Day 54: Breakfast

[arc_wrench]

For once, HK was working very hard to hide a giddy facial expression as he met his nurse at the door. He'd already hidden his scalpels in his clothing. The wonderful, sharp implements of doom would be needed today. “Statement: Despite my reticence towards all processed meat and plant products, I am experiencing intolerable levels of hunger,” he

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[gargantuanlaugh]

[Bring it on, Showy]

Morning came as a blessing to Gant. Sure, he hadn't gotten munched last night and progress had been made, but being in a morgue in the pitch black darkness... Even the chief had a hard time keeping it together dealing with something like that. And Xemnas wasn't helping with his cold demeanor towards everything, as if this was all just commonplace for him. What had that man been before coming here, again? Had Gant even asked? He couldn't remember and it ate at the corner of his mind as he stumbled around, hiding his newly acquired shears and scalpels in his desk.

The intercom message announced that morning was thoroughly ignored in his groggy state, so when he followed his nurse out the door he was a bit thrown by the military suits. Huh. Must be some sort of check-up. Almost made him chuckle. He was familiar with the nervous air hanging around the nurses; it was similar to the atmosphere during a drug bust. Maybe someone was in trouble. Almost made him giddy thinking about it. Hmm, could it have been related to the Head Doctor's odd behavior the day before? Certainly seemed like it. Trouble for the institute didn't really concern him, as he saw multiple ways of really getting the best out of this place. Now, while he wouldn't mind somehow finding himself in Landel's good graces, he also wouldn't mind just escaping either. And if it closed down, so much the better.

Gant entered the cafeteria with a brisk spring in his step. He gathered up a few muffins with the works and looked about the room for an old friend. Huh, no Manfred again. Running late? Oh, but there was a familiar face and Gant, remembering Lana's promise from yesterday, made his way over with an easy-going smile spreading across his face. No fear for this one now. "Hey there, kid! What's shaking?"

He sat down without asking or being asked. At this point, he and Niikura were past such formalities.

[oneman_onekill]

Ah, the man of the hour - and looking remarkably confident this fine morning as well. Now, what on earth could be the reason for that...? Most of the times he'd imposed upon Gant, the man's expression had fallen noticeably once he'd sat down. Something in their relationship must have changed.

He thought of Badd's warning, of his explanation of the monster beneath the man. Perhaps Gant thought he'd made sure he would never find out about it all - in which case, the celebration would be drastically premature and pretty much pointless by now. But he couldn't jump the gun and start hurling accusations left and right. Gant had unknowingly built his fortress out of sand, and Niikura wanted to let him build his walls of security as high as he wanted before he knocked them down with a wave.

He couldn't let any hint of his plans shine through either, so he relaxed and adopted his usual casual smile as Gant sat down. "Mornin', Gant! Apparently a lot's goin' on, judgin' by the intercom today." Niikura leaned in conspiratorially. "Whaddya think this is all for, huh?" he asked in a near-whisper before taking a bite of his first English muffin.

[gargantuanlaugh]

Niikura also seemed to be in good spirits this morning. Must've had a nice night too. Gant offered a big smile in return for the friendly greeting and sat back in his chair. His hand moved up to tug at his bangs thoughtfully, though no real thinking had to go into his answer.

"Well, if I were to hazard a guess..." Gant paused and released his hair, looking up over his glasses, "I believe someone's cozy little institution is in for an inspection. And a pretty serious looking one, at that!" He doubted it could be anything less than an inspection, but there was always a possibility this was something more complicated than that.

He grabbed up one of his English muffin sandwiches and took a bite, chewing contemplatively. "I believe the real question would be what prompted this inspection." Landel had gotten away with a good deal, and for a long time if all of the patients were to be believed. So what was it that had brought attention to this place? Or was this routine?

[oneman_onekill]

"Heh, that's right, gotta peel back the superficial stuff and get to the real meat of things." And that applied to more things than just what was going on around here - which, frankly, Niikura didn't want to think about much right now. But sometimes curiosity was just too powerful to overcome: he sneaked a look at today's guests, trying to see if he could recognize the uniforms they were wearing. No go, though - no insignias or particular details or anything. That was...only a little unsettling.

"Anyway, how'd yer night go, Gant? Ya sound like ya got some stuff done." It was a casual segway into a typical thread of conversation for two people at breakfast in this place that would hopefully turn a little unconventional in the next minute or so. Patience. He'd get to the bottom of this soon enough.

