Zone Of The Enders Fan Fiction ❯ Zone of the Enders: Triad 2177 ❯ My Weakness ( Chapter 19 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Miryhn, Norris, and Dingo, in their own ways, address their weaknesses.

Miryhn gets a vague platitude, Dingo a cuss-out, and Norris...well, he's still himself...

Non Anime: Zone Of The Enders Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Sci-fi / Romance / Mecha / Comedy / Adventure / Action / Angst | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 01.13.2004 | Updated On: 01.14.2004 | Pages: 10 | Words: 14.1K | Visits: 413 | Status: Completed

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<CENTER> "I don't care if it hurts,
 I want to have control.
 I want a perfect body,
 I want a perfect soul."
 - Radiohead, from "Creep"</CENTER>

<CENTER>-----------------------------</CENTE R>

"Prime Minister Gazaru*, you understand that all the topics at hand have just been stalling tactics. They have no real sway over the topic at hand. The fact remains that your govenment directly supported military and terrorist action against Earth. Such things as the commodity price increase from 2173 being re-instated, the blatant disregard for Earth military to ignore the terrorist attacks on it by your people, and the previous pact between the planets and how unbreakable it was are all just wasting time being discussed. The fact is, your planet will never get over this childish grude against Earth and if your people can't handle that, then they deserve this!" a High Command general stated at the podium across from Gazaru's.

"No human being deserves to be ruled over! Earth is only out to fatten their pockets with the riches Mars was enjoying to itself before you greedy military swine came back to reep the rewards! Peace wasn't enough for you people?" Gazaru debated, voice loud with anger.

"There is no need to resort to name-calling, Prime Minister. If you cannot come up with a more logical reason for Earth to disembark from Mars, then we'll consider this year-long debate closed and be forced to press the occupation further," the general replied.

"Who's name calling? You people dubbed us 'Enders' and came out here waving your guns around and expected us to just bend over and kiss our butts goodbye! General, with all due respect, who's the one being illogical? You think you can just take from other people and expect to get away with it? This false civility is mocking the Martian people! You think that offering us a chance to argue our innnocence makes you better than us?" Gazaru shouted.

"And with all due respect, Prime Minister, you took us up on the offer! Who's the one being mocked and made a fool of?" the General quickly shouted back.

"Gentlemen! Please!" the moderator said over both their volumes.

Both Gazaru and the General sneered at each other.

"Look, General, I don't condone the actions of my people and I do not endorse the terrorist actions being placed upon Earth military. Violence won't solve anything! Making deals with you people is useless since you're only out to better yourselves, so I'm having to resort to preaching you common sense and consideration for your fellow man!" Gazaru said, slamming his fist down on the podium hard.

"How dare you patronize me like that! All Martians seem to have forked tongues!" the General replied, smirking.

Gazaru's face lit up with anger. "And all Terrans seem to be filled to the brim with the horse dung they go slinging around as reason for taking over an entire planet!"

"I've had enough! Prime Minister, you are out of order!" the General shouted, pointing his index finger at Gazaru.

"No, you are out of order by even coming back here! What are you? Some kind of schoolyard bullies? Is your grand military so bored they'd invade merely to pick a fight with the spiteful of Mars? Because I'll tell you right now that Mars won't give up the fight. I'll keep debating with you as long as my people have the will to fight back and I'll keep doing it my own way: with my words!" Gazaru said, raising his fist and shaking it.

"Martians are so full of themselves! Maybe I should just knock you back down to size!" the General shouted, climbing on his podium and dive tackling Gazaru.

Gazaru threw him off and stood up. "Oh yeah? Well I may be old, but I still have some fight in me! You want to roughhouse, I'll roughhouse," Gazaru said, laughing. He swung his arm around and slammed it into the General's stomach. "How do you like that move? I call it 'The Fist of Mars'!"

"Weak and useless, just like Mars is now!" the General replied, leaping up and continuing to fist-fight Gazaru.

The moderator attempted to break the two up, along with most of the HBC broadcasting crew, but eventually they just put up an "Experiencing Technical Difficulties" screen while the local police had to subdue the two men.

<CENTER>-----------------------------</CENTE R>

"Enders! You're all filthy Enders!" the soldier shouted as Miryhn pressed the R1 button and the soldier opened up his assault rifle on a crowd of innocent people.

"Grand Theft Auto: Vicilia County," Judas read off the game package. "What's the point of this game?"

"Simple. You play the role of a pathologically homocidal Earth-Mars war vet Fred Malaciti and you try to establish yourself as the head of a new Mars pacification movement," Miryhn said as he pressed the triangle button and Fred tore someone from their car and drove off in it.

"And how do you do that?" Judas asked, putting down the box.

"I dunno, but this is great!" Miryhn said, laughing as he found a Unique Jump, hit it at full speed, and landed on top of a pack of people. He killed them all with a satisfying "squish".

"I fail to see how killing Martians will do that. I mean, what happens if you kill an Earther? Does that subtract from your score?" Judas said, watching as Miryhn took off at full speed with a 3-Star Wanted Rating.

"I don't discriminate when I kill. Anyone who gets in my way is dead meat," Miryhn said, weaving around a road block.

"Seems fitting for Angel Thanatos," Judas said, smiling.

Miryhn shot him a glare and then looked back at the screen. "Besides, if I can get a 6-Star Wanted rating, the UCM Peacekeeping Force moves in and I can steal a Phantoma and go around stepping on people!" he said, laughing as the car barrel-rolled off a parking garage and landed on its roof. Fred crawled out of the car and it exploded, sending several more people flying to their deaths.

"I think you can only get up to 4-Stars. You just killed ten cops with that minigun and killing three was enough to get you one more star," Judas commented.

"Shit! I bet that means I have to unlock the other nests in this County before I can get higher Wanted Ratings," Miryhn said, looking annoyed.

"That seems odd. I guess you aren't a danger to enough people yet to get that level of...Wanted-ness," Judas said, nodding.

"Judas, tell me, why are you here?" Miryhn said, cutting off the previous conversation entirely.

Judas sighed and leaned forward in the chair he was sitting in in the lounge. "Thanatos, Lazarus wants you dead. He thinks that you took down Trent and the others because you were hiding the fact that you can use your Manna correctly. Since me, Trent, Sylfa, and Quinn know you can't, Trent sent me to protect you," he explained.

Miryhn groaned loudly, both at what Judas said and at Fred dying as a S.W.A.T. van hit him at full speed without Miryhn even knowing it was coming. "You people won't leave me alone, will you?"

"Thanatos, this is important! You're a vital and feared component of the Seraphs!" Judas pleaded.

"I'm not one of you weirdos, alright? As far as I'm concerned, both Trent and Lazarus are nuts. I'm not working for anyone but myself, alright?" Miryhn stated with steel in his voice as Fred charged into traffic and stole another car from a hapless victim.

"I saw you still have the Seraph uniform..." Judas said, biting his lip.

"So you've been snooping around in my room, huh? How am I suppose to trust you? You just show up out of nowhere and expect me to welcome this?" Miryhn said, guiding Fred's car down the street and into the side of a building by accident.

