I don't own anything.

An Assassin's Memories

Ninth Shot: Twenty-One

Takumi found the box he was looking for and dragged it off of its shelf and onto the van's floor. He fingered the case's dual clasps and pulled it open. He withdrew the long, vicious black rifle from inside and pushed a ten-round magazine into its receiver. "How long will this take you?" Ari asked.

"Ten minutes," Takumi said as he pulled the weapon's charging handle back and shoved a few extra twenty-round magazines into the pockets of his long black coat. He pushed the van's doors opened and stepped out into the parking garage. It was empty, but that wouldn't have mattered; after all, what else would he have used the spare magazines for? Takumi pressed the call button and waited for the elevator doors to open. After a moment they finally slid open and Takumi found himself staring at a rather cute young couple.

"Going up?" the woman asked cheerfully. Takumi fired his rifle from the hip and they both went down. He stepped into the elevator and punched the button for the roof. He ejected the empty magazine in his rifle and pushed a twenty-round one in. He glanced at the two people and reached under his shirt. He drew the heavy old .40-caliber and put them both out of their misery with a single shot to the temple. The elevator pinged to symbol that it had reached its destination. Takumi grabbed the young man and dragged him into the doorway to keep the doors from closing.

"I heard shots," a voice in his ear whispered.

"Yes ma'am," Takumi said. He crossed the roof and laid down on the edge. He spotted his target and raised the rifle to his shoulder before uncapping his scope. The target was a young businessman in a red sports car speeding down the road. From his vantage point Takumi could see the car's speedometer over his target's shoulder. He was speeding. Takumi fired and the 9mm rounds drilled into the back of the businessman's skull. The car swerved uncontrollably and went up on the sidewalk. Takumi capped his scope and stood. 'No rest for the wicked.'

(:::::::::::::ii::::::::::::::)

"Take a left here ma'am." Ari did as she was told and pulled into the nearly deserted parking lot for the Tokyo-3 Park and Nature Reserve.

"What are we doing here?" she asked as she parked the van and looked over her shoulder.

"Waiting." There was a long, strange looking weapon in his hand.

"What is that?" Ari asked.

"This is an SA-14 infrared surface to air missile with a nitrogen-cooled lead sulfide seeker head," Takumi said.

"It's a SAM," Ari said.

"Yes ma'am," Takumi said as he checked his watch. "Excuse me please." He pushed the van's back doors open and stepped out. Ari pushed the driver side door open and followed him out.

"What do you need a SAM for?"

"That ma'am," Takumi said as he kneeled. Ari looked up and stared at the small passenger plane on final approach. With a deafening roar the missile streaked from its launcher and took to the sky. It slammed into the plane's left jet engine and exploded with such brilliance that Ari had to look away. "It is unwise to stare directly at explosions at close range ma'am," Takumi said as he straightened up and lowered the empty launcher. He shoved it into the back of the van. "Should I drive?"

"I'm fine," Ari said as she climbed into the van. "What's the next stop?"

(:::::::::::::ii::::::::::::::)

Yuji stared at the bullet-riddled corpses in front of him and had to look away for a minute to keep himself from being sick. He said a quick, silent prayer and turned back. "What kind of monster could do this?"

"This isn't a monster," Yuji said. "It's much worse. This man's a professional."

"Any man whose profession is murder is a monster," the cop spat. Yuji stared at the young girl who had been gunned down along with her father, mother, and older brother. "Do you think this was Shima Ryoji?"

"It's very likely," Yuji said. "It matches the M.O."

"What's the M.O.?" the cop asked.

"Extreme brutality," Yuji said blankly. "That's the only consistent M.O. Sometimes he uses rifles, sometimes he uses explosives, and sometimes he uses pistols and knives. He does whatever strikes his fancy."

"How many attacks have there been today?" the cop asked.

"Sixty-three," Yuji said. "Some of them took place at the same time though. That's something that we haven't even begun to consider yet and frankly I don't want to consider."

"What?" the cop asked.

"Apparently," Yuji began. "There are two of them."

