Para Bellum 3/?? (Sequel to Le Jeu Sinistre)
Posted: Tue Mar 02, 2004 1:52 am
Disclaimer: I do not own Full Metal Panic. This is a parody. Please do not sue me.
Chapter Three: Cry Havoc
At about twenty after one, Sousuke began to realize that something was wrong. Melissa had not yet returned to the nurse’s office and, though afternoon classes should have begun, he did not hear the teachers going to their classrooms in the hall, nor did he hear any students returning from lunch.
At one time, maybe, Sousuke would’ve gotten worried about this. Now, though, he assumed that the clocks were off and lay back on one of the beds to wait for Melissa.
At one thirty, however, Sousuke felt himself getting a bit anxious. No matter, he thought. Perhaps there was an accident in gym class and Melissa was helping out.
Finally, at one forty-five, the door opened. However, Melissa did not enter. Ragasa Tomaya did.
"Sensei," Sousuke said quickly, standing up. Worry now filled him. Being alone in a room with an unhappy subordinate of his deceased father was not something he savored.
"I…" Sousuke started to explain himself but Tomaya raised his hand. The young soldier noticed a few things about the old man: First, he was not wearing a dress shirt under his jacket like he usually wore. Instead, he wore a military style tan uniform shirt. Secondly, his clothing bore the unmistakable smell of gunpowder.
"Sagara, we haven’t the time. Something very, very serious is happening. I can not explain to you the sensitive details of the situation but it requires your special expertise."
Tomaya gave that last bit a moment to sink in before continuing.
"The school has been invaded by a small but well armed troop of soldiers."
"What?" Sousuke whispered, disbelieving.
"They’ve been taking the class representatives of each room hostage."
Sousuke nodded gravely. "Testarossa or Chidori…"
"Exactly. Currently, there are only three people in this school who I know have had military training. Myself, Mr. Fujiwara, your homeroom teacher and you."
"How did you-"
Tomaya smiled. "After you’ve been fighting long enough, you can recognize a fellow soldier, I suppose. When I first saw you, I thought maybe your parents were in the SDF or something along those lines. However, that is not quite the case, is it?"
Sousuke coughed uncomfortably, not saying anything.
"Anyway," Tomaya went on. "Fujiwara, it seems, was taken along with the hostages so they’re safe for now. We served together during the war and I can vouch for his skills. However, that leaves you and I to secure the situation."
"What about Ku… Weber-sensei and Mao-sensei? They’re both trained as well," Sousuke said, a bit hesitant.
"I wasn’t able to find them. Hopefully, they escaped and can inform the police. Until back up arrives, we’re the only ones who can do anything. Fortunately, they didn’t think to secure the infirmary."
Sousuke nodded, his mind beginning to plan some sort of countermeasure. "I don’t have my gun on me but if I could get to my car…"
"They have guards posted at the doors. But, we’re not totally unarmed…"
Tomaya removed his jacket and Sousuke understood why he had smelled gunpowder. The old man had two pistol holsters, each holding a WWII-era Nambu 8mm handgun. Not only that: he had an old style officer’s katana strapped to his belt. Tomaya drew one of the guns and flipped it around, handing it to Sousuke.
"There’s only one magazine for each so we’ll have to conserve ammunition till we can capture more weapons."
Sousuke nodded, cocking the gun and tucking it into the waist of his pants.
"What’s our plan? Shall we attempt to free the hostages?"
Tomaya nodded. "They’re being held in the principal’s office. There’s a phone in there so we can call for help once we take the room."
"Understood."
As Tomaya began to walk out of the room, Sousuke took a deep breath. When the old teacher glanced at him to see if something was wrong, the young soldier shook his head.
"I’ve missed this."
~
As the soldiers marched them to the principal’s office, Mr. Fujiwara complained. He covered a wide range of subjects, from his wife’s cooking, to his hemorrhoids, to Gackt. Although still slightly in awe after his display of martial prowess a few minutes prior, Tessa and Kaname were both looking forward to his shutting up.
When they finally reached the principal’s office, Mr. Fujiwara was still complaining.
"…and he looks like a girl. In my day, men were men and girls were girls. He’s skinny, too. Anorexic, no doubt. There’s another thing. I don’t understand this obsession with not eating… In my day, you ate as much as you could because you didn’t know when your next meal was coming. But, then, we had good food. Not this over processed, sugary stuff… I can’t even get a decent bowl of ramen in Tokyo anymore. I have to go to my cousin’s farm in Hokkaido… My cousin, the poor old bastard, can barely stand. And his good-for-nothing children ignore him. Moved off the farm to become investment bankers. I was at the bank the other day…"
"In here," one of the soldiers grunted, opening the door and pushing the three inside, mostly glad to be away from the remarkably depressing old man.