"You're not suppose to welcome it! You're suppose to accept it!" Judas said firmly. "Your life is on the line and unless you hurry up and transcend like the rest of us, you will continue to be a target!"

Miryhn was silent, taking a moment to consider these facts as Fred opened up his machine gun on a pack of Earth-haters on the side of the road. "Look, I have no idea how to 'transcend', okay? Even if I did, I damn well wouldn't be using my leet powers for your stupid little coup. I know this is all part of Trent's plan to manipulate me and I'm not falling for it."

"Thanatos-" Judas began to say.

"Quit calling me that!" Miryhn shouted over top of him. "I have a name, alright? Call me 'Miryhn' and nothing else, got it?"

"Than-...I mean, Miryhn, you can believe what you want, but you have no choice but to depend on me and Trent. Even if you were to master your abilities, you'd never be able to take on the other Seraphs if they come in numbers. You need me to back you up and I'm now considered a shunned outcast to them. I willingly entered into this for you and there's no way in hell I'm going to let them kill you!" Judas said, determined. "I believe that someday you may be able to help us put an end to Lazarus and I believe in that with all my heart! Miryhn, I'm not going to let them lay a finger on you!"

"Stop it, okay? Just stop it!" Miryhn said, groaning as Judas's speech managed to distract him enough to let Fred get killed in a shoot-out.

Judas drew in a deep breath and pulled a high-caliber handgun from his jacket, aiming it at Miryhn. Miryhn didn't notice, but when he did, he gave Judas a wide-eyed stare.

"Look, you have two choices. Let me protect you or I'll kill you myself. Trent said that if you're just going to get in the way or not help at all, that you're no better than Lazarus's lackeys," Judas explained, pulling the top back on the gun with a heavy metallic "click" noise as the bullet entered the chamber.

Miryhn sighed and resumed his game. He had no choice; let the kid have his way and continue to be Trent's little investment or not let the kid have his way and be slaughtered by someone who not only out-gunned him, but had access to his Manna. "Fine, do what you want, but stay out of my way."

"Alright, good," Judas said, putting the gun back in his jacket. He smiled brightly and sat back in his chair.

Miryhn sighed, making Fred rob a gun shop. Fred ran into the street and as Miryhn squeezed the R1 button again, Fred mowed down a few pedestrians with a shotgun.

"Hey, what do you call a bus full of dead Martians? A start!" Fred remarked.

<CENTER>-----------------------------</CENTE R>

It had been such a long time since Dingo and Ken could take some time off for a date, but it was a welcome change of pace from the monotony of work day in and day out. Sitting in the lounge in a silky red dress shirt and black slacks, Dingo felt like a complete idiot. He was never fond of getting dressed up, but Ken insisted they do so. They were going to visit a rather upscale restaurant and there was no way Dingo's usual attire of "filthy" and "unwashed" clothes would get them in. Dingo would it insulting she'd say that; after all, if his clothes smelt fine, they were clean, right?

Ken came out the door in orange heels and a form-fitting orange dress, her hair put up neatly in a bun with curly bangs**. She struck a pose, showing off her figure, and giggled at Dingo as he slouched on the couch with his arms folded.

"What's the matter? Don't feel like going?" Ken said, teasing.

"I'd rather you didn't pick out this shirt. I feel like a fruit," Dingo said, grimacing.

"You aren't a fruit! You have a very sexy lady with you, so you can't be gay," Ken said, walking up and kissing his forehead.

"Silk isn't my thing, Ken," Dingo said, standing up. "But I guess it doesn't matter, as long as no one I know sees me."

Ken laughed hard and took his hand. "Come on, all of Mars knows you! It's not like it matters, just come on!" she said leading him out the door.

Dingo groaned followed behind, much to his chagrin.

Ken had insisted on going out early in the evening in order to "avoid the dinner rush". She also probably wanted them to sit up for most of the night watching old romantic comedies in the lounge. Dingo didn't mind most of the movies, but Ken had a bad habit of picking some extremely girly movies. The only movie she really enjoyed from his taste was the old classic "Desperado", where she thought Selma Hayek was pretty cool, but the others she thought just plain, quote, "sucked", unquote. After the movies, they would probably spend a long time in the bedroom being romantic and then God knows what would happen from there. Above all, Dingo thought that was just the thing he needed after the stress of the day. What better way to compensate for misery than with passionate romance?

As they walked into town, Ken dug the directions out of her purse and pointed out the way to the restaurant.

"Okay, go right," she said, pointing right.

Dingo did so and continued on, Ken right behind him. They continued until they got to another intersection.

"Now go left," she said, pointing left.

Dingo did as commanded and they continued on until the next intersection. However, at this one, there were diagonal streets instead of the usual four-way intersection.

"Hey, Ken, where now?" Dingo asked.

"Um, right," Ken said, scratching her head.

Dingo turned right, but saw a diagonal street. He got confused and stared straight forward.

"A little more to the right," Ken said sarcastically.

Dingo sighed and faced the next street.

"Perfect!" Ken said as the two of them continued on.

They came upon another intersection and Ken didn't say anything, so Dingo kept going. He did this for two more intersections.

"Wait, stop!" Ken shouted.

Dingo stopped and faced her.

"Now go left," Ken commanded.

Dingo turned left and kept going with a funny look on his face. "Ken, do you get the feeling of deja vu by any chance?"

"No, why?" Ken replied.

"Because I swear we've been in a situation just like this before," Dingo said, digging his hands into his pockets.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Ken said, putting some more lipstick on.

Just then, Dingo stumbled in a pothole in the sidewalk and almost fell over. Ken whelped and grabbed his arm, helping him remain standing.

"Be careful," Ken said, shaking her head.

"I swear, deja vu..." Dingo said, picking his foot up and continuing on.

<CENTER>-----------------------------</CENTE R>

A buzzer sounded and Norris stepped through the security checkpoint deep in one of the isolated Ryan Corporation buildings. His left hand was in his pocket as he stepped through the metal door that just opened. He stepped into the next room and he placed his free right hand on a fingerprint reader, causing another buzzer to go off and another metal door to open. Norris once again stepped through and into the small prison kept underground one of the Corporation's development buildings. Down the hall to the left were some cells and in front of him was Robert Wolfgang, sitting in a rolling office chair behind a desk, rubbing his chin.

"Been waiting for me long, Wolfgang?" Norris said, smiling.

Wolfgang grinned and began laughing. "Mister Contrauz, your Frame is abzolutely amazing!" Wolfgang shouted loudly. "I compliment your vantaztic dezign!"

"There will be no need for that, Wolfgang, let's just get down to business. You said the prisoner finally felt like talking, right?" Norris said, nodding down the hallway.

"But zir, vhat about your Frame? Didn't zomeone from the Earth military zee it? Von't VANGUARD be out here to find it?" Wolfgang said, getting out of his chair.

"I hid it in a very secure spot, don't worry about that," Norris said, smirking and looking at his left hand knuckle. He blew on it and rubbed his knuckle lightly on his suit coat.

"Pleaze, tell me how! How can anyone zlip anything past VANGUARD?" Wolfgang said, shuffling around the desk with the cardkey in hand for one of the cells.

