Maes Hughes (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
bestdadinamestris) wrote2015-08-14 01:52 pm
bestdadinamestris) wrote2015-08-14 01:52 pm
Entry tags:
Never underestimate the power of fire, elbow grease, and guns [closed, tagging sumarusfinest]
There was no good way of telling how long Hughes had been in the Nexus at this point. He'd be trying to catch a few z's on a couch next to his phone booth home when the sky would go from the dark of Midnight to sunset. He'd read and heard others talking about the strange goings on of the Nexus as if it had a mind of its own. Honestly? Hughes was pretty sure they were right.
He'd spent most of his time here trying to get his phone booth to open up. Any method of entrance that he could think of, he'd tried - tugging at the door in various manners, trying to pry it open, scratching at the glass with his push knives, attempting to break one of the windows to open it from the inside. Hell, he'd even looked for a lock to try and pick. The only thing he hadn't tried was firing at it with his standard issue firearm, which he had only a single clip for on his person.
All of it had been for nothing. With each passing hour, he was more and more sure he wasn't going home, that all of the threads he was trying to tie together would scatter to the winds. It only made him more determined to prove himself wrong, but the constant defeat hurt. Now, however, he had help. Now he had access to a whole new set of options that someone as normal as him could never dream of doing on his own. This was his chance, and he wasn't about to blow it.
Hughes looked over at Katsuya, who had followed him over from the large table of sweets the officer had provided to residents of the Nexus.
"So, where do we start?"
He'd spent most of his time here trying to get his phone booth to open up. Any method of entrance that he could think of, he'd tried - tugging at the door in various manners, trying to pry it open, scratching at the glass with his push knives, attempting to break one of the windows to open it from the inside. Hell, he'd even looked for a lock to try and pick. The only thing he hadn't tried was firing at it with his standard issue firearm, which he had only a single clip for on his person.
All of it had been for nothing. With each passing hour, he was more and more sure he wasn't going home, that all of the threads he was trying to tie together would scatter to the winds. It only made him more determined to prove himself wrong, but the constant defeat hurt. Now, however, he had help. Now he had access to a whole new set of options that someone as normal as him could never dream of doing on his own. This was his chance, and he wasn't about to blow it.
Hughes looked over at Katsuya, who had followed him over from the large table of sweets the officer had provided to residents of the Nexus.
"So, where do we start?"
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"I assume you've tried force already?"
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"You can see my handiwork in the wood and on the glass if you look closely enough. My push knives have seen a lot of use in trying to get it to open."
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Well, there's nothing to it then. Katsuya makes a small noise in the back of his throat as he stares at the handle of the booth's entrance. His gaze then slides up and to the left to take in the hinges of the booth. If they can't open the door normally, perhaps taking the entire door off would be the best way to do it.
"You may want to stand back." It's the Nexus; the anti-violence field may apply to inanimate non organic objects as well as living beings. One never knows in thie place. Katsuya reaches into his jacket and withdraws his pistol, flicking the safety off with practiced ease as he raises it to fire.
Four gunshots ring out across the Nexus shortly thereafter. Two for the top hinge and two for the bottom. Katsuya reapplies the safety and steps forward again to inspect his work. At least the bullets didn't ricochet back on him, though it wouldn't do much to him if they did. Anti violence fields, yay.
"Try and pry the hinges."
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As he steps up to the booth, he flicks his wrist, producing one of a large number of knives from up his sleeve. The motion is smooth, practiced, one that Hughes is extremely comfortable with. He hopes this means his fingers will stop itching for the motion for a while.
After taking a closer look at the top hinge, he starts his first attempt to pry the hinge apart by placing his knife between the top pin and the body of the hinge and pushing down on the other edge. He's careful not to put his open hand on the sharp edges, but that doesn't stop him from cursing like a fiend every time the blade slips out. When the top hinge doesn't budge after a dozen attempts, he tries the bottom one for good measure. The result is the same, causing major frustration. So much frustration that on his final attempt he manages to both cut the side of his left hand and bend the knife enough to make it useless. So much for that anti-violence field.
Undeterred, Hughes wraps his hand with his handkerchief and another string of curses before pulling out another knife and trying to cut the hinges off at the frame. Sure, it didn't work the last time he tried it, but now he's mad at the phone booth so he has to do something about it.
"Damnit, why are you doing this to me? Why won't you just open already?!" His remarks are muffled by the phone booth and the barrier erected around it, but Hughes really couldn't care less if anyone besides Katsuya can hear him. It's not like they haven't been hearing it a lot over the last few... whatevers that he's been stuck here.
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There's a flash of white-blue light behind Hughes, almost as though someone is performing alchemy back there. When he turns around, Katsuya is slowly putting away his gun as the light grows brighter at his feet, a sudden gust of wind shifting his hair as he glares over the tops of his tinted sunglasses.
It's enough of a warning for Hughes to get out of the way.
