Chapter 5:

Action

A Hobby No One Took Seriously

"GET LOST ALREAD-… Excuse m-… can I-… pleas-… ughh…”
"Quack!"

Chihiro tried to slip through the crowd but she failed miserably.

"SNAIL PD!”
"SNAIL PD!”
"SNAIL PD!”

They chanted the same slogan over and over, forcing her to step back.

"I wish I had a grenade right now!” she whispered.

Slushatel jumped on her feet and poke her gently.

"Quack! Quack!”
"HOO?!” she shouted. "MISS MIRAII?!”

The crowd turned to her as she waving at a random car passing by in a distance.

"The beauty queen?!”
"No way?!”
"Miss Miraii?!”

They quickly scrambled away.

"Heh!” she smirked. “Spaseeba (Thanks) Slushatel! Padazhee zdes, (Wait here) brb!”
"Quack!"

She entered the building. Slushatel lifted his head as the day grew cloudy.

"Welcome to Miraii City Police Department! How can I help you?”

The receptionist greeted her.

"Im a freelance cryptozoologist!” Chihiro said. “I studied Amarok and learned a shocking discovery…”

The receptionist flinched.

"Ohh- ahh! Amarok, yeah! Yo- you can leave it here!”

The receptionist scratched her head and glanced sideways.

"Hm? May I talk to the officer directly?” Chihiro asked.

The receptionist gave an awkward smile.

"We- well… the detective is- aaa… not in here right now… He’s out there handling other case and might take some time so… you can leave your phone number here!”

Chihiro stepped back slightly.

"Lies… Nyet, no phone but I can wait! Can I at least know the detective name?”

The receptionist grabbed a pen and wrote it on a paper but Chihiro yelled it aloud.

"DETECTIVE SUGIRAMA?!”

Her voice shocked the entire department including Slushatel, who is standing outside.

"Im sorry! Im sorry! Im sorry!” Chihiro apologized. “His name same as my bf! Heh!”

Suddenly, a plainclothes officer with a police badge hanging from his neck stepped out.

"Who shouted my name, Ishina?”

The detective asked and the receptionist froze in shocked.

"Ishina, huh? I- Im sorry bout that, officer! Your name just sounded familiar to my-…”

The detective glanced at his watch before crossing his arms.

"A- anyway! My name is Chihiro! Im a cryptozoologist! I studied A-”

She said but a voice cut her word off.

"Rama!”

A fully uniformed police officer rushed to the detective.

"Sup, Kita-”
"Emergency!”

They flinched before followed him into the break room, only to see a canine dog sat beside an empty box on the ground.

"Officer Ais stole my donut!” the officer said.

"YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME?!” Chihiro yelled internally.

The detective bent down and patted Officer Ais, then questioned him directly.

"Woof!” the wolf barked.

The detective stood and turned to the officer.

"Kitai, he said no!” the detective said.

Chihiro tilted her head and looked at the dog shaking its tail happily.

"I- Im pretty sure that’s a yes…” Chihiro whispered.

The officer slammed the table, frustrating.

"I trusted him… I trusted him to keep my donut safe! Why you betrayed me, Ais?!”

The detective shook his head and touched his shoulder.

"He helped us a lot in drug cases, Officer Yamaguchi Kitai… He deserved it…”

"JUST CUT THIS CRAP ALREADY!” Chihiro yelled internally.

Chihiro and the detective sat in an interview room and she shows him the evidences she gathered.

"I spent a wee-”

"Ughh…” The detective frowned. “Why no stamp?”

Chihiro raised an eyebrow.

"Huh?"

The detective sighed in frustration.

"Stamp!” he said firmly. “A formal verification from any related institution or agency to prove the credibility of your finding! This isnt a college assignment, this is the Administration of Criminal Justice and Public Safety! Your folks didn’t teach you?!”

Chihiro was stunned and unresponsive.

"Im sorry…” he apologized.

The detective took a deep breath and leaned his back.

"The pressured got into me…” he said. “How did you… got all these stuff?”

"I-… I-…” she stuttered. “I-… I played a game… Cell of Duck and-”

The detective immediately stood up and walked out.

"There’s SMG in the viral video!”

She said quickly as she stood as well. The detective stopped at the door, saying nothing.

"The game helped me find it!” she continued. “There’s also frequency differen-”

The detective chuckled and shook his head.

"Yeah yeah… Good luck getting a stamp for that!”

He left the room, leaving her alone. Chihiro lowered her gaze and slowly sat back down.

"Why…”

She walked under the light evening rain with Slushatel, eyes fixed to the ground.

"Quack?”

