Falling [6]
...
"Well, Abyssinian? You can't tell me you're not even a bit curious." Brad's eyes were fixed on his archenemy.
Ran didn't allow himself to be swayed. This could all be a trick, and he wasn't about to put away his katana just because Brad wasn't waiving his gun around.
"Alright then, I'll tell you anyway. This control," Brad held it up for Ran to see, "is a rather useful little toy. You see, it detonates every bomb within a one mile radius."
"What's your point? Even if you use it, we'll all still be on the same slate with the same amount of time to get out of a collapsing building." Ran wasn't quite connecting how this could be useful to Schwarz.
"Ah, but you see, Abyssinian, I have a certain advantage right now. Would you care to know what it is?" Brad was enjoying himself.
"What is it?" It sounded more like a demand rather than a question coming from Ran.
"I knew you'd ask," Brad teased and rolled the control in between his fingers in the most mocking manner he could manage. "Siberian is currently on top of the roof fighting Farfarello."
"What's this have to do with him?" Ran was now more ready than ever to splatter Brad's brains as all over his fucking one mile radius.
"Everything," Brad answered and allowed his lip to curve up a bit to the right. "You see, he wasn't quite able to finish his assignment tonight. He set up the seventh floor all right, but got.. caught on the staircase to the eighth."
Ran's eyes widened; he knew what that meant, but Brad wasn't about to deprive himself of saying it.
"Your precious Siberian is currently packing two bombs that'll blow him to infinity the second I press this button."
"You're lying." Ran hoped to call his bluff.
"Am I?" The confidence oozed from Brad's voice.
Ran's mind worked a mile a minute, but when it came down to it, he was not about to risk his team mate's life for a fifty/fifty chance. "What do you want?"
"I knew you'd see it my way."
~
"So tell me, did you know we would be here tonight?" Schuldig asked, gun momentarily idle at his side.
"Nope. It was a total surprise, to me at least," Yohji replied, his wire snapping back into his watch. He slowly approached his counterpart.
"Me too, actually." Schuldig walked to meet him halfway.
"Which brings me to ask, why are you here? This is such a routine mission, there can't possibly be anything we're doing that would foil Oracle's world domination plans."
"Tell you the truth, he kept me in the dark on this one. If I were to guess though, he has something up his sleeve for Abyssinian," Schuldig shrugged but suddenly felt uncomfortable as he saw Yohji's eyes narrow with suspicion.
"What makes you say that?" The trained PI questioned.
"Well, if you must know, he sent the kid out earlier this afternoon to spy on you," Schuldig replied nonchalantly. "Of course, I tagged along."
Yohji's wire shot out from his watch and immediately wrapped itself around Schuldig's neck.
"I feel used, darling," Schuldig said, smirking a bit despite the situation.
Yohji smiled his smoothest smile. "We tease, but we're enemies in the end. You know that. I become a different person when it comes to the safety of Weiss."
"I wouldn't expect it any other way," Schuldig replied and pulled his arm up to aim his gun at Yohji. "Stalemate."
~
'Help him.'
'Kill him.'
Omi's mind battled with itself. This was such an opportunity to finally be rid of the Schwarz telekinetic, but his conscience wouldn't allow him to do it. No matter how he looked at the situation, the fact of the matter was that a young boy, younger than himself even, was barely standing in front of him and loosing blood quickly.
"What's it going to be, Bombay?" Nagi asked as he watched his opponent slowly approach him.
"Don't move," Omi advised, partially for his own safety, and partially because even the smallest movement can wedge the arrow further in.
Nagi's mind suddenly flashed back to that afternoon. The sort of caring he saw among Weiss.. what he wouldn't do for a feeling like that. That, of course, had no room in his life. He quickly cleared his mind and lifted his free hand in front of him.
Omi stopped in his tracks, about five feet in front of his opponent. "Don't," he managed to say before a wave of energy swept over him, pushing him back.
