Disclaimers: I do not own Weiss Kreuz, or any of its respective characters.
So please don't sue me, I don't have any money.
This story is also written as a continuation of NekoSandy's "Fractured Futures Trilogy" and is written with her permission, so for the love of mercy don't harass me for using the original characters that appeared in her story.
A New Dawn Emerges.
Part one.
A new vision hits Crawford with startling clarity. He sees a young man, more boy than man, driving down a mountain road in the morning light on the way to an early class. Driving with a speed that only comes with familiarity the boy rounds one curve, two, three, four… five hairpin curves each immediately after the other. The sixth is the problem. The golden haired boy frantically tries to maneuver the speeding car to avoid the truck parked on the side of the sixth curve. Crystal blue eyes open wide with fear as the car careens out of control and goes into a roll on the other side of the road. Finally the vehicle skids to a stop before the entrance of an urbanization. The last thing visible in the vision are the words proudly displayed on the outside of the urbanization, "Bienvenidos a Las Mesas."
Crawford shakes his head trying to clear it of this bizarre vision. What connection should some car accident have to him? Especially one that he can't even locate, other than being able to say that it is on some mountain with really bad roads. The boy. The language. The boy looked as though he had some European ancestry, perhaps. Then again that would not help to narrow down the location. If his guess is right about the sign, then it should be Spanish and translates as "Welcome to the tables"?! Shaking his head again Crawford reaches over, picks up his cup of coffee, takes a sip and returns to work on his computer. While half a world away Jason Christophe is sleeping peacefully, ignorant of the car accident that will leave him comatose in just a few short hours.
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Six hours after the ambulance takes Jason to the nearest hospital, Adrian Noir steps off an airplane, into his description of hell, back on firm ground. Firm ground being the small island of Puerto Rico, more specifically the capitol city named San Juan. His final destination not yet reached, is to be the city of Arecibo. The people just milling around the Muñoz Marin Airport is impressive. Luggage. Adrian looks up at the signs posted all around, English, Spanish and symbol, and begins to find his way towards the luggage terminal. Walking out of the gates area, going through the main building, down an escalator into a revolving glass door, through a hallway that leaves much to be desired, and finally into the luggage terminal… at the far side of the room he sees several people gathered all looking at the only baggage belt that seems to be functioning. Moving the small carry-on to his left hand, he continues his trek to get the rest of his baggage. Half an hour later is when he finally is able to retrieve the last of the luggage and leave the building, after showing a joke of baggage identification to the security guards that look like they would rather be sitting in front of the TV.
If Noir thought that the amount of people inside the airport was bad, the people just waiting to pick up their loved ones is beyond imagination. The area around the passengers exit is corded off to make sure that people can get out and not have to wade through a sea of humans. A very uninterested looking man standing off to the side is holding a small hand printed banner about the size of a normal paper with Noir's name written on it. The limousine is waiting to pick him up and take him to Arecibo. As he gets into the provided transportation, Noir begins to honestly consider shooting the person that decided to build the world's largest radio dish here in this unbearably hot island 'paradise'.
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On the other side of the island in Mayagüez, Jason lies in the intensive care ward of the Bella Vista Hospital. His friends have been filtering in and out of the hospital for most of the day, ever since they found out about the accident. Lily Christophe sits next to her youngest child, tears running down her cheeks as she desperately prays that he will wake up. The doctors had said that it would be a miracle of he ever woke. Then again, it was a miracle that he had even survived the accident, much less come out of it with only superficial scratches and bruises. The reason, they explained, that Jason had yet to regain consciousness was that he had suffered some bruising of the cerebral tissue from when he was being tossed around in the car.
That night Jason's mother stayed in the hospital with her child. All around the room flowers and get-well cards are displayed for when he wakes.
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Coffee cup in hand, Noir looks out at the sun rising between the mountains. The city of Arecibo wasn't what he had expected at all. It wasn't some little gathering of ramshackle fire hazards with poverty stricken natives living in them. It was a living, breathing, growing community. From all the films that he has ever seen, you would have guessed that this island was still a third-world-country. He never expected to see such an Americanized society (complete with Mc Donald's on almost every street corner) that still retains so much of its original culture.
Wincing as he takes a sip of the coffee. Milk. The service personnel refused to give him straight black coffee. When he had inquired to this, they had informed him that this was not the strained water that was passed off as coffee in 'the states,' and that if he drank too much of it black he would end up talking like a cotorra[1] because of all the caffeine running rampant through his system. Noir finishes with the drink and turns to go back into the rudimentary laboratory that his team has been able to set up.
It was a lucky thing to be able to rent the facilities of Arecibo's radio dish. SETI was rather adamant about having the dish to themselves, and the only way to secure the rental was by means of an anonymous donation to the city's governor. The donation also allowed them to do some construction in a nearby plot of land. For some things Venture Corp used local contractors, and for other more questionable building practices they used private personnel. Questionable building practices such as, constructing a project specific laboratory directly underneath the radio dish. Noir massages his temples as he watches technicians recalibrating the input sensors from the dish. Without the recalibrations they will never be able to gather the necessary data on metaphysical entities. In knowing more about these particular entities, humanity will be safer from groups similar to Estet that are vying for world domination via demonic conjuring.
