Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction ❯ Kuroi ~ Shiroi ❯ a new war ( Chapter 6 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: PikaChan 
Weiß is lured to the convention center as part of Schabön's plan, and the final showdown begins...
Anime/Manga: Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action | Type: Self Insertion | Uploaded On: 08.21.2002 | Updated On: 08.21.2002 | Pages: 5 | Words: 3.7K | Visits: 216 | Status: Completed
Weiß is lured to the convention center as part of Schabön's plan, and the final showdown begins...
Anime/Manga: Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action | Type: Self Insertion | Uploaded On: 08.21.2002 | Updated On: 08.21.2002 | Pages: 5 | Words: 3.7K | Visits: 216 | Status: Completed
- chapter 6 -
"But what does it mean, Aya?" Youji asked, scratching his head. The redhead had read the letter out loud to the other members of Weiß. It was odd to see Aya so worried.
"It's not really that hard to figure out, Youji. Eiki just wants us to meet her on the roof of the convention center," Ken said.
"Why do I have the feeling that Schabön is involved...?" Omi muttered. "Y'know, it's not really like Eiki to just send a letter to us..."
"Yeah, she'd probably just come here herself if she wanted to talk," Akari said, twirling a strand of jet-black hair around her finger.
"Well, I don't know. All I know is that we need to get there at sunset," Aya said. It was REALLY odd to see him pacing the floor.
"Aya, calm down. Whatever it is, I'm sure it's not that bad." Youji stood up and held his arms up in a shrugging motion.
*I hope you're right, Youji...* Aya thought, crossing his arms.
************************************************************ ********
The sun began its descent from the afternoon sky as the five assassins arrived on the rooftop of the convention center. It was quite an empty place; light from the sun just barely peeked between the taller buildings surrounding the large arena.
Abyssinian looked around the desolate rooftop, trying to catch any glimpse of the lavender-haired bandit. "Eiki?"
"Eiki? Where are you?" Calico shouted, cupping her hands around her mouth.
She felt someone take her by the wrist, then heard Bombay's voice whispering into her ear.
"Try and keep it down... I've got a really bad feeling about this. Schabön could be anywhere up here, and they could strike at any time." He lowered his voice, taking her hand in his. "And I don't want you to get hurt any more than you already have been..."
Calico felt her face start to burn. *... Omi ... Does he really care about me... like that?* She held her hand to her heart, which had sped up, possibly because of the suspense being felt, or possibly because of Bombay's sudden closeness. She smiled, turning around to face him.
"Don't worry about me. I'm an assassin too, ya know. I'll be okay."
Bombay smiled, and ruffled the younger girl's front hair. "Good girl. Let's go catch up with the others."
"No sign of Eiki anywhere," Siberian said, turning to Abyssinian.
"Damn," the redhead spat, "we'd better split up and look for her. No telling what could happen. Siberian, Balinese, you take that section to the left. Bombay, Calico, you two go right. I'll take this middle part by myself."
"Are you sure, Abyssinian?" Balinese asked. "We don't even know if Eiki's here, and besides... It could be a trap."
"Nevermind all of that. Let's just get going before something bad happens," Abyssinian said. With that, he turned around and walked off, looking around several of the large pipes sticking up from the rooftop.
"... Well, that's Abyssinian for you," Siberian said. "Come on." He and Balinese began walking in another direction.
Calico sighed. "Well, let's go..." she said.
"Yeah. I sure hope Eiki's alright..."
"It won't be long now, Nusutto. Sooner or later your little friends will find you here, and we'll be in quite a rumble," Manta said, a sneer growing across his face.
Swordfish got the group's attention with a few swift arm movements. (I'm sensing them... they've come to fetch their poor little thief,) he signed.
Dolphin drew her nunchucks. "I'm gonna make that lil' Nagareboshi brat pay fer what she did t' me," she said. The slashes on her arm were bandaged and still healing.
Eiki lay on the ground in front of the six assassins, unable to do anything. Her arms and legs were bound once again, and there was a handkerchief wrapped around her mouth. *Damn it... if I could only get to my knives...*
"Eiki? Are you here?" a voice called.
"Okay. Let's move!" Manta quickly opened the door to where it lead to the inside of the convention center, motioning for the others to follow.
Eiki watched them hide, anger in her violet eyes. "Nnnn!" she attempted to shout.
"Eiki?" The voice got closer.
"Nnnnn! Nnn mm mmm hnnnn!" She tried shouting louder.
"I'm hearing something over here, Balinese!" Eiki could make out the voice now; it was Siberian.
"Nnnnnnnnn!!" She squirmed around in the ropes, trying to kick the door. She kept this up until Siberian's begoggled head peeked around the corner.
"Eiki!" he shouted, running to her. Balinese was close behind.
"Damn that Schabön," Balinese cursed, undoing the handkerchief. "It's not right to do things like this to a lady!"
Eiki coughed a few times before speaking. "Thanks, guys," she said. "This is really pissing me off, y'know?"
"Damnit, Bombay was right... I should have known that Schabön was behind this," Siberian said, slashing at the rope that bound Eiki's wrists together. "Balinese! Go and get the others!" The older man nodded and ran off in the direction of the other three hunters.
