First and foremost, GSG is amazing. Second, I have been making comics from a young age and just today wondered what if one of my characters found herself in Gunslinger Girl? Well, I hope you don't mind the OC, but here goes.
A little Asian girl, about seven or eight years old, with vivid red hair ran in circles with Rico around a tree, the both of them laughing the whole time.
"It's really strange when I think about it. I don't remember anything from before I came to work at the Social Welfare Company, but everything and everyone seemed so familiar. It's a mystery. Tee hee!"
A young man with dark brown hair slowly walked through the hallway of a hospital in Rome, Italy. After a few moments, he came to another young man with short blond hair.
"Ah, Renaldo. I'm glad you could make it..."Jean said in his usually cold voice. Renaldo only nodded. They both entered an operation room. There, on the table before him, was a little Asian girl, about seven or eight, with vivid red hair. It wasn't anything either of them weren't used to, but there was something truly special about her that they had not yet noticed...
"So,"Renaldo began, "What's the scoop on her?"
"Not much..."Jean said with a shrug. "I'm certain you're familiar with the hotel bombing in Sicily, no?" Jean turned to Renaldo, unsurprised at the lack of color in his face.
"Ofcourse I would be... my wife died in that bombing..." Renaldo bowed his head as Jean slowly walked over to him and patted him on the back.
"When was Loretta's funeral?"Jean asked.
"Why do you think I was gone all day yesterday?"Renaldo snapped pushing Jean's hand away. "I'll be fine, don't worry." At this, Jean took a deep breath.
"Well, if you'd believe me,"Jean began, "this young girl was the only survivor found in the ruins."
"Irony at it's worst..."Renaldo breathed. Jean turned back to the girl.
"Her mother's body was found next to her... apparently, she gave her life to spare her daughter's."Jean sighed as Renaldo began to rise. "Seems a lost cause now, but no matter. It doesn't have to be,"he added, turning back to Renaldo. As he did, their gazes met.
"Is that all?"he asked slowly. Jean nodded.
"We can only summarize that she and her mother were on vacation."Jean added. "Not to sound insensitive, but now with Loretta dead, your plans don't involve much more than your job at the Social Welfare Agency, do they? After all,"Jean started,"it was Loretta who got you this job in the first place, wasn't it?" At this, Renaldo glared at Jean, but sighed and let himself slump over.
"Yes... that is true..."
"Will you take this girl, then?"Jean asked. Renaldo nodded. Jean gave a light smile. "Very well. We will begin the conditioning soon. I'll see you back at the Agency, Renaldo." Soon after Jean left, Renaldo turned to the still unconscious girl.
"I have high expectations for you... Loretta.."
Loretta awoke in a bare room, empty of all except a the bed she lied on. The door opened soon after, Renaldo stepping in.
"Hello Loretta."he greeted with a smile. "How are you feeling?" Loretta only hung her head, Renaldo's smile fading slightly. "Would you like some breakfast?"he asked. She looked up at him. "You must be hungry, no?" He held his hand out to her as she looked up to him.
"Listen to my voice, Loretta." Renaldo stood behind the child at the moving target range. They had been there for almost an hour, but Loretta hadn't even gone through three clips, and Renaldo was beginning to lose his patience. "Stop waiting to fire. In the real thing, you won't have time to wait for the perfect shot, you must be fast with your hands and faster with your mind, do you understand me?" Loretta didn't respond. She never did. It had already been five months, but she seldom spoke, and she would wait minutes before she would fire a single round. In the middest of his frustration, however, Renaldo finally began to wonder if there was something more to this girl...
"You will be sharing a room with Angelica, Loretta. I'm certain you will get to know the others in time." Renaldo and Loretta walked across the grounds for the dormitories. Loretta had finally been allowed to leave her solitary room for the dormitories. "Considering this was your first training session,"he continued, "I'll be lenient. You did a decent job at the solitary range." They came to the dormitories atlast and Renaldo introduced the two girls, turning to leave soon after. He slinked off to his own dormitory and started a shower, still thinking deeply. He leaned against the tile wall of the shower, tears indistinguishable from the falling spray of water. "Loretta..."he muttered to himself, "I miss you..."
