We've made it to chapter two. Part three, if you're really paying attention, what with the prologue and everything. Hmm. Maybe if you guys ask real nicely, I'll show you the picture that inspired the whole story. Well, pictures. There were several. Unfortunately, none of them are official, so I can't really post them anywhere, without the artists permission, which I can't get because I don't remember where they came from. Oh well.
As always, none of the characters (unless otherwise stated) belong to me. They all belong to Takehito Koyasu-sama, and the rest of the Weiss troupe, Shin'ichiro Miki, Seki Tomokazu, and Yuuki Hiro. Or is it Hiro Yuuki? I can never remember…. sweatdrops
Manx braced for the wave of shock, followed by the tsunami of chaos that was sure to follow these six simple words. It never came.
Ken realized it first. "Schwarz. You've outgrown the school uniforms?" It was cold, but not hostile, and Manx prayed thanks to the gods.
This set it off for the other two, who echoed incredulous "Schwarz!"
Manx waited until they'd settled back down into some semblance of calm.
"Yes. Formerly of Schwarz, Nagi is... no longer a part of them. They broke up, much the same way Weiss did. He agreed to aid the search for Omi, as Omi is more likely to ...not...recognise him."
Nagi interrupted her gently. "Why..? Why are you looking for him?"
Ken nodded, and seconded the question. "What has he done to warrant dragging Aya and I from opposite ends of Japan, and Yohji from AMERICA, and..Nagi...from wherever he came from!"
Manx nodded. "I was getting to that. We've caught wind that he may have been an assassin for hire, and that he's been hired by some...unusual clientele. No one we have with Kritiker is equipped to deal with him. Open the folders."
Birman had passed out colorfol folders, with puppies on the fronts, while Manx had been speaking. The four former assassins opened them now.
Dozens of pictures fell out, with graphic reports of what was done. All four of them were accomplished assassins, easy with death, and not easily squeamish. They all looked faintly green while looking through the images. Not one was the same as another, and the were usually bloody, or just plain nasty.
Nagi was first to point something out. "Manx.. ... Who did these? Why is SD carved into them all?"
Birman answered. "Omi did these. All of them. The SD is for Shimmering Death."
No one could place the grisly images with either the man still on the screen, or his counterpart in their memories. The idea that OMI did THIS... ...
Yohji swayed to his feet, and dashed for the bathroom. "Excuse me."
When they'd settled down again, Birman continued with the tale. "As Manx said before, we've recieved anonymous information as to the whereabouts of Omi. He's been hired by two men as a hitman, he'll be given a team of people, and he will be taking out several important people. What we are interested in is who hired him. You've each got one guess."
"The president?" Yohji asked, breezily.
"The Prime Minister?" Ran ventured.
"The Yakuza lords?" was Ken's guess.
"...You?" the final quiet guess came from Nagi.
Manx smiled at the guesses. "Wrong on all counts." she turned and looked Nagi head on in the face. "Brad Crawford and Schuldig."
Alexa answered the door irritably. She knew already who it was. Schuldig tended to emanate an aura she could pick up from miles away, and the only thing Brad had ever emanated was a predictable field of empty.
When she opened the door, she wasn't expecting an attractive blonde man, but that was who she'd been presented with.
"Oh. Hello. Who are you?" She asked in heavily accented japanese.
Omi smiled laconically. "You can call me Shimmer."
Crawford and Schuldig walked up behind him. As Brad had predicted, she'd been put out of her bad mood by the sight of Omi, and they would have easy dealings with her. Had Schuldig knocked she would have flattened him first and asked questions later. He tended to view her as an old friend, but he was still just an annoying older brother to her.
Omi appraised the girl he'd chosen without seeming to. She had lengthy red-brown hair, and odd colored eyes. One was a shimmering gold color, the other a deep chocolate brown. She was tall, and well-formed, but from the way she moved Omi could tell it was muscle and not fat that rounded out her curves. He wondered if she had any fat on her body at all. Alexa brought to mind a lethal big cat.
"Morning Star." He realized she'd spoken.
