Para Bellum 5/?? (Sequel to Le Jeu Sinistre)
Posted: Fri Apr 16, 2004 4:35 am
Disclaimer: I don’t own Full Metal Panic. This is a parody. Buy Kill Bill. Watch Gundam SEED.
Chapter Five: The Path of the Righteous Man
When dawn came to Tokyo, the scene it saw was similar to the one it had left a few hours before. The standoff between the police and the Mithril remnants continued, they hostages in limbo.
In Kaname’s apartment, Sagara Sousuke was sound asleep on a couch, his girlfriend resting in his arms. He was very comfortable and very reluctant to wake up when he heard a rapping on the door.
But then, his instincts kicked in. With the utmost care, Sousuke extracted himself from Kaname’s arms and stood. He drew his Glock and approached the door carefully. When the floor creaked, he flinched.
Sousuke turned the knob and in one fluid motion, flung the door open and aimed his pistol.
“Good morning, Sagara. Can we come in?”
Kalinin and Mardukas were totally unconcerned by the gun pointing in their faces.
~
Kaname and Tessa, having been woken up by the door slamming, set about preparing breakfast while the men convened in the living room to plan their next move. Sousuke was about to introduce Kalinin and Mardukas to Tomaya but the three of them nodded and grunted, the universal sign of male acknowledgement and acceptance.
“We’ve been working over our contacts,” Mardukas began. “And it seems that Wolfram has somehow commandeered the Sandolphon.”
Sousuke paled. “I thought it was a myth.”
“We did too,” Kalinin nodded. “Two weeks ago, three of the Mithril factions vying for supremacy met in battle in the South China Sea. Two of them were wiped out and Wolfram’s was the only one left. He had a single ship, together, they had over thirty vessels from cruisers and destroyers to full fledged battle ships. They were annihilated in a little under five minutes.”
“But what does he want with Jindai?” Tomaya asked. “If he can wipe out a full scale fleet in five minutes, why would he take over a high school?”
“The Sandalphon is not all powerful,” said Kalinin. “There were two other units built that could stand up to it and he has one of them. A specially designed Arm Slave code-named ‘Metatron.’ However, it requires a very powerful Whispered to pilot.”
“So they were trying to kidnap Chidori or the Captain?” Since he was once again in a military situation, Sousuke was prepared to refer to Tessa as “The Captain.”
“Exactly. But, now that you’ve saved them, he’s stuck. He doesn’t want to get his hands dirty in a show down with the police or else he would’ve already come after you four here.”
“Breakfast!” called out Tessa from the other room. The four men ignored her.
“So, we need to get out of this city and out of the country as soon as possible,” Kalinin included.
“What about Jindai?” Tomaya asked quickly. Sousuke was about to ask the same thing.
Mardukas hesitated for a moment before responding. “We can’t afford to go back.”
“Yes, we can. I’m not going to leave without knowing the other students are safe,” Sousuke said.
“We simply can’t. It would be too big a risk,” Kalinin said firmly. Tomaya shook his head.
“As a teacher, it is my obligation to make sure my students are safe. I was a soldier, I’ll go back and rescue them while you get the girls out of the country.”
“One man can’t do it alone,” Mardukas said, shaking his head.
Tomaya smiled. “Some men can make the impossible possible.”
“Then I’ll go too,” Sousuke said hurriedly. He looked from Kalinin to Mardukas to Tomaya. “I promised Chidori that everyone would be fine. I don’t care what the rest of you do but I intend to keep my promise.”
Each one of them was silent for a moment.
“I told you he would be uncooperative…” Mardukas muttered finally. Kalinin nodded.
“Fine. We were expecting this… Kurz and Melissa will be arriving shortly with the equipment we’ll need. Sagara, you, Mardukas, Melissa and Kurz will storm the building the rescue the hostages.” He turned to Tomaya. “It will be your job to get the girls to safety.”
Tomaya opened his mouth to protest but then sighed, resigning to his fate. “Understood.”
“I said…” Tessa yelled, storming into the room. “Breakfast is ready! It’s gonna’ get cold!” She didn’t notice the grim faces the men wore.
~
Kurz and Melissa arrived shortly after breakfast. There was much hugging and crying as the two senior soldiers were united with their friends.
“Oh, we were so worried!” Melissa said, her eyes getting red. She wrapped her arms around Sousuke and hugged his head to her chest. The young soldier was smothered in flesh. Kaname and Tessa gave the older woman a hideous glare.
“Pfft. I told ya’ he’d get them out alright!” Kurz said, clapping Sousuke on the back.
“But how did you two get out?” Kaname asked quickly, trying to change the subject. She still didn’t want to remember the image of her homeroom teacher’s corpse…
“Ah, we happened to be out when it all happened,” Melissa said with equal speed. She was just as keen to get onto a new subject and Kurz chuckled stupidly.
“Err…” Tessa said carefully but then she blurted it out. “Is it true you two go behind the gym during lunch to fool around?”
“W-what?!” Melissa almost screamed, her face glowing. “W-who told you that?”
Kurz burst out laughing. “Heheheh… I told my third period PE class… And fourth… And sixth…” This earned him an uppercut to the jaw.
“Are we about finished here?” said a sleepy voice from inside the car. Simultaneously, everyone peered in the window. Muttering quietly, the man inside opened the door and got out. He stood a little under six feet and was dressed impeccably in an Armani (or imitation Armani) suit. He had long hair but it was all greased back, making him look like a kung fu movie villain.
“Ming Chou, at your service,” he said, bowing.
“Mr. Chou is the Board Director of BlitzCorp, the company that produced weapons and equipment for Mithril. Since this operation is so delicate and involves several of his company’s products, he wanted to oversee it personally.”
Ming nodded and added, “Those bastards steal our shit and make ‘em regret it.” Then, he cleared his throat. “That is to say, the Sandalphon is an expensive and valuable piece of equipment and it would be a great liability if we were not able to reclaim it.”
