Carth merely gave Double Trouble a brief chuckle in response to their words. "Heh, well, I imagine someone like you understands it pretty well. When you're play with fire long enough, you learn a few tricks to give the game a little flair," he said with a self-satisfied smile, twirling his blaster like an old-fashioned cowboy before holstering it as the other United Universes agents began to move in and restrain Carver and his men, slapping electronic cuffs on them for good measure.
View attachment 10604
"Y-Yes, I'm fine, thank you," Akane meanwhile responded to Toboe. "May have to take a day or two to shake off my nerves after that harrowing encounter, but you know how it is. It comes with the job, after all," she said with a sheepish mien.
As Carver and his cronies were escorted off the premises, Carth looked toward Umi as she posed the million credit question, his smile dissipating as his moment of glory passed. "It'll be a lot of paperwork, that's for sure. Someone that popular in the public eye, people are gonna talk. Not much we can do about that, but... well, that's something I let white collar worry about," he said with a resigned shrug.
"Yeah... T-That is true..." Akane murmured, somewhat downtrodden now as though the public fallout wasn't something she had considered. "Did we really do anything in the end? It was one thing that some of the things he was saying technically weren't false, and nothing can change that. In a way, even though things didn't entirely go the way Carver wanted, we still fell into his hands, didn't we? The fact that we practically stormed into the warehouse, the way he told everyone that we were threatening to shut him down, to censor him... and in the end, he did get arrested. People will talk about that..."
View attachment 10605
"It is a bit of a bad look, no one can deny that," Ginoza nodded with a furrowed brow. His hard expression never changed once over the past few minutes, as though this had always remained at the front of his mind. "But we do have good reason for what we did. The charges will hold up from probable cause once we submit the evidence. His plans to assassinate us, one by one, in the name of the Revanchist."
"I'm not entirely sure facts are enough to save us from scrutiny this time. I mean, it's the context that this all happened under..." Akane shook her head in response to Ginoza. His way of thinking had always been too logical, as though he had no use for emotions.
Ginoza merely gave a wide, one-armed shrug in resignation. "Maybe so, but that's all we can give to the people we serve right now," he sighed. It was undeniable they were in a bad way following the Coalition Civil War, and the fact that this once private info had been made public didn't help matters, but... well, that was a matter for another time.
"Right, well... We can worry about that stuff later. Lighten up, will you, kids?" Carth clicked his tongue, as though most of their worries flew over his head. "We got the guy, and even if everyone else thinks it was under trumped up charges, at least we'll know to ourselves that we did the right thing."
Akane and Ginoza merely remained silent, as though unsure of how to respond, so the man simply continued from there.
"In any case... We should get outta here. I'll get some more men to snoop around the place, seal it down for further investigation if need be, all that yellow tape stuff. I imagine you guys just wanna get home already and put this behind you, so... I'll leave you to it," he nodded, and with that, began to saunter off. The night was still young for him, but it seemed for the rest of the group, they could breathe again.
With that, Ginoza finally felt inclined to speak again. "... The rest of you shouldn't have to worry about these matters. This is for myself and Ms. Tsunemori to worry about," he said, gesturing toward Akane. "I can only thank you for accompanying me on this matter. I'm not quite sure I could have done it without you. That said... we probably shouldn't stay here too long. Shall we?" He breathed, turning his back to the group and gesturing for them to follow as he began to walk.
As he did so, he maneuvered over to Double Trouble and spoke softly. "I don't suppose you'd be interested in a bonus payment in exchange for... keeping quiet about these affairs," he merely said, not even Akane being privy to his words.
@Jeremi @Yun Lee @Takumi @Lucky
View attachment 10604
"Y-Yes, I'm fine, thank you," Akane meanwhile responded to Toboe. "May have to take a day or two to shake off my nerves after that harrowing encounter, but you know how it is. It comes with the job, after all," she said with a sheepish mien.
As Carver and his cronies were escorted off the premises, Carth looked toward Umi as she posed the million credit question, his smile dissipating as his moment of glory passed. "It'll be a lot of paperwork, that's for sure. Someone that popular in the public eye, people are gonna talk. Not much we can do about that, but... well, that's something I let white collar worry about," he said with a resigned shrug.
"Yeah... T-That is true..." Akane murmured, somewhat downtrodden now as though the public fallout wasn't something she had considered. "Did we really do anything in the end? It was one thing that some of the things he was saying technically weren't false, and nothing can change that. In a way, even though things didn't entirely go the way Carver wanted, we still fell into his hands, didn't we? The fact that we practically stormed into the warehouse, the way he told everyone that we were threatening to shut him down, to censor him... and in the end, he did get arrested. People will talk about that..."
View attachment 10605
"It is a bit of a bad look, no one can deny that," Ginoza nodded with a furrowed brow. His hard expression never changed once over the past few minutes, as though this had always remained at the front of his mind. "But we do have good reason for what we did. The charges will hold up from probable cause once we submit the evidence. His plans to assassinate us, one by one, in the name of the Revanchist."
"I'm not entirely sure facts are enough to save us from scrutiny this time. I mean, it's the context that this all happened under..." Akane shook her head in response to Ginoza. His way of thinking had always been too logical, as though he had no use for emotions.
Ginoza merely gave a wide, one-armed shrug in resignation. "Maybe so, but that's all we can give to the people we serve right now," he sighed. It was undeniable they were in a bad way following the Coalition Civil War, and the fact that this once private info had been made public didn't help matters, but... well, that was a matter for another time.
"Right, well... We can worry about that stuff later. Lighten up, will you, kids?" Carth clicked his tongue, as though most of their worries flew over his head. "We got the guy, and even if everyone else thinks it was under trumped up charges, at least we'll know to ourselves that we did the right thing."
Akane and Ginoza merely remained silent, as though unsure of how to respond, so the man simply continued from there.
"In any case... We should get outta here. I'll get some more men to snoop around the place, seal it down for further investigation if need be, all that yellow tape stuff. I imagine you guys just wanna get home already and put this behind you, so... I'll leave you to it," he nodded, and with that, began to saunter off. The night was still young for him, but it seemed for the rest of the group, they could breathe again.
With that, Ginoza finally felt inclined to speak again. "... The rest of you shouldn't have to worry about these matters. This is for myself and Ms. Tsunemori to worry about," he said, gesturing toward Akane. "I can only thank you for accompanying me on this matter. I'm not quite sure I could have done it without you. That said... we probably shouldn't stay here too long. Shall we?" He breathed, turning his back to the group and gesturing for them to follow as he began to walk.
As he did so, he maneuvered over to Double Trouble and spoke softly. "I don't suppose you'd be interested in a bonus payment in exchange for... keeping quiet about these affairs," he merely said, not even Akane being privy to his words.
@Jeremi @Yun Lee @Takumi @Lucky