This is the character death we were all waiting for. You have been warned.

Chapter 15: Death of a Brother, Krieg

"I think I hated you the most," the ghoul had lifted a hand to his mask, shaking his head, "Always so gullible and easy to manipulate. You won't make it as a squad leader." He was walking over to Shirazu. "That is, if you can even survive today."

"U-Urie?"

"No," the answer was punctuated by a snap. Urie's kagune slid cleanly out of a slit in his armor and, before Shirazu could so much as flinch, drove down through the fallen investigator's chest. The blonde couldn't make a sound, his lungs had been sliced like butter. Urie had surgical precision even with such a massive blade; he'd aimed the blow to destroy Shirazu's heart and lungs. His once ally wasn't a ghoul, and was thus weak. Because he was weak he wouldn't heal, and if he couldn't then he would die.

"Shirazu!" Urie turned to see Mitsuki charging at him, knife in hand. Such a paltry weapon wouldn't hurt him in a satisfactory way, but he still couldn't be bothered to dodge. His hand flashed out on instinct, and driven by a whim, gripped with just enough pressure to break the arm that threatened him. The shorter man screamed in pain. He lifted his kagune, Shirazu still impaled on the limb, and swung it down dismissively, sending the dead weights away. The one he really wanted to fight was Sasaki, but not kill him. He wasn't allowed to kill him.

Even now, Urie doubted that he could end his mentor, and that urked him. As a rinkaku type, the gray haired half ghoul had the advantage. Killing the people he was teaching should incite enough rage to break him. Urie didn't actually have to kill any of them, Omega-sama's master would likely to be very upset with him for exterminating any of them to begin with. However, the stress test that Domino had planned in Tsukiyama Shuu wasn't going to work anymore. Independent action to force the situation, specifically a betrayal, filled the necessary criteria in Urie's mind.

He gazed lazily at them all, fearful, hurt, sad. "Disgusting." With a violent swipe, Shirazu's blood, which had been clinging to his sword, splattered over the ground.

Sasaki met his gaze, many emotions raging in his gray eye, but his kakugan burned with an incomprehensible hatred. "Why are you doing this, Urie?"

"That's not my name!" Something about hearing Sasaki's still calm and cold voice had angered him. It was an anger directed at no one, because the person whom his hatred sought no longer existed. 'Urie' was dead, there was no changing that.

He charged at Sasaki, blade angled ahead of him. They were trading blows, dodging, slashing, utterly destroying the surrounding room. Out of the corner of his eye Urie could see Seiko hiding and Mitsuki desperate to revive Shirazu with mouth to mouth. That was useless, his lungs weren't flooded, they were shredded. The brief distraction gave Sasaki an opening and the half ghoul stabbed at him with his kagune.

Urie cried out at the familiar feeling of a rinkaku limb through his stomach, lifting him into the air. He laughed, maddened with delight, when Sasaki twisted it, the cold look on the investigators face seriously bringing down his mood. The limb ripped free, dropping Urie to his knees. It was good but unenjoyable, he couldn't savour it. Blood seeped into his white clothes from a large hole in his chest plate. The armor wasn't able to stop a ghoul, but it wasn't really meant to.

The world blurred and angled oddly as Urie stood, likely from the blood loss. His laugh still tumbled from his lips, weaker but just as mad. He was mad, wasn't he? Enjoying the pain. Sasaki took a step back when he staggered forward. He rose to his full height, the flesh of his wound knitting closed. His once mentor's eyes widened, "What happened to you?"

"I woke up."

\\

Mitsuki had made a call for help and a large group of CCG burst into the room. Sasaki, bleeding and struggling in Urie's grip, gasping for air. The younger' s koukaku was impaled with two of the gray haired man's rinkaku, the other two stabbed through his torso, trying to pry him off. Sasaki gave a vicious yell, slamming his fist down on Urie's mask. The glass shattered, piercing his eyes. It was pure instinct that brought up his hands, releasing Sasaki's throat. The rinkaku type threw him against a wall.

Every one of his limbs felt heavy, "So this is the limit of what I can do, pathetic." His fists clenched as the shards were forced out of his face, "No. I'm just warming up. Pain is such a beautiful thing. Thank you for pushing me to this, Sasaki."

Several special officers poured into the room, rushing over to the injured Quinex squad members. Mado froze next to Mitsuki. "I-is that Urie? What the hell happened!"

He grinned at the human's ignorance, he'd been like that once, but he wasn't blind anymore. He turned his face up, Omega looking down from the stage's catwalk, "Have I done well?"

