|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Chapter 72
By Young Sage and Agent Havoc
Ran sat down and rubbed his feet, as much as he had needed these new clothes to not stick out, he was regretting changing from his old boots, these new shoes were by far more comfertable, but after awhile they became almost annoying...
Kuri came and sat down next to him."Are you alright? We can stop for a while if you need to..."
Ran smiled at the genuine concern in the young boys face, it amazed him at how much of a bond they had been able to create together in just the few short hours that they had known each other.
"I'll be fine i think I just need to sit down for a while."
Kuri nodded and looked around."Well theres a pile of boxes just up ahead that we can hide behind, how's that sound?"
Kuri looked back at Ran. instead of answering Ran stood up and started towards the boxes, he didn't really understand why Kuri always had to find a place to hide everytime they stopped, but he had decided not to question the boys motives, knowing that the young boy knew far more than he did of this city than he.
After getting comfortable Ran leaned back against the wall, it wasn't exactly High living but, it was enough for a short hiatus. He still don't have a clue as to why he was here...but that didn't matter, all he knew was that he had found the Kuri, and that he had made a friend that he would hopefully have for a long long time...
Darian ran for everything he was worth, he could hear his pursuers farther behind him, he knew he was gaining distance on them but it still wasn't enough, he had to get away from them, not just ahead...
He shouldered over a stack of twenty, fifty gallon barrels that had been stacked pyramid style, hoping that that might slow down his pursuers enough for him to make a get away...doubtful, but anything was better than just trying to out run them.
He couldn't help it any more, he had to stop he couldn't hear them anymore...but he knew they were still chasing him, at least Dai was, he knew that Dai wouldn't give up, he was too much like Darian himself, when he had been a bounty hunter.
He had to find a place he could hide, somewhere that he could catch his breath without worrieing about being caught...or at least somwhere that no one would see him and give away his position, incase his pursuers had split up thinking that he had gone in a different direction. There in front of him was a stack of boxes... "Perfect..." Darian hadn't meant to say anything out loud,but he was so exhausted he really didn't care.
Ran opened his eyes, something was wrong, something was very wrong, he had closed his eyes and dozed off temporarily, only to be awakened by a soft murmuring...any other time he would have shrugged and blamed it on the wind, but something told him, this was to human a sound to be the wind. He shook his head. Why was he so worried? it could just be a beggar, drunk and incoherent looking for somewhere to sleep off the drink that he had just had?
But he knew that wasn't it.
Slowly Ran moved, trying not to make any noise as he peered through holes in the box stack. At first it looked like there was no one around. Sighing Ran was about to sit down, when a flash in his periferal vision caught his attention, a flash of black clothing. Catching his breath Ran looked around for Kuri, and was relived to see that the young boy was fast asleep on the ground. slipping around the stack of boxes very carefully Ran looked around for something to use as a weapon, finally settling on a pipe that had been discarded years ago, and was rusted with age, and un-use. He might look old, but he barely felt the age that he looked.
Slidding around the boxes to a unlit area Ran sat and waited for the figure to appear again, hoping that he wouldn't have to do anything drastic.
Darian slipped from around the trash dumpster that he had been hiding behind.
He had sworn that he had heard something move, and had quickly dove behind the dumpster hoping that he hadn't been seen, he had waited a few minutes, when nothing happened he decided that he was so exhausted that he had exaggerated it, his mind was playing tricks on him.
Darian again started off for the pile of boxes.
Ran started as the man came out from behind the dumpster, cursing himself silently for being startled, he hoped that the man hadn't heard him. Ran hoped that the man would just keep walking, he could tell just by the way the man held himself, that this was no drunk, he had apparently been running from something...and if this man had run from something then it was diffenatly not something that Ran wanted to get involved in.