"What?" He hated being caught off guard that way, but it was his own fault.
"Shimmer, correct? I'm Morning Star. I'm saying I'll join you." He smiled as she disappeared. A few minutes later, she reappeared wearing tight leather jeans, flat boots, and a tight red tank top, covered by a black trench coat. Her belt hung on her hips, gravity-defyingly, and revealed two holsters and a knife sheath at her back. Omi nodded approvingly.
"Good. We have two others to pick up. You ready?" She nodded.
Omi was permitted to climb into the front seat of the jeep this time, as Schuldig rode with Alexa. Brad smiled again. It was not a pleasant smile.
"Next stop, Leelia Vincennes."
Leelia turned out to be a small, mousy woman. She had large green eyes that blinked at them from behind enormous glasses, and her brown hair was pulled back in a messy bun. She was wearing something chinese in origin, that covered her body totally.
"Can I help you?" Even her voice was small.
Omi afforded her a sweeping bow. "My name is Shimmer, and this is Star. We need your help." Alexa nodded respectively.
She smiled, knowingly. "Ah. You may call me Aurora." With this, she reached up and unpinned her hair. She removed her glasses, and looked up at him. For all she looked small and delicate, this woman was clearly a force to be reckoned with. By now, Omi was certain that Schuldig was explaining everything mentally, and that was why the girls so readily accepted with nothing more than a name.
"We're going for Kouri Shiro next, aren't we?" Leelia asked. Her hair was back up and her glasses were back on, and she once again resembled a field mouse. Omi knew better than to underestimate her. She wouldn't be on this little field trip if she wasn't capable.
Brad nodded. "You haven't lost your touch, I see." he commented.
"Lucky for you." was her almost acidic reply. Omi suddenly wondered if it would be safe to have to two of them in a car together. Schuldig still had Alexa, and would probably get this Kouri girl, too.
Leelia turned to him, an enigmatic smile gracing her delicate features. "And luckily for YOU, it won't be Kouri for long." He was about to ask her what she meant when Brad suddenly swerved onto a dirt road that Omi hadn't known was there, missing a tree and a mailbox by scant centimeters. Schuldig followed, making a better turn.
The routine was run through again, and Kouri introduced herself as Twilight. This made Leelia snort and roll her eyes. "She's not worthy of the title..." she murmured when no one else was listening. "Not like...him..."
With that, Brad relinquished the keys to the white jeep over to Omi.
"You four play nice, now!" Schuldig called as they were driving away.
Omi got behind the wheel, and waited for the girls. Then, he began the briefing.
"Ladies, what do you know about what you are about to undertake?" he queried, honestly curious.
Alexa answered first. "We are to accompany you to wherever you may take us, and help you out in whatever way we can. I bring my skills as an assassin, and my levitation and teleportation." Omi was only slightly startled to learn she was ...Gifted.
Leelia was next. "I agree with Star. I bring my exceptional skills as a hacker, computer specialist in general, and precognition."
Kouri smiled. "I am here to kick ass. I bring - myself." She was wearing cut off jeans, combat boots, and a shirt that was stretched to its limits. Her black hair was hacked short, and she had on fingerless gloves.
"That'll do. Can you all get along?" They exchanged a glance, then all nodded as one. Omi let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. "Then lets get this show on the road."
Well, that concludes the second chapter. I wish I could tell you how long this was going to be. I'll try to keep it short, so that I am motivated to finish it. And I am moving in with a good author-friend of mine soon, so I will probably have help in getting motivated to complete some of my other fics. I am working on a site, and soon my fics and the knowledge I've collected about weiss will be available there. (I am a veritable DICTIONARY when it comes to that show. There is nothing I can think of that I couldn't tell you about it, if given enough time to think about it. Also, I know and have spoken to Omi's English voice actor, Jamie McGonnigal that helps too. Anyone know how to track down nagi's? or maybe Schu's?)
All flames will be used to burn Nagi and Tot fanfics, before being fed to my fire-eating chocobo. Thanks. Constructive criticism welcome.
