"Gunslinger Girl" series property of Yu Aida.
Original characters property of Author "Person With Many Aliases"
Indiscrete References property of their likewise respective properties.
A/N: Apparently, my word of "Should Write More This Summer" actually meant writing everything except my primary Naruto fic. Strange world.
There were two things she prayed for in every Sunday.
One was that God would heal her skin and eyes, so she could walk in the sunlight without an umbrella and sunglasses.
The other was that she would live to the next Sunday without getting killed by Protestants.
This Sunday, God showed his strange ways of answering prayers.
"OUT CATHOLICS! OUT CATHOLICS! OUT CATHOLICS!" She heard them yell amidst the sounds of breaking stain-glass and battering wood. But she was in God's home, in her mother's safe arms. Doubly safe-
A grenade flew through the window.
When she came to, she felt pain shoot up her arms and legs. She tried to scream, but couldn't. She then realized what was wrong.
She was missing her lower jaw.
I went to see the Devil… Now it's your turn.
Person With Many Aliases Presents:
"Halloween Night"
A Gunslinger Girl Fanfiction
She quietly peered around the corner of the stairwell to see if the hallway was clear. It was all clear. In a moment, the pre-teenaged white form padded along quietly hall towards the room at the end. Clear this last one and head for the roof, and she'd win.
Unlike her sisters, she was explicitly lectured on how her kicking down the door was the last thing she should ever do. The door didn't squeak, luckily, as a portion of her sun-glassed eye took a quick look, before the rest of her rolled into the room.
Nothing except for a strip of blue cloth she was supposed to collect.
She wasn't stupid though. When it came to Krauser, he liked to prey on his victim's impatience. Taking a good look of the room, it suddenly hit her that even for an empty room it was way too quiet.
Making sure to draw her combat knife as indiscreetly as possible, she suddenly whirled around to face the presence behind her.
Gone.
Hissing through clenched teeth, she looked around frantically.
She didn't realize to look up until nearly too late.
Krauser's blade sank into the bare cement floor, only catching a bit of his child's cheek. He raised his blade at her. His body was a true testament of war, thickly muscled, with grim but living blue eyes and short blonde hair covered by his habitually worn beret. "Been a long time, comrade?"
She snorted, before one of her fingers went through motions.
(I went through four floors and wasted three hours making sure you weren't in every closet, toilet, and light bulb in the room. Give me a break.) Her fingers said.
He responded in kind with his European-tinged English. "Don't complain, Ash'ey. It's your choice how careful or how fast you do this exercise. In this team, you're going to be alone in the field as often as you are with me. You have to take responsibility for your actions-"
Krauser lunged forward with his knife. "Ash'ey" first jerked her head backwards to avoid the attack at her face, before jumping back to miss the swipe at her belly. Deciding to press, before her Handler had the time to recover, she moved in, using her smaller size to attack rapidly in lower directions, forcing Krauser to stoop. He was still too, good though. With a practiced hand, he easily clashed away each blow before grabbing her wrist, twisting her around to kick her to the ground in the back, scattering her own knife and sunglasses across the ground. Ash'ey rolled around onto her back in time to reach up and prevent the knife from being driven into her pink eye. The two struggled with the blade, before the younger of the two kicked her handler off, throwing him across the room. Ash'ey was already running out of the room with the blue cloth.
It wasn't too long after that Krauser slowly made his way to the roof, opening it casually to take in the bright sun and fresh air. Turning around, he spotted Ash'ey pressed against the wall of the covered stairwell entrance, using the small roof to protect her white skin from the light. She handed him the four colored cloths.
"Good work, Ash'ey. You rushed a bit at the end, though. Never treat these exercises as simply running as fast as you can from me."
(Sorry.)
"You dropped these." He simply replied, handing back her knife and sunglasses.
(Thank you.)
"Good. Now I want you to take ten laps with your current gear, then you training will be over."
She gave him that sort of look in the eye that went "Err, but Krauser…"
"What?"
(…My friends invited me to tea within the hour…)
Krauser sighed. It was sort of hard to find that fine line between raising a girl and fine-tuning a weapon. "Fine. Do what you can in the hour, have your tea, and then finish the rest. You will finish those ten laps, even if you have to do it at night. The choice is up to you."
Ash'ey easily gave her silent and resolute salute, symbol of respect, thanks, and knowing when to and when not to bargain.
"Ah, Ashley, you made it." Matilda noted lightly from her cup of tea.
"Yeah, we were afraid that crazy German drill instructor of yours would make you do a hundred push-ups on your hand or something!" Jihad laughed before sipping her cup of coffee.
It was a common joke amongst their peers that Handsome Dead could also be called Handsome European Import. Ashley was trucked in from Ireland in an intensive care unit, and her handler, Krauser, was recommended from Germany. The two bonded fairly well because of that.
