FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

"Ma'am, I do not know where your boyfriend is." "He got taken by cops RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME and I don't know what's going on!" "Ma'am, please calm down." "NO, I want my baby where is he?!" "Do you know which officer was with him?" "It...s-some human I think, Davis, he was black or something, just-go find him and tell him to give back my James!" "I am not authorised to make that decision ma'am, if you'd like to wait and ask politely then I will do my best to find Mr. Davis and-" "I JUST CAME OUT TO HAVE A GOOD TIME AND I'M FEELING SO ATTACKED RIGHT NOW!" Leiah went sobbing on the front desk of C-Sec, throwing out a tantrum which ended after a good two minutes of shrill crying and desperate emotion all to the stonefaced turian receptionist who stood waiting awkwardly. He was not in the mood to deal with an overemotional quarian screaming the place down, and had she not suddenly broken in tears he would have had someone come to detain her. As it was, her sobbing brought immense attention from all over the pentagonal-shaped room, visitors and staff alike watching with curious disdainment. The quarian heaved with aching shoulders in the midst of the blue reception hall, a column in the centre of the room where the desk of reception was nuzzled against, an elevator behind the column with a flight of stairs on the other side of the room. Two hallways went both left and right of where Leiah stood begging: "I want my babyyyyy!" "Ma'am, please, I will find him for you, just PLEASE sit down, calm yourself and I will go find him." "You...y-y-you will?" "Yes." "...o-okay." "Now, who are you looking for?" "J-James...Campbell. He got taken by um...detective I think, Greg Davis? I don't know what's happening I just-I've been through such a rough week an' the only one that's kept me together is my Jamesy..." Her voice got higher pitched towards the end of this, hands clasped over her mask as she shook with tearful whimpering, the turian receptionist trying not to look sympathetic. "Let me go find him. In the meantime why don't you sit down and collect yourself? Would you like something to drink?" "N-no...I'll be...thank you."

Trudging off slowly towards the seating area, she sat waiting as the receptionist called up for detective Davis to come down and assist, the quarian shivering to herself fearfully. Eventually she soon met him again, the human walking up to her from the hallways saying: "Miss Dahlael?" "Y-yes?!" "I'm detective Greg Davis, I believe we've met." "Wh-where's James?!" "If you'll just follow me to my office please." She walked behind him nervously, fretting between corridors and offices with the occasional waiting area and potted plant to try and brighten up the place, despite its cold blue interior. Davis soon had her up in Investigations, walking towards his office. It was smaller than Dahnus', but he preferred it that way with its more tightly clustered volumes of datapads, an actual sliding door for privacy, a photo of his family facing his seat on his desk with a terminal, and a nice window view showing a construction area all along the south side. He sat at his desk with Leiah opposite as he explained. "Sorry about all this miss Dahlael, but Mr. Campbell is just helping us with our enquiries." "I-is he in trouble?!" "No, he just has some information that's relevant to us. Did you not meet him outside the hospital?" "I-i-i got...I don't...I don't like hospitals. I...I had bad experiences in them I wanted to tell him b-but I...I left a message on his omni-tool saying I'd be at the station I didn't know what to do!" "He simply talked with me and a colleague of mine-" "But why was he at the hospital!?" "My colleague was currently recovering there from an illness." "OH, keelah it's not infectious is it?!" "No no it's not. Maybe you should call James now, he should be fine and able to talk to you." "R-really? Okay...Wha-OH NOOO!" She fidgeted with the omni-tool and suddenly watched it spark off her wrist, crying with panic: "WHA-DAMMIT IT'S NOT WORKING!" "Woah woah woah calm down, lemme see-" "NOOOO it's not workiiiiiing!" "Lemme jus-AGH!" Davis suddenly felt his omni-tool sparking the same way, shortening out by some strange coincidence that made him suspect something further. "...god dammit I TOLD them to shield that shit properly." "Wh-what's happening?!" squawked Leiah. "Wh-why's the omni-tool breaking?!" "I think, don't worry, nothing wrong, there's just some electronic interference in the station, do you mind waiting while I sort this out? Your omni-tool should be fine it's just got some interference." "Um...you sure it's not broken?" "Absolutely, now if you'll just excuse me miss Dahlael but rest assured, James is absolutely fine, when I get back and these omni-tools start working again, you can call him." "Okay...thank you..."