Before they can do anything, they have to be able to conjure and capture successfully a lesser metaphysical creature so that they can have something on which to conduct their experimentations on. But, first things first... and the first thing on the agenda is getting something more substantial for breakfast.
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Bella Vista Hospital. Jason's condition has not improved. His body has fully healed, with the exception of regaining consciousness. The doctors have decided on moving him out of the intensive care unit and into the regular wing of the hospital. This decision being based more on their needing the room in the IC than with Jason's health in mind.
The new room seems more to benefit Jason's visitors, than Jason himself. While originally intended to be a double occupancy, Jason is the only inhabitant. His friends still continue with frequent visits. Even going to the point of bringing in a VCR to attach to the TV in the room. The doctors were about to make them remove it when Rei-chan spoke up.
"You say that Neko kun needs to hear things that would matter to him. Plus you keep the TV turned on in here," she says as she points up to the TV that is currently showing some local talk show involving a man that has three wives and some twenty seven children, "He barely watch american TV shows, much less local shows."
The doctor looks down at the long haired woman a moment before responding, "'Neko kun'?"
"Jason's nickname."
"Ah, and what would he like to watch instead?"
Before Rei-chan can respond, Sasha and Jeanette walk in. Sasha carrying an armload of videos, "Sorry we're late with these. I had to put the finishing touches on a paper for my marketing class."
The doctor just glances at the names on the videos and just shakes his head when he realizes that he cannot read the Japanese characters. "Just keep it down in here, or I will have to remove the VCR and restrict the two visitor regulation." With the last statement he looks around the room at the seven visitors.
As soon as the doctor is out the door an enthusiastic "Neko kun!" can be heard from Sasha before she leans down and gives the unconscious boy his besito[2]. Had this been under different circumstances the energetic redhead would have captured him in a headlock and held him for some time before releasing him. Jeannie likewise gives him his besito and greets him…
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Two weeks later in Japan. Schuldich is sleeping peacefully in Crawford's bed, nestled amongst the cotton sheets. Bradley walks back into the room after coming out of the shower, wearing only a bathrobe. Looking at the alarm, he wonders how Schuldich can sleep-in so much, and decides to wake the sleeping redhead in a most interesting fashion… Just as he is sliding into the sheets he is hit with a vision.
The golden haired boy in a hospital room. Outside the window, a creature of the night is crazily chirping away a bizarre little song, coqui, coqui, coqui. Jade green eyes fluttering open from beneath long dark thick lashes.
Crawford's eyes flash open. That child's eyes had originally been blue, not jade. Movement on the bed pulls the dark haired assassin from the vision. Looking down at his flame haired lover, he has to stifle a laugh. Though Schuldich is still in the blissful thrall of sleep, he has snuggled up to and around Crawford… reminding him of a kitten seeking affection.
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Arecibo. Noir, bag of platanutres[3] in hand, looks around the almost completed laboratory. The most important piece of equipment is only a few minor adjustments away from completion, the containment unit. A slight sigh escapes the scientist's lips as he runs a hand down the smooth glass side of the containment unit. Just a few more moments till they can finally put into practice all of the many hypothesizes that they have been developing in the extermination of other planar creatures. With the chips finished, he crumples up the cellophane bag and tosses it into a nearby trashcan.
From the coffee machine one of the scientists anguished cry can be heard. "Who drank the last of the coffee?! This pot was made only an hour ago!"
Noir just picks up his oversized mug, half full and walks off. Unnoticed by anyone, a smirk of amusement across his face. The last of the coffee, wonder how the supervisors will decide who gets to go into town to buy more?
In the supermarket, Noir grumbles about having been unanimously chosen for the trip. It's not like he drank all the coffee, just most of it. Sigh. As long as he is here, he might as well pick up some more snack foods… in case anyone notices that he ate those as well. Food here might be exceedingly unhealthy, but it is delicious as all heck. Into the Pueblo shopping cart goes; a large bag of platanutres, two boxes of pizza empanadillas, a couple of boxes of surrullitos, flan snack cups, two packs of coffee, a container of milk, a bag of white sugar, a bunch of plantains, a new bottle of vegetable oil and a dozen glazed doughnuts, in addition to other necessities.
After paying for the purchase, Noir takes the bags out to the car, somewhat miffed about the fact that he wasn't given the paper or plastic option. What if he had really wanted paper bags? Oh well. Now to brave traffic, that suspiciously reminds him more of a game of bumper cars than anything else. At least when he arrives back to the laboratory, the containment unit will be ready to use.
