Disclaimer: _If_ I'd own them, then.......*wolfish grin* All other notes at the end of the chapter.
/ telepathy/,
´thoughts´
What he certainly hadn't plannedChapter 14
"… He should be somewhere here.." The redhead German stopped slowly, wearing a bewildered expression.
Behind him, Crawford, Aya and Farfarello also came to a halt. Schuldig was now definitely confused. Taking a few steps first in one, then in another direction, he let his eyes wander. Until now the redhead had been leading them, using his telepathic powers to find their missing member like a dog would use his fine nose. Just that the telepath was far more efficient. But now it seemed like he'd lost his trail. Stopping his pacing, Schuldig finally shook his. "I've lost him."
Both, he and the pale-haired psychopath eyed Crawford with a questioning look, seemingly expecting him to present them a reasonable explanation for that fact. First, the rejuvenated clairvoyant didn't seem to be going to answer their silent question. Instead, he started slowly walking down the deserted corridor, absently passing his hand over each door he passed. After the third door he stopped. "You're getting blocked. Check how many people are in the building."
"What?" Schuldig stared wide-eyed at the Oracle. Somebody who should be able to block _him_? He couldn't imagine that. None the less he did what the American had said. Jade-green eyes widened for a fleeting moment in surprise before his usual smirk crept over his face. /Guess what, Braddy, you're right. There are really some other persons here./ Grinning at the other redhead, which had stayed silent till now, he projected a thought into Abyssinian's head. /Seems like our kittens were missing their dear leader./
Aya's violet eyes widened at the foreign presence in his head. Obviously he didn't like the unasked invasion of his head. /Get out./ Schuldig's smirk widened at the psychical equivalent of a growl. /Hooo, Aya-chan, I'm scared./ Aya gritted his teeth, resisting the wish to simply attack the annoying German. Crawford watched silently as Schuldig's grin widened more and more until it resembled a Cheshire cat's, as Aya's annoyance was obviously growing. It was refreshing to not be the object of the telepath's teasing for once. Though, following the look Aya was giving Schuldig by now, the American decided that it would be a better idea to stop the German before the Weiß leader decided to forget their momentary truce and tried to shi-ne Schuldig.
Directing his mind at Schuldig, he thought. /Is there somebody else besides them?/ The German redhead stopped for a moment from his picking on the Japanese one, to reply. /No. Nagi should be, if the kid hasn't suddenly learned to teleport himself./ He paused, his eyes narrowing in a susceptive manner. /Why? Did you see more, furchtloser Anführer?[1]/ Crawford just shook his head, ignoring the redhead's try to get a reaction out of him. /Not really…/
Now Schuldig was serious again. The fact the American was acting like that was a sure indicator that the pre-cog was suspecting some sort of hook somewhere. As much as Schuldig despised his stiffness he'd grown to appreciate Crawford's sixth, (or was it already his seventh?), sense for upcoming danger. Even without his useful power the Oracle seemed to sense any traps from far. If Crawford said that there was somebody else in the building than it there most likely was. And it wasn't only Crawford, as he noted, but Farfarello also seemed to be a bit more restless than usual.
That was proof enough for him. Crawford alone might be wrong, but if the sensitive albino also felt it… He quickly re-checked the present mind-patterns. ´Okay. There are Crawford, Farfie, Fujimiya, … Kudou, Hidaka, Tsukiyono…-!´ He inhaled loudly.
There, faint but definitively there, were two other persons. They had some sort of mental shielding against telepathic invasions, but alone they were far too weak to make him overlook them like that. ´Looking´ a bit closer, he felt a familiar patter in them. A pattern, he recognized immediately, no matter how many years had passed since the last time. ´Shit.´
He gave the clairvoyant a troubled look. /Braddy..?/
The American met his eyes with a determined, calm, grim expression. "Sleepers creepers?" The German telepath nodded in a choppy way, now definitive paler than just a few moments ago. "´xactly." Aya and Farfarello exchanged bewildered glances. Obviously the albino was as clueless as himself. ´Something between Brad and Mastermind?´ Half to his surprise the brighter redhead didn't use his confusion, (or what the thought could be taken as indicating), to immediately annoy him even more. Instead Schuldig seemed to be honestly troubled and maybe even a bit scared. The troubled expression was soon replaced with anger. "Brad, if they've just touched the kid, then, I swear, I'll-!"