The detective left the office as Leiah made sure that he was gone with the door closed, sniffing back her tears and smirking beneath her mask. As she waited a few seconds before calling on the omni-tool, her voice stopped shaking and she returned back to her old self. "I'm in." "Awesome," said Lirem, "is he gone?" "Yep, they tooootally bought it, heheheh." "You're a natural born actress!" "Well, recreating Fleet and Flotilla scenes with your friends back as a teenager does help." "Wow, TMI, okay now, Areh, guide her through it." "This terminal shouldn't be difficult," said Areh over comms, "long as James kept his eyes open." "I did," said FG, "his password was jarren. That's Jay-ay-ar-ar-eeh-en." "Huh, really?" asked Leiah. "Wonder who that is?" "No idea, just get in there." "Okay doke...hiiii baaabe." "Heeeey fake girlfriend." Leiah waved through the window whilst giggling towards the construction site, where James sat watching on the site's upper floor with a high-focus visor. It was like holding a telescope in his hand, imagining he could see the whole city with it. Every single window he could find. But he kept his mind sharp, trying to not think of other things watching Leiah through the office window as he kept an eye out for Davis coming back. The constant throng of people in the office halls was keeping him in check, as he sat down on the unvarnished floor of the building. The building itself was nearly the height of the police station, perhaps to make a fine counterpart between the public service and the residents they mean to protect. An apartment block by the look of the layout, there was an alien design more than usual to this structure that came in the form of curving hallways and odd magnetic rails along the outer sides of the building. Presumably it was some form of setpiece for further installation, but that didn't concern James as much as his next question, asking the comm unit: "I'm hearing some rumbling off in the distance, should I be worried?" "Nah," said Areh, "that's just the train carriages, you're near the industrial district where they have a lot of trains through the area." "Is that what these weird railings are for?" "Yep, sometimes it's easier to move that stuff up by train rather than like, one truck through traffic, especially when you got like three carriages full of things." "Heh...I wonder if they got hobos riding on trains in this world too?" "They're pretty clockwork, like every thirty minutes on the hour they come. I used to ride on them with Jax so I remember all the places." "I wuz the biggest hobo ever," said Jax happily. "You-uuuh might wanna be careful h-how you say-ay tha-at," said FG chuckling, "people might mishear you." "Whut, that I'm a big hobo? I'm not anymore but-" "Hehehehhhh never mind...so uh, why am I the lookout again?" "Because you can tell humans apart better," said Norem, "no offence but we kinda can't tell them apart very well." "Wow that's pretty racist there dude." "Is it racist if it's true? Also who is it racist to, humans for not looking different or turians who can't tell them apart?" "...I...guess I'll let you off with that one." "Okay um Leiah?" asked Areh. "We're looking for a case file that's very recent, try to look up anything dated three weeks ago." "Got it," said Leiah. "Nice work on that little trap by the way, gave me and that dude a real scare." "Hehe, just what I like to call a little Zedus shock bomb, nothing harmful." "I wanted to call it Godzooky," said Jax. "That's a bastard son's name and you know it Jax." "Guys could you hold off your little monster convention until after we're done with this?" "Right right okay...anything Leiah?" "Almost," said Leiah, "...wait, wait I think I have something! YES, I found it, Fin Torvan. Volus, drug smuggler, arrested at the Purgatory club along with Anaira Kovis of the Blue Suns." "Any connections to previous crimes?" asked Lirem. "Mmhmm, says right here, drug peddling hallex down in the wards for quite a while, as well as having one excursion four weeks ago, at Omega. It says...h-huh?!" "What?" "There's nothing here, it's all gone!" "WHAT!?" "Just, the data disappeared on the Omega visit, I don't...huh-wait, what the...James are you seeing this?!" "I am holy shit what is that?!"

From James' point of view on the other side of the wide traffic between buildings, he saw Davis' monitor start flickering and revealing something more to them. What was originally a blank slate of data concerning Fin Torvan's other previous misdemeanours, became something more as a new line of data started appearing. Then another, and another as if being typed out by invisible hands. "What's going on?!" asked Areh. "S-someone's putting stuff into the report, like actually typing it in!" "WHAT?! But there's no one else here!" "Is there?" "I DUNNO! Look around the area, maybe we've got someone else trying to hack in." The raptor began searching everywhere for someone that might look suspicious, besides themselves that is. Nothing seemed to be out of place, the cars hovering back and forth as he kept a watchful eye now and again on the C-Sec windows in case Davis might come back. But as he glanced higher up towards the spiralling top of the building, he saw something glint rather odd towards the peak of the station. Past a blinking light, glaring in red, was something metallic and hunched over. "...I think I see it." "Where?!" said Lirem. "At the top of the C-Sec building, I can't make out what it is, might be a robot." "Wait GETH!? In the Citadel?! That's impossible they can't get through checkpoints not after Sovereign!" "GUYS WAIT!" shouted Leiah through a harsh whisper. "The text is different now! It...it says...it's for you." "Huh?" "James...this message is for you." His eyes swiftly went back towards Leiah as she pulled back from the terminal, showing him fully what it said on the screen through his high-powered lens.