Renaldo remembered their first day very well. He was so full of remorse for his wife that he automatically named the girl after his wife. No matter how displeased he was with her performance, he couldn't truly be angry at Loretta. Regardless, her lacking was still causing him to lose his temper. "Stop trying to hit it and hit it awready, dammit!"Renaldo thundered. Loretta held her handgun far infront of her, watching the target as it slowly moved from right to left. Finally, she fired, shattering the head of the target. "Impressive."Renaldo said slowly. "However, if you'd shoot more often, I'd actually be able to evaluate you. Now, fire sometime this lifetime."he spat. As the target was being traded out with a new one, Loretta took sharp aim at the target in the back as she watched slowly stroll form left... to right... to left... to right... to left... She ignored the sounds of the mechanics churning and the sweat pouring down her face. "You had better fire now..."Renaldo growled. Loretta ignored her Handler's words aswell. Finally, she saw her chance. A single drop of sweat dropped off her face as she watched... as she waited... it was almost time. At the moment she heard the minuscule bead of sweat drop onto the floor, she fired a single bullet. The support post that held the target to the cable was torn away and the target fell to the ground. Renaldo stared in shock. He slowly turned to Loretta, whose expression hadn't changed. "Were you aiming for that thing?"he asked in shock. Loretta nodded slowly. "Well, Loretta, I am impressed."he said with a slight smile, but once more, he felt his memories stray.
Renaldo sat on the deck of a large cruise ship, his new wedding ring glistening on his finger. Loretta strolled up to him, a huge grin on her face. Spotting her, Renaldo sat up, an equally wide grin on his face. "Well, well, well,"he crooned, "what's my lovely lady all happy about?"
"Oh, Renaldo,"she crooned back, "can't I be happy that we're on a luxury cruise for our honeymoon?" At this, the two chuckled lightly.
"Is that all?" Renaldo asked in a quiet voice. His wife winked at him.
"Jean, that hansom man you were talking with earlier,"she said with a smile(Renaldo gave her a fake look of disgust as she said 'hansom'), "wants us to join him for dinner. He says he could have some work for you." Renaldo laughed.
"Even on our honeymoon, you worry too much about work."he said waving. Loretta smirked.
"Well then, it seems even on our honeymoon, you can't give me the tiniest bit of romance."she said back to him. At this, they both laughed. Renaldo stood up from his seat.
"Well, Loretta, I am impressed."he said with a smile.
Renaldo looked down at the girl before him. He felt a single tear glisten down his cheek Somehow, he managed to hide his sorrow and molded his face into a look of displeasure.
"But in the real thing,"he snapped, "there won't be anything hold your targets up, and like I've told you dozens of times, you WILL NOT be able to take your sweet, fat time in the real thing, dammit!" Loretta looked up to Renaldo for a few moments then hung her head. Renaldo, knowing he had taken things a bit to far, slowly turned her face up to his. "Listen,"he said quietly, "I'm sorry. You did some good today. Now, that's enough one-on-one training. Let's go." As the two of them turned to leave, Loretta smiled for the first time.
Henrietta took a sip of tea as she heard a knock on the door. Triela walked over slowly and opened the door, Loretta standing there.
"Hello Loretta. How are you?"Triela asked with a smile. Loretta slowly looked at her, Triela's smile fading. "Are you okay?"she asked. Loretta nodded slowly. Henrietta smiled.
"Would you like to come in, Loretta?"she asked. Loretta smiled and nodded.
Loretta took a sip of tea, her feet dangling high off the floor. She looked up to the other girls as they talked about their Handlers, their studies and what they would be doing in the next few days. Loretta turned her head slowly to Triela's shelf and saw the stuffed bears neatly lined up.
"You have a lot of teddy bears, Triela."she said softly. The three(Claes from her top bunk)looked at Loretta. It had been the first time they heard her speak since she came to the Social Welfare Agency. Triela smiled.
"Do you like them?"she asked Loretta. The small girl nodded. Triela turned to them. "Hilshire usually gets them for me when I do a good job."
"You still haven't been on any assignments, have you?"asked Henrietta. Loretta hung her head and shoock it gently. Henrietta, however, smile and put her hand on her shoulder.
"You'll have an assignment soon enough, don't worry."Triela said
"I'm sure Renaldo would get you something nice if you did a good job on an assignment."Henrietta said with a smile. Loretta slowly looked up to them.
"I like Renaldo, but I think I make him sad."she said slowly. The other girls looked at her, unsure of what to make of what she had said. "But he also says that I did a good job today. I think he likes me too."she added with a smile. Triela smiled and put a hand on Loretta's shoulder aswell.
"I'm sure he does."she smiled.