The Oracle turned, his usual calm expression having returned on his face, and sized his redhead team-mate with a unreadable look. If Aya hadn't known better, he'd say that it looked as if the precognitive was trying to judge how strong the German was as an opponent. It was hard to read Brad if he didn't want you to. "I know. Keep calm Schuldig, we don't know what other talents are around." Aya's eyes widened at that comment. ´Other talents?´ Managing his temper, Schuldig still couldn't do other than give Crawford an extremely worried look. The redhead remembered all too clearly the dangerous creatures and the fear they had been struck into them back in Rosenkreuz. A bit of it stuck still into his bones. /I'd have thought that they would never leave Rosenkreuz./
/Me too./, Crawford sent back to him, accompanied with a mental smirk. /As it seems we were both wrong./ The telepathic redhead grimaced at that. /I honestly wish I had your sense of humour./ This time the answering smirk was a real one. Sometimes the American's grim gallows humour was a bit _too_ grim for his liking.
Seemingly unconcerned about the German's uneasiness, Crawford turned to Aya and Farfarello. "Like expected this turns out to be a trap. Nagi's the bait to get all of us at once. We won't make it that easy for them." "Seven with a single strike, huh?" Unimpressed with the sarcastic tone of Schuldig's comment, Crawford continued. "The rest of Weiß is also here. They're facing one of them right now. Because of that we will split. Schuldig and Farfarello," He moved his hand into the direction of the doors, "You continue to look for Nagi. Their shields shouldn't be far too strong. Aya and I," He stepped to stand next to aforesaid redhead, "will go and distract them. They shouldn't be strong enough to keep their shields up while fighting." He paused for a moment to make sure that everybody understood.
/Schuldig/ The redhead nearly jerked at the whispered voice in his mind. /Ja Crawford?/ The now small American, -it was hard for the redhead to get himself adjusted to that fact-, wasn't looking at him, but instead leading the Weiß kitten away. /Be ready for my sign./ /…Alright./
Waiting until the two had gotten out of sight, Schuldig sighted slightly and motioned for Farfarello to follow him. "Come on Farf! Seems like we're going to have to check each one of those doors."
´Since when's stiff Crawford calling Abyssinian by his first name?´ Involuntarily a smirk that would make a Cheshire cat turn green with envy, spread over his face at those thoughts. ´Seems like I'll have to do some mind-checking later.´
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Aya was still unsure about what to think of what he had heard. Not really sure about how to ask, he silently followed Brad through countless, always the same looking corridors. Though, he was quite sure that they hadn't come this way, it was hard to tell. Those corridors really looked absolutely identical. ´A sheer labyrinth.` Slightly he wondered how they were supposed to find their way out again after this. If it was up to him, then they wouldn't. Interesting that Brad didn't seem to have any problems with it. ´Probably he's using his talent…´
Nevertheless Aya didn't like this. And what were those things that had scared Schuldig that much? Brad also seemed affected…Feeling the redhead's uneasiness, Brad slowed down a bit, allowing Aya to catch up to him without trouble. Waiting for the redhead to go next to his side, he said in a casual manner. "You want to know what's going on."
Aya blinked at him for a moment, surprised that the Oracle had read him that easily. "Hai." A thin-lipped smirk appeared on the American youth's lips. "I'd like that, too." Aya couldn't keep himself from giving Brad a wide-eyed look. "You don't know?" Still smirking, Brad slightly shook his head. "Not really." He grinned at Aya, who had risen one of his eyebrows. "Appearances are deceptive. And I didn't want to rattle Schuldig even more."
"He seems…" Aya didn't know how to best describe the way the telepath had looked. "…afraid." Crawford nodded, concentrating on finding the right way once again. "I wouldn't be surprised if he is." He paused for a second, seemingly trying to decide which way they should take. Turning right, he continued. "After all he nearly became one of them, once."
That caught Aya's interest. By now, the redhead had already given up on trying to memorize the way they were taking for their way back. He'd simply have to trust Brad on this one. In the back of his mind, Aya realized with slight surprise how easy it was for him to accept his dependence on Brad. Shouldn't he be more disturbed, seeing as Brad was actually a member of Schwarz? But he wasn't. Somehow he simply knew that he could trust Brad on this. Directing his mind back at the problems, speak enemies at hand, which they were going to face, he gave the smaller black-haired boy an inquiring look.
"I don't think that there's a really name for what they are. Back in Rosenkreuz we used to call them Sleepers creepers. A useless attempt to play the fear of them down, if I think about it. Have you ever heard of the term ´Sleeper´?" Aya nodded. "Agents or soldiers who infiltrate their opponents' rows." Crawford nodded in approval. "Exactly. They can stay for years that way, and as soon as they get their sign, they turn into perfect little weapons. Our sleepers were nearly the same. They could be anyone. One of your roommates, your best friend, the guy you met at the corridor once…. anyone. And it could change over night." He looked at Aya, a strange expression in his golden-brown eyes that the redhead couldn't place.
