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A/N: A reminder to all that this story is rated M for a reason.
-3-
"Everything okay out there?" Keiichi's voice came out a whisper. There was a volume control setting for the helmet's voice box located near the left part of his visor, and upon emerging from the television-fuck he wasn't looking forward to that return trip-he'd turned it off to prevent unwanted attention. Now though, after he'd readjusted the mode from 'receive only' to 'Comms up', some of the dialogue he was hearing was making him nervous. "Who's Lind?"
"I'll tell you later. Might be going silent for a while. You memorized the blueprints for the building, right?"
Beneath his helmet Keiichi frowned. "Yes." He replied. "I may not know the finer details, but I can find my way around." One of the things that had been drilled into his head during his training had been layout memorization, and he'd gone over the layout of Aoshima's building several times with Urd and Skuld to ensure he didn't get lost. Speed and silence were key for this mission's success, and despite how advanced his loaned gear was, Keiichi wasn't about to trust his life to the unfamiliar equipment. "Sheila, what's going on out there?"
"Urd fucked up big this time." Skuld's voice bordered on the edge of panic. "Oh Yggdrasil, we are in so much fucking shit!"
"Calm down Skuld." Urd didn't sound too happy herself. "It's just a little hiccup in our plans."
"A hiccup?!" Skuld screamed in his ear, letting loose a peal of feedback that made Keiichi flinch. "No, a hiccup is you sending a mortal to do a goddess's job. This is a fucking train wreck in the works, and we're sitting first class on Death Railway!"
"Stop being a pain, Blaine." Urd retorted. "Listen, Jank. Skuld's gizmos say there are two active bodies in the building you're in, so keep your guard up. I don't know how much help we'll be able to provide you now, but I'll relay what I can when I'm not getting my ass kicked, okay?"
Keiichi grimaced. "Roger that Sheila. Should I reroute our rendezvous or do you want me to find some place to hunker down after meeting the objective?"
"It's too soon to tell, Jank." Urd replied. "Stay flexible, and if we're lucky, this whole situation will resolve itself once you pass on the code.
The Navy SEAL set his jaw as he crept towards the living room's threshold. "Roger, Sheila. Keep your wits about you, Jank over and out." The man once more turned off his voice box, then turned down the receiving comm as low as he dared. He could still hear Skuld cursing at Urd, but it was slight; little more than background noise in the back of his head.
The man sighed to himself, wishing his team was with him. A SEAL's greatest strength lied not in the personal abilities of one man but in the cohesion of his unit, and Keiichi had never liked the concept of a one man army. If not for the literal goddesses on his side, he'd have been a doomed man from the start. People like Jason Borne and John Matrix were fictional for a reason, and now, without even Urd or the yipping poodle to relay information, Keiichi was on his own. No comrades to watch his back. No one to provide cover fire if he walked into a room full of armed guards. No one to drag him to safety in case he was injured.
"Shit just got real." His voice was tight and a little warped within his helmet, and the man grit his teeth. "C'mon Shithead. This ain't no time to pussy up. You got a goddess to rescue." Steeling himself, the man peered into the adjoining hallway, grimacing at the light that so illuminated it. I stick out like a sore thumb. How the hell is this 'stealth armor' supposed to hide me when everything's so bright? Dumbass acted like this shit would work anywhere so long as they weren't within twenty feet of me. Maybe it was 'stealth' like those high-tech planes the Air Force liked to fap to. But those things were against radar, not people. That bitch better not have screwed me over.
"Aye Dai-chan." Keiichi stiffened as a deep voice, marred with a thick Sendai accent, filled the hallway. "I've finally achieved da max level of manliness!" The Navy SEAL cursed his luck as he backpedaled into the living room once more as two forms turned into the hallway. Like the hallway, everything in the living room was illuminated, giving off too much light for any corner area to have shadows he could use for cover.
If I was a smaller man, I could have hidden behind the fucking couch and they'd be none the wiser. Keiichi scowled, then pressed himself up against the wall near the threshold. At least I can still get the jump on them.
"Have you finally crushed a melon with your biceps alone, Den-Chan?" Another voice, this one high and grating, rose up in the hallway, and Keiichi paused as he readied himself.
"I have my dear friend," Den-chan claimed. "And I must say, it is an incredible feat. Nut'in like crushing apples!"
"Oh you motherfucker," cursed Keiichi under his breath as the door started to open.
A man walked through the door, and for a brief moment Keiichi's eyes boggled as he stared up at the guard. That's not a man. Keiichi thought, that's a fucking mountain! As a Navy SEAL, Keiichi was no stranger to gyms. Every military base had a gym of some type rigged together to ensure those stationed could stay in shape, and so he was no stranger to some of the more massive muscular men who frequented them. Hell, Team 12 was a walking example of that, and he'd seen men twice the size of McGuinness, who was accepted as the largest, strongest, most terrifying motherfucker in their unit. Yet this guy made McGuinness look like a runt with muscle atrophy. Urd never told me Thor was fucking Asian!
"Eh?" The man paused, noticing the stranger near the door. "Da' fuck? Araki, dat you?" The man moved into the room, still staring, and a second man followed, this one even taller than the mountain with long, slick backed blonde hair that reminded Keiichi of Bravo. "Yo, not cool Man. It's too late for dat cosplay shit. Go to fucken be-" Keiichi brought his foot up and smashed it down on Den-chan's knee. The man released a nerve-rattling howl and crumpled to the floor, rolling to his side and cradling his injury.