~
"I'll tell you what; since you've been so cooperative tonight, I'll give you thirty seconds to save him," Crawford said seriously and looked down at his watch.
"What!?" Ran felt frozen in his spot.
"Twenty-nine, twenty-eight.."
Ran suddenly felt as if there were no other choices. He turned on his heels and ran as fast as he could up the stairs and to the roof. Everything was a blurred image in his mind. He didn't know how long he was taking, but all he knew is that he had to go as fast as his legs could possibly make do.
"Ken!" Ran managed out of his constricted throat upon pushing open the door to the roof.
"Aya...?" Ken looked up. He had the upper hand of the situation and was currently holding his bugnuks down at Farfarello's throat.
"Get rid of the bombs, Ken!"
~
"A gun will kill you faster," Schuldig reasoned.
"That depends on how hard I pull," Yohji retorted.
"I have a plan."
"What would that be?"
"We each let go at the same time and go our separate ways to help our own teams. We're not doing any good to anything playing these games here," Schuldig suggested, lowering his gun just a bit.
"Good plan. At the count of three. One-Two-Three.."
Both being men of their honor, they let go at the same time. Yohji's wire snapped back into its case and Schuldig's gun did the same.
A quick flash of alarm suddenly swept over Schuldig's face as he allowed his mind to trace over Nagi's. He was hurt. "Let's go, Balinese! We've got a fight to fight!" He called to Yohji, and soon disappeared from sight.
~
Omi had to think quick. There had to be some way to break through Prodigy's powers, especially now that he's as weakened as he is. Omi pushed against the energy, walking heavily towards his rival. If he could get to him, then somehow he could make him stop this.
"Nagi.." He managed past the forceful current, driving his hand towards the one that was currently pushing him away. Nagi was not to be swayed. If anything, the plea made him try harder. However, the enfeebled state he was already in allowed Omi for more control than usual.
Omi gathered up the last of his strength and pushed himself forward, grabbing Nagi's hand with as much force as he could gather. A quick wave of energy passed through them both and they collapsed to the ground, exhausted.
Nagi leaned heavily on his left side, the loss of blood finally having a major effect on him. Omi picked himself up and moved forward so Nagi could lean on him.
"I can fix it if you let me," he offered.
"Doesn't look like I have much of a choice." ~
Ken knew not to ask questions. He quickly ripped the explosives off his belt and threw them off the side of the building. Ran swiftly made his way towards him and pulled him down to the ground, expecting the bombs to explode midair.
Instead, Brad coolly walked out through the door, still holding the small device for everyone to see. Ran looked up from his spot on the ground and suddenly felt a rush of anger go through him.
"You were bluffing," he accused the American as he stood up to eyelevel with him.
"Oh no, not at all," Brad insisted. "I just wanted to make sure my team evacuated the premises before I set them off."
"Aya, Berserker's gone," Ken said, looking around for his adversary.
"Ken, get out of here," Ran ordered and pulled out his katana.
"Aya.." Ken objected.
"Follow orders and get out," came the stern reply and Ken did as he was told. He knew better than to go against Weiss's fearless leader when he sounded that determined. He quickly left the roof and was going down the fire escape in no time.
"Siberian," Nagi pointed out to Omi who was now cautiously pulling the arrow out of the his side.
Omi looked up and saw Ken at the eighth story of the fire escape. 'Something's not right. Where's Aya-kun?'
Schuldig saw the two from far away. He had been following Nagi's memory of the direction he took to get where he was. He was also vaguely aware that Yohji was following not far behind him.
"My apologies, Abyssinian. This was really meant as a special present for you. I wouldn't want to be here to spoil it," Brad said and gracefully made his escape down the side of the building, jumping off the small roof on top of the sixth and first floors. Ran clutched his katana and ran after him to the edge of the roof. How Schwarz had the ability to defy gravity like that was beyond him.
"Coward!" He called after him only to have the base beneath his feet escape him. Brad had detonated the bombs and Ran felt himself falling down the side of the collapsing building, helpless to do anything but continue falling.
