Part two, Chapter Four: Spite And Malice
Jack is all tragic when he stands alone/feeling demonic, harmonic and in a no-go zone/ You look well suited like you came to win/ Lust, spite and malice, your degrees of sin/ Cruising for pity and looking pretty as fuck/ Jacks take your time, queens wish you luck./ Placebo, Spite & Malice
Margarete scans the Shanghai streets for any sign of Yuri. It looks like normal. . .
Well, no killing spree at least. Now, where would he go?
Outside a shop on one corner, she spots a couple of men talking animatedly to each other, gesticulating and glancing around. In particular, they appear to be looking down the road that leads to the harbour.
Oh, I bet I know what they're talking about. . .
She walks over to the shop, confident she can she can eavesdrop without looking suspicious.
Excuse me,' she murmours as she slips pst them, pretending she's going shopping. Once inside, she stares intently at a shelf display near the door, listening intently to what they are saying.
. . . And he looked like he was going to the harbour. gods only know what got into him though. . .'
The harbour? There's a lot of odd stuff going on there today. . . Early this morning a strange boat came in, a fishing boat but it was all smashed up, totally wrecked. It's a wonder it was still floating.'
Maybe that guy who just went down was with the Japanese Army. I saw someone in their uniform snooping around earlier.'
What?! The Japanese Army? Oh no. . . What are they doing here, they tracked me down already?
I'd better find Yuri before I do anything else.
Aware that the woman running the shop is eyeing her suspiciously, Margarete goes up to the counter and buys a couple of thera leaves, mind already running down complex alleys of possibility, what if the Army knows I'm here, what if they've figured out what I did, what if Yuri meets someone from the Army. . .what would he do?
Trying not to look flustered, she leaves the shop and turns towards the harbour. Once she's round the corner, Margarete starts to speed up, almost running.
When Margarete reaches the harbour, she sees Yuri, standing at the water's edge. He would appear to be talking angrily to himself, if she didn't have a slightly better idea that he was speaking to something all too real inside his head.
Hey, sonny boy,' she calls, and he turns round. What the hell was that all about?!'
. . .huh?' Yuri sounds tired, like he'd be angry if he could possibly have the energy.
Why'd you hit Alice? If you''d hit just about anyone else in that room it would have made more sense. I would have understood more if you'd hit me. But Alice. . .'
Yuri sighs frustratedly. Without a word he turns back to the water.
Hey! Aren't you even going to say anything?! Listen, have you any idea what Alice thinks about you?'
He mutters something practically unintelligible. Margarete thinks it went along the lines of I'd expect she hates me, and she assumes that is what he said.
Well, I wouldn't blame her if she did! But she just won't say anything bad about you, even after what you just did! In my opinion, she's bloody mad, but there it is.'
Yuri nearly turns round but swiftly decides against it. Margarete, incensed, doesn't want to let this go now, but she's stuck for words, left seething silently, staring irate at Yuri's back.
What the hell is he trying to DO here? Is he still out of his tree or does he just not CARE?! I certainly hope he's still mad- if this is him sane we're in serious trouble!
Itakura felt lost. Shanghai was a huge city and been sent here to look for five people- in all these thousands!
Suketani can't have thought this through very well, Perhaps the Army has something else going on right now, something keeping them preoccupied. It's going to be harder than I thought, and I certainly wasn't expecting it to be easy.
He'd found his way to a hotel, he'd arrived late last night but hadn't had any sleep. Now he was sitting on the narrow bed studying a map of the Shanghai area.
They'd be coming in from . . .here, on a boat, can't have been too long ago. . .I expect they'll still be in the Huayuang area. After all, they'd probably have slept first, then they'll need to decide where to go. And if I were them , I'd probably not hang around in Shanghai. . . Where would they go, though?
Itakura drags his copy of the mission information from his small rucksack and reads it again, despite having already learnt it off by heart. Never know what you've missed. . .