"Do you know how it is? To have to ask yourself every time when one of your friends leave you for just a few minutes ´Is he still my friend? Or just another one of their puppets?' They were the strongest weapons against us students. With them they took away the ability for us to trust." He paused for a moment, chuckling lightly at some unknown memory. It didn't sound all too amused. "The problem is that one can't distinguish between one who _was_ turned and one who wasn't, unless you happen to be a telepath or empath."
Aya frowned slightly, compensating what he had just heard. "…´Turned´?" "Another nickname. Meant were those who where ´mentally re-adjusted´. Like brainwashed, just worse. They're made to like what they do, if you know what I mean."
Aya nodded silently. He didn't feel like talking after what he'd heard. ´Kami-sama…´ None the less he murmured. "Like puppets with a soul." Brad nodded solemnly. "More like programmed robots. –They can make their own decisions. Like robots which happen to be built out of the bodies of peoples you know."
Aya shuddered inwardly at those words. Brad's voice had taken a far off tone, as if he was remembering something. "You knew one?" Crawford glanced surprised at him, his eyes slightly widened with amazement. Then he nodded. "Mm, I did. Knew and killed, that is." Amber-brown met again with purplish violet, both looks at the same time hooded and understanding. "It was my duty as a friend."
"…And Schuldig-?"
"He had more luck than brain, back then. He knows that, too."
This time Aya really shuddered. Which disgusting bastard was sick-minded enough to do something like that? Making friends kill each other…! No wonder that Schwarz had turned on them. Aya decided to ask Omi to do some research on, how had Brad called it? Rosenkreuz? when they got back. At that moment, Brad suddenly stopped. For a second he stared at something only he could see, the next he shouted "Duck!" pushing Aya away from the wall.
Just in time to prevent the redhead from being buried under it. Still crouching on the floor, Aya could hear a faint chuckle. Looking up, his sharp eyes focused on a barely visible form of somebody standing on the other side of the corridor. The figure chuckled lightly, openly amused over their reactions to his attack. "What a pity. I actually planned to hit."
Taking a few steps forward, Aya could see for the first time their attacker. A young man, probably soon to be in his twenties, with short blond hair and amused dancing dark eyes. Definitely no Asian origin, as Aya noted. He was approximately as tall as Ken, though by far not as muscular as the ex-soccer player. Rather thin and wiry, he didn't seem like much of an opponent. Next to him Brad changed into a fighting stance. "I hope you're ready for a little brawl."
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"Allow me to solve your problem."
Yohji whirled around at the sound of the voice, just to see the grinning redhead aim a gun at his face. Reacting with the speed of light, the tall blonde threw himself to the side, pulling the startled smaller one with him. The bullet ricochet of the metal of the door without inflecting any harm. The redhead laughed again, pushing to coloured sunglasses he was wearing up with one finger. All in all, he looked very amused with all of this.
Yohji growled. He'd known that they couldn't trust Schwarz! Schuldig laughed and aimed his gun again. – And gasped in shock as a couple of metal claws slashed through the white fabric of his coat, tearing it open. Just incredibly fast reflexes saved the flesh under it from suffering the same fate. Jumping out of Ken's reach, the redhead didn't smirk anymore. Actually he looked quite annoyed.
"MY COAT! You ruined it!! Did you know how expensive that thing was?!"
Grimacing at the torn front of the garment, the psychic glared at them. Slipping the sunglasses off his nose, he pocketed his gun, never stopping to glare the whole time. Yohji blinked surprised. Weren't Schuldig's eyes green? Nah, that had to be his imagination.
"That was the finest bleached leather you shredded! How do you think to make up for that?!" The redhead took the coat of, his movements giving away that he was rather annoyed.
"That was my favourite coat kitty!" Angry blue eyes glared at the brown-haired culprit. Pocketing her gun, their attacker smirked nastily. "Actually, I intended to make it quick, but for that you will suffer!"
With that he lunged at him.
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Stiller laughed silently. That was really too easy! It was truly a piece of cake for the blond telekinetic to keep his two opponents at bay.
"You're making it too easy for me. Please make no allowances for this humble one just because I'm still inexperienced."
The friendly expression never vanished from his lips, even when he blocked the slash of the katana-wielding redhead. It had been quite a pleasant surprise for Stiller to see him brandish the sword. –He'd heard amazing things about those Japanese swords and was very happy to see somebody who knew how to fight with one. Sorrowfully for the redhead, who had violet eyes as Stiller had noted with surprise, it turned out the telekinetic had no troubles stopping his blows and smashing him against the next wall. Several spots where the corridor's walls were missing plaster were silent evidences for that.
None the less, the black-clothed assassin kept attacking Stiller, despite his now injured state.
