The Longest Night Ends

Elsewhere, Spark steps into his office and looks around, seeing that it is entirely destroyed. He gets a frustrated look as he walks around. He dips his head into the half destroyed desk then sighs.

Spark "I should've figured they'd destroy my office. I definitely won't be able to find the breather anywhere in here, if it even is still here. I guess I better get out of here before the sprayer goes off. Maybe I'll head back to the boss early."

He turns and looks out the now blown out window and proceeds to jump through it. He then calls out on coms to the other members.

Spark "This is Commander Spark. All surviving members, activate your canisters and commence havoc."

He says as he flies through the air and leaves the building falling into the city. As he does, he taps his watch and activates the frequency over the coms. The members within the building look at each other and nod before grabbing their canisters and clicking the buttons. Before a couple could use the canisters, Hikigaya comes flying through and kicks them, stopping them. He then looks over to see a few others already used their canisters and have begun transforming. He charges them then proceeds to punch and kick them, knocking them out before they could fully transform. Even after those members though, he looks up to see some transformations already completed and attacking the officers. He lets out a frustrated sigh before preparing to fight them. Before he could charge, however, one appears above him and slams down on him. He blocks and doesn't struggle too much but still feels the impact. He then kicks him in the side and knocks him out.

Hikigaya "These guys are gonna be a problem with so many all over the place. I can't stop them before they transform..."

He then turns to see one psycho charging him. He tackles Hikigaya out the second floor window and onto the street. He flips and rolls before landing. He looks over to the one who tackled him getting up but before the psycho can fully stand, Hikigaya stands above him and slams his head into the ground with his foot, knocking this one out too.

Hikigaya "They might just be normal people but with that serum, even I have to hit them hard to stop them."

He exhales sharply while looking at the psycho before turning around to face the building again. He takes a step before looking up and noticing something. His eyes widen as fear fills them to the brim.

Hikigaya "No…"

Not far away from the Fawn Tower, only a street or two away from it, Chizuru walks down the street. She looks up when she notices the tower all damaged and smoking. She gets a concerned look.

Chizuru "I hope everything is alright… That looks bad."

Someone then bumps into her causing her to stumble back as she wasn't paying attention to her footing. She looks back to see a young man frantically running away from the tower's direction. Chizuru looks even more concerned and confused as she looks around to see a few other people running away from the tower. She then jumps a little when she hears gunshots and yelling. She hurryingly heads towards the tower trying to stay quiet and hidden the best she can. She sweats when she sees officers fighting off large, crazed looking people we know to be the psycho members infused with the serum. Some are shooting while some are now only fighting with knives or batons. She gets a feeling of fear as she steps back but stops when she sees some people go flying out of a second story window. They crash and roll on the ground. One man catches himself and proceeds to knock the psycho unconscious. Chizuru looks harder to see the face of the man in the trench coat.

Chizuru "Is that… Hikigaya..?"

She sees him then turn around and stop while looking up. Before she could see anymore, she hears a young boy scream for help. She looks over to see a boy a bit younger than herself running from a psycho chasing him. He panics and trips on a broken part of the road. The psycho quickly catches up and raises his hand in a fist to attack but before he could kill the boy, Chizuru runs in and grabs the kid, pulling him with her as they run fast to get away from the psycho. They run in the opposite direction for a moment before Chizuru grabs a trash can lid from an alley they pass and throws it as hard as she can at the psycho's face. She then turns to the kid and yells.

Chizuru "Keep going! I'll distract him!"

The kid pauses for a single moment before running away from the tower. Chizuru looks back at the psycho and runs as he chases. After a moment, she looks up to see another one jump from the building and land in front of her. She stops suddenly as the second one punches at her. She barely dodges as it cuts her face and destroys the arm strap of her bag causing it to hit the floor as she falls backwards. She crawls back towards a wall as her heartbeat begins to become irregular as she fears for her life. She closes her eyes waiting for them to attack but then she hears a man struggle and a few thumps. She slowly opens her eyes to see one of them unconscious on the floor and a large man struggling with the other for a moment before he pushes him back and whips him on the head with his pistol causing him to fall over. He doesn't quite go down yet though so he punches him across the face hard and fully knocks him out. He turns around to look at Chizuru as he pants and a little blood coming from his head. It's Chief.

