I am alive!! Sumimasen minna-san for the super (100x) late update. First of all, I would like to thank my wonderful readers for all the great reviews you left.
Tenshineko: Umm…do you still remember your questions? What you said was so true, I wonder what's going on Vincent's mind anyway ^_^
Gypsy-chan: Does Marguerite sound like Misao? Marguerite's character just popped out of nowhere; don't know where she came from. About my dad, umm..he's not that cool, lol. I mean he's pretty cool in some way (my parents can actually know the difference between anime and cartoons like the flintstones) but he has no idea that my questions were for a fic. He just thinks its pretty normal for me to ask random questions.
Hana Himura: Glad to know you like the fluff.
Aya: Did I give the impression that I was Portuguese or at least can understand it? Hihi, I'm sorry but I could not speak a single Portuguese word ^_^ But do not worry! I read your review and understood it thanks to AltaVista's Babelfish. And so, thanks for the review, and you're welcome to leave a review in any language you prefer.
Thanks to Susan, J. Liha, Leigh, Colleen, cherrybubbles, selene, Chibigreen Tanuki (thanks for the interesting fact!), Ano Onna Oji, Blaque and Wight, Lady Belegwen Lightningblade, dizzy Devil, nemo, bek, and "…" .
Super special thanks goes to Tan Kimiko for proofreading this chapter.
Enough with the talk, I hope you like this chapter.
By the way, this chapter will be rated R for its violence and language. There are a few swearing/cussing in the chapter, if this offends you, then I suggest that you not read it.
Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin. This fic is entirely fictional and Japan did not have a Project Messiah or a Mission Messiah as far as I know. Weapons described in the chapter are based on my research on the net and therefore I am not sure if they are 100% correct. This is just a work of fiction so bare with me =D
Other Side of the Moon
Eve Angel
Chapter 14~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Only when the sky is blue and shining,
Do people's hearts shine as well.
-Groove Adventure Rave
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Everything's working fine here," Misao confirmed.
"Here as well," Soujiro answered.
"We're going in," said Kenshin.
The young men soundlessly walked towards the end of a dark narrow alley, which had the back door to an old rusty factory building. The back door they were looking for had a huge man standing in front of it obviously playing as gatekeeper. The two men confidently stepped into the light and revealed themselves to the watchman.
"What's your business here?" he growled at them.
"We're here to see Vladimir Markov," answered Soujiro amiably.
"Sir Markov, eh? And what's your business with him?"
"None of your business," Kenshin replied impatiently.
"I like your guts, but a scrawny kid like you shouldn't use such words in front of people like me. I haven't seen you here before, and I doubt if the boss actually has business with the two of you. So better go home to your mommies before things get dirty," mocked the man.
"We don't have time for this," Kenshin said as he motioned to unsheathe his sword.
Instantaneously Soujiro stood inches beside the gatekeeper, his sword drawn and stained with blood. His swiftly executed attack left the bigger man lying motionless on the ground.
"You seem to be quite edgy, Himura-san," Soujiro, who have kept quiet during the heated interaction and small argument, commented.
"Can't help it when I know Kaoru could be hurt by now," he answered as he proceeded and sliced the factory's door in two.
"What the?? Who the hell do these teenage punks think they are?" one of the surprised group of men gathered in the factory said.
"Vladimir Markov," Kenshin growled. "Who among you is he?"
"Make those boys shut up," the man from behind said and prompted a hoard of men to attack the two unwelcome visitors.
The ordered men aimed their guns at both unwelcome visitors; however, their bullets were either deflected by their swords or were just easily dodged. The enflamed group then rushed at the two, choosing to fire at close range and to fight hand-to-hand as well.
'Shit. Where are they?' a man with bushy brown hair thought just before he felt a cold metal pass by his chest. This feeling was soon ended by death though, even before pain was felt. Soujiro didn't even wait for the man to collapse and went on with his next opponent. This time, his opponent was shooting at him with both guns in his hands. With his super-fast speed, he reached the man in seconds and sliced him in two. He then felt a presence from behind him, so he sharply turned around while grabbing his gun from his inner pocket and fired his gun accurately through the man's heart.