“What’s a Sandalphon?” asked Kaname for the second time in two days. Everyone ignored her.
“Right then,” Mardukas said quickly. “Ms. Chidori, Cap… Tessa. You two shall go with Mr. Chou and Mr. Ragasa to safety.
“What about everyone else?” said Tessa, looking around. She glanced over at Sousuke, who had gone into the trunk of his car. He came out with a shotgun and four shells held delicately in his teeth. One by one, he slipped each into the breech of the weapon and then cocked it.
“We have unfinished business to take care of.”
~
When Sousuke’s “special” car arrived at Jindai, they found it much the same as the day before. Several squad cars were parked out front with cops milling around.
The small assault team was made up of Sousuke, Kurz, Melissa, Kalinin and Mardukas, each armed to the teeth.
“Just like the old days, huh?” laughed Kurz as he slapped a magazine into his rifle, a large MSG-90.
Sousuke murmured something quietly. His cut down Mossberg shotgun was slung over his shoulder and he loaded a magazine into an FN P90, not unlike the one used by a certain preteen girl in a certain recent anime series.
Next to him, Kalinin already having loaded his rifle, an AN-94, had gone into his wallet. Inside, he had a small icon of a Saint. Taking out the card, the old Russian bowed his head and whispered a prayer in his native tongue. Then, he kissed the icon.
“St. Jude,” Kalinin explained. “Patron Saint of hopeless causes,” he added, smiling.
Mardukas was silent as he loaded and cocked his MP-5. When he finished, he leaned against the car and turned his head upward, resigned to wait quietly until the time to act came.
Finally, Melissa was still a bit embarrassed because of the “revelation” about her and Kurz. She was still blushing and avoided looking at him, except for a brief moment when they eyes met. Then, she went back to checking her M4.
A few minutes later, they poured out of the car and started towards the front door to the school. Predictably, they were stopped by a cop.
“Excuse me,” he said, glancing at their weapons nervously. “But who are you and what are you doing?”
Suddenly, it dawned on the five of them that they had not prepared an excuse.
It was Melissa, however, who solved their problem.
“We’re with the US military. We’ve been ordered to subdue the terrorists and free the hostages. So, if you wouldn’t mind stepping out of the way…”
The cop stared at her for a few seconds. “Could I see some proof, perhaps?”
Melissa sighed. She rolled her shoulders a bit, cleared her throat and took a deep breath. Switching to English, this is what she said:
“BOY, WHAT IS YOUR MAJOR MALFUNCTION?! MY NAME IS SERGEANT MAJOR MELISSA MAO AND I WAS ORDERED BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE GODDAMNED UNITED STATES TO GO INTO THIS SCHOOL AND KILL EVERY LITTLE DIPSHIT TERRORIST I CAN FIND AND FREE THOSE KIDS! SO, WHY DON’T YOU GET THE HELL OUT OF MY WAY BEFORE I CALL UP GEORGE W. fudgie’ BUSH, THE LEADER OF THE FREE WORLD AND PROTECTOR OF DEMOCRACY AND GOOD CHRISTIAN VALUES, AND ASK HIM TO COME WAY THE HELL OVER HERE AND STICK HIS COWBOY BOOT SO FAR UP YOUR GODDAMNED ASS YOUR NOSE BLEEDS!”
By the time she finished, Melissa was panting a bit. The cop was in a horrible state, on the verge of tears.
“Y-yes, ma’am…” he stuttered out, stepping to the side.
“I knew she was a Drill Sergeant,” Kurz muttered to Sousuke. “But I’ve never seen her do that.”
“Problem,” Melissa said, trying the doors. “They’re locked. Sousuke?”
“Yes, ma’am!” Still a bit frightened by her, Sousuke hightailed it back to his car.
“You might want to take cover,” Mardukas muttered to the cop as he and the others quickly ducked behind cars.
The missile tubes on the ’91 Toyota opened up and, a moment later, the doors ceased to exist.
~
The blast was heard all the way at the other side of the school in the administration office. A soldier burst in, his face pale with fear.
“We’re under attack! They blew up the main entrance and we’re taking heavy casualties from that end!”
Before Wolfram could say anything, Gauron stood up. “How many are there?”
“Uhh… Just five or six.”
The big man smiled. “Kashim…” He glanced at Wolfram. “I’ll take care of this. Continue as you see fit.” As he left, he grabbed the blood caked sword that Fujiwara had used the day before and Gauron had swiped shortly afterward.
Turning his attention back to the situation at end, Wolfram smiled. “Now, I’m sure we can find some common ground on which we can agree…”
Across from him, in the principal’s desk, sat Hayashimizu, the school council president, looking very relaxed. Next to him sat his right hand woman, Ren, who smiled pleasantly, very relaxed also.
“No,” Hayashimizu said coolly. “I’m afraid we can’t. With the teachers unable to assist, as the student council president, I consider it my duty to look after the pupils of this school. I cannot, therefore, in good conscience, reveal the addresses of ones Teresa Testarossa, Chidori Kaname or Sagara Sousuke.”
“We couldn’t reach some sort of agreement?” asked Wolfram again, reaching for his wallet.
“I’m afraid not. We’ve been over this for the past hour, Mr. Lischen. Now, if you wouldn’t mind, we have already lost one day of school, which the students will have to make up during our break, not to mention a homeroom teacher. I have to organize the memorial service for him myself, as my council is temporarily unavailable. So, unless you and your men are willing to give a twenty-one gun salute and be an honor guard, I respectfully request that you withdraw.”
“Alright,” Wolfram said, putting his hands on the desk. “I’ll make you a deal.”
“There shall be no deal,” Hayashimizu said, standing up and turning to look out the window. “You shall withdraw or provide your services free of charge for the Fujiwara-sensei’s memorial. It is your choice.”
