Disclaimers: FFVII and DNAngel are legal properties to the owners and companies, so I'm filching off them.
000
Chapter Four:
"Daisuke never made it," mumbled Biggs into the silent carriage.
"Hmph," grunted Argentine, who was leaning against a huge crate full of who knew what. He was staring at the floor without much care as his team continued to talk amongst themselves.
"Maybe Shinra got at him," Wedge suggested, looking distraught. None of them really knew Daisuke, but he had been quite polite to all of them, so he was the sort that you got attached to.
"No way," Jessie shook her head briskly, frowning, "He wasn't that stupid to get himself caught. He must have missed the train though."
"Poor kid," Biggs added.
They all started when the door of the carriage slid open, but were in an even greater shock when a certain purple-clad-haired figure flipped himself into the storage car with ease. Landing on both feet gracefully, the person smirked at their faces.
"Who-" Jessie began.
"-the-" this time it was Wedge.
"-hell!" finished Biggs, who had fallen over in the shock. This resulted in him reeling into a box and was in a lot of pain. But unlike Argentine, he was about to start swearing and all the usual that the "boss" seemed to like to do.
Standing up and wiping his clothes down, Dark grinned at their stupefied reaction. The only person who had said nothing was Argentine, who was still glaring at the floor without moving at all. If it hadn't been for the train rattling and swaying, the brunette would have been exactly like a statue. "Don't know who I am then?"
(Dark… you're going to give them a heart attack one day,) the redhead muttered, hitting his head mentally as he watched what was going on, (And I think me taking over in front of them would really freak them out. What do we do?)
((Get them to clear off, that's what.)) the Thief grinned at them as they all continued to stare at him with the air of complete lost in their aura.
"You're the guy that saved me back at the reactor," Jessie started slowly, "And… uh… you're wearing the same clothes as Daisuke… so… ?" It seemed that she couldn't put two and two together at the moment, as she tried hard not to swoon too much in front of Dark.
"Friend or foe?" ventured Wedge.
Dark was still right at the opening of the storage car, which was quite dangerous in many perspectives, but he didn't seem to care. That and that fact that he and Daisuke had survived and had even come in with a flashy sort of entrance seemed to hit Argentine hard and he jerked his head up. He glared pointedly at the thief and mercenary before snapping out orders, which brought the group right back to attention. When Dark smirked right back, he felt like he was going to explode in anger.
"We're going to move into the main cars of the train," he barked sharply, "Move out!"
They hastened to obey his orders and he soon found himself alone with Dark. But when he was glaring at the three retreating figures, he heard the door slide shut, the loud rattling subsiding, and upon turning, was alone with Daisuke; who was looking innocently sheepish. Not that the brunette could blame him. They needed a long conversation soon.
"What the hell was with that?"
The redhead inclined his head innocently; that was, looking about as innocent as a nineteen-year-old former SOLDIER-first-class-now-mercenary could by standards in this incredibly cruel world, "What are you talking about?"
"That!" it was clear that Argentine was not playing around, but he was yet to resort into violence; he wasn't about to go that low.
((Maybe we should just tell him before he pops a vein or something,)) Dark muttered, watching with obvious interest, ((Or he might die from a heart attack; he looks old enough.))
That was lie, but Daisuke decided it was better to allow the Thief some slack to insult the people he met otherwise his raging rampages in public would be much worse. Besides, it wasn't like the brunette in front of him – who was glaring for that matter – could hear what Dark was saying, so no one was hurt and the thief was able to keep his sanity for that much longer.
(Probably should, although he'll probably think I'm just a nutcase or something,) he agreed readily, and Dark laughed.
((He witnessed it, so he must be as insane as us, okay? Now let's just get the news over with before I have to do it myself.))
The redhead grimaced, (Now that… doesn't sound like a good idea.)
((Fine, whatever.))
(Yeah.) Seeing that Argentine was still glaring at him after this little conversation, Daisuke couldn't help but smile disarmingly, "What do you think happened, then?" he shot back.
The brunette blinked at the question; not that he should have expected much else. This Niwa kid-teen-whatever was a strange one; like, how the heck did he get into SOLDIER: first class at that age? Like… what! It was kind of hard to believe. But that wasn't the point at the moment, so he let that thought drop for the time being.