The staff of the Section 2 had all gathered for the briefing for their next assignment, unaware of the significance it had to one of it's agents... and cyborgs.
"Now then,"Chief Lorenzo began, turning to a cork board behind him, "Our next assignment is this man. Akitoki Miharu."he announced, pinning a picture of an Asian man on the board. "He is a corrupt Japanese businessman. We have been investigating him for several months now and we have been able to establish solid evidence that he is one of the private funders and undercover agents of the Republican Faction."
"Where will the assignment take place?"Jose asked quickly. Jean turned to him slowly.
"It's often said that the criminal always returns to the scene of the crime."his brother said. "He will be staying in Sicily next week."
"You don't mean he was the one who..." Hilshire began, his voice trailing off. Lorenzo nodded.
"Yes,"the chief said, nodding his head, "he was the one responsible for the hotel bombing in Sicily." Renaldo turned quickly to the chief.
"Sir. I'd like to take this assignment."he said quickly. The chief, however, shook his head.
"Your current... 'terms' with this man does compromise your involvement with this assignment, Renaldo. We wouldn't want you OR Loretta to do anything reckless."
"Besides,"Jean began, "your current evaluation of Loretta is a course for concern."
"Nothing like the real thing to break her in."Renaldo hissed savagely. Lorenzo saw the fire in his eyes. He knew the man was desperate for revenge and couldn't possibly allow him to take this assignment... or could he?
"Don't make me regret this, Renaldo. I'm sending you as a solo team."Lorenzo growled. "Jean, Jose and Hilshire, I want you three as support teams."he added, Jose and Hilshire nodding, but Jean still glaring at Renaldo. "Let's go over the lay out of the operation."he said pulling a blueprint out and laying it flat on the table, the staff gathering around.
Renaldo walked through the hotel lobby, swelling with anticipation. He could see Miharu strolling out of the Hotel, and he wasn't about to let him escape.
"I will behind a billboard on top of the hotel across street, Renaldo. Jose and Hilshire are both stationed in the hotel he's staying in incase he escapes and tries to return to his hotel."
"He believes that I am coming to meet him for an exchange, correct, Jean?"
"Yes. He will be on the second floor in an abandoned storage house a few blocks down the the street."
"Thank you Jean-"
"Chief Lorenzo may trust you, Renaldo, but I don't. Don't screw this one up. You may not like the results."
"I'll keep that in mind, Jean..."
"Good luck, Renaldo..."
"Thank you, Jean..."
Renaldo walked with Loretta to the storage house and quickly ascended to the second floor, hiding in the shadows.
"Remember you shoot only on my mark or if we are attacked, Loretta. Do not fire until I say."Renaldo whispered to the child. She nodded in the darkness. Soon, the two heard footsteps. Loretta opened her Amati case and pulled a heavy magnum and equipped the silencer quickly. They saw a figure in the shadows approach them from across the room soon after.
"Ah, you're her."he said in a heavy Asian accent. "I thought for a moment I'd have to wait for an hour like last time."he said with a laugh. He walked into the light of a nearby open window. He was tall, thin, dressed in a light beige suit and had mid-length dark hair, combed finely to the side. "Now them,"he smiled as he handed them a large briefcase, "the money. $14,000,000, just as in the agreement. Now, the information, if you please?"
"I'm sorry,"Renaldo said darkly, "but the information I have won't be nearly as enjoyable as you expected. Are you familiar with the hotel bombing four months ago? No? Then allow me to explain what happened,"Renaldo growled as he strode over to the confused businessman. "My wife was in the building you brought down. My wife Loretta was stolen from me that day! You killed her along with this girl's mother, and many others that day! Feel you any pity? Any remorse? No? Then I'll send you to Hell where you belong." Tears streamed down Renaldo's face as he glared at the man. "Loretta. Kill him now." Loretta slowly walked out into the light, her gun held at Akitoki. As soon as he saw her, he began to breath heavily with his mouth wide open, almost as if he were gasping for breath. Loretta looked at him, but didn't shoot.
"He's at point blank, dammit! Shoot him!"Renaldo commanded. Loretta, however, continued to look at him.
"I... I know you..."Loretta said slowly. Renaldo turned to her with a gasp.
"That's- that's nonsense, Loretta! Shoot him!"he thundered. Loretta, however, put her gun to her side.
"...but where from?"she continued as she tried to remember. Akitoki, however, was hysterical. he had dropped to his knees, tears in his eyes, sweat pouring down his face.
