Chapter 04.2: M.H.P.D.S

((Attention: So it has been a long time without a steady posting, and sadly, if I was following my original weekly upload, then this series would have been done by the 7th of this month. To correct this, I will be releasing these pretty steadily now that I have Grammarly. This project is done and just needs to be edited. My goal is to have all this out by the end of the month, so forgive if the updates are rapid.))

The radio broke their silence when Max was about to park his car in the Lock-Up. The usual giddiness in Mariyah's voice was replaced with concern through the low-quality speakers, "Uh... Max, Cornwell is asking for you to report to his office. He has the Chief from M.N.P.D, Elise, with him." His heart skipped a beat at hearing the name of that Gel woman. The only time he had seen her was during orientation, where an accidental outburst ruined the career of three individuals. Susa interrupts his thoughts, "Oooh! You are in--"

"Susanna, Elise is aware that you were never sent to holding and wants a word with you. To both of you, I am so sorry. I didn't--" Max had heard enough and cut his car off. Susa immediately breathed hard, like the walls were encasing her. Her panting abruptly stopped when Max checked the cylinder of his Dragoon Blundershot. He just wanted to double-check that he had all three chambers loaded, "M-Max, what are you doing? Are you alright? How much trouble are we in?!"

"Standard protocol. Come on before Elise gets someone over here to escort us." His reply was flat and dry. Ignoring the voice that taunted him in his head while they both stepped out of the car.

'I know why you check your bullets, Maxwell. Word of advice, make sure that the last bullet is for Susa, or I will.'

Max, thankfully, could think of little else besides going to Cornwell's office due to the sheer lack of sleep. This was a double-edged blessing that hushed his demons.

The walk to the Cornwell office was short, but the stairs increased it tenfold. Susa had taken the liberty to cling herself to his arm as every one of his coworkers looked at him like he was covered in boils. Kuro decided this was the best time to demonstrate that he could control his body. Sharp needle-like pain shot up his arm at every thought of distancing himself from her. Kuro made the constant whispers of his colleagues fade, and it felt like he was messing around with his sense of touch too. Max was all too aware of Susa's naked, heated skin cradling the meat of his arm.

Barrelling into the Cornwell office, surprising both Kuro and Susa with the unnecessary forceful entry. Cornwell and Elise were nonplussed by their frank arrival directing their eyes to the two new folding chairs in the office. Their stares gave a singular command.

Elise was a member of the G.G.S family of nonhumans from the gushing lakes in Blackwood Park and the Monmon Forest. The Chiefess of the M.N.P.D was hard-bodied in both senses of the word. The supple-looking orange gelatin that she had was shaped like that of a rigid Olympian. Her uniform was made out of her own gelatin that was hardened to a metallic sheen. Every aspect of it mirrored what someone would see on a '+' field officer but seemed clunkier with a vintage twist. The heavily padded uniform hides all traces of femininity on her body due to her race's ability to subtly morph. Elise's only feminine qualities are her ponytail hair, gentle face and voice that demands power.

The human chief spoke, "Maxwell, Susanna, take a seat, please."

Cornwell's business smile was stretched to an uncanny degree that made the war scars on his face twist as if they were going to tear open. He made a sliding gesture with an open palm over Max and Susa.

"Let's skip the pleasantries; we need to talk about the varying reports on how you handled the domestic violence call on 520 Stine Street." Cornwell's smile never falters, even as Elise's face is twisted in a scowl. Her glaring eyes were only an outline slightly darker than the surrounding orange gel. Her sentence emphasized with a slam to the mahogany desk, "The murder of Logan and kidnapping of the suspect, Susa!"

Only after this did Cornwell's smile wane to a frown, "Now, Elise, we agreed on how we will handle this." Elise scoffed as the two chiefs began to bring out papers previously unnoticed by Max and his kidnappee. The shuffling of their paper made Susanna nervous and anxiously shift towards Officer Stone. Elise's tone became more level-headed as she read through the report. "According to Officer Chuck and Lyre, that arrived at the scene, there was a standoff between you and Logan, who held Susa at gunpoint. Is that correct?"

Max nodded at first until Cornwell made a circular motion with his hand, "Yes, that is correct." He finally spoke, with his voice coming out more monotone than intended. Susa tapped her fingers on the circular burn scar on her temple. Cornwell's eyes narrowed at Max with the following words, "Now, think carefully and go into detail about the moments before, during and after his death."

"My first interaction with Logan was him taking a blind shot at me and missing. I am not a negotiator--" Max's story was interrupted by Elise with a cough, "And you aren't a cop either, but go on."

"Most people have hours to make such an important decision, but I had seconds. I offered Logan amnesty, but he wasn't happy speaking with a human. Susa began to egg him on to shoot her. That is when I shot him three times. I was careful not to shoot Susa and-and...." Max's voice began to shutter and break as he tried to find the words to explain his subsequent actions. Why did he lie to the officers? What did he have to gain by keeping Susa from the law? How will telling half-truths help in this situation at all?

To everyone's surprise, except Cornwell, Susa spoke up to where he left off, "I begged him to not take me to a human holding cell. I offered him everything from money to sex, but he refused. For some reason, he lied to the officers, and after an hour, we tried to devise a plan to--" Susa had put on a fantastic job at sounding like she was on the verge of tears. Max was dumbfounded by the sobs, as it was the first time she ever displayed such emotion. It broke the hardened gelatin chief, who scooted her chair to the other side of the Pest and laid an arm on her bare shoulder.