Chief "Are you crazy kid? You should've been evacuating like we said hours ago! Come on, you need to get out of here."

He grabs her by the arm, gently but stirn as he pulls her along hastily. She gets a look of relief a bit mixed with fatigue and slight pain.

Chizuru "Tha… Thank you…"

She sounds entirely out of breath as her eyes slowly start to close and her body becomes more sluggish. Chief looks at her with slight confusion as he notices her getting slower and her heartbeat worse until she eventually collapses.

Chief "Woah! Hey, what's wrong? Are you hurt?"

He asks, frantically checking her for injuries and realizing her pulse has dropped. He freaks out for a moment before calling for medical backup. A couple officers rush over and grab her, carrying her to their makeshift outpost a little ways away. They rush her to the medical truck but while they do that, they pass a man sitting at a computer desk with multiple different types of screens showing different readings. He gets a beeping alarm on one of them that shows a scan of the sprayer almost at full spraying capacity showing there's only about a minute left before it goes off. Chief meanwhile is still doing his best to backup the officers and give commands outside when he looks up to see Hikigaya falling through the air and crashing down onto the side of the main entrance.

Chief "Watchdog!"

Over the coms, the man at the monitors shouts for the Chief.

Coms Officer "Chief! Come in Chief!"

Chief "What is it!?"

Coms Officer "Recon says that the sprayer is still active! It hasn't been destroyed yet and can go off any second!"

Chief sweats when he hears this and looks at the roof of the building.

Chief "Is Fullsky alright? Come in, Fullsky!"

He calls to her on the coms. She falls back on her knees as she cries.

Chief "Fullsky, the sprayer is still active! You need to destroy it now! Fullsky!"

She covers her ears and hunches over as she becomes overwhelmed with everything happening. Losing Amber, having her power stunted, being horribly injured and everyone waiting for her to save the day. With this overwhelming rush of emotions and thoughts, a silvery platinum energy begins forming from her body as she holds herself tightly until it eventually bursts out of her as she releases it all and cries out. The energy wave surges through the city and is enough force to destroy the sprayer spire at the roof of the building completely stopping the sprayer entirely but that isn't all. As the energy bursts through the city, any of the members with the serum in their blood all fall unconscious as the energy purges the serum from their bodies. Stopping the sprayer and all the psycho members in one moment. As the wave goes through the city, it hits Spark on his way out. He is knocked over a bit before turning around and looking at the tower. He sees the sprayer collapse and gets an irritated look.

Spark "No matter. We can always try again."

He looks down at his hand holding the amulet. He puts it in his pocket as he turns and walks off. Back by the tower, Chief covers his eyes from the bright light for a moment as it quickly fades as fast as it came. He stares for a moment before calling back to the coms officer.

Chief "Recon, is it destroyed?"

Coms Officer "...Yes it is sir."

One officer drops his weapon as another shouts, cheering for their victory as all the members were knocked unconscious. Another drops his weapon as well while another takes off his helmet and sits down letting out a sigh of relief. They are beaten and bruised, some are bleeding while some even cry now that it is over. Despite wanting to simply stop to relax, the Chief reminded them that the job is not over until every member is in custody. The officers carry out the different members and have them chained in the back of large transport vans. Eventually, they bring out the Poles. Sahara walks but keeps her head low and covered in shadows as Gallow follows behind her followed by Strife. As Strife is sat in the back of the transport van, he looks over and gives a maniacal smile. While they do this, Shiori flies down with her mask back on and obviously trying not to cry or show how hurt she is. She sniffles and clears her throat but her voice still cracks a bit.

Shiori "Chief. What's the damage? Any casualties?"

Chief "I'm glad to see you're okay too, Fullsky. Some members were crushed by debris but my team is quite talented. Aside from some broken bones, a couple concussions and a few exceptions, everyone is accounted for. Pretty impressive, right?"

Shiori "Exceptions?"

Chief "Yeah, there was one civilian who got a little too close to the action but she's stable for the most part now. They're gonna take her up to Meadow Central Hospital right now."

He turns and motions towards the ambulance that has Chizuru in it, unconscious with an oxygen mask on and her vitals being read. Shiori looks and her eyes get filled with dread. They close the doors to the ambulance which snaps Shiori back to the conversation.