"Well, that stupid-"
((Who's stupid!))
"-purple-haired guy appeared practically out of nowhere, and now you're back. What the hell is that supposed to be?"
((Who the hell is he calling stupid is my question!)) Dark yelled indignantly, ((C'mon, lemme out so I can teach him a lesson or hundred!))
(Calm down.) "I wouldn't call Dark an idiot, if I were you. Unlike me, he doesn't care who he slices up in the end," Daisuke said in a placate tone, smiling slightly as his alter ego yelled some other things to him, "And you might end up regretting it in the end."
((Damn straight!))
The older man raised an eyebrow, "Dark's his name?"
Dark gave a mock gasp, ((Oh my god, you actually managed to work that out? Good job… not!))
"Yeah. Haven't you ever heard of Kaitou Dark before?" (Are you sure that you're as famous as you claim you are?)
((Well, Dai-chan,)) the thief started slowly, ((Let's just say that Shinra corp. would know me quite well; I gave them hell a couple of times and all, you know, as for the poor folks who live in the slums, who knows?))
"Kaitou Dark?" repeated Argentine, "Probably heard him once or twice, can't remember. Wait… what does that matter?"
Seeing that the brunette wasn't catching on at the moment, Daisuke sighed; it looked like he would just have to go and plunge into the depths of confusion of his bloodline this time. Not that he really made a randomly public announcement about who he was – or was not – but seeing that Dark didn't seem to care the least anymore about who knew or not, it was best to do it as simple as possible.
"Okay, so you heard of him. He's a really famous thief who steals works of art but has been recently been causing hell for Shinra and all that," he started, the rattling of the train and the constant swaying of the carriage beginning to get a little annoying, "And that no one knows his identity… the usual stuff."
"Yeah. So what? No one probably notices him when he walks around, big deal."
((…)) Dark seemed ready to pop a vessel now.
"Actually, it would be kind of hard seeing as he had violet hair and all that," he corrected Argentine, "But that's besides the point. The fact is, he's a part of me, okay?"
The silence that followed after – that was, as silent as it could be with a train speeding towards its destination – was rather amusing, as Argentine seemed to be at a loss at what to say at this crazy, crazy explanation.
He pointed a finger at the boy, "You are Dark." he stated, just to make sure, and got a nod in return. "That's it, I'm never drinking again."
The thief decided to take over at this point, despite his host's protests, "What, you were drinking? What kind of example are you setting for the rest of the group?" he demanded shrewdly.
Argentine just shot him a scowl, "Shut up, blowing up an entire reactor and not getting caught by the guards is heavy business."
"So's stealing art with a homicidal maniac on your tail, but you don't see me complaining, now do you?" scoffed Dark imperiously.
(Dark… don't start digging a hole for yourself again. You might not be able to get yourself out this time.)
((I'm having fun here, come on.))
(No.)
"Shut up, freak," this was Argentine, who seemed to have gotten over his shock and was slowly piecing himself all back together. Daisuke took over again and the brunette just muttered something under his breath before say, "Get into the main carriages."
"Yeah…" wondering if the brunette was thinking that he had gone completely insane now, the redhead did as he was told without question and jumped over a couple of crates to where a door was located. Pulling it open, he was revealed with faded red, cheap plastic cushions with the rest of AVALANCHE located within it. He entered and turned to Biggs, who was lying on a seat and looking at the swinging hand-holding apparatus' that were placed there.
"Is this train empty or something?"
He turned his head to the speaker, "Well, hey there." He greeted lazily, obviously not caring about the redhead's sudden appearance, "Nah, they just all got scared off when we entered, so we get a car to ourselves. Great, isn't it?"
"I see…" he quickly stepped to the side as Argentine jumped through and stalked off to take a seat for himself as well. At this, Biggs levied himself up a bit with his elbow, "What's biting him?"
"Aside from the usual, I don't know."