Missing persons:
Members of the Army:
Lieutenant Colonel Y. Kawashima
Sergeant S. Kato
M. Zelle: A spy for the Army. Code Named: Malkovich.
Wanted Criminals:
Alice Elliott [Age 20. Thin blonde Caucasian female. Potentially highly dangerous. Wanted for mass murder.]
Unknown man. [Young, wiry build, brown hair. Possibly Elliott's accomplice or paramour. Also potentially dangerous and believed to have assisted with the murders.]
It is possible that one or both of these parties have connections to the Anti- Japanese movement.
Last report in: 2200 hours, 22 September, 1913. Made by Lieutenant- Colonel Kawashima. At time of report the party was sailing from Dalian with Shanghai as the planned destination. All party members were present. There has been no contact or sightings since. . . .'
Maybe Elliott and this man have killed the Army members too. It does seem the most likely explanation- but how? Two against three, the three all having guns, fully trained Army members. Maybe Elliott has some secret connection to Dehuai, some hidden plan to make the Army think they'd be destroying him. . . But really, he would destroy them somehow. . . That's all I need, isn't it? If Dehuai is deeply involved with this, it's really serious. I was hoping he hadn't come into it yet.
Supposing that had happened. Elliott would want to get as far away from Shanghai as possible. She'd leave almost immediately. Maybe she already has. . . But then, I can't go all around the world looking for her right away. It makes sense to search Shanghai first. And if she was going to leave, she'd be at the harbour. There's more chance of being caught if you travel over land. She'll know that. So, the harbour, then. . .
Margarete is thoroughly fed up of Yuri's silence. What is WRONG with him? I've tried yelling, I've tried talking to him, I've tried almost everything. . .
Fine. If you're going to be like this, it isn't worth it. You can just stay here.'
She turns to leave. She walks a little distance, trying to keep her walk looking purposeful.
Hey! Shouldn't he be coming back?! How can he be so wrapped up in himself?!
All thoughts of using tactics- albeit rather obvious ones- to persuade Yuri to return are forgotten as Margarete spins around.
For God's sake, Yuri!! Snap out of it!!' she hollers at him.
At least she gets a reaction this time. Yuri turns around, anger flashing in his eyes. She might normally think she had just made a mistake, but by now she's just so angry she doesn't regret it. She's desperate to make Yuri see sense.
Snap out of it??!!' Yuri exclaims. If I had any fucking CHOICE I woulda snapped out of it long ago! You think I bloody WANT all this?! I've got some crazy voice babbling in my head, malice, fusion souls, and Fox-fucking- Face, and you tell me to snap out of it??!!'
? Fox- fucking- Face?? (I assume that expletive is not normally included- but you never can tell with Yuri. . .) What the hell is that? What's he on about now? I don't suppose it's a good time to ask. . .
But then, I suppose you wouldn't understand. So, just leave me alone. Get away from me. Don't come back.'
Yuri pronounces these last sentences with such flat hatred that Margarete suddenly feels chilled; cold right through. She isn't going to go away, though.
If Yuri is just going to give up- and, let's face it, it sounds like he might- everything so far has been in vain. If he's going to give up, I may as well still be working for the Army, Alice may as well still be in Bacon's captivity, Ben Hyuga died for nothing. We need everyone here, everyone that's a part of this. We can't have him drop out just because the voices in his head are yelling at him! No way is she going to let him give up now.
Look! Back in that hotel, Alice is worrying about you. You just hit her and ran out but she is still worrying abut you. Zhuzhen is blaming himself for what just happened- even though he didn't do anything-'
He killed my father!! I'd call THAT something!!'
Margarete loses the little grasp she still had on her temper. Can't he even try a little? Is he even willing to come back at all?! He MUST be!
Yeah, and what would you have done?' she screams. If you'd been in Zhuzhen's place fifteen years ago, what would YOU have done differently?!!'