"Eiki, are you alright?" Siberian asked, undoing the rope around her ankles.
"I've been better," she replied. "But... we'd better get out of here. Schabön's hiding in that stairwell." Eiki motioned toward the door behind her. She stood up and dusted herself off.
"You're fast, Nusutto. But not fast enough!" The door behind her opened and Manta emerged, grabbing Eiki from behind.
"Ah! Shimatta!" Thinking quickly, Eiki reached into her trenchcoat (which had been recovered) and pulled out a small pocket knife.
Before Manta had any time to react, his arm exploded in pain. "Itai!!" He let go of Eiki, clitching his forearm as the warm blood began oozing out of it.
"Come on, let's go!" Eiki and Siberian began running.
"Damn!" Manta stumbled forward, the other five Schabön members emerging from the stairwell. "...Where'd they go?"
Piranha pointed his pocketknife in the direction that Eiki and Siberian were running. "That way!"
"Eiki, what were you thinking?" Abyssinian demanded, taking hold of the bandit's shoulders. "You could have been killed!"
"I didn't see it coming! I thought Manta was going to do serious business!" Eiki said, panting.
"At least she's okay now, ne?" Calico said, making an attempt to sound cheerful. But deep inside, she was boiling with rage. *How the hell could those BAKAS do something like that? I swear to Kami-sama, I'm going to take every last one of them down!* She clenched her fist.
"This isn't the time to celebrate," Siberian said. "We've got to find Schabön before it's too late!"
"It IS too late, Siberian," a sudden voice said from behind them. Six heads turned to see the whole of Schabön standing before them, weapons drawn.
"Time for it to end, Weiß," Manta said with a sneer.
Abyssinian drew his sword, motioning for the others to follow suit. "Let's go."
************************************************************* ******
A distressed Naoe Nagi ran through the streets and alleys of the city, heading in the direction of the convention center. *Mei-san's in trouble... if only there were a way for me to get there faster! I have to get there to help her!*
He ran as fast as he could, leaving a cloud of dust behind him.
************************************************************* ******
"Prepare to die, Nagareboshi!" Starfish threatened, drawing her knife.
"Oh, what EVER!" Calico said, tightening her fingers around the tribladed weapon in her left hand. "Let's get this over with!" She lunged at her adversary, the steel of their weapons colliding.
"Ngh... is that all you've got? Pathetic." Starfish twisted her arm, wrenching Calico's tetsume away from her.
"Ow!" Calico clutched her knuckles as her weapon clinked to the ground several feet away. "Damn!"
Starfish sneered, slashing with her knife several times, backing Calico up against the outside wall of a stairwell. She narrowed her eyes, shoving it forward in a final attack.
But Calico was too quick for her. She quickly ducked down and swept her leg under Starfish's, bringing her down to the floor. Calico ran to her weapon and placed it back in position just as Starfish was getting up. "Now who's pathetic?"
Piranha's tangled black hair flew out behind him as he charged at Bombay with his pocketknife. "Omae o korosu!!"
Bombay quickly brought his crossbow in front of him, blocking Piranha's blow. "Not likely, shrimp." (No pun intended ^^;) He delivered a swift kick to the smaller boy's abdomen, causing him to double over.
Piranha coughed, a few drops of blood leaking from his mouth. He found himself unable to get up. Bombay smirked, placing his foot on top of the younger boy's back. Piranha matched his smirk, grabbing Bombay's foot and throwing him to the ground.
Obviously still in pain from the kick, Piranha straddled Bombay's back and raised his pocketknife, ready to strike. "Die!"
But Bombay was too quick for him. He quickly threw his crossbow over his shoulder, shooting a dart into Piranha's upper arm. Piranha fell backwards, clutching his arm in pain.
Swordfish gasped for air as Balinese's wire wrapped around his throat.
"What'sa matter, fishy?" Balinese asked, pulling it tighter. "Cat got your tongue?" (Pun IS intended ^^;)
Swordfish, trying his best to keep from passing out do to lack of oxygen, clenched his fist tighter around his javelin, and swiftly jabbed the butt of it into Balinese's gut.
Balinese doubled over, unwrapping his wire from around the older man's throat.
Swordfish struck quickly, making two slashes across Balinese's chest with the bladed end of his spear, and then whirling around to kick him in the chin.
Balinese was a bit too fast, however. He caught the platinum-blonde by the ankle, using the momentum from his kick to throw him into the wall of a stairwell. Swordfish crumpled to the ground, coughing.
Siberian ran as fast as he could away from the gunshots that were being fired by Hammerhead. He dove behind a stairwell, a bullet narrowly missing his leg. He leaned against it, trying to catch his breath.
"I'm coming for ya, kitty!" Hammerhead's voice echoed, along with swift footsteps. Just as he rounded the corner, Siberian leapt up and slashed Hammerhead across the face with his bugnuks.
Hammerhead clutched his face, screaming. "Aaaugh! You'll pay for that!" He blindly shot at Siberian several times, catching him in the stomach. "Hah! I got him!"