...
"Well, Abyssinian? You can't tell me you're not even a bit curious." Brad's eyes were fixed on his archenemy.
Ran didn't allow himself to be swayed. This could all be a trick, and he wasn't about to put away his katana just because Brad wasn't waiving his gun around.
"Alright then, I'll tell you anyway. This control," Brad held it up for Ran to see, "is a rather useful little toy. You see, it detonates every bomb within a one mile radius."
"What's your point? Even if you use it, we'll all still be on the same slate with the same amount of time to get out of a collapsing building." Ran wasn't quite connecting how this could be useful to Schwarz.
"Ah, but you see, Abyssinian, I have a certain advantage right now. Would you care to know what it is?" Brad was enjoying himself.
"What is it?" It sounded more like a demand rather than a question coming from Ran.
"I knew you'd ask," Brad teased and rolled the control in between his fingers in the most mocking manner he could manage. "Siberian is currently on top of the roof fighting Farfarello."
"What's this have to do with him?" Ran was now more ready than ever to splatter Brad's brains as all over his fucking one mile radius.
"Everything," Brad answered and allowed his lip to curve up a bit to the right. "You see, he wasn't quite able to finish his assignment tonight. He set up the seventh floor all right, but got.. caught on the staircase to the eighth."
Ran's eyes widened; he knew what that meant, but Brad wasn't about to deprive himself of saying it.
"Your precious Siberian is currently packing two bombs that'll blow him to infinity the second I press this button."
"You're lying." Ran hoped to call his bluff.
"Am I?" The confidence oozed from Brad's voice.
Ran's mind worked a mile a minute, but when it came down to it, he was not about to risk his team mate's life for a fifty/fifty chance. "What do you want?"
"I knew you'd see it my way."
~
"So tell me, did you know we would be here tonight?" Schuldig asked, gun momentarily idle at his side.
"Nope. It was a total surprise, to me at least," Yohji replied, his wire snapping back into his watch. He slowly approached his counterpart.
"Me too, actually." Schuldig walked to meet him halfway.
"Which brings me to ask, why are you here? This is such a routine mission, there can't possibly be anything we're doing that would foil Oracle's world domination plans."
"Tell you the truth, he kept me in the dark on this one. If I were to guess though, he has something up his sleeve for Abyssinian," Schuldig shrugged but suddenly felt uncomfortable as he saw Yohji's eyes narrow with suspicion.
"What makes you say that?" The trained PI questioned.
"Well, if you must know, he sent the kid out earlier this afternoon to spy on you," Schuldig replied nonchalantly. "Of course, I tagged along."
Yohji's wire shot out from his watch and immediately wrapped itself around Schuldig's neck.
"I feel used, darling," Schuldig said, smirking a bit despite the situation.
Yohji smiled his smoothest smile. "We tease, but we're enemies in the end. You know that. I become a different person when it comes to the safety of Weiss."
"I wouldn't expect it any other way," Schuldig replied and pulled his arm up to aim his gun at Yohji. "Stalemate."
~
'Help him.'
'Kill him.'
Omi's mind battled with itself. This was such an opportunity to finally be rid of the Schwarz telekinetic, but his conscience wouldn't allow him to do it. No matter how he looked at the situation, the fact of the matter was that a young boy, younger than himself even, was barely standing in front of him and loosing blood quickly.
"What's it going to be, Bombay?" Nagi asked as he watched his opponent slowly approach him.
"Don't move," Omi advised, partially for his own safety, and partially because even the smallest movement can wedge the arrow further in.
Nagi's mind suddenly flashed back to that afternoon. The sort of caring he saw among Weiss.. what he wouldn't do for a feeling like that. That, of course, had no room in his life. He quickly cleared his mind and lifted his free hand in front of him.
Omi stopped in his tracks, about five feet in front of his opponent. "Don't," he managed to say before a wave of energy swept over him, pushing him back.
