Author: Mirrordance
E-mail: mirror_dance@hotmail.com
Title: Dead Waters
Type: series
Spoilers: basically references to stuff all throughout the series.
Warnings: angst, language and violence
Teaser: Ken befriends a hesitant Farfello in strange circumstances,
Ran gets hasseled by an investigative reporter looking into
vigilante groups, and Schwarz want to collaborate with Weiss against
a common enemy...
Keywords: Weiss, Schwarz, Action

"And one of the elders of the city said, Speak to us of Good and Evil.

And he answered:

Of the good in you I can speak, but not of the evil.

For what is evil but good tortured by its own hunger and thirst?

Verily when good is hungry it seeks food even in dark caves, and when it thirsts it drinks even of dead waters..."

--an excerpt from "The Prophet" by Kahlil Gibran

"Dead Waters"

Part 7/7

      Two cars.

      Ran's silver Porche and Schuldich's red sports car.  For anyone who could have seen the eight young men who had stepped out of a humble building commonly referred to as a bachelor pad, they looked as if they were simply headed for a party, as men of their age were wont to do.

      A Party, thought Ken wryly. 

      They broke into two groups; Ran, Crawford, Omi and Nagi in one car, Ken, Farfello, Yoji and Schuldich in another.  One White Cross member for every Schwarz.  The arrangement would remain for the entire mission, until one of them either dies or turns coat.  They could watch out for 'friendly fire' that way, ensure they wouldn't be betrayed.  And the pairs were evenly matched, and treat each other with grudging respect in the least.  Former enemies who had shared the same house were relatively good ingredients for success.

      Ken clenched and unclenched his fists, comforted by the smooth woosh! of his claws as they extracted and retracted.  The sound was a little more bothersome to his companions in the silent car.

      Wrinkling his nose in dismay, Schuldich popped in a CD and the voice of some foreign, female teenage pop sensation drifted along.  Riding shotgun, Yoji took the CD out, looking disgusted. 

      "No, way, man"

      They parked the cars separately; two toys would be very conspicuous.  Then they walked the few blocks towards the laboratory compound.

      They hid in the shadows amidst the trees that surrounded a high, electric fencing.  Omi secured a line, on his knees on the grass with his laptop.  He and Nagi would be staying outside, as the outer-perimeter guard.  They would be saying who was coming in and going out, and tap into the security system of the compound and cut it off, looping it so as to not cause any distraction for the guards within. 

      "Comm check," Ran said, and each member of the group activated the communication gadgets strapped along their necks with phones from one ear to their mouth.  It was top-of-the-line.

      "Are the cameras out?" asked Yoji anxiously.

      "You're clean," Omi said distractedly, not even raising his head from his screen, "from the cameras.  But I can't fake the electric fencing.  It's out for the next seven minutes.  You have to get past the fence now"

      The six other men nodded.

      Stealthily, they made their way through the thin forest, and found themselves facing the high wire fence.  A huge sign said it was enforced by electricity, so anyone who dared touch it would be aware of the consequences.

      Grabbing a small twig, Schuldich threw it against the fence, and it fell against the ground, uncharged. 

      "Let's go," he said, grabbing a solid hold.

      It was a wonder that the group worked together so smoothly, not getting in each other's ways at all.  The infiltration seemed easy, so far.

      "We're clear of the fence, Bombay," Ran said over the link, "Anything else we should know about?"
      "I'm getting some readings here," came Omi's voice, "I think we're looking at lasers"

      Yoji cursed.  "Where, for crying out loud? We don't want to tell them all we're here! I think it's just pure luck we haven't stepped on any just yet"

      "Disabling the alarms now," said Omi, "four, three, two…you're in the clear"

      They made their way around the darkened compound, and finally spilt into three groups to fulfill the mission-plan.  The goal was to find the drugs and destroy them, before Geworfenheit arrives.  If they could not locate it, the contingency plan is to destroy the compound.  Either way, the drugs would be gone, leaving Schwarz and White Cross a lot of space to breathe, and a greater chance of success in a confrontation expected later tonight.

      Ken and Farfello, bearing bags, were going to wire the place with explosives.  Yoji and Schuldich went together while Ran joined Crawford.  Both teams were both going to look for the laboratory which housed the drugs the Shadow and his team had created to destroy them.

