Manu manum lavat 14
Before
14
The next morning Schuldig was allowed to sleep as long as he wanted.
The sleep restored his strength, and he could shield himself again. When he came down to the old-fashioned kitchen, only Ken, Omi and Nagi were there.
“Good morning, Schuldig.” Ken set breakfast down before him. “How´s that head?”
“A bit better.” Schuldig's energy reserves were still very low, and he wolfed down the food.
“The others will be back soon,” Omi told him. “They're buying new things for Aya-chan.”
They came back about half an hour later. Schuldig noticed with pride how Aya-chan looked still a bit pale, but otherwise a healthy young girl - no trace left of her coma.
As soon as Aya saw the redhead, he swept Schuldig into a bone breaking hug. “I will never forget this. Thank you.”
“You're welcome.” A bit overwhelmed by this atypical emotion from the normally cold Weiss, Schuldig patted Aya's shoulder.
Later, they all assembled in the comfortably cluttered dining room. Even with all that had been happening in the last few days, Omi and Nagi had worked on gathering intelligence whenever they could steal time. This morning they finally had won through. Black and white print outs littered the big table, mixed with brightly coloured bought photos and maps.
Nagi sighed. “I think we´ll find the Elders - here.” His forefinger stabbed down on a photo that was mainly of darks.
Crawford groaned. “Oh, what a surprise.”
“What is this building?” Ken asked.
“It´s an old museum about the evolution of mankind. I was there only once, but it has a very strange aura - downright creepy to be honest. The perfect place to try to summon a demon.”
“Okay, we need a plan,” Aya told them. “Some diversion.”
“Some nice explosions,” Omi offered.
“There’s kind of an arsenal below the great hall,” Nagi explained, looking at the museum schematics they had printed. “If we manage to blow that up, that should deal with most of the agents. And then we can face Elders themselves.”
“We divide,” Crawford suggested. “Omi and Nagi come with me to set the explosives. Aya, Schuldig, Ken and Yohji search for Farfarello. Don't forget, when the explosives go off, the building will collapse.”
The discussion lasted hours, but in the end all agreed with the plan. Manx promised to guard Aya-chan.
The next morning they would start.
It was shortly before dawn when they reached the museum. It was outside Tokyo, a grand, subtly repelling building on a lonely cliff. In the near darkness it looked black and sinister.
The two groups said goodbye solemnly, before they went underground. The lowest levels of the building had been there long before there was anything as harmless as a museum overhead, and were tunnels cut directly into the rock. They were narrow. The assassins had to go in single file, and the whole time they heard water dripping.
In the dark they crept forward, silent as deadly shadows, noticed by no one. Crawford led the two boys unhindered to the arsenal, a great storeroom, full of all kinds of weapons and explosives. Using the least amount of light possible from their narrow beamed little torches, they set their bombs.
“Are the others safe?” Nagi asked.
“The aura of this place interferes with my precognition. All I can do is to keep us out of trouble, at least for the moment.”
The other team hadn´t had a clear destination. The only thing guiding them was Schuldig´s telepathy, but that, too, was muffled, and could give only the main direction. With the tunnels deserted, they progressed quickly.
Finally Schuldig stood still. “Farfarello's directly above us. There are guards, too, but I can´t tell how many.”
“Good,” Aya unsheathed his katana. “Time to fight.”
The two guards by the door were killed quickly, but in the dreary little room were more guards, dark clad fighters with guns and knives. The fight began. Schuldig was quick with his gun, while Weiss guarded his back.
As soon as they'd killed the guards, Schuldig rushed to the table where Farfarello lay, strapped down and gagged. The telepath couldn´t see any wounds under the white gown, but his teammate was even paler than normal.
“Farfarello? Jei?”
The eye was wide open, but showed no sign of recognition. Fearing the worst, Schuldig tore off the straps. “Farfarello? Talk to me, please.”
The Irishman did nothing.
“Schuldig, we don´t have the time to cure him now,” Aya said. “I know he´s dear to you, but we have to win this fight. If we survive, we´ll have the time and the doctors to help him. But now we must find the Elders. The bombs can go off any moment.”