"Wolfgang," Norris said, raising an index finger,"sore wa, himitsu desu***," he said with a corny smile.

Wolfgang stared at him.

"Nevermind, just show me where the prisoner is," Norris said, shaking his head.

"Right thiz vay," Wolfgang said, going ahead of Norris down the hallway. Norris followed after casually. The two men continued until Wolfgang stopped in front of the second to last cell on the right. He slipped the cardkey through the reader and a small beep sounded, a little red light on the reader changing green and the door opening. Inside, Ruth**** was flopping around like a fish in open air, bound up like someone in a straight jacket. He screamed and whined, keeping his eyes away from a TV attached to the ceiling, just out of his reach that was playing a rather annoying anime on repeat.

"Wolfgang, what ever possessed you to torture him with twenty-three straight hours of Yu-Gi-Oh?" Norris asked, turning off the TV with a small remote that he casually took out of his left pocket.

"I dunno. It just zeemed like a good way to get the information out of him," Wolfgang said with a shrug.

"But still, sheesh, don't you know what that show does to people over the age of thirteen?" Norris said, sounding disappointed.

"But zir, he did crack. He agreed to tell us everything," Wolfgang pointed out, looking down at the writhing and whining Ruth.

Norris sighed and pushed Ruth on his back with the heel of his shoe. Ruth looked up at him like a frightened woodland animal and began to sob.

"Go grab a chair. I'll be done with him in no time," Norris said, cracking his knuckles.

"Zir, again, he's agreed to tell uz everything-" Wolfgang began to say.

"Just do it!" Norris shouted back with an unexpected burst of fury.

Wolfgang was startled enough to stumble back towards the door, wide-eyed at Norris. Norris noticed what he just did and chuckled, facing forward and doing some of his Tai-Chi. Wolfgang obediently came back with the chair and sat Ruth down in it. He stood back as Norris looked down at the sobbing prisoner, thinking to himself.

"Wolfgang, out, shoo," Norris said, looking up and jerking his thumb to the door.

Wolfgang slowly nodded and walked out. He waited outside the door, standing at attention. Inside, Norris continued to look down at Ruth and slowly nod.

"Alright, I don't think they've done enough shit to you, so I'm going to ask you a question and if you don't give me a straight answer, I'm going to kick you in the face, alright?" Norris said, smiling.

Ruth's eyes widened as he looked up at Norris. He slowly nodded.

"Good, first question: why did you, Ruth Horner, alongside George Burdeni, Harman Scotts, and Wilson Martholemew, attack my company?" Norris asked softy and patiently.

Ruth stuttered something.

"Tell me, you sad little fuck!" Norris suddenly shouted in his usual startling outburst.

"Trap Card...ha ha, I had a Trap Card. Augh! Lost 500 Life Points, the flamingo wins again!" Ruth sputtered out.

Norris roared and roundhouse kicked Ruth out of the chair and into the wall. Ruth curled up in a ball and whelped.

"One more time! What the fuck is the Layon Crime Family doing attacking my company?" Norris shouted with the anger of a madman.

"So you know about us, huh? You found me out, huh? The flamingo must have told you, or John Mirra," Ruth said, chuckling to himself.

Norris took a deep breath and his eyes widened as his fists tightened. Ruth say this and whelped again.

"Alright, alright, look, it's simple. Someone snatched Layon's daughter and the first one he suspected was the Ryan Corporation. Ryan Stewart double crossed us and we struck back, screwing with the company and shit," Ruth squeaked out. "So when the kid went missing, they thought it was you trying to settle Stewart's dirty business. The heads said no one would have been so stupid as to do that but you since Layon's one of the most feared names on Mars."

Norris slowly smiled. "And you know what? I don't give a damn what that old man and you guys had to do with one another. I didn't snatch any kid, for your information," he said, going back to his calm and soft tone. "I'm sure you're mistaken. It was probably someone from the Steins."

"Like hell, they'd never jerk with anyone. Kramer Stein is too nice to his friends and horribly cruel to his enemies, no one crosses him," Ruth said, tossing around on the floor.

"Oh? Well, have a look," Norris said, pulling out the small remote from his pocket. He turned on the TV and switched it to the HBC newsbreak.

"The entire organized crime community is abuzz today as the death of Kramer Stein has ushered in a heated mob war all across the nests of Margaritifier County," the news anchor reported. "Reports from police investigators say that even now the syndicate is crumbling from the loss of the leader and the remaining members have declared war on all syndicates across Mars and beyond."

Ruth's jaw dropped.

"Not long after, a group of Stein's remnannts took over the yacht of another well-known man in the Martian organized crime community, Carmichael Layon. Witnesses say that he was shot repeated at point blank range and then tossed under the boat where his corpse was destroyed in the prop churn," the anchor continued. "All people in and within the Margaritifier area are advised to stay on high alert or to evacuate entirely-"

Norris cut off the TV, smiling at Ruth. "Now, I'm no criminologist, nor am I a private investigator, but I'm willing to bet that Stein was suspected as the one who snatched Layon's kid. A Layon pops Stein, a Stein pops Layon, and now every fucking criminal on Mars is going to die because of it! It's insane, isn't it? All because some moron had to go and tip the balance of things. I bet it was some small-time fuck who thought he could get a massive ransom and run off to Earth, in fact, that's the most likely story. Either way, you're screwed now, bud."

Ruth shuddered. If he ever got out of here, he was a dead man.

"Now why don't you tell me where the Layons got such fancy military technology? Was it Nereidium?" Norris asked, smiling.

Ruth carefully got to his feet and looked at Norris with an odd look on his face. "No, they were just handed to us by some unknown source. The heads said that the military called him 'The Frame Distributor'. No one knows where the hell he got them from and we didn't care, high-tech military shit was going to make us the best on Mars!"

Norris raised an eyebrow.

"You must have done this. They were right, you really did snatch the kid and you were behind all this! You had someone masquerade as a Stein and steal the kid so that Stein would get killed by one of ours! This was all you! All you!" Ruth shouted with raising anger, staggering towards Norris.

Norris didn't flinch, he stared down Ruth as he approached.

"My life is ruined now! I'm a dead man thanks to you! Organized crime on Mars is going to consume itself in one big fucking war all because of you! No one will stop until all the others are dead and it's all your fault! Die!" Ruth shouted in a maddened rage, suddenly dashing towards Norris.

Norris smirked and three gunshots sounded from the cell.

Wolfgang hurried inside to see Ruth splattered against the wall. Norris stood there with one of his high-caliber revolvers in hand, raised in front of himself with three shell casings on the floor. He still had the smirk on his face. Suddenly, Norris began to laugh as hard as he could, fumbling to put the revolver back in the holster inside his jacket. Wolfgang was confused and a bit scared, standing in the doorway with shock on his face.

"Clean that up, will you?" Norris said, smiling at Wolfgang.

"Your next draw won't be so lucky, Yugi, fate won't be on your side forever. Someday, death will come, death will come, death will come! You're going to die, Norris, die die die! No more Life Points and no Trap Cards are going to help you. Nothing will, nothing at all! Death will take you!" Ruth said, softly at first and crescendoing into a loud, maddened tone.

