"Then it's settled. Let's get out of here. The mafia's on their way. They're persistent, and it's not like some simple headstrong attack will work on you. If it does, then it's not an attack of strength."
Chuuya pointed behind Verlaine with his chin.
"It's a surprise attack. Something you can't predict or imagine no matter what, kind of like attacking with a joke. —Or something like that."
Immediately after that, someone tapped on Verlaine's shoulder.
Verlaine quickly turned around, searching for the attack, but it was to no avail.
You sent a blinding flash of light in his direction, one only a machine would be able to see through.
A pointer finger hit against Verlaine's cheek as he turned around.
"Ah—"
"Would you like to hear an android joke?"
A thin injection needle was installed on the tip of the pointer finger.
Using only the upper half of his body, Adam had put his hand on Verlaine's shoulder. The medicine from the needle on his finger entered Verlaine's skin, instantly entering his blood stream and caused a hypotensive nerve reflex.
Verlaine swayed heavily to one side before lurching towards the other side and falling over, losing consciousness. Adam, with only his right arm, shrugged his upper body off his shoulder and smiled mischievously.
"The assassin king was defeated by the poke from a childish prank. That's the android joke."
Excerpt from Rimbaud's notes:
------ day of the ------ year
Log of a DGSS agent from the tactics team of the Counter Terrorists Unit
Clear weather, right before dawn, new moon
I'll leave a slightly longer entry since it's the day before I infiltrate the military base of an enemy nation.
This mission won't have any backup, logistical support, or internal collaborators. Our target is a new model of gifted weaponry. Although it's said to be in the shape of a boy, it's a hidden calamity that has enough power to destroy the world. It's a dangerous mission, and I very well might not come back alive.
But if there's anyone out there who can successfully steal a global disaster from an enemy nation, it's me and my partner Verlaine.
I've been thinking for a while now on what I could do for my reliable partner, Verlaine. The answer only came to me yesterday.
We'll celebrate his birthday.
Of course, he technically doesn't have a birthday. But I considered it to be yesterday, for on that day four years ago, he killed Faunus and attained his freedom.
I ordered a small pudding from a pâtissier in Paris and went to Verlaine's hideout with wine underneath my arm. Verlaine was more suspicious than surprised, so I explained it to him. Celebrating your birthday gives off one simple message. "Your birth is worth celebrating". No matter what anybody says, there is value in you being born.
And there is something absolutely vital you have on birthdays. A birthday without this is like the night sky without a moon.
A birthday present.
I gave him a black bowler hat that had a visor on it. It wasn't particularly expensive, and it wasn't made by a well known craftsman. But the sweatband that wrapped around the inside of the hat was made from a very special material.
10% platinum, 10% titanium, and 80% interwoven rainbow colored metals, mainly gold, made from the ability of Faunus. I remodeled a nearly complete item he had at his research facility into the shape of a hat.
When he puts the hat on, the cloth acts as a coil and prevents any interception of his consciousness by instruction from the outside. On the contrary, it'll be possible to heed to instructions from the inside, AKA he can obey his own will. With this hat, Verlaine can be one step closer to a free willed human.
His reaction was a little strange. He wasn't overjoyed or surprised; his quiet eyes only seemed to say, "I guess I can take it". He didn't say a word about it. The two of us drank the wine, said our goodnights, and went our separate ways.
Even a day later, I'm still not sure if that was the right thing to do. Verlaine's eyes were as frozen as the land beyond the North Pole.
But I'll get my answer soon enough.
Tomorrow, when we're in an enemy nation.
If it's for my partner, I'll gladly conquer any hell we come across.
For as long as there's a god in the sky and a bond in our hearts, the future will reach its hands out to us.
(This is the final sentence in his notes. Nothing more is written after that.)
You sped down multiple flights of stairs, finding the elevator too slow. Relief coursed through you at the realisation that Chuuya was alive and Verlaine had been defeated. Though, you didn't have enough time to relish in the feeling, for the next phase was about to start.
The battle may have been over, but the remnants of the gravity waves left a lot of commotion in the forest.
Verlaine was defeated on Ground Zero, where trees were mowed down because of the radiation waves. The residual gravity waves were sucking in the wind, sound, and fallen leaves, creating a small vortex. Although, it wasn't due to Verlaine himself gaining consciousness.
Adam propped himself up using his one hand and peered over at Verlaine's sleeping form.
"Stable heartbeat and low respiration." He said. "He's sleeping without any problems. The current level of gravity doesn't pose a threat to the human body."