JAMESROBERTCAMPBELL DONOTBEALARMED IAMAFRIEND IKNOWWHEREFACINUSARETARGETINGNEXT BUTIMUSTMEETYOUSOMEWHERESAFE YOUMUSTLOCATEFACILITYXR1 INTHEROSETTANEBULAOFTHEPHICLIOSYSTEM FINDTHEPLANETTHATDOESNOTEXIST WEMUSTNOTWASTEANYMORETIME YOUAREOURONLYHOPEOFSALVA*%U+%

This was all that it said before it simply disappeared after two minutes on screen, more than enough time for them to memorise it fully. "...the...fuck was that?" was all James could ask. "I-i don't know!" said Leiah. "Who would want to help us take down Facinus?!" "If they're even a friend," said Norem, "sounds suspicious, also the Rosetta Nebula is very far away." "What's this about a planet that doesn't exist?! And why do they know James?!" "Probably some riddle, we'll figure it out once we get back...what about that geth you saw James, is it there?" "Uhhh...wait...it's gone!" "Huh?" "That thing I saw is gone, I swear it was there before I-...shit, Leiah pack it up, that guy's coming back!" "Shit!" Leiah swiftly tapped out of the computer and left the terminal exactly the way it was, sitting back on her chair and looking as content as she possibly could. Her nervous twitching however was impossible to hide fully, but due to her performance before it simply became part of her "distressed girlfriend" character as Davis walked back in, saying: "Well uh, I THINK the problem got solved, try your omni-tool now." She tapped on it nervously to call James, the raptor seeing the view perfectly and putting away the visor in his pockets as he responded. "Yello?" "JAMES, you okay?!" "Yeah, where the hell were you, you weren't outside the hospital." "I'm sorry, oh keelah I just...I-i'm not good with hospitals I just-is everything okay?!" "Yeah yeah I'm fine, just uh, doing a little sightseeing yanno, you shouldn't worry so much." "I'm sorry...so...there's nothing wrong?" "Naaah they just wanted to ask me a few things, I think it was to do with that krogan from before, yanno the one that we had a fight with? That sorta thing, anyways where you wanna meet?" "Uhhhhhmmm how about the Silversun Strip? I really need to unwind with some games or something." "Sounds good to me, I'll see ya there alright?" "Okay, bye, love you!" "Love you toooo." The moment the call ended he felt a gun at his back, pressing against the base of his neck as he stiffened up straight. His eyes closed tightly as he silently cursed himself, especially when he heard the voice of New York behind him. "Well lookie here, a rat-ass bitch hidin' out in a disused apartment building spyin' on thuh police. Old habits die hard don't they?" "So do annoying cunts like you." "Put your hands up an' turn around slowly. Don't you try nuthin' cuz ahm either gonna kill you, or cripple yo' ass for life so you ain't never gonna run again."

He did as he was told, putting up his hands slowly above his head before turning his body round. Roy stared straight at him, his gun firmly pressed against the raptor's throat as James did his best not to swallow. Cold hard eyes of brown within a blue curved ring circling each socket, his dark scales marking him from the grey walls and tenement halls that would one day be finished. The black raptor in silver armour asked him from behind the pistol: "Whut were you doin' up here?" "Sightseeing, didn't you hear? I wanted to get a better view." "Of whut, police terminals? Gonna bust out some friends in prison?" "More like find enemies in prison." "Yeah, wit' you that's practically thuh same thing." "Are you going to kill me?" "Ah'd rather not do it out in thuh open. Besides, police building right across thuh way, too far for 'em to see but ah ain't gonna look good shooting you in thuh face without an explanation, no buildup no prerogatives no nuthin'." "So...what do we do? Because I was just having a nice time, being up here, and you just come walking up to me like you're a fucking mugger just like when we first met." "You an' me are gonna have a nice walk down somewhere ain' nobody gonna find us. Once we find somewhere nice an' cozy...we can finally say goodbye." "Oh good, I'm getting sick of you already." "Hmph...I share thuh sentiment." "What happened to no guns last time?" "That wuz before you tried to blow me up with a grenade." "Says mister skyhook knight, you fucking piece of shit." "You would have pulled that grenade shit anyway." "Would I?" He pushed the gun against James' larynx as he gasped and coughed slightly, the odd metal feeling making wince as he leaned his head back slightly. Seeing the drop below of an impossible height, beyond floating traffic into the abyss of infinity, made his legs turn rather shaky. He also noticed however the outer reaches of the building structure, an idea forming in his mind desperately. "Careful," said Roy, "you might fall." "M-maybe you should hold me before I do," said FG. "Or ah could let you fall." "Sure, be a cowardly little bitch and never see my body hit the ground, that's not gonna be something you'll regret for the rest of your life." "Thuh way ah see it you gonna be Ratigan an' ahm gonna be Basil...heh, nah that's an insult to him." "Who the fuck is Ratigan?" "...that ain't important." "He one of your friends? I guess it makes sense for a New Yorker to make friends with rats-" "SHUT. Up." He grabbed the back of FG's head as he said this, forcing the gun against his jaw. "Ahm sick of your goddamn voice." "Then stop giving me reasons to talk, asshole." "Fine. Walk with me."