Siberian lay on the ground, his face twisted in pain. Hammerhead leaned over him, poking his shoulder. He smirked grimly. "Heh! Yep, he's good as- WHA?!"
His opponent's eyes had opened, and an equally grim smile was on his face. Siberian reached up with his unarmed hand, wrapping his fingers around Hammerhead's throat. He stood up, holding the short figure up off the ground.
The blue-haired man gasped for air, pointing his gun at Siberian's face. Wincing, he pulled the trigger.
Nothing happened.
"Shimatta!" Hammerhead spat in anger. He was out of bullets. "But... but how are you still alive?!"
Siberian said nothing, but took his free hand that was equipped with his bugnuks. He slashed his shirt open, to reveal a bulletproof vest. (Ha ha, remember ep 4? ^_^ Kenken is smart) He then dropped to one knee, pinning his adversary to the ground.
The two violet-haired women glared at each other. Neither of them said a word, as their hands tightened around their weapons. Eiki had knives of different sizes between her fingers, while Dolphin clenched both sides of her nunchucks in her hands.
"Let's settle this." Eiki threw the knives like darts at her enemy.
Dolphin sneered, rapidly twirling her nunchucks. As the knives reached her, the nunchucks acted like a shield and hit them away. Still twirling them, Dolphin charged at Eiki.
Eiki reached into her trenchcoat and pulled out the largest knife she owned, the one with the ivory handle. Dolphin leapt into the air; however, Eiki didn't move. Just when it seemed like Dolphin would fall on her, Eiki flipped backwards, kicking Dolphin as she went.
The older woman crashed to the ground several feet away.
Dolphin struggled to get up, but as soon as she put her foot to the ground, an immense pain surged through her left leg. "Damn!" she cursed, clutching her ankle in pain. She looked up, glaring at Eiki.
Eiki smirked, pointing her knife at Dolphin's nose. "Don't underestimate me," she said. "You'll get yourself cut."
"Okay, you shu' up. You can't beat me." With that, Dolphin slid her good leg underneath Eiki's, pinning her to the ground.
"So. It's all coming down to this." The two crimson-haired leaders of the groups drew their katanas.
Abyssinian's mind was reeling. *The things I do for that girl...* He almost didn't notice Manta charging at him, his sword raised. Abyssinian snapped back into reality, then quickly raised his own.
The steel of the two blades clashed. Abyssinian growled, forcing Manta back. The two of them slashed at each other several times, until Manta's sword went flying out of his hand and embedded itself in the rooftop several feet away.
"It looks like this is the end for Schabön..." Abyssinian said, advancing on Manta.
Calico fell to one knee after recovering from a blow that had been dealt by Starfish. Her right cheek had a thin cut on it; a light trickle of blood flowed from it. *Damn... she's strong. Maybe a little TOO strong...* She slowly pushed herself up, only to be kicked back down.
"You stay down. Or I'll have to MAKE you." Starfish's voice was cold and monotonous. Calico frowned, then quickly stood up and slashed at Starfish with her tetsume.
But something happened.
Something BAD.
Calico suddenly felt herself hit the wall of a stairwell. A great pain made its way up her back. "Aaah!" She winced, unable to move. *What the hell? It's like an invisable force just pushed me back...*
Starfish wondered what happened too. "Don't you even THINK about hurting her," Naoe Nagi's voice rang out from behind her.
She whirled around. "Nagi-san!" A light smile made its way onto her face.
"Mei-san... are you alright?" he asked.
"I'm okay."
Nagi smiled. "That's good. You go and help your your friend Arashi there... I'll take care of this little brat." Starfish nodded, running off to Manta's aid.
Calico shakily stood up, glaring at Nagi through her sky-blue eyes. Nagi matched her glare equally, then let loose with a psychic attack. Calico yelled out in pain.
*It... it feels like my whole body is being crushed! It hurts... Omi, Eiki, anyone... help me!* Tears of pain began rolling down her face.
Nearby, Bombay heard Calico cry out. Blocking an attack from Piranha, his eyes drifted over to her. She appeared to be in immense pain, but... from what? It was then that he saw Naoe Nagi.
His old adversary from Schwarz.
Bombay began to feel angry. VERY angry. His attention was no longer on his current opponent.
"Hey, were are you going?" Piranha asked in confusion.
Bombay didn't hear him. He stomped toward Nagi, and that stomping gradually turned into running.
Calico cracked one eye open just in time to see Bombay tackle Nagi, pinning him to the ground. The pain in her body suddenly softened.
"You leave Akari ALONE! Do you hear me?!" Bombay screamed.
Nagi barely flinched as he recieved a punch in the jaw. "Well then, why don't you tell your friend Akari to leave Mei alone?" He suddenly felt a sharp pain in his chest and fainted.
"Whatever. Just... whatever." Bombay got up, and ran over to Calico. "Are you okay?!"
Calico nodded somberly. She was in a great deal of pain from her back hitting the wall. "Yeah, but... I can't stand up."
"It's okay, just sit there for a while..." Bombay smiled weakly.
Manta smirked. "Try all you like, kid. You can't beat me." Abyssinian stared for a minute, confused, as Manta leapt into the air.