"Den-Chan!" The blonde cried, the horror on his face obscured by a black pair of Rei Bands. The man was dressed like his friend in a pair of matching grey suits, their blazer's sleeves rolled up to their elbows with matching loose, black ties. Keiichi looked around, recognizing a pair of empty holsters resting in a docker's clutch on the man's side. Fortune had caught them on break, and Keiichi didn't plan to let them stay up long enough to locate whatever weapons fit into those holsters. Guns may have been illegal in Japan, but that didn't prevent those with the right money and enemies from obtaining them.
"The fuck is wrong with you, man?" The blonde guard came at Keiichi with a haymaker. The SEAL back peddled, avoiding the wild attack with ease before launching a boot into the man's chin. Dazed, the tall man stumbled back, clutching his face with a groan. The dark haired man advanced, gaining ground before planting his fist into the blonde's midsection, just below the sternum. The blonde doubled over with a pained wheeze, where he was met with a vicious uppercut that sent him to the ground, out cold.
Before Keiichi could breathe a sigh of relief, a pair of thick arms wrapped around his torso, pinning the SEAL's arms to his sides. He was picked up into the air and squeezed like an anaconda would its next meal. "I'll crush you like a melon!" the huge man roared, "I'll teach ya to mess wit-" The Mountain was back on his feet somehow, despite his one shattered kneecap, yet for Keiichi it was of no consequence. It just meant another weak spot to capitalize on. Den-chan lifted him in the air, preparing to slam him into the ground. Yet as soon as gravity began to pull him down the SEAL lashed out, kicking back at just the right moment to once more smash the larger man's kneecaps with his boots.
The goliath released him and fell to his side with a roar. Keiichi darted forward, putting space between the two of them, then wheeled around to face his opponent, ready to counter in case the guard somehow managed to get up a secondtime. The man stopped however when he saw that the giant was in no condition to go on. Instead the man laid where he'd fallen, clutching his knees and trembling with silent agony. At Keiichi's approach, the big man looked up at him, his face inquisitive and confused beneath the pain that scarred his face. "Who are you?"
Without answering, Keiichi slammed his fist into the big man's jaw. "A ghost." His opponents dispatched, the SEAL moved to the doors and glanced down the hallway. The ruckus had not caught any of the other guard's attention, much to his surprise. "I'm thousands of miles from home, I'm wearing something from a video game, and it's night out," Keiichi muttered with a sigh. Might as well be wearing sunglasses and driving Illinois Nazis off bridges, this shit is so unbelievable.
"...Hit it!," For a moment's Urd's voice rose up in his ear, and the man paused, checking to see if he'd somehow left the transceiver on. It was off though, just as he'd left it earlier. Shaking his head at the strange coincidence, her turned up the mic just as Urd spoke up once more. "Jank, Shelia. Everything alright on your end?"
"Yeah, I just got jumped by Mount Fuji and his younger brother The Doberman. How the fuck do you think I feel?"
"Well fuck me for being concerned!" retorted the silver haired goddess. "Won't happen again, I swear. I'll just leave you the fuck alone while you're bleeding out on the floor."
Keiichi smirked at Urd's sarcastic tone. At least some things didn't change. "You good on your end?"
"We'll see." Urd said. She sounded stressed. "We're expecting first contact in five mike. It's a shame you're too busy to take a gander. We'll be lighting up the sky like the Aurora Borealis in Alaska."
"Sounds like quite the show."Turning his attention to the unconscious men, Keiichi moved to the blonde and grabbed him by the collar, pulling him farther into the room and dragging him to the couch.
"It'll be something, I'll tell you that. Not necessarily a good 'thing' either."
"You going to tell me who Lind is now?" He went back and grabbed the giant, but as he'd half-expected the man had too much dead weight for him to move by himself. He'd have to leave him as is and hope whoever found them later thought they'd passed out in a drunken stupor.
"Nope." Urd replied. "You worry about you. I'll worry about me."
Keiichi sighed and rolled his eyes. "Whatever you say, Sheila. It's your call."
"Yes," That uncomfortable tone had returned to her voice. "It is…."
"Urd, quit talking to your boy toy and help me with this thing!" Skuld's spiteful tone snapped over the line, and Keiichi flinched.
Keiichi grit his teeth. "I swear to god, if you don't but a muzzle on that thing—"
"I know, I know!" Urd cried. "Get busy rescuing Belldandy and we'll keep Lind and her posse distracted."
The man released a sigh. "Fine." He grumbled. "Fine, I'll let you know if anything shows up, okay?" His hand moved to his helmet, finger grazing the volume button on the voice box. "…Be careful Urd."
"I wi—" The Comm cut out, released a peal of feedback, and then went silent.
"Sheila?" Keiichi called out, testing his transceiver and turning the volume up. "Sheila, Jank, do you read me?" Nothing. Cursing, the man tore off the helmet, examining the side of the visor before doing a hard reset of the voice box, something Skuld had shown him and instructed him to do in emergencies. The lights dictating the receiving activity died and then returned, and with a grimace on his face that spoke more of worry, the SEAL put the helmet on his head and tried again. "Sheila, Jank, how do you copy?" Still nothing. "Sheila, Jank." And nothing still. "Urd?"
Only the silence of a broken comm met his ear.
"…Fucking Hell."
Sighing to himself, the man shook his head. "Alright, Urd's a big girl and that sister of hers is as mean as a platoon of marines in a dry county. Get out of here and find Belldandy."
XXX
The receiver on Urd's mic went flat, and the Norn paused mid-sentence. "Jank?" She tapped her headset, knowing intuitively that the SEAL was out of range, yet hopeful none the less. "Jank, Sheila, do you copy?" Silence met her ear, and the woman pursed her lips, looking south towards where Keiichi was.