Just as Roy was about to grab his neck and pull him forwards, the raptor decided to make a more daring move than just simply walk. He stumbled forwards further than expected, making Roy go off balance whilst James slammed his knee into the back of Roy's leg in mid-stumble, forcing him down on one leg as he turned and ran. Before the utahraptor could get a chance to fire, James had already jumped. A brown blur was all that's left as the wind harrowed past his shape, leaving Roy all alone with shock at his enemy's choice. "...wh...wh-whut thuh FUCK?!" He ran to the edge and saw just in time the raptor disappear from view, not falling down directly into the abyss. Instead, he was somehow grinding his way down on the winding rail lines of the construction building. James smugly looked up at him, his feet covered in some strange green boots with orange outlines, blue sparks burning underneath. Roy felt his eye twitch with fury, overriding his shock as he snarled: "...you...no. Ahm not lettin' you get away again. Fuck this." Roy simply backed up by at least five steps, and ran straight off the edge of the building. James was oblivious to this having just turned round the corner of the rail with his grind skates once more, chuckling to himself with a toothy grin as he maintained his balance. The wind streaked past his armour with a surging rush through his body, as he waited to see the ground level once the rails would stop. "Hmhmhahahahaaaahhhhh dumbass...dammit, should have used that line I used before back the first time I did this...what was it? You have to tag me first? I think, something like that." "RRRRRRRAAAAA AAAAARGH! _" A violent roar came from behind, as he saw a huge shadow come across his body. Turning his head before leaping to a nearby rail, he saw the large black and silver form of Roy streaking alongside him at the same speed on the magnetic rails. But whereas James was grinding by his feet, Roy was hanging off the bottom with a familiar-looking mechanical hook, spinning violently within the rail itself. "WHAT THE FUCK!?" "_YOU AIN' GETTIN' OFF THIS EASY JAMES! NOT WHEN AH CAN STILL CATCH YOU!" "THE FUCK IS THIS SHIT?!" "IT'S CALLED A SKYHOOK MOTHERFUCKER, AN' AHMA CRACK IT WIDE OPEN RIGHT ON YOUR FUCKING HEAD!" James started to panic at the violent other raptor following him, the rails starting to curve and bend their way around and soon starting to move up and down. James' rail went downwards, whilst Roy's went further up. This to him was the perfect opportunity, dislodging himself off the rail as the skyhook shined in the air like the sword of Damocles. James fired upwards, shooting in a panic with the submachine gun hoping that the volley of bullets would distract him enough. Unfortunately they did not, and the skyhook scraped hard down his back cracking a piece of the armour as he screamed. The armour at his back was sturdier than he thought, but the exposed tear in it now made from the vicious magnetic hooks made it dig nearly into his waist. Roy was following up behind him, the two grinding on the same rail with James out in front, showering blue sparks onto Roy behind him hanging underneath. The black raptor pulled out his pistol and fired upwards at James, hoping to get a lucky shot as the raptor dodged with panic, trying to shoot back at him in turn. The angle between them made it incredibly difficult for either to hit.

