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Still don't get how this is even possible. Charged with murder and yet they let him out on some sweetheart deal that just lets him out on bail again? Hasn't he jumped bail like five times already?
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Seven actually.
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Either way that's just insane, they gotta know he's just gonna jump bail again and never see any sort of jail time.
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C'mon, it's just like the Vale, Sybaris has these judges in their pocket, all they gotta do is snap their fingers and give them a suitcase of money and they'll let their people out just like that.
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I guess, but it's not like every Sybaris member gets this kinda treatment though. We've seen so ourselves.
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Nope, just the ones who do a good enough job.
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I thought doing a good job meant not getting caught.
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I guess I dunno too much about Sybaris politics, but maybe there's something about loyalty in there too. Either way, there he is.
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The door to the jail opens and two men walk out conversing with each other. One is dressed in a rather fine black suit whilst the other man is wearing the rather unassuming garb of a jacket and jeans. You wouldn't ever guess that he was the notorious triggerman that he was.
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Sebastian had been keeping his eye on this man for a while and in their latest encounter, he'd managed to apprehend the guy just before he could finish off his newest victim. After wrapping up Emmanuel in a nice bow for law enforcement to arrive, he'd managed to apply first aid to his victim. Just enough to keep them alive for the professionals to take over. He was out of sight by the time they had arrived, but he did what he could and fortunately, his victim seemed to be recovering now.
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Unfortunately, while the medical professionals did their job, the law was a little less effective. He'd kept an eye on the case after he'd been arrested and of course, they let Emmanuel go just like that. They stated something about "a lack of evidence that he's a danger to the public", but Sebastian knew what was really at play here.
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The man, nearly invisible thanks to the Jaeger corp windbreaker dropped over his shoulders pulls a mask off from its place on his belt and straps it around his head.
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The mask was made of a forge-blackened metal with a deep blue velvet lining. Lenses covered the eye holes with several over-lenses offset. The metal conforms to the vague shape of his face, looking nearly skull-like in appearance, yet as the mask is placed over this face and the magic in the metal hums to life, such features are forgotten nearly instantly by any onlooker.
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Sebastian kicks off from the wall with a slight limp as he starts to follow the two men at an inconspicuous distance away, Just barely able to catch a bit of their conversation.
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"I'm warning you, Emmanuel, this is your last bailout. The boss is getting tired of paying for your mistakes. You get caught again and you're gonna have to figure things out yourself okay? Unless you wanna go ahead and pay for my fees."
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"Well then Donny's gotta figure out where this data leak is coming from alright? I'm telling ya there's a rat or something. The last time some random guy jumped me and then just left. Think he was using a spirit mask or something. Can't remember a damn thing about him but that goddess be damned fear."
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"Well, it doesn't matter how you got in, he just told me that you're gonna have to figure it out okay? I
m just telling you what the boss told me."
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Emmanuel waves a hand in dismissive frustration towards the well-dressed man and takes a turn down a random alleyway. The apparent lawyer looks back at Emmanuel in shock and stops, seemingly contemplating whether he should follow or not, looking up and down the street before turning back the Emmanuel. "Well, the boss also told me you have a new assignment awaiting at the usual dropbox!" He says before shuffling down the road they'd been walking down before.
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As the lawyer moves further and further away Sebastian rounds the corner into the alley, his left hand dipping into his right sleeve and grabbing ahold of the end of the rope he had coiled around his right arm. Loosening it and putting it in his right hand to be ready for use.
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Roland suddenly appears beside him as he rounds the corner and looks down the alley for the unassuming shape of the triggerman only to see he was already gone.
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That didn't seem right though, the alley was too long for him to have reached the end by now and there were plenty of dumpsters to hide behind. Sebastian got a bad feeling as he continued down the alleyway, gripping the butt of his pistol with his left hand as he continues. The slight limp in his step sounded all too loud in the dead silent alley.
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"Knew I had a new shadow!"
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Suddenly from a shadow Emmanuel appears, his hand shrouded in darkness as he lunges for Sebastian. Out of desperation, Sebastian grabs hold of the darkness-shrouded arm as the man shoves it into his gut. Thankfully the windbreaker manages to catch most of the blow, but already Sebastian can feel his hot blood start to well up and soak his shirt and vest.
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Sebastian draws his pistol, but before he can point it in Emmanuel's direction he grabs hold of the firearm and rips it out of Sebastian's hand, the force causing it to fly away and skate across the pavement.
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Sebastian grits his teeth as the adrenaline starts to pump through his veins as the two men struggle for a moment in a brief scuffle before Sebastian manages to free his right hand and reach out, casting a charm as the rope coiled around his arm leaps out and starts to wrap around Emmanuel like a long thin snake.
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"Ohh, not again you bastard!" The rope tightly winds its way up his arm and down the rest of his body. As he stumbles away, struggling with the ropes a panther leaps from the shadows and digs his claws into Sebastian, wrestling the man down to the ground. Most of the scratches are caught by the windbreak, but some manage to get through.
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Sebastian encases his right arm in stone as he desperately swings it hard into the familiar's head, trying to dislodge it just enough to get to his machete.
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"Bastian!" Managing to maneuver around the conflict, Roland managed to get ahold of Sebastian's pistol and kicks it over to the man struggling on the ground just as Emmanuel cuts himself free with a cloak of darkness, kicking the serval hard in the stomach, the force sending both familiar and man reeling as Sebastian struggles to grab ahold of the pistol.
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He buries the muzzle into the panther's chest and fires once, twice, and then one final time. The shots send Emmanuel down to his knees as the panther recoils back, giving out a horrible howl as it limps away for a few paces before falling flat.
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As Sebastian struggles to get back on his feet, the familiar is already starting to fade away, just like the daemon in Trisula.
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"You... you bastard! You killed him!"
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Sebastian is breathing heavily as he leans up against a dumpster and looks at the man through the spirit mask.
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"You're a professional murderer, and you have the audacity to be mad when the same happens to you? The number of people you've killed, the number of families you've ruined. This is the least you deserve, and if the courts won't bring you to justice, then I will." Comes his cold voice as he levels the pistol at Emmanuel's head. He hesitates for a moment as he ponders just the kind of people this man knew, and how his death would affect them. The man takes this as an opportunity to ask for mercy.
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"C'mon man, did I kill someone you know? I'm sorry okay, if there's anyone you should be mad at it's my boss, he's the one who tells me who to kill, I just-"
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"-Pull the trigger... 'Sorry', won't bring any of those people back. 'Sorry', won't heal the wounds you've inflicted." Killing him won't bring anyone back either but... It'll at least keep any future victims safe.
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Desperation is replaced with the realization that he won't be leaving this alley alive, just as Sebastian pulls the trigger and lets loose one bullet and Emmanuel's body slumps to the ground unceremoniously.
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Hm, well he got what was coming to him. Dirtbag really felt so entitled to live after everything he's done...
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Sebastian has a mind to agree with the serval, but yet there's something that nibbles just at the edge of his mind that questions whether he did the right thing. Surely he did right? He saved lives, he did what the courts couldn't. Right?
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Either way, he can't contemplate this for long as he hears the sounds of footsteps rushing down the street toward the alley.
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"C'mon, let's get out of here." Sebastian kicks off the ground with his good leg and suddenly a wing sprouts from his shoulder blade and gives him just enough lift to reach the lowest balcony of a building's fire escape. With the cover of the windbreaker and the mask, Sebastian is gone from the scene by the time help arrives.