[gargantuanlaugh]

It really was troubling, not being able to identify which military was invading today. People claimed this country was America but after the night that killed the auto-translator Gant wasn't going to assume anything about whatever country they were in. Actually, if some of the patients were to be believe, they could even be on a different planet, but that was just silly. Even with all the time-skippy weirdness, being on another planet would just be too much. Gant's brain refused to comprehend it.

"Legwork, mostly. But I did find some nice things, and my favorite suit, too!" Though it almost made him worry, finding that. He had missed how professional and assured his suit made him feel, but it being here somehow made this place seem like a permanent home. He took a contemplative sip of water, then returned his attention to Niikura. "Also found... a morgue. And an autopsy room." That this disturbed him was pretty obvious. This wasn't just a mental institute, not with rooms like that here.

"But how about you, kid? Find out anything--" He was cut off by a rather loud cry of "Exclamation" followed by an actual exclamation that drew everyone's attention towards the source, who then began to pelt nearby patients with food. Gant felt weary just seeing the crazed man lob his muffins everywhere. He had pretty good aim, Gant would give him that much, but... really. A food fight. How childish.

[oneman_onekill]

An autopsy room and a morgue? Talk about morbid. But it fit in with the whole 'mad research lab' aura of the place. Maybe...maybe he would take a look up there some time, see if there was any connections to find. Not exactly a spectacular list of 'Must See' places, but oh well. Sometimes your hands had to get dirty.

And then came the beautiful distraction. Niikura's head turned toward the commotion (really, what was with the crazies and breakfast?), and he took a second to appreciate the food fight being instigated right up until an egg landed in his hair.

Splat.

Oh.

"Oh, ya gotta be kidding me. Keep yer damn presents to yerself!" Without thinking, he grabbed as much of the egg as he could from his hair, shot to his feet, and launched it back at his assailant with just as much scintillating accuracy as the other before dropping heavily back into his chair. Where were they? Oh right, Gant had just asked him what he'd done--right.

"--and yeah, I sure found out somethin'," Niikura growled. Never mind that the yolk was oozing down the side of his face and dripping onto his plate; his blood was good and boiling now. The smile vanished, replaced by the sort of dark look he'd given Badd the night before as the older man had related the sordid truth. "Ya should know, one of the things I hate the most is people thinkin' they're good people for takin' out evil and not mindin' if they bulldoze a few innocent folks along the way. That's not how it's done.

"I had hoped we might see things the same way, Gant, but it looks like I was wrong. I thought ya might be the same, but yer not Akumetsu, not by a long shot."

Not more than a few weeks ago, Niikura had thrown these words in the face of his homeroom teacher and ensured that he wouldn't have to deal with fakes any longer when 'Akumetsu #2' went out with a literal bang. Gant was hardly a fake Akumetsu, but still: he'd revealed who he was and spoken the truth; it wasn't much to expect the same in return. Niikura did not take kindly to being made a fool of.

Halfway out of his seat by now, he slammed his hands palm-first on the table. "Ya don't destroy evil; you're Zanmetsu! Ya destroy the just!" Right here would be where he planted a fist in Gant's face, but he'd already crossed one line by throwing that egg, and he hadn't completely devolved to the point where he didn't care about crossing another one. So he settled for staying within his bounds: scooping up one of his English muffins, fixings and all, he wound up and threw the muffin as hard as he could, aiming to hit Gant right in the glasses with all the rage of Akumetsu he could muster.

[gargantuanlaugh]

When the egg had landed in Shou's hair, it took every ounce of willpower Gant possessed to not laugh. His shoulders seized up for a long moment, and when he finally felt the urge pass he relaxed them with deep breath. Hopefully Showy had been too busy retaliating to notice. Kid had a heck of an arm. Gant was about to comment on his terrific aim when he saw the dark, dark look aimed in his direction. Now, why would something so petty as a little slung food put him in such a mood?

.... Uh oh. Gant didn't like that tone of voice. Not at all. He should have known a clever kid like Niikura wouldn't have taken all he said at face-value. Snooping was to be expected. He had just, unfortunately, snooped in the wrong places. Someone who knew Gant's past had spilled the beans, but who? Not Gant and not Lana. Someone else who didn't think twice about doling out information to a self-proclaimed vigilante of justice. This situation could get very, very dangerous, especially if Gant ever found out who blabbed.

"N-now hold on th--" The Chief was once again rudely cut off, but this time from a English muffin to the face. And that was it. It was goodbye to Mr. Good Cop. He reached up slowly and grabbed a glob of muffin sticking to his beard and pulled it away. Guhh, disgusting.