"Luck is a prerequisite to being a good businessman, but no one gets lucky twice. I'll take my chances, I've been dead once before, after all," Norris said, then began laughing again. He drew his revolver again and aimed at the heavily bleeding Ruth.

Wolfgang leapt forward and lowered Norris's arm. "Zir! Calm down! If that'z all you needed to know, go ahead back up to your office and relax zome," he said calmly.

"Relax? Relax! Sounds good to me! Deep breaths, deep breaths..." Norris said, quickly putting his gun away and leaving out the door.

Wolfgang looked down at the dying Ruth and sighed. Mercy kill was the only way, he wouldn't live with the wounds he took. He drew his sidearm slowly.

"Going to die, Norris, die die die! You'll die and angels will come for you and take you up to Heaven, where you'll be mocked and scoffed at, then they'll drop you into Hell and you'll die. You'll die and burn and die a hundred deaths! You'll never be happy again, Norris! You hear me? Your soul is as good as damned!" Ruth muttered in his mad ramblings.

"And how do you know that?" Wolfgang asked, humoring him.

"John Mirra told me. And the flamingo did too," Ruth said, nodding and smiling.

Wolfgang rolled his eyes and silenced the maniac with one final shot.

<CENTER>-----------------------------</CENTE R>

"Judas, tell me, what exactly is it that you people do anyway?" Miryhn asked as Fred held someone at gunpoint.

"Now that, is a secret. Our true purpose has been lost because Lazarus thinks we were established to do his bidding entirely," Judas replied, sitting back in his chair and watching Miryhn's game.

"And what's his bidding, exactly?" Miryhn said, Fred blasting the guy in the face and hauling ass down the street as a cop chased him.

"He thinks he's doing God's work. He thinks God is fed up with humanity and it needs to be 'cleansed'."

"Mighty odd way of doing things. Having you all clad in goofy uniforms and themeing yourself after angels," Miryhn said, Fred getting hit by a cop car. Miryhn cursed to himself and jerked the controller around until Fred stood up, only to be clubbed with a cop's nightstick.

"It's not odd, that's what we are," Judas said simply.

Miryhn looked at him as the screen faded away with the message "Busted!" on it and Fred was placed in front of the police station with slightly less money and no guns. Judas smiled back.

"Even you are one, Miryhn, you can deny it all you like, but you're still one of us. At times, you can completely change in personality and gain great strength and agility. You too change eye color as the angel takes hold and throttles your being with its fantastic power," Judas said, still smiling.

Miryhn grumbled and looked at Judas angrily. "Look, first of all, I'd love to know how you know that. Second of all, I want you to know that even though I'm of the same affliction as the rest of you maniacs, I'm still not like you, got it?"

Judas thought to himself a moment. "Well, there are two reasons I know so much about you," he began to explain.

"What's that mean? You know my favorite bands? You know my favorite food? You obviously know where I live because you came here, so why didn't they all just come and kill me and everyone on the ship?" Miryhn asked, still slightly angry.

"You ask far too many questions at once," Judas said, sighing. "Okay, to answer your more recent questions, your favorite bands I believe were electronically oriented. Juno Reactor, VNV Nation, The Chemical Brothers...need I say more? I also believe you love bourbon chicken on steamed rice with tons of soy sauce," he said, smiling again.

Miryhn's eye widened as he paused the game and looked back at Judas. "Do I know you from somewhere?"

"Been a while, hasn't it, King?" Judas said, his smile widening.

Miryhn's face froze with shock. "Wait, you couldn't be...that whiney little kid that never did anything right and complained all the time?"

"At one time I was known as...Jack, the youngest and least skilled of 'The Shuffles'," Judas said, laughing to himself. "But after TEMPEST collapsed, I re-dyed my hair and somehow found myself in the Seraphic Order alongside my brother. Then Joker was put in and somehow I knew the rest of you guys survived."

Miryhn shook it off, suddenly resuming his passive attitude. It was great to see an old comrade, but what was the big deal?

"You haven't changed a bit. But why didn't you fix your hair? It use to be brown, right?" Judas said, folding his hands in his lap.

"I like to think of it as a firm reminder of my past. Also, it drives the ladies wild to see a silver-haired bish strutting around," Miryhn said, smiling confidently.

"What's a 'bish'?" Judas asked, clueless.

"A 'bishonen'. An enfeminate male, in Japanese. Picked up the word from watching too much anime," Miryhn explained, Fred driving down the beach and running over people with a dune buggy.

"Why would you want to look enfeminate?"

"As said, it drives the ladies wild. Besides, I pride myself on being the antithesis to the stereotypical bishonen," Miryhn said, nodding a little.

"Anyway, when I saw the others drag you into Pandemonium and your body was seriously damaged, I couldn't believe it was you. But the first time you opened your eyes, they were gold with red in the pupil, the mark of the angel possessed. There was no doubt then, you had to be the King I remembered," Judas said, smiling with endearment.

"I did?" Miryhn asked, taken back.

"Well, you opened your eyes, but you didn't say anything. The lights were on, but no one was home, so to speak," Judas said, chuckling softly. "But then you just kind of passed out for a while longer and Sylfa looked after you."

Miryhn sighed, thinking back to Callisto. "There's bad news, though. Joker killed Ester...I mean, Queen," Miryhn said, depressing a bit in tone.

"And Ace is missing?"

Miryhn nodded.

"But why would he do that?"

"Well, it's because me and Ester carry 'Alpha' Manna and everyone else has 'Omega'. He said 'Alpha's are different from 'Omega's and he was going to pretty much kill us both for that," Miryhn said, driving Fred into the side of a building by accident.

"So that's why you haven't figured out how to use your powers," Judas said, thinking inwardly.

"Judas, it's not magical power or anything, it's a combat enhancer drug. You're aware, right?" Miryhn said, rolling his eyes.

"I'm aware. It just sounds cool to refer to it as that, no?" Judas replied, laughing.

Miryhn glared a moment and then looked back at his game. "If you can offer any advice at all on the matter, it'd really help. I use to be afraid of it ever coming back, but it seems mastery is the only way I'll ever get rid of the problems it causes for me...that, and it's the only way I can have a chance if the other Seraphs come after me again," Miryhn explained, Fred leaping out of his car and running through a back alley.

"Well, it's simple for me. I simply get pissed or desire to kill something and it clicks," Judas said, shrugging.

"That doesn't exactly work for me. If I do it that way, I can't keep a hold over myself and it makes me go overboard. I was afraid of myself for a long time because of that, but I think I'm getting a better grip on it," Miryhn said, thinking back to how he stopped himself while fighting Wahrsager.

"Then I have no idea," Judas said with a shrug.

Miryhn sighed, looking worried.

"What's wrong?" Judas said, noticing his expression.

"Judas, it's been eating at me for a long time, but I'm finally ready to just accept it and get on with life, 'ya know? However, I have no idea what to do about it now. I can't get rid of it, it's a part of me I just can't keep denying, and I know that now. I just want to make things better for once instead of making myself suffer," Miryhn said, sounding like he was getting personal.

Judas remained silent, looking at Miryhn sympathetically.