As the door shut, Kaname and Tessa took in their new surroundings. The office was normal enough. Nice carpet, white walls, book cases, a desk, etc. Sitting at the desk, leaning back in the seat with her feet up on top of the desk itself, however, was a young girl in jeans, chewing gum. Her striking red hair hung down to her shoulders. It took Kaname a few seconds to realize who she was.
"You’re the girl from Mithril’s headquarters!" she said, pointing. Fatima smiled.
"Bingo."
She was, however, not the only one in the room. Looking out the window was a man dressed peculiarly in a long leather trench coat, looking very much like an SS officer. He turned around and smiled at them. He was, perhaps, thirty, and cut a remarkably nice figure for an officer.
"Oh, god…" Tessa whispered, burying her face in her hands.
"Good afternoon, Ms. Testarossa," the man said pleasantly, approaching them.
"That’s Captain," Tessa growled, looking up at him.
"No, no, no… You see, as you are no longer part of Mithril, I am not obligated to call you by your former rank. Do you see how this works, darling?" the man said, smiling. On closer inspection, he was very greasy looking.
"Tessa," Kaname whispered. "Who is this guy?"
"Wolfram Lischen," she glanced at him. "Captain Lischen. He commanded another Mithril submarine. We graduated from the same academy, in the same class." Suddenly, she brightened. "But I was at the head of the class."
Wolfram laughed. "Well, someone has to graduate first, of course…"
"And," Tessa said, smiling sweetly. "Someone has to graduate LAST…"
Wolfram rolled his eyes. "Charming. However, I should inform you… I’m no longer a captain. I’m now an Admiral."
Tessa frowned. "How did that happen? Did you order an Admiral’s badge over the internet?"
"You’ve been out of the loop for awhile, so let me catch you up…" Wolfram began. "You see, after you and you companions…" He nodded at Kaname. "…killed our Fearless Leader and destroyed Mithril’s headquarters, we were a bit… Puzzled as to who should take over. Several groups were ready to follow you, but they had to go through several other groups first and, well, you know, survival of the fittest and all."
"So, basically, you killed off the competition?"
"More or less. After a few battles, the rest of the factions just gave up… You see, I managed to commandeer the Sandalphon."
Tessa paled noticeably. "I thought that was just a rumor…"
"Oh, no. It’s quite real. I should know. I used it to wipe out an entire fleet in the Indian Ocean three weeks ago. Remarkably efficient weapon, if I do say so myself."
"What’s a Sandalphon?" whispered Kaname.
Before Tessa could answer, the third and final occupant of the room supplied one.
"Sandalphon is the prophet Elijah, brought up to heaven and turned into the Angel of Glory by God."
Everyone turned. Leaning against the far wall, almost out of sight, was a tall, scarred Asian man. He was nicely dressed in a suit and tie, though the clothing seemed stretched awkwardly over his large frame. He smiled.
"Gauron," Kaname whispered.
~
The first soldier Tomaya and Sousuke encountered was patrolling the hallway. As they hid behind a corner, waiting for him to turn around, Sousuke couldn’t help but be reminded of a game he had played at Kaname’s house. It was called Metal Gear Solid. Sousuke had spent many hours playing it, so realistic had he found the game.
Sousuke was jerked out of his memory when Tomaya nudged him, gesturing with his pistol. The soldier turned and began marching down the hallway.
Rushing forward, Sousuke took aim and shot him once in the back of the knee. The soldier gave a strangled cry and twisted as he fell.
Since the gun was unable to pierce the kevlar vest he wore, Sousuke aimed at the soldier’s side as he fell, firing two bullets into his lungs. Then, after delivering a strong kick to the man’s injured side, Sousuke fired a final round into his head, finishing the job.
"Well done," Tomaya said, admiringly, as he came forth from his hiding spot.
Sousuke didn’t answer. He knelt down and began to strip off the soldier’s equipment. He put the kevlar vest on, almost untouched except for a few blood stains, and took the soldier’s rifle, a Sig 550. He handed the soldier’s pistol and ammo, an HK USP, to Tomaya who took them gladly over his old Nambu.