"There's a reason why I don't like vigilantes," he said, his voice even but lacking all the normal warmth and cheer. His sharp eyes glared right back at Niikura above his egg-smeared glasses. "They seem to think they can judge who is 'good' and who is 'evil.' But that's just a bunch of naive bullshit."

Gant stood, raising himself to full height, the muffin still clutched firmly in his hand. Now that he knew Niikura was on to him, it was time to figure out just how much he knew. He wasn't going to own up to anything blindly. He smiled again, teeth bared and gaze unyielding. "As I recall, I never claimed to think of myself as anything like Akumetsu. Now, I'm not certain I'm clear on all you're accusing me of. Why don't you enlighten me!" He punctuated his order by returning Shou's English muffin in a fashion similar to how he had received it. Screw being the adult! He wasn't going to stand for this.

[oneman_onekill]

Niikura had only a few seconds to appreciate how Gant's face looked with English muffin splattered all over it before it was returned - and with equal venom. He certainly had the reflexes to doge, but unfortunately, they were sitting a scant few centimeters away from each other - not nearly far enough for any human to react fast enough to get away.

Part of him was also just too busy laughing in childish glee as Gant completely lost his composure.

"Maybe ya didn't hear me clear enough the first time!" Niikura ripped the English muffin off his face and tossed it aside, but not before picking up some more of his breakfast with both hands and hurling it back, one handful at a time. "I'm sayin' yer a murderer! We're cut from the same cloth there, no doubt about it, but yer the one who sacrificed good people to get yer goddamn results! That ain't progress, that's failure! Akumetsu pays for its crimes through dyin': a double execution of evil; I think ya deserve the same."

Gant was taller than him by a mile, but even so, Niikura drew himself up as well, unwilling to budge in the slightest. "And ya wanna know why vigilantes gotta take justice into their hands in the first place? It's 'cause all those do-gooders can talk all they want 'bout 'reform' and 'progress', but by the time they get the power to do it, they're too corrupt to do a single damn thing that ain't tainted by their shit! So whose responsibility is it then? Who the fuck's gonna step up and say what's 'good' and what's 'evil'? Ya got those lawyers to clean up yer mess; what I do as Akumetsu is nothin' different."

[gargantuanlaugh]

Gant did his best to shield against Niikura's second wave of breakfast volley's by holding up his arms, but that only blocked so much. He never thought there would come a day when he cursed having such broad shoulders. Or be in a food fight with an irate, crazed vigilante. The situation was getting out of control. Gant wasn't going to get anywhere if he just let Niikura do all the talking. "Excuse me, but I'm an executive of justice. You can shout all you want, but hearsay doesn't hold much weight except in gossip circles. I won't own up to anything without details, and until then, you're just the boy who cried wolf!"

A thrown muffin top knocked his glasses askew and Gant felt himself losing the last bits of patience he had left as he reached up to shove them back into place. Showy didn't seem to get it. Gant had never, ever claimed to the same kind of crime fighter as Shou, and neither did he agree with his type of justice. Hell, he barely tolerated the fact that Niikura was a vigilante to begin with! As if Niikura thought he understood righteous justice. Clone or not he was still just a kid, and god damn it, the chief was NOT going to take this from a brat.

Scooping up one of his own breakfast sandwiches, he hurled the muffin as a whole right back at Niikura. His sleeves were soggy and he felt disgusting, but the act of throwing gave him the satisfying surge of vindication. "Don't you go spouting off as if you think you're just as autonomous as a court of law. There's a system that must be upheld, or else anyone would have the power to decided what was right or wrong." He grabbed up another sandwich and hurled it. "Don't act so high and mighty, Showy!"

Yes, the system was important. It was highly flawed and sometimes it needed a little something to nudge it in the right direction, but it was important nonetheless. And no matter what, it had to be shown as a working system. Or else, what would be there to deter evil from completely taking over?

LOL YES THAT ICON

[oneman_onekill]

Oh, what was this, trying to weasel his way out? If Gant was really innocent, he'd be refuting everything Niikura said instead of just trying to duck around the punches, pumping him for information, and emphasizing that he was the good guy and Niikura another deluded vigilante extremist. Admittedly, Niikura hadn't given him much room for refuting, but who made up shit about a cop killing someone on his own side and then blaming a girl for the murder? He'd thought it merited investigation last night, but the more he thought about it, the more he'd come to realize that in some ways the story was too absurd to be false.