There was a clicking as Wolfram drew his pistol, aiming it at Hayashimizu’s back. The boy didn’t flinch.
“If you give me those addresses, I’ll let all the students go. How does that sound?”
“Ren-san, would you call you father for me?”
“Certainly, Sempai,” Ren said, reaching for the phone. Wolfram flicked the gun to her.
“Who’s her father?”
“A yakuza boss. If you don’t withdraw immediately, this school will be overrun with hired guns within the hour.”
“You little bastard…” Wolfram hissed as he switched the gun back to Hayashimizu. Ren quickly dialed her home phone number.
“Hi, papa? Yes… Yes… Could you send them over, then? Thank you, daddy!” She put down the receiver and looked to Hayashimizu. “Daddy’s sending over all the men he can find. They should get here in about twenty minutes.”
Hayshimizu turned on Wolfram, smiling coolly still. “Shoot me if you like. It won’t do you any good.” He tilted his head and his glasses flashed.
~
About half an hour earlier, Kaname, Tessa, Tomaya and Ming Chou were at a gas station. Ming Chou was going about the task of sprucing up his car while it filled up with gas and talked mindlessly to no one in particular. Strangely, he often slipped into Chinese or English while speaking.
“So, you know, I couldn’t back down from a deal like that. It made me the man I am today. It was just that great a deal. It made me the man I am today…”
When he went off to pay, Kaname glanced at Tessa and Tomaya, who in turn glanced back. The three of them shared a single, simultaneous nod.
“I’ll drive,” the old man muttered as they switched around, him getting into the driver’s seat. Within moments, they were on their way to Jindai.
Ming Chou was not pleased.
~
Back at Jindai, Sousuke had gotten separated from his other four comrades. It was amazing how disorientating a flashbang could be.
So, instead of trying to regroup, Sousuke decided to go liberate his class. He fought his way to the closest stair well, using up his stores of shotgun ammo as he went.
“Damn it,” he cursed softly, tossing away the empty weapon. He pulled up the FN P90 and opened fire, using the body of a fallen soldier as cover. There were four, maybe five men spraying gunfire down at him and, within moments, there were two. He charged up the stairs, leaping over bodies. He fired a quick burst of fire into the legs of one of the troops and, as the poor fellow collapsed, fired a single shot into his face. He continued shooting, dropping the last soldier.
Finally, he finished scaling the stairs. Eight dead soldiers were sprawled like obscene rag dolls along them. Sousuke tore his eyes away from them. He didn’t want to recognize anyone.
~
When they arrived at the school, Kaname, Tessa and Tomaya tried to go through the police blockade and were stopped by the same cop who had attempted to stand in the way of a disgruntled Marine and her friend.
“This area is closed off to civillians,” he said quickly, putting his hands up. “We can’t let you in. We assure you, the US Army is already doing what they can.”
Tomaya sighed. “Let me take care of this.” He stood in front of the cop, sizing him up. The other man was much younger and taller than the old Japanese but Tomaya easily had more presence.
“I,” Tomaya Ragasa began. “Am a teacher at this school. It is, therefore, my duty to see to the safety and well fare of these students. I am, however, also an Officer of the Emperor. I served my country during the Pacific War and I’m more than capable of handling such a situation as this. Are you, young man, going to stand in the way of a soldier of Japan, no, a son of Japan as he attempts to protect and cultivate Her citizenry? Are you prepared to commit such a despicable act of treason?”
The cop sighed and slumped his shoulders as Tomaya walked past him. He looked to be on the verge of tears.
“No,” he said, as Tessa and Kaname tried to follow him. “Not you too. You’re civilians… You’re not soldiers.”
Tessa’s eyes went wide and she clasped her hands tightly. “I… I’m sorry.” Then she stepped to the side. The cop barely even saw Kaname’s fist coming.
~
It was more or less chaos inside Jindai by the time the three got inside. The Mithril troops were panicking. Tomaya, Tessa and Kaname were each armed but that didn’t prepare them for the firefight they had just walked into.
“Damn it…” whispered Kaname. Unbeknownst to her, Sousuke had just uttered the same words a few hundred yards from her. She was crouched behind a desk, not far from Tessa, bullets whizzing above her head. Tomaya was a bit ahead of them, leaning out from behind a door way.
Thrusting her pistol over the desk, Kaname fired as best she could. Unfortunately, she had never had anything even remotely resembling firearms training and her shots went wild.
Suddenly, the desk in front of her exploded into shards. Kaname dropped the gun and covered herself, the splinters flying and cutting into her. She fell back, trying desperately to brush the bits of wood away.
Then she felt it. It was a sudden shock, like being punched in the gun, only concentrated on one spot. It hurt like hell for a second and then her entire leg was numb.
I’ve been shot, Kaname realized. She glanced down at her body. Her thigh was glowing bright red, her skirt quickly absorbing the blood flowing out. She struggled to her feet, pain coursing through her leg, hugging the wall.
Then, the pain came again, sharper this time. She doubled over from the force and slumped against the wall. She gave a few raspy coughs, spitting blood onto the floor.
I’ve been shot again, she thought. I’m going to die.
She forced her legs to move, creeping forward slowly, still leaning against the wall.
This sucks… I don’t want to die. How did things turn out like this? Is this what Sousuke feels like every time he gets shot? He’s even tougher than I thought. I wonder where he is now? I wanna’ see him before I die…
To see Sousuke again. That seemed like a logical aspiration to Kaname. If she could just find him… Whisper something in his ear and give him a kiss… Then she could die without regrets.
Kaname forced her legs to move, letting her instincts take over, willing herself to run. Guns went off around her and bullets buzzed through the air like angry flies and she heard Tessa calling her name but she was too numb to make it out.
~
Sousuke clipped another magazine into his submachine gun as he turned down another hallway. Jindai seemed like a maze at the worst of times.