"Right then," Tomaya said, holstering his new pistol. "The principal’s office is right down this hall. Let’s hope they didn’t hear the shots."
~
Gauron pushed off the wall, swaggering towards Kaname, grinning like a Cheshire cat.
"In Greek, ‘sandolphon’ means brother… Hence, Sandolphon is the "brother" angel to Metatron, who is actually the prophet Enoch…"
Nobody said anything for a few moments.
Then, Mr. Fujiwara broke the silence.
"What’s he talking about? I didn’t understand half of what he said… Is he one of them… Whaddya’ call ‘em… Metrosexuals? No…"
Gauron laughed. "Of course, that’s just Jewish lore. So, tell me, Ms. Chidori… How have you been since we last met?"
"Perfectly fine," Kaname said through gritted teeth. She took a few steps back and bumped into Mr. Fujiwara. Surprisingly, he placed his hands on her shoulders, holding her reassuringly.
"What do you want with us? Where are the other hostages?" Tessa asked quickly, changing the subject.
"You don’t need to know the answer to the first question but the other hostages are being held in the gym."
"What do you mean we don’t need to know the answer?" Tessa growled.
Wolfram fielded this question.
"He means that it is far too delicate an answer to explain here. Don’t worry, you’ll learn soon enough," he said, smiling serenely.
There was another awkward silence. Then…
"You know, Sousuke’s going to kick your asses," Kaname said, having a bit more courage, knowing that Mr. Fujiwara was behind her. "Mark my words. Ten minutes from now, maybe an hour, even a few days… He’ll kick your asses and win like he always does."
Gauron laughed. "I look forward to seeing Kashim again…"
"You seem very sure of yourselves…" Mr. Fujiwara said slowly. He walked around in front of Kaname, holding his hands behind him. "But, then, I would too, if it were my army versus a handful of unarmed civillians…"
Puffing out his chest, Wolfram growled. "What’re you implying?"
"Nothing, nothing…" he said, smiling. One of the soldiers trained his submachinegun on Fujiwara and he laughed.
"Because a little old man is so dangerous…"
Just then, there was a knock at the door.
"Who’s there?" Wolfram called out.
There was a silence. Then…
"Sergeant."
"Sergeant Who?"
"Sergeant… Morrison."
Wolfram glanced at Gauron. "Do we have a Sergeant Morrison?" Gauron shook his head.
"We don’t have a Sergeatn Morrison!"
There was another brief silence.
"Pizza."
"Did anyone order a pizza?"
Gauron and Fatima shook their heads.
"We didn’t order a pizza."
A few hurried whispers followed.
"Phone company," came the gruff reply.
Fatima leaned forward and picked up the phone on the desk, holding it to her ear. She looked up and around.
"There’s a dial tone. Should I order a pizza?"
Wolfram sighed. "You two," he said, looking at Kaname and Tessa. "Back away from the door.
The two girls scurried away from the room’s entrance and stood near their teacher. Except for Gauron and Wolfram, nobody seemed to know what was going on. The former drew his pistol and the latter ducked behind the desk.
Nothing happened for a few seconds.
Then the door exploded.
~
As the door fell off its hinges, Sousuke was ready with a follow up flash bang. He was treated to a brief vision of everyone in the room staring at him with the same kind of look one would have if one saw a door blow up.
Taking note of Kaname and Tessa’s location in the room, Sousuke covered his eyes and tossed the flashbang. Tomaya did likewise. There was a great boom and a brilliant flash and then some smoke.
And then, Sousuke charged forward under Tomaya’s cover fire. Without really looking where he was going, he grabbed Kaname and Tessa by the scruff of their school uniforms.
"’Afternoon, Kashim."
Sousuke looked up. Gauron grinned. Like a helpless rodent, transfixed by a King Cobra, the young soldier found himself unable to move. The splitting pain in his head returned when he peered into the abyss of Gauron’s eyes…
And then, the moment was over. Fujiwara, who had recovered quickly from the flash, launched a lunging punch into Gauron’s jaw. It was a bit strange to see, because Gauron was a good foot or so taller than Mr. Fujiwara.
Gauron was not knocked down but his head did make a jerky twist to the side. A trickle of blood came down from his nose. Carefully, he turned his head back its original position, his grin still present.
"You get those two out of here," Mr. Fujiwara said, cracking his knuckles and making an obscene snapping sound. "I’ll take care of him."