But soon Roy found another railing lower down, and swung himself off towards it before hooking on and firing upwards, the better distance giving him a chance to shoot at FG's body. Shots pinged off his armour whilst whizzing past his ear, the raptor in brown and red firing back at him. The submachine pistol was inaccurate, but it certainly streaked off a whole series of sparking shots on Roy's armour to keep him from firing back. Some of his shots went straight into the unused building, pot-shots cracking along the weak walls. The shots rang out across the Citadel sky, a background of purple and blue serenely ignorant of the battle within. Roy saw another rail that lead upwards, and swung himself over towards it with magnetic perfection, whilst James hopped back and forth on two rails that slowly lined up together. The moment his pursuer was high enough, he watched the vengeful black raptor come down on him right before he switched rails. He even managed to spin in the air briefly in order to grind backwards, keeping an eye on Roy for any more movements between rails. "THIS IS INSANE ROY, THIS IS FUCKING STUPID!" "YOU STARTED IT, YOU JUMPED OFF THUH DAMN BUILDING!" "YEAH, CUZ I DON'T WANNA DIE IN A FUCKING ALLEY LIKE SOME DUMB SHIT!" "TOO BAD, CUZ NOW, YOUR ASS GONNA FALL OFF DEAD FROM THIS RAILING WHEN AH SPLIT YOU IN HALF!" Roy saw that the rail James was on had started to go lower, dipping towards the ground as he waited for his chance. But James did not make it easy, hopping onto the rail that Roy was on and staying ahead of him. Both skates and skyhook turned dangerously close towards one another, screaming sparks shimmering off from each other as the raptor in brown hopped onto a slightly higher rail. He was more willing to chance Roy's shots rather than Roy's hooks digging into him, the armour whistling with wind behind him as he felt uncomfortably cold behind him. The black raptor fired upwards desperately, his shots missing mostly to hit the building under construction with one or two managing to nick across FG's armour. But the raptor in red soon saw that they were nearing the ground, as they reached halfway around the building itself. Eventually the rail went through the building, twisting and turning like a snake as the spiralling construct of the magnetised lines went in a bizarrely fluid fashion, forcing Roy to keep checking where his body swung as they passed from room to room, metal pillars shrieking past their view. At one point, James found himself swung upside down whilst magnetised by his feet, the whole world turned up as he looked towards Roy, swinging right in front of him and dangling by his arms. The black raptor swung out his feet and tried to kick James off, slamming into his face whilst the other raptor tried punching and smacking. Kicks went flying as Roy swung back and forth, trying to gain momentum with each kick as well as managing to get a few shots in at his gut and face.

James in turn managed to block a few of the kicks with his gauntleted hands, despite being kicked repeatedly all over and getting a slight bruise on his face. But he got his revenge by grabbing one of Roy's legs and slamming his own knee back at his face, knocking a black eye on his blue-ringed features. Soon the rails uprighted themselves, as James had no need to correct his body by going where his feet wanted to be, the other raptor forced to unhook and rehook himself back in midair whilst trying to realign himself, or else suffer hitting the rail with his face. The magnet line went straight downwards, hurtling both of them down towards the ground at breakneck speed as both Roy and FG started screaming by instinct, wind screeching past their necks. The sheer velocity made them panic, feeling the same experience anyone did when falling, despite the fact they knew that their magnetised equipment would save them. As the building itself rose higher and higher above them with wind-shrieking force all around them, the lines straightened out and exited from the building floor, before heading straight towards a nearby warehouse. While the line did not stop at the warehouse itself, Roy decided it was high time to finish this, as he swung upwards and kicked James off the rail before falling onto a large crate. He groaned as he saw the black raptor jump off down beside him, skyhook in hand spinning wickedly like a spindle of death. The warehouse was huge, steel boxes piled high with two sets of rails that went either through the place itself, or went around the entire warehouse in a circle connected by a crane mechanism similar to the one James saw on Illium. Roy walked closer sneering with his hooks. "Now that we're done with thuh high-speed bullshit, you just got us nice an' quick to a place ah can finish you off quietly." "How nice of me," said FG flatly. "But FUCK YOU!" Before Roy could react, James shot a blast of wind from his fist before getting up and spinkicking Roy hard across the face, still wearing the grind skates which scarred smoothly across his face. The black raptor roared and backed off, feeling a sharp burn across his cheek that welted up into a dark crimson, as the raptor hopped off the crates and onto the ground floor. No one was apparently around inside the warehouse, as the raptor went skating furiously fast between boxes to try and outdodge his opponent. But Roy had other ideas, realising his advantage from above as he called out: "YOU THINK YER FAST ENOUGH TO OUTDODGE ME FG?! HOW 'BOUT WE PLAY A GAME?! IF AH CATCH YOU, AHLL FINISH YOU!" The black raptor leapt towards the rail above, the skyhook clashing on perfectly as he swung round the ceiling like a hawk searching for its prey, his eyes focusing intently for any sign of FG. Blue sparks skirted around the corner of a crate, a brown shadow seen here or there with red accents behind it. James saw that Roy was in hot pursuit, the speed by which he travelled the rail almost as fast as him, right before he turned a corner and heard a roar from above.