Again Ran cursed as he saw the man head straight for him, he knew that the man was seeking somewhere to hide, just as he and Kuri had hours before... the man slowly got closer, Ran closed his eyes and tried to imagine what would happen, tried to think of every possible scenario, so that he would be ready no matter what this man tried...he even concluded that he would use ether to kill, or immobolize the man if it came down to that.
Finally Ran decided that he needed to act, he would try diplomacy first, and hope to every god that he had ever known that it worked...he really did not want to fight this man.
Slowly he took a breath."Stop. don't move an inch, please I don't want to kill you but I will, please just go somewhere else, I want nothing to do with you, or your problems, just leave."
Ran was surprised at the own calm in his voice...apparently so was the man...of course the man was probably surprised that there was even some one here in the first place too.
Ran almost cried for joy when the man raised his hands in a peaceful way."I mean no harm in any such way sir, i'm sorry, I didn't know that this...aaah..place was occupied...I'll go else where."
Ran was startled by the cool calm voice of the man, it was then that he matched gazes.
Again he caught his breath, the eyes of this man were like only one other persons that he had seen, they could look into your soul, and make you sorry that you had ever been born, or they could make you feel as if you were on top of the world as if everything was going to be alright forever, Ran almost cried as he looked into the eyes of Marionia.
« Marionia… » muttered the old man, struggling to let the word escape his mouth, his eyes becoming humid as the word came out of his mouth… Darian looked at the old man with a puzzled look, less then a few seconds ago, the old man looked as if he was worried about Darian’s presence, and now, he looked as if he had just found a long lost relative. Thinking that he was simply becoming senile in his old age was an easy explanation, but easy explanations, as Darian knew by now, were rarely the ones that found out and hit the truth.
It was then that it hit him like a speeding bullet in between the eyes. : This old man was the one he was asked to protect, he was the Guardian… But then again, where was the kid he was with?
Darian stepped backwards and listend on to see if the cops were still pusuing him, and it was clear that they weren’t… They must’ve concentrated their forces on subduing Daisuke instead. His instincts telling him that he was safe for the moment, the icy-eyed hunter looked around and finally spotted the kid sleeping. This was almost surreal for the hunter. The events that happened to him when he was unconscious felt like it wasa dream, and this was very much reality. A dream and reality having influence on each other was indeed a frightening thought. Then again, it only felt like a dream and Life could only communicate with him that way. Darian looked once again at the old man in the eyes and smiled gently.
« I’m glad I found you Guardian… You have nothing to fear from me… I was asked by Life to protect you… »
The old man in front of him looked shocked at that statement for a moment but finally came to smiling warmly and extended his hand towards the hunter.
« Life is appearently worried about my well-being … But at least he/she chose someone competent. I am so glad he/she chose you… » said the old man, as if he had alrweady met the hunter .
Not knowing how to react to such a warm welcome, Darian simply tried to stay as friendly as he could manage. Perhaps the old man knew about him somehow, perhaps he was just a very friendly person. Once again, the easiest explanation were rarely the true ones, so he thought to himself that perhaps he would understand better once he learned more of the factors of this situation.
« My name is Darian . » said hunter shaking his the old man’s hand .
« And I am called Rangarion, but you can call me Ran, the child sleeping there is Kuri. »
They both let go of each other’s grasping hands and looked at each other for a few moments.
The sleeping Kuri interupted the moment of heavy silence by yawning , sitting up and rubbing his eyes.
When he was done rubbing his eyes, he looked at the icy eyed hunter and smiled.
« Mr. Ashley! You got away from the policemen’s custody! Miss Jansen will be so happy! »
Both Darian and Rangarion looked at Kuri with a confused look…
« You know him? » asked Rangarion in a surprised tone.
« You know Anika? » asked Darian at the same time…
Kuri smiled and stood up.
« Well, I know you by reputation Mr. Ashley ! You’re one of the best Bounty Hunters in the District and you’ve never killed anyone in your three year carreer in this city. Of course I would have heard about you. As for Miss Jansen, well, I met her yesterday night with Mr. Talehn and Miss Cisia, Miss Jansen paid for my little sister’s operation. » answered Kuri smiling.