Abyssinian put his sword up to guard as Starfish charged him, her knife clutched in both hands. The two of them firecely attempted to force each other's weapons out of their hands; but they were almost equally matched in physical strength.
*She... is strong,* Abyssinian thought. *I'm going to have to use everything I've got...* He narrowed his violet eyes, shoving up with his sword, and pushing Starfish away from him, her knife clinking to the ground.
Naoe Nagi began to regain consciousness. His vision was a bit blurred, but he could clearly see Mei's slim figure crumple to the ground. He became fully aware of his surroundings when her knife clattered to the ground in front of him. He slowly pushed himself up off of the ground, clenching his fist. Whoever did this to Mei would pay.
He stood up, narrowing his dark eyes. "Abyssinian..." he muttered under his breath. "Fujimiya Aya... OMAE O KOROSU!!"
Everyone heard Nagi's outburst. Eiki, blocking another blow from Dolphin, suddenly got a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. *Oh no... something bad's going to happen...* She delivered a hard kick to Dolphin's side, then turned around, just as Abyssinian flew over the edge of the building.
Eiki's eyes widened in horror. *No..* She subconsciously began running to the spot where he fell over. She looked down, prepared for the worst. She was relieved to see Abyssinian clinging to a windowsill. "Ran! Are you okay?!"
He said nothing. He had a pained expression on his face, as if it hurt to hang on.
Eiki reached down as far as she could, but her hand wouldn't reach him. *No... what can I do now? I could... no, I can't do that! I've... god, snap out of it Nusutto. What's more important, Ran or your hair?!* She reached behind her, grabbing her long lavender braid and throwing it over her shoulder. "Grab my braid!"
Aya opened his eyes, seeing the braid that had fallen just below the windowsill. "Eiki, are you out of your mind?"
"Damnit Ran, do you want to die or not?! Grab the braid!!" Eiki's expression was serious, one that Aya rarely saw on her. He slowly reached over and grabbed the plait with one hand.
Eiki's face twisted in pain as he took her hair. She rolled over, grabbing her own hair at the nape of her neck as to reduce the pain. Aya took the braid with his other hand and began climbing the wall as one would climb a rock face. Eiki's eyes watered from the extreme force pulling on her hair. As Aya climbed up, she took a few steps forward.
Aya smiled lightly. Almost there...
But then the unthinkable happened.
Mei, who had since then awakened, had grabbed her knife and was running toward them at a neckbreaking speed.
Eiki looked at Mei with an expression of disbelief as the knife tore through her hair, right behind where she was holding it. She didn't even have to turn around to know what had happened.
This drew several gasps of shock from the party, even from members of Schabön and Naoe Nagi.
"Oh no..." Calico buried her face in her hands. Bombay wrapped his arms around her, resting his chin on the top of her head.
Eiki fell to her knees, her now-short hair falling around her. Stunned, she clenched her fists, tears rolling down her face. *Ran...* She bent over, her elbows resting on the ground. She suddenly sat back up, her eyes squeezed shut. "WHY?! Why did this have to happen?!" she shouted to nobody. She looked back down.
Siberian, casting Hammerhead to the ground, suddenly focused his attention on Mei. "That little... hey, where did she go?" Starfish was nowhere to be seen, as was Nagi.
Calico stood up, her anger overpowering the pain running through her body. "Schabön... I'll kill them... I'LL KILL THEM ALL!!"
"A-Akari?" Bombay stammered, his eyes widening.
"They've hurt so many innocent people! They killed my parents, my brother, they've torn my purity apart, and now Aya-kun..." She clenched her fist tighter around her weapon, as tears of vengeance ran down her face. "I can't let it go on anymore!" She suddenly fell to her knees, letting out a sob. "Why... why do we have to kill? Why can't we all just be happy?"
"Happiness is for wusses," Manta said. "Now if you'll excuse us, we'll kill the rest of you now."
"Yeah. Let's start with this chick over here," Hammerhead said, pointing at Eiki. He started to charge at her, but was stopped when a wire wrapped around his neck.
"Let's not," Balinese said from behind him.
"Oh, come ON!" Piranha shouted. He ran at Eiki, his pocketknife in hand. The small body easily dodged the counter-attacks from the members of Weiß, and he leapt into the air, bringing the knife down.
Eiki didn't budge. She was ready to take the hit. She didn't even look up at the boy who was about to kill her.
Time seemed to stop as Piranha smirked, yelling out as he fell.
But he didn't quite make it.
Eiki opened one eye, to see a familiar figure standing before her. Red hair...
Piranha's eyes opened widely as he looked down at the sword of Abyssinian protruding from his stomach. "H-how?!"
"Don't. Even. THINK. About touching her," Abyssinian said, his violet eyes narrowed to slits. He withdraw his katana from the small boy's stomach, and he slumped to the ground with a dull thud.
Piranha coughed a few times, blood leaking from the corner of his mouth as he tried to cover up the hole in his stomach. "It... it can't be..." He shuddered, then stopped moving.
"Damn!" Manta cursed. *But... how can he still be alive? I thought he fell. With the direction that he was facing, there's no way that he could have grabbed a hold of anything...*
"R-Ran?" Eiki stammered, looking up at him. He turned his head to look at her. "H... how did you...?"