"There, there, it is perfectly understandable why you would not want to be in a human holding cell. No need to say anymore."

"Wrong." Cornwell, on the other hand, was undeterred by Susa's performance. Elise shot him a look that had previously only been reserved for Max. This made the human chief's smile crack wider before laying down what looked to be a coroner report on the desk for all to see, "You claim that you shot Logan with your service pistol, correct?"

Everyone's eyes fell on Stone as his heart skipped a beat, "That is correct...." His voice trailed off, taking the report in his hands. Max blinked in disbelief and confusion as he saw terms typically applied to nonhumans. Cornwell elaborates, "As you can see, there is no way that the Dragoon Blundershot could do that to a human and doubly so to a nonhuman. The extent of the damage suggests he was burnt by a 'Black Flame' user. Elise, if you will explain." The very words were spat bitterly. Max's stomach curled with images of James and horrific scenes of burnt human corpses at the words.

"The injuries suggest that Black Flames were used. While the shots from a Dragoon Blundershot are explosive, it is an exotic explosive specifically made to concuss. Still, your shots detonate in a way akin to those who use Black Flame." Max's eyes kept going over the words in his head, unable to process them. This document alone is grounds enough to ruin his reputation. Cousin fuckers and wife beaters would look down on any human who even thought of using Flames in this hectic time between humans and their counterparts. Max felt his heartbeat stop when he heard Cornwell say, "Max. I need your badge and gun. I am sure that you understand the severity of...."

Max tilted his head as Cornwell's mouth moved, yet no sound came out. His disbelief left him stunned by what he heard. Stone had given up six months of his life. The strain on his emotional, mental and marital well-being was unimaginable. Even the demonic voices rattling in his skull sounded distant to him. Maxwell's fingers traced around the handle of his service pistol. There was nothing more that he could have given them, and the life of a single nonhuman would tank everything he worked for!? Max's body felt like it was wading through jello as everything moved slowly. Stone drumming heartbeat pulsating in his ears and a low humming, the voice in his head dimly breaking through the fog.

'Wait for it....'

The voice only made him angrier! It was one thing to have everything taken for him, but Kuro was a permanent scar from them taking his mind. Hell, he had even started to give the imaginary voices talking to him names! Max's hands burnt like he was holding it a few centimetres from a stove on high. He was midway through, slipping his Dragoon Blunderbuss out of his holster to splatter the contents of Cornwell's skull over his precious degrees! One thing caused him to falter, and it was the roach unlike any he had ever seen skitter across the desk. It had not wholly unusual wings, but the black sheen to its chitinous was. The insect had muscles big enough to show the finer details of its legs. Susa gave his shoulder a squeeze bringing him back to reality. Sound rushed back to his ears like a wave.

It took him a few seconds to realize that the heavy breathing in the room was coming from him. Susa recoiled her hand and self away from him. Cornwell raises one of his eyebrows with an unreadable expression on his face. Elise's eyes were the only ones to see his palms as she spoke over Max's panic attack, "Cornwell. I don't think that would be necessary. I intend to get to the bottom of the coroner's claims. However, the compassion that Max shared for a nonhuman is something that I think should be rewarded instead of punished. Let's take away his service pistol instead and allow me to escort him to the Muruya Nonhuman Police Department." The laughing ringing off in his skull calmed his breathing.

Cornwell's smile returned in an instant, "I see. Then go right away, and Max, your gun?"

Max quickly gave the bloated bastard his gun as Kuro's taunts were now crystal in his head.

'Bravo! Bravo! That was all you, right there, champ! Leva be damned, I was expecting to see you ice your boss for a second.'

Elise made a sweeping gesture and opened the door for Susa. Max followed suit. The walk was silent as no longer officers were crowding the floors. The squishy flesh sounds of the barefoot Pest and Gel eroded his sanity since it was all he heard.

'My God, that sounds so fucking hot....'

'Shush, what was with all that fire talk about back there, demon?'

'Kuro.'

'I hate you. Explain.'

'Wouldn't want to spoil that for you, Maxie.'

No amount of inward shouting did anything to bring Kuro back. Max almost knocked over Elise as they immediately stopped at the Pick-Up. Susa had kept glancing at him since he became aware of his surroundings. His attention was not on her, locking his eyes on the Tainted woman at the desk, "Maxwell! Can I speak with you for a second...?"

His instinct was to bitterly ignore her, but Elise gave him a nudge before the two nonhumans left them alone. Max forgot why he was even upset at her with one look at her red doe-like eyes. She must have recognized it with a vexatious smile she wore, but Max decided to tease her a touch, "And what do you want?"

Max was thrown off guard by the hurt look she put on. Her full milk chocolate lips, thinly coated with balm, were upturned in a pout, with tears starting to well up in her eyes. Mariyah tried to stutter something out before Max interrupted her rough poke on her cheek, "Dear, I was only playing around. I am not mad."

His finger did not even have a chance to move away before she popped them in her mouth with a smile. Her tears were gone with a few blinks, and it took him only a second to realize that she played him like a goddamn fiddle. The frustration was mutual, with him pulling his fingers from her mouth with a satisfying pop. After treating her to the sight of him licking his fingers clean, they both shared a knowing look before Max waved her off with a chuckle, "See you around, dear."

"Oh, you definitely will. Eat light! I'll give you a double dosage of chocolate later." With that and a rumbling in his stomach, he made his way to Elise's patrol car.