The Next Generation 4

Magicman: *waves* Hello! I have a special treat for you today! Pre story entertainment! I'd like to mention that I don't own this song, the Brain does. And now, for your listening pleasure, I present.Dilandau!

(Dilandau appears holding a guitar and wearing a cowboy hat. Yes, this song is country.)

Dilandau: Thank you! Thank you! Thanks for coming! *Starts playing a country tune* But enough of me. Here comes the song! *Singing*

Oh, I am a pyro! I escaped from my cage. Burnings' my job. And I earn minimum wage.

But you'll all adore me! Yes! Once my plan is unfurled! You'll call me your leader Or I'll burn down the world!

*End of music and singing*

Dilandau: Thank you! Thank you! Thank you, and thank YOU! And now for our feature presentation.





The prisoner proved remarkably eager to talk.

"Well, for starters my name is Maarken Killoweltski. But people usually just call me Mark."

Yukari snickered. "I can see why!" Mark glared at her.

"And I've been a Mystic for two years."

"Wait a minute." Setto interrupted. "From what I know, the Mystics only accept people under the age of fourteen."

Mark nodded. "You're right. I'm sixteen. No older than you, I'm sure." He added.

"Are you making some smart-ass comment on my age?!" Yukari snarled. Mark hastily raised his hands in placation.

"Hey! Hey! Calm down, why don't you! I'm just saying that we're all the same age here." That seemed to mollify Yukari.

"So, why were you guys" she waved at the corpses "Trying to capture us?"

Mark grinned slightly. "Well that's kind of a long story."

"We've got time."

"Alright then" Mark shifted to get a more comfortable sitting position. "I wasn't there at the time, but from what I heard from the boys, it all started two years ago. Not too long before I joined the group. You remember the 'incident' in Palas?"

The twins nodded Yukari with a smile and Setto with flaming cheeks.

***FLASHBACK***

The 'Drunk Shop' was the most popular inn for mercenaries in Palas. One or two of the hired fighters could always be found in its dingy depths.

At the moment, the Dragonslayers, the Mystics, and a smattering of other such regiments occupied it. The nonentities mostly stayed away from the two prominent groups, who kept on trying to provoke the other. The 'no weapons' rule was in effect, but it certainly hadn't prevented brawls in the past.

At the moment though, things seemed relatively peaceful. Hitomi and Dilandau were chatting amiably with the Mystics' leader, Yukari was engaged in an arm wrestle with some other Mystic, and the other Slayers were scattered about making conversation, jokes (Miguel's favourite was passed around several times) and love (the serving wenches proved more than willing to 'play' with Dalet).

And then there was Setto.

Drunk as a poet on pay day, the ninja was playing poker with an equally inebriated Mystic. The Mystic lay down his cards, giggling drunkenly. "See? I got f-four queens an' six k-kings."

As it turned out, he was seeing double, and only had a full house. Setto was nonplussed.

"Well that'sh pretty good." He weaved unsteadily. "But I gotsh f- five acesh." Setting his cards down, Setto unsteadily reached forward to collect his winnings.

"WHAT?!" The other guy seemed to come out of his stupor. "There aren't five aces in the whole damn deck!" His eye twitched. "You cheated!"

Setto also seemed to come out of his drunken state. "You call me a cheater at your peril friend. You forget that we were playing with wild cards."

"Is that so? Well my FRIEND, I don't believe you!"

"First I'm a cheater, and now I'm a liar? What's next?"

"This! You're a foul mouthed, stench ridden, greasy haired, son of a flea ridden whore!"

Snap. This insult to Hitomi was too much, and Setto's usually calm temper broke like a dry twig. Screaming with fury, he punched the bastard in the face and jumped on him, trying to strangle him.

Utter pandemonium ensued.

With a whoop of joy, Yukari flipped the guy she'd been arm-wrestling over her shoulder before plunging into the fray. The Mystic leader grappled with Dilandau but stopped when Hitomi smashed him over the head with a chair, after which she grabbed a steel pipe and went wading through the crowd, a grin on her face. Dilandau let out a crazed laugh and followed her. Dalet took a kick to the face, but enraged barmaids, looking to avenge their virile hero then swarmed his attacker. Poor Gatti took on two large men and got the snot pounded out of him, and Ryoun had similar luck when he tackled someone from behind.

Eventually, Hitomi paused in her fun to realise that the guards would be coming. Putting down her steel pipe and losing the smirk, she whistled piercingly and disappeared out the back way, dragging her reluctant husband along. The other Slayers followed, and by the time the guards came, only the Mystics and the small groups were left.

***END FLASHBACK***

"The whole troop earned a week in jail for that. I was glad I joined after they all cooled off." Mark smiled at the memory. "Well.not all of them cooled down." His smile faded. Setto was curious.

"What do you mean?"

"About three months after I joined, there was a revolution of sorts. One of the sergeants, name of Kriggen, killed the general and took his rank."

"And he just got away with it?" Yukari asked, shocked. Mark shrugged.

"That's life in the Mystics. You don't ask questions or you get killed. We figured that things would be pretty much normal." He sighed and shook his head. "I knew that we'd jinx it."

"I repeat: What do you mean?"

"As it turns out, Kriggen is a hell of a lot nastier than the last commander. He started taking us into bigger risks for less pay. He kept on telling us that our name would be bigger than yours. I guess that made sense." Mark said dutifully. "But a year after the bar fight, we went into five to one odds! That lunatic didn't even tell us what the hell we were going into! Two good melef pilots were killed before we got out! And then you know what happened? He called us cowards and kept all the front money!"