Roy slammed down hard only missing James by a few inches, before he swung out violently with the skyhook and tried to strike at his face. Watching the vicious slashing strikes, the brown raptor was able to dodge much more quickly on wheels as he pushed back on his skates, kicking himself in different directions whilst moving his head swiftly, dodging like a boxer, infuriating Roy further. "STOP MOVIN' AN' LEMME BREAK YER NECK!" "TOO SLOW BLACKIE-WHUP, WOAH! I'm the fast one around here, WULD!" After Roy swung too far in outreaching with his hooks, the grinding raptor blasted out a shock of wind to shove him back hard across the floor, while sending himself on a backwards skate winding behind the crates. He disappeared from Roy's view, but not for long when the black raptor hopped onto some nearby crates with athletically-perfect vaults, leaping onto the rail once more as he scoped out his target. James did not expect him to get back up so easily, and was cockily swinging back and forth teasingly between the maze of boxes, blue sparks streaking behind him. For his arrogance, Roy came down hard and slammed his feet onto FG's back, crushing his armoured feet on top of the raptor's cracked exposed armour as he shrieked from the sudden agony. Groaning underneath, he summoned as much fury of wind as possible to blast underneath him, forcing a sudden upheaval from under his body by sheer pressure that bumped Roy off, the raptor standing up hastily with weakened gait before bullrushing the American. He slammed Roy against a crate and repeatedly punched him in the face, using the brief moment of surprise to violently shove his fist into his eye over and over again like a brawler on the streets. A few brutal kneeslams followed by a cracking roundhouse punch across the jaw sent blood flying from Roy's mouth before he could counter back, grappling FG by the arm and swinging the skyhook at his face. The sharp hook missed when James tried to dodge back, but Roy managed to catch him by the very tip as it shrieked past his snout, catching some of the skin and tearing a scar off his cheek. The raptor screamed with fury in his pain before summoning a whirling fist of energy, a firey spark from his nanos that ignited underneath Roy's chin. With a burning uppercut he shrieked with vengeance, punching the black raptor up high enough that he was able to grab onto a crate by the added height and reassert himself once more, rubbing his burning cracked jaw while wincing. "SHOOOOORYUKEN!" "GUUUH! FFFFFUH...fuckin' punkass SHIT!" "SHUT UP YOU FUCKING SHITSCALE, I'M NOT FINISHED WITH YOU YET!" "NEITHER AM I!"

The two got serious as FG skated off in hiding despite what he said, the other raptor leaping back onto the rail and swinging round over the crates. This time Roy decided to weaken his raptor opponent more by pulling out his gun and trying to shoot, which was not a good idea truth be told. The speed at which he swung along the rails was faster than expected, and his aim while good was always getting thrown off by the fact that both him and his opponent were moving at the same time. James however did not know how good a shot Roy was, and the sound of gunfire made him panic and try to swerve back and forth in a desperate attempt for him to miss, serpentine movements following his trail of sparks. It worked enough that the black raptor kept missing constantly, the odd shot pinging off of James' armour or occasionally hitting through to nick his flesh, but nothing ever lethal. Then Roy had an idea, shooting in front of the raptor and making him flinch and turn in one direction, sharply steering himself right in front of Roy's position. It was the perfect strike had James not been fast enough to react with another blast of wind. He managed to push Roy back far enough that the skyhook did not come crashing down on his skull. Instead, he only pushed Roy back far enough to claw his eye, streaking down a violent red scar that went straight over his left socket. The raptor shrieked and fell down with bloodied tears, crying out from the pain as he covered the left side of his face. "GAAAAAAAAAAAARRRGH! YOU FUCKIN-AAAAAAAAAARGH!" "Hhhh...hhh...you see now FG? HUH?! YOU SEE THIS?! No matter where you run, you ain' NEVER gonna outrun me!" "F-FUCK YOU! AFTER EVERYTHING I'VE BEEN THROUGH, I DON'T DESERVE THIS!" "BULLSHIT!" He grabbed FG by the neck and slammed him up against the wall, the raptor hiding his scarred face behind one hand in order to staunch the blood uselessly. Red dripped out from his wrist underneath by his cheek, across his lips as he stared through his right eye only with Roy staring right through him. "I...want nuthin' but justice. That so much to ask FG? Hmm? All ah want is fer you to admit whut you did, this ONE THING, and ah can get whut ah want." "What...you want?" said James softly. "That's...a pile of shit." "DON'T you judge me you got no fuckin' right to judge me." "You're...an idiot. I've done a lot of stupid things but you...jesus you fucking retard." "SHUT UP!" A brutal backfist across FG's face sent him flying across the floor, his grind skates disappearing from his feet as he struggled to conserve his nanos, the energy flowing weakly through him. He had not anticipated how much energy the entire chase used, his head now throbbing absurdly as he got up slowly. He tried to crawl towards the centre of the warehouse underneath the main rail line, but Roy simply walked up to him and kicked him hard at the back of his head, causing him to fall forwards and crunch-roll on his chest.