Kenshin was dealing with a number of fighters himself. The opponents chose to attack all at the same time, and rushed towards him in full speed. Kenshin started spinning around the group rendering them confused, and then delivered a backhanded swing at each of his opponent's neck. All men lie lifeless at the ground with blank expressions on their faces. Like his partner at the other side of the building, he continued on to another fight right after the finishing the previous one, this time shooting great distances effortlessly at opponents who was rushing towards him, each shot made not missing a beat.
Just minutes later, all that was left were bodies piled on the ground and splotches of blood occasionally dripping from the walls.
"We'll ask you again one more time, may we speak with Vladimir Markov-san?" Soujiro politely reiterated their earlier demand as he flicked the blood from his sword.
By now, only a handful of people were left standing at the back of the area, some were visibly shaking, the guns held tightly with both hands, while some were still in shock by the turn of events. Not long after, a stout, balding man in a gray business suit stepped forward and asked cautiously, "What do you want from me?"
"We just need to ask a few questions," Soujiro supplied.
"What kind of questions?" the man nervously answered as he loosened his tie. Beads of sweat began forming on his forehead.
"Do you make or distribute umbrellas used for assassinations or any other form of killing weapons?" Soujiro asked bluntly.
"Is this a police interrogation? 'Coz if it is, I would have to call my lawyer first!" the man shakily defended, mustering up the few ounces of courage he still possessed.
"Just answer the fucking question!" threatened Kenshin with his amber eyes glaring daggers at the man.
Markov was stupefied for a minute; he was now having a hard time preventing his knees from buckling as his upper body ironically refused to move at all due to intense fear.
"Yes. I do," he unwillingly confessed.
"Do you sell it to a lot of people?" interrogated the young officer.
"No, they're very hard to make, making them rare and extremely costly."
"Did you happen to sell one to the Takeda Enterprise recently?" asked Kenshin, his cold, hard eyes still locked on the man's.
"Umm…" the man started as his hands started to feel all sweaty. "Our transactions are exceedingly confidential."
This response was greeted by Kenshin's glare and handgun pointed straight towards Markov's chest.
"Hold on a minute!" he panicked. "I don't think that Takeda bought anything recently. Ah, but wait, I think I recall one of my clients said that their latest work was being commissioned by the mentioned business."
"And their names? Names would be nice to hear," said Kenshin cynically.
"I don't know all their names, but I do know the name of the person who bought the item."
"Which is?" Kenshin said as he took a threatening step forward, the gun still aimed on target.
"McClay, Vi-Vincent McClay," stuttered the man.
**
"So Kenshin's suspicions are right. They really are foreigners," said Sano as he plopped himself on a chair.
The three students and the officers were all gathered in a private library. Misao and Kenshin were stationed at the computers, Tae with the microfilms, while Soujiro and Megumi tried their luck with the books.
"Yes, but we don't know anything about these people except for a name. So better lift your lazy self from the couch and help us with the research!" exclaimed Misao as she threw a folder at Sano.
"What's this?" he asked.
"Some stuff I printed earlier. It looks like it may be useful, but I haven't had the chance to actually read the entire thing," she replied briefly as she was clicking away with the mouse. "Any luck Kenshin?" Misao asked as she glanced at the boy sitting beside her.
"No," he answered grimly.
"Hmm…how's Aoshi-sama? Does anybody know?" Misao asked, initiating yet another conversation.
"He seems to be recovering in record speed. He should be released from the hospital anytime now," Megumi answered without looking up from the book she was reading.
"That's great!" she exclaimed and raised her hands above her head for emphasis.
"Where's Hiko-san and the captain by the way?" inquired Tae.
"They said they have some business to attend to," Kenshin answered.
"Whatever it was, I hope they are having more luck than we are," exasperated Misao. "We've been looking for this McClay for hours and have come up with a total of zero."
"Thank Kami-sama that we actually had this luck you mentioned," they heard someone say as the huge library doors swung open. Approaching them were the Mission's captain, Saito Hajime, the agent, Seijiro Hiko, and the recently recovered officer, Shinomori Aoshi.