Sousuke needed no further convincing. Making sure he had a good grip on Tessa and Kaname (both of whom were now conscious), he high tailed it out of the door, closely followed by Tomaya.
~
A few moments later, Sousuke, Tomaya, Tessa and Kaname collected themselves.
"Ow! Let go of my neck!" Kaname whined, shaking free of Sousuke. Tessa, on the other hand, latched onto him.
"Oh, Sagara-san, I was so frightened… I knew you would save me…"
"You weren’t scared! You were chewing that guy out! Wolfram or whatever…"
Sousuke looked down at Tessa. "Captain Wolfram Lischen?"
"He’s an Admiral now," Tessa replied, nuzzling her head into Sousuke’s chest. Kaname grabbed her by her braid and pulled her off. She growled something under her breath that sounded suspiciously like "Mine!"
Tomaya cleared his throat, uncomfortably.
"We should be leaving," he said simply, gesturing towards the entrance. "We can alert the police… Hopefully, they haven’t posted many guards."
"Hopefully," Sousuke said, nodding.
Without warning, the wall next to them burst apart. Mr. Fujiwara came flying through the rubble and slammed into the other wall. He caught himself and landed on his feet. He had several nasty cuts and bruises and his nose looked like it had seen better days.
Gauron came sauntering through the hole in the wall, still smiling.
"You put up a good fight," he said, a hint of admiration in his voice. "But not good enough!" He lunged, one giant fist coming towards Fujiwara’s face. The little man blocked it and counterattacked, striking Gauron’s stomach. The big man didn’t even flinch and head butted Fujiwara, knocking him back. Then, he launched a low kick that sent the teacher to the ground.
Sousuke reacted before he could decide what to do. Reaching over to Tomaya’s waist, he drew the older man’s sword and flung it at Gauron’s leg. Spinning through the air, the katana hit its target, slicing into Gauron’s knee.
The big, scarred man gave out a strangled cry and dropped to one leg. He tried to stand up and failed, grimacing. He shot a dirty look at Sousuke but then, his glare transformed into a horrible, twisted grin.
"Well played, Kashim…" he purred. Forcing himself to stand with obvious difficulty, Gauron glanced down the hallway. A squad of heavily armed troops was racing towards them. He smiled and jogged-limped toward them. Once he passed them, he disappeared into another hallway.
"Damn," Tomaya muttered as he got down, pulling up his handgun. He blew away one of the soldiers easily and capped another one in the face.
"Captain," Fujiwara said. He had picked up the sword and got his hands on one of the old Nambu pistols. "You take the children and run. I’ll buy you as much time as I can."
The two old men looked at each other very seriously for a moment. Then, Tomaya saluted.
"Understood, Liutenant."
"It has been an honor to serve with you, Captain."
"The honor is all mine, Sir. Go!"
Tomaya nodded to Sousuke, Tessa and Kaname. "You heard him! Let’s go!"
Firing their weapons, they backed down the hallway. Fujiwara stood up, gun and sword in hand.
"Banzai!" he screamed, charging them. He got off one shot before dozens of rounds tore his old body to shreds. As blood splattered, he kept running, sword raised high. Even though he should have died, his corpse seemed possessed. As he met the soldiers, he drove the blade into the first one he could, shattering the kevlar armor and snapping the sword itself in the process. Finally, he slumped over against his dying opponent, dead.
"Oh my god…" Kaname whispered, looking back. She squeezed her eyes shut tightly and clung to Sousuke as they ran.
When they came to the doors, there was a single guard there. He was taken care of quickly and the quartet found themselves outside, free, finally.
"What now?" Sousuke said, looking around. Then, he spotted his car. "Ah." Then, he smiled. And the custom automakers thought he was paranoid…
~
Meanwhile, Wolfram and Fatima sat in the principal’s office, still slightly disorientated from the flash and in a semi-state of shock from the events of the previous five minutes.
Wolfram coughed uncomfortably. "It seems we have underestimated our opponents."
"No shit, Sherlock."
End of Chapter Three
Author’s Notes: Mmm… Bloody violence… More of that to come!
So, I saw the last episode of Gunslinger Girl. Goddamn, that is a fine show. And the last scene with Triela and Henrietta! So cute! You know there’s some yuri H-doujin with those two somewhere… Hmm… 4chan probably has some.
Can’t think of anything else to talk about… Hmm… Clapton is God… Hmm… I’m a pussy who watches The OC… Romance of the Three Kingdoms fanfiction would be really cool but incredibly strange and slightly creepy, possibly along the lines of Bible fanfiction.