At least the traffic isn't as bad at the moment. Then again, the worst traffic begins at about 2:30pm… when mothers and fathers start congesting the streets while beginning to head out to pick up their children from school. By now Noir has learned to stay far away from anything even remotely resembling a school at those times. The digital clock on the dashboard reads that it is 2:00. Crash! He'd better get back to the lab…
Within fifteen minutes he is pulling up to the above ground installation of the laboratory. A security guard walks over to check his ID.
"Drank all the coffee again I see," says the guard as he looks at the badge Noir presents, "How can you drink this puertorrican stuff? It's too strong for my tastes."
"Hn? I dunno, I just do." Noir replies with a slight shrug, "Hey, could you do me a great favor?"
"Depends on what kind of favor…"
A sheepish look crosses Noir's face, "Well, could you take care of the groceries for me?"
"Again? Jeeze, what are you late for today?"
"Ah ha ha ha, today will be the tests for some equipment that I helped to design. I kind of wanted to be there," he comments while tugging nervously on an obsidian lock of hair.
"Keys?"
Hazel eyes widen, "Really?"
"Yeah… Just don't get used to it. I'll drop the keys off in your mailbox. Now don't be late to the tests."
Noir happily drops the car keys into the guard's hand and quickly dashes to the lab, but not before snitching another doughnut.
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Yolissa hits the eject button on the VCR, and takes the tape as it emerges from the machine. Rurouni Kenshin. Jason had always enjoyed that series. It was also interesting to watch his reactions to the American dub. He had been trying to purchase the entire series on American DVD, while simultaneously complaining about the fact that American companies were trying to make it impossible to buy original import merchandise. Looking down at the tape in her hand, Yoli wonders what the companies would make of this tape? The complete series in Spanish[4], spanning three six-hour videocassettes, recorded from the TV.
Instead of popping in the next video, Yoli pulls from her binder a set of fan fictions that she had found on the net the night before. "Neko-kun, I don't know if you have already read these," she tells the unconscious boy, "but I'll read them to you anyway." Settling down in the chair next to the hospital bed she begins reading the Gundam Wing fictions.
Half way through the third page Yolissa looks directly at Jason. Something in her peripheral vision had made her uneasy. His chest is not moving. Dropping the papers, she leans over him and checks his neck for a pulse. Usually his pulse is really strong there… almost to the point of being visible if looked for carefully. Nimble fingers feel nothing, no beating of the heart. His lips, as well as his nails, are beginning to pick up a tinge of blue.
"DOCTOR!!!" she screams while grabbing the nurse's button…
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Brad nuzzles Schuldig's neck as his hand toys with a sensitive nipple. The redhead arches up off the bed moaning at the touch. Long legs wrap around the dark haired man's tanned torso, an unspoken plea.
Ignoring Schuldig's long strong legs wrapped around him, Brad continues to tease the panting German. Lips curl up in a smile around a pink nipple as Schuldig begins tossing his head back and forth, fanning red hair around him like a halo. Brad would never have guessed that Schuldig was religious… but the moans coming from petal soft lips could rival the prayers of any religious zealot.
Brad reaches over to the night-table, picks up a well used tube of lube and squirts a healthy amount onto his hand…
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Noir stands before the computer console reading the data printout that it has just given him. Making the necessary adjustments for possible energy fluctuations in the equipment, he begins the channeling sequence. They need to isolate a critter from the other plane, and bring it into this one and keep it contained. The scans that they are performing now will locate and isolate a small creature. Channeling the radio waves through the dish, converting them into a new wavelength that can be put to use in the containment unit.
The containment unit sits proudly in the center of the laboratory, a tube of double paned glass from ceiling to floor, roughly five feet in diameter. In the space between the panes of glass there is liquid hydrogen flowing. The hydrogen is supposed to slow down the waves so that they will act as a barrier on all planes of existence and hold whatever they catch here.
Lights on Noir's console begin lighting up. The scan has successfully located a creature of the other plane. From the numbers that the computer is throwing at him, it looks almost like a godsend… except for the fact that it is accompanied by a larger being. They should be able to isolate the smaller one and trap it. At least that is what the equipment is designed to do.
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The doctors are trying their best to get Jason's heart to beat again on its own. A mask is put over the boy's mouth, and air rhythmically pumped into his lungs. One of the nurses does her best to take the frantic Yolissa out of the room.
Over the din a medic is heard call out "CLEAR!"
Jason's body arches up off the bed as electricity jolts through his unconscious form…
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Schuldig's body arches up off the bed as Brad crucifies him with pleasure. A low breathy moan escapes Brad's lips as he feels his lover's body begin to tighten around his shaft deeply embedded within.
A couple more thrusts should…
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…Give the power needed to secure the smaller of the beings.
Thrusting the power up a little more, Noir watches as the containment unit begins glowing a pale blue. At first two forms begin to take shape. Crash! The unit was never meant to hold two of them… Holding two creatures will over load the computer that regulates the wave channeling system.
A high-pitched sound begins reverberating through the lab.