"Shinomori-san!" exclaimed Misao the moment she saw his figure. "How are you feeling? Are you allowed to walk already?" she asked worriedly.
"I'm doing fine Makimachi-san. Thank you," he said as he pulled out one of the chairs and sat.
"Really? I mean do you still have to stay at the hospital? Have you fully recovered?" she continued.
"Yes, the hospital released me already. I believe I'm in top condition now," the man reassured.
Kenshin then asked, after hearing Aoshi's condition, "What do you mean Shishou?"
The two older men ignored them. Instead Saito started using one of the computers, while Hiko turned on a switch, which lowered a white screen at the back section of the library.
"What are they doing?" whispered a confused Sano to the person sitting next to him.
"Don't know," answered Soujiro.
"Looks like they're going to have a presentation for us," joined Megumi.
"All right, boys and girls. I know you've been trying to find answers all day and I appreciate all your work; however we can't waste any more time. So sit back, relax and enjoy the show," Hiko said smugly as Saito started the presentation.
A huge map of Europe appeared on the screen with red dots occasionally marked at certain points. "I assume that all of you know that this is a map of Europe. This is where all of the previous activities of Takeda's hired group were reported. The red dots indicate that their Mission was successful while blue dots mean it was a failure." Saito started.
"But I can't see any blue dots," commented a perplexed Misao.
"Exactly," the agent answered seriously.
"They haven't failed even once," Kenshin concluded.
The captain replied, "Yes. Because of this, they are well respected and feared by corporations and individuals who know or have heard about them. Their reputation is well established in the Western Hemisphere. And so, listen up and remember the facts. These may help you when you actually have the chance to see them face-to-face."
The map faded from the screen and was replaced by a picture of a good-looking man with blue eyes and blond hair. "His name's Vincent McClay, 21 years of age, grew up in Germany, and is rumored to lead the group. His weapon is a main gauche, and he is said to be very skilled in using it."
"A main gauche?" repeated Tae.
The captain glanced at Aoshi, and almost instantly the young officer elaborated, "A main gauche is a European dagger developed during the 16th century. It is a double-edged, left-handed dagger with a sturdy crossbar to protect the hand. It is mainly used as a defensive weapon. Some main gauche developed had devices built into the blades to catch and break an opponent's blade. McClay uses one of these types, a German main gauche. His sword has two blades that spring away from the center blade at 30-degree angle upon depressing a lever in the guard. These pronged blades can catch and break a sword and cause great damage to the opponent himself."
"Whoa, sounds like a really cool weapon, I've never heard of that one before," admired Sano.
"As you'll see in the later slides, all of them use a weapon which was used in the past centuries. These weapons are not common in this day and age because of the innovation in technology. Plus, the characteristics of the said weapons do not suit our present times, as it did during its peak of use. Most are heavy swords that were especially designed to crush armor, since knights and men-at-arms were the ones who used them. It is a startling fact that this group chose to use these instead of guns," said Hiko.
"Not like we are any different. Tae is the only one who prefers to use guns in our group. Everyone else's first weapon of choice is either blades or martial arts," Misao pointed out.
"Yes, and as Hiko-san said that isn't very common nowadays. People rely on guns so much that they've ignored the past's way of offense," Soujiro replied.
"Enough chat, let's move on," the captain said impatiently.
"Hai, gomen," Soujiro apologized.
"Next we have, Johann Schmidt, 19 years old, from Germany too. He uses a sword called the rapier, another ancient European sword that is almost exclusively used as a thrusting weapon. It is lightweight, maneuverable and has a very thin blade. This sword needs a wieldier that has both skill and finesse, in order to be effective in use. If not, the sword won't be good for anything, other than for display."
"And I expect that this Schmidt both have that," spoke Kenshin.
"That goes without saying," replied Hiko.
Saito continued, "Then comes another Schmidt, Johann Schmidt's sister who goes by the name Marguerite, age: 15 and her area of expertise is close combat. She is rumored to use a tiger claw; an easily concealable metal bar with three to five curved blades, which is grasped firmly in the palm by slipping your smallest finger and forefinger through the rings."