Yuri doesn't know, of course. He can't admit it now, that there hadn't been any alternative. How can he say that he'd have killed his own father? Surely there was an alternative! There's always more than one way to do something, isn't there? Isn't there? But. . .what else. . .if he'd been there. . . He can feel a barrage of voices babbling in his mind, telling him you would have done that you know that's what you would have done so why don't you fucking admit it you bloody coward but that won't happen to you most likely you'll be the bastard needing killed it's in the family you know this madness you have the same fate lined up for you whatever you do so don't even pretend you can help them or save that girl you will drag them all down with you don't make it any worse for them just let them get on with their lives and stop fucking them up you stupid cunt!!'
It sounds like a babble of many voices but they're all the same voice really, all Fox- Face's voice. His father. . .the voices descend into shrieks of pain like dying. Margarete cannot hear a word of this and she's still angry with him.
Well? What would you have done, you hypocrite?!'
He's losing his sense of reality,descends into the shrieking pit where his mind must stay when some other has control. A dazzling flash of dark on light, Margarete's scream of surprised horror comes through a blanket of headache, Yuri is Death Emperor.
***
Itakura arrives at the harbour, and he stops dead in his tracks. There's a woman standing there, arguing with a man. They fit to perfection, the descriptions of Agent Malkovich and Elliott's unknown accomplice. He watches, what's going on? Wha- - ? He's. . . He's a. . . I heard about people like this once. I heard there was one in the Army. There were stories about a man named Hyuga who could do this. . . .I had assumed they were exaggerations, but this is exactly . . . . It's amazing . . . . He actually . . . He turned into a demon!
This demon looks like it might lunge forward at the woman, he's ready to jump in with his gun. It doesn't, though, it forcibly straighten itself and holds itself in check. He watches in awe and wonder as the demon bends down, crying out in pain, clutching its head, and in a bizarre blast of brightness, dissolves into human form again. This potentially dangerous human form with a wiry build, brown hair and eyes. He has imprinted this information on his brain. Now it's personified in front of his eyes. What is he to do. . .?
The woman must be Agent Malkovich. He had thought it at first sight, and the more he watches her the more he became sure. Her army issue gun, held in a holster at her hip, made him certain; this was Agent Malkovich. As far as he knew, she was on his side. But this demon man was not. And he must be a formidable enemy. . . .
There is more of that chapter, but my computer is all screwed up and has decided it will crash every so often just so I don't get complacent with the damn thing actually working. So I'll just put the last bit of this one on the start of the next one. These lyrics don't have a great deal to do with anything right now but I was very stuck so I put in some kind of omen of future chapters style ones. *sigh* It's a shame they don't have search by subject on lyrics web sites (actually, that probably wouldn't help. What would I search for, spies and harmonixers?). But I've been searching for song words through looking at random bands/singers, if I just stuck to my own CD collection it'd get very repetitive. . . . and I probably don't have the best taste in music anyway. . . . I tried to use music I'd at least heard for the early ones, most of these tracks I do have so far, but certain chapters
don't fit anything. . . .damn me an' my starting gimmicks I can't finish. I have no discipline, either, I keep starting random stories with the vague ambition of writing something dark, but I'm not gonna upload any of them cos they all suck. Also keep meaning to write original fic, I have the first chapter of about three and then I realise the ideas will never work. So then I go back to the angst poetry, and by now I'm sure the various sites I post angst poetry on are well and truly fed up of my spraffin' on about whatever I decide I'm gonna angst about today. . . . . . . But it's all I can write! Just goes to show I have no imagination I suppose, seen as it's all at least semi autobiographical/ Mary- Sueing. (Do you call it that in angst poetry?!) Yep, my english teacher's verdict on my writing is that I can structure sentences okay, but I can't actually write a decent plot with my structured sentences. So I meant to go away and not come back until I figured out how to do plots, but as I think I have already said I have no willpower. I'm gonna have to nail my n=hands to a table to stop me writing or something. . . . . .