That’s about it! Until next time… Ciao!
Chapter Three: Cry Havoc
At about twenty after one, Sousuke began to realize that something was wrong. Melissa had not yet returned to the nurse’s office and, though afternoon classes should have begun, he did not hear the teachers going to their classrooms in the hall, nor did he hear any students returning from lunch.
At one time, maybe, Sousuke would’ve gotten worried about this. Now, though, he assumed that the clocks were off and lay back on one of the beds to wait for Melissa.
At one thirty, however, Sousuke felt himself getting a bit anxious. No matter, he thought. Perhaps there was an accident in gym class and Melissa was helping out.
Finally, at one forty-five, the door opened. However, Melissa did not enter. Ragasa Tomaya did.
"Sensei," Sousuke said quickly, standing up. Worry now filled him. Being alone in a room with an unhappy subordinate of his deceased father was not something he savored.
"I…" Sousuke started to explain himself but Tomaya raised his hand. The young soldier noticed a few things about the old man: First, he was not wearing a dress shirt under his jacket like he usually wore. Instead, he wore a military style tan uniform shirt. Secondly, his clothing bore the unmistakable smell of gunpowder.
"Sagara, we haven’t the time. Something very, very serious is happening. I can not explain to you the sensitive details of the situation but it requires your special expertise."
Tomaya gave that last bit a moment to sink in before continuing.
"The school has been invaded by a small but well armed troop of soldiers."
"What?" Sousuke whispered, disbelieving.
"They’ve been taking the class representatives of each room hostage."
Sousuke nodded gravely. "Testarossa or Chidori…"
"Exactly. Currently, there are only three people in this school who I know have had military training. Myself, Mr. Fujiwara, your homeroom teacher and you."
"How did you-"
Tomaya smiled. "After you’ve been fighting long enough, you can recognize a fellow soldier, I suppose. When I first saw you, I thought maybe your parents were in the SDF or something along those lines. However, that is not quite the case, is it?"
Sousuke coughed uncomfortably, not saying anything.
"Anyway," Tomaya went on. "Fujiwara, it seems, was taken along with the hostages so they’re safe for now. We served together during the war and I can vouch for his skills. However, that leaves you and I to secure the situation."
"What about Ku… Weber-sensei and Mao-sensei? They’re both trained as well," Sousuke said, a bit hesitant.
"I wasn’t able to find them. Hopefully, they escaped and can inform the police. Until back up arrives, we’re the only ones who can do anything. Fortunately, they didn’t think to secure the infirmary."
Sousuke nodded, his mind beginning to plan some sort of countermeasure. "I don’t have my gun on me but if I could get to my car…"
"They have guards posted at the doors. But, we’re not totally unarmed…"
Tomaya removed his jacket and Sousuke understood why he had smelled gunpowder. The old man had two pistol holsters, each holding a WWII-era Nambu 8mm handgun. Not only that: he had an old style officer’s katana strapped to his belt. Tomaya drew one of the guns and flipped it around, handing it to Sousuke.
"There’s only one magazine for each so we’ll have to conserve ammunition till we can capture more weapons."
Sousuke nodded, cocking the gun and tucking it into the waist of his pants.
"What’s our plan? Shall we attempt to free the hostages?"
Tomaya nodded. "They’re being held in the principal’s office. There’s a phone in there so we can call for help once we take the room."
"Understood."
As Tomaya began to walk out of the room, Sousuke took a deep breath. When the old teacher glanced at him to see if something was wrong, the young soldier shook his head.
"I’ve missed this."
~
As the soldiers marched them to the principal’s office, Mr. Fujiwara complained. He covered a wide range of subjects, from his wife’s cooking, to his hemorrhoids, to Gackt. Although still slightly in awe after his display of martial prowess a few minutes prior, Tessa and Kaname were both looking forward to his shutting up.
When they finally reached the principal’s office, Mr. Fujiwara was still complaining.
"…and he looks like a girl. In my day, men were men and girls were girls. He’s skinny, too. Anorexic, no doubt. There’s another thing. I don’t understand this obsession with not eating… In my day, you ate as much as you could because you didn’t know when your next meal was coming. But, then, we had good food. Not this over processed, sugary stuff… I can’t even get a decent bowl of ramen in Tokyo anymore. I have to go to my cousin’s farm in Hokkaido… My cousin, the poor old bastard, can barely stand. And his good-for-nothing children ignore him. Moved off the farm to become investment bankers. I was at the bank the other day…"
"In here," one of the soldiers grunted, opening the door and pushing the three inside, mostly glad to be away from the remarkably depressing old man.