Noir's fingers fly across the console in front of him, doing his level best to remove the second of the creatures before the entire system overloads and fails. "What is that sound?"
"It's coming from the containment unit, sir!"
"Are we getting a copy of that?"
"Yes, we are."
"Good," Noir punches in the last of the commands to eliminate the extra being, so that the machinery will still be able to hold the small one.
The larger of the two begins fading from view. Making the sound break into two distinct entities. Some of the scientists have dropped to their knees with their hands over their ears, trying to stop the sound.
Now there is one. The sound has dulled to the sobbing of a child.
Noir moves from his console to have a look at what the containment unit holds.
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All that is possible has been done for Jason, a.k.a. Neko-kun. Orderlies begin taking machinery out of the room…
"Somebody call it," Doctor Rivera announces as he wipes the sweat from his brow.
"Official time of death, 7:38pm"
The words are barely uttered, when a faint flicker on the monitor registers. His heart is beating again, almost as if Jason's spirit had miraculously decided to return to his body. Eyelashes flutter slightly as his vital signs return to normal…
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Pain rips across Schuldig's mind as half a world away a child screams in agony. Sitting up straight in the bed, hands clutching at his head… rocking back and forth waiting for the pain to subdue. A faint sheen of sweat glistens on his skin, and his blood runs ice cold at the realization of the origin of that scream.
Erik… Erik is back.
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A small green-haired child sits huddled towards the far side of the containment unit. Noir crouches down to take a better look at the child. This is definitely not what he had ever expected to see. He was expecting something more vicious looking… maybe a few tentacles, scales or hooves? Not a golden eyed, green haired frightened child.
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From the back of the room a voice calls out, "Now we have the test subject… All we have to do now is find out how to kill it."
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The fact registers somewhere in the back of Noir's mind that this was the entire purpose of the research. Millions of dollars had been invested, just so that they could capture a creature, and destroy it. Only problem is that he had never expected the creature to look like a little boy. An innocent.
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That night. In Bella Vista Hospital room 301, jade eyes flutter open. Slowly, almost hesitantly, the golden haired boy raises himself to a sitting position and looks around the almost sterile room. On top of almost all horizontal surfaces there can be seen floral arrangements, Mylar balloons, plush toys, get-well-soon cards, and finally a VCR with a stack of videos next to it. Outside in the crisp night air, the coquis are happily chirping away.
Who am I? Four names surface in his memories. Yohji Kudou, a.k.a. Balinese, and the other Jason Christophe, a.k.a. Neko-kun.
Well, one way to find out who I am is by calling in the nurse; let's see what she calls me. After a little searching, he finds the nurse's button and gives the nurse on duty a little ring.
Within precious few moments the nurse has thankfully removed the wires connecting him to the monitors, and most importantly, removed the catheter. She spoke Spanish. Jason speaks Spanish; it stands to reason that his name is Jason. So why does that seem like a lie? A face with cerulean blue eyes dances in his memory, eyes that he knows will always be smiling. A dreadful sense that there is something that he is supposed to do fills him, though what it is he cannot say.
Yohji/Jason walks over to the window. A slight smile finds its way to his face when he hears the song of the coqui… Even up here he can hear their song. The little buggers honestly are loud, though you wouldn't think of it just looking at them.
Cool night air blows gently into the room, slightly ruffling golden hair. A shiver runs through his body, and he wraps his arms around his torso. A landscape both foreign and familiar spreads out on the other side of the window. Thinking back, he tries to remember how he got here. Two accidents spring to mind; the painful memory of two bullets biting into his back, shattering his spinal cord while on a mission, the other of being blinded by the sun while taking a sharp curve and going into a roll when trying to avoid a truck parked on the wrong side of the street.
There is no emotion tied to the car accident, but he can feel a slight twinge in his lower back just remembering how those bullets exploded into him.
Turning back to the bed, he begins climbing back up into it, not noticing the obvious because of tiredness that is overwhelming him. On the chair next to the bed there is a plush kitty. It only requires a little stretching and balance to grab the toy before settling back into the sheets. "Meow, tomorrow everything will be sorted out, ne?" he says sleepily to the stuffed toy, and drifts into sleep.
Dreams bring him the image of a smiling boy with bright sparkling cerulean eyes. The body underneath him is sheer perfection, as the voice of an angel comes forth from the tender mouth. Breathing becomes quickened as he nuzzles the neck of this exquisite person… Muscles quiver as the blue-eyed boy arches up against him.
This is real! This is the truth! His mind screams at him.
Collapsing down into the pillows, the blue eyed boy whispers… "Aishteru… Yohji."
----------------------- [1] Cotorra: trans. Parrot.
[2] Besito= lit. small kiss. It is used as a greeting between friends. Seen between female+female, male+female but never male+male.
[3] Platanutres= similar to potato chips, except that instead of being made from potatoes, it is made from plantains. They are really yummy!
[4] The series "Rurouni Kenshin" was licensed in Mexico years before American companies even looked at it. I don't even want to think of how many times I've watched reruns of this series on local TV.
