Rosenkreuz… sweet Rosenkreuz

Chapter 48: Sideshow Freaks

It hadn't taken Nagi all that long to find out who it was that opposed Takatori Reiji… none other than the man's own brother, Shuuichi. Past that, the young hacker had run into a virtual brick wall.  It was actually in a round-about way, from reports of other underworld factions, that he had discovered the name of the organization Shuuichi was leading, Kritiker.  They hadn't figured out why the Japanese man had chosen such a foreign name.  Once Nagi knew what he was looking for, he had more success in finding information.  He didn't touch Kritiker's system itself, not wanting to tip them off accidentally.  But Kritiker's enemies had plenty of information to be 'borrowed'.

At the end of the day, Nagi placed a file on Brad's desk with all the information he had been able to scrape together.  It wasn't much.

"Weiß, they call themselves Weiß.  Reports vary on how many agents are involved… but apparently they don't use firearms.  They work for Kritiker, headed by Takatori Shuuichi.  Pictures, unfortunately very poor ones, of the suspected agents are in the file.  I'm sorry I can't get more."  Nagi seemed truly disappointed.  Brad shook his head.

"No.  I'm sure you did as well as you could.  Don't let it interfere with your school work, but keep searching."

"Hai."

The man turned to the redhead next.  "Next time we see Takatori Shuuichi, or if we run into these Weiß people again…"

"Scan them?"

"If you can, but don't be obvious about it."

"I know what you mean."

"Good.  They may not truly be in our league, but mistakes are still fatal, even for us."

**

Takatori's younger son was just plain creepy, not to mention a freak.  And that was saying a lot, coming from him.  As a scientist Masafumi would fit right in with the research department at Rosenkreuz, in fact, Bren was a little surprised that Esset hadn't grabbed the man already.  Not all their scientists were psis after all.  He could only chalk it up to the fact the man seemed fundamentally unstable, not that anyone that he'd met so far from this family WAS stable.  So it was with a great deal of amusement that he watched the freak get verbally blasted by his father.

The creep was being careless; there was no doubt about that.  In the first place, the test subjects should never have had the opportunity to escape.  Secondly, why hadn't they been apprehended before now?  Wasn't that why the freak had his… 'harem'?  Talk about unstable.  And now the media was involved… lovely.  Just what Takatori needed before the election.  Privately, Bren thought the koala was about the worse thing that could happen to Japan, but Esset was quite keen that he be in power for whatever they were planning.  Something that no doubt involved that creepy run-down museum.  Creepy seemed to be his word of the day.

A giggle from that aqua-haired girl brought his attention back.  She was really out to lunch… unfortunately Nagi seemed to be fascinated by her.  THAT would have to be remedied.  Masafumi seemed less than concerned, even when his father's threats turned slightly physical.  Did the freak really think his 'dolls' could stand up to them?  If he did, he was more deluded than his experiments suggested.

They followed along behind Takatori like the good lapdogs they were pretending to be.  Farf was largely disinterested in everything.  Nagi was wondering how long they would have to follow the koala around, and when he could see the giggling psycho girl again.  Brad was being the good employee and discussing the situation with his 'superior'.

"Are you sure you want to let Masafumi-sama get away with this?  Isn't this why you brought us along?"

No Brad… he brought us along so he didn't have to be alone with his son and the freak show.

"This is his last warning.  If he makes a mistake again… you take care of it, Crawford."

"Hai."

/Yes, sir… of course sir… we're good little lapdogs, sir./

/Schuldich, behave./

/Like you weren't thinking the same thing?/  They stood in a loose semicircle around the man as they waited for the elevator.  As was generally the case when they were 'on duty', the telepath had the all loosely linked mentally.  Surprisingly, Nagi also made a comment.

/Masafumi's interesting./

Bren frowned slightly.  /How so?/

/He thinks like we do.  He formed the ladies' group because he aspires to be like us, ne?/

/Well, that's his first mistake./  Scorn tinged his mental 'voice'.  Masafumi couldn't even come close to them.

Farfarello snorted.  /Scherient… his gaudy dolls./

Bren had to agree with the Irishman's assessment.  Dolls… that's about all they were.  Sure they looked pretty… but they were nothing.  It wasn't because they were women… he knew plenty of female Rosenkreuz graduates that were more than a match for the men.  But Masa's dolls, they were broken… the whole lot of them.  Maybe in another life he would have felt sorry for them.  But he didn't.  They were just trouble.

**

Bren thought he was going to be sick… the scene was so sappy-sweet it was enough to cause cavities.  That boy needed a serious talking to.  Brad was going to have a fit… they weren't… well, Nagi anyways, wasn't supposed to use his powers except when on a mission.  That was because his powers where more physically draining than theirs.  As for HER… that had to be the silliest weapon he'd ever seen.  Someone had been watching too much Batman again… at least the Penguin episodes.   First that redhead in Weiß and now the umbrella-wielding bunny girl.  He had to admit, he wasn't happy when she brandished her Umbrella-of-Death at Nagi… but the boy handled it well.  Unfortunately he didn't send the girl sailing through the air, but no one was perfect.

"I came to see you… Because you are very different."

Oh, she's different all right.  Maybe Nagi required more than a 'talking to'… maybe a slap would be better.  Farf was making gagging noises beside him.  Nice to know they agreed on something.

"Aren't you lonely?"