      Of course, since the first step of the plan was to destroy the drugs, they might have done this a few days ago, when Geworfenheit wasn't coming later during the night.  But everyone agreed that the more they gave the elite group to deal with in a short span of time, the better their chances.

      Outside, Nagi drew out another computer and sat beside Omi on the ground.  Omi took care of the technicalities, while Nagi researched the drugs.

      "This is like looking for a needle in a haystack," Yoji's mutters could be heard, "There are about fifty million kinds of medicine here.  You know what I'm looking at? A cabinet full of little bottles of variations of prostaglandin samples.  What the hell is that?"

      "That's the pain hormone," Nagi said absently, looking at his screen.

      "We're looking for something along the lines of eight little pills, Balinese," said Omi, "It's not mass produced, if the S.S. want to keep these guys under control.  And the people who make these pills are scientists, so they go by a method.  If you see a cabinet full of variations of a particular thing, it most likely wouldn't be there.  Classification, you know?"

      "Yeah, yeah"

      "Bombay," Ran's voice rang through, "We're looking at a room full of what the American says are brain samples.  Animal tissues too, from the looks of things.  Would this be the place?"

      Omi consulted the map.  "You've probably found the testing facility.  I wouldn't think so, Abyssinian.  They're past animal testing at this stage.  Look for human samples.  Traces of the Shadow would be best"

      "All right, everyone," that was Ken, "this is Siberian.  The place is wired.  An explosive for every building.  Activate your switches"
      Each of the eight men had a switch, a chance to blow the bombs.  This way, if push comes to shove, the laboratory will go up in smoke, even if just one of them survived.

      Omi heard a some commotion.  Cars coming in.  He tapped into the cameras at the main gate, and found two limousines on their leisurely way inside the compound.

      "Geworfenheit is in the house," Omi reported over the com, trying to sound calm.

      "You know what?" said Crawford, "I say we wait until all of Geworfenheit is in the hothouse, then blow up the place.  We're busting out of here.  Bye drugs, bye bad guys"

      "Not fool-proof," Ran said, looking around as if no enemy was coming.  He didn't let his anxiety get in the way of perfect accomplishment.  "WE survived destruction.  So could they"
      Crawford considered, then went back to searching.  "Now where are those goddamn drugs?"

      "This is Siberian," whispered Ken, "We have a visual"

      He and Farfello his in the shadows of a building as the limousines entered the dark compound. 

      "Wherever they're headed, that's got to be where the drugs are," he said, watching the destination of the limousines.  "They're headed towards the warehouse at the far end of the compound!"

      "Can you confirm that?" asked Omi.

      "It's a definite," said Ken, "there's nothing else there but that warehouse.  The drugs, apparently weren't in any of the labs"

      "D'ya hear that, Abyssinian?" said Omi over the com, "abandon search in that building NOW.  Go to the warehouse at the end of the compound, you're nearest"

      "We'll give them a distraction," said Ken determinedly.

      "The German and I are coming in for a back-up," said Yoji.

      Run, run, run…

      Ran moved as fast as he could, paced by Crawford.  The two men huddled in the shadows and moved quickly between buildings, finally coming to a stop at the warehouse's back entrance.

      Warily, they looked at each other and stepped inside.

      Distraction, huh?

      "I wasn't talking about fucking suicide!" snapped Ken, when he suddenly saw Farfello tear from his side and run out to the middle of the road, making the two limousines screech to a halt, the one at the back bumping the one at the front.

      "Relax, Siberian," said the Irishman flatly.

      "Relax, relax" Ken muttered, watching as the doors of the limo opened and out stepped the hired goons.  As they settled their sights on Farfello, Ken made his attack from behind and killed four before they could turn and locate him.  After that, the rest he finished with easily.

      But triumph didn't last for very long.

      The hair at the back of his neck stood on end as a lull ensued, followed by the exit of what he assumed would be Geworfenheit from their cars.

      Farfello lunged at one of them, but was dodged cleanly.  It could have been something extraordinary, but SUPPOSEDLY, these guys had no powers as of the moment.