Finally, though, he seemed to find the right hallway. It appeared to be unoccupied as well. Still, he proceeded cautiously.
And then he heard it. It was a strangled, gasping moan. Sousuke spun, taking aim at the adjoining hallway, ready to squeeze the trigger. A moment later, he was glad he didn’t.
“Chidori…” he whispered. She smiled weakly at him. She was slumped against the wall, her belly and right leg covered in blood. Tiny red scratches blanketed her face and arms. She was trembling and she seemed to have trouble keeping her eyes opened.
Sousuke dropped the gun and sprinted forward. At the same time, Kaname’s legs gave out and she fell into his arms. Ignoring the blood, he cradled her gently, picking her up.
“Chidori, can you hear me? Can you see me? Don’t go to sleep.”
“I’m okay, Sousuke, but listen… I…”
“I’m going to get you to safety. Don’t worry.” He hurried back to the hall and started towards their homeroom.
“No, wait… Listen…” Kaname coughed, tossing a few specks of blood onto Sousuke’s chin.
“Chidori, I-“ Sousuke stopped dead. They were in front of a janitor’s closet across from their homeroom. “I have an idea.”
~
Everyone in the class was scared and Sergeant was doing his best to keep them calm by teaching them the finer points of English pronunciation.
Just as he was going over the “th” sound, however, the door burst open.
“Fumoffu!”
Enter Bonta-kun.
“Class Rep!” someone cried out. Bonta-kun was carrying a very beat up Kaname so no one was quite sure who he was referring to.
“Fu! Fumomoffuuu!”
“Huh?” Sergeant said, staring at the plush invader. Bonta-kun gingerly laid Kaname down on the desk.
“Oh my god… Kana-chan…” whispered Kyouko in shock.
“Fumo,” Bonta-kun said, waving a paw in Kyouko’s direction. Then, he turned his attention to Sergeant. “Fumomomofumo!”
“What?”
Sighing, Bonta-kun leapt forward, into a fighting stance. With one paw, he beckoned Sergeant forward. “Fumo!”
“I don’t…”
Bonta-kun didn’t wait long. He delivered body slam that knocked the poor man against the wall. Then, he picked him up, went over to the door and tossed him out.
“Wow…” Shinji said. “I didn’t see that coming.”
“Kana-chan!” Kyouko now rushed up to the desk, leaning over her friend. The blue haired girl smiled up at her, grinning stupidly.
“Kyouko… what’s up?”
“Kana-chan, what happened to you? Oh my god…”
“Fumo!” Bonta-kun placed a paw on Kyouko’s shoulder. “Fumomo!”
“He’s saying that he’ll take care of it,” Kaname explained. “He says you all should leave through the nearest exist and be careful.”
“Kana-chan…”
“Don’t worry. I’ll be okay. Bonta-kun may not be good for many things but this is one thing he’s useful for.” She shot a smile to the teddy bear who sighed.
With that, Kyouko and the rest of the class resigned themselves to leave, leaving the two alone.
Sousuke unzipped the Bonta-kun costume, groaning. “I still can’t get the voice box on this to work…”
Kaname giggled. “Why did you do that?”
“I didn’t want them to panic. I hoped the suit would lighten thing,” he explained. He turned his attention to her wounds. Kaname met his gaze and looked down.
“Go ahead.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s nothing you haven’t seen before,” she teased. In her shock, she was feeling giddy.
Delicately, he pulled down her bloody skirt and unbutton her blouse up to her breasts. Going into his first aid kit, he brought out a few alcohol wipes and began cleaning away the blood. It stung like hell and Kaname squeezed her eyes shut.
“This is going to hurt,” he warned, finding a pair of tweezers in the kit.
“Whatever. Just get it over with.” Carefully, he removed both bullets, tossing them to the side without a second glance.
“Chidori… I’m going to cauterize the wounds.”
“Oh, god…” she said, laughing bitterly. Six months ago, she had down the same for him.
Sousuke took the scalpel from the first aid kid and produced a cigarette lighter from another pocket.
“You’re not smoking, are you?” Kaname asked tersely, looking for anything to take her mind off the two holes in her.
“No. A lighter is useful.” He lit it and held the scalpel over the blade. Five minutes later, it was glowing hot red.
Quickly, Sousuke pressed the knife against the first wound in Kaname’s leg. She gave a sharp whimper, grinding her teeth together and squeezing her eyes shut. She reached out, grabbing his hand, giving it a fierce squeeze. He repeated the action again, sealing the wound on her stomach. Then, he tossed the scalpel away and opened up his canteen, pouring the cool water over her.
She was panting hard, her eyes rolling back in her head.
“God… How do you put up with this?” Kaname muttered. Her grip on his hand lessen but she didn’t let it go. He laid his other hand on her stomach, stroking her gently…
“It’s easy when you know no other life,” a low voice said. The both turned as Gauron walked in, grinning like a bastard.
“Damn it…” Sousuke breathed. His submachine gun lay in the hall and so he only had his pistol to fight with. And there was no way he could draw it fast enough…
“So, Kashim, Did I ruin a romantic moment for you?”
Kaname tensed up. Gauron noticed and grinned wider, showing off his teeth. They looked more like oversized kernels of corn.
“And for that I’m sorry… But you’ve been giving me a great headache today.” He reached to his waist, drawing the sword that Fujiwara had been using earlier.
“Stand down, Gauron,” another voice said. Kaname was getting tired of people walking in unannounced and unexpected.
It was Tomaya Ragasa. He didn’t have his pistol and, instead, was armed with a bokken he probably swiped from the sports supply room. He brought it to bear, standing in a ready stance, his eyes focused on Gauron.
“Oh? And who commands me?” Gauron kept grinning because he already knew the answer.
The answer was quiet. “Sagara.” Then… “Sagara… Yamato!”