Slushatel tried to get her attention but she didn’t respond. Chihiro wandered aimlessly as memories flooded her mind.

"Ohh hey, it’s the TEACHER’S PET!”

A classmate slapped the book she was reading off the table.

"Vot idut svin’i…” Chihiro muttered.

Another classmate slammed their hands onto her desk.

"Ahohoy! What you doing? Wait wait, lemme guess! Study 'chick' again? Haahaha!”

Chihiro stood to pick up the book but someone kicked it further. The other yanked her research paper from her bag.

"Oh wow, The Wrath Dragon? Related to Three Legendary Sword!”

Chihiro picked up the book and gripped it tightly.

"Dragon? You love those fairy tale? Oh pleaseeee!”

Chihiro held herself but the moment they ripped off the papers, she started throwing hands.

"CYKA BLYAT!!!” she yelled.

At home, she was slapped by her mother for swearing and fighting at school.

"AGAIN?! GOOD! NOW YOUR COLLEGE SCHOLARSHIP OFFER JUST GOT CANCELLED!” her mom yelled. “All that over your stupid chick study! WAS IT WORTH IT?!”

Chihiro kept her gaze low, one eyes bruised.

"Did you win?” her father asked.

She smirked but her father was slapped too.

"Quack?”

The rain grew heavier. Slushatel stared at her as she stood beside a busy road.

"Quack!”

Night before her final exam, she overheard her parents talking.

"We don’t have money to send her to college…” her mother said. “Now what? Let her be with her chick or whatever that is?! Is that what we wanna tell our neighbour? Family gathering? That our daughter obsessed with something that doesnt exist?!”

Chihiro looked sideways, sighed quietly.

"Dont worry…” her father said. “We can borrow from Loan Whale… Then, from Naga Sharkie to pay back the loan and vice versa! This way we-”

She kicked the door open.

"NO!” she yelled.

And a heat argument erupted among them, even suggesting to find a husband for her which she strongly disagreed.

"You. Don’t. Have. A. Choice, young girl!” her mom said. “That or we kick you out!”

Chihiro stepped back slowly, shaking her head.

"Heh…” she smirked. “Tebe ne obyazatel’no, ma…”

She looked down at Slushatel and smiled.

"Quack?”

She closed her eyes and leapt towards the wet road.

"QUACK! QUACK! QUACK!!!”

A container lorry driver honked and apply the brake, fully realize it wouldn’t stop the vehicle immediately.

"Im sorry… Slu-”

Suddenly, her body was yanked backward by a man just in time.

"WHAT THE F*CK YO-”

The man yelled, but his words were cut short when he saw her crying.

"Quack! Quack! Quack!”

Slushatel poked her insistently. She grabbed him and hugged him tightly.

"Im sorry, Slushatel!” she cried. “Im sorry!”

Later that night, at a pastry store, the man flipped the ‘OPEN’ sign to ‘CLOSE’ and placed a hot drink along with three pastries on the table in front of her.

"On the house…” He said

Chihiro gazed down with gloomy face at Slushatel, sleeping on her lap. The man sat across the table and glanced at her bag.

"You a student?”

Chihiro shook her head briefly.

"You still young…” he said softly… “You shouldn’t throw your life away…”

He spoke gently but she gazed to the side.

"You remind me… back when I was still in school…” he chuckled. “I had no friends at that time… I liked bakery but people made fun of me for liking 'girly' stuff…”

She flinched and lifted her head slightly.

"Know what I did? I showed them how masculine I am! I took them down, all by myself… Literally anyone, their brothers, their friends, even their-..." he paused. "Except for one guy…”

He slammed the table and Chihiro listened intently.

"That mf was the only one I couldn’t beat physically… I tried so hard, challenged him every day but in the end, he beat the f*ck outta me! That dumbass crazy strong!”

She smiled slightly and began sipping the drink.

"At one point, I felt like giving up… But then, I realized, I still had my trump card! So I used it and it was super effective! My ultimate skill: verbal abuse! He cried, I won!”

The man smirked proudly and Chihiro let out a small chuckle.

"Later, I got expelled from school… When I thought my future was doomed, he came to me and said he wanna be my friend… He helped me a lot too! Now, he’s a police officer, and here I am, providing him donuts and coffee every day! I got a loyal customer! Heh hee!”

He shoved the plate of three pastries toward her.

"What I tryna say is…” he paused. “In life, there are always options…”

She accept the kindness but he snatched it away just before she could grab it.

"But not all of them will go your way…” he continued.

He took a bite, then nudged the remaining two toward her.

"Doesn’t mean you should give up…” he said. “There are still other choices you can pick from…”

Chihiro nodded and a smile forming on her face.