      Before Ken could think, a white-hot blast hit him square on the chest, seemingly from the fingertips of one of their enemies.  He flew backward and fell at last to the hard road, unmoving.

      Yoji, having seen the event, cursed over the com line.  "Shit! What's going on here? These guys have powers right now, damn it!"

      "What?!" Omi exclaimed.

      "I just saw one of the knock Siberian out cold, with electricity from his goddamn fingertips!" exclaimed Yoji, "we're in way over our head, Bombay!"

      Ran froze at what he heard. 

      Did that mean looking for the drugs would be fruitless, if the enemy had their powers anyway?

      "Keep looking!" insisted Crawford.

      Yoji rushed at Ken, even as Schuldich ran to meet the enemy.

      He slid to his knees beside his fallen comrade, feeling for a pulse, finding none.  Electricity was NOT a good enemy.

      "We have an agent down!" he yelled into the com, starting CPR.  "Damn it, buddy, what have we gotten ourselves into?!"

      Nagi's eyes widened at an idea.

      "Balinese, I want you to look at the situation and tell me EXACTLY how many of Geworfenheit are using their abilities," he said.

      "I'm a little busy," Yoji said breathlessly, preoccupied.  "Breathe, please!"

      Omi's blood froze at the thought.  "Siberian, get up!"

      "Atta boy!" Yoji said suddenly, sounding relieved.  "All right.  We'll get you out of here.  Um…As for the question…I can clearly see four of Geworfenhiet using their powers"

      Nagi muttered a curse.  "There's eight of them.  What are the other four doing?"
      "Running…towards the warehouse!" exclaimed Yoji.

      Yoji looked at Ken's face, hesitating leaving his teammate behind.  He was coughing out stale air from his lungs, eyes watering from the effort.  He looked (rightfully enough) in shock, with pale-gray skin and dark-rimmed eyes.  But the more air he took in, the better his coloring.  Ken was strong, Yoji figured.

      He helped Ken up to a sitting position, and felt him start to shiver.

      "You're okay, you're okay," said Yoji soothingly.

      "Thanks," Ken said, sounding strained.  He focused his bleary eyes on the fight down the road.  "Geez.  I flew all the way out here?"

      "Trust me, you were going to go much, much further," muttered Yoji, then spoke into the com.  "What the hell is going on?"
      "This is how it works," said Nagi urgently, "damn it, we should have thought of this! The drugs don't last for a month! They last for two! But these guys take it alternately, so as to never leave themselves defenseless! See? Four people take the drugs this month, the other four protect them.  The next month, the second four take the drugs, the first four protects them! Got it?"

      "Yeah," replied Yoji miserably.

      "Fuck it," they heard Schuldich voice over the com, huffing as he fought.

      "You're losing your diabolical madman touch, Schwarz," said Yoji wryly.

      "It's all this morality shit," replied Schuldich, and even as he fought, Yoji could hear the devil-may-care grin there.  "It's choking my brain.  Soon I'll be as dumb as the White Cross are"

      "Yeah, yeah, be a smart-ass," Yoji said, standing up and pulling Ken to his unsteady feet, man-handling him into one of the side-roads and sitting him down against a building.  "Stay out of this, Siberian.  You know I mean it"

      Ken waved him away tiredly, catching his breath and looking at his singed shirt, the battered chest beneath it.  "They ruined my good shirt, Balinese"

      Yoji gave him a rakish grin before running off into the midst of the battle.  "I'll avenge you, Siberian"

      Nagi stood up, making Omi look up at him. 

      "Where are you going?!" Omi asked, though he was pretty sure he knew already.

      "You've got it covered out here," said Nagi as he jogged off, "I'm much more useful out there.  Don't argue.  You know it too!"

      Fairydust.

      The little transparent bottle with four different-colored pills inside was nearly missed, placed as it was in a cabinet full of practically the same thing.  However, Ran saw the name.

      If he knew anything about Peter Pan, it was that the fairy dust can make you fly.

      "Got it!" he said to Crawford, who was on the other end of the warehouse, looking as well.  With triumph in his eyes, Crawford was stepping forward towards Ran when the door burst inward and four of Geworfenheit stepped inside.

      From what they heard over the com, these had to be the ones powerless for the evening.  But four trained people, with guns to back them up, would still be, in the least, a force to reckon with for Ran and Crawford.