"AAAAARRGH!" "Ah tried to make you listen, ah tried to beg to your decency, ah even offered to take you back mahself. And still you don't admit it. You ain't never gonna admit it unless ah force you." "Wha...wh-what is there to admit when it's nothing but a lie?" "MAH PARENTS DIED YOU SUNUVA BITCH, THAT AIN'T NO DAMN LIE! If that were a lie, ah wouldn't be here kickin' yo' ass up an' down thuh fuckin' galaxy, WOULD I?!" "I dunno...you just fucking believe anything don't you?" "Well yanno whut? Ahm gonna take you back home." "H-huh?" Roy walked straight up towards him and grabbed his head, pulling him up hard and painfully as his body struggled to move underneath, the black raptor bringing out his skyhook. "One reason ah took this thing with me...is cuz ah got a special request from thuh A.R.M.E." "Wh-what?" "Ah have to bring back your head. Thuh technology you stole an' they really want back." "Wh-...what? ...what are you some fucking bounty hunter now?" "Ahm a member of justice." "You're a fucking bounty hunter. Cops don't...take heads off criminals and bring them back, that's fucking sick." "Well you a sick person...so it's fitting." "Is this what you really wanted to be Roy? You wanted to be a cop, you wanted to protect people...what would your parents say if they heard you were gonna do this to me? To a wanted criminal who wasn't given a fair sentence, a fair trial?" "...I...no, you don't get to talk." He jammed the hook against James' neck and readied his finger on the trigger. James noticed the rail line above them and hoped that fate would give him another chance while trying to keep Roy talking as he continued: "This is your sentence." "Wh-what? To die in a warehouse like some gangster?" "So you admit it. You are a criminal." "I never said...I wasn't. I just said I never killed your parents. But I'm not a clean person." "Whut?" "I've killed so many people Roy. I'm a monster, fine, I'm a terrible person, I've done bad things. I killed a guy when I was seventeen in blind rage, I killed another guy by accident to cover up a crime, and every other time I killed after that was either in self-defence or violent rage. Do you know...I had a girlfriend once who was murdered?" "Whut's that got to do with anything?" "I could have let the police handle it...I could have...I should have let them find the killer and given him a sentence. But I didn't. I hunted him down...and I murdered him. ...I raped him." "...thuh fuck?" "I know I did horrible things. I know I did...and I'm sorry, I'm sorry for all of them, if I could...if I could be given sentence for them, if I got caught and had to go to prison for the rest of my life, I would. I don't...I'm too dangerous to be left running around out there...out there...with a deadly blade that's running out there too..."

James started to weep slightly with regret as he felt a sorrow overcome him. Whether it was the desperation of pleading for something to come save him, or the prospect of death now close at hand by Roy's own fingers, he began to shake with a growing remorse he had not felt in ages. In turn Roy started to see him become more vulnerable, pushing the hook more firmly to his throat saying: "Did any of them deserve it? Hmm? Any of 'em?" "...most of them." "Huh?" "Most of them did...but not all. I...listen, I can pay for a lot of crimes I did, and I've done a lot of things. But I never...ever...killed your parents. I'll pay for stuff I've done but I will never take the fall for something I didn't do. Please...p-please Roy...you have to believe me." In that moment Roy's fingers started to shake with something towards unease. Something was pulling him away from his verdict of guilty, and he wasn't sure why. But the look in James' eyes of remorse sent something deeper inside him, even if a part of him tried to convince that James was still a very slippery individual. And one who had no qualms about lying to get out of trouble. "Then consider this...punishment for crimes you did." "That's not what you want. You don't care." "Ah WANT peace." "With yourself?" "...you tryin' to buy time aren't you?" "Hhhhhh...for what? ...what time is it?" "Almost five-thirty, whut's it matter? Ah know none of your friends are comin' to save you." "No...dammit...can you do me one favour?" "Whut?" "...when I go, I want you to go back to your superiors, back to Chicago. Ask them about me, where I come from, what I did, demand to see the police report about who killed your parents." "Ah saw that report, an' it DOES say you did it." "Then look at it again! LOOK AT IT AGAIN and tell me it isn't fake! Then, I want you to go, without telling them, to the Chicago police station and find my police report there. A separate one that tells you all the stuff I did that the police know about. Just...make damn well sure that you're chasing the right guy. If you're gonna punish me for something then punish me for something I did. I have nothing to hide from you anymore." "Ah think you do." "...you're right. There is one more thing I haven't told you." "Whut's that?" "...I'm about to save your life again." Around the time he said he had nothing to hide, he heard a sound of something rumbling from the distance. Something he recognised much more clearly than he last heard it half an hour ago. Roy heard it for the first time in years, a sound that made his eyes widen with something strange and terrifying. His hand started to shake, he turned towards his right and saw through an open passage at the side of the warehouse a large steel monster come roaring down towards him. The design was different, but the principle was the very same to him. The monster of bloodied steel.