She dark-skinned woman looked down at Skuld. "What happen?" she demanded, "The comms are dead."
Skuld didn't even grace Urd with a look. "Don't know, don't care," she said. The woman kneeled at her work station, breaking down the various pieces of sensitive and delicate equipment she'd brought with her. "Gotta worry about Valkyries now because somebody," she sent an accusing look up at Urd, "didn't mention she was on a Fighting Wing's shitlist." The younger Norn growled in anger, one fist slamming into a metal support beam with enough force to cause it to warp. "I swear to Yggdrasil Urd, if I get fucking sealed because you decided to pick a fight with the wrong goddess, I will spend the rest of eternity making your life a living hell!" she snarled.
Urd frowned and dropped down to her sister's location. "It's not going to come to that," she said. "No one's getting sealed." She moved to kneel beside her sister, placing her hands on the younger Norn's shoulders. "We're here to get Belldandy back." The silver haired goddess caught and held Skuld's eyes-a shade of brown of such a strange tint that they almost held a red hue to them. "We aren't leaving this place until we get Belldandy back. And come hell or high water, she's coming home with us. If that means holding off a few Valkyries so a mortal can reach her and make a wish, then so be it; that's a chance worth taking." She pursed her lips, observing her sister and the fear so evident on Skuld's face. Not even the prospect of reuniting with Belldandy seemed to reach the poor girl, and for that, Urd couldn't blame her. The reputation the Valkyries-the Fighting Wings especially-precedes their capabilities. But how to explain that to Skuld?
How would Keiichi motivate Team 12? A small voice inquired, and at that she paused. The woman licked her lips. "They're Valkyries Skuld, not a police force." Her voice came out low and slow, yet confident. The Norn forced a smile across her face. "Half the techniques they know they aren't authorized to use against civilians like us. We aren't demons, and a hefty chunk of their magic comes in the form of anti-demon wards; stuff designed to go null against gods like us." The woman smirked, feeling her own confidence growing as Skuld grew thoughtful, taking Urd's words into consideration. "Besides, if it's only one Fighting Wing, I'll bet you the other two are weak in comparison. If not in magic than in experience, with Lind serving as the main course to cow us into submission. These fools think they're going up against a couple of regular idiots who don't know their elbows from their assholes. They don't realize they're going up against the Norns themselves."
Skuld's expression grew pensive. "That still doesn't account for Lind though." She argued. "You and I both know her magic is shit. But for her that doesn't matter, given she's got all the finesse of a bull in a China shop." The woman shook her head. "She'll crush us, Urd. Who needs magic or fancy techniques when you can punch your opponent's head right off their shoulders? So what if the other two can't do shit—if that's really the case here—it won't matter, because so long as they keep us distracted, Lind will still get the better of us."
"Which is why I'll need your help with this one," Urd replied, her smile lengthening. "I need you to focus on both of those Valkyries. Leave Lind to me."
Skuld's face darkened with suspicion. "Leave Lind to— Urd, what the hell you are planning?!"
Urd released her grip on Skuld's shoulders. "In all honesty? I've got nothing planned." Skuld's eyes boggled, and Urd held up her hands. "No, really," she insisted. "This time I've got no ace up my sleeve, no game plan, not even a fire escape for if things go wrong."
The elder goddess flashed her sister a smile; a wild, reckless smile that did little to put Skuld's nerves at ease. The woman's violet eyes were alight with a strange type of wickedness Skuld had only seen on one or two occasions, and those of a vengeful nature. "No plots, no plans, no games," Urd said. "I have only one goal in mind Skuld."
"I plan on beating the ever-loving shit out of that woman."
The goddess cracked her knuckles, and to Skuld it seemed as though a subtle shift had overcome her sister in that moment. The woman she'd known all her life, that annoying older sister who loved to tease her and bait her, nag her and comfort her, was gone. The person in its place was a stranger; one she almost did not recognize as Urd. It's the one that threw me up against a wall, Skuld thought, eyeing her sister in sudden wariness. The dangerous one. The Scary One.
The Demon.
The goddess stiffened at the thought, and all at once a new energy signature rose into her sixth sense; that invisible feeling that let Skuld know that another entity, another goddess-three, in fact-had entered the area. She stared at Urd, uncertain and afraid, apprehensive of what was to come.
Yet Urd's attention was already drawn west, where three figures were growing larger as they drew near. "Urd!" they heard one of them cry. Urd immediately identified it as Lind's voice. "I know you're here! Show yourself, Black Wing!"
Skuld stiffened at the taunt, sucking in a sharp breath as the aura around Urd sparked with violet magic. She sent a side-long glance towards her sister. "Oh boy." The expression that adorned her face was borderline murderous. She stepped away from her sister, her sensitive equipment forgotten in the wake of the volatile magic that danced across Urd's body. "Shouldn't have done that," she muttered. "Should not have done that, Lind you stupid fool."
"Oh... that motherfucker is going down." Urd hissed. "Imma beat her ass so far into the ground she'll think she's in Niflheim." The goddess launched herself into the air, and Skuld watched her go with growing dismay. "Bring it you One-Winged half-soul!" She snarled, and was met with a blast of energy that missed her by a foot-a warning shot.
"Fuck me, these two are going to kill each other," Skuld muttered, and with heavy reluctance she followed her sister to meet the oncoming Valkyries.
XXX
Listening once more for any signs of fresh guards, the Keiichi crept into the hallway, feeling exposed and vulnerable as he rushed from the living room and through a traditionalized kitchen that included an antiquated water hand pump. A pair of wooden sliding doors rested near the kitchen, and peering out a nearby window the man came to the conclusion that he'd reached the back door. Cracking it open, he peered outside.