Just then, Fred's car exploded right in the middle of a mission. Miryhn growled and dropped his head back. "What is it with this game? Is there a difficulty I can lower or something?" He continued to mutter swears as the screen faded out and back to Fred outside the hospital.

Judas laughed and sat back in his chair. "Try a cheat code or something."

"Can't cheat, have to figure it out myself first," Miryhn said, leaning forward with newfound determination to get it right.

<CENTER>-----------------------------</CENTE R>

Ken and Dingo were silent, looking at each other as they waited for the food to arrive. Ken picked up her glass and quietly sipped the cheap wine Dingo opted for instead of the expensive stuff (in order to keep some pocket money for the movie rental later) while Dingo picked his nose.

"Don't do that here! This is upper crust fancy crap!" Ken said in a loud whisper.

Dingo laughed and dug in deeper, exaggerating the finger motion.

Ken rolled her eyes and sighed, crossing her legs at her knees. She refused to acknowledge the couple at the other table that was glaring at them.

"Sheesh, calm down, you're acting like we'd actually come back here," Dingo said, smiling.

"Well, I'd like to!" Ken replied, again in the loud whisper.

"I wouldn't. Service here stinks, they take forever on everything. I'd rather have gone down to Mackie's and grabbed some buffalo wings and onion rings. They don't take hours to prepare the bread basket like this place does," Dingo said, looking down at the array of silverware set out for him.

"Dingo, they're busy preparing lots of fancy dishes for people who are paying three times the amount we did for our food. They don't appreciate the casual diners like us, they're only in it for the big spenders," Ken explained.

Dingo narrowed his eyes. "I think its because we're obviously Martian. I bet some Earth hot-shot actually owns this place and they're just being dicks about it."

Ken shrugged.

"Well, I'm not going to take that!" Dingo said, voice slightly raised. He took his wine glass and knocked it back, swallowing the entire glass full of wine in one gulp. He then looked directly at a couple that was obviously richer than they let off and unleashed a mighty belch. The couple glared at him and Dingo glared back.

Ken lowered her head and put her purse beside her face. She shot Dingo a very dirty look, Dingo looking at her with a wide smile on his face.

"Waiter! Waiter! Get your ass over here!" Dingo shouted, holding up and flagging his napkin around. Several of the other diners looked over their shoulder at him and began to murmur amongst themselves.

A waiter came over, hiding his chagrin. "Yes, sir?"

"Waiter, you have such a damn good establishment here, you know that?" Dingo said loudly, adding a bit of "Martian Hick" to his accent.

The waiter looked around, uncomfortable. "Why, thank you, sir."

"In fact, I'm willing to give you five hundred if you guys would be so nice as to clean me up after I take a nice, long shit from your food that takes decades to cook. How does that sound?" Dingo said, waving his cash card around. All around, several people dropped their silverware on their plates from this statement, conversations halting entirely and the murmurring increasing.

Ken was red as a lobster, mouthing out her pleads to Dingo to stop.

The waiter's eye widened with anger. "Sir, that is uncalled for."

"No, see, those people came here five minutes ago and they got a goddamned feast served to them within ten minutes. Me and my escort here have been waiting fourty-five fucking minutes and you can't even whip up a steak with bleu cheese and some chicken a la king for us?" Dingo said, pointing to a table of four, who were now staring angrily at Dingo, and then back at his table.

"Sir, we try to serve as many people as possible at once, but in the case of that party, they called ahead their order and perhaps if you did too, your food would have been ready just as quickly," the waiter pointed out calmly.

"Hey, but what about us?" a guy from the corner of the restaurant cried out. "I called in and you people are taking just as long as for us as you are for them!" His wife looked just as embarrassed as Ken did.

"See what I mean?" Dingo said, looking at the man in the corner and then back to the waiter. "Tell me, is it because I'm a Martian and this joint is run by some scumbag Earther?"

"This establishment only caters to the dignified and well-mannered, sir. I may ask you to leave if this is what Martians call manners," the waiter replied.

"Ah-ha! See? You're a fucking racist!" Dingo shouted, standing up. "Did you all hear that? Doesn't matter how much crap you buy here, if you're Martian, you're screwed!"

"Yeah!" the guy in the corner shouted, raising his fist. His wife hit him in the back of the head with her purse.

"Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to leave," the waiter said, turning red from hiding his anger.

"Good! I wasn't going to stay any longer! The hell with all of you bastards!" Dingo shouted, shoving his chair back under the table.

Ken, hanging her head, got up and followed Dingo out. The man in the corner got up and left too, flipping the waiter the finger as he left. His wife waited a moment, taking in the glares of the restaurant patrons, and then hurried out after him.

"Martians, a rotten bunch," the waiter mumbled before continuing his duties.

Outside, Dingo proudly marched down the sidewalk as Ken began to cry softly. Hearing her, he turned around and stopped her.

"Something wrong? Look, if it was about the dinner, I'm not eating Terran food if they're going to discriminate like that and-" Dingo began to say.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Ken suddenly screamed, looking up with tear-filled eyes.

Dingo was momentarily paralyzed by the outburst.

"Dingo, why? Why did you have to be such a dickhead in there? What the hell has happened to you?" Ken screamed again.

"What are you talking about?" Dingo asked, voice raised from how puzzled he was.

"Dingo, your ego has swollen to proportions no one could ever imagine! What's worst is this pride and proud act you keep putting up with people," Ken said, wiping her eyes with her forearm.

Dingo looked at her, brow sloped with a puzzled look.

"You pretend you want to die an honorable death when you very well knew you could shut off the control systems and escape on manual pilot, you give the waiter a hard time because you have this spite problem with Earth...what next, are you going to go wave your naked ass at High Command? No wonder they're pissed off and want to kill us, you keep pushing people around with your high-and-mighty shit!" Ken shouted, poking her index finger into Dingo's chest.

Dingo was silent, unable to respond.

"Get over yourself! You're not a celebrity, you're just a symbolism icon. You were, at one time, a celebrity, back when you went on all those talk shows and crap, but look at you now! You're just a regular special forces operative like me and Leo and Angie!" Ken wailed. "Just stop this big act and be yourself, alright? You don't have to prove anything to anyone!"

Dingo sighed as Ken buried her face in his chest and began sobbing. The two of them stood there on the empty sidewalk for a few moments as Ken cried into him. She soon stopped and stepped back, wiping her eyes again.

"Oh, and by the way, I'm mad at you now, okay? Not only did you just waste two hundred by bitching out that waiter, but I remember Leo telling me that you told him you momentarily awaited death in your last battle. You even apologized to me and my dad when you damn well knew you could get out of that," Ken pointed out. "So the date is off, I'm going home to soak in the tub," she said, walking off as fast as she could.

Dingo sighed and rolled his eyes. He undid the collar button of his shirt and leaned against the building.

"And the next time we see that guy, I'm going to thank him for saving you so that I could put some sense back into you. You'd better shape up, Dingo, I'm not taking it anymore!" Ken shouted firmly before continuing on for good.

Dingo simply stared at her as she left. He sighed and shook his head,"Like all great men, I, Dingo Egret, have just been taken down by a woman." He jammed his hands in his pocket and decided to take a walk. "But Leo, you're getting an ass beating for telling her that, mark my words," he mumbled with a slight sneer.