He could do nothing but scream as he pulled the skyhook away, covering his hands over his face and crying with a sudden fear that overtook him. In that moment, James rushed forwards and shoved him out of the oncoming train's path, quickly grabbing on to an open sidecar of its supplies as it went rushing past his assailant. The black raptor laid cowering against the cold floor, screaming violently as the sounds of carriages clacking past continued to assault his ears. With each gusts of wind and connecting shadow of each car, his memories of his younger self came screaming back to him, clawing from the depths. Every shadow that passed he flinched a little tighter, his arms covering his face as he sobbed weakly to himself, rocking back and forth with James now disappearing from his sight. The black raptor briefly forgot about him, overwhelmed with pure fear and terror that clutched at his heart, gasping hotly for breath as he curled up into a foetal positon. "N-n-no...n-n-n-n-...h-h-help me...H-HELP MEEEE! A-a-ah...s-s-sumbody..." He struggled to use his omni-tool, forcing through his panic to try and call someone as a female's voice came on, young and perky. "Roy?! You alright?!" "Hoh g-god...s-someone...help me...warehouse...district..." "Wha-what's wrong?! Are you alright?!" "J-just...c-come get me, d-dammit...DAMMIT! F-FUCKING DAMMIT, a-ahm near thuh C-Sec buildin', w-warehouse...s-seventy-two!" "A-a-alright just keep calm, we'll find you don't worry!" The comm unit turned off as he laid on the cold floor, wincing with shame and fear receding from his mind. He slowly stood up onto his knees before tightening his fists, pounding hard onto the steel beneath him as he clutched his head in his hands, moaning between hiccuped sobs with: "Ah had him...ah almost h-had him...f-fuckin'...dammit...g-god...dammit...s-stupid fuckin' kid..." The raptor on the train simply took one look at him before he disappeared. Relief would soon come to him as he sat down on a crate, hoping to nurse his wounds whilst calling up his friends. His left eye was still covered by his hand as he made the call to his friends, hoping that they would not worry as he sighed deeply. But not without a pang of regret still aching in his heart, his tears still evident upon his cheeks which more came from pain than sadness. He tried to dry his eyes as best he could before calling up his friend. "Hello, Leiah?" "James wassup?!" "I uh...kinda have to go to hospital again, I got into a fight on the way." "Oh keelah really?! Can you ever walk around the Citadel without getting into ONE FIGHT with someone?" "Apparently not! Listen, I'm on a train right now, heading out of the warehouse area from the construction site I was at. Meet me at the uh...Huerta Memorial Hospital okay? If you can't then send someone else, I'll be there." "Okay then, try not to bleed to death or something!" "I will." Turning off his comm unit, he took a look at his face through a reflective surface on the train, gazing at the semi-opaque window beside him as he took his hand off his face. His eye was badly scarred, the top and bottom of his socket split open as it hurt to open the eyelid, but he could still feel his sight was there. Almost at least, despite the blood running out of it as he tried to keep it closed. "Heh...holy fuck...you really got me for once you bastard...jesus...this better be easy to fix, I don't wanna lose one eye already-GAH!" He didn't even see the gun from around the corner when it came right down on his head, the butt of the rifle slamming his head against the window as he fell to the ground unconscious. The train rode on unaware of its new cargo, becoming the start of a new journey into a most terrible awakening. The call was soon made on the attacker's omni-tool, a blue steel boot planted firmly on the back of James' head. "Didya get him?" "Sure did...the black lizard lead us right to him." "What's his status?" "...Campbell's knocked out and wounded but he'll survive...the other guy's curled up in a ball cryin'. Not sure why." "Musta been one hell of a fight. Drop off at the next stop and carry him out, we'll meet you back at the ship." "This better be worth it...I don't like contracts taken out on our own." "He's new, don't worry, the boss on Omega don't care about him after what happened to him...hell, I think he'll be glad this happened, call it payback." "Guess yer right...seemed awfully easy for a lot of creds." "Whatever this lady wants with him, I don't care...all I care is that we're gonna be drinkin' like kings for weeks after this job is done."