"T-" she started to speak. "Thank you… Mr-”

"Amri!” he replied.

She told him her story then presenting the evidences she had gathered on Amarok. He listened carefully, visibly impressed.

"This girl…” he whispered. “Have you... ever heard the term… Special Police?”

Three years later…

"After almost a decade, it has finally been revealed that Amarok is actually a human, leading a large syndicate behind the infamous flavourful Crystal Meth or methamphetamine, also known as ice!”

The reporter took a deep breath, eyes glued to the paper in her hands as police secured the perimeter, holding back the crowded and so-called journalists.

"We are currently outside Kioku Airport. We’ve been informed that Amarok was holding hostages from three airplanes but hostages from two have been freed after a successful negotiation deal and now we awaiting for the third one!”

Chihiro, equipped with a tactical communications headset and a long range firearm with telescopic sight, sat half kneeling inside a compact, egg shaped, black helicopter.

"Ducky got clear shot!” she said.

She precisely aimed at a bald man leaning against airplane door, arms crossed with two tattoos. Beside her sat a male teenager, gripping the assist handle while holding binoculars.

"Tortilla to Control! Inform all units on scene for Amarok! Bus is 10-23!”

He said as a sleek, compact, aerodynamic helicopter descended beneath the full moon.

"Ducky to Tortilla!” she said. “You sure Amarok’s in the plane?”

He lowered the binocular and glanced at her.

"We are Chiper, Ducky!” he replied. “We connect dots, not doubts!“

Chihiro frowned and shook her head.

"Amarok known for three D!” she said. “Deception, Delusional and Dickhead!”

The teenager lowered his gazed and spotted Officer Yamaguchi Kitai, wearing a heavy vest with a little girl toward the bald man at the plane door.

"Deceptio-... what if-..." his eyes widened. "Control! Please inform all units including Falcon! Amarok’s still in the building!”

"Negative!” a voice replied. “Amarok going to take off with her daughter obv, idiot!"

As they argued, hostages from the third plane rushed out and the little girl boarded. Officer Kitai, meanwhile, was escorted into the building by the bald man.

"Where’s he taking him?!”
"Amarok isnt there?!”
"Change plan! Change plan!”

All agencies on scene descended into confusion.

"Heh!” Chihiro smirked. “Looks like you hit the spot again, Tortilla!"

Ground unit became chaotic as they were advise to hold fire.

"There’s a reason why we’re called intelligence…” he replied.

Officer Kitai and the bald man entered the building while the plane carrying the little girl taxied down the runway.

"Eggcelent work, Ducky! Couldn’t have done this without you!” Tortilla said.

Suddenly, a voice echoed from a loudspeakers inside the building.

"Listen, my beloved pack! Our commander has abandoned us! We on our own now! WE ARE THE PROUD WOLVES! LYKOS!!! LOBO!!! FIGHT TO THE END! PROVE YOUR LOYALTY TO ME!!! LET’S SHOW THEM OUR TEETH!!! HOWL YOUR WAR CRY!!!”

Inside the building, multiple gunmen appeared, howling at the top of their lungs.

"AWWWUUUUUU!!!”
"AWUU AWWUUU AWUUUUU!!!”
"AWUUU! AWUUUUU!!!”

Chihiro removed her headset and lowered her sniper riffle, watching the tactical units preparing to storm the building.

"Heh!” she smirked. “Still too early, Tortilla! The battle isnt over yet… Amarok is only a distraction… There’s a bigger threat… beneath the white shadow!"

The Little Bird Helicopter lifted away, following the plane, escorted by two fighter jet as the first glimpse of sunlight crept over the horizon.

- The End -

Extra Pyat’:
Chihiro sat in the office in front of the computer writing a report when suddenly she received a message by anonymous that will self destruct in ten seconds.

For: Ducky (Chiper Eagle)
Subject: Recommended Academy Trainer #1

Third Batch Potential Student by Amri

Name: Kenji Ozeki
Age: 13 years old
Role: Chiper Drive
RV: TBD

Name: Yamaguchi Luna
Age: 13 years old
Role: Tech Eagle
RV: TBD

"Yamaguchi Luna...” she smiles. “What a strong girl, don’t you think, Slushatel?”

She placed her left arm on the table sideway, while putting her right fist on her cheek as she staring at a black and white frame with a text:

Fly High, Slushatel!

"Mhm!” She nodded. “I think so too, quack!”

A new message pop up in her phone.

Boyfriend: Babe, wake up! A new FPS game just dropped!

"Heh…” she smirked. “See ya tonight then, love yah, Haru!”

She replied and he quickly respond.