Aaah… so THAT was the boy's problem.  They would have to find a way to create a play group for Nagi.  He had to admit… sending the sakura flying around was a nice touch.  The kid would be quite a charmer… if he wasn't barking up the wrong tree.  The aqua menace ran back to the house and Nagi let the petals fall again.  Now would be a good chance…

"Have you fallen for her?"  Please tell me you haven't… don't make me any sicker than I already am.

"What are you talking about?"

Crap… he had… hopefully this was still salvageable.  But it was Farf oddly enough who spoke up with the voice of reason.  "You might have to kill her."

"If the order comes…"

Oh no… this was definitely NOT good… Brad is gonna have a cow…  Then again… that would be funny to watch too.

**

Brad resisted the urge to smirk.  He listened as Takatori dealt with whatever lesser personnel he had for such things.  "I will leave it to you to take care of the police who witnessed the scene.  Don't leave any traces behind."  Not a good idea… one should never touch the police unless there are no other options.  Then again, having a brother who was chief of police AND head of an underground vigilante organization yet did nothing legally against the man…  He focused his attention on Takatori.

"That fool… Masafumi, I have enough of him!  Crawford."

Right on time.  "Hai.  If I may… Don't you think it's only a matter of time before things resolved themselves?"  Why should we become involved if Weiß seems interested in doing our job for us.  Besides, it will give us a chance to observe them without engaging.

"And you can see these things… the future?"

You have no idea, Mr. Takatori… no idea at all.  He didn't respond, merely nodded in a superior way that had infuriated Bren for years.  Once Takatori left for whatever it was he did… it certainly wasn't running his numerous endeavors, he had lackey's for that… Crawford pulled out his phone and dialed Schu's number.

"Schuldich."

"Brad… you won't believe…"

"I know."

"Of course you did.  Next time warn me… I almost lost my lunch."

"Are you done?"

"For now, what's up?"

"Takatori's given the green light."

"Oh goody… we get to go in?"

"No… we stand back and let THEM do all the hard work."

"Even better.  So should we head back?"

"Negative.  Stay there and observe, but DON'T interfere."

"That sounds like I'll want to."

"Just a warning.  Come back after it's over with."

"You mean it's all going down tonight?"

"See you when you get back."  He hung up, smirking at the imagined look of irritation on the redhead's face.  Served the man right, for all the aggravation he had given the precog over the years.  Oh yes… it would all be settled by tonight.  He was struck by a sudden vision and caught the edge of a chair.  Nagi… and… no…

**

He had to hand it to the man… when he was right, he was right.  He lightly scanned the four shadows when they arrived and almost died laughing… or rather almost laughed and gave their location away.  Farf was watching through a pair of binoculars and Nagi was playing petulant teenager.  Flowerboys… their arch enemies… were florists.  That was great… he couldn't wait to share with Brad.  Hmmm… four members… Weiß, just like Nagi found out.  Codenames… cat breeds?  He suddenly didn't dislike his codename as much as he had before… not that he really liked it at all, or that they used them much.  But cat breeds?  Hmm… Abyssinian was the one with the sword… he was as anal as Brad… and that was really saying something.  Siberian… seemed to be more interested in Mr. Uptight's rear until the fighting started. 

Bombay… the 'baby' of the group… and not one Bren would want to meet in a dark alley.  That kid… he was scary… all genki smiles on the outside, but inside… hmm… He'd get along great with Nagi… that was an idea.  Get Nags off the bunny girl and onto the kitten.  Finally Balinese… hmmm…  He grabbed the binoculars from Farf to get closer look at that one.  Lanky blond… shades… stupid coat… oh yeah, Mr. I'm an Assassin so I'll put WHITE crosses on my sleeves… they show up nicely in the dark… like little targets.  It could be worse, it could be across his back or front.

The fight was interesting.  He kept a mental 'tab' on the combatants.  Masa was just as much of a deluded freak as he had pegged him as being.  What idiot would actually take an imperfect serum like that?  Apparently Takatori's biochemist son.  Now his outside matched his freaky inside.  What's this?  He recognized little Bombay… Mamoru?  Mamoru… he made a mental note to tell Brad and have Nagi check up on that.  He could swear he'd heard that name before.  Eventually the building was engulfed in flames.  Weiß had departed and Scherient was trying to dig their way out of the rubble.

"Not bad… these Weiß guys."  He commented aloud.

"I'm getting excited."  Farf smiled and licked his blade.

/A)… that's just scary… and B)… that's disgusting.  Do you know where that poniard's been?/

/Of course… I cleaned it good./

/Still…/  Nagi was still sulking when suddenly he turned and started to make his way down to the ruins of the house.  Farf moved as if to go with him… or stop him, Bren wasn't sure which.  The telepath grabbed the Irishman's arm.  "Don't… Brad said no matter what happened, not to interfere."

"He's gonna go save that girly he likes."

"I know… we'll make fun of him all the way home.  By the way… this is what I learned from our kittens tonight…"

**

TBC…

Yes… I am totally nauseated by that Nagi-Tot scene.  Honestly, I don't mind Tot.  She's cute and I feel sorry for her… I mean, if she says her real daddy is a bad man and she hates him, compared to who she lives with… he's got to be a real bastard.  That doesn't mean I think she would work out as a good partner for Nagi.  Temporary puppy love, sure… soul-mate?  I don't think so.  BTW… I haven't said it… but the dialogue parts from the series are taken from the commercial DVD subtitles.  I don't have my fansub versions here to compare with so you'll just have to deal with these.  ^_^  And TWO new chapters in the same week, aren't you proud of me?