Chapter Seven: Russian Roulette, Anyone?
Omi looked at Ken, who had fallen asleep, before dashing out into the hallway behind the Schwartz boy. "What happened?" he called.
"I'm not sure," Nagi managed. "Brad said something about catching Schuldig.... This can't be good."
Omi shouldered his coat and put on his gloves as they quickly walked. "You mind if I back you up?"
Omi shouldered his coat and put on his gloves as they quickly walked. "You mind if I back you up?"
"I'd be thankful," the telekinetic boy responded.
Omi smiled. "All right. You have any idea where he'd go?"
"I should be able to track him through the link Schwarz has set up."
"Okay. Be careful."
Nagi nodded and they headed off.
Schuldig felt a familiar presence behind him as he exited the hotel room and he turned. "What do you want, Adrian?" he growled.
"Don't do this. You'll only make things worse." The Asians man said quietly.
The German's eyes narrowed. "I will not sit around and wait for him to die."
"Sacrificing yourself won't save him. You tell him over and over where he goes you'll follow, but he'll do the same for you." Adrian said dangerously.
"I'm not as horrible at fighting as you seem to think. I can hold my own."
"I've seen the outcome of this. He needs you with him, not off trying to do this alone."
"You've manipulated outcomes before to get what you want, Adrian."
"I have nothing to do with this outcome. I have my own losses to consider."
"Then why even bother trying to stop me?"
"Because I care about you, and more than that, Brad cares about you. He'll die even faster if you get yourself killed."
"Then I won't die."
"Fine. Then go. Get out of here."
The German nodded and did just that, leaving Adrian standing alone until Nagi and Omi rounded the corner.
"Did Schu come by here?" the younger Japanese boy asked.
"He went that way." Adrian said flatly, pointing. "I hope you can knock some sense into him, Nagi. Drag him back if you've got to. If you can't stop him, he won't be coming back."
"Why didn't you stop him?" the boy demanded, sounding more frightened than angry.
"I couldn't. You're wasting time. Go."
The teen nodded and dashed off, Omi following.
Adrian crossed his arms. He saw fate, but he could not control all of it. And no matter what, Julia always came first. He left the hotel lobby silently, nobody seeing him go.
"What's going to happen to him?" Omi asked quietly as the two Japanese teens ran down the streets.
"I'm not sure." Nagi said, eyes searching the streets frantically. "He's trying to scramble the link, I'm having a hard time locating him."
A couple blocks over, Schuldig found what he was looking for. It was faint, but he knew she was there, even if she was covering up her presence. "Why don't you stop hiding and come on out, Kuroyuri?" he called.
"Well this is new. It isn't often that the prey comes to the hunter. You have a death wish, Schuldig?"
"I'd rather kill you so that my best friend can live."
She lifted a slender eyebrow. "You can't kill me."
"It's not very smart to underestimate one of the most powerful telepaths that ever went through Rosenkreuz."
"You flatter yourself too much. I can kill with a thought. You'd be dead before you got within five feet of me."
Schuldig closed his eyes and he heard her gasp slightly. "So can I."
"Surprise, surprise. You fight back not for yourself, but for him. Interesting." She shoved him back, across the street with a mental force. "I will not die by the likes of you."
"That's where you're wrong," Schuldig growled out, shooting his own attack back.
Kuroyuri blocked it, light forming in her palms. "You're a cheeky bastard, aren't you? I bet Geheim got a kick out of you."
The telepath glared. "Why don't you take a trip to hell and ask him?"
She laughed at him. "Even now you fear him and what he could do. You're a coward. If it hadn't been for that worthless American you'd still be cowering in some lower part of Rosenkreuz."
"And if it weren't for your cowardly boss, you probably would too. At least Brad has enough guts to show his face to his enemy."
"Please. Geheim would have been no challenge for me. There's one difference in your relation ship with Bradley Crawford and my relationship with Daniel. I love him, but I don't need him. You're dependant."
"Shut up and die!" Schuldig screamed as he increased his attack on the girl.
Their attacks met in the middle and struggled against each other. "I will never die!" she snarled, putting more force behind her attack.
He increased his as well. "Get use to the idea. Everyone does."
"Mortals do, yes." She smiled coyly and
continued forcing him back.
Schuldig hit a building's side and cringed.