This story is also written as a continuation of NekoSandy's "Fractured Futures Trilogy" and is written with her permission, so for the love of mercy don't harass me for using the original characters that appeared in her story.
A New Dawn Emerges.
Part one.
A new vision hits Crawford with startling clarity. He sees a young man, more boy than man, driving down a mountain road in the morning light on the way to an early class. Driving with a speed that only comes with familiarity the boy rounds one curve, two, three, four… five hairpin curves each immediately after the other. The sixth is the problem. The golden haired boy frantically tries to maneuver the speeding car to avoid the truck parked on the side of the sixth curve. Crystal blue eyes open wide with fear as the car careens out of control and goes into a roll on the other side of the road. Finally the vehicle skids to a stop before the entrance of an urbanization. The last thing visible in the vision are the words proudly displayed on the outside of the urbanization, "Bienvenidos a Las Mesas."
Crawford shakes his head trying to clear it of this bizarre vision. What connection should some car accident have to him? Especially one that he can't even locate, other than being able to say that it is on some mountain with really bad roads. The boy. The language. The boy looked as though he had some European ancestry, perhaps. Then again that would not help to narrow down the location. If his guess is right about the sign, then it should be Spanish and translates as "Welcome to the tables"?! Shaking his head again Crawford reaches over, picks up his cup of coffee, takes a sip and returns to work on his computer. While half a world away Jason Christophe is sleeping peacefully, ignorant of the car accident that will leave him comatose in just a few short hours.
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Six hours after the ambulance takes Jason to the nearest hospital, Adrian Noir steps off an airplane, into his description of hell, back on firm ground. Firm ground being the small island of Puerto Rico, more specifically the capitol city named San Juan. His final destination not yet reached, is to be the city of Arecibo. The people just milling around the Muñoz Marin Airport is impressive. Luggage. Adrian looks up at the signs posted all around, English, Spanish and symbol, and begins to find his way towards the luggage terminal. Walking out of the gates area, going through the main building, down an escalator into a revolving glass door, through a hallway that leaves much to be desired, and finally into the luggage terminal… at the far side of the room he sees several people gathered all looking at the only baggage belt that seems to be functioning. Moving the small carry-on to his left hand, he continues his trek to get the rest of his baggage. Half an hour later is when he finally is able to retrieve the last of the luggage and leave the building, after showing a joke of baggage identification to the security guards that look like they would rather be sitting in front of the TV.
If Noir thought that the amount of people inside the airport was bad, the people just waiting to pick up their loved ones is beyond imagination. The area around the passengers exit is corded off to make sure that people can get out and not have to wade through a sea of humans. A very uninterested looking man standing off to the side is holding a small hand printed banner about the size of a normal paper with Noir's name written on it. The limousine is waiting to pick him up and take him to Arecibo. As he gets into the provided transportation, Noir begins to honestly consider shooting the person that decided to build the world's largest radio dish here in this unbearably hot island 'paradise'.
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On the other side of the island in Mayagüez, Jason lies in the intensive care ward of the Bella Vista Hospital. His friends have been filtering in and out of the hospital for most of the day, ever since they found out about the accident. Lily Christophe sits next to her youngest child, tears running down her cheeks as she desperately prays that he will wake up. The doctors had said that it would be a miracle of he ever woke. Then again, it was a miracle that he had even survived the accident, much less come out of it with only superficial scratches and bruises. The reason, they explained, that Jason had yet to regain consciousness was that he had suffered some bruising of the cerebral tissue from when he was being tossed around in the car.
That night Jason's mother stayed in the hospital with her child. All around the room flowers and get-well cards are displayed for when he wakes.
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Coffee cup in hand, Noir looks out at the sun rising between the mountains. The city of Arecibo wasn't what he had expected at all. It wasn't some little gathering of ramshackle fire hazards with poverty stricken natives living in them. It was a living, breathing, growing community. From all the films that he has ever seen, you would have guessed that this island was still a third-world-country. He never expected to see such an Americanized society (complete with Mc Donald's on almost every street corner) that still retains so much of its original culture.
Wincing as he takes a sip of the coffee. Milk. The service personnel refused to give him straight black coffee. When he had inquired to this, they had informed him that this was not the strained water that was passed off as coffee in 'the states,' and that if he drank too much of it black he would end up talking like a cotorra[1] because of all the caffeine running rampant through his system. Noir finishes with the drink and turns to go back into the rudimentary laboratory that his team has been able to set up.
It was a lucky thing to be able to rent the facilities of Arecibo's radio dish. SETI was rather adamant about having the dish to themselves, and the only way to secure the rental was by means of an anonymous donation to the city's governor. The donation also allowed them to do some construction in a nearby plot of land. For some things Venture Corp used local contractors, and for other more questionable building practices they used private personnel. Questionable building practices such as, constructing a project specific laboratory directly underneath the radio dish. Noir massages his temples as he watches technicians recalibrating the input sensors from the dish. Without the recalibrations they will never be able to gather the necessary data on metaphysical entities. In knowing more about these particular entities, humanity will be safer from groups similar to Estet that are vying for world domination via demonic conjuring.