"You can learn a lot from a bandit, you know," Aya said. Eiki smiled, then stood up. "Let's kick the hell out of the rest of these guys, shall we?"
Manta clenched his fist, growling. "Okay, THAT's it. You want a big fight, you've got one!"
And so, the raging war between the two groups continued.
"But what does it mean, Aya?" Youji asked, scratching his head. The redhead had read the letter out loud to the other members of Weiß. It was odd to see Aya so worried.
"It's not really that hard to figure out, Youji. Eiki just wants us to meet her on the roof of the convention center," Ken said.
"Why do I have the feeling that Schabön is involved...?" Omi muttered. "Y'know, it's not really like Eiki to just send a letter to us..."
"Yeah, she'd probably just come here herself if she wanted to talk," Akari said, twirling a strand of jet-black hair around her finger.
"Well, I don't know. All I know is that we need to get there at sunset," Aya said. It was REALLY odd to see him pacing the floor.
"Aya, calm down. Whatever it is, I'm sure it's not that bad." Youji stood up and held his arms up in a shrugging motion.
*I hope you're right, Youji...* Aya thought, crossing his arms.
************************************************************ ********
The sun began its descent from the afternoon sky as the five assassins arrived on the rooftop of the convention center. It was quite an empty place; light from the sun just barely peeked between the taller buildings surrounding the large arena.
Abyssinian looked around the desolate rooftop, trying to catch any glimpse of the lavender-haired bandit. "Eiki?"
"Eiki? Where are you?" Calico shouted, cupping her hands around her mouth.
She felt someone take her by the wrist, then heard Bombay's voice whispering into her ear.
"Try and keep it down... I've got a really bad feeling about this. Schabön could be anywhere up here, and they could strike at any time." He lowered his voice, taking her hand in his. "And I don't want you to get hurt any more than you already have been..."
Calico felt her face start to burn. *... Omi ... Does he really care about me... like that?* She held her hand to her heart, which had sped up, possibly because of the suspense being felt, or possibly because of Bombay's sudden closeness. She smiled, turning around to face him.
"Don't worry about me. I'm an assassin too, ya know. I'll be okay."
Bombay smiled, and ruffled the younger girl's front hair. "Good girl. Let's go catch up with the others."
"No sign of Eiki anywhere," Siberian said, turning to Abyssinian.
"Damn," the redhead spat, "we'd better split up and look for her. No telling what could happen. Siberian, Balinese, you take that section to the left. Bombay, Calico, you two go right. I'll take this middle part by myself."
"Are you sure, Abyssinian?" Balinese asked. "We don't even know if Eiki's here, and besides... It could be a trap."
"Nevermind all of that. Let's just get going before something bad happens," Abyssinian said. With that, he turned around and walked off, looking around several of the large pipes sticking up from the rooftop.
"... Well, that's Abyssinian for you," Siberian said. "Come on." He and Balinese began walking in another direction.
Calico sighed. "Well, let's go..." she said.
"Yeah. I sure hope Eiki's alright..."
"It won't be long now, Nusutto. Sooner or later your little friends will find you here, and we'll be in quite a rumble," Manta said, a sneer growing across his face.
Swordfish got the group's attention with a few swift arm movements. (I'm sensing them... they've come to fetch their poor little thief,) he signed.
Dolphin drew her nunchucks. "I'm gonna make that lil' Nagareboshi brat pay fer what she did t' me," she said. The slashes on her arm were bandaged and still healing.
Eiki lay on the ground in front of the six assassins, unable to do anything. Her arms and legs were bound once again, and there was a handkerchief wrapped around her mouth. *Damn it... if I could only get to my knives...*
"Eiki? Are you here?" a voice called.
"Okay. Let's move!" Manta quickly opened the door to where it lead to the inside of the convention center, motioning for the others to follow.
Eiki watched them hide, anger in her violet eyes. "Nnnn!" she attempted to shout.
"Eiki?" The voice got closer.
"Nnnnn! Nnn mm mmm hnnnn!" She tried shouting louder.
"I'm hearing something over here, Balinese!" Eiki could make out the voice now; it was Siberian.
"Nnnnnnnnn!!" She squirmed around in the ropes, trying to kick the door. She kept this up until Siberian's begoggled head peeked around the corner.
"Eiki!" he shouted, running to her. Balinese was close behind.
"Damn that Schabön," Balinese cursed, undoing the handkerchief. "It's not right to do things like this to a lady!"
Eiki coughed a few times before speaking. "Thanks, guys," she said. "This is really pissing me off, y'know?"
"Damnit, Bombay was right... I should have known that Schabön was behind this," Siberian said, slashing at the rope that bound Eiki's wrists together. "Balinese! Go and get the others!" The older man nodded and ran off in the direction of the other three hunters.
"Eiki, are you alright?" Siberian asked, undoing the rope around her ankles.
"I've been better," she replied. "But... we'd better get out of here. Schabön's hiding in that stairwell." Eiki motioned toward the door behind her. She stood up and dusted herself off.
"You're fast, Nusutto. But not fast enough!" The door behind her opened and Manta emerged, grabbing Eiki from behind.