Schuldig nodded, and helped Farfarello to his feet. Farfarello staggered, and then stood firmly.
“Come, walk behind me.” Schuldig told him, and Farfarello followed him like a dog.
Crawford and the teenagers found the others sooner than they'd hoped.
“You´ve found Farfarello?” Nagi ran to his lost team-mate.
“He´s not in his right mind, “ Schuldig sighed. “They're near, aren´t they?”
“I can feel them too,” Crawford agreed.
They hurried, knowing the explosives would go off soon, knowing the Elders had surely already sensed the attack. The American guided them to a bare room, where two men and a woman were already waiting for them. All of them looked old as the cliff the house was built on, and as strong, their presence all power.
“So you decided to destroy everything we fought for.” The trio seemed to see only Crawford worthy of notice. “We´ll kill you!”
“Try it!” Aya and Ken threw themselves towards one of the old men, but his powers threw them against the wall. Yohji and Omi tried to help with wire and crossbow, and while none of the weapons reached the target, he needed to give Weiss all his attention.
Voice level, Crawford ordered Schuldig and Nagi to join his attack on the woman. While their powers blocked hers, Crawford's precognition let him get near enough to shoot her. In the moment of her death, the other man pushed the three of them against the wall, trying to crush them.
Weiss was still occupied with their target, and Crawford, Schuldig and Nagi were exhausted. None of the three had enough strength left to break loose. They felt themselves losing consciousness as the air was pressed from their lungs.
Then someone else moved, and something flashed into the chest of their attacker. Schwarz was released to the floor.
“Farfarello?” Schuldig asked, shaking.
He nodded slowly. He was still mute, but his eyes weren´t as empty as before.
Meanwhile Weiss had finished their prey. For a moment the eight assassins stared at each other, exhausted. Then Crawford tensed.
“My precognition is back to full strength, “ he told them. “The house is on the edge of collapse. We have to get out of here as soon as possible.”
None of them could later exactly tell how they got out of the house. Stray survivors of SZ, falling stones and earthquake-like tremors obstructed them. But Crawford in the lead didn´t hesitate once, and finally they reached the exit.
TBC
14
The next morning Schuldig was allowed to sleep as long as he wanted.
The sleep restored his strength, and he could shield himself again. When he came down to the old-fashioned kitchen, only Ken, Omi and Nagi were there.
“Good morning, Schuldig.” Ken set breakfast down before him. “How´s that head?”
“A bit better.” Schuldig's energy reserves were still very low, and he wolfed down the food.
“The others will be back soon,” Omi told him. “They're buying new things for Aya-chan.”
They came back about half an hour later. Schuldig noticed with pride how Aya-chan looked still a bit pale, but otherwise a healthy young girl - no trace left of her coma.
As soon as Aya saw the redhead, he swept Schuldig into a bone breaking hug. “I will never forget this. Thank you.”
“You're welcome.” A bit overwhelmed by this atypical emotion from the normally cold Weiss, Schuldig patted Aya's shoulder.
Later, they all assembled in the comfortably cluttered dining room. Even with all that had been happening in the last few days, Omi and Nagi had worked on gathering intelligence whenever they could steal time. This morning they finally had won through. Black and white print outs littered the big table, mixed with brightly coloured bought photos and maps.
Nagi sighed. “I think we´ll find the Elders - here.” His forefinger stabbed down on a photo that was mainly of darks.
Crawford groaned. “Oh, what a surprise.”
“What is this building?” Ken asked.
“It´s an old museum about the evolution of mankind. I was there only once, but it has a very strange aura - downright creepy to be honest. The perfect place to try to summon a demon.”
“Okay, we need a plan,” Aya told them. “Some diversion.”
“Some nice explosions,” Omi offered.
“There’s kind of an arsenal below the great hall,” Nagi explained, looking at the museum schematics they had printed. “If we manage to blow that up, that should deal with most of the agents. And then we can face Elders themselves.”
“We divide,” Crawford suggested. “Omi and Nagi come with me to set the explosives. Aya, Schuldig, Ken and Yohji search for Farfarello. Don't forget, when the explosives go off, the building will collapse.”
The discussion lasted hours, but in the end all agreed with the plan. Manx promised to guard Aya-chan.