Kuri turned to look at Rangarion .
« His partner is the lady who paid for my little sister’s operation… She saved her life! »
Darian smiled to himself, thinking of his partner. Anika always had a soft spot for children in rags She herself had been a child of the streets and she sharedtheir pain every time she encountered one of these children. He felt his heart beat faster and faster as he kept pn thinking of his partner and long time friend. She was without any doubt in captivity at the moment, and now that he had found the Guardian, he had to figure a plan to free his friends from captivity…
But how?
And where woud this old man and the kid fit in such a scheme? It seemed like complications were a constant part of his existence…
Daisuke felt the handcuffs tightening up both of his wrists as the cops pushed him against the car and kept on yelling profanities at him. Of course, he wouldn’t say a single word, it was his right to stay silent and these coppers weren’t going to be the ones to take him out for good. There was no way he would let lowly patrolmen get the better of him. And knowing how the organisation worked, he’d be out of the police precinct in a matter of hours.
It was only a matter of patience and time.
Feeling his jaw still ringing from all of Darian’s puches and kicks to that particular spot, Dai told himself that he simply would get the better of the scared hunter next time around. Simple as that. For now, he was out of the game, so he might as well ignore the cops and relax a little bit. A black luxurious sprts car that looked very familiar rolled by and stopped right next to Daisuke. The windows were tainted black and one of the side windows rolled down. Daisuke immediately recognized his friend, Victor « The Cleaner ».
« Excuse me officers, where can I find this street? » opening a city map and showing it to the cops out of the window.
One of the two officer approached the Cleaner’s car with a very angry look on his face.
« Get lost, can’t you we’re busy here? »
A small muffled sound was heard and there was a hole in the map, as well as another one in the angry cops’s forehead. The cop fell to the pavemnt, dead before he hit the ground. Victor dropped the map to the pavement as well and aimed for the second officer’s throat before he could react. He pulled the trigger. Time slowed down once more for Daisuke and he could perceive the bullet digging its way slowly in the officer’s throat and making its way to the other side of his neck. Time went back to its normal flow as Dai could see the cop fall back and holding his throat, gurgling and trying to scream. Victor pulled the trigger again, this time hitting the cop directly in between the eyes. This cop also fell flat on his back, dead.
« It was about time the cavalry got here! » said Daisuke smiling.
« Nag, nag , nag, always complaining are you Dai? » said Victor as he opend the door to his car and got out, with his hand gun in one hand and plastric explosive in the other,
« I wouldn’t complain so much If I had competent friends! » replied Dai with a grin.
« Oh, Mr. Perfect is the one to talk! » replied Victor with sarcasm, as he searched one of the cops for the keys to hand cuffs. « Bingo! » he said when he found it.
« Hey, If you had half of my skills, you wouldn’t be still doing clean up duty you know? »
« Oh I’m soooo hurt! » said The Cleaner as he uncuffed Daisuke « Cleaning up is a very important part of the fuctionality of the organisation, just as enforcing is, why, we should both be proud of our jobs very much. Why, I’d do it for free anytime because I’m so proud of my occupation. »
Feeling the cuffs fall to the ground, the enforcer turned to the cleaner and they looked at each other for a moment. They started to laugh heartily.
« Riiiiight! » they both replied sarcastically.
« Step into the car Dai, we have to get to the Core, the boss wants us to be there for a raid on the place. »
« A raid on the Core? »
« Just get in and I’ll explain everything on the way. »
Dai stepped into the passenger’s seat and closed the door to the car. He could see Vic setting up the explosives on the Police car and running back to his own sporst car. Within seconds, The Cleaner made his car bomb away from the scene.
« Boom! » said Victor smiling as he kept on driving.