Before they can do anything, they have to be able to conjure and capture successfully a lesser metaphysical creature so that they can have something on which to conduct their experimentations on. But, first things first... and the first thing on the agenda is getting something more substantial for breakfast.
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Bella Vista Hospital. Jason's condition has not improved. His body has fully healed, with the exception of regaining consciousness. The doctors have decided on moving him out of the intensive care unit and into the regular wing of the hospital. This decision being based more on their needing the room in the IC than with Jason's health in mind.
The new room seems more to benefit Jason's visitors, than Jason himself. While originally intended to be a double occupancy, Jason is the only inhabitant. His friends still continue with frequent visits. Even going to the point of bringing in a VCR to attach to the TV in the room. The doctors were about to make them remove it when Rei-chan spoke up.
"You say that Neko kun needs to hear things that would matter to him. Plus you keep the TV turned on in here," she says as she points up to the TV that is currently showing some local talk show involving a man that has three wives and some twenty seven children, "He barely watch american TV shows, much less local shows."
The doctor looks down at the long haired woman a moment before responding, "'Neko kun'?"
"Jason's nickname."
"Ah, and what would he like to watch instead?"
Before Rei-chan can respond, Sasha and Jeanette walk in. Sasha carrying an armload of videos, "Sorry we're late with these. I had to put the finishing touches on a paper for my marketing class."
The doctor just glances at the names on the videos and just shakes his head when he realizes that he cannot read the Japanese characters. "Just keep it down in here, or I will have to remove the VCR and restrict the two visitor regulation." With the last statement he looks around the room at the seven visitors.
As soon as the doctor is out the door an enthusiastic "Neko kun!" can be heard from Sasha before she leans down and gives the unconscious boy his besito[2]. Had this been under different circumstances the energetic redhead would have captured him in a headlock and held him for some time before releasing him. Jeannie likewise gives him his besito and greets him…
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Two weeks later in Japan. Schuldich is sleeping peacefully in Crawford's bed, nestled amongst the cotton sheets. Bradley walks back into the room after coming out of the shower, wearing only a bathrobe. Looking at the alarm, he wonders how Schuldich can sleep-in so much, and decides to wake the sleeping redhead in a most interesting fashion… Just as he is sliding into the sheets he is hit with a vision.
The golden haired boy in a hospital room. Outside the window, a creature of the night is crazily chirping away a bizarre little song, coqui, coqui, coqui. Jade green eyes fluttering open from beneath long dark thick lashes.
Crawford's eyes flash open. That child's eyes had originally been blue, not jade. Movement on the bed pulls the dark haired assassin from the vision. Looking down at his flame haired lover, he has to stifle a laugh. Though Schuldich is still in the blissful thrall of sleep, he has snuggled up to and around Crawford… reminding him of a kitten seeking affection.
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Arecibo. Noir, bag of platanutres[3] in hand, looks around the almost completed laboratory. The most important piece of equipment is only a few minor adjustments away from completion, the containment unit. A slight sigh escapes the scientist's lips as he runs a hand down the smooth glass side of the containment unit. Just a few more moments till they can finally put into practice all of the many hypothesizes that they have been developing in the extermination of other planar creatures. With the chips finished, he crumples up the cellophane bag and tosses it into a nearby trashcan.
From the coffee machine one of the scientists anguished cry can be heard. "Who drank the last of the coffee?! This pot was made only an hour ago!"
Noir just picks up his oversized mug, half full and walks off. Unnoticed by anyone, a smirk of amusement across his face. The last of the coffee, wonder how the supervisors will decide who gets to go into town to buy more?
In the supermarket, Noir grumbles about having been unanimously chosen for the trip. It's not like he drank all the coffee, just most of it. Sigh. As long as he is here, he might as well pick up some more snack foods… in case anyone notices that he ate those as well. Food here might be exceedingly unhealthy, but it is delicious as all heck. Into the Pueblo shopping cart goes; a large bag of platanutres, two boxes of pizza empanadillas, a couple of boxes of surrullitos, flan snack cups, two packs of coffee, a container of milk, a bag of white sugar, a bunch of plantains, a new bottle of vegetable oil and a dozen glazed doughnuts, in addition to other necessities.
After paying for the purchase, Noir takes the bags out to the car, somewhat miffed about the fact that he wasn't given the paper or plastic option. What if he had really wanted paper bags? Oh well. Now to brave traffic, that suspiciously reminds him more of a game of bumper cars than anything else. At least when he arrives back to the laboratory, the containment unit will be ready to use.