      Seeing the bottle in Ran's hands, they braced themselves to take him out.

      Regaining his breath, Ken got to his feet and ventured out amongst the limos, to see who might need his help.  His vision still blurred once in awhile, his feet a little shaky.  But he was determined not to have to be useless in this.

      The four of Geworfenheit with their powers that night were the shape-shifter (who was a skilled fighter, even without his mind-games) Ramon, the burly and brutally strong Mitzka, the inhumanly fast Helene, and Medi, the man with the electricity. 

      Farfello fought against Ramon, while Schuldich, who had been working against Mitzka and Medi, was relieved one by Nagi, who had squared off against the electricity-man.  Yoji took over Helene. 

      It irked the chauvinist-side of Yoji to have to be the one to fight the woman, almost as much as it irked the playboy-side of him that she was so beautiful.  Then it just annoyed him that she was so fast and so good at fighting.  Nevertheless, he found that once he got her in his wires, therefore eliminating her advantage of speed, she was easily overpowered.

      Farfello was having a much-greater problem, as it seemed as if he and Ramon were perfectly matched.  A break came from him, and he finally got the man into a vicious chokehold.  He was going to just continue on, killing his struggling adversary slowly but surely.

      Through Ramon's hazy senses, he figured a way out…

      …he saw Ken Hidaka—Siberian, walking into the battle.  Geworfenheit did their own researching too.  The information was particularly useful for a shape-shifter.  He quickly changed into the form of the infamous Kase.

      "Help me!" he cried hoarsely.

      Triumphed echoed in his heart when Ken turned to look.  Then stare.  And then just be plain goddamn terrified.

      Ran's mind raced as he tried to find a solution for this one.

      Crawford could always get the bastards from behind, then the two of them could just have two of Geworfenheit to fight against each.  But that's not fool-proof, as he usually preferred most everything to be.

      What was it Peter Pan said when Tinkerbell was about to die?

      Clap your hands if you believe in fairies.

      He threw the pill-bottle into the air, towards a stunned Crawford.

      His katana and a moment of distraction was all Ran needed.  Once his adversaries looked up at the flying bottle, he swung his katana in a swift, wide arc.

      The bodies fell just as Crawford closed his palms against the bottle.

      Clap!

      Through blurred eyes and confusion, Ken saw the face of a friend, threatened by the face of his enemy.

      Extracting his claws, he made a mad charge towards Farfello and 'Kase.'

      There was victory in 'Kase's' eyes, disbelief in Farfello's. 

      But just as Farfello knew not to kill the real Ken before, Ken knew to flick his wrist just so, and took 'Kase' out by plunging his claws right into his black heart, instead of Farfello's stunned face.

      Farfello let the body drop to the ground in a dull thump.  Ken couldn't look.  He averted his face, and felt his knees buckle in weakness of body and spirit.

      Farfello caught him by the arms and shook him, trying to bring those rolled-back, flickering eyes back to focus and awareness.

      "Hidaka!" he said urgently, and waited for a minor eternity for those eyes to focus on his face.

      "What?" Ken asked tiredly, as Farfello helped him to a semblance of balance by putting Ken's arm over his shoulder.

      Farfello nudged him insistently, to look at the fallen Ramon.  The face of Kase had faded upon the shape-shifter's death.

      "This is how it works," said Farfello, "No matter what name he has or which face he wears, the man who raises his weapon against you is your enemy, understand? You fight your enemy.  And you win."

      Ken looked at the dead Ramon.

      Realized at last that Kase was a mask over evil.

      No matter what name he has or which face he wears…

      Ken understood at last.

      Farfello looked around them, and wasn't surprised to find that he, Ken, Yoji, Nagi and Schuldich were the ones who remained standing (or struggling to, if one had to be particular).

      From the warehouse, Ran and Crawford stepped out as well.

      "Mission accomplished," Ran said into the com.

      Once inside the car, Schuldich volunteered to do the honors on the complex.

      With glee, he pressed the button, and waited excitedly (as a child, if one can imagine that on the face of the still-relatively-sadistic German), staring out the window.  His initiation of the blast was followed by a lull, then a series of explosions.