"Yes," she dropped to the stage next to him, "very well. We can complete the plan this way."

"What plan?" Sasaki had gotten back onto his feet, flinching at his partially healed wounds, "What does Domino want?"

"This isn't about Domino-sama, Detective, I'd hoped you already realized that; this is about my lovely pet here," she looped an arm around Urie's waist. "This is about what he wants." A devious smile flashed over her visible features. "Why don't we ask him? What do you want, Paladin?" She whispered the name with sweet seduction in his ear.

Urie's heart hammered painfully in his chest "What do I… want?" Urie's breath came in quick gasps, excitement and bloodlust surged through him at dizzying speeds. He seized a handful of Omega's hair, pulling her head back, and forced his tongue into her mouth. She gave a startled, lustful moan but accepted the kiss none the less. The blood hungry ghoul released her and stalked forward, a crazed look in his eyes, filled with renewed energy. "What I want… I want to fight. Fight. Maim. Break. Shatter bones. Rip apart flesh. Splatter blood. Gore. Pain. Death. Pain. Pain. I want you to feel it! I want… I want to make you feel pain!" Urie rushed forward into the CCG ranks with a blood chilling laugh, slicing through armored bodies like paper.

Humans that he'd once sworn to protect, so long as it suited him, lay slain or dying left and right. There lives never meant much to him, and they meant nothing now. Someone swung at his side, barely grazing what remained of his armor. His kagune lashed out, shattering their qunique steel sword. Whoever the investigator was had bravado, lunging in to punch Urie. He seized the outstretched arm, pulling him into a headlock before sinking his teeth into the older man's neck. They screamed. Urie bit down harder. Squelch. Blood spurted into his mouth and he drank it greedily. As he let the body fall, he briefly mused over how red his suit became, coated in blood, both the CCG's and his own.

The CCG, or what was left off them, took a collective step back, shocked and horrified most likely. Did these fools really believe he was still human? The very thought sent spastic laughs through Urie. This was going to be fun.

Sasaki pushed his way through the crowd, "Round two, 'Paladin'?"

Urie grinned when he heard Sasaki use his name. "Fight to kill, or I'll eat you too."

*POV

Sasaki leaned back in his chair, waiting in the observation room behind a two way mirror. Urie was on the other side, handcuffed, sitting in one of two chairs, and dressed in simple clothes, staring at the stainless steel table top.

They managed to restrain the young man, that's not the right way to put it, he gave up. Sasaki and Urie had traded blows for twenty minutes, the younger man even had the upperhand when he just… quit. The image still fresh in the half ghoul's mind; they were standing ten feet apart when Urie just stopped, his kagune sheathed, and he knelt down. "I concede." He must have been buying time because, as far as anyone could tell, not a single one of Domino's servants were left.

Questioning Urie had also been frustrating. He wouldn't say anything apart from, "My goddess is coming for me," and "I have no regret for I have done nothing wrong." Only Arima had been able to coax these out of him.

The CCG's shinigami walked in just as Sasaki thought of him, closing the door with a foot, placing a cafeteria tray in front of Urie. It was something else they had been trying, to get the once investigator to eat human food, perhaps bring him back from insanity by proving he wasn't really a ghoul.

Urie stared at the plate, disgust shimmering in his eyes. He lifted his right hand and backhanded the entire tray into the wall, just below the mirror. The crash startled Sasaki almost as much as the missing cuff. The metal that hung off Urie's wrist had one link still intact, the other dangling, bent, and lightly coated in blood.

"How did you manage that?" Armin asked, completely calm.

"I broke my wrist," Urie answered matter of factly, "I was board."

"Well we'll have to do better at trying to entertain you won't we, Urie-san."

Urie fell quiet again. The two stared at each other for what felt like an eternity. "That's not my name," the purple haired man muttered, dropping his gaze into his lap.

"Why do you only talk to me?" Arima, and by proxy everyone else, learned to avoid commenting about Urie's name. It set him off.

"Because you are needed."

Sasaki leaned forward in his chair. After nearly two weeks his insane student was talking. The question on his mind seemed also to be on Arima's as he asked, "What am I needed for?"

"The awakening. Something I heard. The master's planning it, to wake the whole world up."

"Wake the world up?"

Urie's eyes lifted to Arima, one was a kakugan, "You need to wake up too. This world is a nightmare and you're all trapped by it, blind to the truth. All you see are shadows on a cave wall."

"Would you tell me about what I can't see?"

The nineteen year old studied him for a moment, slightly considering something. "We are the same," Only Sasaki's heightened hearing picked up on it, a whisper little more than a breath.