"I'll tell ya the details, alright!" Niikura snarled as the sandwich hit him on the side of the head. He had no idea what he was throwing anymore, only that it was wet, oily, and hitting Gant. And there was definitely egg in his eyes. "Killin' a prosecutor of the law, messin' with the crime scene so ya could pin the blame on some kid--" Another handful of soggy breakfast food went sailing through the air. "Blackmailin' her sister so ya could control the DA's office - and she's here, ain't she? Lana Skye!"

He sure was doing all the talking here, although he'd probably chucked more food too. That was how you did it in this line of business: go in with guns blazing.

"So don't--" Niikura was abruptly sidetracked as two male orderlies, finally noticing their 'friendly conversation', moved in to restrain him while a nurse hastily prepared a syringe to deliver the sedative. "--shit--" He started to struggle, but out of the corner of his eye saw a few soldiers begin walking forward ominously. Getting drugged was bad enough; he didn't need to have someone slam their gun in his face too now. Next best option: continue spitting venom while awaiting the inevitable.

"--don't talk down to me, Gant! Yer just dancin' around over there, playin' victim! Why don't ya give me the details, huh? Why don't ya tell me why someone would hate ya so much he'd give me that kinda dirt?" He suddenly strained forward against his captors, too distracted in shouting down Gant to free himself. "Tell me the fuckin' truth...!"

And then there was the prick of a needle and all of Niikura's anger seemed to start bleeding out of him. He sagged in the grip of the orderlies as his world started to go black at the edges. "...for...once..."

I've been wanting to use it for forever AND SPEAKING OF TAKING FOREVER... HERE'S YOUR TAG!! OTZ

[gargantuanlaugh]

So he did know, and much more than Gant was comfortable with. He even stated Lana's name, for Christ's sake! But he didn't mention Goodman. Or that Gant'd practically framed Little Worthy for that one too (though that hadn't been his objective, it had turned out that way), so he didn't know everything. Gant didn't feel safe, but he didn't feel completely exposed either. Showy thought he knew him? Hah! That was a laugh!

"You certainly have a lot of information," the chief said, no longer even bothering to duck away from the onslaught of breakfast sandwich fixings. He focused on his own throws, but also on his words. They swelled within him like an unforgiving tide. "A lot of information, but not nearly enough, I'm afraid! You don't understand anything about the SL-9 incident, and you certainly don't know Lana Skye! So don't go throwing her name around carelessly, you damn science experiment!"

Something about how Niikura had brought Lana into the conversation irked Gant more than anything else that he had mentioned until now. Maybe the chief was just worried that something would kill the tentative trust he had rebuilt with Lana just yesterday. He couldn't help but step up his food-slinging to the next level. And that was perhaps what blinded him to the orderlies that were surrounding until the last minute, when they grabbed both him and Niikura rather roughly. It took another minute before he noticed the syringes closing in on them. Dammit! This was all Showy's fault!

"Don't be naive, spiky hair," he growled, trying to keep his voice down despite the nurses' close proximity. They probably weren't listening anyway, too busy struggling to hold down their captives. "I'm the ex-Chief of Police of the L.A. precinct. There are plenty of people who wanted me dead before, and that never changed even after I was arrested."

He hated needles. The sedatives, while they did wonders relaxing his muscles, did nothing to destroy his wrath, only muted it. His anger might have been the only thing keeping him standing, though it wasn't likely to last longer than a minute. "There. The truth." He couldn't manage a smile. "Happy?" Whether Niikura was or not didn't matter. That was all he was going to get, for the time being.

/o/!!! Aand one last word from him

[oneman_onekill]

Oh, good, so they had gotten Gant too. It wouldn't have been fair at all to just sedate one of the guilty parties, after all - although, if he were actually fully conscious and in control of himself, Niikura might have punched Gant for a few of those names, and not just once. But as it was, all he could do was rage inwardly while his body grew heavier and heavier.

"Fine," he spat, hoping to get in one last word before he completely devolved into a blob on the ground. "We'll settle this...later." Although, wouldn't it be funny if they still tried this instant? It'd be comedy gold.

They wouldn't get the chance: even though his mind was still fuzzy, Niikura was still vaguely aware that, now that he was properly tamed, the orderlies were dragging him away from the table and toward the cafeteria doors. Something about getting him cleaned up...but at that moment, all he could think about was how fantastic this whole fight had gone.