"Oops." Smiling he evaded a fist attack, which elsewhere would have rendered him unconscious if it had hit. He mustn't forget the kid, which had turned out to be a bit more difficult enemy to fight. Though looking rather weak, the black-haired youth was pretty fast and his hits were good aimed. Also he was quite strong for his slim frame.
Though what was actually problematic for Stiller, was that the boy kept dodging all of his attacks. ´He even dodges my telekinetic blasts´, the blonde barely evaded a katana-slash, ´Ah, but Jilocasin has said something about a precognitive.´. His smile returned. So that boy was the precog they were supposed to get. How exciting. ´It turns out to be harder than I thought.'
Crawford and Aya had synchronized their attacks by now, Aya distracting the telekinetic and Brad attacking him then out of his dead angle. –Probably the only efficient tactic against someone with telekinetic powers. Nonetheless, it wasn't looking too good for them. Aya already was having problems moving, due to several painful slams against the wall and Brad also, though not hit, was slowly running out of breath.
It was obvious that they couldn't keep their tactic up very long anymore. A fact which was making their attacks just the more fierce, as Stiller noted good-mindedly. He decided to put it to an end slowly. He couldn't keep the others wait, after all, could he?
"Sorry."
With that, he telekinetically took hold of the redhead and smashed him against the wall again, this time not loosing his grip on him after the impact. Instead he raised it even more until the pain was visible in the redhead's face, using this brute technique to break every bone in the other's body. Just as he was sure to hear the redhead's bones already creak in protest, the little black-headed boy attacked him again, landing a good hit in his face. Taken aback for a second, Stiller released his hold of the redhead, letting him drop to the ground in the process.
His shock didn't last long. Nearly the same second the kid landed on his feet, an invisible force already swept him from his feet and slammed him against the next wall with a sickening crash. The boy slid unconscious to the floor.
"Brad!!"
Brushing over his tormented jaw, Stiller made the same with the attacking redhead, though it sounded even more awful this time. A carefree smile plastered on his face again, the telekinetic turned to go. "Oh! It's getting late. – If I don't hurry the others will be angry with me. ^^"
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Ken couldn't do anything else than to stare at the lunging redhead, totally baffled. With the coat gone, the brunette could see that the ´He´ was actually a ´she´! The person was a girl! The claw-wielding assassin was lucky that Omi reacted in time, throwing his darts and spiking her arm before she could ram a hinged knife into him.
Instead of dropping her knife, the woman just stopped, regarding the projectiles in her arm with mild interest. She grabbed one and plucked it out. Letting it clatter on the floor, she reached for the next one, continuing this until she had plucked out all of them. Raising her bleeding arm, she grinned.
"Nice."
Suddenly Omi clenched his right arm with a gasp, nearly dropping to the ground. She gave him a questioning look. "Does that hurt?"
Ken had suddenly a sick feeling in his stomach. This reminded him of the time when he and Omi had fought Farfarello in that church. Back then their attacks had also been useless. ´She, too, can't feel pain?!´ Briefly he wondered why Yohji wasn't reacting. The answer was simple.
The blond playboy had fallen on his knees, clutching his chest while his features were distorted with pain. Next to him, Omi also suddenly collapsed. The redheaded woman laughed slightly, a feral grin having appeared on her face.
"Looks like only we two are left."
She stepped closer and Ken backed away. He didn't know what she had done, but he wouldn't let her get him that easily. The redhead chuckled. "A cautious one, aren't we?"
Her grin turned into a sneer. "That I like! First ripping a lady's coat into shreds and then being too cowardly to face the consequences!" A soaring pain suddenly shook Ken's body, his eyes going blank for a second. ´What?! She hasn't even touched me!´
Raising the brunette's pain with each step, the woman advanced slowly. "You non-talents are so pitiful." Her voice had turned all purring. Grabbing a fistful of Ken's hair, the redhead seized his head up with a rough jerk. "Time to end this. Bye-bye darling." With these words she concentrated once again, sending a pain through the three assassins' heads that was hard enough to knock them out instantly.
Letting go of Ken's hair, Kitten watched him uncaring as he landed on the ground. "Ph. Waste of time." Absentmindedly, she wondered if Stiller had a similarly easy game. "I really don't get why they're making such a fuss about them."
Before the bored empath could hurt the three members of Weiß a bit more, a voice that wasn't her own spoke in her mind. /Jilocasin?/ Her annoyance at the disturbance could be heard. The telepathic leader of her group immediately answered, sounding as unconcerned as always. /What are you doing Kitten?/ The young, redhead woman frowned /I was just about to play a bit with them./
A mental frown accompanied his answer. /As much as I can tell, they're already unconscious./ /So? They thought that I was a guy! I'm not _that_ flat. (mental pout)/ A sigh. Kitten grinned slightly. /We don't have time to waste. Memoire says that Stiller is going to die soon. Take care of that./ Their mental link dissolved.