At least the traffic isn't as bad at the moment. Then again, the worst traffic begins at about 2:30pm… when mothers and fathers start congesting the streets while beginning to head out to pick up their children from school. By now Noir has learned to stay far away from anything even remotely resembling a school at those times. The digital clock on the dashboard reads that it is 2:00. Crash! He'd better get back to the lab…
Within fifteen minutes he is pulling up to the above ground installation of the laboratory. A security guard walks over to check his ID.
"Drank all the coffee again I see," says the guard as he looks at the badge Noir presents, "How can you drink this puertorrican stuff? It's too strong for my tastes."
"Hn? I dunno, I just do." Noir replies with a slight shrug, "Hey, could you do me a great favor?"
"Depends on what kind of favor…"
A sheepish look crosses Noir's face, "Well, could you take care of the groceries for me?"
"Again? Jeeze, what are you late for today?"
"Ah ha ha ha, today will be the tests for some equipment that I helped to design. I kind of wanted to be there," he comments while tugging nervously on an obsidian lock of hair.
"Keys?"
Hazel eyes widen, "Really?"
"Yeah… Just don't get used to it. I'll drop the keys off in your mailbox. Now don't be late to the tests."
Noir happily drops the car keys into the guard's hand and quickly dashes to the lab, but not before snitching another doughnut.
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Yolissa hits the eject button on the VCR, and takes the tape as it emerges from the machine. Rurouni Kenshin. Jason had always enjoyed that series. It was also interesting to watch his reactions to the American dub. He had been trying to purchase the entire series on American DVD, while simultaneously complaining about the fact that American companies were trying to make it impossible to buy original import merchandise. Looking down at the tape in her hand, Yoli wonders what the companies would make of this tape? The complete series in Spanish[4], spanning three six-hour videocassettes, recorded from the TV.
Instead of popping in the next video, Yoli pulls from her binder a set of fan fictions that she had found on the net the night before. "Neko-kun, I don't know if you have already read these," she tells the unconscious boy, "but I'll read them to you anyway." Settling down in the chair next to the hospital bed she begins reading the Gundam Wing fictions.
Half way through the third page Yolissa looks directly at Jason. Something in her peripheral vision had made her uneasy. His chest is not moving. Dropping the papers, she leans over him and checks his neck for a pulse. Usually his pulse is really strong there… almost to the point of being visible if looked for carefully. Nimble fingers feel nothing, no beating of the heart. His lips, as well as his nails, are beginning to pick up a tinge of blue.
"DOCTOR!!!" she screams while grabbing the nurse's button…
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Brad nuzzles Schuldig's neck as his hand toys with a sensitive nipple. The redhead arches up off the bed moaning at the touch. Long legs wrap around the dark haired man's tanned torso, an unspoken plea.
Ignoring Schuldig's long strong legs wrapped around him, Brad continues to tease the panting German. Lips curl up in a smile around a pink nipple as Schuldig begins tossing his head back and forth, fanning red hair around him like a halo. Brad would never have guessed that Schuldig was religious… but the moans coming from petal soft lips could rival the prayers of any religious zealot.
Brad reaches over to the night-table, picks up a well used tube of lube and squirts a healthy amount onto his hand…
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Noir stands before the computer console reading the data printout that it has just given him. Making the necessary adjustments for possible energy fluctuations in the equipment, he begins the channeling sequence. They need to isolate a critter from the other plane, and bring it into this one and keep it contained. The scans that they are performing now will locate and isolate a small creature. Channeling the radio waves through the dish, converting them into a new wavelength that can be put to use in the containment unit.
The containment unit sits proudly in the center of the laboratory, a tube of double paned glass from ceiling to floor, roughly five feet in diameter. In the space between the panes of glass there is liquid hydrogen flowing. The hydrogen is supposed to slow down the waves so that they will act as a barrier on all planes of existence and hold whatever they catch here.
Lights on Noir's console begin lighting up. The scan has successfully located a creature of the other plane. From the numbers that the computer is throwing at him, it looks almost like a godsend… except for the fact that it is accompanied by a larger being. They should be able to isolate the smaller one and trap it. At least that is what the equipment is designed to do.
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The doctors are trying their best to get Jason's heart to beat again on its own. A mask is put over the boy's mouth, and air rhythmically pumped into his lungs. One of the nurses does her best to take the frantic Yolissa out of the room.
Over the din a medic is heard call out "CLEAR!"
Jason's body arches up off the bed as electricity jolts through his unconscious form…
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Schuldig's body arches up off the bed as Brad crucifies him with pleasure. A low breathy moan escapes Brad's lips as he feels his lover's body begin to tighten around his shaft deeply embedded within.
A couple more thrusts should…
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…Give the power needed to secure the smaller of the beings.
Thrusting the power up a little more, Noir watches as the containment unit begins glowing a pale blue. At first two forms begin to take shape. Crash! The unit was never meant to hold two of them… Holding two creatures will over load the computer that regulates the wave channeling system.
A high-pitched sound begins reverberating through the lab.
Noir's fingers fly across the console in front of him, doing his level best to remove the second of the creatures before the entire system overloads and fails. "What is that sound?"