Ashley sat down, and saw her friends gratefully already had a pen and paper on the table for her. Picking it up, she produced an answer.
KRAUSER IS STILL MAKING ME DO LAPS AFTER THIS.
"Ah! Jeez! That kills the party, don't it!"
I'VE GOTTEN USED TO IT. KRAUSER IS SOMEONE YOU HAVE TO GET USED TO MAKING ROOM FOR.
They decided to let it go and get on with the little peace they had in between jobs, eating cake, drinking tea, sharing gossip. For a moment it did almost feel like a tea party between little girls. Most of them were still quite intrigued with Ashley's existence as a Mechanical Body.
"Well, you have to forgive us. I don't think there are really any other Albino Mechanical Bodies in the world. It just nags me, does that mean you're still sensitive to sunlight?"
I'M NOT SURE. I DON'T LIKE THE FEELING OF THE SUNLIGHT ANYWAYS.
"Oh."
"Hey, Ashley. I guess it was always a bit awkward, but since we're all talking anyways, I've been wondering why you don't like to talk. You can talk right?"
She didn't actually write out an "um", but the look on her face obviously showed a bit of thought.
YOU DO KNOW THAT I'M A SURVIVOR OF AN ATTACK BY PROTESTANTS BECAUSE OF RELIGIOUS FEUDS IN IRELAND?
"Yeah?"
I LOST MY LOWER JAW THEN.
"Ouch."
I SEE NOW IT'S QUITE EASY TO REPLACE, BUT THIS NEW ONE… IT FEELS "UNCOMFORTABLE".
"Why not ask for a replacement then?"
IT ISN'T THAT SIMPLE FOR ME… I JUST CAN'T GET USED TO THIS FEELING OF THIS THING IN MY MOUTH TRYING TO BE SOMETHING IT'S NOT.
"Well, I suppose it doesn't bother us. You're a nice girl after all, huh? Plus it helps, since you're Handsome Dead."
Ashley shrugged and ate a bit of cake.
The conference of older men peered at the PowerPoint presentation, giving strange looks at the design portrayed.
"That's a hellvua an ugly cross."
"It's a design by a new cult that sprung up recently. Called… um, 'Church of True Path Salvation'."
"So what's the deal on them?"
"A few things. This church is highly radical, dangerous even. They're openly prejudiced against… anything not them, really. The second thing is recently, the city in which the main church is located; the Mayor's son there's gone missing. And you know, this cult for a while's been wanting official recognition from the Mayor as a religion, not as a band of misfits."
"So there's suspicion of this Church being behind the kidnapping?"
"Well, not in so many words. The Church openly denies being involved in any kidnapping, but some people see a connection."
"What else is with these cultists?"
"We suspect them secretly raising a private army from their elect members. There is also a strong suspicion of who they're being supplied arms and training by… you can guess by now."
"kNIGHTS?"
"Again, we don't know, but we have an opportunity to find out."
"Any other reason?"
"Unfortunately. The Mayor's brother is the Senator that backs us."
"Ah, one of those things."
"Yes. Eitherway, this cult is becoming extremely dangerous. We're sending Handsome Dead to clean up this mess."
The Tea Party was cut short, when Ashley was dragged off to suit up in dark clothing and get strapped down with an amazing number of knives of various varieties, shapes, sizes, and uses.
Traveling as they always did by that familiar black van, Krauser talked to her.
"You have three things to do, so this is your most complicated yet. You're to kill the upper echelon members of this Church, find if there's anything that connects this church to kNIGHTS, and find this boy."
He handed Ashley a picture. A blonde, cheerful smiling boy around her age.
"We think that these cultists have him. I want you to get him out of there alive."
(Since when did we start protecting people?)
"Never mind that… politics."
(I see. Krauser, do I still have to do those laps?)
"Yes. Diligence and determination are good things to learn."
Ashley gave him the look that for the most part translated to "Oh, COME ON!"
"Don't look at me that way."
(Sorry.)
Night fell.
The Church of True Path Salvation had converted an old church into a red tinted propaganda show. So much the better.
Outside, two corpses lay guarding the back door, their throats in two pieces.
Inside, in his office, High Inquisitor Abraham was preparing his notes for his late night sermon, which called for his loyal brethren to stand up to the illusions the modern church had created along with their so-called Jesus.
The air-con grating fell on it though. To Abraham's surprise, he suddenly found a girl crouched on his desk in front of him.
This was no ordinary girl though. Her pale flesh, her white hair, her glaring red eyes from out of the top of her sunglasses.
"Who-what are you!"
Ashley stuck a knife into his brain.
Unfortunately the commotion was enough for people outside to hear something was off. Ashley was already back into the air ducts when the men screamed.
"Abraham is dead! Our leader is dead!"