Kitten's grin widened. The fly swatter was going to die? Sounded interesting.
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Somewhere else in the building, Schuldig grimaced. "This building's a fuckin' maze!" That already was the twentieth room they checked and there still was no sign of the small telekinetic. This was really getting on his nerves!
Pulling an annoyed face, the redhead called. "Yoo-hoo. Nagi! Nagi-lein[2]! Where are you?" Getting no answer, he shut the door he was peeking into and proceeded to the next one. "Chibi!" Nothing. He hated that! Naturally continuing to scan their surroundings, Schuldig still couldn't feel any other presences near them. That Farfarello was just trotting after him and staring holes into the air was also not helping.
"Fuck! Farf! Help me search for the chibi, will you!?!"
The white-haired madman just shrugged at his outburst and opened nonchalantly another door. "He's not in there." Schuldig gritted his teeth. That situation was irritating him. A lot. "That's great Farfie. That just leaves another two hundredfourtythree possibilities left." Farfarello shrugged his shoulders.
´God! I swear he does that deliberately!´, Schuldig checked the next room. Again nothing. Surprise, surprise. Well, to be honest, he couldn't blame the pale Irishman. Not at all, that is. It really wasn't his fault that those creepers had shown up. Schuldig shuddered slightly, remembering the blank feeling from when he'd entered their mind. As if he'd managed to get into the mind of a corpse. ´Wonder why Crawford's taking so long…´
Actually, the German didn't have good feeling about this at all. Deciding that it would be better to check onto the American once in a while, he let his mind wander. He nearly missed him. To what the German could make out, the clairvoyant was barely holding onto consciousness. ´Shit! I knew something was wrong!´
Concentrating on their mental link, Schuldig asked. /Brad! Everything O.K.? Brad! Hey, Braddy!!/ /Don't call me that./ The answer was low, but it was there. Schuldig let out a sigh of relief. /Great fuck, Crawford. Don't scare me like that. I already thought you were crossing the Jordan! (Does that pun even exist in English? ^^;) / A dry mental laugh echoed through their link. /Don't celebrate something before it has happened./ A slight grin crept over Schuldig's face. /Who told you that I was going to celebrate? Anyway, not that I want to rush you, but how long are you two still going to need?/ A short pause followed his question, indicating to the German that the other was seriously considering it.
Suddenly a strange sensation tickled Schuldig's mind, which made the little hairs on his neck standing on end. It wasn't really a thought or something –more like some kind of feeling, even creepier than what he had sensed in the Sleepers' minds. It would be probably best described like the absolute calm in the centre of a tornado. One wrong move and everything would get ripped apart. It was like that. /Crawford…?/ The precog still didn't answer. Schuldig could literally feel the situation the others were in heating up. ´Something bad's gonna happen.´ A single word broke through the silence which had been filling their connection.
/NOW!/
Literally feeling that something was happening, Schuldig spread his mind's fine net out as far as possible. ´That's strange…. There's Abyssinian – very weak, the sleepers must've landed quite a good hit…´ He frowned slightly. That wasn't a good sign. Abyssinian injured and down meant that Crawford was doing whatever he did alone. No good chances for the American. He could use some help…
Searching farther, his eyes widened. The rest of Weiß was down too – And the second Creeper right on the way to Oracle! /Crawford-!!/ "…!" Schuldig gasped. Instead of the calm spot which marked the American's mind normally, there was something else now. Something that shocked the telepath too much to dive any further. Stiff mental walls, thick enough to keep even the nosiest telepath out, had vanished, giving place to an all-devouring maelstrom of feelings. It was as if looking straight into the centre of a black hole, beautiful and appalling at the same time. ´Deadly.´ That was the only thing that came into the German's mind that could describe it. Feeling a faint pull at his mental self, Schuldig froze.
Farfarello watched silently as Schuldig suddenly clutched his head with a scream and dropping on the floor. Green eyes widened frightened as the realized what was happening. ´He's trying to pull me in!' Schuldig knew that he wouldn't have a chance to return to his body, should that happen. Collecting all his strength, he screamed at the American. /No! Braddy! It's me!! Stop!! Stop!!!/ For a moment, he thought that it didn't work. Then, suddenly, the familiar mental shields snapped up again, catapulting the redhead's mind with a jerk back to his body.