"It's coming from the containment unit, sir!"
"Are we getting a copy of that?"
"Yes, we are."
"Good," Noir punches in the last of the commands to eliminate the extra being, so that the machinery will still be able to hold the small one.
The larger of the two begins fading from view. Making the sound break into two distinct entities. Some of the scientists have dropped to their knees with their hands over their ears, trying to stop the sound.
Now there is one. The sound has dulled to the sobbing of a child.
Noir moves from his console to have a look at what the containment unit holds.
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All that is possible has been done for Jason, a.k.a. Neko-kun. Orderlies begin taking machinery out of the room…
"Somebody call it," Doctor Rivera announces as he wipes the sweat from his brow.
"Official time of death, 7:38pm"
The words are barely uttered, when a faint flicker on the monitor registers. His heart is beating again, almost as if Jason's spirit had miraculously decided to return to his body. Eyelashes flutter slightly as his vital signs return to normal…
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Pain rips across Schuldig's mind as half a world away a child screams in agony. Sitting up straight in the bed, hands clutching at his head… rocking back and forth waiting for the pain to subdue. A faint sheen of sweat glistens on his skin, and his blood runs ice cold at the realization of the origin of that scream.
Erik… Erik is back.
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A small green-haired child sits huddled towards the far side of the containment unit. Noir crouches down to take a better look at the child. This is definitely not what he had ever expected to see. He was expecting something more vicious looking… maybe a few tentacles, scales or hooves? Not a golden eyed, green haired frightened child.
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From the back of the room a voice calls out, "Now we have the test subject… All we have to do now is find out how to kill it."
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The fact registers somewhere in the back of Noir's mind that this was the entire purpose of the research. Millions of dollars had been invested, just so that they could capture a creature, and destroy it. Only problem is that he had never expected the creature to look like a little boy. An innocent.
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That night. In Bella Vista Hospital room 301, jade eyes flutter open. Slowly, almost hesitantly, the golden haired boy raises himself to a sitting position and looks around the almost sterile room. On top of almost all horizontal surfaces there can be seen floral arrangements, Mylar balloons, plush toys, get-well-soon cards, and finally a VCR with a stack of videos next to it. Outside in the crisp night air, the coquis are happily chirping away.
Who am I? Four names surface in his memories. Yohji Kudou, a.k.a. Balinese, and the other Jason Christophe, a.k.a. Neko-kun.
Well, one way to find out who I am is by calling in the nurse; let's see what she calls me. After a little searching, he finds the nurse's button and gives the nurse on duty a little ring.
Within precious few moments the nurse has thankfully removed the wires connecting him to the monitors, and most importantly, removed the catheter. She spoke Spanish. Jason speaks Spanish; it stands to reason that his name is Jason. So why does that seem like a lie? A face with cerulean blue eyes dances in his memory, eyes that he knows will always be smiling. A dreadful sense that there is something that he is supposed to do fills him, though what it is he cannot say.
Yohji/Jason walks over to the window. A slight smile finds its way to his face when he hears the song of the coqui… Even up here he can hear their song. The little buggers honestly are loud, though you wouldn't think of it just looking at them.
Cool night air blows gently into the room, slightly ruffling golden hair. A shiver runs through his body, and he wraps his arms around his torso. A landscape both foreign and familiar spreads out on the other side of the window. Thinking back, he tries to remember how he got here. Two accidents spring to mind; the painful memory of two bullets biting into his back, shattering his spinal cord while on a mission, the other of being blinded by the sun while taking a sharp curve and going into a roll when trying to avoid a truck parked on the wrong side of the street.
There is no emotion tied to the car accident, but he can feel a slight twinge in his lower back just remembering how those bullets exploded into him.
Turning back to the bed, he begins climbing back up into it, not noticing the obvious because of tiredness that is overwhelming him. On the chair next to the bed there is a plush kitty. It only requires a little stretching and balance to grab the toy before settling back into the sheets. "Meow, tomorrow everything will be sorted out, ne?" he says sleepily to the stuffed toy, and drifts into sleep.
Dreams bring him the image of a smiling boy with bright sparkling cerulean eyes. The body underneath him is sheer perfection, as the voice of an angel comes forth from the tender mouth. Breathing becomes quickened as he nuzzles the neck of this exquisite person… Muscles quiver as the blue-eyed boy arches up against him.
This is real! This is the truth! His mind screams at him.
Collapsing down into the pillows, the blue eyed boy whispers… "Aishteru… Yohji."
----------------------- [1] Cotorra: trans. Parrot.
[2] Besito= lit. small kiss. It is used as a greeting between friends. Seen between female+female, male+female but never male+male.
[3] Platanutres= similar to potato chips, except that instead of being made from potatoes, it is made from plantains. They are really yummy!
[4] The series "Rurouni Kenshin" was licensed in Mexico years before American companies even looked at it. I don't even want to think of how many times I've watched reruns of this series on local TV.