"Looks like the back of the main residence," he muttered, taking a moment to observe the multistory building and the guards patrolling it. "Backyard entrance leading inside…not really lit up, looks like the party's retired upstairs…" He craned his head up, eyes narrowing as he caught sight of a well-dressed, lanky man making his way back inside from where he'd stood on the third floor balcony. "Wonder if that was the man of the hour himself?" he grumbled.
A strange chirp echoed within the helmet, and Keiichi watched with a start as wire skeleton formed over the building, obstructing his vision through the visor. "What the fuck?!" The man stared at it, frozen, as the diagram completed itself, then shrunk, disconnected from the main section of the visor, and floated off from the physical building and into the upper right of his helmet's HUD. It turned slightly, and a door that he'd not noticed in his initial examination of the blueprints was indicated by a flashing cursor. The building turned once more, and with dawning realization the man saw his current location on the mini map, identified by a lone white dot.
"That motherfucker," he breathed, watching as the dot flashed and turned green. Can't pull any creativity out of her ass but hot damn does she know how to flatter through imitation. He grinned to himself. "Fine, a videogame she wants, a videogame she gets. Someone get me a fucking box. We're going in Solid."
He slipped out the back door, taking care to shut it behind him before making his way around the side of the building. The lighting in the area left few areas for him to hide in, and so Keiichi was forced to watch and time the guards carefully, seeking out some kind of pattern within their bored patrol before acting. One of the areas was near a statue of an elephant, its trunk raised and curled as though blaring in triumph. Another was composed of a long, well-manicured row of bushes. They stood only three feet off the ground, and Keiichi was forced to high-crawl parallel to them, stilling whenever a patrol grew to close.
None of them saw him, though all of them were armed and alert, and Keiichi wondered if that wasn't in part due to his armor. The larger part of him still doubted it; these guys, despite the suits, were nothing more than guns-for-hire. Ones who'd played the same song and dance night after night that the job was no longer so much surveillance as it was moving around to stay awake. As he crouched down near a large and ancient bonsai, he eyed the guards, waiting for the opportune moment to dash across the yard to a shadowed area near the entrance flashing on his HUD. The man pursed his lips. Wait for it…wait for it…wait for it….
Both guards turned away from him. The SEAL bolted along the wall, almost diving into the shadowed archway of the doorway.
"HEY!" someone shouted behind him, and Keiichi stiffened, his hand going to the plasma coil strapped to his leg. Heart racing, he buried himself within the shadow produced by the external lighting, peering as far as he dared from his section of cover.
"WHAT?" another guard yelled from across the compound. The dark haired man looked in the general direction of the voice, but saw no one. He clutched his weapon tight with one hand, ready to fight his way out if necessary.
"Did you see that? It looked like a black cat, but it was huge!"
"The hell you smoking, man?"
"Nothing." There came a pause, followed by a softer, "Nevermind."
Keiichi waited with baited breath a moment more, watching from the shadows for any signs of either guards drawing near. When he was certain neither party was approaching him, the man breathed a sigh of relief. Slowly he inched towards the door, half-expecting it to be locked. It wasn't, and the main door opened without a sound. Withdrawing a collapsible spy rod from one of the pockets built into the suit, the commando lengthened it and slipped it through the door's crack, using the small mirror on the end to check for incoming personnel.
Just inside he made out a small kitchen. A maid stood in front of a counter, preparing a marinade for several pieces of chicken before covering them and placing them in a fridge. Keiichi watched as she finished, wiped down the countertops, and left. Putting his mirror away, he opened the door and slipped inside. Recalling the planned route he'd discussed over the blueprints, the man passed through to the other side, pausing at the threshold to check the hall.
A guard stood just outside a door leading up a spiral staircase. The maid was there as well, blocked from entry by the man as he tried to proposition her. Keiichi frowned at the scene, then shook his head in disdain as he aimed his hair dryer (he refused to call it anything other than what it looked like) at the pair and fired.
A wave of energy shot forth and enveloped his targets. He didn't even hear the expulsion it was so quiet. It struck the duo straight on, and for a moment both the maid and the guard convulsed before dropping to the ground without a word. Double-checking to ensure no one else was in the area, Keiichi moved forward and through the door. He bound up the stairs two at a time until he reached the top level.
Here things were more illuminated; the lights warmed the surrounding Nara Oak walls with a gentle glow, and with it brought to mind Keiichi's many deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. It really is no different, is it? A part of him asked. You come to a foreign country, you gain intel on the person you're to snatch up in the black of night, and you raid someone's home for the individual in question.
This isn't an Al Qai'da or Taliban affiliate. He told that voice. This is a rescue.
No different… That part of him sighed. No different at all…
The SEAL continued down the hallway, pushing the thoughts as far from his mind as possible and once more wishing his team or even Urd was there to watch his back. There were no guards along this route though, and he supposed for that he should have felt grateful. Instead it made him antsy and restless, tensing at every little creak and groan the wooden mansion made, as was its nature. At one point, he began to hear noises coming from one of the adjoining rooms, and it gave him pause. Leaning towards the wooden frame, he brought an ear up to listen.
"I'm telling ya boss, this is one of that bitch's best performances," said someone. Though the door muffled the voice, to Keiichi it sounded low and grating, a deep, harsh warble that came from a chain smoker.
"Well, let me see it then," replied a second one. This one was of a higher, smoother pitch that reminded Keiichi of a swab and debonair millionaire in spite of the eagerness of his tone.