Gasping, Schuldig waited on the floor until his raging heartbeat had calmed down to a normal rate again. "Great god….!" Ignoring the problems that he was probably getting into with Farfarello for saying that loud, Schuldig stood up hastily, letting his mind wander again, searching for Nagi's familiar mind patterns. He had luck. Whatever Crawford was doing, it was enough to lower the mental blockade of those things. "I found him." Announcing this, Schuldig sped in the direction he had located his younger team-mate, Farfarello hot on his heels.
´I never thought that those shields weren't for keeping me out, but for keeping him _in_!' Schuldig suppressed a shudder and concentrated instead on finding the telekinetic.
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Crawford had had luck. By a chance coincidence he hadn't been hit half as strong as he'd expected, so the American had just been out for a few seconds.
Just enough to make the other believe that he'd beaten him.
Bad luck for him.
Being confident in his powers, Stiller didn't even react when he heard the small rustling of clothes. When a hard blow hit the back of his head, he hadn't any more time to react.
Bradley Crawford smiled as the blond telekinetic hit the floor, droplets of blood staining his until-then pristine outfit.
Really. Bad luck for him.
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Even though Kitten had been running the whole distance, she knew immediately that she was too late.
Spreading out in front of the shocked redhead, was a scene that could've been very good from one of those crazy painters who drew paintings of hell. The walls of the corridors were totally smashed, heavy chunks of plaster having been broken at several parts, the floor was covered with white dust and pieces of the wall and most of the few doors there were smashed as well. Absentmindedly noting that that was probably rather the telekinetic's doing, Kitten stepped nearer carefully.
The tumours of feelings she'd received right before taking the last turn were enough to warn her what was going to come. Still, it hadn't really helped. Out of the corner of her eye, Kitten noticed a formerly black-clad (now it was covered with white dust) figure lying half-covered with plaster at the back of the corridor. Kitten doubted that he was ever going to stand up again. 'Seems like Stiller had his fun.'
A low snicker directed her attention to the other inhabitant of the corridor. Halfway in front of her was Stiller, ´Or what was Stiller' a sarcastic little voice in her head remarked. And right behind him was nobody else than their main target, Kitten immediately realized.
At the sight of her, the slim black-haired teen had stopped chuckling, though an eerily feral grin still adorned his features. His hand, which held a still-sheathed sword twitched slightly. Kitten regarded it without emotion. Though still sheathed, blood was dripping from the hilt to the floor, mingling with the slowly growing wider splotch on the floor. It was easy to tell that it wasn't the boy's.
Blank gold-brown eyes fixated on her face as a slight grin spread over the woman's lips. "Nice club." The boy didn't react. He didn't even blink. "Nice hair." Kitten grimaced slightly, knowing very well that it was standing in every direction by now. "So you don't want to make it easy for me?" Her purr was dangerous. The boy still didn't react. "Why should I?"
The only thing that kept Kitten from attacking the insolent clairvoyant, -like Stiller she had informed herself on their targets-, was the strange feelings she got from him, which made her hairs on the neck stand straight into the air. Troubled blue eyes narrowed. Her feeling had seldom fooled her and right now all of her senses were screaming at her that something wasn't right with this boy. She didn't know how right she was, though.
Stepping over Stiller's body, the boy chuckled again, regarding her with the same emotionless eyes. It was unnerving. "You're unsure. Afraid to attack a mere child or to face the same fate as our friend?" The way he'd pronounced mere child was strange. Kitten growled. "I'm not afraid of _anything_!" Not taking his eyes from her, the boy chuckled again. It sounded haunting. "Not exactly a good attitude for a long life."
Kitten gritted her teeth. "I don't think that that concerns you." A slight smile grazed his lips at that answer. It didn't look pleasant. "Schuldig already announced your coming. Sorrowfully that means that I'll have to distract you a bit, too." A nasty smirk appeared on Kitten's face. "Oh really? " With that she sent a wave of pain at him and watched the slight body flinch with satisfaction.
She chuckled amusedly. "I hope you'll last longer than your friends." The chuckling stopped abruptly as Crawford joined it, seemingly totally unimpressed with her short display of powers. "Big talk from a mere empath." Blazing blue eyes frowned warningly. Who did that guy think he was? Just a mere low-level precognitive! He could count himself lucky to be regarded as a psychic at all.
Her expression grim, Kitten gave him another taste of her power. Again Crawford jerked, and then brushed it off like nothing. Her eyes widened. Was he immune to pain?! She tried it a third time. This time the shock was strong enough to make him let go of his sword. Not caring about the weapon on the floor, Crawford started advancing, taking his time with it. Kitten stared with disbelief at the smirking boy, not willing to believe what was happening. His eyes, trained on her like a hunting cat's, made a cold shiver run over her spine. ´Not good. Definitely not good!´ Suddenly fearing what was going to happen when he reached her, she concentrated all of her power, pushing it directly into his brain.
