Chapter 389: Arrest.
Following police orders in such a situation was a very bad idea. The thugs weren’t going to stop just because they were told to, and letting them out of one’s attention was like asking to be shot in the back.
With his perception enhanced to the max, Dante quickly surveyed his surroundings. He took note of the thugs, the officers, and where every gun in the vicinity was pointing. The thugs were already turning their eyes away from him, fear coloring their faces.
No longer being the center of attention worked for him just fine, but he couldn’t afford for things to develop into a shootout. Luckily, only two of the idiots had managed to pick up their guns, so all he had to do was kick them out of their hands once more.
"I SAID NOBODY MO-"
The officers were undoubtedly stunned to see the guns kicked away from the center of the mess. Observing the situation, they came out a rushed the thug and began restraining them. Dante was the only one who kept his silence and allowed himself to be cuffed. Right now, not resisting arrest was the best thing he could do.
"Kid! Are you okay!!?"
Hearing the familiar voice didn’t surprise Dante—He had already spotted its owner the moment he descended from his car.
"Officer Johanson." Dante raised the corners of his mouth in a half smile. "I hope you got to finish your lunch."
"Forget about that." The old officer walked, concern creasing his forehead. "You aren’t hurt, are you?"
"Nah, I’m fine." Dante shrugged his shoulders. "It would be better if you took these cuffs off."
"Seriously, kid. How did you get yourself in this mess?"
Sighing, Jonah took his key out and motioned for him to turn around. Just as he was about to unlock the cuffs, the officer who put them on stepped in.
"Captain, what are you-"
"Oh shut up." A click followed Jonah’s words. "I know the boy. He isn’t going anywhere."
The only reason Dante was put in handcuffs in the first place was that the old officer had lagged behind the other. Though he was trying his best, there was no denying that age was showing its effects.
"Now, you gonna tell me what happened here?"
He turned to the bloodied wall and the headless corpse that painted it then gestured for the thugs being handled by the other officers. As he followed his gaze, Dante noticed that Jonah’s gaze had stopped on one particular thug.
"Jacob Cohan." He said, a smirk slowly forming on his face. "You couldn’t wait to give us something, huh?"
Glaring back at him, metal arm gritted his teeth. In the end, he only gritted his teeth and looked away.
"You know him?"
"Yeah, we brought him in before for threatening some people," Jonah said. "He got out on a technicality, but that won’t happen again."
Dante did remember seeing a metal arm in the holding cells when he went to the station a while ago. The bastard was one of the reasons Riot’s idiots planned to storm the place, so it was a little surprising to see him outside.
’Why did they bother if he was getting out anyway?’
The urge to yawn overwhelmed Dante as he pondered the question. The exhaustion brought by the RED pill was getting harder to ignore. He watched the thugs get loaded into the police cars then turned to Jonah, smiling wryly.
"Mr. Johnson, I know you probably want to take my statement, but..."
"You okay, kid?"
"Just a little tired."
The old officer studied the crime scene with a troubled look, then shook his head, sighing in defeat.
"You have yet to completely recover from your surgery, right?" He said. "You can head back and rest. Just make sure to drop by first thing in the morning."
"Alright."
Sighing in relief, Dante glanced at the police cars just as the last of the thugs was being loaded. Jacob Cohan followed instructions silently, his metal arm bound behind his back with special restraints that. As he leaned into the car, his eyes happened to meet Dante’s, but his expression remained calm, giving Dante a very bad feeling.
~[ ]~
By the time he arrived at his apartment, Dante was struggling to keep his eyes open. He headed to his bed right away, not bothering to take his shoes off or change his clothes. Unbeknownst to him, those things happened on their own. His MLP allowed for a lot more commands, so it only took a single thought to change between outfits.
The instant his head hit the pillow, his mind dove into the sea of unconsciousness, heading straight for the dreamworld.
It was still the afternoon when he hit the sack. Not long after, a certain video was uploaded onto the net. It made the rounds right away, and in just a couple of hours, it was watched by millions around the world.
The video showed the insane incident where one guy managed to defeat nine gunmen with his bare hands alone. The original post claimed the footage was unedited, and though many doubted its authenticity, it didn’t stop the discussion from spreading.
The video was dissected frame by frame, and the theories quickly spread. Some claimed the red-haired guy was a new hero. Others dismissed the feat, noting the ease with which anyone could do the same so long as they had the right bionics.
The police cars that arrived near the end clued people in on the location where the incident took place, and so many phoned the station trying to learn the story about what happened.
Thankfully, there was no shortage of interesting things happening in the world, and a new viral video soon stole people’s attention. Come the next morning, few would remember the red-haired youth and the thugs he brought down. Among them were those who had a particular interest in the way the fight had progressed and understood what it takes to achieve that performance. As for Dante, he would only hear about the video when he woke up the next morning.