"Ah! Shimatta!" Thinking quickly, Eiki reached into her trenchcoat (which had been recovered) and pulled out a small pocket knife.
Before Manta had any time to react, his arm exploded in pain. "Itai!!" He let go of Eiki, clitching his forearm as the warm blood began oozing out of it.
"Come on, let's go!" Eiki and Siberian began running.
"Damn!" Manta stumbled forward, the other five Schabön members emerging from the stairwell. "...Where'd they go?"
Piranha pointed his pocketknife in the direction that Eiki and Siberian were running. "That way!"
"Eiki, what were you thinking?" Abyssinian demanded, taking hold of the bandit's shoulders. "You could have been killed!"
"I didn't see it coming! I thought Manta was going to do serious business!" Eiki said, panting.
"At least she's okay now, ne?" Calico said, making an attempt to sound cheerful. But deep inside, she was boiling with rage. *How the hell could those BAKAS do something like that? I swear to Kami-sama, I'm going to take every last one of them down!* She clenched her fist.
"This isn't the time to celebrate," Siberian said. "We've got to find Schabön before it's too late!"
"It IS too late, Siberian," a sudden voice said from behind them. Six heads turned to see the whole of Schabön standing before them, weapons drawn.
"Time for it to end, Weiß," Manta said with a sneer.
Abyssinian drew his sword, motioning for the others to follow suit. "Let's go."
************************************************************* ******
A distressed Naoe Nagi ran through the streets and alleys of the city, heading in the direction of the convention center. *Mei-san's in trouble... if only there were a way for me to get there faster! I have to get there to help her!*
He ran as fast as he could, leaving a cloud of dust behind him.
************************************************************* ******
"Prepare to die, Nagareboshi!" Starfish threatened, drawing her knife.
"Oh, what EVER!" Calico said, tightening her fingers around the tribladed weapon in her left hand. "Let's get this over with!" She lunged at her adversary, the steel of their weapons colliding.
"Ngh... is that all you've got? Pathetic." Starfish twisted her arm, wrenching Calico's tetsume away from her.
"Ow!" Calico clutched her knuckles as her weapon clinked to the ground several feet away. "Damn!"
Starfish sneered, slashing with her knife several times, backing Calico up against the outside wall of a stairwell. She narrowed her eyes, shoving it forward in a final attack.
But Calico was too quick for her. She quickly ducked down and swept her leg under Starfish's, bringing her down to the floor. Calico ran to her weapon and placed it back in position just as Starfish was getting up. "Now who's pathetic?"
Piranha's tangled black hair flew out behind him as he charged at Bombay with his pocketknife. "Omae o korosu!!"
Bombay quickly brought his crossbow in front of him, blocking Piranha's blow. "Not likely, shrimp." (No pun intended ^^;) He delivered a swift kick to the smaller boy's abdomen, causing him to double over.
Piranha coughed, a few drops of blood leaking from his mouth. He found himself unable to get up. Bombay smirked, placing his foot on top of the younger boy's back. Piranha matched his smirk, grabbing Bombay's foot and throwing him to the ground.
Obviously still in pain from the kick, Piranha straddled Bombay's back and raised his pocketknife, ready to strike. "Die!"
But Bombay was too quick for him. He quickly threw his crossbow over his shoulder, shooting a dart into Piranha's upper arm. Piranha fell backwards, clutching his arm in pain.
Swordfish gasped for air as Balinese's wire wrapped around his throat.
"What'sa matter, fishy?" Balinese asked, pulling it tighter. "Cat got your tongue?" (Pun IS intended ^^;)
Swordfish, trying his best to keep from passing out do to lack of oxygen, clenched his fist tighter around his javelin, and swiftly jabbed the butt of it into Balinese's gut.
Balinese doubled over, unwrapping his wire from around the older man's throat.
Swordfish struck quickly, making two slashes across Balinese's chest with the bladed end of his spear, and then whirling around to kick him in the chin.
Balinese was a bit too fast, however. He caught the platinum-blonde by the ankle, using the momentum from his kick to throw him into the wall of a stairwell. Swordfish crumpled to the ground, coughing.
Siberian ran as fast as he could away from the gunshots that were being fired by Hammerhead. He dove behind a stairwell, a bullet narrowly missing his leg. He leaned against it, trying to catch his breath.
"I'm coming for ya, kitty!" Hammerhead's voice echoed, along with swift footsteps. Just as he rounded the corner, Siberian leapt up and slashed Hammerhead across the face with his bugnuks.
Hammerhead clutched his face, screaming. "Aaaugh! You'll pay for that!" He blindly shot at Siberian several times, catching him in the stomach. "Hah! I got him!"
Siberian lay on the ground, his face twisted in pain. Hammerhead leaned over him, poking his shoulder. He smirked grimly. "Heh! Yep, he's good as- WHA?!"
His opponent's eyes had opened, and an equally grim smile was on his face. Siberian reached up with his unarmed hand, wrapping his fingers around Hammerhead's throat. He stood up, holding the short figure up off the ground.
The blue-haired man gasped for air, pointing his gun at Siberian's face. Wincing, he pulled the trigger.