"Excuse me?"

"Humans. Ghouls. The same."

"How so?"

"The weak are consumed by the strong, a universal truth. This world is full of absolutes and you're all too thickly enraptured by the dream of self determination. Fate isn't something you can fight. Being isn't something you can define. Everything that make someone human is true for ghouls. You have one working for you and somehow the CCG is still blind. From the day he was born Sasaki Haise has never once deviated from his nature, from what makes him himself." Urie leaned back in his chair, "It's starting and you will all wake up weather you wish it or not."

Arima stood and left. Urie only adopted that leaned back posture when he was done talking, they'd get nothing out of him anymore. Sasaki didn't move however. It felt like there was something else, something he'd do once no one was watching. Teacher and student remained rooted to their places for an indeterminate amount of time, all the while Sasaki pondered the meaning of what Urie had said.

He sighed and stood, turning to leave when he heard a shifting behind him. Sasaki glanced over his shoulder to see Urie standing staring at was likely his own reflection, but it felt like the young man's eyes were fixed on him. He swallowed, his mouth suddenly dry. Urie looked down at the food he'd thrown earlier, something like longing in his expressionless eyes. The half ghouls remained like this for half a minute before Urie bent down, picking up a discarded loaf of bread. Sasaki turned, hoping against hope that he didn't have to lose anyone else, guilt rooting through his gut.

Urie bit into the bread and chewed a bit. Tears welled up in his eyes and he began to cough violently, spitting out the half eaten food. "Why?" his once flat voice came out, hoarse and creased with agony, "Why couldn't I slept a little longer? Why did I have to wake up?" He slammed a fist against the mirror like glass, dropping his forehead onto the smooth surface and weeping in silent jolting spasm.

"Urie… you-"

Sasaki was cut of by the silent crying morphing into a maddened laughter, Urie's eye, though not fixed on him were staring in his direction, wide and crazed. He beamed into the glass, tears still flowing freely down his face. "You know the answer to that, don't you? There's no need for you to sleep any longer." He coughed again, blood splattering over his palm, a pained expression flitting over his features. "Did I do well, Omega-sama?" Sasaki took a step closer to the glass. There was something in Urie's mouth, dark red, almost black and shiny. He felt his eyes widen. It was impossible to mistake the glow of kagune. Shit.

"Arima!" he shouted, slamming the door open. It was to late of course, the CCG's shinigami had been long gone. The guards were startled but he didn't have time to explain. The entire building was rocked by a massive explosion and Sasaki was sent sprawling across the floor. Mado who had fortunately stayed was by his side the instant he'd hit the ground, helping him back to his feet.

"What is it, Hiase?"

"There was a kagune in Urie's mouth. I don't know how it got there but it's not his and… the way he was acting… It's like something is controlling him."

"Long range kagune manipulation? But that's-"

"-not possible? Yeah."

"They're coming to get him then."

In answer, Sasaki flicked open his quinque. Mado took her que from him and also opened her weapon. This was the worst possible time for an attack. Just when security had started to lax from Urie's good behavior. Why they hadn't moved him to one of the ghoul prisons or even a CCG base, Sasaki wouldn't understand. Unless...no way.

"Hiase! Look out!" With Mado's warning Sasaki had just enough time to duck as a limp human form hurtled over his head. The ghoul that threw them towered over everyone, easily eight feet tall with broad shoulder and an impressive amount of muscle. His upper body was bare, aside from steel knuckled gloves, showing off many battle scars. The greek letter for 'Gamma' covered over his right eye on a dark amber, luchador style mask.

Sasaki didn't have much time to consider Gamma as Urie's cell door shattered off its hinges and hurtled towards them. He seized Mado's waist and pulled her down to the floor, shielding her from the steel and shrapnel with his own body. He hissed in pain when struck. None pierced his skin but they would leave bad bruises down to his bones.

Urie walked into the hall, confident and leering at the two investigators. He was chewing on something, most likely the kagune that was in his mouth before. The sinking sensation in Sasaki's gut was justified when Urie's koukaku tore through his shirt. He rose to his feet, pushing the metal away. "Give him back, Paladin."

"Sorry, I can't do that. I've already 'swallowed' him. Urie is dead, accept that and fight like you mean it this time."

Okay so that was an unbelievably long time coming, sorry for leaving you with a cliffhanger for sooo loonnggg UGH! Again I'd like to apologize for that. The ending of this chapter will be moved into the next one just because I can't bring myself to write it at the present. I think we're about half way through the plot at this point... yay?