As the door shut, Kaname and Tessa took in their new surroundings. The office was normal enough. Nice carpet, white walls, book cases, a desk, etc. Sitting at the desk, leaning back in the seat with her feet up on top of the desk itself, however, was a young girl in jeans, chewing gum. Her striking red hair hung down to her shoulders. It took Kaname a few seconds to realize who she was.
"You’re the girl from Mithril’s headquarters!" she said, pointing. Fatima smiled.
"Bingo."
She was, however, not the only one in the room. Looking out the window was a man dressed peculiarly in a long leather trench coat, looking very much like an SS officer. He turned around and smiled at them. He was, perhaps, thirty, and cut a remarkably nice figure for an officer.
"Oh, god…" Tessa whispered, burying her face in her hands.
"Good afternoon, Ms. Testarossa," the man said pleasantly, approaching them.
"That’s Captain," Tessa growled, looking up at him.
"No, no, no… You see, as you are no longer part of Mithril, I am not obligated to call you by your former rank. Do you see how this works, darling?" the man said, smiling. On closer inspection, he was very greasy looking.
"Tessa," Kaname whispered. "Who is this guy?"
"Wolfram Lischen," she glanced at him. "Captain Lischen. He commanded another Mithril submarine. We graduated from the same academy, in the same class." Suddenly, she brightened. "But I was at the head of the class."
Wolfram laughed. "Well, someone has to graduate first, of course…"
"And," Tessa said, smiling sweetly. "Someone has to graduate LAST…"
Wolfram rolled his eyes. "Charming. However, I should inform you… I’m no longer a captain. I’m now an Admiral."
Tessa frowned. "How did that happen? Did you order an Admiral’s badge over the internet?"
"You’ve been out of the loop for awhile, so let me catch you up…" Wolfram began. "You see, after you and you companions…" He nodded at Kaname. "…killed our Fearless Leader and destroyed Mithril’s headquarters, we were a bit… Puzzled as to who should take over. Several groups were ready to follow you, but they had to go through several other groups first and, well, you know, survival of the fittest and all."
"So, basically, you killed off the competition?"
"More or less. After a few battles, the rest of the factions just gave up… You see, I managed to commandeer the Sandalphon."
Tessa paled noticeably. "I thought that was just a rumor…"
"Oh, no. It’s quite real. I should know. I used it to wipe out an entire fleet in the Indian Ocean three weeks ago. Remarkably efficient weapon, if I do say so myself."
"What’s a Sandalphon?" whispered Kaname.
Before Tessa could answer, the third and final occupant of the room supplied one.
"Sandalphon is the prophet Elijah, brought up to heaven and turned into the Angel of Glory by God."
Everyone turned. Leaning against the far wall, almost out of sight, was a tall, scarred Asian man. He was nicely dressed in a suit and tie, though the clothing seemed stretched awkwardly over his large frame. He smiled.
"Gauron," Kaname whispered.
~
The first soldier Tomaya and Sousuke encountered was patrolling the hallway. As they hid behind a corner, waiting for him to turn around, Sousuke couldn’t help but be reminded of a game he had played at Kaname’s house. It was called Metal Gear Solid. Sousuke had spent many hours playing it, so realistic had he found the game.
Sousuke was jerked out of his memory when Tomaya nudged him, gesturing with his pistol. The soldier turned and began marching down the hallway.
Rushing forward, Sousuke took aim and shot him once in the back of the knee. The soldier gave a strangled cry and twisted as he fell.
Since the gun was unable to pierce the kevlar vest he wore, Sousuke aimed at the soldier’s side as he fell, firing two bullets into his lungs. Then, after delivering a strong kick to the man’s injured side, Sousuke fired a final round into his head, finishing the job.
"Well done," Tomaya said, admiringly, as he came forth from his hiding spot.
Sousuke didn’t answer. He knelt down and began to strip off the soldier’s equipment. He put the kevlar vest on, almost untouched except for a few blood stains, and took the soldier’s rifle, a Sig 550. He handed the soldier’s pistol and ammo, an HK USP, to Tomaya who took them gladly over his old Nambu.
"Right then," Tomaya said, holstering his new pistol. "The principal’s office is right down this hall. Let’s hope they didn’t hear the shots."