Chief "She was in pretty bad shape for a minute there. Her heart stopped or something and they can't seem to wake her up but she's in good hands now."

Shiori "Right…"

Chief "There was another thing though. That Keeper guy you two fought before. I assume you beat him tonight?"

Shiori "Of course."

Chief "Well he was nowhere to be found."

Her eyes widen as she looks at him with intense confusion.

Chief "We had some officers who saw him in the crater take us there but he was long gone. Not sure what he's gonna do now but we'll have to keep an eye out for him."

Shiori gets a look of frustration and dread. Chief looks at her for a moment as if he is reluctant to tell her something else but speaks up.

Chief "The last thing… There was one civilian casualty."

He looks at her then to Hikigaya in the pile of rubble he fell into earlier. She turns and looks at him.

Chief "I think it'd be best for you to handle this."

She hears him crying as she steps towards him. Chief turns around and continues directing the officers and other responders. As she gets closer, she sees Hikigaya holding Amber in his arms. He cries and says her name quietly as he presses his forehead onto her's, gently. As she steps closer, she takes off her mask again and stops just before him. He slowly looks up to see Shiori standing above him. His tears don't stop as he gets a look of surprise. He doesn't say anything as tears form in Shiori's eyes too.

Shiori "I'm so sorry."

As she says this, more tears form as Hikigaya begins to cry out more. She lowers to her knees as Hikigaya holds his sister in his arms. With the building in shambles, the sprayer destroyed and all members defeated, the night is won. Yet, despite this, neither of them feel as if they won at all.

In an undisclosed location, sometime after the events of that night. Spark steps out of the shadows into a large, round room. It is dark with a blue hue to the light. Concrete makes up the walls and steps leading up to a large throne in the center of the room. He sweats nervously as he approaches the dark figure in the throne. The figure notices his arrival and lifts its head a bit. This reaction causes Spark to sweat more and stop walking. He lowers his head. He stands in silence until eventually the figure speaks.

Boss "You've returned sooner than expected. And with the amulet in hand no less."

Spark "There was a slight problem with the operation tonight sir."

The boss turns to look at Spark which makes him even more nervous. The boss just stares at Spark for a moment in silence before speaking.

Boss "Problem, you say. My plans do not have problems. They have dysfunctional parts."

Spark "We all did our parts as you said. It's just that a few obstacles arose that were more difficult to deal with than we expected."

Boss "If you did your parts as I said then there would be no problems. In fact, why are you still alive?"

Spark shivers with fear as a cold chill runs up his back.

Spark "The problem is no big deal. I can deal with them no issue going forward. I saved the amulet and the engineers at Compound Three can synthesize more serum. The same problem won't happen again-"

As Spark frantically tries to justify his failure, the boss moves a bit causing him to stiffen up and stop talking immediately. The boss stares at him intensely with his inhuman eyes as Spark keeps his head low.

Boss "Answer my question. Why are you still alive?"

Spark sweats and shakes a bit before nervously answering.

Spark "I… don't know…"

The boss sits back down completely at his response.

Boss "This operation needed to happen tonight. The rest of the Syndicate has done what they needed to do and are patiently waiting for your success to proceed any further. What am I to say to the other Compounds now? If I knew you would be so ignorant, I would've made Keeper the Commander."

Spark's eyes widen at this response and he lifts his head to state his defense.

Spark "I can fix this! I alone have the power to accomplish-"

Before he can finish, he is stabbed through the chest with a long wooden antler type object. He shouts in pain as the boss stands up revealing a large dark figure with horns and rectangular eyes.

Boss "I think you are forgetting how incredibly replaceable you are."

He begins to lift Spark off the ground and closer to him.

Boss "You are delusional if you think I need you at all."

Spark is now lifted high off the ground, holding onto the wooden antler with both hands as blood pools from his mouth.

Boss "I can always find another Commander."

He says as Spark begins panicking and scrambling, trying to get free. He is brought closer and closer as a large mouth opens up.

Spark "NO! NO PLEASE! I CAN FIX THIS PLEASE JUST LET ME LIVE! LET ME-"

He screams and begs for his life right before his head and upper chest is eaten. Then the rest of his body is eaten in a second bite. Blood pools all around the boss as he sits back on his throne.

Boss "This is quite the setback indeed… But I will continue forward. I will accomplish my goal."

He says as it fades to black.