( naive of you to think you're making a difference.
more than anything, that resonates with him. he kind of zones out the rest to be perfectly honest, focusing on that with a laser point accuracy that would make an sharpshooter fear for their lives. he only ever wanted to help. no, he didn't want to help the police, because at the end of all things, he doesn't trust the system it was built upon. perhaps in its infancy it worked, but when people learn methods, they learn loopholes, and the concept of the police has been exploited on, now. from inside as much as the outside. he doesn't want to make mako's job harder, but he can't just sit by and do nothing. he won't.
he responds too late when mako says he should go, lost in his own thoughts. when he realizes something's been said, he snaps back, smiling apologetically. ) Huh? Oh, yeah. ( he doesn't want mako to go. his expression is bleeding, clipped at the arteries. but. helping people is more important than whichever way his heart drifts. that has to be the reality. ) See you around.
( he says it, but he doesn't really mean it. the blue spirit falls out of newspapers and propaganda, essentially overnight.
it doesn't mean he stopped, though. he just stopped what he was doing. a solution to both stop evil doers, and to keep the police out of his plans, that's what he has to come up with. he can't rely on them to arrest criminals, because it makes mako's life hard, and it really only kicks the hornet's nest. that's what mako said, so dick. invests in a camera.
blackmail is the new name of the game. it's less strategic than cornering a half a dozen gang members, and most of the time results in dick getting his ass kicked to hell and back, but. it works, undeniably. he snaps pictures of the agni kai triade's leader engaging in what looks like a romantic encounter with one of the red monsoon's wives. he goes right back to agni kai triade, says if you don't want these pictures to get out, leave such and such neighborhood alone, and ... that's it. he makes it a small enough request that it doesn't cut back on their income too much. he doesn't request money, or drugs, or weapons. just leave these people alone, and the cops won't know anything.
then he starts asking for more.
the neighborhood gets gradually bigger, a larger portion protected. it gets somewhat sizable, before it all blows up in dick's face.
he's patrolling his usual spots. he knows mako's routine by heart and purposefully avoids it - not because he would be against seeing him, but because. it's hard. to think he isn't making his life harder, just by existing. hugging the shadows is smarter, remaining aloof and out of the headlines. they all believe the blue spirit has abandoned them, and they're ... better for it, dick thinks. mako's convinced him of that. a silent protector is better than one in the limelight. he's about to head to next position, but he doesn't realize he's being watched, tailed, cornered until it's too late.
bones break. he's never seen so much of his blood outside of his body before. multiple agni kai triade's take him out, not without a fight, but he's all too easy to overpower with the strength of numbers. they make their message known. leave the boss alone, or else. they leave his scarf on - his face is too bloody and swollen to recognize, anyway.
he comes to about half an hour later, rotting away with the garbage in an alleyway. it's almost midnight. he knows where he is. he knows mako will be here in another ten minutes, as long as he didn't take a cigarette break at the corner intersection ( he doesn't stalk him ). dick drags himself into the middle of the road, a streak of red following behind him, and waits to be discovered. )
no subject
more than anything, that resonates with him. he kind of zones out the rest to be perfectly honest, focusing on that with a laser point accuracy that would make an sharpshooter fear for their lives. he only ever wanted to help. no, he didn't want to help the police, because at the end of all things, he doesn't trust the system it was built upon. perhaps in its infancy it worked, but when people learn methods, they learn loopholes, and the concept of the police has been exploited on, now. from inside as much as the outside. he doesn't want to make mako's job harder, but he can't just sit by and do nothing. he won't.
he responds too late when mako says he should go, lost in his own thoughts. when he realizes something's been said, he snaps back, smiling apologetically. ) Huh? Oh, yeah. ( he doesn't want mako to go. his expression is bleeding, clipped at the arteries. but. helping people is more important than whichever way his heart drifts. that has to be the reality. ) See you around.
( he says it, but he doesn't really mean it. the blue spirit falls out of newspapers and propaganda, essentially overnight.
it doesn't mean he stopped, though. he just stopped what he was doing. a solution to both stop evil doers, and to keep the police out of his plans, that's what he has to come up with. he can't rely on them to arrest criminals, because it makes mako's life hard, and it really only kicks the hornet's nest. that's what mako said, so dick. invests in a camera.
blackmail is the new name of the game. it's less strategic than cornering a half a dozen gang members, and most of the time results in dick getting his ass kicked to hell and back, but. it works, undeniably. he snaps pictures of the agni kai triade's leader engaging in what looks like a romantic encounter with one of the red monsoon's wives. he goes right back to agni kai triade, says if you don't want these pictures to get out, leave such and such neighborhood alone, and ... that's it. he makes it a small enough request that it doesn't cut back on their income too much. he doesn't request money, or drugs, or weapons. just leave these people alone, and the cops won't know anything.
then he starts asking for more.
the neighborhood gets gradually bigger, a larger portion protected. it gets somewhat sizable, before it all blows up in dick's face.
he's patrolling his usual spots. he knows mako's routine by heart and purposefully avoids it - not because he would be against seeing him, but because. it's hard. to think he isn't making his life harder, just by existing. hugging the shadows is smarter, remaining aloof and out of the headlines. they all believe the blue spirit has abandoned them, and they're ... better for it, dick thinks. mako's convinced him of that. a silent protector is better than one in the limelight. he's about to head to next position, but he doesn't realize he's being watched, tailed, cornered until it's too late.
bones break. he's never seen so much of his blood outside of his body before. multiple agni kai triade's take him out, not without a fight, but he's all too easy to overpower with the strength of numbers. they make their message known. leave the boss alone, or else. they leave his scarf on - his face is too bloody and swollen to recognize, anyway.
he comes to about half an hour later, rotting away with the garbage in an alleyway. it's almost midnight. he knows where he is. he knows mako will be here in another ten minutes, as long as he didn't take a cigarette break at the corner intersection ( he doesn't stalk him ). dick drags himself into the middle of the road, a streak of red following behind him, and waits to be discovered. )