~
Gauron pushed off the wall, swaggering towards Kaname, grinning like a Cheshire cat.
"In Greek, ‘sandolphon’ means brother… Hence, Sandolphon is the "brother" angel to Metatron, who is actually the prophet Enoch…"
Nobody said anything for a few moments.
Then, Mr. Fujiwara broke the silence.
"What’s he talking about? I didn’t understand half of what he said… Is he one of them… Whaddya’ call ‘em… Metrosexuals? No…"
Gauron laughed. "Of course, that’s just Jewish lore. So, tell me, Ms. Chidori… How have you been since we last met?"
"Perfectly fine," Kaname said through gritted teeth. She took a few steps back and bumped into Mr. Fujiwara. Surprisingly, he placed his hands on her shoulders, holding her reassuringly.
"What do you want with us? Where are the other hostages?" Tessa asked quickly, changing the subject.
"You don’t need to know the answer to the first question but the other hostages are being held in the gym."
"What do you mean we don’t need to know the answer?" Tessa growled.
Wolfram fielded this question.
"He means that it is far too delicate an answer to explain here. Don’t worry, you’ll learn soon enough," he said, smiling serenely.
There was another awkward silence. Then…
"You know, Sousuke’s going to kick your asses," Kaname said, having a bit more courage, knowing that Mr. Fujiwara was behind her. "Mark my words. Ten minutes from now, maybe an hour, even a few days… He’ll kick your asses and win like he always does."
Gauron laughed. "I look forward to seeing Kashim again…"
"You seem very sure of yourselves…" Mr. Fujiwara said slowly. He walked around in front of Kaname, holding his hands behind him. "But, then, I would too, if it were my army versus a handful of unarmed civillians…"
Puffing out his chest, Wolfram growled. "What’re you implying?"
"Nothing, nothing…" he said, smiling. One of the soldiers trained his submachinegun on Fujiwara and he laughed.
"Because a little old man is so dangerous…"
Just then, there was a knock at the door.
"Who’s there?" Wolfram called out.
There was a silence. Then…
"Sergeant."
"Sergeant Who?"
"Sergeant… Morrison."
Wolfram glanced at Gauron. "Do we have a Sergeant Morrison?" Gauron shook his head.
"We don’t have a Sergeatn Morrison!"
There was another brief silence.
"Pizza."
"Did anyone order a pizza?"
Gauron and Fatima shook their heads.
"We didn’t order a pizza."
A few hurried whispers followed.
"Phone company," came the gruff reply.
Fatima leaned forward and picked up the phone on the desk, holding it to her ear. She looked up and around.
"There’s a dial tone. Should I order a pizza?"
Wolfram sighed. "You two," he said, looking at Kaname and Tessa. "Back away from the door.
The two girls scurried away from the room’s entrance and stood near their teacher. Except for Gauron and Wolfram, nobody seemed to know what was going on. The former drew his pistol and the latter ducked behind the desk.
Nothing happened for a few seconds.
Then the door exploded.
~
As the door fell off its hinges, Sousuke was ready with a follow up flash bang. He was treated to a brief vision of everyone in the room staring at him with the same kind of look one would have if one saw a door blow up.
Taking note of Kaname and Tessa’s location in the room, Sousuke covered his eyes and tossed the flashbang. Tomaya did likewise. There was a great boom and a brilliant flash and then some smoke.
And then, Sousuke charged forward under Tomaya’s cover fire. Without really looking where he was going, he grabbed Kaname and Tessa by the scruff of their school uniforms.
"’Afternoon, Kashim."
Sousuke looked up. Gauron grinned. Like a helpless rodent, transfixed by a King Cobra, the young soldier found himself unable to move. The splitting pain in his head returned when he peered into the abyss of Gauron’s eyes…
And then, the moment was over. Fujiwara, who had recovered quickly from the flash, launched a lunging punch into Gauron’s jaw. It was a bit strange to see, because Gauron was a good foot or so taller than Mr. Fujiwara.
Gauron was not knocked down but his head did make a jerky twist to the side. A trickle of blood came down from his nose. Carefully, he turned his head back its original position, his grin still present.
"You get those two out of here," Mr. Fujiwara said, cracking his knuckles and making an obscene snapping sound. "I’ll take care of him."
Sousuke needed no further convincing. Making sure he had a good grip on Tessa and Kaname (both of whom were now conscious), he high tailed it out of the door, closely followed by Tomaya.