His curiosity piqued, Keiichi cracked open the door just enough to slip his spy mirror in to investigate. It appeared to be a movie editing studio. DVD and Blue-Ray disks littered a bench along a wall with multiple displays at two foot intervals. In the middle was a much larger television which was being observed by two men. One, who was sitting down at a control panel, was a short, fat man with a balding head of grey hair. The second stood behind the first. The man was adorned in an expensive white suit, his black hair slicked back in a stylish manner that would have left Megumi, Keiichi's younger sister by two years, swooning had she seen him on the streets. He squinted at the screen through a pair of rimless glasses, his face hungry for the images displayed on the screen. The smaller screens were off this late at night, but the larger, center screen was blue. As Keiichi watched, the older man slipped a DVD into one of the players.
Glancing around, Keiichi strained his ears for any noises that indicated someone was approaching. Yet the hallways remained dead and empty. Emboldened, he cracked open the door a little more so he could get a better view.
"How old are you?"
Keiichi's blood ran cold. On the screen was a small child. She was wearing nothing more than a white t-shirt that rode up the child's waist and clung tightly to her slim frame. It looked two sizes too small, and the white panties she wore, the only other article of clothing on her, looked too small as well. The youth looked down at the ground then back to the camera, hugging herself as she stood in a large, empty room. She bit her lip. "I'm nine years old."
The Navy SEAL felt his blood pressure rise as he watched. For a moment, the child on screen vanished, and in its place was another little girl, one who stared up at him in a mixture of hope and fear, as behind her a familiar shadow fell upon her. Aiko had been the youngest sibling in his family at the time, born after they'd moved to the States a seemingly lifetime ago. She was close to graduating college now, but back then...back then, she'd only been nine.
Nine. Just like this one. Nine years old when he'd learn about the assault, and from a man who'd helped Keiichi learn English when the Morisato's had first settled down in San Francisco. A man who'd helped Keima start his business in glassblowing, a man who'd helped Takano navigate the grocery stores with all their English aisles and the impatient clerks who'd tap their fingers as she dug out the right amount of change, a man who'd been like an uncle to him, but whom Megumi had confessed she'd always been nervous around. Nine years old when he'd picked Aiko up from school one day...and had taken her back home with him.
It had happened while Keiichi was away at boot camp, and the Navy hadn't allowed him any leave time to go back home and be with her. He'd been just another cog in the machine back then, a pipeliner getting pushed through the system regardless of whatever incidents happened back home, or perhaps because of that incident. Megumi had claimed they'd found him guilty during a rare phone call back home, yet by then the damage had been done. There had been no closure for Aiko.
There had been no closure for himself.
The man jerked his head away from the screen, feeling his heart pulsing behind his eyelids. He didn't want to see his sister up there anymore than he wanted to see some child being victimized by whatever atrocities were about to play out before him. His jaw clenched painfully. This motherfucker's lucky I'm just here for Belldandy. He thought. I'd fucking...I'd...I— The pulse grew louder in his ears, drowning out any more of the child's words, and Keiichi realized he was panting-no, hyperventilating-with the onset of something he'd not experienced in over a year: an anxiety attack. No. Not now. Not like this. Come on, Morisato, pull through this. You've got people relying on you! Urgently he focused on his breathing, counting the seconds between inhale and exhale in a slow, deliberate manner. It was an exercise technique he'd learned from his therapist.
My name is Keiichi Morisato. He told himself. He could feel himself shaking in rage, and gritting his teeth, he continued. I am thirty years old. I am in Japan, rescuing a goddess from an evil fuck who—His heart began to race once more, and Keiichi's eyes squeezed shut as he tried again. I am hidden. I am safe. No one can see me because of the technology provided by the equipment I wear. I have the jump on my opponents, and they will be at my mercy for better or for worse, he told himself, still taking the long, slow deliberate breaths.
I will find Belldandy and we will return to Urd. They will go home and so will I. I will not get drunk off my ass, for I refuse to keep alcohol in my house. Drinking is a social activity, not an escape. I will call Aiko and tell her that I love her, and that she's the best damned sister I've ever had and that I'm proud of her. She will tell me her school grades and I will tease her that they aren't good enough for a visit to Virginia, and in the end she'll drive up from North Carolina and see me for Summer Break before Keigo flies in from California. I'll take her water skiing and hang gliding, because Takano told us not to. His heart was calming down now, and the dangerous edge of the anxiety attack had abated.
"Really! So when was your birthday?"
"Today," whimpered the little girl.
He gasped as the words reached his ears, and suddenly he couldn't breathe. The anxiety attack renewed its efforts with fresh vigor, and spots began to dance across his vision, trembling and pulsing to the rapid beat of his heart. Don't focus on the words Keiichi. Don't focus on what's happening on that screen. It's poison, it'll kill you, and it'll make you rot just like Iraq. Keep your wits about you. He couldn't calm down. God damn it, he couldn't calm down and he couldn't breathe and couldn't—The man tore his helmet off and sucked in a deep breath, uncaring if anyone noticed him now. Don't focus on their words, it's all Japanese and you only speak that at home and they've got a weird accent so who knows what's being said, just don't focus don't focus don't focus—
He dared a second look at the screen, taking note of the child's features. The little girl was Caucasian, with long, black hair that hung down to her waist. His little sister was gone. Yet an air of familiarity remained. That certainty that he knew the child, that he'd seen her before, haunted the depths of Keiichi's mind. That's because after this is over and done with her ghost is going to stay with you. A dark piece of him spoke up, the one he always associated with Iraq, with Aiko, with all the missions that ended in disappointment or in failure. You're here for one person alone, and it isn't that girl, Morisato. You'll free that woman but leave the kid, because what happens here ain't none of your business, ain't none of your concern, and as soon as you get emotionally involved you've damned yourself and everyone involved. Just like Fida.