Nothing happened.
"Shimatta!" Hammerhead spat in anger. He was out of bullets. "But... but how are you still alive?!"
Siberian said nothing, but took his free hand that was equipped with his bugnuks. He slashed his shirt open, to reveal a bulletproof vest. (Ha ha, remember ep 4? ^_^ Kenken is smart) He then dropped to one knee, pinning his adversary to the ground.
The two violet-haired women glared at each other. Neither of them said a word, as their hands tightened around their weapons. Eiki had knives of different sizes between her fingers, while Dolphin clenched both sides of her nunchucks in her hands.
"Let's settle this." Eiki threw the knives like darts at her enemy.
Dolphin sneered, rapidly twirling her nunchucks. As the knives reached her, the nunchucks acted like a shield and hit them away. Still twirling them, Dolphin charged at Eiki.
Eiki reached into her trenchcoat and pulled out the largest knife she owned, the one with the ivory handle. Dolphin leapt into the air; however, Eiki didn't move. Just when it seemed like Dolphin would fall on her, Eiki flipped backwards, kicking Dolphin as she went.
The older woman crashed to the ground several feet away.
Dolphin struggled to get up, but as soon as she put her foot to the ground, an immense pain surged through her left leg. "Damn!" she cursed, clutching her ankle in pain. She looked up, glaring at Eiki.
Eiki smirked, pointing her knife at Dolphin's nose. "Don't underestimate me," she said. "You'll get yourself cut."
"Okay, you shu' up. You can't beat me." With that, Dolphin slid her good leg underneath Eiki's, pinning her to the ground.
"So. It's all coming down to this." The two crimson-haired leaders of the groups drew their katanas.
Abyssinian's mind was reeling. *The things I do for that girl...* He almost didn't notice Manta charging at him, his sword raised. Abyssinian snapped back into reality, then quickly raised his own.
The steel of the two blades clashed. Abyssinian growled, forcing Manta back. The two of them slashed at each other several times, until Manta's sword went flying out of his hand and embedded itself in the rooftop several feet away.
"It looks like this is the end for Schabön..." Abyssinian said, advancing on Manta.
Calico fell to one knee after recovering from a blow that had been dealt by Starfish. Her right cheek had a thin cut on it; a light trickle of blood flowed from it. *Damn... she's strong. Maybe a little TOO strong...* She slowly pushed herself up, only to be kicked back down.
"You stay down. Or I'll have to MAKE you." Starfish's voice was cold and monotonous. Calico frowned, then quickly stood up and slashed at Starfish with her tetsume.
But something happened.
Something BAD.
Calico suddenly felt herself hit the wall of a stairwell. A great pain made its way up her back. "Aaah!" She winced, unable to move. *What the hell? It's like an invisable force just pushed me back...*
Starfish wondered what happened too. "Don't you even THINK about hurting her," Naoe Nagi's voice rang out from behind her.
She whirled around. "Nagi-san!" A light smile made its way onto her face.
"Mei-san... are you alright?" he asked.
"I'm okay."
Nagi smiled. "That's good. You go and help your your friend Arashi there... I'll take care of this little brat." Starfish nodded, running off to Manta's aid.
Calico shakily stood up, glaring at Nagi through her sky-blue eyes. Nagi matched her glare equally, then let loose with a psychic attack. Calico yelled out in pain.
*It... it feels like my whole body is being crushed! It hurts... Omi, Eiki, anyone... help me!* Tears of pain began rolling down her face.
Nearby, Bombay heard Calico cry out. Blocking an attack from Piranha, his eyes drifted over to her. She appeared to be in immense pain, but... from what? It was then that he saw Naoe Nagi.
His old adversary from Schwarz.
Bombay began to feel angry. VERY angry. His attention was no longer on his current opponent.
"Hey, were are you going?" Piranha asked in confusion.
Bombay didn't hear him. He stomped toward Nagi, and that stomping gradually turned into running.
Calico cracked one eye open just in time to see Bombay tackle Nagi, pinning him to the ground. The pain in her body suddenly softened.
"You leave Akari ALONE! Do you hear me?!" Bombay screamed.
Nagi barely flinched as he recieved a punch in the jaw. "Well then, why don't you tell your friend Akari to leave Mei alone?" He suddenly felt a sharp pain in his chest and fainted.
"Whatever. Just... whatever." Bombay got up, and ran over to Calico. "Are you okay?!"
Calico nodded somberly. She was in a great deal of pain from her back hitting the wall. "Yeah, but... I can't stand up."
"It's okay, just sit there for a while..." Bombay smiled weakly.
Manta smirked. "Try all you like, kid. You can't beat me." Abyssinian stared for a minute, confused, as Manta leapt into the air.
Abyssinian put his sword up to guard as Starfish charged him, her knife clutched in both hands. The two of them firecely attempted to force each other's weapons out of their hands; but they were almost equally matched in physical strength.
*She... is strong,* Abyssinian thought. *I'm going to have to use everything I've got...* He narrowed his violet eyes, shoving up with his sword, and pushing Starfish away from him, her knife clinking to the ground.