Adam leaned over and gazed steadily at Verlaine's sleeping face. The sleeping face of this world disaster, the man whom they call the King of Assassins, was too quiet and unthreatening.
"Hey, shall we scribble a bit on his face?" said Adam.
"Nah, I'll pass." Chuuya said while lowering himself to sit on the ground.
"Actually, this finger can turn into a pen." Adam then took off the exterior covering on the tip of his middle finger.
"I'll pass, I said." But even as he said that, a little laugh escaped Chuuya's lips.
Adam returned his finger back to the way it was. "Seeing him sleep peacefully like this, you'd almost think he was human."
"He's a normal human being whether he's asleep or awake." Chuuya said indifferently. "His ability is strong, that's all. Being angry and troubled... He doesn't seem satisfied with just that."
While listening to him talk, Adam stared intently at Chuuya. Then, he smiled and said, "You're right. At any rate, you appear to have finally reached a much needed conclusion."
"Huh? What do you mean by that?"
The moment Chuuya fixed his glare at Adam, a walkie-talkie sounded.
"Hello hello, good friends of mine. I've heard the reports." It was Dazai's voice. "So you defeated Verlaine? I'm thoroughly impressed! Even though I was in a, 'Well, even if I'm crushed flat in the sky, at least I'll be like Chuuya' kind of mood when I came up with it."
"Get to the point, Osamu," you spat out.
"You know what, you bastard..." Chuuy grit out.
The voice on the walkie-talkie cut him off before he could lash out. "But that's not why I'm contacting you. Have you seen N?"
"Huh? N?" Chuuya furrowed his eyebrows. "Wasn't he kidnapped by Verlaine?"
"Exactly, so I sent for a rescue team. We need his knowledge, especially so he could take a look inside of you, Chuuya."
Chuuya was silent for a while before grabbing the walkie-talkie. "So that's how it is. He was your objective from the very beginning?"
"Have you finally realized?" Dazai seemed to laugh cheerfully. "No matter how many times I save Mori-san's life, my loyalty just doesn't run deep enough to face off against such a frightening man. By implementing the formula N knows, or maybe his knowledge in general, the plan to make Chuuya my faithful maid—"
"Ahh, shove it! So? What's your point, asking if we've seen N?"
"Both of you stop bickering, none of us have the energy to put up with this shit," you demanded.
"The car bringing N over from the construction site disappeared. I've lost contact with N."
"What?"
Dazai's voice answering Chuuya's question was ominously sucked into the night.
"Something may have happened."
"I just might know what the something is," you whispered into the walkie-talkie as you hid behind a tree. "If I set of a silver flare, send backup immediately."
The mafia's black car was totaled into a utility pole.
N rolled out of the backseat from the unmoving car. His whole body was hit hard and sticky blood gathered in his mouth. He put his hands and feet on the road near the car and took a painful breath.
N had collided head on with a utility pole on the shoulder of the road, and the front of the car was now crushed. Smoke arose from somewhere in the car. He was near the forest where the battle with Verlaine was taking place, quiet and without a sign of life. All he could see was the endless black trees.
"There's no way... I can die yet...!"
As he said that, N spat sticky blood onto the ground and somehow managed to stand up. He then began to walk, almost like he was running away.
"Not until... I tell you..."
N took out a worn down flare gun from the breast pocket of his lab coat. It's color was a dull red, and by all means looked like a normal pistol. But it's muzzle was large, capable enough of shooting a 12 gauge flare.
Next, N took off his silver, plain wristwatch. With a finger slimy with sweat and blood, he took off the outer glass and grabbed one of the cogs from inside.
The wristwatch was ordinary, but the cogs inside were peculiar.
The inner metals emitted a mysterious glow. It was made of a platinum and gold alloy, but also a rainbow colored metal that no one had ever laid eyes on before. When the moonlight touched it, a string of equations floated across the surface of the gear before disappearing.
N walked, dragging his legs, to the top of a hill where he could get a good look of the battlefield with Verlaine. Trees were blown away here and there, and he could see where the earth was gouged out to become craters.
"As I thought... Verlaine changed into his beast form..." N said with a wheeze, a deep smile forming on the edge of those lips. "In that case, I can finally reach you with this weak hand of mine."
N took the strange metal out of his wristwatch and put it in the muzzle of the flare gun. His eyes were calm and devoid of any emotion, seeming to handle the plan of action that had already been decided.
He loaded the gun and shot it into the sky.