"I...I belong in Hell, you say?"she sputter quietly. He then let out a loud wail... of sorrow. "Li! What have they done to you, Li!?" Loretta suddenly froze. Li? Why did the name Li cause so much inside of her to stir? "You're still alive,"Akitoki sobbed, "but, how can you be..." Akitoki suddenly stopped then glared at Renaldo. "YOU CAPITALIST BASTARDS!"he cried in a mixture of fury and sorrow. "What have you done to my daughter! You- you made her... ONE OF THEM!"he cried loudly, burying his face in his hands. Renaldo was beside himself with shock.
"This is you're daughter? But how can that,"he began, but his voice trailed off as he realized what it meant. He looked in total shock at Akitoki, who still cried on the ground.
"How could you?"Renaldo asked. "Dear Lord, how could-how could you? HOW COULD YOU!?"he thundered. Akitoki slowly looked up to Renaldo, a murderous stare on his face. "How could you blow away a hotel you knew your wife and only daughter were in?"Renaldo demanded. Akitoki continued to glare at him.
"Daddy?"Loretta ask softly. Akitoki turned to her, the color in his face long gone. "Daddy..."Loretta began, tear streaming down her face, "why... why did you kill mommy?" Loretta sobbed loudly as Renaldo pulled his own weapon.
"Time to give credit where credit is do..."he hissed, an equally murderous stare on his face. Akitoki, however stopped crying, or atleast he stopped sobbing as tear still streamed down his face.
"Don't you dare."he spat. "If I do one thing before I die, I WILL tell my daughter the truth." He turned to his still crying daughter. He tilted her head up to him. "Li... I work for some bad people, Li... They are called... the Republican Faction."he let out a small sob as he said this. Loretta looked at her father, listening to his every word. "But they work against some even worse people... I did many wrong things in Japan,"he explained. "I lied, cheated, hurt, even killed to get to the top, but I wanted to better our country. I want to help us, all of Japan. When I got there, however, I found that no matter how much influence I had, no matter how much wealth I acquired, no matter what obstacle I destroyed, nothing I did helped anything or anyone... not only did I realize Japan could be changed by one person with much status throughout the country, but that every person in the world who tried to do the same also failed. Then I looked to Italy, a country that was once a great and valuable friend of Japan in the past and saw the Republican Faction. They fought tooth and nail to reclaim this country. To reclaim it for the people. So that people could have ideals... have futures."he said, his glare returning as her turned to Renaldo. "Something you stole from her!"he spat. "You, the Social Welfare Agency! You snatch up children... innocent children who should just die in peace, die still innocent, and make them into these... these things!"he growled, the tears returning.
"You stole them from her yourself."Renaldo said back to him.
"You bastard!"Akitoki spat. "Do you think this is what I wanted for my daughter!? Do you think I wanted her... like this!?" He closed his eyes and managed to speak once more. "I had been working for the Republican Faction for sometime, now... to reclaim atleast part of the world. I gave them obscene sums of money, information, technology, weapons, and my services, but it wasn't enough... not for them, atleast. They wanted me to bloody my own hands for them. A police chief who was cracking down on them was staying at that hotel. The wanted me to vacation in Sicily and blow up the hotel later, and to make it fool-proof, not to mention, they wanted me to prove I was devoted to them, so they demanded that I rig the hotel to explode when my family would be in it. His floor was several above mine, and so I thought my wife and child would be able to escape, but it backfired. A main support post in the frame of the hotel was severely damaged by the blast, and the hotel collapsed too quickly for them to escape." Akitoki huddled on the ground. "My heart ached, but the Republican Faction was happy with my achievements. I have nothing but them now. My wife is dead, and my daughter is as good as dead!"he called, standing up to Renaldo. "You bastards of the Social Welfare Agency! You act like you've done them some good, like you've turned them into some kind of gunslinger girl, but all you've done is turn them into a cold-blooded assassin with barely a few years to live!" Loretta, who had be holding onto every word, gasped as he said this. A tear slid down her face once more. Akitoki turned to his daughter, a sad look in his eye. "Li... you're so strong... your mother was right about you..."he sighed. Renaldo glared at him.
"About what."he demanded. Akitoki glared and slowly turned his head to face Renaldo.
"That she has The Heart of a Warrior." he said quietly. With that, he quickly jumped out of the window beside them, landing on a tarp down below and ran to a parked car up the alley.