End of Chapter Five
Author’s Notes:
In about twelve hours, I’ll be watching Kill Bill vol. 2. Yatta.
Chapter Five: The Path of the Righteous Man
When dawn came to Tokyo, the scene it saw was similar to the one it had left a few hours before. The standoff between the police and the Mithril remnants continued, they hostages in limbo.
In Kaname’s apartment, Sagara Sousuke was sound asleep on a couch, his girlfriend resting in his arms. He was very comfortable and very reluctant to wake up when he heard a rapping on the door.
But then, his instincts kicked in. With the utmost care, Sousuke extracted himself from Kaname’s arms and stood. He drew his Glock and approached the door carefully. When the floor creaked, he flinched.
Sousuke turned the knob and in one fluid motion, flung the door open and aimed his pistol.
“Good morning, Sagara. Can we come in?”
Kalinin and Mardukas were totally unconcerned by the gun pointing in their faces.
~
Kaname and Tessa, having been woken up by the door slamming, set about preparing breakfast while the men convened in the living room to plan their next move. Sousuke was about to introduce Kalinin and Mardukas to Tomaya but the three of them nodded and grunted, the universal sign of male acknowledgement and acceptance.
“We’ve been working over our contacts,” Mardukas began. “And it seems that Wolfram has somehow commandeered the Sandolphon.”
Sousuke paled. “I thought it was a myth.”
“We did too,” Kalinin nodded. “Two weeks ago, three of the Mithril factions vying for supremacy met in battle in the South China Sea. Two of them were wiped out and Wolfram’s was the only one left. He had a single ship, together, they had over thirty vessels from cruisers and destroyers to full fledged battle ships. They were annihilated in a little under five minutes.”
“But what does he want with Jindai?” Tomaya asked. “If he can wipe out a full scale fleet in five minutes, why would he take over a high school?”
“The Sandalphon is not all powerful,” said Kalinin. “There were two other units built that could stand up to it and he has one of them. A specially designed Arm Slave code-named ‘Metatron.’ However, it requires a very powerful Whispered to pilot.”
“So they were trying to kidnap Chidori or the Captain?” Since he was once again in a military situation, Sousuke was prepared to refer to Tessa as “The Captain.”
“Exactly. But, now that you’ve saved them, he’s stuck. He doesn’t want to get his hands dirty in a show down with the police or else he would’ve already come after you four here.”
“Breakfast!” called out Tessa from the other room. The four men ignored her.
“So, we need to get out of this city and out of the country as soon as possible,” Kalinin included.
“What about Jindai?” Tomaya asked quickly. Sousuke was about to ask the same thing.
Mardukas hesitated for a moment before responding. “We can’t afford to go back.”
“Yes, we can. I’m not going to leave without knowing the other students are safe,” Sousuke said.
“We simply can’t. It would be too big a risk,” Kalinin said firmly. Tomaya shook his head.
“As a teacher, it is my obligation to make sure my students are safe. I was a soldier, I’ll go back and rescue them while you get the girls out of the country.”
“One man can’t do it alone,” Mardukas said, shaking his head.
Tomaya smiled. “Some men can make the impossible possible.”
“Then I’ll go too,” Sousuke said hurriedly. He looked from Kalinin to Mardukas to Tomaya. “I promised Chidori that everyone would be fine. I don’t care what the rest of you do but I intend to keep my promise.”
Each one of them was silent for a moment.
“I told you he would be uncooperative…” Mardukas muttered finally. Kalinin nodded.
“Fine. We were expecting this… Kurz and Melissa will be arriving shortly with the equipment we’ll need. Sagara, you, Mardukas, Melissa and Kurz will storm the building the rescue the hostages.” He turned to Tomaya. “It will be your job to get the girls to safety.”
Tomaya opened his mouth to protest but then sighed, resigning to his fate. “Understood.”
“I said…” Tessa yelled, storming into the room. “Breakfast is ready! It’s gonna’ get cold!” She didn’t notice the grim faces the men wore.
~
Kurz and Melissa arrived shortly after breakfast. There was much hugging and crying as the two senior soldiers were united with their friends.
“Oh, we were so worried!” Melissa said, her eyes getting red. She wrapped her arms around Sousuke and hugged his head to her chest. The young soldier was smothered in flesh. Kaname and Tessa gave the older woman a hideous glare.
“Pfft. I told ya’ he’d get them out alright!” Kurz said, clapping Sousuke on the back.
“But how did you two get out?” Kaname asked quickly, trying to change the subject. She still didn’t want to remember the image of her homeroom teacher’s corpse…
“Ah, we happened to be out when it all happened,” Melissa said with equal speed. She was just as keen to get onto a new subject and Kurz chuckled stupidly.
“Err…” Tessa said carefully but then she blurted it out. “Is it true you two go behind the gym during lunch to fool around?”
“W-what?!” Melissa almost screamed, her face glowing. “W-who told you that?”
Kurz burst out laughing. “Heheheh… I told my third period PE class… And fourth… And sixth…” This earned him an uppercut to the jaw.
“Are we about finished here?” said a sleepy voice from inside the car. Simultaneously, everyone peered in the window. Muttering quietly, the man inside opened the door and got out. He stood a little under six feet and was dressed impeccably in an Armani (or imitation Armani) suit. He had long hair but it was all greased back, making him look like a kung fu movie villain.
“Ming Chou, at your service,” he said, bowing.
“Mr. Chou is the Board Director of BlitzCorp, the company that produced weapons and equipment for Mithril. Since this operation is so delicate and involves several of his company’s products, he wanted to oversee it personally.”
Ming nodded and added, “Those bastards steal our shit and make ‘em regret it.” Then, he cleared his throat. “That is to say, the Sandalphon is an expensive and valuable piece of equipment and it would be a great liability if we were not able to reclaim it.”
