Lonely Thieves

Act V, Part II

Daryl's Side (April 14, 9:00 pm)

Megumi dashed out of the room at full speed, leaving Daryl behind in the dust. He quickly grabbed the necklace she had left behind and ran after her, leaping over the still-immobile Matteo Innocenti in the process.

"Megumi!" Daryl yelled out, trying hard not to draw the attention of anyone else who might have been on that floor. "Megumi, hold on! Think about where you are!"

Megumi slowed down to a stop, to Daryl's relief. It wouldn't do either of them any good to rush things, after all; they were in enemy territory, and they needed to find an exit before they thought about anything else.

"...Sorry," Megumi eventually muttered. "I got a little impatient."

"No big deal. I know you're probably worried."

"Still, we need to get out of here quickly. Someone's bound to find Matteo sooner or later, and we don't really want to stick around for that long anyhow."

Megumi and Daryl headed over to the elevator, but they did not press the button to call it. Instead, Megumi hacked into the elevator's systems and pulled open the doors that way, exposing the building's long elevator shaft.

"I've suddenly got a bad feeling about what kind of escape route you've got planned for us," Daryl remarked apprehensively.

"What, do you want to ride the elevator down lazily like we're tourists? Don't forget, we're in enemy territory." Without turning back to see Daryl's reaction, Megumi grabbed one of the nearby ropes and began slowly sliding down.

"Fine." Daryl took a deep breath, then gingerly grabbed hold of another rope. He braced himself against the walls of the elevator shaft, then slowly slid down into the shaft. He tried his best not to look down as he lowered himself down.

"We don't have time, nimrod! Speed it up!"

Daryl gulped nervously and scooted down the cables a bit faster. While he feared falling from the rope to his untimely death, he feared more what the mafia might do to him if they caught him sneaking around in their headquarters.

Despite Daryl's still rather slow climbing speed, the two were able to make their way down to the third floor rather quickly. With the elevator car blocking their way to the lower floors, the two had no choice but to get off there. Still, it wasn't as if they could just leave through the main entrance. If they were seen by someone, they would definitely be questioned, and there was no telling if the guards would even let them go.

"This is going to be pretty tough," Megumi admitted. "Our initial plan hinged on us keeping our stealth, but considering the situation, we probably don't have that advantage anymore."

"I mean, it's possible that they haven't found Matteo yet, right?" Daryl suggested. "It might still work out if we hurry."

As if in response to him, the sound of footsteps came rushing through the halls, and Daryl and Megumi quickyl hurried into a nearby room. Once they were safely inside, the two placed their ears against the door and tried to see what was going on.

"Is the boss gonna be okay?!"

"He's fine! But we gotta find those bastards that broke into the building and did him like that. It's our heads that are gonna roll otherwise!"

The mafia grunts ran back down the hallway, and Daryl breathed a sigh of relief. Megumi, however, looked rather concerned.

"Well, that settles it. Looks like they already found their boss. They're gonna tighten up security real hard now."

"What are we going to do? We still haven't figured out how to get out of here yet!"

"Stop whining!" Megumi glanced around, then ran to the window and threw it open. She glanced around for a bit and nodded. "Good!"

"What's up?" Daryl asked worriedly. "You find a way out?"

"Yep!" Megumi replied, pulling out the grappling hook she had used before. "Stand back a bit."

Megumi tossed her grappling hook out of the window and snagged it on the upper ledge of the guard fence surrounding the building. She pulled it once or twice to make sure it was secure, then tied the end to one of the nearby table legs. She pulled the rope once again to make sure that it wouldn't come apart, and when it was satisfactory she approached the window again.

Once she was at the window, she climbed up onto the windowsill and stepped onto the rope. Balancing on it like a tightrope acrobat, Megumi walked across the rope with ease, as if she wasn't several stories off the ground. She walked all the way across to the other side, then stood on top of the guard fence and turned around to look at Daryl, who watched Megumi do all this in a state of shock that gave way to horror when he realized he would soon have to do the same thing.

"You can't expect me to do that!" Daryl shouted out the window. "I don't even have any implants!"

"You don't need implants!" Megumi shouted back. "Now, do you want to get out of here or do you want to get caught by the Innocenti?"

Before Daryl could respond, he heard the shouting of Innocenti men as they rounded the corner again. Realizing he had little time to escape as it was, he swallowed whatever remaining complaints he had left and climbed onto the windowsill himself.

He glanced down at the ground and gulped. No matter what, he wasn't going to be able to just walk across the rope like Megumi did. However, he still had to make his way across the rope somehow.

Bent over, Daryl crawled onto the rope, trying his best to stay on top. However, that was a futile effort, and Daryl quickly found himself flipped over, with only his quick reactions keeping him from falling off the rope entirely. He threw his legs up and clung on to the rope with all his might.

"That's it!" Megumi called out. "Climb over just like that!"

Daryl was too flustered to even register what Megumi was saying, but nevertheless he knew he wouldn't get anywhere by hanging in place. Tightening his grip on the rope, Daryl started pulling himself towards the guard fence, trying his best not to remember how far away the ground was.

As he crawled, he could hear the sound of mafia men shouting from the room he just escaped. Sooner or later, they would break into that room, and if they saw him climbing across, they'd cut off the rope and let him fall to his death. Daryl began picking up the pace, though the fear of falling off himself certainly didn't make things easier.

By some miracle, he managed to make it all the way over to the guard fence, where Megumi was waiting for him with an outstretched arm. Daryl grabbed the hand, and he was instantly pulled up from the rope as Megumi leapt off the guard fence. He barely had time to register what exactly was happening when he felt himself falling down as Megumi dropped down to the ground. Daryl's heart nearly stopped when Megumi landed on the ground with a giant slam.

"Cyber-implants sure are convenient," Daryl mumbled when he managed to get back some of his breath. "Maybe I should get some after all this."

"No time for chit-chat," Megumi remarked as she stood up. "They definitely heard all that commotion. We need to get out of here before they catch sight of us."

Daryl and Megumi ran off into the streets of the Sunshine district, hiding in the alleyways as the sound of shouting Innocenti men faded into the distance. Once they were certain no one was following them, they stopped for a moment to take a breath.

"We can't stay here," Megumi said between breaths. "Matteo knows our faces. We need to get out of here before he tracks us down."

"Easier said than done," Daryl replied. "We don't have a car, after all."

"No point complaining," Megumi sighed. "It doesn't change what we have to do."