Naoe Nagi began to regain consciousness. His vision was a bit blurred, but he could clearly see Mei's slim figure crumple to the ground. He became fully aware of his surroundings when her knife clattered to the ground in front of him. He slowly pushed himself up off of the ground, clenching his fist. Whoever did this to Mei would pay.
He stood up, narrowing his dark eyes. "Abyssinian..." he muttered under his breath. "Fujimiya Aya... OMAE O KOROSU!!"
Everyone heard Nagi's outburst. Eiki, blocking another blow from Dolphin, suddenly got a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. *Oh no... something bad's going to happen...* She delivered a hard kick to Dolphin's side, then turned around, just as Abyssinian flew over the edge of the building.
Eiki's eyes widened in horror. *No..* She subconsciously began running to the spot where he fell over. She looked down, prepared for the worst. She was relieved to see Abyssinian clinging to a windowsill. "Ran! Are you okay?!"
He said nothing. He had a pained expression on his face, as if it hurt to hang on.
Eiki reached down as far as she could, but her hand wouldn't reach him. *No... what can I do now? I could... no, I can't do that! I've... god, snap out of it Nusutto. What's more important, Ran or your hair?!* She reached behind her, grabbing her long lavender braid and throwing it over her shoulder. "Grab my braid!"
Aya opened his eyes, seeing the braid that had fallen just below the windowsill. "Eiki, are you out of your mind?"
"Damnit Ran, do you want to die or not?! Grab the braid!!" Eiki's expression was serious, one that Aya rarely saw on her. He slowly reached over and grabbed the plait with one hand.
Eiki's face twisted in pain as he took her hair. She rolled over, grabbing her own hair at the nape of her neck as to reduce the pain. Aya took the braid with his other hand and began climbing the wall as one would climb a rock face. Eiki's eyes watered from the extreme force pulling on her hair. As Aya climbed up, she took a few steps forward.
Aya smiled lightly. Almost there...
But then the unthinkable happened.
Mei, who had since then awakened, had grabbed her knife and was running toward them at a neckbreaking speed.
Eiki looked at Mei with an expression of disbelief as the knife tore through her hair, right behind where she was holding it. She didn't even have to turn around to know what had happened.
This drew several gasps of shock from the party, even from members of Schabön and Naoe Nagi.
"Oh no..." Calico buried her face in her hands. Bombay wrapped his arms around her, resting his chin on the top of her head.
Eiki fell to her knees, her now-short hair falling around her. Stunned, she clenched her fists, tears rolling down her face. *Ran...* She bent over, her elbows resting on the ground. She suddenly sat back up, her eyes squeezed shut. "WHY?! Why did this have to happen?!" she shouted to nobody. She looked back down.
Siberian, casting Hammerhead to the ground, suddenly focused his attention on Mei. "That little... hey, where did she go?" Starfish was nowhere to be seen, as was Nagi.
Calico stood up, her anger overpowering the pain running through her body. "Schabön... I'll kill them... I'LL KILL THEM ALL!!"
"A-Akari?" Bombay stammered, his eyes widening.
"They've hurt so many innocent people! They killed my parents, my brother, they've torn my purity apart, and now Aya-kun..." She clenched her fist tighter around her weapon, as tears of vengeance ran down her face. "I can't let it go on anymore!" She suddenly fell to her knees, letting out a sob. "Why... why do we have to kill? Why can't we all just be happy?"
"Happiness is for wusses," Manta said. "Now if you'll excuse us, we'll kill the rest of you now."
"Yeah. Let's start with this chick over here," Hammerhead said, pointing at Eiki. He started to charge at her, but was stopped when a wire wrapped around his neck.
"Let's not," Balinese said from behind him.
"Oh, come ON!" Piranha shouted. He ran at Eiki, his pocketknife in hand. The small body easily dodged the counter-attacks from the members of Weiß, and he leapt into the air, bringing the knife down.
Eiki didn't budge. She was ready to take the hit. She didn't even look up at the boy who was about to kill her.
Time seemed to stop as Piranha smirked, yelling out as he fell.
But he didn't quite make it.
Eiki opened one eye, to see a familiar figure standing before her. Red hair...
Piranha's eyes opened widely as he looked down at the sword of Abyssinian protruding from his stomach. "H-how?!"
"Don't. Even. THINK. About touching her," Abyssinian said, his violet eyes narrowed to slits. He withdraw his katana from the small boy's stomach, and he slumped to the ground with a dull thud.
Piranha coughed a few times, blood leaking from the corner of his mouth as he tried to cover up the hole in his stomach. "It... it can't be..." He shuddered, then stopped moving.
"Damn!" Manta cursed. *But... how can he still be alive? I thought he fell. With the direction that he was facing, there's no way that he could have grabbed a hold of anything...*
"R-Ran?" Eiki stammered, looking up at him. He turned his head to look at her. "H... how did you...?"
"You can learn a lot from a bandit, you know," Aya said. Eiki smiled, then stood up. "Let's kick the hell out of the rest of these guys, shall we?"
Manta clenched his fist, growling. "Okay, THAT's it. You want a big fight, you've got one!"
And so, the raging war between the two groups continued.