~
"I'll tell you what; since you've been so cooperative tonight, I'll give you thirty seconds to save him," Crawford said seriously and looked down at his watch.
"What!?" Ran felt frozen in his spot.
"Twenty-nine, twenty-eight.."
Ran suddenly felt as if there were no other choices. He turned on his heels and ran as fast as he could up the stairs and to the roof. Everything was a blurred image in his mind. He didn't know how long he was taking, but all he knew is that he had to go as fast as his legs could possibly make do.
"Ken!" Ran managed out of his constricted throat upon pushing open the door to the roof.
"Aya...?" Ken looked up. He had the upper hand of the situation and was currently holding his bugnuks down at Farfarello's throat.
"Get rid of the bombs, Ken!"
~
"A gun will kill you faster," Schuldig reasoned.
"That depends on how hard I pull," Yohji retorted.
"I have a plan."
"What would that be?"
"We each let go at the same time and go our separate ways to help our own teams. We're not doing any good to anything playing these games here," Schuldig suggested, lowering his gun just a bit.
"Good plan. At the count of three. One-Two-Three.."
Both being men of their honor, they let go at the same time. Yohji's wire snapped back into its case and Schuldig's gun did the same.
A quick flash of alarm suddenly swept over Schuldig's face as he allowed his mind to trace over Nagi's. He was hurt. "Let's go, Balinese! We've got a fight to fight!" He called to Yohji, and soon disappeared from sight.
~
Omi had to think quick. There had to be some way to break through Prodigy's powers, especially now that he's as weakened as he is. Omi pushed against the energy, walking heavily towards his rival. If he could get to him, then somehow he could make him stop this.
"Nagi.." He managed past the forceful current, driving his hand towards the one that was currently pushing him away. Nagi was not to be swayed. If anything, the plea made him try harder. However, the enfeebled state he was already in allowed Omi for more control than usual.
Omi gathered up the last of his strength and pushed himself forward, grabbing Nagi's hand with as much force as he could gather. A quick wave of energy passed through them both and they collapsed to the ground, exhausted.
Nagi leaned heavily on his left side, the loss of blood finally having a major effect on him. Omi picked himself up and moved forward so Nagi could lean on him.
"I can fix it if you let me," he offered.
"Doesn't look like I have much of a choice." ~
Ken knew not to ask questions. He quickly ripped the explosives off his belt and threw them off the side of the building. Ran swiftly made his way towards him and pulled him down to the ground, expecting the bombs to explode midair.
Instead, Brad coolly walked out through the door, still holding the small device for everyone to see. Ran looked up from his spot on the ground and suddenly felt a rush of anger go through him.
"You were bluffing," he accused the American as he stood up to eyelevel with him.
"Oh no, not at all," Brad insisted. "I just wanted to make sure my team evacuated the premises before I set them off."
"Aya, Berserker's gone," Ken said, looking around for his adversary.
"Ken, get out of here," Ran ordered and pulled out his katana.
"Aya.." Ken objected.
"Follow orders and get out," came the stern reply and Ken did as he was told. He knew better than to go against Weiss's fearless leader when he sounded that determined. He quickly left the roof and was going down the fire escape in no time.
"Siberian," Nagi pointed out to Omi who was now cautiously pulling the arrow out of the his side.
Omi looked up and saw Ken at the eighth story of the fire escape. 'Something's not right. Where's Aya-kun?'
Schuldig saw the two from far away. He had been following Nagi's memory of the direction he took to get where he was. He was also vaguely aware that Yohji was following not far behind him.
"My apologies, Abyssinian. This was really meant as a special present for you. I wouldn't want to be here to spoil it," Brad said and gracefully made his escape down the side of the building, jumping off the small roof on top of the sixth and first floors. Ran clutched his katana and ran after him to the edge of the roof. How Schwarz had the ability to defy gravity like that was beyond him.
"Coward!" He called after him only to have the base beneath his feet escape him. Brad had detonated the bombs and Ran felt himself falling down the side of the collapsing building, helpless to do anything but continue falling.