~
A few moments later, Sousuke, Tomaya, Tessa and Kaname collected themselves.
"Ow! Let go of my neck!" Kaname whined, shaking free of Sousuke. Tessa, on the other hand, latched onto him.
"Oh, Sagara-san, I was so frightened… I knew you would save me…"
"You weren’t scared! You were chewing that guy out! Wolfram or whatever…"
Sousuke looked down at Tessa. "Captain Wolfram Lischen?"
"He’s an Admiral now," Tessa replied, nuzzling her head into Sousuke’s chest. Kaname grabbed her by her braid and pulled her off. She growled something under her breath that sounded suspiciously like "Mine!"
Tomaya cleared his throat, uncomfortably.
"We should be leaving," he said simply, gesturing towards the entrance. "We can alert the police… Hopefully, they haven’t posted many guards."
"Hopefully," Sousuke said, nodding.
Without warning, the wall next to them burst apart. Mr. Fujiwara came flying through the rubble and slammed into the other wall. He caught himself and landed on his feet. He had several nasty cuts and bruises and his nose looked like it had seen better days.
Gauron came sauntering through the hole in the wall, still smiling.
"You put up a good fight," he said, a hint of admiration in his voice. "But not good enough!" He lunged, one giant fist coming towards Fujiwara’s face. The little man blocked it and counterattacked, striking Gauron’s stomach. The big man didn’t even flinch and head butted Fujiwara, knocking him back. Then, he launched a low kick that sent the teacher to the ground.
Sousuke reacted before he could decide what to do. Reaching over to Tomaya’s waist, he drew the older man’s sword and flung it at Gauron’s leg. Spinning through the air, the katana hit its target, slicing into Gauron’s knee.
The big, scarred man gave out a strangled cry and dropped to one leg. He tried to stand up and failed, grimacing. He shot a dirty look at Sousuke but then, his glare transformed into a horrible, twisted grin.
"Well played, Kashim…" he purred. Forcing himself to stand with obvious difficulty, Gauron glanced down the hallway. A squad of heavily armed troops was racing towards them. He smiled and jogged-limped toward them. Once he passed them, he disappeared into another hallway.
"Damn," Tomaya muttered as he got down, pulling up his handgun. He blew away one of the soldiers easily and capped another one in the face.
"Captain," Fujiwara said. He had picked up the sword and got his hands on one of the old Nambu pistols. "You take the children and run. I’ll buy you as much time as I can."
The two old men looked at each other very seriously for a moment. Then, Tomaya saluted.
"Understood, Liutenant."
"It has been an honor to serve with you, Captain."
"The honor is all mine, Sir. Go!"
Tomaya nodded to Sousuke, Tessa and Kaname. "You heard him! Let’s go!"
Firing their weapons, they backed down the hallway. Fujiwara stood up, gun and sword in hand.
"Banzai!" he screamed, charging them. He got off one shot before dozens of rounds tore his old body to shreds. As blood splattered, he kept running, sword raised high. Even though he should have died, his corpse seemed possessed. As he met the soldiers, he drove the blade into the first one he could, shattering the kevlar armor and snapping the sword itself in the process. Finally, he slumped over against his dying opponent, dead.
"Oh my god…" Kaname whispered, looking back. She squeezed her eyes shut tightly and clung to Sousuke as they ran.
When they came to the doors, there was a single guard there. He was taken care of quickly and the quartet found themselves outside, free, finally.
"What now?" Sousuke said, looking around. Then, he spotted his car. "Ah." Then, he smiled. And the custom automakers thought he was paranoid…
~
Meanwhile, Wolfram and Fatima sat in the principal’s office, still slightly disorientated from the flash and in a semi-state of shock from the events of the previous five minutes.
Wolfram coughed uncomfortably. "It seems we have underestimated our opponents."
"No shit, Sherlock."
End of Chapter Three
Author’s Notes: Mmm… Bloody violence… More of that to come!
So, I saw the last episode of Gunslinger Girl. Goddamn, that is a fine show. And the last scene with Triela and Henrietta! So cute! You know there’s some yuri H-doujin with those two somewhere… Hmm… 4chan probably has some.
Can’t think of anything else to talk about… Hmm… Clapton is God… Hmm… I’m a pussy who watches The OC… Romance of the Three Kingdoms fanfiction would be really cool but incredibly strange and slightly creepy, possibly along the lines of Bible fanfiction.
That’s about it! Until next time… Ciao!