(:::::::::::::ii::::::::::::::)

Takumi looked around the abandoned house and reached under his shirt. He drew his .40-caliber and looked around again. He had the feeling that he wasn't alone. Something behind him creaked and Takumi whipped around violently, bringing his weapon to bare on the intruder. "Thirty-Three?" Takumi's head cocked to one side as he considered the young brown-haired woman standing in front of him.

"Twenty-One," he said finally, tucking his .40-caliber into its holster under his arm. "I suppose we would have run into each other eventually."

"I was rather hoping for it," Twenty-One said. "It's nice to see you again Thirty-Three. What is your current alias?"

"Takumi," Takumi said. Twenty-One smiled.

"Mana," she said. "What happened to your hair?"

"It needed alteration," Takumi said flatly.

"You were caught?" Mana asked. "NERV must have better people then I thought." Takumi ignored her and turned back to the window. "Are you going after Michaels?"

"Yes," Takumi said simply.

"Don't you think it's a little weird that they want him to live and his wife to die?" Mana asked.

"No," Takumi said. "They still have a use for him. What are you carrying?"

"This," Mana said, gesturing to the pistol that she had previously been aiming at Takumi. "Women these days don't wear enough clothing. I mean, look at this thing! Guy fashion just keeps getting baggier and girl fashion just keeps getting tighter. I can't even carry a backup!"

"I can," Takumi said as he patted the .40-caliber under his arm.

"You're gloating," Mana said.

"I don't gloat," Takumi said. "There he is." He reached under his shirt and tugged the revolver loose. "Here. I'll get the man."

"Right," Mana said as she took the revolver. Shinji shoved the front door open and fired twice. Neither shot was fatal and he moved towards the downed couple. They were reaching for each other desperately. Shinji kneeled and wrapped one arm around the man's throat and pulled him up into a kneeling position with the muzzle of the .40-caliber against the side of his skull. Next to them Mana grabbed the woman and sat her on her heels. In view of both Mister and Misses Michaels she brandished the revolver. The frame snapped open the six .357 magnum bullets were jettisoned into the air. Mana caught them all with a swipe of her hand and placed a single bullet into the chamber.

"Ever play Russian roulette?" Takumi asked lowly. "One in six is your death. The odds aren't that bad, but they get worse the longer you play." Mana grinned brightly and gave the cylinder of the weapon a spin. She flicked her wrist and the weapon snapped shut. She pulled the hammer back and pressed the muzzle against the woman's head.

"Why are you doing this?" Mister Michaels asked.

"You fucked with the wrong people," Takumi hissed. "Did you think there would be no repercussions?"

"SEELE," the older man rasped. Mana squeezed the revolver's trigger and both Mister and Misses Michaels screamed as the hammer fell on an empty cylinder.

"One out of five left," Takumi said. "The odds just keep getting worse."

"Just kill us!" Misses Michaels screamed.

"Okay," Mana said. She pressed the muzzle against the woman's back and squeezed the trigger. This time the chamber wasn't empty. Takumi stared at the red beginning to blossom on the woman's blouse. Mana shoved her and she fell at her husband's knees. "She asked for it."

"Yes she did," Takumi said with a nod.

"I. . ." the woman began weakly. "I love. . ."

"Oh shut up!" Mana spat. She drew her weapon put a 5.8mm round through the woman's head.

"Margaret!" Mister Michaels screamed.

"Don't forget this the next time you talk with your buddies at INTERPOL," Takumi hissed. "I'd hate to see this happened to your daughter. She's too cute to die in a puddle of her own blood in the middle of no where." Takumi shoved the man forward towards his dead wife and holstered his .40-caliber. "Let's get out of here."

"Right," Mana said.

(:::::::::::::ii::::::::::::::)

Yuji stared at the scene in front of him and had to look away as one of the medics gave the man some kind of tranquilizer and they finally got him away from the body of his wife. "Did he have anything to say?"

"No," the EMT said. "All he said was that there was a man and a woman. He couldn't remember anything past that. My guess is that his subconscious blocked most of it out."