As if on cue, Daisuke could hear the explosion behind him, shaking up the whole street and at the same time, wiping out any eveidence that he was the one who had been arrested by the cops. With the arrest being no longer a concern of his and new orders, asking him to drop pursuing Ashley, the Enforcer started to think about what was up ahead : Raiding the Core.
Maybe there wasn’t as much routine to this job as he thought after all…
Ran jumped at the sound of a far off explosion...it didn't sound like it was too close...but the sound was obvious. He also noticed that Darian had heard the sound, from the slight movement of his eyes, and the way that his stance went from a neutral, to a tensed but calm walk.
Ran had seen men like this Darian when he was younger...but back then, they were warriors, men who had trained there whole lives to do one thing...Kill.
He had seen a man like this Darian, Take out 5 armed men...all at once..and barely break a sweat, men like this were to be feared, and respected. But there was something about this man that Ran hadn't felt around any of the others though, something that he could swear felt almost like...repentance...a feeling of sorry for what he had been, and was trying to make up for in some way.
He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts, he knew that he could trust this Darian, something about him just gave off that type of aura...but it was hard for Ran, to just meet a man, and then have to trust him with your life...he just couldn't do it, but he had to.
Ran looked over at Kuri, Kuri seemed to have taken to the blue eyed man, he seemed to look up to Darian almost like he was a hero out of some story book come to life right there in front of him. He hoped that Kuri didn't get hurt, having such dreams, and hopes about this man.
Finally coming to his senses Ran looked around them, he had just been following this Darian, blindly trusting that he knew where he was going, and it seemed that he did. He saw Darian take a deep breath before turning around to him and Kuri.
"Well here we are...I don't know what the hell we're gonna do...but here we are none the less"
Ran looked up at the huge building in front of them, it was monstrous! It must have been one of the biggest buildings he had ever seen, it gave off a very ominous appearance, very dark and dreading.
Kuri seemed to have come out of a daze, and he looked as if he wasn't very happy, feeling worried Ran decided to see if anything was wrong.
"Whats wrong Kuri? You seem to be alittle shocked."
Kuri looked up at him.
"Shocked? Yes, I'm Shocked! this is the Central CORE! This is where the ministry lives! what are we doing here! Why did you bring us here Mr. Ashley!"
Kuri seemed to get more frantic after every word, he looked like he was about to bolt at any second. Darian must have thought the same thing, because he set one of his calloused hands on Kuri's shoulder.
"I've brought us here for a good reason Kuri, you don't think I'd take a chance unless it was worth it do you? You don't think I've lived this long just to die because I didn't know what I was doing."
This seemed to settle Kuri down quite a bit, he still fidgeted around, and tried not to look directly at the building in front of them.
Ran took a deep calming breath, and then walked up next to Darian.
"So what are we doing here exactly?"
Darian looked over at him with a rueful smile.
"We're gonna perform a heroic jail break of course...what else did you expect?"
He could feel his eyes bulging...JAIL BREAK? Was he serious? he diffinititively looked like it.
"Are you serious? are you telling me that we're just gonna waltz on into that huge building over there, that probably has HELL knows how many guards, shoot'um all up, and then walk out with a few of your friends?!"
Darian laughed...he actually laughed!
"Exactly...exactly."
Ran almost grabbed Kuri right then and ran off himself! he knew now that he had thrown his lot in with a mad man! they were gonna get killed going into that building...he was all for saving your friends...if you didn't do everything you could for your friends...what kind of friend were you? but to commit suicide wasn't his idea of being a good friend.
Darian seemed to feel his frustration, and turned towards him"Look all I know is that, I'm supposed to protect you, and Kuri, But I know also that there are alot of people in that building over there, that have come to mean ALOT to me...and I'm not going to just leave them there to rot." Darian took a deep breath and went on.
"So please...don't leave me just yet, I don't know what we're going to do yet...I need some time to think this through."
Darian looked around them, and smiled"I hope your not to object to sleeping out under the stars."