      Sitting shotgun, Yoji looked at him with a frown.  Then just sighed in resignation.  Sitting back, he glanced at Ken through the rearview mirror.  Still cold and in shock, he huddled in the seat with his head leaning tiredly against the window, covered in Ran's coat to keep him warm.  There was no question he would need to go to a Kritiker infirmary tonight (for one reason or another, almost all of them did).  But he looked at peace. 

      He raised his eyes and met Yoji's.  Then grinned.

      When Ken was released at last from the infirmary the next day, the rest of White Cross had come to pick him up and take him home.

      "Who's looking after the shop?" he asked.

      "Schwarz agreed to," Omi replied with a glitter in his eye.  He never thought he would be giving that particular answer to that particular question ever in his life.

      The four men drove home, to find that the shop manned by Momoe and Momoe alone.

      Well.

      As they had breezed unexpectedly into White Cross' life, they had vanished without a word.

      It was almost as unexpected as the weird, unexplainable sense of…of…of loss, that came over the four men who remained.

      It was a strange feeling.  After all, they hadn't been friends.

      But for a time, at least, they had not been enemies either.

      Taking a stroll around the city the next day, Ken found that his feet led him to that old, abandoned building from before.  The same place from nights and nights ago, when his enemy had saved his life from himself.

      It was a condemned building, so he glanced around before trespassing, wondering why even as he did so.  Maybe it was to allow himself whatever thoughts he had to think, before closing this chapter of his life.  Or maybe some part of him knew that Farfello would be there.

      The two of them were on the roof, where this had all began.

      Farfello glanced at him.  "Well, well.  Look who's here?"

      "You left without a word," Ken pointed out.

      "I recall," said Farfello wryly, "I've done worse against you before"

      Ken laughed, finding that funny.  It was true.  The last time they fought, Farfello grabbed him by the face and banged his head several times against a hard column…

      "I never want to see any of you on the other and of my claws again," said Ken.

      "I don't think you should worry about that," said Farfello.

      "Oh?"
      "Kritiker offered us a job"

      Ken let out another surprised laugh.  "Oh, yeah.  Cool.  But I should have expected that.  Did you say yes?"
      "Not…yet"

      "You should," urged Ken.

      "Are we…" hesitated Farfello, "going to be pawns again?"
      Ken considered the question.  Time and time again he felt that way.  But certainly it was nothing that he did simply because he was forced.  Ken understood Farfello's concern.  He had tasted freedom from the S.S., took it one-step further by deciding he and his pals wanted to take over the world.

      And now here he was…

      "We're all pawns of fate," said Ken.

      "Lame"

      "I'm trying," snapped Ken, "I can't say things are going to be easy.  But the S.S. could try again.  Goons keep popping out of the woodworks.  We need you"

      "And besides," said Farfello, "where else could a guy like me fit in, right?"

      "Chicks like scars, Farfello," Ken said truthfully.

      "Not this much"

      "Think what you want," Ken said in a huff that still adamantly disagreed.  "Anyway, life is good, most of the time.  Who knows? Maybe they'll give you guys a shop to run too"

      Farfello smirked.  It still looked creepy on him, but Ken thought it was a definite improvement. 

      "Maybe," Farfello said.

      Ken knew he had won.

      Who knows?

      Life held a lot of big surprises for a lot of little people.

THE END

December 16, 2000

NOTES:

1. Ho-kay.  First of all, a big SORRY for the fifty-million-years delay.  As a matter of fact, I had already quit on this when I decided I don't like to post unfinished fics, because I myself hated being hanged like that.

2. SORRY for the wrong characterizations, if any of them didn't quite live up to your expectations.  I guess I wanted to do something different, but am also hoping I didn't stray TOO far.

3. The novel "Peter Pan" by J.M. Barrie is obviously a reference, as is "The Prophet" by Kahlil Gibran, the excerpt above was the one of the major factors that inspired the fic.

4. I didn't go into detail towards Geworfenheit, because I wasn't really sure what to do about describing powers and features, lest I sound like the X-men (good as it is, I found no need for that here).  So kindly…um…use your imaginations!

5. Sorry, I'm going crazy again.  If there are any questions, please e-mail me.

6. Comments are very, very welcome.