me yet," he continued, not allowing Adler a moment of mental rest to think up his own game plan. "The unspoken belief that there are things you do, and things you don't do. All for a reason. Flowers are not for eating, but when they turn into fruits or grow on a stalk, that's okay. In the end, there is only what you want to do and what society brainwashes you to think you can't do. Because who the fuck cares if you eat your flowers. In the privacy of your own home you can do anything."
"You're getting off track," Adler growled. "Kidnapping. Where is she."
"We still have a few minutes," Razor said, raising a hand. "And they're not going anywhere. Yet. Believe me. Calm down. I imagine a rose has a very leathery texture. Almost like wax, but not really."
Adler stood and slammed his fist into Razor's clasped hands, smashing them into the metal in the same place his face had been previously. The hybrid gave little reaction more than looking at what just happened.
"You know I can't feel pain right?" he asked looking Adler plain in his eyes. "I'm so mixed my body has gone haywire."
Adler stared at Razor dead in the eyes, tired of his shit.
"Did you know there's a difference between carnivore and herbivore flesh?" the hybrid asked. "At least in texture. Couldn't tell you the taste. Herbivore meat is soft and palatable. Easier to rip into, tear a chunk out, then chew and swallow. Almost as if it's designed to do that. Carnivore meat on the other hand-"
"Is tougher and almost uneatable I'm guessing," Adler butted in, trying to move this conversation along at a much faster rate.
"Bingo," Razor said, pointing at him. "Another thing we have in common. We prefer the carnivores."
Adler and Louis did a double take. Hopefully the police wouldn't read too far into that comment.
"Though I have to wonder which is more important to you," he continued, using his hands to gesture, as if to further prove that Adler's punch did nothing. "The carnivore or the herbivore? Guess I'll find out tonight."
"What are you talking about?" Adler asked. "The one you had kidnapped was a female herbivore. Nothing on a carnivore."
Razor raised an eyebrow, looking over the vigilante's shoulder at the chief through the mirror.
~~~
They all looked at her.
"We had one call a few hours ago from the acting troupe in town that their star performer is missing," she said.
"And you didn't tell us this?" the bear asked.
"I honestly didn't think it was related," she said in her defense. "Besides, it had only been a few hours."
And it was the truth.
~~~
Razor reached for his jacket pocket, extending a feline claw and cutting open the seam inside, revealing a hidden pocket. He pulled out a picture he had hidden there for when they confiscated his belongings. He looked at it closely before placing it on the table in front of him.
"Won't find this in the burnt down wreckage," he sneered.
Adler looked at the picture of Azuki. The one that used to be in his desk back at his manor. What was significant about this? Adler let Louis look through his eyes, running their fingers along the picture, unlocking a memory his host had of this picture, and the feeling of another picture that should have been hidden underneath it. Something clicked in them as they figured out what Razor had done, crumpling the photo in their hand in pure, no longer contained rage.
Give it to him, Louis growled from Alder's subconscious.
The vigilante grabbed the chair he had been sitting in and propped it up against the door, cutting off access.
~~~
"Shit," the wolf said, running for the door.
~~~
Adler came back, a rage filled monster, and dragged the hybrid across the table with such force the metal holding his wrists to the table snapped.
"What have you done?" he demanded.
"We all have that one precious little secret we hide from everyone else," Razor said started a long winded answer. "We keep them hidden for different reasons. Shame. Embarrassment. Pain. But some of us, we can't get rid of it because it keeps us going."
Adler threw the hybrid into the wall next to the door, which was being slammed on by the agents.
"Don't worry your secret's safe with me," the hybrid started giggling.
Adler grabbed him and slammed the hybrid into the wall, laying an arm across his windpipe.
"Talk," he yelled.
"I am talking," the carnivore said, his brimming laughter being cut off by the vigilante's arm. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were a carnivore wanting some flesh. Come on, bite me."
Adler threw the creature to the ground.
"Talk!" he yelled louder this time.
"Some secrets we hold dearest to our heart," Razor said, looking up in held-in hysterical laughter. "Those are the dangerous ones. The ones others can use against you, like I'm doing now."
Adler landed a fist in the hybrid's face. The coagulant would still be working. Razor continued to hold in his laughter.
"I have no secrets," Razor said. "And I've accepted death so that's why these little charades of yours won't work."
Adler adjusted his grip and dragged the hybrid across the floor, throwing him into the reinforced glass, which cracked and branched out like a web from where his head made contact, and the vigilante continued holding him in the air.
"But I'm having fun," the hybrid smiled, his fangs swinging down to complete his monstrous smile. "You're just a plaything at the moment. I want to wind you up and watch the toy go."
Adler brought both his hands to the monster's throat and started to squeeze.
"Okay," the hybrid said, slapping the vigilante's arm to get him to loosen his grip. He did but only enough for the hybrid to answer.
"Tell me," he said.
"What time is it?" Razor asked.
"Why?" Adler growled.
"Because when you get there," he panted. "They may not be in just one place anymore."
"Ten-fifty," Masumi yelled over the intercom.
"The young actress is on an auction that will close in ten minutes at the art studio on Fleet Street," he hissed through a semi-collapsed windpipe. "And the doe is at 3520 North Marshall Street, in the electric factory."
Adler dropped the hybrid and stormed out of the room, shoving past the agents.
"Adler!" Masumi yelled. "Where are you going!"
"Marshall Street!" Louis yelled back, through a heavily graveled throat that sounded like Adler.
"Take one of the cruisers!" she yelled.
He heard keys being tossed and he spun to grab them, not breaking his stride as he turned back around and turned his stride into a full on sprint. He didn't even hear his prosthetic.
"Calling all units and the bomb squad," Masumi ordered through a radio as she followed after the vigilante. "Converge on these addresses-"
~~~
The agents slammed the door to the room closed, leaving Razor there in the room alone.
"Yukiji!" the wolf yelled to the rhino. "We're going out there to help! Watch him from in there!"
The rhino turned back into the observation room and closed the door behind her. She stood facing the window and looked in, she could see the top of Razor's head as he brought his hand up to rub his left eye.
~~~
The power plant was ten minutes in one direction.
~~~
The studio was ten minutes in the other direction.
~~~
They each only had nine.