“What’s a Sandalphon?” asked Kaname for the second time in two days. Everyone ignored her.
“Right then,” Mardukas said quickly. “Ms. Chidori, Cap… Tessa. You two shall go with Mr. Chou and Mr. Ragasa to safety.
“What about everyone else?” said Tessa, looking around. She glanced over at Sousuke, who had gone into the trunk of his car. He came out with a shotgun and four shells held delicately in his teeth. One by one, he slipped each into the breech of the weapon and then cocked it.
“We have unfinished business to take care of.”
~
When Sousuke’s “special” car arrived at Jindai, they found it much the same as the day before. Several squad cars were parked out front with cops milling around.
The small assault team was made up of Sousuke, Kurz, Melissa, Kalinin and Mardukas, each armed to the teeth.
“Just like the old days, huh?” laughed Kurz as he slapped a magazine into his rifle, a large MSG-90.
Sousuke murmured something quietly. His cut down Mossberg shotgun was slung over his shoulder and he loaded a magazine into an FN P90, not unlike the one used by a certain preteen girl in a certain recent anime series.
Next to him, Kalinin already having loaded his rifle, an AN-94, had gone into his wallet. Inside, he had a small icon of a Saint. Taking out the card, the old Russian bowed his head and whispered a prayer in his native tongue. Then, he kissed the icon.
“St. Jude,” Kalinin explained. “Patron Saint of hopeless causes,” he added, smiling.
Mardukas was silent as he loaded and cocked his MP-5. When he finished, he leaned against the car and turned his head upward, resigned to wait quietly until the time to act came.
Finally, Melissa was still a bit embarrassed because of the “revelation” about her and Kurz. She was still blushing and avoided looking at him, except for a brief moment when they eyes met. Then, she went back to checking her M4.
A few minutes later, they poured out of the car and started towards the front door to the school. Predictably, they were stopped by a cop.
“Excuse me,” he said, glancing at their weapons nervously. “But who are you and what are you doing?”
Suddenly, it dawned on the five of them that they had not prepared an excuse.
It was Melissa, however, who solved their problem.
“We’re with the US military. We’ve been ordered to subdue the terrorists and free the hostages. So, if you wouldn’t mind stepping out of the way…”
The cop stared at her for a few seconds. “Could I see some proof, perhaps?”
Melissa sighed. She rolled her shoulders a bit, cleared her throat and took a deep breath. Switching to English, this is what she said:
“BOY, WHAT IS YOUR MAJOR MALFUNCTION?! MY NAME IS SERGEANT MAJOR MELISSA MAO AND I WAS ORDERED BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE GODDAMNED UNITED STATES TO GO INTO THIS SCHOOL AND KILL EVERY LITTLE DIPSHIT TERRORIST I CAN FIND AND FREE THOSE KIDS! SO, WHY DON’T YOU GET THE HELL OUT OF MY WAY BEFORE I CALL UP GEORGE W. fudgie’ BUSH, THE LEADER OF THE FREE WORLD AND PROTECTOR OF DEMOCRACY AND GOOD CHRISTIAN VALUES, AND ASK HIM TO COME WAY THE HELL OVER HERE AND STICK HIS COWBOY BOOT SO FAR UP YOUR GODDAMNED ASS YOUR NOSE BLEEDS!”
By the time she finished, Melissa was panting a bit. The cop was in a horrible state, on the verge of tears.
“Y-yes, ma’am…” he stuttered out, stepping to the side.
“I knew she was a Drill Sergeant,” Kurz muttered to Sousuke. “But I’ve never seen her do that.”
“Problem,” Melissa said, trying the doors. “They’re locked. Sousuke?”
“Yes, ma’am!” Still a bit frightened by her, Sousuke hightailed it back to his car.
“You might want to take cover,” Mardukas muttered to the cop as he and the others quickly ducked behind cars.
The missile tubes on the ’91 Toyota opened up and, a moment later, the doors ceased to exist.
~
The blast was heard all the way at the other side of the school in the administration office. A soldier burst in, his face pale with fear.
“We’re under attack! They blew up the main entrance and we’re taking heavy casualties from that end!”
Before Wolfram could say anything, Gauron stood up. “How many are there?”
“Uhh… Just five or six.”
The big man smiled. “Kashim…” He glanced at Wolfram. “I’ll take care of this. Continue as you see fit.” As he left, he grabbed the blood caked sword that Fujiwara had used the day before and Gauron had swiped shortly afterward.
Turning his attention back to the situation at end, Wolfram smiled. “Now, I’m sure we can find some common ground on which we can agree…”
Across from him, in the principal’s desk, sat Hayashimizu, the school council president, looking very relaxed. Next to him sat his right hand woman, Ren, who smiled pleasantly, very relaxed also.
“No,” Hayashimizu said coolly. “I’m afraid we can’t. With the teachers unable to assist, as the student council president, I consider it my duty to look after the pupils of this school. I cannot, therefore, in good conscience, reveal the addresses of ones Teresa Testarossa, Chidori Kaname or Sagara Sousuke.”
“We couldn’t reach some sort of agreement?” asked Wolfram again, reaching for his wallet.
“I’m afraid not. We’ve been over this for the past hour, Mr. Lischen. Now, if you wouldn’t mind, we have already lost one day of school, which the students will have to make up during our break, not to mention a homeroom teacher. I have to organize the memorial service for him myself, as my council is temporarily unavailable. So, unless you and your men are willing to give a twenty-one gun salute and be an honor guard, I respectfully request that you withdraw.”
“Alright,” Wolfram said, putting his hands on the desk. “I’ll make you a deal.”
“There shall be no deal,” Hayashimizu said, standing up and turning to look out the window. “You shall withdraw or provide your services free of charge for the Fujiwara-sensei’s memorial. It is your choice.”
There was a clicking as Wolfram drew his pistol, aiming it at Hayashimizu’s back. The boy didn’t flinch.