<CENTER>-----------------------------</CENTE R>

Elena stood on the helipad, sipping on a styrofoam cup of coffee, bundled up in a faux fur-trimmed coat over her Space Force uniform. She was on the roof of one of the buildings overlooking Margaritifier, a building sanctioned as one of VANGUARD's many small research centers. No one was coming or going by way of helicopter, it was just a very private place to talk. Also, it was high above the cityscape where De Franz's snipers couldn't get a bead on her. She knew she was always being followed, but that didn't mean loosing her shadows once in a while was a big deal.

A few minutes passed and the elevator at the other end of the roof opened. Out stepped a man wrapped up in a green trenchcoat, stepping up the stairs and walking up besides Elena.

"You wish to speak to me about something, Vice Admiral Weinburg?" the man asked.

"I told you before, Bill, call me Elena. I don't care much anymore for my rank in the Earth military," Elena said, sighing. Of course, she was referring to Major General William "Bill" Browning, the architect and leader of the VANGUARD weapons administration.

Browning smiled and stared forward with her. "You never seem to change, do you?"

"Bill, I need to talk to you about something. My past is catching up with me and my decisions are proving to not be entirely in my favor," Elena said, looking down slightly.

"What do you mean?" Browning asked, looking to his side at her.

"I'm on De Franz's blacklist. I confirmed it only a few hours ago. Seems High Command has had enough of my meddling in their affairs," Elena said, obviously worried to death.

Browning smiled a bit. "So I guess you have no one else to confide in right now, huh? Or do you want some 'extra protection'?"

"I don't, but my team does," Elena said, sipping her coffee.

"I told you, Jehuty and Ardjet are almost done. I also have something for Egret," Browning said, looking back forward.

Elena was silent for a moment. "Bill, when I asked you to do this for me, I thought you'd laugh it off and say no. But why? Why are you doing something that could very well mean your career?"

"Because I hate those sniveling fossils in High Command," Bill said, sloping his brow with a bit of summoned spite. "They keep screwing with Mars and its people. They need to just give it up, there's no sense in stirring up more trouble."

Elena smiled a bit. "You really don't care about 'Earth' or 'Mars', do you? Human beings are human beings to you, eh?"

"You are damn right," Browning said, smiling a bit and nodding. "I don't know, its a complex emotion, Elena. I guess I just want to piss them all off and support you. Make a big stand for the few good people that remain in the Space Force, you know?"

"Bill, you realize that could very well put you in my position, right? Not just you, but all of VANGUARD," Elena said, turning her head to him.

"I really don't care anymore. If it means doing the right thing, me and my employees would backstab anyone. Isn't that how you feel too?" Browning said, looking at her with a smile.

Elena chuckled a bit. "Seems we still have a lot in common, huh?"

Browning nodded a bit and looked back forward. "Besides, I'm already ahead of you. Remember Leon Shale? He's got my back in case De Franz tries something."

"Shale?" Elena said, rhetorically. She sipped her coffee and leaned on one leg.

"Yeah, I know he'd come through if the proverbial 'shit' hit 'the fan'," Browning said confidently. "So if you ever need anything, just whistle."

Elena smiled again and looked up at Browning. "Bill, you're the best," she said sweetly.

"Aw, shucks, ma'am. Just do'in my job," Browning replied, sounding slightly like an old cowboy movie actor.

"I don't know how long until everything falls appart, but I have a bad feeling it will be soon, Bill. You passing Frames along to East Wind just might be the final straw," Elena said, finishing her coffee.

"Come what may, Elena, as long as they understand that not everyone thinks like them," Browning said, sighing.

"You can say that again. We were both against the Mars reoccupation, I demanded to keep Dingo Egret in custody then let him loose in my own spec ops team, I 'cruelly manipulated' little Leo Stenbuck into 'believing Martian foolishness', and you spite them on a daily basis," Elena said, rolling her eyes.

"Look, Elena," Browning said, putting a hand on her shoulder,"just stop worrying so much. If anything bad happens, come find me and Shale and we'll protect you and whoever else you bring. If it means going up against the entire Earth army, so be it. I'd do anything to make sure they learn a lesson."

Elena smiled brightly. "Thanks, Bill," she said, patting his side. "Now be a dear and throw this away for me," she said, handing him the coffee cup,"I have some work to do."

Browning looked down at the cup and then back up at her with an aggrivated look.

"And hurry up on those Frames!" Elena said strongly as she headed for the stairs.

"Why don't you lend a hand? I have twenty people on each of them, I bet you can magically make them be finished!" Browning shouted sarcastically as Elena got to the elevator.

Elena laughed out loud and stepped in the elevator doors. "See 'ya later, Bill!" she got out before the doors closed.

<CENTER>-----------------------------</CENTE R>

Vera had arrived back on the ship and was prancing around, trying to find Peniel. The damn cat was probably off doing something weird, but he never hid himself very well. In fact, she thought he might visit his food pot again for the fifth time that day. The cat was a bit skinny, but it ate like a horse; and when it did, it usually munched down Choco Puffs since Miryhn kept forgetting to buy cat food at the store.

Throwing her coat in her room, she made her way back to the stern of the ship around the hangar. She decided to shut the rear cargo door since she left it wide open to get Freya in. Stepping into the hangar itself, she saw a man standing in the middle of the room holding a bag and looking around in awe.

"Hey, can I help you?" she said, walking towards him.

The man looked at her, brandishing a quaint, small smile on his face. Vera recognized him right off; it was Doctor Ricdeau. "Oh, hello! It's you...um...Vanessa? Victoria? Valyrie?"

"Vera," she corrected.

"Ah, yes, Vera. I got your current address from the folks at Ryan and I was wondering if Miryhn was in. I came to give him that check-up I recommended the last time I saw you all," Ricdeau said, adjusting his small spectacles a bit.

Vera sighed and turned around. "Just a sec, I'll go get him," she said, opening the door back to the hallway. "Miryhn, get your ass down here!" she screamed as loud as she could. She turned back to Ricdeau with a small smile and a giggle.

Ricdeau chortled to himself and stood patiently. A few moments passed and footfalls were heard coming down the stairs and down the hallway.

"Why do you always have to yell? Just use the comlink or something," Miryhn said loudly before passing through the doorway. He stopped and gave Vera a glare, then noticed Ricdeau standing there.

"I see you still lead a life full of stress creating people. You're going to get one hell of a heart disease when you get old," Ricdeau said with a small laugh.

Miryhn looked at Ricdeau and then at Vera; then he turned back to Ricdeau. "Trust me, she does more than just stress me out."

Vera rolled her eyes and smacked Miryhn in the back of the head. "Just shut up, okay?" she said, adding a valley-girl accent to her tone. Just then, Peniel came out from behind a box and scampered over to her. "See, now this little guy knows how to treat a lady. He appreicates what I do around here," she said, sticking her tongue out at Miryhn. She picked up Peniel and carried him off as she left.

Ricdeau laughed softly.

"What's so funny?" Miryhn asked, suddenly remembering just who was standing in front of him. He hid his urge to punch Ricdeau in the stomach for dissappearing the way he did.