"Loretta! Shoot!"Renaldo commanded. She picked up her gun and held it far out infront of her, but did not shoot. "Loretta! Fire now! You can't wait, just shoot!"Renaldo pleaded. She still didn't fire. Renaldo took a close look at the car and contacted the other two teams. "This is Renaldo team!"he said quickly. "Be ready for a blue Cadillac... new... tinted windows. Loretta! Shoot!"he commanded again as Loretta watched her father open the car door. Seconds later, the car stared up. "Dammit, stand aside!"Renaldo commanded just as Loretta fired. The car quickly exploded as the well-aimed bullet struck the exhaust pipe that very second. Renaldo looked on in amazement. Loretta turned back to him as his ear-piece began to go off.
"Renaldo! This is Jean, what the Hell happened!? Renaldo, come in!"
"This is Renaldo team."he said, engaging the ear-piece. "Mission complete, I repeat, mission complete." he disengaged his ear piece and began to walk over to Loretta, who dropped her weapon and looked up at Renaldo.
"Renaldo..."she whispered, tears pouring out her eyes, then fell over onto the floor, her eyes still open. Renaldo quickly lifted her head up in his arms, calling her name out to her as she laid lifeless.
"So... Akitoki was her father, eh? Irony at it's best." Jean turned away from the window in the chief's office. "Well, I'd guess you both got your revenge for you're loved ones, eh Renaldo?"
Renaldo only grunted to himself. "You did some fine work today, Renaldo."the chief said from behind his desk. "Go get some rest. You've earned it." Renaldo turned to the door and left, but he walked down the hallway to the medical ward. He enter Loretta's room and saw heron a stretcher and was reminded immensely of when he first laid eyes on her. The doctor came out of the washroom and saw him standing there.
"Ah, Renaldo."he said as he nodded to him. "Came to see, her, eh?" Renaldo nodded.
"Tell me,"he began, "how is she?" The doctor ran his hand through his hair and turned to his console.
"It's most confusing."he said quickly. "Right now, from the tests I've run on her, she seems to be in a coma, but it also seems as though she has retained some consciousness, almost as if the coma were self-induced. It's fascinating to say the least."he explained. Renaldo turned back to her.
"Not to mention disturbing"Renaldo added, the doctor nodding in agreement.
"It will take some conditioning to snap her out of it,"the doctor continued. "However, there's no denying that she won't be atleast alittle mentally altered from it. This is the first time I've ever seen anything like this..."
"Whatever it takes..." The doctor turned to Renaldo. "Whatever it takes to wake her up,"Renaldo said again. The doctor nodded and left the room. Renaldo gently rubbed her shoulder as he looked at her, unblinking.
Loretta chased Rico throughout the grounds, both of them laughing loudly.
"It's alittle strange when I think about it. All the others said it took them some time to get everything down when they were training, but it didn't take that long at all for me. I wonder why sometimes..."
Loretta and Rico ran past the dormitories. She was catching up to her.
"After about a week, I moved into a dormitory with Angelica. She seemed quite happy to have some company. She seems alittle forgetful sometimes, but she's real nice."
The two ran up a hill and ran in circles around a tree, the both of them laughing the whole time as Renaldo and Jean watched from the bridge nearby.
"The first thing I felt when I moved into the dormitories was that I wanted to play. Play until I fall down, with all the rest of the girls. Angelica plays sometimes, and Triela too, but Rico likes to play with me more than anyone else. She likes tag a whole whole lot. I asked her why and she said she just likes to move around as much as she can. She also says that when she closes her eyes when she runs, that she feels like she's moving faster than anything in the whole wide world!"
Loretta jumped into Rico and the two tumbled down the hill, coming to a stop in a heap with each other, laughing merrily with each other.
"Well,"Renaldo said suddenly, "she seems happy." Jean simply sighed to himself and turned to leave. "Well, where are you going?'he asked Jean.
"To the briefing for our next assignment,"Jean called back to him. "Care to join me?"
Renaldo smiled and turned back to the two girls. "Sure! I'll be right there." He smiled as he saw them still laughing in the field, torn blades of grass tangled in Loretta and Rico's hair. He gave a light chuckle to himself and turned to join his co-worker.
"Who would have guessed,"he thought to himself, "that the Heart of a Warrior would be so big?" He and Jean walked through an archway, leaving the two friends as they still laughed loudly.
Well, I hope you liked it. I hope I didn't get too abstract with it. Well, Until next time, I'll eventually be doing another GSG fic, so keep an eye out. Peace, take it easy!