“If you give me those addresses, I’ll let all the students go. How does that sound?”
“Ren-san, would you call you father for me?”
“Certainly, Sempai,” Ren said, reaching for the phone. Wolfram flicked the gun to her.
“Who’s her father?”
“A yakuza boss. If you don’t withdraw immediately, this school will be overrun with hired guns within the hour.”
“You little bastard…” Wolfram hissed as he switched the gun back to Hayashimizu. Ren quickly dialed her home phone number.
“Hi, papa? Yes… Yes… Could you send them over, then? Thank you, daddy!” She put down the receiver and looked to Hayashimizu. “Daddy’s sending over all the men he can find. They should get here in about twenty minutes.”
Hayshimizu turned on Wolfram, smiling coolly still. “Shoot me if you like. It won’t do you any good.” He tilted his head and his glasses flashed.
~
About half an hour earlier, Kaname, Tessa, Tomaya and Ming Chou were at a gas station. Ming Chou was going about the task of sprucing up his car while it filled up with gas and talked mindlessly to no one in particular. Strangely, he often slipped into Chinese or English while speaking.
“So, you know, I couldn’t back down from a deal like that. It made me the man I am today. It was just that great a deal. It made me the man I am today…”
When he went off to pay, Kaname glanced at Tessa and Tomaya, who in turn glanced back. The three of them shared a single, simultaneous nod.
“I’ll drive,” the old man muttered as they switched around, him getting into the driver’s seat. Within moments, they were on their way to Jindai.
Ming Chou was not pleased.
~
Back at Jindai, Sousuke had gotten separated from his other four comrades. It was amazing how disorientating a flashbang could be.
So, instead of trying to regroup, Sousuke decided to go liberate his class. He fought his way to the closest stair well, using up his stores of shotgun ammo as he went.
“Damn it,” he cursed softly, tossing away the empty weapon. He pulled up the FN P90 and opened fire, using the body of a fallen soldier as cover. There were four, maybe five men spraying gunfire down at him and, within moments, there were two. He charged up the stairs, leaping over bodies. He fired a quick burst of fire into the legs of one of the troops and, as the poor fellow collapsed, fired a single shot into his face. He continued shooting, dropping the last soldier.
Finally, he finished scaling the stairs. Eight dead soldiers were sprawled like obscene rag dolls along them. Sousuke tore his eyes away from them. He didn’t want to recognize anyone.
~
When they arrived at the school, Kaname, Tessa and Tomaya tried to go through the police blockade and were stopped by the same cop who had attempted to stand in the way of a disgruntled Marine and her friend.
“This area is closed off to civillians,” he said quickly, putting his hands up. “We can’t let you in. We assure you, the US Army is already doing what they can.”
Tomaya sighed. “Let me take care of this.” He stood in front of the cop, sizing him up. The other man was much younger and taller than the old Japanese but Tomaya easily had more presence.
“I,” Tomaya Ragasa began. “Am a teacher at this school. It is, therefore, my duty to see to the safety and well fare of these students. I am, however, also an Officer of the Emperor. I served my country during the Pacific War and I’m more than capable of handling such a situation as this. Are you, young man, going to stand in the way of a soldier of Japan, no, a son of Japan as he attempts to protect and cultivate Her citizenry? Are you prepared to commit such a despicable act of treason?”
The cop sighed and slumped his shoulders as Tomaya walked past him. He looked to be on the verge of tears.
“No,” he said, as Tessa and Kaname tried to follow him. “Not you too. You’re civilians… You’re not soldiers.”
Tessa’s eyes went wide and she clasped her hands tightly. “I… I’m sorry.” Then she stepped to the side. The cop barely even saw Kaname’s fist coming.
~
It was more or less chaos inside Jindai by the time the three got inside. The Mithril troops were panicking. Tomaya, Tessa and Kaname were each armed but that didn’t prepare them for the firefight they had just walked into.
“Damn it…” whispered Kaname. Unbeknownst to her, Sousuke had just uttered the same words a few hundred yards from her. She was crouched behind a desk, not far from Tessa, bullets whizzing above her head. Tomaya was a bit ahead of them, leaning out from behind a door way.
Thrusting her pistol over the desk, Kaname fired as best she could. Unfortunately, she had never had anything even remotely resembling firearms training and her shots went wild.
Suddenly, the desk in front of her exploded into shards. Kaname dropped the gun and covered herself, the splinters flying and cutting into her. She fell back, trying desperately to brush the bits of wood away.
Then she felt it. It was a sudden shock, like being punched in the gun, only concentrated on one spot. It hurt like hell for a second and then her entire leg was numb.
I’ve been shot, Kaname realized. She glanced down at her body. Her thigh was glowing bright red, her skirt quickly absorbing the blood flowing out. She struggled to her feet, pain coursing through her leg, hugging the wall.
Then, the pain came again, sharper this time. She doubled over from the force and slumped against the wall. She gave a few raspy coughs, spitting blood onto the floor.
I’ve been shot again, she thought. I’m going to die.
She forced her legs to move, creeping forward slowly, still leaning against the wall.
This sucks… I don’t want to die. How did things turn out like this? Is this what Sousuke feels like every time he gets shot? He’s even tougher than I thought. I wonder where he is now? I wanna’ see him before I die…
To see Sousuke again. That seemed like a logical aspiration to Kaname. If she could just find him… Whisper something in his ear and give him a kiss… Then she could die without regrets.
Kaname forced her legs to move, letting her instincts take over, willing herself to run. Guns went off around her and bullets buzzed through the air like angry flies and she heard Tessa calling her name but she was too numb to make it out.
~
Sousuke clipped another magazine into his submachine gun as he turned down another hallway. Jindai seemed like a maze at the worst of times.
Finally, though, he seemed to find the right hallway. It appeared to be unoccupied as well. Still, he proceeded cautiously.