"Nothing, it just seems you and that girl are good friends, or at least well-aquainted," Ricdeau said, walking closer.

"Friends? Yeah, I'd say so. However, she treats me like a brother and that's our mutual understanding," Miryhn said, matter-of-fact in tone.

"If you say so," Ricdeau said, smiling a little brighter than normal.

"Anyway, what did you need? I assume you got this address from the Ryan folks, eh?" Miryhn said, then yawning.

"I never got to check on you. You seemed in poor health the last time we met and I'm concerned," Ricdeau said, holding his bag with both hands.

"What's that suppose to mean?"

"Oh, come now, I'm your doctor. If something is wrong, I'd know, right?" Ricdeau said, patting Miryhn's shoulder.

Miryhn thought about just blurting out the subject of Ester, the "Alpha" Manna, and the Seraphs, but something about Ricdeau was keeping his lips shut. If this guy really was the amazing medical researcher Trent made him out to be, why was he doing a doctor-recommended housecall? Something was definately strange about this encounter.

"Alright, but keep it short," Miryhn said firmly. "I have a game on pause upstairs along with a guest."

"Oh, this won't be long. No worries," Ricdeau said, nodding. "I don't suppose you have an examining table around here, do you?"

"There's a workbench in the storage room, I guess that will do," Miryhn said, looking back towards the front wall. He lead Ricdeau to a door off on the left side of the wall and stepped into a sealed storage room. In the middle was a workbench, kept clean and pristine after Jim gave up his hobby of woodcraft. A rather ugly-looking birdhouse sat in one corner of the room, a trophy of Jim's first and only accomplishment. Miryhn sat on the table as Ricdeau set his bag down on a shelf on the wall.

"Now, just remove your shirt," Ricdeau said, looking through his bag.

Miryhn slowly nodded and began to unbutton his shirt. Ricdeau dug a little deeper into his bag, obviously frustrated and unable to find something small in it. Miryhn saw the oppurtunity of distraction and slipped the handgun he grabbed from his room into the bundle he made of his shirt. He had grabbed the gun after Vera called for him; just as a precaution in case his next visitor was a little less than friendly, or another Seraph. He carefully placed his shirt aside, not letting the metal rattle.

"Okay, now let's see..." Ricdeau said, walking over to Miryhn with stethescope in hand.

Ricdeau proceeded to do the standard doctor proceedure of checking everything. He listened to Miryhn's breathing, took his blood pressure, looked in his ears, nose, and mouth, and even tapped his knee with the little hammer for reflexes. Miryhn patiently went through with this, trying to find a good way to introduce the things on his mind.

Finally, he just had to say something; this could be his last chance to see Ricdeau for a long time, the man just seemed to keep popping up here and there lately. He obviously had an agenda, but what exactly was going on with him? That all didn't matter, Miryhn had one thing to settle right now above all else.

"Ester's dead," Miryhn said, nonchalant. He surprised himself with how indifferent he sounded.

Ricdeau looked up from searching around in his bag. "I know. The police contacted me after they identified her. I was so deeply shocked that I decided to take some time off from my life and saw...an old friend," Ricdeau said, amazingly maintaining his small smile through the explanation.

"So that's where you've been, eh? Just thought you should know that it was Joker who shot her. Ester found him and went after him, but she called me in to help. I saw the whole thing," Miryhn said, somehow maintaining his indifference, even though he had been upset about the whole thing for such a long time.

"I figured as much. She had been hunting him on the internet for a long time and when she found him, I knew she'd go after him no matter what I said. Either way, I feel better now. She was such a lovely granddaughter, I'm deeply saddened to see her go before me, but I can't mourn forever. Just have to move on, you know?" Ricdeau said, pulling out the wood "popsicle stick" and sticking it on Miryhn's tongue. "Say 'ah'."

"Ahgh," Miryhn sounded out.

Ricdeau stepped back and wrote something down on a little notepad.

"Joker said he wanted both of us dead, actually. He said me and Ester were a problem because we have...'Alpha' Manna?" Miryhn said, slowly finishing his sentence. He turned his head to Ricdeau.

For the first time in all the years Miryhn knew him, Ricdeau's smile was gone and replaced by a worried look. Ricdeau stared down at his notepad and sighed.

"Doc, I know that you invented the stuff, it actually wasn't much of a surprise. You have some very thinly veiled secrets," Miryhn said, smirking a little.

"Oh, I wouldn't say that," Ricdeau replied, smiling a little. His smile then immediately dropped back to his worried look.

"And that's why I have to ask you, Doc, what's the secret to it? What do I have to do to get in control of it?" Miryhn asked, tension in his voice.

Ricdeau raised his head and took a deep breath. He then dropped his head, shaking it.

"Doc, tell me! Joker stood right in front of me and laughed at me because I lost it. The goddamned drug took over and I screwed up big time. He told me there was a way to make it do what I wanted, but it's different for me," Miryhn explained. "Please, tell me," he added, a bit softer and with a bit of pleading.

"Miryhn, the answer you seek isn't with me, it's within you. It's not something I can just give instructions for, it's only on a personal basis," Ricdeau said, looking at him with deep concern.

"What?"

"I'm afraid I can't help. You check out with a clean bill of health, so I'm going to go on my way-" Ricdeau said, beginning to pack his bag back up.

"No!" Miryhn outburst.

Ricdeau looked at him, momentarily stunned.

"Doc, you can't do this to me! Why are you always holding back? Just give me a straight answer! I'm so fucking tired of metaphors and psycho-analytical bullshit! Someone just tell me something without all this cryptic load of crap every single time I ask!" Miryhn shouted, instantly infuriated.

"Miryhn, you have to understand, there are no 'straight' answers when it comes to this," Ricdeau pleaded. "Just trust in yourself and time will tell," he said, starting for the door.

Miryhn instantly grabbed his gun and shot Ricdeau in the foot. Ricdeau staggered and fell into the wall, sliding down it with a cringe on his face. Miryhn got off the table and squatted in front of Ricdeau, jamming the gun into his cheek.

"My, a Jericho remake, huh? Very nice gun, what's it chambered for?" Ricdeau said, smiling a little.

".40 caliber. And it's a good thing since I don't know shit about customizing guns," Miryhn said, smirking a bit. "But I'm not letting you change any subjects on me or talk your way out of this. Just tell me what the trick is and I'll let you go. I won't step out of this room knowing I have to suffer a day longer from my inability to keep my 'powers', or whatever Joker called them, under control."

Ricdeau's smile dropped again and he pushed the gun away from his face with the back of his hand. He slowly got to his good foot and hobbled over to a box, sitting on it. "Hand me my bag, please. I'll tell you something, at the least, while I fix up my foot," he said, pulling off his shoe.

Miryhn stood up and tossed him his bag. He kept the gun aimed at him as Ricdeau pulled out his tweezers and worked around in the wound for the bullet.

"Oh, where to begin..." Ricdeau wondered to himself, occassionally cringing as he got a hold of the bullet and yanked it out. He placed the bloody metal on the box next to him and he pulled out some gauze from his bag.

"Better start sometime," Miryhn said, sloping his brow.