"I figured as much," Yuji said. "They wouldn't have left him alive otherwise, so who is he?"

"Jean Luc Michaels," the EMT said. "I heard one of the cops mention the international witness protection agency."

"They must have gone up against some one big," Yuji said. This was the first case where the person killed didn't work for NERV. "I'll have to ask around."

"Good luck," the EMT said. "The IWPA doesn't dick around."

"I know."

(:::::::::::::ii::::::::::::::)

"So where's your handler?"

"Taking the evening off," Takumi said as he straightened his duster. "This is the first time she's even seen an assassin in code red."

"Oh," Mana said. "I've got the same problem with my handler. She's a complete newbie."

"I see," Takumi said. They continued down the street in silence for about ten minutes.

"So how come you had to change your hair?" Mana asked.

"I tried to hit the wrong person," Takumi explained. "She had body guards and a sniper."

"Ouch," Mana said. Takumi nodded. "So how long have you been working here Toc?" Takumi glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. "Fine. Don't answer. I'm just trying to make conversation."

"Your training was faulty," Takumi said.

"Now that was just mean," Mana said with a pout. Takumi ignored her and looked strait ahead. "Look at that."

"What?" Takumi asked. He looked at the building they had stopped in front of. "It's the police station."

"Look at that wanted poster," Takumi looked at the picture.

"Shinji Ikari?"

"Look at the picture," Mana said. "That's you Toc." Takumi stared at the picture.

"How can they have my picture?"

"And who the hell is Shinji Ikari?" Mana demanded. Takumi looked around carefully before putting his elbow through the glass. He grabbed the picture in one hand and Mana in the other.

"Start walking, don't look back," he hissed.

"I know," Mana shot back. They reached an alley and Takumi ducked into it. He stared at the poster in the light from a street light.

"Shinji Ikari," read. "Known aliases: Shima Ryoji."

"Is that your previous alias?" Mana asked.

"Yeah," Takumi said. "I need to get this to my handler."

"See you around Toc," Mana called.

"That would be pleasant," Takumi said simply.

(:::::::::::::ii::::::::::::::)

Ari was having some of the best dreams she had ever had before she was rudely awoken. "Ma'am." She sighed and waved her hand in the general direction of the voice. "Ma'am," the voice continued. "Please wake up." Ari rolled over. "Ari." Ari had about ten seconds to think about how nice her name sounded when Toc said it before she realized that something must have been truly wrong.

"What wrong?" she asked, sitting up and looking around her dark bed room.

"NERV has my picture," Takumi said. "And a name."

"What do you mean a name?" Ari demanded. She was suddenly quite aware of her rather skimpy sleepwear. "Toc!"

"What?" the man asked, whipping around and searching the room with his pistol. That caught Ari by surprise. He was way more on the edge then usual. Takumi was careful, but he didn't jump at shadows.

"What does the name Shinji Ikari mean to you?" Takumi asked, as he holstered his weapon and turned his attention back on her.

"I've never heard of him before," Ari said. "Is that the name?" Takumi laid a picture down and Ari fumbled for her bedside lamp. There just wasn't enough light coming in from the open doorway. She flipped on the light and stared at it. "This is you Toc."

"It's a computer generation," Takumi explained. "They had an old picture of me and they aged it."

"How did they get a picture of you?" Ari asked.

"I don't know ma'am," Takumi said. "I don't remember anything before I was programmed."

"Maybe this is where you're originally from," Ari said. "Would they keep files on that?"

"No," Takumi said. "Our files consist of an I.D. number, blood type, and success rate. That's it."

"We have to do something," Ari said. "What do you think Toc?"

"We leave it alone," Takumi said.

"But this is your history," Ari argued. "How could you not want to know who you are?"

"Who I was is not who I am," Takumi said.

-End

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-Author's notes. The school years isn't as bad as I thought it was. Now that I only update once a week I can start storing stories and not posting them. It works well for me. And yes Twenty-One is Mana from the Girlfriend of Steel videogames.