Sighing Ran just shook his head, he knew that he couldn't leave, he was supposed to be here, and no matter what happened, he was here, for better or worse.
Kuri could feel alot of compassion for Mr. Ashley at the moment : The scarred man wanted to risk it all to save miss Jansen, that much was clear. The bounty hunter‘s eyes reacted briefly when Kuri had mentionned miss Jansen’s name earlier, but long enough for Kuri to read him like an open book. And, well, here, in front of the Core, he just mentionned that he wanted to pull a jailbreak, and his eyes reacted the same way briefly once more.
It didn’t take a genius for Kuri to figure-out that miss Jansen had probably been captured by the people at the Ministry. And it didn’t take a genius to figure out that Darian actually cared alot for his partner. To what extent, Kuri didn’t know, he really didn't care either. But it did remind him that he had to check up on Mikan right away. His little sister was still in the hospital, and it was Kuri’s responsability to make sure that she was alright.
« Go to the Core, Kuri, you will fulfill your destiny there and you will find your sister as well… » said a soft female voice in his mind.
Stepping back in shock, Kuri looked around, only to see Darian and old Ran look at him with concerned looks.
« Are you alright? You don’t look well… » said old Ran with concern. Kuri had heard the old man’s question, but was simply too lost in his thoughts to reply to him.
That voice belonged to the woman that was in his dreams, the woman that he often saw : Radhani…
Who was she?
Kuri rubbed the scar on his wrist a little bit.
« I’m alright! » he answered in an almost squeaky voice « But i need a credit to make a call on that phone over there! And I’d also like you two to wait for me before you make a move »
The boy pointed at the phone booth that was next to them. Darian reached in his pocket for a coin and flipped it over to Kuri, making a small metallic noise. The hunter was smiling. Kuri caught the coin in mid-air and ran over to the phone. He hastily put the coin in the slot and punched in a few numbers. The dial tone sound was quickly replaced by a ringing sound, wich was instantly replaced by a the sound of a man answering the phone.
« Central District Hospital, how can I help you? » said the man in a very mechanical tone.
« I’d like to speak to Mikan, room 48 »
« Please hold on… »
A click and some soothing music started to play. A hit song by a singer that Kuri appreciated alot actually. Almost a classic if he could say so himself. But no matter how much he liked the song that was playing, the majority of his thoughts were with his sister.
« I’m sorry, she checked out a few hours ago! » said the man, making the music stop suddenly « She was transfered to the Core for better treatment, may i ask who’s speaking? »
Kuri felt blood rush up to his head. Without thinking any further, he hung up the phone and looked at old Ran and Darian… The two men were discussing something,but he couldn’t hear what they were talking about. The boy returned to the odd couple he was with with a determined look on his face.
« I want to come with you to the Core Mr. Ashley… They transfered my sister there to get me! »
« What? » replied Darian shocked « Now why would they possibly want you ? There is no way I’m bringing you or the old man with me, you two are staying somewhere safe until I get back to you! »
« Now what are you talking about Kuri? It would simply be madness to go there… » replied old Ran at the same time as Darian…
For some reason, even though the two men had spoken at the same time, Kuri managed to understand what they were both saying.
« If you don’t come with me",said the boy « Then I’ll simply free Mikan myself! But i just figured out that we could help each other out here… »
Darian and old Ran looked at each other for a moment.
« The child has a point there! » said Ran laughing heartily.
Darian looked at Kuri and shrugged.
« What choice do i have then… » said the hunter « But you old man, are going to stay somewhere safe until Kuri and i return . »
« I wouldn’t think so young man… I’m here to stay also… for better or for worse… »
Darian sighed and put his face into his palms.
« Fine… » said the hunter consenting.
Kuri looked at the old man and the hunter…and somehow, he knew that he was doing the right thing…
« Yes, Kuri! » said Radhani’s voice « You are doing the right thing! »
« I’ll bet I am… » he whispered…
« What did you say Kuri? » asked Ran.