Except this isn't like Fida. This isn't a ghost, the SEAL told himself. I've seen that girl's face before. I know it. One of Keiichi's many talents was that he literally never forgot a face, which had saved his life a time or two out in the field. But where? He wracked his brain as he tried to remember where he had seen this face before.
"So what do you want for your birthday?"
The girl hesitated, staring with reluctance at the camera pointed in her face. Even from where he kneeled, the SEAL could see the girl's lower lip quivering with unspent terror. The camera zoomed in on her face, and flinching, the girl relented. "I...I want to become a woman."
Keiichi jumped as a scratching noise arose from beneath him, and looked down, afraid something had given him away. Instead he found his hands curled into tight, painful fists. Four furrows, each about an inch in length were gorged into the polished wood floor. The man uncurled his left hand. Splinters covered the gloved fingertips. He observed it, then the two men in the room before them. "I'm going to kill him." The words came out in a soft, calm manner filled with no small amount of surprise, "I'm going to kill him and ensure he never so much as looks at a child again."
All at once the anxiety attack fled him, and in its wake came a surreal, overwhelming calm. His senses felt heightened, and a part of him recognized it as the adrenaline working its way through his system, pumping him full of that Feel Good Juice that always kicked in during a heated firefight (or a non-combative extract, his mind whispered). He could smell the expensive cologne in the air, hear the hitch in Glass's breathing as he grew excited, watched as the man's movements seemed to slow down to snail's crawl.
Keiichi crept into the room. He pocketed the spyglass.
He withdrew his knife.
The man closed the door behind him. It made not a sound, and neither man looked his way, their eyes glued to the screen before them. Keiichi crept closer, his senses so focused on the men before him he missed the moving shadow behind him. Closer now, and closer still, his eyes never leaving the spectacled man before him. He drew his arms up, the blade pointed out and away from Keiichi, directed towards the man before him. Was he deaf? Were they both deaf? He and the old man at his side? They were like pigs; large and fat and slow in the head, fed and sheltered until they were ready to be butchered.
And I'm that butcher. Keiichi thought, his mind distant, disconnected from his body as it worked forward. Everything was slipping into autopilot now, his body moving with a stealth instilled in him throughout all his years of service. I'm the butcher, coming down to slaughter some pigs for an evening meal. Gotta make it quick though, Butcherman. Don't want them to stiffen up from terror. It makes the meat go bad.
An image on screen caught his eye; a flash of blue eyes wet with tears as a large, heavyset man walked on camera, and all at once Keiichi realized where he'd seen the girl on screen before. Belldandy. She looks just like—she's got Belldandy's eyes. The revelation made him pause as a fresh lump of horror arose in his throat, and with it Keiichi came to a shocking conclusion. The hair's wrong, but the age…Urd said Belldandy went missing ten years ago…and that girl, she's…
A disgust so strong it was nauseating twisted his stomach into a knot, and a new, fresh fit of rage surged through him. Is that Belldandy's daughter? Is that-is that Urd's niece? A red haze enveloped his vision, and unaware of what he was doing he straightened, now no longer even attempting stealth in this new frenzy of wrath. Hate and loathing manifested in his being, and all thoughts of reason were lost as the scene on the monitor grew more graphic. His senses were lost to him as the scene continued to play out on screen, the two men before him watching with a sickening sort of fascination and desire.
"Fuck this, man!" The man in the white suit released an abrupt shout, startling the large man at his side. "It's late and I've got the real thing waiting for me to bang in my bedroom. Let's pick this back up in the morning."
I've got the real thing waiting for me to bang in my bedroom. The words echoed and bounced within Keiichi's mind. The real thing...in my bedroom...In my bedroom...in my bed... The SEAL's lips peeled back in a snarl, and unbidden images arose in his mind. Images of a little girl, adorned in nothing but a sheet, cowering in a bed as the man before him opened the door to the chambers. Of the look of hunger that graced the man's face, darkening it into something monstrous, and the child which did nothing but tremble at his approach.
"It's...a...s.e.c.r.e.t..." A voice from another life arose in his mind, his voice a whispering sing-song as he spoke with another little girl of a similar age. "Between you...and...me... Just...a...s.p.e.c.i.a.l. game we play..."
"But boss!" pleaded the portly man. "You haven't seen the best part! This is some fucking prize-winning shit right here!"
The smaller man glared at his companion, his face filled with a desperate need, an urgency that betrayed his inner thoughts. "No buts," He snapped. "Get out."
"Just...a...s.p.e.c.i.a.l...s.e.c.r.e.t. game. For...the..two...of...us. A.i.k.o. and...S.t.-"
"Fine," The man stood with a sigh, one that did little to hide his resentfulness.
Keiichi was waiting for him when he turned.
The man's eyes widened in a manner that would have been comedic had Keiichi not been so furious. Adrenaline still rushing through his veins, the SEAL watched as the man froze mid step, his expression changing from irritation to surprise and from surprise to fear as his eyes fell upon the large combat knife in Keiichi's hand. His mouth parted in shock, then dropped in terror, yet before he could get so much as a squeal out, Keiichi was upon him.
His body worked with a mind of its own, his brain so blinded with thoughts of the past, thoughts of Aiko, thoughts of That Man, that it obscured the world around him, leaving Keiichi in a haze of poisonous red. Keiichi no longer saw the monitors, no longer saw the girl on screen nor even the two men before him.