"Fifteen? How long have they been accepting missions like these? From the number of those red spots you showed, it looked like it would be at least a couple of years. That would make the girl at the very least 13 when they first started," outburst Sano.
"Sadly, what you said is probably very close to the truth," concurred Megumi.
Saito again ignored the comments, and continued the last portion of the presentation, "Lastly, there's a person called Karl Remnick. Unfortunately we have not gathered any pictures of him. He does not join much of the field missions, but he does participate by creating the plan and doing their research. Sources describe him to have light brown hair with a few highlights, dark green eyes, average in built, and maybe a little over 20 years old. There are hearsays that he may be English. His weapon may be a Long Sword. Again, this is not confirmed because of the relatively little information we have on this guy. Anyway, in case he does use a Long Sword, here is a brief idea on what the said weapon is. A Long Sword is a dual-edged European weapon. The long sword's lighter weight makes it easier to handle than the katana, though this comes at the cost of some power. Still, its ability to execute various consecutive attacks makes it a valuable addition to any arsenal."
"It needs great strength to swing most of those huge old swords, doesn't it?" Megumi asked.
"Yes," Aoshi answered.
"Then why did they choose those? Why not pick a lighter weapon and learn a few hand-to-hand combat techniques?" a curious Misao asked.
"Yeah, they would be decreasing their speed big time because of those huge swords," agreed Sano.
"Sacrificing speed may be worth it, if it greatly increases the damaging effect of one blow," joined Soujiro.
"All your speculations may be right. Remember as we've seen earlier, they are professional hit men and woman who have never failed once, even if their targets have bodyguards who are trained and armed as well. Also, do not limit their abilities with the report we've just presented since it is very possible that they use other weapons too, or may know hand to hand combat, and use guns like you guys," Hiko warned.
"They are young,"
Misao commented.
"You, of all people, should be the last one to be surprised," Megumi answered.
"Well, yeah, but still…" she replied.
"There's no time to ponder about such things. We need to rescue Kaoru, and the best way to ensure our success is to know the enemy's weakness and develop a solid plan to defeat them," said Kenshin firmly.
Suddenly, the doors of the library sprung open and a panting man stood at the door's frame, trying desperately to catch his breath.
"What's wrong Chou?" asked the alarmed captain.
"We…" Chou started and then went back to inhaling huge breaths. After a few seconds, the officer managed to release, "We've got it sir."
"Got what?" asked the captain impatiently.
"We found Kaoru's exact location captain!"
A/n: This chapter was hard to write because of the research I had to do on the weapons. I want them to use swords of some sort, but then most European swords were designed to destroy armor rather than to actually cut, so it was very hard to find ones that were practical to use in modern times.
Again, I don't have anything against German or English people at all! Also, I have nothing against Bulgarians too, they just happen to be the one to use the umbrella in the case I read. For a full explanation, please read the author's note in the previous chapter.
Weapons used by both groups will be a mixture of non-existent (from video games or from the RK series itself) and real Japanese and European weapons. I'll take this chance to warn you that I may actually change some stuff about the real ones. So, some would just be based from real medieval weapons, but not exactly the same. This is because I am clueless on what techniques those weapons really use, so I'll try and make up some along the way. I decided to let Megumi have a weapon of her own other than a gun, coz I think she's very capable of doing that.
There will be some changes with the weapons that some of the RK characters use (ones not mentioned below still have the same old ones)…
Kenshin – katana
Megumi – naginata (a stabbing and slashing weapon that makes devastating sweep attacks in all directions; it's like a spear with a curved crossed blade at the end)
Tae – hand gun
Sources:
http://www.todsstuff.co.uk/html/damascus.htm
http://www.angelfire.com/on/kellindil/weapons.html
http://www.squaresoft.com/web/games/bb2/weapons.html
This was also pretty tough because of so many people present in the library scene; it was hard to make them all involved at the same time. So, I apologize if some characters only spoke a few lines.
Reviews are greatly appreciated! Thank you for reading! Sorry again for the long wait.