Yukari was beside herself. "Why didn't you do something? How many Mystics are there?"

"Thirty" Mark said sullenly. "But he started keeping around guards. Big, nasty, whip-cracking bastards. And most of the old gang either left for a new unit, or disappeared quite suddenly. I'm one of the last of the original Mystics left." He sighed again. "And I won't be around much longer."

"Why is that?" Setto asked.

"Because if you fail a mission, then Kriggen kills you. Slowly and painfully" Mark shuddered. "I once did guard duty outside the tent where they do it. The bodies they brought out.well, let's just say that they didn't look like bodies anymore."

"I don't get something." Setto asked. "If Kriggen kills people who fail their missions, then why do they come back to him? Why are YOU going back to him?"

Mark shook his head sadly. "For the others, I have no idea whatsoever. My guess is that they don't have a choice. As for me, I'm still loyal to the unit. I'm a Mystic, and I'll die a Mystic."

Yukari slapped herself in the head. "Setto, go gather some food".

"But-"

"Do it."

Setto left in a hurry, taking his ration bag too. Mark looked at Yukari, curious.

Seething, the girl psycho slapped him across the face. "You idiot! You complete and total IMBECILE! Do you have any idea what you're saying? You want to die for some jackass who's got his sword so far up his butt that he uses it to shave his tongue!"

Mark shook his head. "That's not true. I want to die for my mercenary unit and be remembered with honour."

Yukari grabbed his jacket and shook him. "Were you not listening to yourself? The Mystics do not exist! Now they're 'Kriggen's Crapdiggers', or whatever!"

"As long as one person follows the rules and codes of the Mystics, then the Mystics still exist." Mark said stubbornly.

Yukari growled in her throat. She forced herself to calm down, which took a while. At last, she said "Honour and loyalty. Fine sentiments in any being. But they only get you so far. When there's nothing to be accomplished by dying, then you run like hell." She sighed. "I can see that you're not convinced. Let me put it this way. Are you loyal to Mystics?"

"Yes."

"Would you want to live the rest of your life as a Mystic?"

"Yes."

"Do you want to keep the memory of the Mystics alive?"

"Yes! Get to the bloody point!" Suddenly, Mark saw it. ".Oh."

Yukari nodded. "Exactly. If you go back to Kriggen, and he kills you, then what's left of your unit will die too. Staying alive is the only way for you to keep the Mystics alive."

Mark looked into Yukari's eyes, studying her expression. "What brought this on? Fifteen minutes ago, you were threatening to cut off my dick."

Yukari shrugged. "I guess I hate seeing people die."

"You killed five people not that long ago!"

"They were trying to kill me. What, do you expect me to let them? Besides, they had a chance to defend themselves."

"I see your point."

"So that solves all our problems but one. What are we going to do with you? I trust that you're not going back to die slowly?"

Mark shook his head. "No. I'm not afraid of death, but I'm not running into that creepy guy again."

A frown wrinkled Yukari's forehead. "Say what?"

"Last night, I was standing guard duty by Kriggen's tent. Now, it's midnight and I'm not at my most alert, but, and I swear this is true, some guy just steps out of thin air! He doesn't even pass me a glance, and walks into Kriggen's tent like he owns them. I'm not lying!" Mark protested, seeing the look on her face.

"Did you hear what it was about?"

"Yeah. They weren't exactly keeping their voices down. I think the boss called him Kasar."

Yukari's stomach sank. "Kasar?" Mark nodded. "A tall bastard, black eyes, braided hair, and a voice like a corpse?"

Mark stared at her. "How the hell did you know?"

"What did they talk about?"

"I didn't hear. My shift ended then."

Yukari growled a curse. Standing, she yelled at the top of her lungs. "SETTO!"

Before the echoes died, her twin came into the clearing, sword drawn and eyes darting looking for a target. When he saw nothing, he frowned. "Would you stop doing that? I thought we were under attack again!"

Ignoring this, Yukari moved to Reaver, the big horse snorting. "Gather up what you brought. The three of us are going to Fanelia."

"Say what?"

"Say what?"

"You heard me! Setto, that Kasar guy was talking to this Kriggen guy last night. And I'd bet my brother-"

"Hey!" Setto was indignant until Yukari shut him up with a glare.

"-That he was behind the attack today." She shook her head. "It seems that we've fallen into a political stew."

"What about Mark?"

"He'll come with us. Van needs to hear what he knows. And besides, we can't leave him here."

Coughing, Mark said, "If you're done deciding my fate, would it be too much for you to untie me?"

Yukari looked down at him in consideration. Setto decided not to get involved and just packed up. Personally, he didn't want the guy along. They didn't know him, he didn't know them, and for all they knew, he was a spy.

'Don't worry about it' He consoled himself. 'Knowing Yukari, he'll be sent back to his boss, stripped naked and hog tied.'

***

Setto glared reproachfully at his sister. Yukari was currently riding ahead with their new friend alongside. Apparently, Mark had had a horse stashed at his old camp. The two were chatting amiably, occasionally breaking out into argument over pointless details.

Sighing, Setto slumped in his saddle. This was going to be a long trip. Then he hurried up when Yukari screamed at him to stop lagging behind.





Magicman: Did you read this chapter? If you haven't then get back to the top of the page and read! How did you like it? Excellent? Good? Okay? Bad? Miserable? Reason-to-commit-suicide? Review and tell me! If you don't, then Dilandau will hunt you down and give you a stern talking to!

Dilandau (with cowboy hat): I'm warning you: I'm a very tenacious arguer.