The next morning they would start.
It was shortly before dawn when they reached the museum. It was outside Tokyo, a grand, subtly repelling building on a lonely cliff. In the near darkness it looked black and sinister.
The two groups said goodbye solemnly, before they went underground. The lowest levels of the building had been there long before there was anything as harmless as a museum overhead, and were tunnels cut directly into the rock. They were narrow. The assassins had to go in single file, and the whole time they heard water dripping.
In the dark they crept forward, silent as deadly shadows, noticed by no one. Crawford led the two boys unhindered to the arsenal, a great storeroom, full of all kinds of weapons and explosives. Using the least amount of light possible from their narrow beamed little torches, they set their bombs.
“Are the others safe?” Nagi asked.
“The aura of this place interferes with my precognition. All I can do is to keep us out of trouble, at least for the moment.”
The other team hadn´t had a clear destination. The only thing guiding them was Schuldig´s telepathy, but that, too, was muffled, and could give only the main direction. With the tunnels deserted, they progressed quickly.
Finally Schuldig stood still. “Farfarello's directly above us. There are guards, too, but I can´t tell how many.”
“Good,” Aya unsheathed his katana. “Time to fight.”
The two guards by the door were killed quickly, but in the dreary little room were more guards, dark clad fighters with guns and knives. The fight began. Schuldig was quick with his gun, while Weiss guarded his back.
As soon as they'd killed the guards, Schuldig rushed to the table where Farfarello lay, strapped down and gagged. The telepath couldn´t see any wounds under the white gown, but his teammate was even paler than normal.
“Farfarello? Jei?”
The eye was wide open, but showed no sign of recognition. Fearing the worst, Schuldig tore off the straps. “Farfarello? Talk to me, please.”
The Irishman did nothing.
“Schuldig, we don´t have the time to cure him now,” Aya said. “I know he´s dear to you, but we have to win this fight. If we survive, we´ll have the time and the doctors to help him. But now we must find the Elders. The bombs can go off any moment.”
Schuldig nodded, and helped Farfarello to his feet. Farfarello staggered, and then stood firmly.
“Come, walk behind me.” Schuldig told him, and Farfarello followed him like a dog.
Crawford and the teenagers found the others sooner than they'd hoped.
“You´ve found Farfarello?” Nagi ran to his lost team-mate.
“He´s not in his right mind, “ Schuldig sighed. “They're near, aren´t they?”
“I can feel them too,” Crawford agreed.
They hurried, knowing the explosives would go off soon, knowing the Elders had surely already sensed the attack. The American guided them to a bare room, where two men and a woman were already waiting for them. All of them looked old as the cliff the house was built on, and as strong, their presence all power.
“So you decided to destroy everything we fought for.” The trio seemed to see only Crawford worthy of notice. “We´ll kill you!”
“Try it!” Aya and Ken threw themselves towards one of the old men, but his powers threw them against the wall. Yohji and Omi tried to help with wire and crossbow, and while none of the weapons reached the target, he needed to give Weiss all his attention.
Voice level, Crawford ordered Schuldig and Nagi to join his attack on the woman. While their powers blocked hers, Crawford's precognition let him get near enough to shoot her. In the moment of her death, the other man pushed the three of them against the wall, trying to crush them.
Weiss was still occupied with their target, and Crawford, Schuldig and Nagi were exhausted. None of the three had enough strength left to break loose. They felt themselves losing consciousness as the air was pressed from their lungs.
Then someone else moved, and something flashed into the chest of their attacker. Schwarz was released to the floor.
“Farfarello?” Schuldig asked, shaking.
He nodded slowly. He was still mute, but his eyes weren´t as empty as before.
Meanwhile Weiss had finished their prey. For a moment the eight assassins stared at each other, exhausted. Then Crawford tensed.
“My precognition is back to full strength, “ he told them. “The house is on the edge of collapse. We have to get out of here as soon as possible.”
None of them could later exactly tell how they got out of the house. Stray survivors of SZ, falling stones and earthquake-like tremors obstructed them. But Crawford in the lead didn´t hesitate once, and finally they reached the exit.
TBC