Ricdeau took a deep breath and patted at his wound some. "You're aware that I've always told you not to go believing everything everyone else does. I told you to have a 'good idea' and stick to it, right?"

Miryhn slowly nodded.

"Well, it's always been my 'good idea' that God doesn't restrain his angels to servitude. Instead, he lets them out upon humanity, free to choose their own fate, free to wander and do as they please. They are all really just 'fallen angels', to me, just wandering souls blessed with the Almighty's might. If they remain benevolent, acting in favor of mankind, they remain as they are and can lead happy existences among man, spending eternity doing self-serving deeds instead of ...blowing trumpets in Heaven and singing at Christmas and the like," Ricdeau explained, taking out more gauze.

Miryhn raised an eyebrow, maintaining his aim.

"However, they also have the choice of malevolence. In that case, they change into horrid demons, making mankind act in wicked ways against one another and leading themselves towards sin. In essence, angels have three paths: act in favor of man, act in disfavor of man, or sit on their duffs and just be there," Ricdeau said, chuckling a little at the end.

Miryhn gave him a funny look.

"Now, I'm just a man like everyone else, but I believed so hard in what I believed that I actually found a way to make a miracle. I found a way that I could make humans and these divine beings as one. My dream was to see angels brought to life, to be personified in man, and to make their work more effective because they can physically act instead of just doing whatever they do to protect us normally from ourselves," Ricdeau continued, putting some disinfectant in the wound. "But I had to choose carefully who would be the ones to recieve such a blessing. I aimed for those that would be truly benevolent and act with great fervor, since the truest power of the human soul is its ability to overcome obstacles by willpower alone. Any human can make change in their life, if they desire it enough, and that empowers the person as well as the angel placed in them to an extent that I can only say is one of the most powerful forces in the entire universe."

Miryhn quietly listened, looking more curious than angry.

"'The Will To Power', an idea proposed by Friedrich Nietzche. I'm afraid I took I just a little too literally, but it's true. Nothing is more powerful than the human soul, ablaze with its own determination, its own pure ambition. Flesh driven by a soul that cries out for more. When combined with that of an angel's, whom embraces this and makes it its own, the two beings put together are quite the formidable opponent, especially against a weak and feeble human with no real inspiration," Ricdeau said, smiling a little once again and wrapping some more gauze around his foot.

Miryhn continued to listen, looking more and more confused.

"So I took my blessing and tried to find the perfect humans to instill angels to. The only problem was, that was about the time that...circumstances changed. Greedy men wanted the blessing for themselves and they did just that, snatching me up and making me give this blessing away to them. Luckily, I was able to hide from them the true blessing, and instead, I gave them the weaker one," Ricdeau said, looking up at Miryhn as he finished dressing his wound and slipped his shoe back on.

"'Alpha' and 'Omega' Manna, right?" Miryhn asked softly.

"Exactly," Ricdeau said with a nod. "'Alpha' is the true blessing, 'Omega' is a dramatically weak knock-off in actuality."

"But why me? Why'd you give me the 'true blessing'?" Miryhn asked plainly.

Ricdeau sighed, his smile turning down a bit. "Because I saw your psychological overview, I saw all your interview tapes, and I just had this feeling in my gut that you were exactly the kind of soul that would benefit the most. You're a good boy, Miryhn. You hold no evil thoughts and you only work to improve, even if for the most part you only work to improve yourself," Ricdeau explained.

Miryhn bit his lip.

"Believe it or not, I have faith in you, Miryhn. You carry a great thing within you and only until you stop fearing it and embrace it will you ever perfect the unity of the two souls you carry. The path to your redemption doesn't lie in anything but yourself and your own closure. Every time you pass malice towards another, your angel reacts by becoming demonic. It possesses you and causes great pain for you, but instead, if you can learn to pass courage through yourself and know that you can and will make change, it will unfurl with great might and the unity will be complete. You will, in a sense, transform and become just a little more than just a man," Ricdeau said, smiling. "But as I said, there are no straight answers that I can give you. You have to find those means yourself. Find courage, find ambition, and overall, find something to believe in that you know you can do."

Miryhn was speechless, being extremely confused. He dropped his arm and lowered his head, about to get upset with frustration.

"I'm sorry, but that's all I can tell you. All I can do is offer guidance, but I can't lead you there. That path is your own," Ricdeau said, getting off the box and packing up his bag.

Miryhn would have tried to stop him, calling him a liar and insisting he stop fooling around and tell him the truth, but by the way Ricdeau told his story he sounded entirely sincere. Even if it was just a clever trick, another ruse he was throwing up to keep Miryhn from a greater truth, there was no way he'd get it out of him. Ricdeau was just too slippery and getting him to talk that much was a miracle in itself. Miryhn suddenly felt very helpless, not turning his head as Ricdeau began to leave.

"I have faith in your, Miryhn. Your time will come and when it does, I can assure you you'll be happy about it beyond any earthly desire. You can and you will find the way and you will finally get what you want. The angel wants to be you as much as you do it, I can assure you, and now you know how to do that, right? So work hard, think carefully, and place your deepest desires first. You'll see, in time," Ricdeau said, stopping in the doorway. Miryhn couldn't see it, but Ricdeau was wearing his most serious facial expression possible. After he finished, he started walking again and after a few moments, he was gone.

Miryhn fell sideways, sliding down the wall until he was sitting on his right butt cheek. He turned a bit and sat upright, hanging his head. "What the hell was he talking about? Ambition? Desire for change?" he muttered. Shivering, he got up and grabbed his shirt, putting it back on and putting the gun back under his belt. He shuffled out of the room, sealing it back shut behind him, and decided it was time for a bottle of Yoo-Hoo.

<CENTER>-----------------------------</CENTE R>

Wahrsager strolled down the street, quietly munching on a soft shell burrito. As she stopped at a streetcorner, waiting to cross, a few people glared at her out of the corners of their eyes. Wahrsager smirked and continued to eat, ignoring them. Her other hand emerged from her cloak, holding a soft drink; she took a long sip of it and then suddenly froze in mid-sip. The crosswalk sign changed and she stood there as the other people kept going.

"What's that, Adavari? You say Metatron is growing restless? That something is going to happen in a little while?" Wahrsager said to herself, smiling. "Oh, this will be great! How soon until it happens? Not long? Hooray!"

A small boy looked up at her, puzzled. "Lady, are you talking to an imaginary friend?"

"Don't talk to her, son, she's a stranger...and I do mean a strange-er," the father said, grabbing the boy's hand and leading him away.

"Adavari, I love you!" she shouted, then laughed out loud, prancing across the sidewalk while eating her burrito.

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* Prime Minister Gazaru is the Prime Minister of the Martian Parliament in the Dolores,i anime.

** Just in case anyone's wondering, Ken now wears her hair normally like Fllay Allster from Gundam SEED. Apply any changes in the text to this hairstyle and there you go, instant imagery.

*** Sore wa, himitsu desu = "that, is a secret". Xelloss's infamous line from the Slayers anime.

**** Remember Ruth? He was one of the AlterNeith Runners from back in Chapter 13. Baker and Harman died (Baker gunned down by the Ryan militia in his cockpit for resisting arrest), George got away, but Ruth was caught.

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