"Just thinking out loud, just thinking out loud… » he replied.
Phoenix Mark walked to a motorcycle that was parked in an alley. The machine was covered with a huge rain proof sheet that the short red head took off with ease.
In front of him was a beautiful piece of machinery. Silent as the wind, yet as fast as a racing car. These kind of machines weren’t produced anymore and Phoenix knew it, making him appreciate the beast even more. Lincoln Adams had been nice enough to take off his cuffs, sell him enough weapons to take on a tactical police team by himself and lend him this beautiful bike. For a price of course, Phoenix knew that he owed Linc a hefty sum of money right now.
Bizarrely enough, Linc wasn’t known as a very generous guy, and that’s twice in only a day that the old arms dealer had given him some stuff up front, once with Ashley, and just now. Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth he thought to himself. Too bad for the arms dealer though, for all he knew, maybe Ashley was in a ditch on the side of the highway right now because he had confronted those guys at the Syndicate, and maybe he, himself wouldn’t come back from the Core alive…
That would make quite a hole in Adams’ budget…
Too bad for him, but what had to be done had to be done… And right now, he had to get Cisia out of the Core, and maybe, just maybe, he’d get the chance face the demons of his past at the same time… Touching the chip that was behind his neck, Phoenix tried to contact Cisia with the telepathic connection that all « victims » of the Ministry had, but to no avail. Phoenix tried to push the memories back, but he hadn't caught them in time, and floods of bad memories came crashing back. A sour taste of bile almost came out of his mouth. He had been born with mutations in his genetic code, that showed himself to have telekinetic power at a very young age. His parents, knowing full well that the Ministry would love to get their hands on such a prize, had tried to hide him from the authorities.
But eventually, he was caught, and what had to happen happened. He was taken away from his parents ,and the Ministry had started their horrible expermints on him. Phoenix tightened his fists as more awful memories followed. He was trained to be one of the Ministry’s super soldiers, to use his telekinetic abilities to his advantage in combat, as well as to fight without his abilites. The experiments they had done on him during training were his definition of hell, they made him push his powers to their greatest extent, often pushing him near the line of madness at times. He fully knew that his telekinetic abilities were dangerous for him and for his environment. Shivering because of the ugly thoughts, Phoenix checked up on his two 9mm that he had tucked under his trenchcoat… They were fully charged and they were both ready to help him out. Across his back was a sword in its sheath as well as a 10 gauge shotgun, loaded with half slug, and half buckshot shells. He would attack the Core head on… By himself…
Always by himself.
He was still training to be one of the Ministry’s supersoldiers at the Reactor, on that fateful day, 8 years ago, when the reactor started to blow up… He recently learned that it was Dalasius commiting suicide that had provoked the said explosion. But that day, he saw fire approaching him and the people he was with. He saw burning walls falling and the roof crashing from above him. By instinct, he made himself a telekinetic bubble that protected him from anything outside of the bubble, nothing could penetrate the bubble, be it fire, the walls or any other objects… From inside his bubble, he could see people screaming in agony as the flesh was slowly burned from them, some he had liked, some he had hated, but it didn't matter who they were they were burning to a crisp, suffocating from the smoke, being crushed by the falling walls… He thought that this personnal hell would never stop and he had eventually lost consciousness… Only to wake up where the reactor used to be once the fire was extinguished, in a District in chaos, complete with riots and no power. And with the feeling that his brain was on fire. Feeling constant pain, day and night for the next two years, he eventually managed to heal his mind from the damage that his telekinetic powers had done… How? He simply didn’t know.. it didn’t really matter… His life before the Ministry was simply not there for him when he escaped their grasps that day… His parents had been killed in the riot… He only knew from then on that he’d never use those powers again…and that he would make someone pay for all this one day…And that someone was the Ministry…
Shaking his head, he tried to block out the memories, and focus on what he was about to do. Finally he slipt onto the motorcycle pressed the ignition and reved the engine a few times before he sped away. he would save Cisia… And at the same time, he would get to do what he had longed of doing sense he had been taken from his parents.