"You are no match for me." Kuroyuri said quietly. "Leave now and I'll spare your life. Fight me again, and you'll have hell to pay."
"I'd go through hell for him."
She rolled her eyes. "I don't care. I really don't. I don't care if you love him or hate him. Your words mean nothing to me."
Just keep talking, wench, he thought to himself. Just keep talking and let me get a little deeper into that skull of yours and do some real damage....
Don't think I can't feel that, idiot. Don't worry; I'll make sure he dies slowly.
And with that, she vanished, his hold on her slipping away.
Schuldig fell forward onto the hard ground. "Damn it...."
"There he is!" Omi exclaimed from down the street. The two teen boys looked up just in time to see a white sphere barreling at the downed German.
"Schuldig!" Nagi exclaimed. He jerked out his hand and willed the telepath's body to move.
The German felt it happen and looked up. "Hey, chibi..."
Nagi pulled him swiftly away with his gift, and the sphere slammed into the building, leaving a considerable hole. The teen glared at Schuldig. "Don't you 'hey' me, Schuldig."
The telepath gave him a slightly unnerving smile. "What would you have me say, kiddo?"
"You just ran off and left him!" Nagi shouted. "Are you out of your mind?"
"Probably, but that's not why I did it."
"Then why?" he demanded.
"Because I couldn't just sit there and wait for him to die."
"That's why we were going to attack as a team." Nagi said flatly. "Together. A team. He's my friend too."
"He's everything to me, Nagi," Schuldig said firmly as he forced his tired body to his feet.
"And that makes him nothing to everybody else?" Nagi challenged.
"Wouldn't you have done something by now if he meant more?" Schuldig growled out, knowing the effect it would have, but not really caring.
"Go to hell, Schuldig." Nagi ground out. "God knows you deserve to be there." He turned and started walking away.
"I know," the telepath whispered as he felt his shields crack from the earlier pressure they had been under and his knees gave way under him.
And Nagi kept walking.
Omi stood there, totally unsure of what to do. "Where are you going?" he called to the telekinetic.
"Where do you think? Back to the hotel."
"What about Schuldig?"
"What about him?"
"Well other than the fact he passed out..."
Nagi turned a cold eye back to the telepath. "It's not my problem. He wanted to run out here by himself, let him get back by himself." That said, he turned and continued back to the hotel.
Omi threw up his hands. "No wonder Schwartz had more medical bills than us." he muttered. He sighed, knowing his good conscious wouldn't let him just leave the telepath on the ground.
He bent down next to the telepath, touching him lightly on the shoulder. He knew he wouldn't be able to get him all the way back to the hotel like this.
"Schuldig?"
The German stirred.
"Time to go, Schuldig." Omi said, hoping to get him more awake.
Two golden eyes fluttered open. Did the chibi leave? he questioned, not having the energy to speak out loud.
Yes. I don't think I've ever seen him that angry.
The German pushed himself to his knees and then to his feet and began walking slowly in the direction Nagi had just left in.
Omi followed, just to make sure he didn't fall over again.
Nagi walked into the room where he knew Crawford was and knocked quietly, then peeked his head in. "How are you feeling?"
Brad smiled for him. "I've been better, but it's all right. You okay?"
"Hai," the teen replied stiffly.
"You're lying, Nagi. Did you find Schuldig?"
"Hai." No need in going into detail. He didn't want to anyway.
"Is he all right?" The teenager wasn't telling him something.
"I don't know."
"What happened?"
"He tried to take on Kuroyuri! By himself... I swear I don't get it sometimes. Why couldn't he have just waited for the rest of us? We're worried too..."
Brad shut his eyes. That's what he'd been afraid the telepath would do. He reopened his eyes and gently cuffed the side of Nagi's face. "I know. It'll be okay. Schuldig's just...impatient..."
"And it almost got him killed..."
"I'm sorry."
The door opened suddenly and the redheaded telepath walked in. He said nothing as he walked over to his bed and flopped down on it.
Anger flared within Nagi as he saw the German. Brad raised an eyebrow as he could see the aura grow around him. "Nagi..." he said cautiously.
"Let the kid speak his mind. I don't care," Schuldig said as he lifted his head up slightly so his golden orbs met dark blue.