And then he heard it. It was a strangled, gasping moan. Sousuke spun, taking aim at the adjoining hallway, ready to squeeze the trigger. A moment later, he was glad he didn’t.
“Chidori…” he whispered. She smiled weakly at him. She was slumped against the wall, her belly and right leg covered in blood. Tiny red scratches blanketed her face and arms. She was trembling and she seemed to have trouble keeping her eyes opened.
Sousuke dropped the gun and sprinted forward. At the same time, Kaname’s legs gave out and she fell into his arms. Ignoring the blood, he cradled her gently, picking her up.
“Chidori, can you hear me? Can you see me? Don’t go to sleep.”
“I’m okay, Sousuke, but listen… I…”
“I’m going to get you to safety. Don’t worry.” He hurried back to the hall and started towards their homeroom.
“No, wait… Listen…” Kaname coughed, tossing a few specks of blood onto Sousuke’s chin.
“Chidori, I-“ Sousuke stopped dead. They were in front of a janitor’s closet across from their homeroom. “I have an idea.”
~
Everyone in the class was scared and Sergeant was doing his best to keep them calm by teaching them the finer points of English pronunciation.
Just as he was going over the “th” sound, however, the door burst open.
“Fumoffu!”
Enter Bonta-kun.
“Class Rep!” someone cried out. Bonta-kun was carrying a very beat up Kaname so no one was quite sure who he was referring to.
“Fu! Fumomoffuuu!”
“Huh?” Sergeant said, staring at the plush invader. Bonta-kun gingerly laid Kaname down on the desk.
“Oh my god… Kana-chan…” whispered Kyouko in shock.
“Fumo,” Bonta-kun said, waving a paw in Kyouko’s direction. Then, he turned his attention to Sergeant. “Fumomomofumo!”
“What?”
Sighing, Bonta-kun leapt forward, into a fighting stance. With one paw, he beckoned Sergeant forward. “Fumo!”
“I don’t…”
Bonta-kun didn’t wait long. He delivered body slam that knocked the poor man against the wall. Then, he picked him up, went over to the door and tossed him out.
“Wow…” Shinji said. “I didn’t see that coming.”
“Kana-chan!” Kyouko now rushed up to the desk, leaning over her friend. The blue haired girl smiled up at her, grinning stupidly.
“Kyouko… what’s up?”
“Kana-chan, what happened to you? Oh my god…”
“Fumo!” Bonta-kun placed a paw on Kyouko’s shoulder. “Fumomo!”
“He’s saying that he’ll take care of it,” Kaname explained. “He says you all should leave through the nearest exist and be careful.”
“Kana-chan…”
“Don’t worry. I’ll be okay. Bonta-kun may not be good for many things but this is one thing he’s useful for.” She shot a smile to the teddy bear who sighed.
With that, Kyouko and the rest of the class resigned themselves to leave, leaving the two alone.
Sousuke unzipped the Bonta-kun costume, groaning. “I still can’t get the voice box on this to work…”
Kaname giggled. “Why did you do that?”
“I didn’t want them to panic. I hoped the suit would lighten thing,” he explained. He turned his attention to her wounds. Kaname met his gaze and looked down.
“Go ahead.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s nothing you haven’t seen before,” she teased. In her shock, she was feeling giddy.
Delicately, he pulled down her bloody skirt and unbutton her blouse up to her breasts. Going into his first aid kit, he brought out a few alcohol wipes and began cleaning away the blood. It stung like hell and Kaname squeezed her eyes shut.
“This is going to hurt,” he warned, finding a pair of tweezers in the kit.
“Whatever. Just get it over with.” Carefully, he removed both bullets, tossing them to the side without a second glance.
“Chidori… I’m going to cauterize the wounds.”
“Oh, god…” she said, laughing bitterly. Six months ago, she had down the same for him.
Sousuke took the scalpel from the first aid kid and produced a cigarette lighter from another pocket.
“You’re not smoking, are you?” Kaname asked tersely, looking for anything to take her mind off the two holes in her.
“No. A lighter is useful.” He lit it and held the scalpel over the blade. Five minutes later, it was glowing hot red.
Quickly, Sousuke pressed the knife against the first wound in Kaname’s leg. She gave a sharp whimper, grinding her teeth together and squeezing her eyes shut. She reached out, grabbing his hand, giving it a fierce squeeze. He repeated the action again, sealing the wound on her stomach. Then, he tossed the scalpel away and opened up his canteen, pouring the cool water over her.
She was panting hard, her eyes rolling back in her head.
“God… How do you put up with this?” Kaname muttered. Her grip on his hand lessen but she didn’t let it go. He laid his other hand on her stomach, stroking her gently…
“It’s easy when you know no other life,” a low voice said. The both turned as Gauron walked in, grinning like a bastard.
“Damn it…” Sousuke breathed. His submachine gun lay in the hall and so he only had his pistol to fight with. And there was no way he could draw it fast enough…
“So, Kashim, Did I ruin a romantic moment for you?”
Kaname tensed up. Gauron noticed and grinned wider, showing off his teeth. They looked more like oversized kernels of corn.
“And for that I’m sorry… But you’ve been giving me a great headache today.” He reached to his waist, drawing the sword that Fujiwara had been using earlier.
“Stand down, Gauron,” another voice said. Kaname was getting tired of people walking in unannounced and unexpected.
It was Tomaya Ragasa. He didn’t have his pistol and, instead, was armed with a bokken he probably swiped from the sports supply room. He brought it to bear, standing in a ready stance, his eyes focused on Gauron.
“Oh? And who commands me?” Gauron kept grinning because he already knew the answer.
The answer was quiet. “Sagara.” Then… “Sagara… Yamato!”
End of Chapter Five
Author’s Notes:
In about twelve hours, I’ll be watching Kill Bill vol. 2. Yatta.
Methinks the