It was payback time…
Victor hit the brakes on his car violently and his car made a loud screeching sound as it stopped suddenly in front of the Core. Jumping a bit on his seat, the Cleaner laughed heartily! His passenger and friend, Daisuke, wasn’t nearly as amused as he was!
« Where the hell did you get you driver’s license? In a cereal box? » screamed the enforcer angrily.
« I don’t have my driver’s license! » replied the Cleaner with a wry grin.
Looking outside, Victor could see a few dozen cars parked in the parking lot of the Core… Alot of people he recognized were all reunited, in the middle was a man with a wooden mask, barking orders around. Whoever the hell he was, Vic wasn’t about to take orders from him… He only took orders from Yodama himself because Yodama was the one cutting the paychecks.
« Cleaner! Daisuke! It was about time you two got here! Come over here this instant » said the man in the mask.
Victor recognized his boss’s voice immediately and both he, and his friend got out of the car .As soon as they rejoined the group, Yodama started to talk.
« We are going to attack the Core head-on! As they say in movies, take no prisoners… Make sure you all have gloves and that you don’t leave any fingerprints at the site… If any of you die, you will be left here and your paychecks will be sent to your closest relatives. The syndicate will deny ever having known you however…Kill everybody on sight… don’t let a single soul leave this place. Team 1 will guard the parking lot to make sure nobody gets out through there… Team 2 will block all the doors and will guard the front exit to the building… Team 3 will guard the back exit… Needless to say, you kill everybody on sight, women, children, techs, cops, prisoners, i don’t care…
Cleaner, you're going to go with Team 4 and Team 5 to clear the second parking lot.. .once that is done, Team 4 will guard the second parking lot and you will take Team 5 to clean up the the whole building…
Daisuke. You are going to be on your own, you will have to to go to the fifth floor and lock all the mechanical doors. Team 6 is going with me. Team 7, 8 , 9 and 10 will also be scouring the building for anybody that is occupying it… Leave all of your radios to frequency 71.09 so that we can communicate with each other easily.Any questions? »
Victor was captivated by Yodama’s plan all along. As much as he hated to admit it, this guy was good, he knew how to make a plan and he knew how to lead people. He looked around him and nobody answered. The sign of a good leader indeed.
« Good, then let’s go to work gentlemen… Remember, if yo find Cisia, you kill her on the spot and you call me… I want to see her dead body with my own eyes! »
A great plan, by a great mean, thought Cleaner. One way or the other, it was now time to earn his paycheck…
« So you have any idea how we’re going to get in? » asked Rangarion with a suspicious look in his eyes « You weren’t thinking of barging in the front door guns blazing were you? »
Darian looked at the old man and gave him a small smirk.
« That was pretty much the plan until you two came along , now I have to think of something else»
« I know a way! » declared Kuri « I know this place like the back of my hand! I live around these parts! »
"And just how would you suggest we get in? » asked Darian with a smile. Kuri pointed at a sewer hole just under his feet, with an innocent smile. Darian looked at the sewer hole, then at Rangarion and then at Kuri…
« You’re a kid after my own heart you know? » said Darian as he backed off and pulled off the sewer lid with all of his might.
When he was done taking off the sewer lid, a smell of putrefaction came up . Darian blocked his sense of smell and went down the ladder that led to the sewers. Kuri followed him, and Rangarion afterwards. As much as Darian hated to admit it, Kuri, who he was afraid would be considered as deadweight, had just proven himself to be pretty useful. Perhaps old Ran would surprise him later on as well… One way or another, Darian was highly skeptical that the world’s fate relied in the hands of one of these two. One of the two was Life’s Guardian ? If that was the case, then Life really should consider having harsher critaerias for its Guardians…
 |
 |
 |