There were only pigs to slaughter.
His left arm launched out past the portly's man's neck, where it wrapped around the back of his head and drew him forward. The large man, more startled than anything else, was too shocked by Keiichi's sudden appearance to do little other than stumble forward into Keiichi's range. Without a word, the SEAL drove his weapon into the man's chest, burying the knife in to the hilt before carving down with a hearty shove. The man howled, his hands wrapping around Keiichi's right arm with the desperation of they dying, yet it was all for naught; what little strength the man would have had was already fading as Keiichi removed the blade, bringing with it the man's entrails from where he'd carved out his gut.
The man collapsed with a gurgled moan that was pitiful to behold, and without a second glance Keiichi stepped over him, his eyes already focused on his next opponent.
Somewhere, off in the farthest reaches of his mind, Keiichi thought he heard a feminine giggle. Kill him, a voice egged him on. Kill him kill him kill him! Kill him for the child! Kill him for the woman! Kill him kill him kill him!
Before him, the man in the white suit, the man in glasses, the man with a hard on for what was on screen, turned to stare at Keiichi in shock. He screamed in horror as his larger companion collapsed, and then wild, brown eyes darted back to Keiichi. "Wh-who are you?!" His voice came out in a high-pitched shriek. "How did-how did you get in here?!" The man pressed himself back against the monitors, his hands flailing about behind him in a panic.
Keiichi said nothing, however, advancing on the man with the slow, vicious intent of a predator that had at last run down its prey. The combat knife gleamed red in the glow of the fluorescent lights, slick and dripping with its last victim's life-water. "Stop!" the man cried. "What do you want from me? Is it money? Did someone pay you?" He was grasping for straws that did not exist, desperate to delay the inevitable through either distraction until help arrived or to find some sort of monetary value he could use to buy this terrible apparition off. "I can pay you double what they paid you—no triple!" His hands scrambled across the control panel behind him, knocking on random switches and pressing twice as many buttons, and then all at once all the screens were on, each monitor depicting another gruesome scene of the girl in some horrible position, with some horrible man, and screaming and crying and pleading for relief.
The sight was enough to stop the SEAL in his tracks, and Keiichi almost dropped his weapon in the gross horror that engulfed him. It was paralyzing, and his prey forgotten, Keiichi's eyes instead roamed from one screen to the next, taking in each and every image and feeling his hate, his loathing, grow ever stronger for the man before him.
He never saw the gun until it was too late.
His instincts saved him from the first shot, throwing Keiichi to the left as the report went off. The munition ricocheted somewhere farther off, and the SEAL once more turned his attention to the man in the suit. He was panting, a large, single-barreled six-shooter gripped in both hands. It trembled with his anxiety, yet Keiichi had no doubt that at this close a range, even a blind man had a chance of hitting him.
"Who sent you?!" the man screamed. "Was it that bitch of a cousin of mine? Sayoko? Did she put you up to this?!" Keiichi said nothing. "The fucker never could stand me, you know that? Rich bitch she was, always jealous of my fortune, always jealous of my greater success!" He let loose a wild laugh that was borderline hysteric, and Keiichi took a slow step towards him. The man stopped laughing. "Back up!" he screamed. The SEAL didn't move. "I said back the fuck up! Do it now before I turn your head into swiss cheese! And drop the fucking knife!"
Behind the Man in White, the images continued to play out on screen, the voices of children crying out in pain echoing throughout the editing studio. Keiichi's jaw clenched, and he glowered at his opponent, too angry to speak, too angry to scream, too angry to even think. The Man in White shook his head. "Don't fuck with me asswipe," he warned. "Drop it now. Toshiyuki Aoshima doesn't fuck around. When I say do something, fucking do it!" He fired off another shot, and this one went wild.
Keiichi didn't let the opportunity go to waste. With a roar that bordered on primal he charged the man, zigzagging towards his opponent as Aoshima fired first one shot, then another. The wood floor near his left foot exploded in a hail of splinters. He felt something else tear into his right cheek, setting it aflame. "No-no, stay back!" Aoshima cried. "Stay back you motherfucker! Get the fuck away from me!" The fifth shot didn't even come close, and Keiichi brought his knife up, ready to end it all in a single strike.
It was the sixth and final shot that took him down.
This close, he should have seen it coming—would have seen it coming had he been in his right mind, had the rest of his team been there to support him, hell, had Urd been on Comms screaming at him to pay attention. Yet he wasn't in his right mind and he was alone, a hostage to his own emotions and a victim to luck's misfortune. He had one thought: Morisato, you stupid fuck, and then the bullet hit him square in the chest, the force behind it enough to send him falling backwards with a pained howl.
He landed on the ground hard, clutching his chest as he fought to breathe. Before him Aoshima let loose a peal of joy. "Yeah!" He roared. "Take that you ugly fuck! Nobody fucks around with Toshiyuki Aoshima, nobody!"
The Man in White discarded the spent handgun. Stuffing his hands in his pockets, a wide, arrogant smile on his face, the man walked over to the fallen SEAL. "That bitch never could stand me, you know?" He said, "She always hated the way I treated women; never liked the way I smacked them around." He shrugged, looking down at the man, a wild, frenzied look on his face. "Is it my fault they don't listen? Am I to blame when they're too stupid to understand?" Another bought of nerve-wracking laughter. "Nobody understands...nobody fucking understands, Man! And you? You're just the latest dumbfuck that needed a good slapping." The man paused, looking down at where the knife had fallen a small distance away from Keiichi. He bent and retrieved it, shaking off the residual wet blood on the blade. It splattered across his white suit. Aoshima didn't notice. "Face it, you're just another bitch too dumb to follow orders."