He actually went to his knees at that. A smirk spread over her face. ´Got ya, you arrogant asshole!´ Quickly she continued her attack. Crawford chuckled.
Looking slowly up at the shocked redhead, he asked with an amused voice. "Is that all you can do?" Kitten blanched, realizing that he _was_ able to feel her pain. He just didn't care about it. ´It doesn't matter! It simply doesn't matter!!´ Feeling cold, she stared at him. A normal human would've died after such an assault. –And he was just amused! She made a step back. The American still smirked at her. "Should I show you what real pain is?"
The empathic concentrated on him, feeling his feelings. It was such an obvious trap. The second Crawford was sure that the redhead empathic would really feel it too, he let down all of his mental blockades and defences, letting all his bottled up emotions soar to life at once. Kitten stumbled, holding her aching head with a gasp. ´No! Not at once! It's too much!´ Disgust, joy, sadness, the thrill of hunting, the intoxicating feeling of a life-and-death struggle, proud, bitterness, pain and much more filled her skull at once, trying to flood her self out of her body, drown her in all those emotions... Kitten was screaming now. "No!…NO!! Go away! GO AWAY!!!"
Giving Crawford a look of a hunted animal, she bolted up and tried to punch him. The Oracle evaded with trained ease. Dodging another blow, he whirled around and landed a painful punch into her guts.
Holding her injured abdomen, Kitten hissed at him like a wounded cat. Crawford smirked inwardly. He'd known that an empath wouldn't be able to stand the feelings of an assassin for long. Still, this situation was not that harmless.
Even with her powers disabled, that woman was still quite a good fighter. Yet, a fighter had to hit to do any harm. Crawford dodged all of her attempts until she finally backed away again, visibly out of breath. "You…#gasp#…damned….#hff#…monster! I'll….#gasp#…show you!!" Crawford smirked his most bastard smirk at her.
Her eyes widened. Searching for her gun, Kitten realised with a curse that she'd left it behind with her coat. "Arrr…Darn!!" She spat at the floor. "I'll get you!"
With that she turned and hurried off. Crawford smirked at her attics. Typical empaths. A vision of a furious redhead returning with her gun and the firm determination to shoot him in front of his eyes, he staggered back to Aya. Letting himself flop on the floor next to the redhead, Crawford carefully poked him, trying to wake him as gentle as possible. He sincerely hoped that the Japanese wasn't hurt too much.
"Hey…Aya. Aya!" The redhead stirred shortly and opened a pair of violet eyes then. Seeing that it was Brad who had woken him, his fine brows furrowed in confusion. Crawford smiled for a second reassuringly at him. "It's alright. They're gone now." A frown crept over his adorable face. "Though I don't know for how long. Can you stand up?" Aya tried it and nodded. "Good. We have to get away from here and that fast."
Standing up, Aya brushed the chalk off his cloak and went to retrieve his katana. Finding it next to the fallen telekinetic, Aya picked it up and turned to give Brad a questioning look. -And frowned. The man turned teen was still kneeling on the floor, watching him with exhausted eyes. "…What's wrong?" Crawford blinked startled, then shook his head. "Schuldig reported that they found Nagi. They're on their way out now." He tried to stand up and winced. The fight with the empathic had gotten to him more than he'd wanted to admit.
Suddenly a gentle hand placed itself on his shoulder. "Brad…daijobou?" Giving the leader of Weiß a surprised look, Crawford had to keep himself from smiling at him in reassurance. Hell, he was Crawford! He did _not_ smile! None the less something of his emotion seemed to have reached his eyes, for a ghost of a smile hushed over Aya's lips. "I'm alright. Just a bit tired."
Nodding, Aya helped the smaller one up and steadying him with a helping hand. Surprising enough Crawford allowed this without protest. "They're going to pick up the rest of your team on their way out." "Aa." Gesturing at their direction, Crawford said. "Then let's go." If he had looked up that moment, he would have seen the redhead smile an honest, fond smile at his supposed-to-be nemesis as he helped him continue.
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"Here?"
Schuldig nodded, confirming his companion's question and then stepped back. With an exaggerated gesture with both arms, he gestured at the door. "After you."
The albino just nodded and broke the lock. Schuldig beamed. "Why, thank you!" He walked in – just to come tumbling outside again. Farfarello tilted his head quizzically. Schuldig grimaced. "Ha ha ha." He went inside again. Farf watched him fly out again and crash into the wall. Stepping closer to the door, he ducked his head curiously inside. Nagi was there. Seemingly unhurt, he sat on the floor, staring into nothing. Next to him, Schuldig pushed through the door. Seeing the advancing redhead, the small boy let out a cry and boosted him out of the room again. #Crash# Farfarello tilted his head. ´He's hit the wall again.'
