The little girl had little choice.
Despite how polite Half appeared, she had the distinct feeling that if she refused to listen to his joke, he might give her to Crucci Yow who spared her a hateful glance.
The girl nodded at Half's words, unable to look him in the ugly, pale, face.
The man grinned, making his side profile all the more unsightly.
"Good," he said, and then cleared his throat. "You're gonna love this."
Perhaps because a little levity was promised, all the captives listened closely, hoping that the criminal's joke could alleviate some of the frightful tension.
"Knock, knock," Half said to the girl.
Her eyes fluttered and she struggled to move her lips.
"W-who's t-there?" she responded.
But Half said nothing back.
An awkward silence ensued.
No one knew how to react to this. Everyone except two other people in the lobby was waiting for the punchline – for the joke – but there didn't seem to be any extra content ahead.
Half stared expectantly at the little girl with a broad smile – well, half a smile, visible from his side profile. She began to quiver, unsure of what to do and what to say.
Thus, in a panic, she again said:
"Who's there?"
The enthusiasm cast on Half's ugly side faded bit by bit, disappointment and what might have been mild fury setting in instead.
"You don't get it, do you?" Half said indignantly.
The little girl slowly backed away and she would have continued to backpedal towards her mother if she hadn't seen Crucci Yow advance towards her, her tiny eyes narrowing malevolently.
"We always tell you. No one except us will ever understand the joke," Crucci said when she reached Half who stood and scoffed. He offered no response. "Should I punish the brat?"
The brave officer, still hidden away, frowned.
He, much like the civilians in the lobby couldn't wrap his mind around where exactly the funny part of that incomplete knock-knock joke was slotted.
At the mention of punishing the little girl, though, the man quickly retrieved his Anti-Abberant handgun and steeled his resolve. He couldn't let that happen. Not a chance.
While he wasn't sure exactly what it was that made everyone so stiff and scared, he knew it had to do with the goth girl, Crucci Yow. It must have been her Utility that inspired such terror.
Waiting with baited breaths for Half's response, the officer thought of many strategies for how exactly he could utilise the element of surprise to do some good.
However, something interrupted his sped-up thoughts.
"I get it! I-I get the joke!" someone from the crowd of hostages cried, his pale, sweaty face exposing the fact that it had taken a mountainous amount of courage for him to utter those simple words.
Half turned to him, his visible, silver eye sparkling with interest.
"Really? Come over here and explain it to me. No one likes it when a joke is explained openly," he said, beckoning with his left hand, which many realised looked just as ugly as the left side of his face.
The squat, balding man who had just spoken rose shakily and reached Half's side after tripping thrice. He didn't dare meet Crucci Yow's terrifying gaze.
The little girl from before, still stationed in front of the criminals, made way for the balding man and attempted to use the chance to get closer to her mother, but Crucci Yow made her stop with a sharp hiss.
The squat man whispered into Half's ear – as he had been told to – and soon, Half roared in laughter.
He gave the man half a hug and shook him vigorously.
"Now here's a man with a class! Perfect!" he growled excitedly.
The squat man smiled awkwardly.
Half chuckled.
"You know, you might just be worthy of seeing my handsome side as a friend. But we both know you don't want that. How about you get to leave the building, hmm? Everyone who leaves is guaranteed to not get hurt, even if the sky falls over. Sounds good, doesn't it?" he said, to which the squat man gave a meek, "Yes, sir."
"Go on. Just go through those doors and it'll all be alright."
The squat man hesitated at first.
The hostages in the lobby knew that the large, brown double doors to the bank were unsealed. The group of five criminals hadn't bothered with much after acquiring access to the building, well, except confiscating all electronic devices on the captives.
The squat man, livid with hope, rushed towards the doors and pulled them forcefully.
He saw the night lit up by dozens upon dozens of vehicles flashing lights at the entrance and a crowd of people, most of whom were either police or Bureau Agents.
His heart felt a great grip of relief and he broke into a smile, tears coming out of his eyes.
…And then there a clacking noise, and he was trapped within a large, aged black coffin that stood upright, immobile and firm.
The rest of the hostages saw this happen just before the doors mysteriously closed by themselves.
Terror exploded forth all the more.
Half cleared his throat.
"Oh, I'm true to my word. That man is a lot safer than you all in here," he said, half a grin presented to his audience. "See, I never lie, cheat or backstab those I show my true colours to. It's basic human nature. This face – this ugly, pale face you see – it's my mask. It protects me – oh, I do need protecting. It doesn't reveal anything to you. It means nothing to you. It's the same as the fake smile you give nosy, gossipy Beatrice at the office" – Half said while crouching before a trembling, pretty blonde – "It's the same as the fist bump you give Dan from Accounting despite knowing you're splitting his wife's cherries" – Half said as he grabbed the thick beard of a middle-aged man wearing a checkered shirt – "It's fake to the ones I intend it to be."
Several people began sobbing.
Half didn't mind.
"To you all, I'd rather show this face. The one that repulses you. The one that leaves an impression. I'll keep smiling and joking – even if the majority of you are tasteless idiots. Entertain my mask, and you'll all be safe."
Crucci Yow seemed to smile at Half's words, but then she gestured towards the little girl, still frozen in place.
"Ah, that's right. Should I punish a silly little girl too stupid to understand a silly, little joke?" Half said as he looked down at the child. "Absolutely!"
At once, Crucci Yow advanced towards the little girl who immediately screamed at the top of her lungs while trying to escape.
No one rushed to her defence.
No one, except her mother who dived in the way.
Crucci Yow saw her coming and grabbed her wrist. Then it happened.
A howl of agony so far removed from anything human – so nail bitingly chilling to the spine – made everyone cover their ears and shrink in immense terror.
This was the sixth time the hostages were hearing this sort of sound come from a human in the last day or so.
Whatever Crucci Yow did whenever she touched someone remained etched in the minds of the men and women in the lobby and it crippled any semblance of bravery, chivalry or courage.
Of course, the little girl whose mother had just been subjected to a fate a lot worse than death, would remember the cry she heard more than anyone else, as well as the savage, sick glee that reflected on Crucci Yow's face as she inflicted said fate, drool nearly slopping from her lips.
Right at that moment, when the woman who had just howled fell limp to the floor, foam coming from her mouth, something hurtled towards Half and Crucci Yow.
A brave officer of the law had finally seized his chance to attack, and after a quick lunge, he pointed his handgun at Half and fired as many Anti-Abberant rounds as he could in one instant. They lit the lobby in blue, accurately aiming for the man in the fedora.
Yet… that was all the rounds did.
They were caught in mid-air, frozen between Half and the officer; acting as special lanterns for simple aesthetic purpose.
The officer was dumbfounded.
Half gave him a strange look; one that suggested he thought the officer was some kind of clown act that no one had asked for.
"Interesting. So, there was still some resistance," he said. "You must not have gotten the memo, sir. We can't be VIOLENT as long as we are in this building" – Half looked at Crucci Yow – "Well, semantics."
Right as the officer thought of what his next action would be, his chin was suddenly kissed by the sharp edge of a blade.
He froze immediately.
A third figure, no doubt affiliated with Half was standing behind him.
"For the audience's entertainment, why don't we treat Mr. Bozo-of-the-Law here to a bit of a fun interrogation. Let's see how long a hero with such a handsome face lasts," Half said with a snigger, his finger pointing to one corner where the corpses of civilians, Agents and police officers alike lay stacked like sacks of grain.