He paused next to Keiichi, who'd stopped moving, and observed him with a frown. "Stupid shit. Thinking you can get the best of me with a fucking knife. Didn't anyone ever tell you not to bring a knife to a gun fight?" The frown deepened and the man pursed his lips, examining the new body. Something was wrong. "Wait...why isn't there any-"
A foot lashed out, smashing into Aoshima's shin with enough force to send him to the ground, and then Keiichi was on top of him. "You sick fuck." He whispered, and punched him hard across the face. Aoshima cried out in pain. "You're the little shit that's holding Belldandy hostage?" He smashed his fist again into the man's face, and with it came the satisfying crunch of Aoshima's nose breaking. "The same perverted shit that rapes little girls?" He straddled the man and placed a knee on Aoshima's crotch. The man released a broken scream as he rested his weight on the knee. "What's her name?"
"W-what?" Aoshima's voice had risen in pitch, a sweet mixture of pain and panic that was almost musical. "I don't-"
Keiichi grabbed the man by the collar, pulling him up before slamming him back into the wood. "The little girl you roach!" Aoshima's head smashed into the floor, bounced, and Keiichi spied a small trickle of blood from where it began to stain the polished wood. The SEAL didn't care. He grabbed the man by his lower jaw and forced him to look at the screen. "The little girl, the nine year old, Belldandy's daughter, what's her name? Is she yours? Is that you're kid you're fucking in whatever shithole you sleep in?"
Aoshima whimpered beneath him, instigating a fresh wave of wrath. "Answer me!" He roared.
"I-I don't, she's not-I don't know who-what are you," The man dissolved into a blubbering mess, answering none of Keiichi's questions. Keiichi pressed more of his weight down on Aoshima's groin, and then held him down as the man tried to fight him off. He screamed and sobbed, begging for relief, for mercy, for his life. "Please!" He cried. "I'll do anything, anything you want! I-I'll leave the girl alone! I'll leave Belldandy alone! I'll stop, I swear I will, I'll-I'll even make you a mulberry pie if you want! Just-Just, oh god help me! I just want to live!"
Keiichi observed the man. "I want you to die." He whispered, the words coming out cold and without emotion. His hands moved around Aoshima's head. "This is too kind a death for a sick pervert like you, but I've still got a woman to rescue." He paused, drinking in the rapid fear within Aoshima's eyes. "And a girl, too. At least some of us will have closure knowing you'll never touch a soul again."
A sigh emerged behind him, giving the SEAL pause. "Oh mulberries, will you please get on with it already?" He froze at the voice, then turned as a new form emerged from the shadows cast by the room. "Goodness, I even took my time interfering, and still you waste it by not killing him?" the woman tittered, planting her hands on her hips. "Truly, Morisato-san, you must be the worst Navy SEAL I've ever seen."
"H-H-Haa-" Aoshima panted, and Keiichi released his grip from where he'd been about to break the man's neck. Instead, on guard, he redirected his focus towards the stranger.
Another time, another day, Keiichi would have called the blonde woman 'beautiful'. She observed him with amused blue eyes, dressed in an outfit that would have looked more at home in a Gothic mansion somewhere in Germany rather than a Japanese Playboy's penthouse. The dress she wore was green, short in the front, revealing a pair of shapely legs adorned in mid-calf high heels, before lengthening towards the back. A metal, studded choker wrapped around her neck, and on each arm was a nasty pair of matching wristbands, the studs ending in long, dangerous looking spikes.
"Help me!" Aoshima shrieked. Keiichi punched him again, this time in the right temple. The man went out without another word.
Again the stranger tittered, this time shaking her head. "Now, now, that simply will not do. I must insist that you leave my client alone."
"You're client?" Keiichi narrowed his eyes at the woman, this time examining the strange, red marking that adorned her cheeks and brow like a series of targets. Something in him went cold at the sight. Red, not blue. He'd seen markings like that before. Red not blue. Not a goddess but something else. Something else. Not a god but a—
"Oh yes, Aoshima-kun and myself have a contract," replied the blonde as she took a step forward. "And since you took your sweet time trying to kill him, he's called me for aid, which means that now I have to intervene. A pity. Things would have gone so much smoother if you'd just murdered the wretch." She exuded confidence, which put Keiichi on edge. She sauntered over towards the exit, white heels clicking on the wood as she placed herself between Keiichi and the only exit from the room.
His watch chose that moment to release a scream, and Keiichi went rigid. His eyes widened in recognition, and his mouth parted in shock. In a slow, deliberate manner Keiichi rose to his feet, his eyes never leaving the demon before him. "...Who are you? How do you know my name?"
The woman smiled at him, blue eyes dancing with malevolent glee. "Oh, how I know you is of no concern here," cooed the blonde. She stood a little taller as a menacing smile formed on her lips. "And as for a name, you may call me Hagall."
A/N: I would say that we have surely deviated from HotelKatz's WhatIf story now. :) When I gave Nena the first draft of the last part of this chapter, her response was "Well that got dark in a hurry!" The goal was to show Aoshima in the worst possible light, and I think we did that magnificently.
Up until this point, we have been writing ahead of the publishing. That changes now. Some of what happens in the next chapter has not been completely fleshed out yet. We know the what, just not the how. So we may take a little longer to publish CH04. I am also not 100% sure if we will finish this in the next chapter or in CH05. That's to be determined.
Rest assured, though; we are already working on the "AfterStory" as well.