The whole church was up in a commotion. Obviously a knife in their savior's head meant something was up.
Curious. Ashley watched with intrigue as church members across the building began going into closets, passing out handguns to whoever was willing to avenge.
"We must avenge our lord and kill the demon that dare defile our cause!" Inquisitor Marcel shouted to his troop.
Oh bother. Just kill anyone in a uniform.
With that Ashley escaped from the ducts, and hid in the shadows.
Soon enough comrades that only lost contact for even five minutes caught up, to their horror, to men with their bodies sliced. Throats, arteries, organs, every single lethal place from different angles.
They started to panic.
"What the fuck is it? What the hell's killing us?" Secretary Adrian hissed, pointing his gun down the hallways colored red by the stain glass windows. The ambience used to be pretty before, but now it just felt horrific. Too many shadows, too much red.
"Too much red" was his last thought, before Ashley fell from the rafters above, driving a knife through the back of his neck.
"There you are!" Another silhouette shouted down the hall at her. Pulling up Adrian's corpse with the handle of the blade stuck in his neck, the Secretary served as the Albino's shield, as bullets were fired into his body, trying to pierce through.
They must not have very good training. They should realize a shield is a shield, even if it is meaty.
Ashley raised her arm over Adrian's shoulder, and easily flicked knife in her aggressor's direction, falling him with a cry.
Ashley worked through this routine for most of the night, but as she passed by a closed room, she heard a banging from the other side.
"Somebody! Help me! Let me out!"
It was annoying at times, since she wouldn't talk. She had no idea how to convey to the person on the other side that she was going to kick down the door. She had to give knock the door a couple times with her foot lightly in order to give off that she was knocking down, before she actually use all her force to blow the wood off its hinges.
Inside, backed up against the wall on the other side was the blonde boy Ashley was told to get out of the building alive. He sure didn't look cheerful, though.
But then again, if you were a child looking at her, blood stained, pale skinned like a ghost, you'd think twice as well.
Ashley blushed, how embarrassing. Heroes shouldn't look like monsters.
"Who… who are you?"
She shrugged.
"Are you going to hurt me?"
She shook her head.
"Are you going to get me out?"
She raised an open hand. He took it.
"I'm Graham, what's your name?"
She shrugged.
"Can you even talk?"
Again, head shaking.
"Oh! Sorry."
Ashley just shrugged and pulled at his arm, urging him to get a move on. The two of them moved through the ruined halls, and were moving towards the back door in the main hall when Ashley fell forward, bringing the two of them to the ground.
The Albino noted that something had forcibly entered her right shoulder from behind. Must have been a rifle round. That sucked.
The boy was up on his knees first, realizing that his protector was on the ground, bleeding. "Hey! Hey! Are you hurt?"
Ashley merely used her other arm to brush him of herself, and pushed him between one of the pews for protection. Wearily, she rose up again in the direction the shot came in.
Another round slammed into her chest, pushing her down the center aisle towards the altar. She got to her feet, still, in full sight of the shocked cultist, who held a semi-automatic rifle in his hands.
"You! You demon! Go back to whoever ordered you to kill us! Realize that you heathens cannot destroy this true ark of God here!"
Ashley pulled over her shattered sunglasses, looked at it in disgust for a few seconds before she threw it away, and looked back at the man squarely with her pink eyes.
And flipped him off.
"Why you-" The man said as he fired. Ashley jumped away, her left arm curling around another blade. As she fell, she threw her weapon, letting it plant into the man's temple while she crashed to the ground.
Graham was already upon her with much ado as she got up. "Hey! Don't do that! What if you die!"
Ashley gave a sheepish look.
There was a car with several men, when the two exited. Krauser was with them.
(What's with the men?)
"They're here to pick up the kid."
Graham brightened up at the words, "Really! Let's go!" he tugged at Ashley's arm. She didn't budge.
"What's wrong? Aren't you coming with me?"
She shook her head, and pointed back to the church.
"But it's dangerous there! Come back with me!"
Again a negative.
"Tell me your name then! I want to know your name."
She wanted to respond, tried to make a few mouth motions. She took in a few deep breaths.
"A….Aaash…ley…"
"Ashley?"
Krauser interjected, "That's enough. Time to go home."
The suits piled the kid into their car. "I won't forget you!"
The care drove away before Graham could see Ashley's flush. Krauser turned to his charge.
"Ashley, did you get any documents?"
(No. Going back to look.)
"Make it quick."
Ashley couldn't sleep that night. She couldn't get her mind of the boy. The memory for some reason held great value, like she picked up something in the night on a whim.
Like Trick or Treat, really.
Halloween can be horror, or it can be fun. Trick or Treat.
Halloween Night: End
A/N: This story's tangent went off somewhere. I still like it, in some strange way, but it turned out different than I expected it to be. This is weird.