Outside, Schuldig let loose a chore of wild curses. "That stupid kid, what does he think we're doing-? We're here to help you damn it-!"
"He's scared."
"-Eh?"
Schuldig stared at him, his eyes going wide. "Scared of us? Don't be silly, we're his team!" He went in and came flying out once again. "Of you." Schuldig grimaced, still sitting on the floor and rubbing his damaged backside. "You think?" He sounded thoughtful now.
"Alright! Then this way!" Standing up, he approached the door carefully. "Hey, Nagi, chibi…" He smiled reassuringly. "No need to be scared, lil' one. It's just us. Farf and Schu." Nagi stared at him. One minute passed, then two.
Nothing happened.
"Fuck! Nagi! I'll come in now and get you out and if you try once again to use me as a living bowling ball then I'll blast your mind out, that you won't even know your own name anymore!!"
…
Surprisingly, that worked. Giving a thumb-up sign to Farfarello, Schuldig picked up the small brunette and smirked. "And now let's get the kitties and go!" Farf grinned.
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Everything went good until they left the building. Noticing that they had somehow managed to leave through the backside entry, Crawford frowned. "That's not good."
If they tried to go to the front entrance, they'd surely be noticed, a thing Crawford would rather avoid. Who knew how many of those guys like the empath and the telekinetic where still inside. Anyway, Brad had had enough action for one day, so he didn't even bother looking in that direction. Next to him, Aya frowned too, his mind taking a similar train of thought as the Oracle's.
They needed a vehicle.
Aya grimaced suddenly. As if planned, there _was_ a vehicle, right in front of them. The problem: It was _Ken's_ vehicle.
A motorcycle.
None of them could drive it.
Crawford stared at the same direction. Shortly later the two were standing next to the mechanical monster, eyeing it distrustfully. ´Ken, that klutz.´ The brunette had even left the key in the lock ‑ again. ´ I wait for the day it gets stolen.'
Crawford had also noticed the key. Training his eyes over the machine, a slight smirk tugged on the edge of his lips, promising nothing good. Aya eyed the precog suspiciously. "You don't plan on driving that thing.."
A crooked grin was the only answer he got. "You don't even know how to drive it." Crawford gave him a mischievous look. "Actually, I do." Aya frowned. "I don't believe you. " Brad shrugged merely his shoulders. "A part of the basic training for a field leader. But if you don't want to…" He trailed off. After a few moments of reluctant staring at the machine, the redhead gave in and took his place behind the American.
"Fine. But Ken won't like it."
Crawford shrugged again, grinning inwardly. Ok, the part about knowing how to drive that thing wasn't completely true. –But it also wasn't exactly a lie! They had talked about it in theory once. Being fully confident in his skills, Crawford moved to start the engine.
After all, how difficult could it be to drive a bike?
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End chapter 14
[1] – fearless leader
[2] -lein or –chen. Means the same as the Japanese –chan.
Wheesh! Finally done! Writing this chapter was quite unnerving on some parts. ^^; But I've made it! Though much late ^^;;. Gomen.
Well, there'll be probably some questions about the ´second Schu´. 1. Yeah, the empath's a part of the sniper team which is after Schwarz (and now Weiß too). 2. Yup, it's a her. A woman, girl, female. Because of her coat the boy's just didn't notice it first.^^; She also attacked Nagi, posing as Schu. 3. Her name's really Kitten, don't laugh.
Very well, since all that confusing parts are cleared now (if not, just ask), I can go back searching the net for Weiß.mp3's again. Has anybody seen Crawford's image song Este? I just always hear that it's supposed to be good. And I just can't find it. Waaahh! (Starts wailing) T.T I already found Schu's though, and it's *breaks down laughing* I first thought that he was singing Japanese!^^
Ab-So-Lu-Te great thanks to anyone who has reviewed the last chapter! That's my absolute record!^_^ Meant are you: S.Wing, Yami no Tenshi(thanks for telling^^), Rei Eien( nodds^.^), minko, yuki, Ahhhh!!!, Ryuke-chan (hey, I found the beta-version again!^^), Shuo Ri, Sirogane (glomps for reviewing twice and sorry for taking that long^_^), pink bunny, Blue6-Blood6J6(^.^), Lady Dragon, Snickerdoodle, newtypeshadow, Kyra, Lucifiel, stray cat carya-chan (findest du?^.~), Cayenne (I'll see about it^^), Melanie (glomps for putting me on your fav autor list^_^). Well, that was it for now. ----hope you had fun and will come back again for the next chapter. Driving habits of the species assassins!^^
Anyhoots, hope you had some fun! Please review!^.^