"Persona!" No matter how hard Hughes looks, there are no alchemy symbols, but Katsuya Suou is not performing alchemy. He is summoning a power form deep inside the recesses of his unconscious mind. The other half of his soul, as it were. Helios' glowing yellow eyes appear over the officer's shoulder well before its sleek black figure does, clad in its almost Victorian garb.
The catlike creature has a very very large pistol at its side. Which it points directly at the phone booth. There's less of a gunshot and more like a sound of an explosion--Hughes knows it all too well. It's the sound fire makes when it rushes into a great wave. Helios fires off two gigantic fireballs at the phonebooth, specifically at the glass in an attempt to blow it out or melt it entirely. When all is said and done, Officer Suou alone remains, taking a few deep breaths.
He hadn't had reason to summon his persona in a long, long time.
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"What the..."
He can't even manage words right now.
Slowly, he turns his attention away from Katsuya and back to the phone booth. Or, rather, the large billow of smoke where the phone booth stood. Most of the barrier around it had been charred by the flames, making it all but useless. Not that it mattered, but Hughes was a little sad to see all of the hard work into getting it up go to waste.
As the smoke began to clear, though, his heart sank. The phone booth was in as pristine condition as it had been before Katsuya's attempt. His shoulders slumped and the inevitable depression began to set it.
"...damnit."
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He can feel a headache starting to build. How would Maya handle this?Bad idea--Maya would unload every clip she had at the booth while cackling like a madwoman. Snrk. What would Baofu do? Katsuya falls deep into thought, pacing around in a little circle while he does so.
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As he waited to see what Katsuya might come up with next, he flicked out another knife and wedged it between the door and the frame. This was one of his favorite pastimes while he tried to come up with a new course of action.
He ticked through all of the things he'd already tried as he kept prying at the door. Hinges, windows, cutting different pieces out of the booth to get to the inside, and now guns and fire. What the hell else was left to try?
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Katsuya takes a red handkerchief out of his front pocket and wraps it carefully over his hand before making a fist. He rears back and puts his full strength into punching the glass as hard as he can.
Not even a dent.
The officer can't help the small groan of frustration as he shakes his hand, pulling off the handkerchief and rubbing his knuckles before falling back into his pacing.
"We can't force it open. There has to be another way."
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"What else is there to try? If we can't force it open, are we supposed to try talking it into opening? Didn't notice any ears on it, but hey, if you think it would work." He's just being petulant now. All of this effort being for naught has him in a bad mood.
With a sigh, he crosses his arms in front of his chest and glares at the phone booth. "I wish I'd walked back to my office to make that damn call. With all the headache this has caused me, it could've waited." Another sigh. "I'm never using a phone booth again."
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This was the Nexus. If the anti-violence fields were stopping them from forcing the booth to open, they would have to try something else.
"Do you still have enough change to place another call?" Katsuya glances toward Hughes.
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The rational part of his brain reminded him that he couldn't possibly jinx himself, because such things weren't real. The less rational part told him to dig through his pockets faster, you know, just in case. When he's pulled every last coin from his pockets, he holds them out in front of himself in the palm of his hand. He digs through them slowly, doing the count a few times over to make sure he isn't fooling himself.
"Just a little over..." His voice is barely above a whisper as he shakily reaches out for the door handle. All those hours of trying and now... He takes a slow, deep breath and gives the door a gentle tug.
It opens with ease.
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Katsuya's face splits into a wide grin. I mean, sure, there's a chance it will function as a phone and nothing else, but Katsuya's pretty sure if Hughes has a tangible target in mind, it'll work like Nexus portals are supposed to.
"And I wouldn't advise coming back without change. Just in case."
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"Come on, come on, come-- Gracia? Is that--" There's a large number of emotions that quickly wash over Hughes' face. Relief, happiness, a touch of panic, and then, finally, a contented calm. By all that could be considered holy it's good to hear his wife's voice again.
"Listen, honey, I'm sorry about all this. I'll explain more when I get home." Pause. Slightly guilty look, then a smile. "I promise, I'm coming home."
As he continues to listen to his wife, Hughes looks out at Katsuya once more. His smile widens and he gives a short nod. The time to know for sure where this will get him home is now. He cups his hand over the receiver and whispers, "Keep it safe for me, will you? Don't tell anyone else how to get in."
He quickly removes his hand again and begins giving Gracia even more assurances that he'll be home soon and that, maybe, he'd get home sooner if she would let him get off the phone. With one last nod to Katsuya, he pulls the door to the phone booth closed.
And promptly disappears before Katsuya's eyes.
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Katsuya folds his arms across his chest and smiles. It was good to have a family to go home to. He hopes that this isn't the last he's seen of Hughes.
All that's left to do is to salvage what Katsuya can of the defenses around the phone booth, check his handgun has the safety back on, and make his way back to the more populated corners of the Nexus.