"Ah well, I would have thought he would be a bit happier with a reactor blown up and all." He flopped back at this and fell silent, allowing Daisuke to wander off wherever he wished, but there wasn't much to see, really. They seemed to be zooming through a really long tunnel at the moment and Jessie and Wedge were at the other end, looking at a small green screen for some reason.
Deciding that there was nothing else he could do, the redhead walked up to ask what they were doing, but Argentine caught his attention as he walked past, "Hey, Niwa."
"Yeah?" maybe the brunette had finally lost it? It was a rather funny idea in itself, he had to admit.
"Look out there," he waved a hand blandly at the window, in which the train had gotten out of the tunnel; only to reveal a depressing, gas-polluted scenery. It was pathetically sad. "You see what Shinra have done? They're killed this part of the land and they don't give shit about it."
"I know," Daisuke nodded slowly.
"And they don't care, do they? Not at all, because they get all the money they want from it, and the greedy bastards couldn't give less for the citizens they're slowly poisoning to death," his eyes had narrowed dangerously at this as he continued, "Each sector in Midgar has a reactor, and each reactor is pumping the life out of the earth, and they don't give a shit." He seemed to trail off at this and acted like Daisuke didn't even exist.
Not being able to work out the reason for this righteous indignation he had just witnessed, the Niwa decided it was just his way to showing emotions and continued on the short journey to reach Jessie, who welcomed him happily; again, neither one showed surprise of his sudden reappearance. Did they already work it out or something? Or were all people this open-minded about stuff as such? Or did crazy things happen to them all the time and this wasn't any different?
Either way, he was ushered to take a look at the small green, computerized screen. "So what's this about?" he asked.
"It's pretty much a useful little device that explains the routes that each train takes," began Jessie helpfully, "You see, each platform is placed in each sector. There are nine sectors in all of Midgar, and each one has their own reactor."
He nodded, catching on.
"We got rid of the one in sector 8 thanks to you, so that leaves seven others," she grimaced and plunged onwards, "But it's a great start. But as we pass through each sector, the trains have an ID scanner, for violates and terrorists," she smiled vaguely at this, "So that why the team carries fake IDs."
As she finished this sentence, the car flashed green and Daisuke started. The brunette woman shook her head at this as the light faded, "We should be okay. They just checked us and seeing as there are no errors…" she suddenly became more hopeful, "I have to make you a special ID! How about it?"
He smiled at her enthusiasm, "I'm looking forward to it then." Would he still be around, though?
"Thanks! I'll give it some extra bang to it," she winked and then they returned to staring at the screen as it flashed to different blue prints of Midgar's underground routes.
Silence fell amongst the team, each in their own thoughts and wondering about what would become of them, or what their next move was going to be. It was clear that the fight was going to be a long one, and they weren't about to give up anytime soon; it seemed that Shinra would have a lot on their hands.
Daisuke sat on a seat on his own, listening to the train as it rattled on and Dark's snores. They were all pulled into their own separate thoughts, and it continued on until the train finally hit the brakes and screeched to a halt with a voice intoning, "Sector 7 slums. All passengers, we've reached the sector 7 slums."
Without saying a word to one another, they made the slow procession to the front of the train, as the platform didn't stretch out all that far. Glancing out, Daisuke caught sight of some abandoned trains to his left, but didn't say anything.
They piled out and the shinra guard who kept an eye around shut the door behind them yet paid them no attention whatsoever. A couple of other people who had been on board were walking off into the slums, some hand in hand with another. Family, or something.
The redhead couldn't help but notice that small pang of guilt, but he quickly shook it off as Argentine gave them some quick instructions. "We'll be meeting at the hideout; go your own way, you know, the usual. Now move out!"
Everyone around saluted and they split, although they were generally going the same way. The poisonous fumes were nauseating, but there was nothing that could be done about it. Tucking his hands into the pockets of his pants, Daisuke walked into the swirling depression-like-state of the slums below.
000
(can't think of anything to say to yeah) Read, review, helpful comments and the like are welcome XD
chrnoskitty: Oh, you're no crazy… (hint hint lol) Thanks for the comment!
neko-nya: Hm… her personality is just like that, isn't it? Ah well, it just can't be denied in the end ;D Oh, there's no point in writing to dead people; Cloud's just delusional.