"You are the most selfish, self-centered bastard I've ever met." Nagi said calmly. "The whole damn world doesn't revolve around you. I hope you learn that before you run out of time." He turned to Brad. "I'll be in my room if you need me."
After the boy left, Schuldig watched the door for a moment, and then buried his face in his pillow. "This sucks," he said simply.
Brad blinked. "I don't think I've ever heard him say that much before."
Schuldig grunted a response as he curled up more.
"I appreciate your loyalty, Schuldig, but I'd rather have you alive." Brad said quietly.
"I'd like you to live this through, thanks."
"And getting yourself killed is going to accomplish this?"
"I wasn't going to get myself killed. I almost had her."
"I saw differently."
"I can't just sit here and wait around for you to drop on us, Brad," the German hissed as he glared at his friend, but then turned so that his back was to him.
Brad pulled out his gun and emptied the chambers of all the bullets but one. "You ever play Russian roulette?" he asked, spinning the chamber.
"It you use to be a favorite game of mine when I was little. I learned to hate the thing called fate through it."
Brad rolled his eyes. He slammed the chamber into place and cocked it. He placed it to his temple. "What are the odds?"
"You're the precog," Schuldig said testily. "And not as stupid as I am."
Brad pulled the trigger.
The sound that the gun made told Schuldig it was an empty chamber. It did cause him to sit up. "Don't."
"One down. Seven to go. I'll reach it eventually." He pulled the trigger again.
"Quit it, Brad," the German said again as he reached a hand toward the gun.
He backed away. "Why?" He pulled it again. "Four left. You're not the only one who can be unreasonable, Schuldig."
"Yes I am, damn it! I claimed that position among our team years ago," he yelled, yanking the gun away.
Brad tackled him and fought him for the gun. "Then I'm taking it from you!" he growled.
"You don't want it. And I won't give it to you. You're the sane one, remember?"
"I'm a desperate man, Schuldig! Give me the gun!"
"I'm desperate too!" the telepath yelled back, tears beginning to stream down his face for the first time in years.
As they struggled, the gun went off, the bullet ripping through the far wall. They both fell still, Schuldig pinned beneath the American. Silence purveyed.
"I won't loose you."
Brad paused momentarily. "How much do you think they'll charge us for the wall?"
"I don't know... "
Brad sat back and cupped the side of Schuldig's face with one hand. "You won't loose me, but for heaven's sake, use your brain before you try to be a hero."
"I wasn't trying to be a hero, Brad. I was just trying to get something done."
Brad stood and walked towards the bathroom. "I'm going to take a shower." He said tiredly. There was no point in belaboring the point with Schuldig. What he had been done had been right in his own mind, and there was no changing that.
Schuldig nodded as he curled up on Brad's bed, feeling completely drained.
Omi walked down the hallway to see Nagi by their door. "Everything all right? I thought I heard gunfire..."
Nagi nodded. "They're all right."
"Are you all right?" Omi asked.
Nagi nodded. "Schuldig's loosing it."
Omi pulled out his key and slid it through the scanner. "Once we get Sushiko and the girl out of the way, he'll be all right though, won't he?"
"I think so. But I just hope we can do that."
"I'm sure..." Omi trailed off as he stepped into their room. Nothing was out of place, in fact, just the opposite. The whole room was immaculate. The beds had been made and the bathroom straightened up. "Something's wrong..."
"It's room service," Nagi said as he glanced around with a raised eyebrow.
"No..." The pieces fell into place. "Where's Ken?" he breathed.
"I don't know... Maybe he went out? "
Panic rose with in Omi's chest. "I don't...I can feel it.... he's not here..." He turned and fled the room, banging on Aya and Yohji's door.
"What's up?" Yohji's voice answered from inside.
"Do you know where Ken is?" Omi called, trying not to sound desperate.
"Haven't seen him." Yohji stuck his head out the door. "He probably went down the grab a bite to eat or something."
"I'll check." Omi said, jogging towards the elevator.
"She's here!" Schuldig's voice rang through the hallway.
Yohji opened the door the rest of the way and felt Aya's hand on his arm a moment later. "I'd get your sword." Yohji murmured back to him.
Farfarello appeared in the hallway, followed by Julia. Yohji and Aya joined them a moment later, preparing to face the death-wielding girl once again.